0036 Vicarious Liability
Qu Zhong slept soundly.
Perhaps because she had been thinking too much these past few days and had cried for too long in the park, she was simply too tired, so she fell into a deep sleep as soon as she got home.
Yesterday, Qu Zhong felt completely empty and weak, as if the sky was about to fall, but after waking up, she felt like she had been fully recharged.
She is like a four-leaf clover that turns to light, adept at finding life among the rows of grains. As long as she can see a ray of sunlight, she will take root and branch out, tenaciously extending in all directions.
After waking up, Qu Zhong lay on the bed with her eyes open, lost in thought for a while. She reasoned that since the incident had already occurred, and it was a choice she made while fully conscious, she should stand up and take full responsibility.
It's unclear what adverse consequences she will have to bear, as her phone is still switched off.
After mentally counting down to ten, Qu Zhong resolutely sat up and reached for her phone from beside her pillow. As she pressed the side button, she patted her chest twice, bracing herself for the storm to break.
She first opened WeChat. As she expected, a bunch of messages popped up, the screen filled with alarming red numbers.
Forgive Qu Zhong for immediately thinking of the phrase: "So many people..."
Besides the massive group chat notification showing 99+ messages, there were also many private messages, which Qu Zhong glanced through. Most were about her whereabouts and safety, with no one mentioning Duan Ningqi's case.
It's as if if we don't mention it, it'll be as if the incident never happened. But little do we know, the sheer scale of the commotion itself is the biggest reminder.
Qu Zhong rubbed her head, gave a brief reply to each of them, and then went to wash up.
She wore elaborate makeup today, so elaborate that it looked like she was going to her ex-boyfriend's wedding. So high-profile, so overshadowing, all for the purpose of a lavish farewell ceremony.
Perhaps this is her last day at Guanzheng.
In fact, Su Rongqin, the "car expert," is most skilled in labor disputes, not criminal defense. He is not only a National May Day Model Worker but also a legal advisor to the Shanghai C District Federation of Trade Unions. According to him, in his fifteen years of practice, he has helped companies dismiss thousands of employees.
So if he wanted to fire Qu Zhong, it would probably be effortless.
She was careless. Qu Zhong now deeply regrets not keeping written records of her overtime work when she was an intern lawyer. Getting up in the middle of the night to write complaints, revise contracts, and reply to emails, and conducting legal research on weekends—those were commonplace. If she had kept evidence of all of that, she could have received a substantial amount of overtime pay.
It's truly lamentable that a lawyer like her would have such a weak sense of legal self-protection.
Lost in thought, she arrived at the law firm from home, expecting strange looks from her colleagues. Perhaps they would gloat over her misfortune, or watch with pity as she was fired.
But the reality was completely different from what she had imagined.
She entered the room using facial recognition, and Li Li greeted her as usual, asking what perfume she was wearing that day. Once at her workstation, Jia Xing Liu, who sat diagonally opposite her, asked if she was free later, as he wanted to discuss an embezzlement case with her.
Looking at her other colleagues, they were either on the phone, typing, or meeting with clients in the conference room. Nobody was paying attention to her; it was as if nothing had happened.
What's going on? Was it intentional or unintentional? Was it to save face for her? Qu Zhong was a little confused.
She definitely won't be able to sit down properly until this matter is clarified.
She and Su Rongqin were handling this case together, and she knew that Su Rongqin could always give her the answers to things she couldn't understand.
So Qu Zhong knocked on his office door.
Just like the day before yesterday, she stood in front of him, without sitting down. The only difference was that the day before yesterday she adopted a confrontational attitude, while today she adopted an apologetic one.
"Attorney Su... um... how's Duan Ningqi's case going?"
God knows how much courage she expended on her future self just to ask that question.
Qu Zhong had caused such a huge mess, and Su Rongqin was already waiting for her in his office early in the morning. When she finally came to him, he only glanced at her and said casually, "This case has nothing to do with us anymore. He has changed his defense attorney."
Qu Zhong couldn't help but exclaim "Ah!" Then she turned her head to make sure the office door was completely closed before speaking again, her words quickening with anxiety and helplessness: "Then what will happen to us—oh no, it's me. Will I have to compensate for the losses and accept punishment?"
The most agonizing state is when things are in limbo; she needs a definitive answer.
Su Rongqin replied in the same tone as before: "Don't worry about that. I'm the lead lawyer for this case, and I'm fully responsible."
Qu Zhong was taken aback by the answer, and she almost blurted out, "How can that be?"
The reason she dared to violate professional ethics by releasing that recording was because she envisioned a premise of self-responsibility.
If she had known that she could escape unscathed while implicating Su Rongqin, she certainly wouldn't have done such a thing.
Like a defendant who appeals the first-instance judgment in court, Qu Zhong expressed her objection to Su Rongqin: "I did the thing, I made the mistake, so of course I have to take responsibility."
Her relationship with him is neither that of a citizen and their legal representative, nor that of a pet and its owner, so there is no question of vicarious liability between them.
Su Rongqin sighed: "How will you take responsibility? How many of your lawyer's licenses can be revoked?"
The word "revocation" silenced Qu Zhong. She quietly clenched her fist and whispered, "Is it really that serious...?" She then worried about him, "What will you do? Will your license be revoked?"
