0004 Legality of Crimes and Punishments (Part 2)

"Hey, did I say something wrong? Whether you're an accomplice in organizing prostitution or someone who assists in organizing prostitution, the sentence is usually around five years, right? Why is she insisting on arguing about this?"

Zhai took out his anger on the intern, instead of saying what he should have said to Qu Zhong.

It wasn't exactly taking his anger out on someone else; he just hadn't handled the argument well earlier, and now he'd come up with a better way to express himself, and he was just venting his frustration to someone.

The intern bit her lip, like a new actor who had rehearsed countless times behind the scenes for her first appearance, and finally spoke her lines cautiously yet boldly: "My name is Ye Xiaoxiao."

Her audience was Zhai Shi. As she finished speaking, her nose felt hot, and her eyes welled up with tears.

Zhai had no intention of getting any substantial opposition or agreement from her, and was completely taken aback by her excited reaction.

The intern raised her voice, mustered her courage to meet his gaze, and repeated in a trembling voice, "Teacher Zhai, my name isn't 'Hey,' it's 'Ye Xiaoxiao.'"

Ye Xiaoxiao is a third-year student at H University in Shanghai.

In this era where only 985 and 211 universities are revered, H University has no official titles, yet it is universally recognized as the uncrowned king.

Its more than seventy years of legal education, inherited and developed by generations of legal pioneers, is as mellow as a fine wine hidden in a deep alley, comparable to the dazzling pearl on the banks of the Shenjiang River. The two, one tangible and one intangible, together constitute a landmark tribute to Shanghai.

Because H University's School of Criminal Law requires two practical credits for graduation, Ye Xiaoxiao came to the Third Department of the C District Procuratorate for an internship.

She had expected to witness all sorts of adrenaline-pumping criminal cases during her internship, but after almost a week, all she did every day was file documents.

Filling out case forms, cutting covers, punching holes and threading threads—her professional legal knowledge was completely useless; she could do it all with her hands.

That's all. As for this Zhai, we still don't even know her name.

The pent-up grievances had reached a critical point and finally erupted with a casual "Hey".

Ye Xiaoxiao had had enough, so she retaliated fiercely. After saying that, she ran out of the reception room in tears, leaving Zhai Shi stunned.

Zhai couldn't understand her because his life had been remarkably smooth. Born and raised in Shanghai, he easily gained admission to the law school of F University, and after graduating with his bachelor's and master's degrees in seven years, he smoothly passed the entrance exam for the C District Procuratorate.

But Qu Zhong was different. She stopped when she heard the noise inside the reception room. At first, she was secretly pleased with Zhai Shi's belated anger, but Ye Xiaoxiao's words made her chest twitch slightly, a lingering effect of what had happened.

Watching Ye Xiaoxiao's retreating figure, she felt as if she were seeing her former self.

Qu Zhong, a second-year graduate student, accidentally entered Huanli, one of the eight major red circles, for an internship. She interned for three months, and a lawyer in the team would order her around every day, saying things like "Xiao Sun, send a package" or "Xiao Sun, do some legal research."

On the day before her internship ended and she was to leave, the lawyer still came to her workstation and said, "Xiao Sun, prepare the arbitration evidence this weekend, and come with me to the arbitration court next Monday."

Qu Zhong organized all the case materials in her hands into a thick stack and slammed it in front of him. This was the most stress-relieving moment she had experienced in the past three months.

She tucked a stray hair behind her ear and smiled genuinely: "Attorney Xu, you should go to the arbitration court yourself. I won't be coming starting next week."

What a rebellious and arrogant child! That's how the lawyer saw it, and she hadn't finished speaking yet:

"Also, my surname is Qu, not Sun."

She admits that she left with enough confidence and boldness back then. If she hadn't humbled herself and gone back to that team for an interview during graduation season, all for the sake of a job...

Only when Ye Xiaoxiao's figure completely disappeared from sight did Qu Zhong snap out of his reverie and return to reality.

She put the CD in her bag and took a taxi back to Guanzheng.

As soon as Qu Zhong entered through the revolving door, he encountered the Car God coming up from the parking lot.

The "Car God," whose real name is Su Rongqin, is currently a senior partner at Guanzheng Law Firm. His name doesn't contain the character for "car," but he earned the nickname "Car God" because he drove a Tesla electric car at breakneck speeds in his youth.

The term "god of cars" carries a distinct meaning: "car" is a playful jab, while "god" is a compliment. The reason he's called a "god" is because Su Rongqin's professional skills are unmatched at Guanzheng and among the best in the entire city of Shanghai.

Qu Zhong has never liked interacting with colleagues, but she has always been extremely respectful to the Car God. Putting aside everything else, Qu Zhong's skills in revising contracts and writing documents can be said to have been taught to her by the Car God.

During the two months that Qu Zhong had just graduated from law school and was still in her probationary period, she spent every day revising contracts.

