79 Do I look like a person without a brain?
As for the express delivery that was obviously threatening, the police were ultimately unable to trace the source. Just as Jin Lang expected, the sender, phone number, and address were all unable to verify the person behind the scenes. Liu Yuwei probably guessed this result. After carefully reviewing what had happened recently, she had an answer in her mind - it was probably Yang Bin who did it. The chick with its mouth sealed had an obvious meaning. It was to warn her to shut up, otherwise the things she cherished would be broken like the wings. As for using a chick to do this, it was probably the most vicious insult to women he could think of. She took the initiative to call Tang Mei to ask about her recent situation. Tang Mei told her that after moving out of her home, Yang Bin had gone to the school to look for her, but she was afraid of complications, so she asked her colleagues to help ward him off, and she avoided him herself. After going back and forth several times like this, Yang Bin did not show up again, as if he had completely given up. "I just want to work hard now, take good care of our son, and start a new life once the divorce is finalized." Tang Mei's voice was filled with determination and anticipation, and Liu Yuwei felt more at ease listening to it. Perhaps Yang Bin's targeting of her had actually helped relieve Tang Mei's stress. With this thought, she even felt that this unpleasant incident might not be entirely bad. Liu Yuwei was recently delighted by another incident: a ruling in the Beijing North Court in another rider's work-related injury case, which Tiancheng represented. This case was quite similar to Lao Niu's, but this time the court ruled that the platform and the rider had a de facto employment relationship, and therefore had to bear the responsibility for work-related injury insurance. When the news reached the firm, the entire public interest affairs team rejoiced at this hard-earned victory. Lawyer Tong smiled and patted Liu Yuwei on the shoulder, taking the opportunity to tell her that next weekend there would be an opening ceremony for Legal Education Month, jointly organized by the Beijing North High Court and the Bar Association, and that she would speak on stage as Tiancheng's public interest lawyer representative. Liu Yuwei felt that she was just a new recruit in the public interest lawyer team and was not qualified to represent the senior lawyers of Tiancheng who had worked diligently for many years. But Tong Lu said, "If I say you can do it, you can do it! The several cases you have participated in are very representative, and your enthusiasm for this profession can fully represent the attitude of our Tiancheng." ... Jin Lang watched Liu Yuwei buried in the study room these past few nights, the keyboard clacking non-stop. He thought she had taken on some difficult case again, but when she came out to get some water, he asked and found out that she was writing a speech. "This is not your first time to participate in a legal education activity, why are you so... serious?" He wanted to say "nervous", but before he could say it...
The police were ultimately unable to trace the source of the express delivery that clearly carried a threat. As Jin Lang had expected, the sender, phone number, and address were all unable to be traced back to the person behind the incident.
Liu Yuwei had probably guessed this outcome. After carefully reviewing recent events, he had a clear answer in his mind—it was probably Yang Bin's doing. The meaning of the chick with its mouth sealed was obvious: it was a warning to her to shut up, otherwise, the things she cherished would be broken like those wings. As for using a chick to do this, it was probably the most vicious insult to women he could think of.
She took the initiative to call Tang Mei to inquire about his situation. Tang Mei told her that after moving out, Yang Bin had come to the school to look for her, but she was afraid of causing trouble, so she asked her colleagues to turn him away and avoided seeing him herself. After several rounds of this, Yang Bin never showed up again, as if he had completely given up on her.
"Now I just want to work hard, take good care of my son, and start a new life after the divorce is finalized."
Tang Mei's voice was filled with determination and expectation, and Liu Yuwei felt more at ease as she listened. Perhaps Yang Bin's targeting of her had actually helped relieve Tang Mei's stress. With this thought, she even felt that this unpleasant incident might not be entirely bad.
Liu Yuwei was also recently delighted by another incident involving a rider who had suffered an industrial injury, which Tiancheng represented. The Beijing North Court ruled in favor of the case. This case was similar to Laoniu's, but this time the court found that the platform had a de facto employment relationship with the rider, and therefore was required to bear work-related injury insurance liability.
When the news reached the firm, the entire public interest team rejoiced at this hard-earned victory. Lawyer Tong even smiled and patted Liu Yuwei on the shoulder, taking the opportunity to tell her that next weekend there would be an opening ceremony for Legal Education Month, co-hosted by the Beijing High Court and the Bar Association, and she would speak on stage as Tiancheng's public interest lawyer representative.
