0052 The Darkest Hour
Unable to wait until the next day, Qu Zhong went to see Cheng Quan that very night.
He said on the phone that he was at the store.
Haitian Catering is actually a local-style noodle shop located on Anyan Road.
When Qu Zhong found the shop, there was already a plastic sign on the door saying it was temporarily closed.
Upon entering, the shop was in a mess, with chairs piled up on a table like a human pyramid, and a pile of debris scattered on the floor.
A dark-skinned man was rolling up his sleeves and picking up things from the ground, throwing them one by one into a large box next to him.
The authorization documents included a photocopy of Cheng Quan's ID card, and Qu Zhong recognized him at a glance: "Mr. Cheng, I am Qu Zhong."
"Attorney Qu, right? Hello, hello." Cheng Quan first straightened up to greet her, then said apologetically, "I'm sorry, the shop is too messy, there's nowhere to sit."
"It's okay, I can stand."
Qu Zhong didn't want to linger, so she got straight to the point: "Mr. Cheng, are you really sure you want to dissolve the company?"
As they were talking, Cheng Quan had already quickly put everything on the ground into the cardboard box. He picked up the tape next to him and prepared to seal the box.
As he ripped the tape with a crisp sound, he chatted casually with Qu Zhong, seemingly unconcerned: "Well, if we don't tidy up, the shop will be completely closed next week, and I can go home and have a good New Year."
Qu Zhong didn't believe he was truly indifferent: "Give me a little more time, and I will persuade Lu Wei to reduce the rent."
She didn't know how she could say such a thing. She knew perfectly well how resolute Lu Wei's attitude had been that afternoon, and her words were tantamount to giving Cheng Quan a worthless check that could never be cashed.
She was unwilling to give up so easily; even if there was only a sliver of a possibility, she was determined to try.
But Cheng Quan shook her head: "Attorney Qu, I appreciate your kindness."
His detached, Buddhist-like expression irritated Qu Zhong, a surge of anger rising within her at his lack of ambition. It was his shop, yet she seemed more anxious than he was: "Are you really willing to give it up?"
Years of hard work, gone to ashes. It's like selling a child you raised yourself for a pittance.
It's not even selling, it's abandoning, it's simply discarding something you don't want anymore.
How could you be so cruel?
Cheng Quan stopped what she was doing, sighed, and admitted, "What's the use of being reluctant? If there were any other way, I wouldn't have come to this."
"I really can't take it anymore."
This is the last WeChat message Cheng Quan sent to Lu Wei that Qu Zhong saw in those WeChat chat screenshots.
How helpless must one be to say such a thing?
Qu Zhong understands, and every Shanghainese understands how much hardship and bitterness is contained in those words.
Three years ago, Shanghai experienced its darkest moment ever.
A terrible man-made disaster, like an unbreakable net, lingered over the city for a long time, plunging the city into fear and paranoia.
During that period, everyone in Shanghai lost the freedom to come and go, and the right to show their true face.
During the worst months, in this international metropolis, you couldn't see a single car or a single person on the streets.
Later, everyone, regardless of age or gender, became neurotic. They often held up a green QR code, treating it as a talisman. Only with this talisman did they dare to stand in the sunlight.
If the talisman changes color, then the farthest point the person holding it can see is the ceiling above their head, a height even more suffocating than the skylight in a prison.
The economy subsequently plummeted. Qu Zhong, who graduated that year, faced rejection after rejection in job interviews. Many law firms had no intention of hiring new staff, while those that were willing took advantage of her situation, offering increasingly demanding conditions.
Graduates face numerous difficulties, and small and medium-sized enterprises are also in dire straits.
Qu Zhong witnessed firsthand how the bakery she had frequented for three years since her first year of graduate school closed down overnight.
Not just this one shop, but countless others have vanished from this city forever.
The reason is the same as Haitian's: they simply couldn't hold on any longer.
No one stood up for these businesses because the perpetrators of this disaster could not be found.
Qu Zhong understood Cheng Quan perfectly. From the moment she saw the evidence attached to the case, she understood everything and felt deeply for him. That's why she wanted to persuade Lu Wei to be compassionate and give Hai Tian and Cheng Quan a way out.
If there were any other way, she wouldn't have been so humble, so submissive, or even resorting to moral blackmail.
If she could go this far, how could Cheng Quan give up so easily?
"Mr. Cheng, the overall situation is improving now. I believe that as long as we persevere for a while longer..."
“Attorney Qu,” Cheng Quan interrupted her, giving a bitter laugh, “the noodle shop’s net profit this month is only enough to cover the water and electricity bills.”
Post-disaster reconstruction is extremely difficult.
Lu Wei had enough power to sit leisurely in a high-end coffee shop in a bustling area, waiting for the city to return to normal. But Cheng Quan was different; he couldn't wait any longer.
"Thank you for making this special trip. I've made up my mind, I'll do as Attorney Su suggested."
His mind was made up, and Qu Zhong knew that nothing she said would make a difference. It was as if a junior was facing a critically ill relative, weeping and begging him to live, but he himself had already lost the will to live.
After leaving the store, Qu Zhong wandered aimlessly along Anyan Road for a long time.
As a lawyer, she cannot change her client's mind; she can only comply. Like her undergraduate major, the language of translation can be beautiful, subtle, and technically impressive, but it cannot change the original meaning of the sentence.
A chill crept in, and her heart swayed with the cold wind. As she walked, Qu Zhong felt herself being swallowed up by waves of intense despair.
As she stood at the end of the road gazing into the distance, and saw the lights in Haitian Catering dimming, three emotions—the cowardice of surrendering without a fight, the despair of not finding a way out, and the deep self-doubt—visited her at the same time, like three accomplices in a vicious cycle.
The final emotion that overshadowed the first two was the mastermind behind this joint crime, a wake-up call that jolted her awake from her dream.
She changed Xue Bo's charges, and Xue Bo still served every single day he deserved. She defended Yu Wen, offering him a not-guilty plea without doing any hard work; it was Zhai who came to the conclusion on his own. Then there's the Chen Xi case, a complete failure; the self-righteous Duan Ningqi case; and now, the Haitian Catering case, where nothing can be done…
She then realized that all she had been doing all along was trying to move herself.
The truly laughable one was not Xu Yanru, who reversed the roles of crime and punishment, nor Zhai Shi, whom she first met in the reception room, but herself.
Those who constantly preach about the principle of legality in criminal law are nothing more than sacrificing others to achieve their own fame and fortune.
When it came time to actually do something, she was completely helpless and had no ideas whatsoever.
Lu Wei was not wrong for not helping someone in distress, nor was Su Rongqin wrong for pulling the plug prematurely; the one who was wrong was her.
Qu Zhong, a criminal defense lawyer, stands at the crossroads on the street corner, unable to take a single step out.
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