0047 Three Courts Joint Trial (Part 1)
Zhai proposed to Qu Zhong that they move in together in the parking lot of the Sixth Hospital.
Qu Zhong neither immediately agreed nor refused.
She admitted that the offer was very tempting.
Putting everything else aside, the neighborhood where Zhai lives is incredibly quiet. Every time she visits his place, she sleeps exceptionally well that night. Furthermore, she observed that the neighborhood doesn't seem to have an aging population, so no one should be stealing her corn.
Of course, the most crucial point is that Zhai is the owner of the house, not the tenant. So when she jokingly asked if she wanted to share the rent, he laughed indulgently and shook his head. He also said that if she didn't want to eat and live there for free, she could use other forms of compensation.
This blatant implication made Qu Zhong's face turn bright red instantly. She punched his chest twice in shame and indignation, and then came up with a delaying tactic, saying that she would think about it and give him an answer after New Year's Day.
To Zhai, her so-called considerations were no different from a legal act with a time limit. When the time limit arrives, the act automatically takes effect or ceases to exist. This is a certainty, and nothing can change it. Because time within the time limit occurs in a forward direction and will never flow backward.
So on the first workday after New Year's Day, Zhai couldn't wait to ask her, "Have you thought it through?"
Qu Zhong smiled, but her fingertips were playing tricks on her. She kept typing and deleting the reply she had already prepared, making the person on the other side of the screen anxious with the constantly appearing "typing..." message.
If she dawdles any longer, Zhai will probably rush up to her and tell her to stop being so mysterious.
Qu Zhong lightly tapped the send button and sent him the final draft, which was actually no different from the first draft: "From now on, I will cherish the last few months of living alone. Do not disturb me."
Zhai was delighted and replied instantly: "Okay."
She cherished it, while he counted down the days.
Qu Zhong sent him a playful tongue-out emoji to end the conversation, then turned to the heavy-handed group chat to arrange the lawsuit.
All three of them are lawyers, and Feng Jing specializes in civil and commercial litigation. This case is a piece of cake for them, and they don't even need to submit any power of attorney documents; they can handle it themselves.
Not only are civil litigation progressing smoothly, but public interest litigation by the procuratorate has also been put on the agenda.
That evening, Qu Zhong returned home, took a shower, and lay down for a short while when she came across an article updated on the official WeChat account of the C District Procuratorate. Upon opening it, she saw a notice announcing a public interest lawsuit against the pull-apart cake shop.
She squinted with interest, scrolling through the screen, reading word by word.
The announcement first harshly criticized the cake shop for selling toxic and harmful food, then informed affected consumers that they could file a civil lawsuit in court. The last line contained the contact person and their contact information.
Qu Zhong was most familiar with the name and the eight-digit landline number she knew by heart.
When she saw the unanimous praise and compliments in the selected comments below, she couldn't help but flutter around in bed several times, like a little rabbit that had just arrived in the wild and was so happy that it ran around wildly.
This overwhelming joy and sense of pride was too much for her to handle alone; she needed to share it with someone. So Qu Zhong immediately made a video call to the contact person listed in the announcement.
Zhai, who appeared in Qu Zhong's video, must have just finished showering. His bangs were still damp and stuck to his forehead, reminiscent of a fresh, damp meadow after the rain. His shower gel must have smelled wonderful.
Qu Zhong pestered him to ask about some details of the public interest lawsuit, facts that were not detailed in the public announcement but only disclosed to her.
This cake shop was originally located in District S of Shanghai, a decades-old establishment specializing in old-fashioned butter cakes. Due to its remote location, it didn't sell many cakes each day. However, customers who bought from it once always returned, saying the cakes tasted like they did when they were children.
In the latter half of last year, the shop owner passed away due to illness, and the shop was inherited by his two children. The brother and sister were unwilling to spend their entire lives like their parents, running this small shop in District S and barely making ends meet.
After discussing it, they decided to change their business model. Not long after, they moved their address to Hongshi Road, a popular online shopping street. Then they started seeking partnerships with various platforms, spending most of their parents' inheritance on marketing and promotion.
The advertising was very effective, and the store quickly became the most popular place to queue on Hongshi Road. In less than a month, they had recouped all their initial investment.
The busy business made the brother and sister gradually forget their father's teachings. They stopped carefully selecting raw materials and strictly controlling the quality of finished products, which ultimately led to a big mistake.
The sign for the pull-apart cake on Hongshi Road is still the same. But it's old wine in new bottles; the taste is completely different now.
Qu Zhong was deeply moved after listening to the story and wanted to ask them why they did this.