Liu Yuwei felt that he was just a new recruit in the ranks of public interest lawyers and was not qualified to represent Tiancheng's senior lawyers who had worked diligently for many years.
But Lawyer Tong said, "If I say you can do it, you can do it! The cases you've been involved in are very representative, and your passion for this profession fully represents the attitude of Tiancheng."
...
Jin Lang watched Liu Yuwei buried in her study these past few nights, the keyboard clacking away non-stop. He initially thought she had taken on another difficult case, but when she came out to get some water, he asked and found out she was writing a speech.
"This isn't your first time participating in a legal education event. Why are you so... serious?"
He wanted to say "nervous", but changed the word before he said it.
Liu Yuwei was holding a cup of water, her eyes were a little bloodshot but also very bright.
"This is my first time facing thousands or even tens of thousands of people as a public interest lawyer!"
After thinking for a moment, she added, "It's probably the same feeling as when you first see the name Jin Lang listed as a producer on the big screen after your movie is successfully released."
"Where can you fit thousands of people? A gymnasium or a stadium?"
"It's a shopping mall! That large complex that just opened in South City. There's a huge area in the sunken plaza!"
Seeing Jin Lang looking thoughtful, Liu Yuwei was afraid that he would ask more questions and disturb his train of thought, so he took the opportunity to push him out of the study door.
…
On the morning of the event, Liu Yuwei woke up to find coffee, sandwiches, and washed strawberries already laid out on the table. But the snail boy was nowhere to be seen, leaving only a note saying, "Keep fighting!" She had hoped to get some "strength" from Jin Lang before leaving, even a hug, but it seemed like that chance was gone.
Arriving at the event over half an hour before it began, Liu Yuwei found it already packed. The center of the square was surrounded by a gleaming silver fence, with neatly arranged rows of seats. A makeshift LED screen was looping a legal education video. Above it was a glass fence on the second floor of the commercial area. For safety reasons, a separate area had been set up to prevent anyone from falling due to the crowding.
Liu Yuwei was led by the staff into the indoor guest waiting area. As soon as she entered, she saw many bigwigs and experts in the legal circle. She took the initiative to step forward and introduce herself.
Everyone was chatting happily when there was a commotion at the door, accompanied by a few muffled exclamations. Liu Yuwei turned around and saw a tall, familiar figure walking in against the light.
He Lu, the president of the Beijing Lawyers Association, came forward quickly, "Jin Lang, welcome, welcome!"
He led Jin Lang into the crowd and introduced them one by one. When it was finally Liu Yuwei's turn, He Lawyer rolled his eyes and pretended to be mysterious, "We were able to invite such a big star to support today's event, thanks to Lawyer Liu!"
As soon as these words were spoken, Liu Yuyi was so frightened that he broke out in a cold sweat, and the smile on his face froze instantly.
Fortunately, he quickly continued to explain, "If Jin Lang hadn't forwarded Lawyer Liu's article 'Employment Notes of Takeaway Riders,' the General Office of the Supreme Court wouldn't have found such a suitable legal publicity ambassador!"
After saying that, he pulled Liu Yuwei to Jin Lang's side and said, "You don't know each other yet, right?"
Jin Lang politely extended his right hand, "Lawyer Liu, nice to meet you!"
After a while, the staff reminded that the event would begin soon and asked all guests to take their seats.
The guest seats were three meters below the stage. Liu Yuwei and Jin Lang sat in the same first row, but there were seven or eight people between them. She pulled out her phone and sent a WeChat message: [Why didn't you tell me you were coming?]
The screen quickly lit up, [Surprise! ]
【It’s obviously a shock! 】
[When He Lu said that just now, I thought he knew something.]
A moment later, Jin Lang replied with an emoticon of a pinching cat face.
As the background music gradually faded, the male host's loud voice spread throughout the square through the speakers, and the people in the audience put down their phones and focused their eyes on the center of the stage.
The weather was perfect, a rare, refreshing breeze that brought a slight coolness to my face. Yet, the crowd was quite enthusiastic, a feat largely due to Jin Lang. This event wasn't on his public schedule, so the fans, excited to see their idol, were only able to suppress their excitement due to the need for proper order.
