Chapter 12
Chen Huanong hadn't known how many times she'd sat in the defendant's seat, either as an attorney or as a client today. She felt an inexplicable tension. She looked up and her eyes met Tang Chengting's. They quickly shifted their gazes, a tacit understanding. She turned to the intern with a warm smile. "Are you nervous? The first time I went to court, my lawyer had just woken up from a hangover and was completely out of his element. I was angry and nervous, trembling as I defended myself. After the trial, I asked him what if I messed up, and he confidently said there was still a second trial."
The intern's tense expression relaxed considerably. This was Zheng Fengnian's style, and also a comfort to Chen Huanong. In any other case, the intern wouldn't necessarily have felt this intense pressure, but the client happened to be her immediate superior. For professional reasons, she didn't want her abilities to be questioned, and for personal reasons, she didn't want to see the couple become estranged. None of the evidence she'd gathered suggested a breakdown in their relationship. Furthermore, another reason for her nervousness was that before submitting the evidence, Chen Huanong came over and took away the secretly taken photos. Those were the strongest evidence!
"Don't panic. It's already difficult to rule on a divorce in the first instance. They're just muddying the waters. Zhang Xingyan doesn't have enough evidence, so he must be using empty, hollow rhetoric. Just treat it like a school debate and refute each one one by one." Chen Huanong's analysis made sense. Just as the intern was about to relax completely, Chen Huanong suddenly added a stab. "The second instance will be the tougher one. After today's formalities, you'll have to work harder at the next court session."
Thousands of alpacas were flying through the intern's mind, thinking, "Boss, Master, please let me go. I am young, inexperienced, and incompetent, so I won't go to the Intermediate Court and embarrass you."
The trial unfolded just as Chen Huanong had anticipated. The other party was unable to produce any direct evidence proving a breakdown in their relationship, and the cross-examination process was hastily concluded. Chen Huanong herself was left to deliver the defendant's defense. The intern had waited a long time for this moment, having never seen Chen Huanong's defense statement. She was genuinely curious to see how this discreet and charismatic woman would describe the state of her marriage over the past five years.
Respondent: Chen Huanong.
Attorney-in-fact: Qin Huai of Shensong Law Firm, with the authority of general authorization.
Regarding the divorce dispute between plaintiff Tang Chengting and defendant Chen Huanong, based on the respondent's litigation request and factual arguments, the respondent makes the following defense based on the objective facts of the case and relevant laws:
1. The respondent objects to the factual grounds raised by the respondent that their emotional basis is shallow.
The respondent claims that the two parties didn't know each other well enough before marriage, rushing into marriage after only one year of dating. This lack of a strong emotional foundation led to numerous conflicts after marriage. In fact, the plaintiff and defendant had known each other for seven years before their relationship began, having endured the hardships and boredom of high school together and developing a deep friendship. They stayed in touch throughout college, despite not sharing the same city. These facts can be corroborated by both parties' former friends and acquaintances, and the plaintiff's lawyer, Zhang Xingyan, is also familiar with the facts. Therefore, the argument that the emotional foundation was weak is invalid. The claim of numerous conflicts after marriage is completely absurd. Since the plaintiff and defendant were married for five years, they have only had a few arguments that can be counted on one hand, making their marriage a model.
2. The respondent objects to the respondent's allegation that after marriage, the plaintiff and defendant were too busy with work to take care of their family, which led to the breakdown of their relationship.
It is true that the plaintiff and the defendant were busy with work in the first year after their marriage, but they maintained a
Good communication is essential, and the ultimate goal of striving for a successful career is to provide a sound financial foundation for marriage and family. Having food in the granary is a testament to honor and disgrace; love without bread is like a pile of loose sand. The respondent believes this is a wise move to better manage their marriage and strengthen their relationship. Starting in the second year, the respondent has been balancing family and work, fulfilling her responsibilities and obligations as a wife.
In summary......
Qin Huai thought that Chen Huanong insisted on defending herself because she was preparing to perform a passionate and affectionate scene. He even asked his assistant to come and secretly record the conversation. When Chen Huanong was arrogant to him in the future, he would use it to fight back. But it ended so uneventfully?
