0018 Carrying Public Opinion to Influence the Judiciary (Part 1)
If you were to ask which city in China loves the World Cup the most, Shanghai residents would undoubtedly claim first place. Qu Zhong, in order to make time to watch a match, worked like crazy overtime the past few days, preparing all the materials for several cases on hand. Today, he finally got his wish and could go home on time.
As she was about to leave work, she received a message from Zhai Shi.
The words were few, but both understood the meaning: Tonight?
Qu Zhong flatly refused: "Not tonight, I have an appointment."
She rejected him like that, something that had never happened before.
Zhai's heart sank. He wanted to ask her who she had met up with and what they were going to do, but he didn't know how to ask in his capacity. She had no obligation to tell him her schedule; reporting to a casual sex partner was a breach of boundaries.
Zhai never bothered to consider their relationship. The phrase "what is not prohibited by law is permitted" could legitimize all gray areas, including those enjoyable nights he spent with Qu Zhong.
But at that moment, he began to doubt whether it was reasonable to continue this relationship with her.
Qu Zhong had no idea what Zhai was thinking behind the screen. Her invitation tonight was simply to invite Feng Jing and Lin Qianqian to her house to watch the World Cup together.
Around 8 p.m., Qu Zhong tidied up the living room and was setting up the projector when the doorbell rang.
She guessed that Feng Jing and Lin Qianqian had arrived. Sure enough, as soon as she opened the door, she saw the two of them, one carrying a bag of Rio and the other carrying a bag of Jue Wei duck necks, chatting and laughing with radiant faces.
Feng Jing is a civil and commercial litigation lawyer with a wide range of practice; he handles almost everything except family disputes. When asked, he says he finds family matters too troublesome—divorce, inheritance disputes, child custody battles—too much of a headache.
Qu Zhong completely agreed. Every time she went to the judicial office for her shift, all the people coming in for consultations were dealing with this kind of mess. All that talk about deep marital love and blood ties is worthless in the face of money, cars, and houses.
Feng Jing and Qu Zhong specialize in civil and criminal law, respectively, both handling litigation cases. Lin Qianqian, on the other hand, works in a different area. Since her second year of graduate school, she has been working in non-litigation at the renowned Jintian Law Firm, handling large projects, with cases involving tens of millions of yuan considered small.
However, non-litigation work is extremely tiring, practically non-stop all year round. It was common for Lin Qianqian to be so exhausted that she ended up in the hospital. She figured she might as well give up on breast cancer. She did consider changing jobs, but the high salary of non-litigation work was a major advantage. So, while working on drafts and receiving oxygen, Lin Qianqian comforted herself, "It's not too late to run away after I've accumulated enough capital." This accumulation lasted for three years.
Qu Zhong took the bags from their hands and greeted them, "Come in quickly, we've been waiting for you for a long time."
Well, they got in, but there was nowhere to put their feet down, so the two of them practically jumped and hopped onto the sofa to sit down.
Feng Jing kept saying "Oh dear," drawing out the "oh dear" sound, and mercilessly complained, "Qu Zhong, could you please tidy up these delivery boxes?"
Qu Zhong handed each of them a glass of water, looking puzzled: "What's wrong? I just threw down seven empty boxes to welcome you."
Lin Qianqian pointed to the scattered delivery boxes on the ground and questioned, "Why didn't you throw these away together?"
Qu Zhong's explanation sounded like a boast: "These all just arrived today, and haven't been unpacked yet."
Lin Qianqian clicked her tongue: "Attorney Qu is rich now."
Qu Zhong pressed the remote control to turn on the TV, his smile undisguised: "That's bird food."
She was overwhelmed with cases and made a fortune this month.
Following their suggestion, Feng Jing said, "Why don't you just move to another neighborhood? We just came over and found that they're doing roadworks outside your place, and the noise is terrifying."
Qu Zhong felt overwhelmed by this. She had made countless complaint calls about the noise from the nighttime construction, but to no avail: "It's so noisy. I'll definitely move out when my lease expires next May."
"The entire villa area will be as quiet as a chicken's nest then." Qu Zhong seemed to remember something else and cursed angrily, "This lousy neighborhood is full of old fogies. They spit everywhere, and damn it, they even steal the corn I left outside!!"
Feng Jing and Lin Qianqian were about to burst out laughing: "Really?"
Qu Zhong was very emotional: "Really! They don't know the seriousness of this behavior. This is theft, theft!" They even dared to steal from her, a criminal defense lawyer. It was simply outrageous. She opened a bottle of Rio and took a few big gulps. She said in a strong voice, "I will let them steal a few more times. When the amount reaches the basic penalty for theft, I will definitely call the police and arrest them in one fell swoop."