The opening ceremony proceeded in an orderly manner. Jin Lang, as the publicity ambassador, made the second speech after the speech of the president of the Beijing High Court. He talked about his understanding of legal publicity and shared some legal knowledge in easy-to-understand language, which won rounds of applause.
Liu Yuwei followed closely behind him, and when they passed by him on the stage, the two smiled at each other.
The tension of the past few days melted away the moment she finally stepped onto the stage. Liu Yuwei fluently shared the public interest lawyer's perspective on the law, starting with a case she had handled and explaining how the law supports ordinary people. Her voice was clear and firm, and every word was laced with sincerity.
Jin Lang sat in the audience, his eyes fixed on her. Her misty blue dress and suit accentuated her maturity and sophistication, and when she reached the crucial point, her eyes sparkled with a moving light. This was the first time he'd witnessed Liu Yuwei's moment with everyone else. He couldn't help but pull out his phone, aiming it at the person on stage, and snapping numerous photos.
With a "Thank you everyone," Liu Yuwei walked to the center of the stage and bowed deeply to the crowd. As the applause rang out, she heard a shrill female voice exploding above her head.
"Destroying other people's families is shameless!"
Liu Yuwei looked up subconsciously, and only had time to see an egg shining in the sun passing by.
“Bang!”
There was a crisp sound in her ears, and the egg exploded on her left shoulder, liquid crawling down the satin texture, darting its claws. Before she could react, the second egg brushed past her eyelashes and shattered at her feet, the egg white splashing onto the surface of her shoes.
"This kind of person still has the nerve to call himself a public interest lawyer!"
The female voice sounded again, full of malice.
The third one was wrapped in the wind and flew straight towards her face. Liu Yuwei did not close her eyes. She even felt that she could see the dirt that had not been wiped off the egg.
The next second, a black shadow rushed towards Liu Yuwei from the front.
Jin Lang instinctively reached out to stop it, but the egg fell from a height and hit the watch face hard, the eggshell shattered instantly, and the egg liquid splashed on his hand and her face.
He lowered his head and moved closer, his lips almost brushing the shell of her ear.
"Don't be afraid, leave first."
The two of them descended the makeshift staircase. Liu Yuwei's vision was blurry due to the egg yolk on her eyelashes, and she stumbled, almost missing a step. Jin Lang quickly caught her, but out of the corner of his eye he saw the instigator on the second floor still throwing eggs along the fence. Without giving it any more thought, he simply picked him up by the waist and hurried back to the lounge.
The organizer's leader followed in, full of surprise and apology. Jin Lang restrained his emotions and said goodbye to him, helping Liu Yuwei leave the scene.
…
The air pressure inside the black business car was stiflingly low, and the air conditioning's cool breeze felt stagnant. Liu Yuwei used a wet wipe to clean the stain from her face, but the egg wash on her clothes had already partially dried and solidified like a hard shell.
Xiao Zhou in the front seat glanced at the back seat through the rearview mirror, and finally leaned over and shakily handed the phone to Jin Lang, "Brother Lang, Brother Yi asked you to answer the phone."
"Yes... um..."
As he listened to the voice on the other end of the phone, his brows furrowed more and more.
"Walking back..."
In the end, he just replied "OK" in a sullen tone and threw the phone back.
Liu Yuwei listened to his irritable tone and said softly, "There's trouble, isn't it?"
"You shouldn't have rushed over just now. I can handle it myself!"
Jin Lang turned to look at her, anger still lingering in his eyes.
"You mean I should just sit back and watch like everyone else?"
"Watching you get pelted with eggs!"
"You know that's not what I meant." Liu Yuwei reached out and tugged at his sleeve, which was also stained with egg yolk. The yellow stain was particularly conspicuous on his dark gray suit. "It was clearly me who was hit, so why do you look more like the victim?"
"Or... do you believe what she said?"
Hearing her ask this, Jin Lang became even more furious and almost lost control of his voice.
"Liu Yuwei! Do I look like someone without a brain?"
Liu Yuwei was amused by his frowning expression, and the cold air finally had a hint of warmth.
The car returned to Palm Bay. When Jin Lang and Liu Yuwei emerged from the elevator, Zhang Yi was already waiting at the door. Hearing footsteps, he looked away from his phone screen. He had watched several videos of the scene and already understood the cause and effect, but seeing the two people in such a state of disarray, he couldn't help but sigh.