The intern assumed Chen Huanong's insistence on defending herself was a pretense of asserting her immense power, a way to teach Tang Chengting's accomplices, including Zhang Xingyan, a lesson. They'd learn that in this industry, anyone who dared to sue her would be prepared for a furious attack. She'd heard earlier that Shen Song's Chen Huanong excelled at a full range of personal attacks, including speed attacks, verbal attacks, and logical attacks. She'd been excited for a while, but she ended it so calmly?
The intelligence was wrong, and the assistant sister decisively packed up and left, not forgetting to glare at Qin Huai before leaving. "Is this the melon you gave me to eat? I registered here with my ID card, from morning to night, from the First Civil Court to the Tenth Civil Court. I can eat so much melon like this. How dare you call it melon? There's no excitement, no emotion, no predictable interest. I'm even faster than scrolling through Weibo and eating melons at the police station."
"You're just going to slack off in your own divorce lawsuit? Where's your acting skills? Where's your aura?" Qin Huai was heartbroken. The gap between his imagination and reality was too big, and he was a little overwhelmed by the disparity.
Chen Huanong glanced at him lightly, a hint of regret for making such a careless choice (Qin Huai??? Are you sure it's not me who's regretting this?). "We haven't had any affairs, no domestic violence, no division of property, and no custody battles. Tell me, what kind of acting skills do I need? What kind of aura do I need?"
"First cry, then make a scene, then hang yourself. You have to act like a victim and play out the panic and grievance of a divorced woman to the extreme. That's how it adds drama!"
"Even the 8 o'clock soap operas don't dare to act like this now. Do you have any misunderstanding about drama?" Chen Huanong looked at Qin Huai with more disgust and expressed his opinion with practical actions. The intern watched as his master turned his ten-centimeter high heels into Hot Wheels and quickly disappeared in the parking lot.
The verdict was mailed to Shen Song on the third day. It was still the assistant sister who opened the package, but this time was different from the last time. She was not frightened. After all, the verdict was a foregone conclusion. She just bound the verdict into the file as a routine and quickly threw it into the archives. After all, it was a "scandal" of Chen Huanong, so she didn't mention it if she could, so as not to get herself into trouble.
Zhang Xingyan is a typical example.
When Qin Huai and Zhang Xingyan met in a private room at the teahouse, Qin Huai noticed that Zhang Xingyan looked much more haggard, so he kindly reminded him, "You can't make enough money. You can't ruin your health for work. Your health is the capital of the revolution. Take care of yourself, brother."
"Did my work ruin my health? I was…" Zhang Xingyan couldn't say he was ruined by Chen Huanong. Without evidence, Chen Huanong would bite back at him. He could imagine what Chen Huanong's irritating mouth would say. What had Chen Huanong done during this period? Nothing more than acting as the opposing party's attorney in every case he represented, then relentlessly picking on his procedural and substantive flaws, severely impacting his efficiency and effectiveness. And yet, Chen Huanong had a well-founded case.
"Isn't your firm busy lately? I think Chen Huanong is quite free?" He was so free that he even took cases worth less than 10,000 yuan just to cause trouble for him.
"Busy! How could she not be? Old Xu is planning to have her take on a bankruptcy reorganization case with forty or fifty plaintiffs alone. She's so busy dealing with old cases right now that she doesn't even have time to play cards."
Then why did she have the time to bother me? Please explain. Zhang Xingyan kept this question in his mind, silently torturing himself. He felt wronged. It was Tang Chengting who wanted a divorce, so why did the retribution fall on him? And most importantly, didn't the divorce go through? What else was she dissatisfied with?
"You are an accomplice. She can't bear to touch Tang Chengting, so naturally she wants to vent her anger on you."
"You know?"
Zhang Xingyan was just trying to figure out if he had spoken out loud just a second ago when he heard Qin Huai say, "We all know! We figured it out the moment she specifically asked what cases you've been handling lately."
Listen to the tone of the voice, what a blatant revenge, "Director Xu doesn't care?"