Without asking, she already knew the answer herself.
It's not about why it has to be this way, it's probably because there's no other way.
Because that's the current environment.
Exposure, flashy presentation, and KOL hype are essential for a future. This has led to the distorted phenomenon of bad money driving out good. Those eliminated by the current market are very likely to be unknown, genuinely good products.
The story behind this case made Qu Zhong feel very sad and regretful.
It's a pity that a time-honored brand has been ruined, a pity that a delicious dish has been tainted, and a pity that the craftsmanship and dedication honed by the previous generation over decades have been lost and destroyed overnight in the fickle world of internet celebrity economy.
After carefully listening to her feelings, Zhai expressed his opinion: "It is a pity. However, the cause of this result is not entirely due to environmental factors; human factors account for a larger proportion."
He was sitting with his back against the headboard, his gaze passing through the screen and landing on Qu Zhong's face, like a traveler who had been away for a long time, with unwavering focus.
"They could have chosen the legal path, but they chose to break it. To be honest, they don't deserve much sympathy."
Qu Zhong nodded in agreement, then changed the subject: "Let me know when the trial starts."
Zhai Shi's reaction was quick: "You're here to sit in on this?"
"Hmm." Qu Zhong cleared her throat and reminded him with a smile, "It's not just me, there are my friends too."
"Men" refers to two or more people, including the stated number, and may include an unspecified number of people.
Zhai paused for a few seconds, then said, "I'll hang up now."
Qu Zhong was surprised: "So suddenly? What are you going to do?"
He replied, "Cramming down."
I need to cram on the legal provisions for public interest litigation and also find some court trial videos to study.
Because public interest litigation is not usually under his jurisdiction, this is an exception. Moreover, since someone has made it clear that they want to attend the hearing, and not just one person, then you can never have too much preparation.
...
On the day of the trial, at 2:30 p.m., the First Civil Division of the District C Court.
Qu Zhong, Feng Jing, and Lin Qianqian sat side by side in the gallery early on, chattering excitedly as if they were attending a trial for the first time, while the judge was still absent. Feng Jing and Lin Qianqian, in particular, looked like they had never seen anything like it before.
It's not that they've never seen the world, it's that they've never seen Zhai.
As soon as he entered, the audience fell silent.
Feng Jing stretched out his elbow and shoved Qu Zhong next to him: "Hey, hey, is it him? Is it him?"
Her reaction reminded Qu Zhong of the ten-minute break between classes in high school. A girl in the throes of first love would brush past the boy she had a crush on for a long time in the corridor, while her best friend would whistle and cheer her on.
Qu Zhong tugged at her sleeve to calm her down: "Yes..."
Feng Jing clicked his tongue twice and teased, "You really are a sucker for good looks."
Qu Zhong smiled, her eyes sparkling, and tilted her head to ask the two of them, "Handsome, right?"
Lin Qianqian glanced at the prosecutor's seat and gave an objective assessment: "Hmm, she is somewhat attractive."
Feng Jing was completely smitten: "I approve of this marriage. You two should go to the Civil Affairs Bureau to get your marriage certificate tomorrow."
"..."
Their whispering was noticed out of the corner of Zhai's eye from the prosecutor's seat. He suddenly felt that the judges in today's courtroom were not the three solemn figures on the bench, but rather three men in the audience with lewd smiles.
He was not the prosecutor, but the defendant among the three of them.
He took out his phone, unlocked it, and typed with one hand under the table. His movements were as careful as a student cheating on a test, constantly glancing at the examiner in the dock, afraid of being caught and having his "tool" confiscated.
Soon, Qu Zhong's phone vibrated in her pocket. She took it out and saw a pinned message:
"I'm so nervous."
She glanced at the prosecutor's seat, gave Zhai a knowing smile—a response and a reassurance—and then lowered her head to reply, "What's there to be nervous about? There's a legal representative sitting across from you, not me."
Yes, her role today wasn't that of his defense attorney, but rather his audience. This only made Zhai more nervous, especially since she had brought two colleagues along. Even a single wrong word would be noticed.
What happens when people are nervous? They make a lot of mistakes and behave abnormally.
Zhai was no exception; he turned into a child begging for candy: "Then... give me a kiss." In court, at the prosecutor's seat, wearing a uniform and a prosecutor's badge, he shamelessly fawned over Qu Zhong, "A kiss will make me less nervous."
Help! This is unbearable!
Qu Zhong chuckled softly, typing furiously, "Buy one get nine free": "Mwah m ...
"One kiss isn't enough, ten kisses!"