Her reactions might have amused Su Rongqin, in a good way, but he calmly retorted with an extremely pretentious big shot's reply: "Do you think I've wasted the past ten years or so in the Shanghai legal profession?"
"..."
Qu Zhong's chest heaved as she stared at him, unblinking, unsure of what to say.
Su Rongqin's calm attitude was evident in his words: "If Duan Ningqi complains, at most the Bar Association will invite me over for a cup of tea, it's not a big problem."
Qu Zhong was not relieved by this: "But..."
Su Rongqin interrupted her without giving her a chance to speak: "No buts, and this is a one-time exception."
"This is the last time," he said, "this is the last time," right? Qu Zhong's mind went blank for a moment, but was quickly filled with a kind of ecstatic joy at having something lost and then regained. She asked uncertainly, "Do I have another case?"
Su Rongqin raised an eyebrow in confusion: "What, you don't want to work here anymore?"
Qu Zhong quickly denied it, as if afraid of being even half a second too late: "How could that be?"
She could accept any punishment, the only thing she couldn't accept was never being able to practice law again, never being able to do criminal defense again. This was sometimes a very contradictory and painful thing, but it was a career she was irrevocably passionate about.
That morning, she was still trying to convince herself that if all else failed, she could become a legal counsel or pursue other professions unrelated to her criminal law studies. But deep down, she knew she couldn't do it, because none of these were what she wanted.
There are far too many lost people in this world, but Qu Zhong remains clear-headed. She refuses to compromise herself and do things she dislikes. It's meaningless, worthless, and she cannot find happiness in it.
Now Su Rongqin has given her peace of mind, telling her that she can continue on her path. She is overjoyed, but she can't help but feel guilty: "I was just afraid that you would be disappointed in me."
Qu Zhong had always wanted to work on a case with Su Rongqin as a way to prove herself and show him, "Look, now I can truly fight alongside you."
She finally got a chance, but she still messed it up.
Su Rongqin glanced at her, raised his voice, and delivered his longest speech yet: "I wouldn't call it disappointment, but I am quite shocked. With so many choices, you chose the most irrational one. If you didn't want to defend, you could have told me and withdrawn from the case. You insisted on pulling this stunt; do you think you're so great?"
Qu Zhong felt relieved after being thoroughly scolded. She was afraid that he, like others, would deliberately avoid talking about the matter.
She pursed her lips and muttered softly, "I just don't want to see someone like him get away with it."
"What do you mean by 'getting away with one's life'?" Su Rongqin retorted without hesitation, looking exasperated. "If the prosecution had solid evidence, how could he get away with it? But now the evidence is insufficient, and doubt favors the defendant. Have you forgotten all the law you learned from your teachers?"
Qu Zhong muttered to himself, "The law doesn't protect people like him."
Su Rongqin patiently corrected her: "You're wrong. The law protects everyone. If a bad person cannot be convicted, it doesn't mean that the law protecting him is an evil law. On the contrary, it shows that it is a good law because it has strict procedures and protects human rights, rather than arbitrarily depriving a person of their life and freedom."
After that, the office fell into a brief silence.
Teaching bright students often only requires a few words, and Su Rongqin knew she understood his ulterior motives. She was just stuck on the Duan Ningqi case, obsessing over it. Once she figured it out, she'd be fine.
He leaned back in his chair and casually asked, "Qu Zhong, do you admit you crossed the line?"
Qu Zhong was stunned by his words and dared not deny it. She nodded frantically, "I admit it. I was wrong. I'm sorry."
Su Rongqin laughed, then said seriously, "You're not just letting me down, you're letting down your lawyer's license and the award the Bar Association gave you for being one of the top ten criminal defense lawyers."
"I know……"
"Okay, you know you're wrong, so I'll punish you by making you file these cases. Your junior, Ye Xiaoxiao, finished her internship these past two days, but she still has a bunch of legal aid cases that haven't been filed. File them all and send them to the legal aid center before the New Year."
Qu Zhong took on everything: "Yes, yes, yes, I have to do it."
Her obedient appearance pleased Su Rongqin, who ordered, "Alright, go out."
Qu Zhong had just turned her head in response when Su Rongqin's unexpected question, like a hood-pulling motion, pulled her back: "By the way, have you been dating lately?"
"Huh?" Qu Zhong turned around in surprise, stammering slightly in shock: "Why...why are you asking this all of a sudden?"
Su Rongqin smiled mischievously, his eyes full of amusement, and said indifferently, "Last night I received a phone call, asking me in a great hurry whether you were at the law firm."
Qu Zhong immediately guessed who it was, and her ears instantly felt like they were on fire.
Especially after Su Rongqin asked those three words, the fire burned even brighter: "Boyfriend?"
She quickly denied it: "No!"
Su Rongqin, like a gossipy onlooker, continued to ask, "Is he pursuing you?"
Qu Zhong remained silent, unable to deny it, and nodded slightly.
Su Rongqin gave a look that said, "No wonder." He continued, "I was wondering why I was so indifferent to that blind date I went on last time. She went to my master and said you were so fierce that she's now traumatized by female lawyers."
These words really angered Qu Zhong. "What the hell? Going to complain? How tasteless!"
She scoffed twice and then complained, "He's not much better than me. He has a trauma, but I have one too, about finance guys."
Before Su Rongqin could say anything more, she ran out after accusing her, like a child who had done something wrong and was hiding away.
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