Chapter 38 Are you really going to work overtime?
Zhou Minghui quickly applied for his first visit, and following procedure, he successfully met with Li Tiemin at the detention center.
Li Tiejun, who was once full of vigor and always dressed in a suit and leather shoes with his hair slicked back, looked extremely disheveled after this incident. Not only was he unshaven, but his beer belly had also shrunk considerably.
When he saw Zhou Minghui, his eyes showed wariness, but even more so anticipation and hope. For so long, all he had been thinking about was getting someone to bail him out.
But he also knew that there was no one capable in his family. His mother was illiterate, his wife was somewhat intelligent but not very bright, not to mention their daughter who only knew how to compare herself to her cousin.
So if someone can come to bail him out, it must be someone sent by the Bai family. But thinking about what he had done, Li Tiejun was also very afraid that the person in front of him was sent by his brother-in-law Bai Chuxiong to harm him.
“Li Tiejun, I’m the lawyer hired by the Bai family. Don’t be nervous. I’m here today not only to understand the details of the case, but also to visit you on behalf of your family.” Zhou Minghui spoke ambiguously, guiding Li Tiejun to believe that the Bai family didn’t intend to do anything to him without violating any rules.
In the past, when Bai Chuxiong was still in the company, Li Tiejun had made mistakes under his nose before, but he always turned a blind eye and let him go. This led to Zhou Minghui quickly persuading him.
Hearing his words, Li Tiejun gradually lowered his guard and quickly began to press, "Are my brother-in-law and my niece not going to hold me accountable? When can I get out? And my son, where is my son now?"
He had too many questions, so Zhou Minghui skipped over them and went straight to his procedure. "When you can leave depends on your performance. The company isn't just Bai's personal fiefdom. You misappropriated company project funds and allowed Li Zhiqiang to replace substandard building materials, causing immeasurable damage to the company. This can't be simply dismissed with a 'no investigation' statement. Besides, you were reported and the judicial authorities have already intervened in the investigation. What you should do now is cooperate fully with the investigation. Or, if you can do something to mitigate the company's losses and atone for your crime, perhaps I can help you get leniency."
After all that, Li Tiejun finally understood one thing: he was definitely going to jail.
His face immediately turned ashen. "How could this be? How could it be so serious? Isn't the company owned by the Bai family? If Bai Chuxiong just stood up and said a word, wouldn't I be fine...?"
Moreover, he was very discreet in his actions, so how could he have been discovered and reported so easily? The only people who knew he embezzled public funds were…
Following Zhou Minghui's words, Li Tiejun suddenly remembered a crucial issue: before the incident, his second brother, Li Tiemin, had threatened him with this matter, so could it be him...?
This possibility had been on his mind more than once since Li Tiejun was arrested, but he wasn't sure. After all, his second brother's hands weren't much cleaner than his own, and he had plenty of leverage over him. The two brothers had always kept to themselves in this regard, each minding their own business.
This has always been the case, but Li Tiejun's move this time was too big. It involved several million yuan in project funds, which went into Li Tiemin's pocket so easily. How could Li Tiemin not be envious and jealous?
Unfortunately, just as he finished making the threat, Li Tiejun was reported and arrested.
As Zhou Minghui organized the materials he had brought, he almost clicked his tongue in disgust upon hearing the man's mutterings. Was this man eating someone else's flesh and drinking their blood, and yet expecting them to be magnanimous and forgive him?
No wonder Miss Bai made that decision. If he had encountered such an insatiable, bloodsucking relative, he probably would have done even worse.
“Mr. Li, listen to me…” Zhou Minghui’s smile became even more gentle and sincere, perfectly demonstrating his professionalism as a lawyer.
He rattled off a string of terms, leaving Li Tiejun completely bewildered. Even the police officers guarding him didn't notice anything amiss, assuming he was guiding Li Tiejun to redeem himself through meritorious service.
As Li Tiejun listened to his words, his expression grew increasingly uncertain. Seeing that the time was right, Zhou Minghui deliberately raised his hand to check the time. "Mr. Li, I have a pretty good understanding of what happened. This meeting is about to end. Do you have any further requests?"
“Yes, I do!” Li Tiejun said fiercely, “But I want to ask first, what is the calculation method for redeeming oneself through meritorious service? If I confess to some things, can you get me and my son out of jail?”
Since someone has been unkind to him first, then he shouldn't be blamed for being unjust.
After the two-hour meeting ended, Li Tiejun was taken away again by the police from the detention center. Zhou Minghui looked at the record book in his hand and finally couldn't help but hiss softly.
"These aren't relatives, they're clearly a bunch of bandits who eat and steal."
After leaving the detention center, Zhou Minghui took out his phone, took a deep breath, and called Bai Zhenzhen's assistant. "Hello, my meeting is over. Li Tiejun confessed some things, and I would like to ask if Ms. Bai is interested in hearing them in person. If you have no other requests, I will continue with the procedures."
"Wait a moment, I'll call Miss Bai right away." Zhu Jie hung up the phone and immediately called Bai Zhenzhen.
Zhou Minghui got into the car with a stack of documents in his arms. He wasn't in a hurry to go back to the firm. Although he had Bai Zhenzhen's contact information, since she hadn't contacted him personally, Zhou Minghui naturally had to report the progress to her through her assistant.