Zhai was amused by the exact same line of text she sent him; he almost didn't recognize the character in front of him anymore.
Qu Zhong's face ached from laughing so much, and realizing they were still in court, she had to restrain herself a bit. When she looked up again, she was met with two sinister faces.
"Could you please pay attention to this, Qu Zhong?"
"That's right, the court hearing is about to start, stop joking around and be serious."
"..."
For Qu Zhong, court hearings are a lot of fun, but only when she is a participant. Sitting in the audience is a very boring thing.
She wasn't the only one who thought so. Even during the court investigation phase, Feng Jing and Lin Qianqian were yawning incessantly, their eyelids drooping, unable to hear a single word.
Fortunately, the trial didn't last long; it ended in less than an hour.
The exits for the audience and the prosecutors are not the same; the audience uses the front door normally, while the prosecutors take a shortcut through the back door.
After leaving the courtroom, Feng Jing and Lin Qianqian returned the way they came. Qu Zhong excused herself to go to the restroom and asked them to wait for her at the entrance of the courthouse.
She opened the location sharing that Zhai had sent her. With each step she took, the two small red and green dots above their profile pictures brought them a little closer.
When the two points were completely aligned, Qu Zhong stopped at the corner of a wall.
She had barely stopped when her arm was pulled, and she fell into someone's arms. The moment she regained her balance, Zhai, without saying a word, cupped her face and kissed her passionately.
He first gently and slowly rubbed his lips against hers, as if considerately issuing a restraining order, giving her a little time to react.
When she was kissed like that, Qu Zhong opened her eyes wide in surprise, made two sensitive moans, and gradually relaxed under Zhai Shi's gentle licking.
She closed her eyes, slowly getting into the mood, wrapped her arms around his waist, and responded to him with her tongue.
One casts the line and throws the bait, and the other takes the bait willingly.
Sensing her initiative, Zhai increased the force of his lips and tongue, sweeping through Qu Zhong's mouth with a decisive and domineering hormone.
His kiss was too deep and too urgent, leaving Qu Zhong breathless. She wanted to distance herself from him but was inexplicably reluctant. Her head was spinning, as if she were sitting swaying and suspended on a half-open windowsill, with a warm, lazy evening breeze blowing in from time to time.
Their movements were quite subtle; Qu Zhong's crossbody bag slowly slipped off her shoulder amidst the rustling of her clothes, the sound of it falling jolting her fully awake.
She pushed Zhai Shi away, took a step back, pursed her lower lip, and said coquettishly, "What are you doing? Aren't you afraid of being seen?"
Zhai clearly hadn't kissed her enough, still lightly touching the corner of her lips, and chuckled softly, "There's no one here."
Qu Zhong remained vigilant. She looked up and glanced around, as if searching for something, and asked uncertainly, "Are there any more security cameras?"
Zhai turned her face, which was looking around, back towards him, and stroked her smooth cheeks with his fingertips, making her look at him directly: "You can't take pictures here."
Seeing the look in his eyes, hidden behind his eyelashes, filled with desire and a desire to take whatever he wanted, Qu Zhong chuckled: "Do you know what you look like right now?"
Zhai simply hummed in response, waiting for an answer.
Qu Zhong smiled and skillfully recited a set of words: "perpetrator, criminal suspect, defendant, criminal."
In a criminal case, the same person was referred to by different names at different stages. None of these were positive terms, because the people they referred to were not good people.
Finally, she used one of the few Shen languages she knew to define him: "Waning".
Bad guy.
Moreover, he was a bad guy dressed in a prosecutor's uniform that exuded a strong sense of taboo.
Her amateurish attempt at speaking in the Shanghai dialect amused Zhai, who couldn't help but chuckle. He wrapped one arm around her waist, pulling her tightly into his embrace, and stared into her bright and alluring eyes.
"Bad guys are bad guys, anyway, you're now in their hands."
He lowered his head and continued the kiss.
When they parted ways again, it was already when Lin Qianqian called to ask Qu Zhong why he hadn't come out yet.
While helping her organize her bag and clothes, Zhai asked her, "Where are you going next? Back to the law firm?"
Qu Zhong shook her head: "I'm not going back. I took the afternoon off and plan to sit with my friend at a coffee shop nearby." She added, "Oh, and let's have dinner together tonight."
Her casual last question brought back the tension he felt in court. He was silent for a few seconds, then asked, "Who ate with whom?"
Qu Zhong hummed twice, looking at him with ill intent: "You and me... us."
Zhai then realized that his court hearing today had not even truly begun.
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