After the three of them entered, Jin Lang spoke first, "Xiao Yu, go clean up and change your clothes first. Brother Yi and I have something to talk about."
Liu Yuwei nodded and turned to walk towards the bedroom. Seeing the door open and close, Zhang Yi immediately dragged him to the sofa and threw the phone at his chest.
"Take a look for yourself first!"
Jin Lang didn't touch his phone the entire way. It wasn't because he didn't want to look at it, but because he knew that a storm was bound to be waiting for them.
In just one hour, netizens had quickly dug out Liu Yuwei's work unit and educational background based on pictures from the event, from her undergraduate school to her lawyer's license number, with a level of detail comparable to that of a personal resume.
Of course, there were also subtle clues related to Jin Lang: he secretly took photos while Liu Yuwei was speaking today, during the "Summer Like You" movie theater roadshow, and even the drunken photos taken last winter. Internet "sleuths" carefully compared them with a magnifying glass, and the conclusion was obvious - Jin Lang was in love.
The hot searches continued to include: Jin Lang's love affair, Jin Lang's heroic rescue of a beautiful girl, Jin Lang's amateur girlfriend, who is Liu Yuwei...even Tiancheng Law Firm was on the list.
"Tell me, what are you going to do?"
Zhang Yi saw him put down his phone and impatiently unbuttoned his collar.
"Tell the truth." Jin Lang said frankly what he was thinking, "But I need Xiaoyu's consent."
Zhang Yi rubbed his eyebrows hard.
"You know now isn't the best time to make your relationship public."
He stood up suddenly, his leather shoes tapping on the floor. He walked back and forth in front of the TV twice, and finally stood across from Jin Lang across the coffee table.
"The last A-list male celebrity who publicly announced his relationship lost a million followers on Weibo the day the announcement was made. Big fans started turning against him, burning merchandise, cutting out small cards, and shutting down his website. Don't you know this?"
"I know!"
"Even if you don't care about the commercial value these fans bring, you're no longer the broke Jin Lang who just started out in the industry, and you despise money, then what about your movies?"
Zhang Yi was obviously angry, and his voice became louder and louder.
“Will people in your circle say you’re in love? Will the market lose confidence in you?”
"A film with a niche theme like 'The Past' can only rely on traffic to start with, and then use the so-called story and acting to win box office! Don't you understand this principle?"
Zhang Yi took a step forward, lowered his body, and put his hands on the coffee table.
"Do you think you can handle this kind of situation right now? Not to mention the bet that's putting your entire fortune on the line."
Jin Lang looked at Zhang Yi's red eyes and softened his voice, "Brother Yi, you've been with me through thick and thin for so many years, how could I not understand?"
But he quickly changed the subject, "Do you remember when I was still an 18th-tier actor, I was cyberbullied by fans of the then-leading actor because of unfounded rumors of stealing and adding scenes?"
"For the first time, I experienced an all-out, overwhelming barrage of abuse. Text messages were flooding my screen, my phone rang from morning till night, and the comments on Weibo were atrocious. Someone even came to my place and slipped a threatening letter. I was afraid it would affect my mother, so I coaxed and tricked her into sending me back home. But when I was left alone, I couldn't even sleep."
"You told me back then that if I wanted to be a star and be famous, I had to be able to swallow these broken pieces of glass. Now I can really treat those insults as garbage. They're not worth seeing."
"Because I've been through it, I know what it means to ordinary people, so I can't let her endure those groundless speculations and insults. She's just a lawyer, not someone who lives in the spotlight. Those malicious words shouldn't be allowed into her life."
"So you had already made up your mind before you rushed onto the stage?"
Zhang Yi's palm moved away from the glass, leaving a mist behind.
"Not really." Jin Lang laughed, "I don't have time to think about so much. I just want her to not get hurt."
"Are you sure she will agree to make the relationship public?"
Zhang Yi tried to seize the last chance, his tone tentative. He knew Jin Lang's temper; once Liu Yuwei agreed, there would be no turning back. Unexpectedly, these words touched upon the question mark deep in Jin Lang's heart, and silence replaced the answer.
Five minutes later, Liu Yuwei returned to the living room and gave her answer.
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