In addition, although he really wanted to call Shen Huai'an for a chat, he held back. His professionalism as a lawyer required him to strictly abide by the rules and never easily disclose the privacy of his clients, not even their legal husbands. Without Bai Zhenzhen's permission, he had to suppress his gossip.
Just as he finished thinking that, his phone rang. Zhou Minghui picked it up and his eyebrows immediately furrowed.
What a coincidence! He had just thought of Shen Huai'an when this person called him. Could it be that Miss Bai had already told him about today's meeting?
Zhou Minghui answered the phone without much thought, "Hello, Huai'an, what do you need?"
Shen Huai'an held his phone in silence for a moment before finally speaking, "Senior brother, I need your help investigating something about the Bai family company..."
Before he could finish speaking, Zhou Minghui on the phone asked in surprise, "What? Don't you know that Miss Bai... cough cough cough, um, junior brother, I still have some things to take care of, I'll hang up now..."
"..." Shen Huai'an remained calm as he slowly put down his phone after hearing the busy tone from the other end.
After hurriedly hanging up the phone, Zhou Minghui slapped his forehead twice in frustration. "Look at my loose tongue, how could I not have held back?"
The phone he was holding, which he hadn't had time to put down, rang again. Zhou Minghui swallowed hard before glancing at the number. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw it was Bai Zhenzhen's assistant, but then let out a heavy sigh.
Zhu Jie briefly told him on the phone that Bai Zhenzhen was going to meet him, and gave him the time and place. After confirming that he was okay with it, he hung up the phone again.
In the afternoon, Zhou Minghui sat in the coffee shop he had arranged to meet, waiting for Bai Zhenzhen to arrive.
He held his coffee cup, looking rather restless, glancing towards the door every now and then.
Before long, Bai Zhenzhen appeared at the door on time, wearing high heels, accompanied by Zhu Jie.
The two entered one after the other. Zhou Minghui stood up and waited for them to approach before sitting down with them.
In front of Zhu Jie, Zhou Minghui first gave her a detailed report on his meeting with Li Tiejun that morning, and then showed her the prepared meeting minutes.
Bai Zhenzhen looked at some of the things Li Tiejun had told her, and her expression grew colder and colder. After putting down the record, she asked directly, "Based on this, how long do you think they can be sentenced to?"
After a moment's thought, Zhou Minghui told her, "Based on the existing issues, if what Li Tiejun said after the investigation is true, Li Tiemin should be sentenced to a maximum of five years or less, and Li Tiejun should be sentenced to a maximum of ten years or less. If we consider the possibility that he may redeem himself through meritorious service, the subsequent sentence may be reduced to a minimum of seven to eight years. Li Zhiqiang has no possibility of recanting his confession for the crime he committed, and even if he is severely punished, the maximum sentence will be around ten to twelve years."
The final verdict will depend on the final conviction and sentencing. The sentence Zhou Minghui mentioned is based on the evidence currently available.
Bai Zhenzhen was not very satisfied, but she also knew that Li Tiejun and his son, along with Li Tiemin and the others, had not committed any serious crimes such as murder. Although they were the culprits who caused her tragic end in her dream, they could only be punished according to the law now.
"Attorney Zhou, I have only one request: that you do your utmost to ensure they receive the punishment they deserve." Bai Zhenzhen had a good understanding of the relevant laws, and what she said was largely the same as what Zhou Minghui had said, so she entrusted him with the entire matter.
After hearing this, Zhou Minghui assured her that he would do his best to fulfill her request.
After finishing their business, while Zhu Jie went to the restroom, Zhou Minghui coughed softly and explained the situation he had accidentally let slip earlier.
"He knows?" Bai Zhenzhen was a little surprised but not too surprised. She nodded casually and said, "It's okay, I know."
Seeing her reaction, Zhou Minghui was completely relieved, realizing it shouldn't be a big deal. Heaven knows that when he first guessed that Bai Zhenzhen might be hiding this from Shen Huai'an, he was thinking about all sorts of family feuds and power struggles.
After this experience, Zhou Minghui resolved to abide by the lawyers' regulations more strictly and to keep his mouth shut.
After meeting Zhou Minghui, Bai Zhenzhen returned home. She has now moved back to her apartment in the family compound, mainly because she doesn't want Liu Lihua to keep bothering her.
Just before dinner, Shen Huai'an called and casually told her that he had to work overtime that night and might be home late.
"Are you really going to work overtime?" Bai Zhenzhen thought about what happened that afternoon and suspected that this person was saying this on purpose. "Besides working overtime, don't you have anything else you want to tell me?"
After Shen Huai'an hung up the phone, his colleague brought over a large stack of documents, saying apologetically, "I'm sorry, Prosecutor Shen, this case is really urgent, and I've made you work overtime with me."
"It's alright. Let's start with the documents that need to be reviewed." He seemed very calm, discussing the work with him without any expression.
His colleague glanced at him cautiously and pointed to the documents on the table, "These, these are all, I moved them all over here."
He sensed that Prosecutor Shen was in a bad mood; his face was as cold as a level 10 wind, making him subconsciously slow down his movements when flipping through the documents.
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Author's Note: The young couple is having a tiff.
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