After revising hundreds of contracts, Qu Zhong finally couldn't help but send her supervising lawyer a short essay of a thousand words. After reading it carefully, it could be summarized in about five words:

"I quit."

When Su Rongqin, who was in charge of the same team as her, heard about it, he called her into his office and asked her seriously, "Why don't you want to change the contract?"

Qu Zhong frowned and said, "I think all contracts are pretty much the same. They're just changed over and over again. They're meaningless, unchallenging, and lack a sense of accomplishment."

She blurted out three "no"s in a row, her tone aggressive.

Su Rongqin glanced at her briefly, then without saying a word, opened a copy of the agreement that Qu Zhong had recently revised, and personally rewrote it in front of her, over the version she had already modified.

When Qu Zhong saw the contract, which had been completely altered, she was shocked. No one had ever told her that a contract should be changed like this, and yet it could be changed like this.

She stood there dumbfounded for a long time without saying a word. Su Rongqin first raised an eyebrow and asked her, "Do you submit?"

They were completely convinced and readily agreed, nodding in agreement as easily as pounding rice.

Then came the message, "Little friend, you still have a long way to go," and then the contract interface was closed.

Qu Zhong turned around and went back to his workstation, finding each of the hundreds of contracts he had previously revised, opening them one by one, and starting to revise them again...

Qu Zhong admired Su Rongqin's abilities and respected his character even more. However, there was one thing that had always puzzled her: given the current status of the racing god, why would he be content to remain a junior employee at such a small and medium-sized police station as Guanzheng?

The two swiped their cards and entered the elevator at almost the same time. Qu Zhong took the initiative to greet him: "Lawyer Su."

Su Rongqin nodded slightly and entered the room one after the other. After Qu Zhong pressed the 22nd floor, he asked her, "Where have you been?"

Qu Zhong truthfully replied, "The procuratorate reviewed the case files."

"The case of organized prostitution?"

Qu Zhong asked in surprise, "How did you know?"

However, after a brief moment of surprise, Qu Zhong understood immediately. There was no need to ask; it must have been Xu Yanru who said it.

Her voice suddenly became very low, as if she were muttering to herself: "You also think that the charge doesn't matter, right?"

She was afraid of hearing the same answer from him as from others, yet she also secretly hoped that he would be different from others.

Su Rongqin did not answer her directly, but just smiled casually, and then said cryptically, "Qu Zhong, remember this, we take on legal aid cases only for reputation, not for profit."

The elevator doors opened, and Su Rongqin stepped out before her.

Qu Zhong's heart calmed down inexplicably. She quickly caught up with him, narrowed her eyes, and said, "Attorney Su, I know."

...

Night falls.

Zhai felt he must be crazy, otherwise how could he have almost walked to the SG office building?

A red light, just one street away. He stood there, watching as twelve Grade A office buildings rose up across the street, connected in a staggered pattern, like a majestic mountain stretching across the center of Shanghai's C district.

Every scene, every frame, that happened in the reception room this afternoon kept replaying in Zhai Shi's mind.

He couldn't help but think about her lips, her body, her haughty and unreasonable eyes, and her sarcastic remarks towards him.

"You like that part of me that much?"

He took the question as a baseless accusation in the reception room, but when he returned to his office and calmed down, he finally admitted to himself that she was absolutely right.

He later even went to the official website of the Shanghai Bar Association to check which two characters qǔ zhōng were.

He originally thought it was the end of the performance, the end of the song.

"Qu Zhong, 27 years old, member of the Communist Youth League, first practiced law at Guanzheng Law Firm in 2020."

This is information about Qu Zhong that is publicly available on the official website of the Shanghai Bar Association. Zhai stared at these few lines of text and read them over and over again until he could recite them from memory.

He wasn't quite sure what he was doing either.

After a while, he opened the interface again, which displayed Qu Zhong's professional license photo. He clicked on it and zoomed in. In the photo, she wore a white shirt and black suit, with smiling eyes, looking innocent and harmless.

Zhai was trying to convince herself: "Look at this person in the photo, is it the same person you met today?"

He wants to come to his senses, or he will surely come to his senses once the statutory time limit for trial expires and the case is over.

He told himself this, and then deleted all the new search results related to Qu Zhong from his browser.

But who would have thought that just as the prosecutor's office was about to close for the day, his landline rang for the third time in one day.

"Prosecutor Zhai, I have finished reviewing the case file and would like to have a more in-depth discussion with you."

What did she mean by "in-depth communication"? Zhai didn't want to think about it that way, but he clearly heard her ask him to come to her law firm tonight, and say that she would wait for him no matter how late it was.

When Zhai hung up the phone without saying a word, he was determined not to talk to her. But he happened to be taking the subway in the opposite direction and was now standing right outside her law firm's office building.

His turbulent thoughts subsided the instant the red light turned green. Zhai's lips seemed to curve slightly, but it was barely perceptible.

He withdrew his gaze, turned back, and no longer hesitated.