"She just handled a few ordinary cases with small amounts of money. What can Old Xu say?" The implication was that everyone knew what Chen Huanong was going to do, but no one could stop her with a legitimate reason. "Go and file a complaint with Tang Chengting. In this situation, only Tang Chengting can intimidate this evildoer."
Zhang Xingyan was moved to tears. He believed that there was still justice in this world. Even his fellow disciples couldn't stand it, which showed how outrageous Chen Huanong's behavior was!
"You're overthinking it. I think she's wasting her time on these minor cases, severely lowering our team's revenue generation and impacting our year-end ratings and dividends. Isn't Tang Chengting a finance major? It's a good opportunity for him to teach Chen Huanong some data concepts. The most important thing in life is to focus on 'money.'" Qin Huai didn't notice Zhang Xingyan's increasingly dark expression. Instead, he became more and more excited as he spoke, and his card playing became even better. "Self-draw, two Hua and Feng, double dragon seven to sixteen, pay."
Zhang Xingyan deeply felt that he and Shen Song had been incompatible recently.
"Just play cards, don't make personal attacks. Why don't you just say it's your bad luck? I heard you lost a lot to Tang Chengting on Saturday!"
"Who told you that?"
"Chen Huanong, she said she saw some change when she was using Tang Chengting's WeChat to buy something, so she casually asked about it. Tang Chengting said it was a windfall and he just bought it casually. Chen Huanong remembered the two of you playing cards together before, and she guessed that it was yours."
Zhang Xingyan was wrong. He wasn't just incompatible with Shen Song's people; he wasn't compatible with Shen Song's family either. These two people, knowing they'd be in court for divorce the next day, were still sharing financial power the day before. Tang Chengting was truly inhumane!
I don’t know whether it was because Chen Huanong had a change of heart or because of Tang Chengting’s good teaching, but three weeks after the end of Chen Huanong’s divorce case, Zhang Xingyan finally resumed his normal work life. It was really gratifying and encouraging that the person opposite him in the court was no longer the harsh and narrow-minded Chen Huanong.
"I heard you gave Zhang Xingyan a lot of trouble!"
"What happened? Did he go to you to complain?"
Mo Yiyan pressed the pause button on the treadmill and turned to look at Chen Huanong. This pervert had been running for forty minutes without breaking a sweat, while he was already sweating profusely. "What do you mean by 'still?'"
"You're already the fifth person to start a question about Zhang Xingyan with "I heard." Are you sure you two have the same mother?"
"I'm not sure. You'll have to ask my mom about my birth secret. I'm going to take a shower first. I have a dinner date with the editor of Nan Ke tonight."
"Then what should I do? Are you just abandoning me like that?" She invited someone out for exercise, then abandoned them afterward. Chen Huanong seriously suspected she was Zhang Xingyan's reinforcement. "You know I turned down several appointments just to be with you. You're becoming more and more like Zhang Xiang in your ability to burn bridges after crossing them."
"How about you come with me tonight? Although we're meeting for business, it's not a formal occasion, so it can be considered as an advance contact. Didn't you used to like watching 'Nan Ke'? I think we can get along well."
"Your past dates back to ten years ago, when you were still a clueless high school student. Now, what do you want me to talk about with a teen magazine editor? Youth? Dreams?" Chen Huanong also hit the stop button, tucking her messy hair as she walked. "Speaking of which, what can you, an adult magazine with an urban beauty style, talk about with a children's magazine that highlights the pain points of teenagers?"
Mo Yiyan looked around. Fortunately, there weren't many people around in the afternoon. Although it wasn't uncommon for Chen Huanong to say the words "adult magazine," she didn't want to be misunderstood. She had a serious job and edited a serious magazine. "It's not called an adult magazine just because it's suitable for adults. Can you have some dignity? That's not a children's magazine. Have you ever seen a child reading a magazine? They're all on iPads, ignorant girls!"
Despite being criticized by Mo Yiyan, Chen Huanong decided to forgive her. After all, she had used the word "girl" to refer to herself. You see, female friendships are so easy to maintain. Just don't mention age, weight, or men, and praise each other sincerely. (Mo Yiyan? Do you think that's a compliment?)
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