Lin Qianqian pondered for a moment: "Hmm... then we'd have to steal at least a ton. Steal one a day, and they'd still be at large by the time the next World Cup kicks off."
Qu Zhong and Feng Jing burst into laughter at her earnest way of making jokes.
Lin Qianqian is quite humorous, but what she said makes sense. On the first day of school, the teacher told them that the law isn't a panacea; once a law is enacted, it's already outdated. Obeying the law is the bare minimum; more often, it's the inner morality that guides us.
Qu Zhong looked up to the sky and sighed, "It would be better if I were dead."
Feng Jing seconded the motion, and Lin Qianqian added 1 point.
The match started soon. One of the teams in today's game was Feng Jing's home team, so she was quite excited. Moreover, she was the only one of the three who truly understood the game; she could rattle off many technical terms off the top of her head.
Although Qu Zhong didn't understand, she blended in quite well. She immediately noticed the player wearing the number 7 jersey and asked Feng Jing, "Who is this person?"
Feng Jing answered skillfully: "A rookie forward." Then he shook his head and pointed at the situation, "He's no good, just a piece of trash, his only advantage is his youth."
Qu Zhong was quite satisfied: "He's pretty handsome."
"Fine, you don't care about the game but about looks, huh?" Feng Jing scoffed. "Get out, you face-obsessed dog."
Qu Zhong wasn't ashamed at all: "So what if you're a fan of good looks? Who isn't a fan of good looks?"
The entire stadium was silent, save for a few whistles from the referee on the live stream. Someone had committed a foul and received a yellow card.
Lin Qianqian didn't participate in the discussion. She focused on gnawing on a duck neck with one hand and constantly fiddling with her newly extended long hair with the other.
Qu Zhong couldn't stand it anymore and sighed in regret: "How are we going to adjust to suddenly becoming a wife?"
When Lin Qianqian was in graduate school, she had short hair, was tall, and dressed in a neutral style. Qu Zhong insisted that she was a tomboy and started talking about her husband all the time.
Lin Qianqian's long hair was flowing and she looked as beautiful as a painting. Qu Zhong couldn't help but lose his mind and confessed again: "Wife, how about you consider me?"
Lin Qianqian said righteously, "No, I get dizzy from milk."
Qu Zhong rolled her eyes: "...Forget it, someone likes it."
Feng Jing: "Your hookup?"
Qu Zhong: "Mm."
Feng Jing patted her on the shoulder: "You're really something, still making plans with him."
Qu Zhong laughed: "What's wrong? He wanted to ask me out today, but I refused for the sake of my family."
Lin Qianqian, with a duck neck in her mouth, mumbled, "No, no, no, you go now, let's enjoy this exquisite old apartment all to ourselves."
After three hours of laughter and merriment, the game ended. Feng Jing's home team suffered a 0-2 defeat and was eliminated due to a serious tactical error by their coach.
Feng Jing cursed and cried, expressing that she would never accept reconciliation with the man named Flick who had caused her such great emotional harm.
After much persuasion from Qu Zhong and Lin Qianqian, she finally calmed down and went to her room to sleep.
There was a pile of trash on the table, and Qu Zhong decided to leave it all for tomorrow. She quickly took a shower, climbed into bed, and collapsed.
Before falling asleep, she scrolled through Weibo and came across a local news article—
[Police Report on Professor at Tsinghua University Sexually Assaulting Female Student]
The news was released two hours ago, and its popularity continues to rise, now reaching the top ten trending topics.
The two words that were so closely related to her profession made Qu Zhong click on them without hesitation and read them carefully:
The C District Branch of the Shanghai Public Security Bureau received a report from Bai, a student at T University, claiming that she had been raped by Professor Chen. The police immediately launched an investigation and arrested Chen. Based on Chen's confession and DNA comparison, he has been criminally detained on suspicion of rape. The case is currently under further investigation.
After reading the comments, Qu Zhong scrolled down and found a barrage of criticism:
—Does this scumbag even deserve to be a professor?
—First, there was the F University student who poisoned students, then the T University professor who raped students; prestigious universities are truly different. 666
—From inside sources, it's said that the price couldn't be agreed upon…
—I recommend the death penalty.
Qu Zhong clicked into the comments section of the "suggestion of the death penalty" post and found that they were all in agreement. She casually posted a comment: "To put it simply, this defense lawyer says that rape is generally not punishable by death."
However, her comment was like a drop of rain falling into the ocean, insignificant, and was quickly drowned out by more indignant comments.
Qu Zhong didn't take it seriously anymore; the alcohol took effect, and she fell asleep immediately.
When I woke up the next day, I found a red number notification on the Weibo app.
She rubbed her eyes and opened the message; it was a private message from a stranger.
"Should I accept a rape defense?"
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