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Sheng Min Ou looked at me, his furrowed eyebrows eventually relaxing again, as it was replaced by a sneer which formed on his lips.
“Very well,” he said, “I hope you follow through with your words.”
Today was unlike the previous days, so of course I would fulfil what I promised.
I wouldn’t force anything, because there was no need to force things; I wouldn’t use harrassment, because sooner or later, you’re going to fall into my lap yourself.
“Of course, of course.” I replied, giving him fake smiles as he didn’t bother to pay me any further attention. He swiftly turned around and continued changing his clothes.
Sheng Min Ou’s back muscles were well-proportioned, with clear lines outlining the definition of his toned physique, and his skin color was an almost sickly white. It was odd, because given the current state of his undress he was already naked to the point where nothing could be more bare, yet I somehow felt that the view of his back was more a show of asceticism than when he was clothed.
I moved a finger, then desperately suppressed the quivering of it.
“Then…it’s settled.” Afraid that my gaze reflected my yearning too much and would give me away, I could only quickly direct my sights elsewhere, as I held my key and moved towards my row of lockers.
When I came out again after the shower, Sheng Min Ou had long since left.
Since Yao Jing refused to plead guilty, the case would have to undergo hearing upon hearing, so just the attorney fees alone would require a huge sum of money. After Wei Shi found out, he secretly gathered one hundred thousand renminbi in cash, wrapped it in a plastic bag, and then packed it in a plain shopping bag, as he called me to meet him outside the store and forcefully stuffed it into my hand.
“Don’t say it was from me, otherwise he definitely wouldn’t accept it.” Wei Shi said, his glance darting into the shop ever so often as if he was a thief.
I held the bag of cash tight in an embrace, reflecting on the weight of an arduous mission being placed on my shoulders that I had never felt before, “Why did you bring cash, don’t you know how to transfer money instead?”
“I got this from one of my other stores, so I didn’t get to deposit it in the bank just yet and I thought I’d bring it straight here.” His expression suddenly changed as he quickly finished, “I’ll leave it to you then, I’m going to go first.” After he uttered those words, it was as if the soles of his shoes had been greased with oil as he dashed off into the distance.
I turned around, and Shen Xiao Shi opened the store door, his complexion also not looking too great.
He glanced at the bag in my arms and asked, “What is that?”
My mind wracked by a guilty conscience, I moved to instantly hide the bag behind me, “It’s nothing, he brought me…shoes.”
“Shoes?” Shen Xiao Shi didn’t buy it at all, as he reached behind me and snatched the bag. He opened it and was stunned for a while, “This much money?”
There was nothing fundamentally wrong with having money, however I lied to him. I lied to him about something that didn’t require a lie, and thus it was enough for him to determine that this sum of money had something to do with him.
He picked up a wad of money, as he looked at me with a sullen face and asked, “San…Wei Shi gave it to me?”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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Shen Xiao Shi threw the wad of cash hard back into the bag, remaining unappreciative of Wei Shi’s efforts.
“Who cares about this.” He viciously remarked, grabbing the bag of money as he turned and chased after Wei Shi, seemingly with the intent of returning the money back in person.
Staring at his gradually fading silhouette, I couldn’t help but shake my head and sigh.
The fate of the Qing Wan F4 in the future was really hard to say. .
Shen Xiao Shi left for a full hour before returning. I noted that he came back empty-handed and was in a bad mood, so I guessed that the money should have been returned, however the verbal exchange between the two of them was probably not a happy conversation.
“Feng Ge, don’t worry. The money that Lawyer Sheng requires, I won’t be short of even a cent when I pay him.” Shen Xiao Shi started with a solemn expression, “I will gather the money in full even if I have to sell my blood or a kidney.”
Upon hearing these words I almost felt like a headache was going to occur, so I hurriedly waved my hands at him, “There’s no need, no need.”
If he was going to sell his blood and kidneys to gather money, then I’d rather offer my body to Sheng Min Ou as a way to repay the debt to him. At least this way it would result in an outcome where everyone was happy.
In the afternoon, Shen Xiao Shi asked for leave, saying that Sheng Min Ou had asked him to make his way over to discuss the strategy for the upcoming hearing. As a friend of his and as a “fisherman” who was currently trying to lure a gull, I expressed my desire to go with him.
With only Liu Yue left in the pawnshop, we couldn’t remain open and conduct business as usual, so we could only close the shop in advance.
When we arrived at Jin Shang law firm, the receptionist led us to the conference room. As soon as we entered, we saw not only Sheng Min Ou and Wu Yi, but three other lawyers also present.
Shen Xiao Shi sat at the conference table with them. As with before, I found a chair to sit in and remained in the corner as I watched quietly.
“Mr. Shen, we are planning to request Dr. Xu Wei Bo of Qing Wan Mental Health Center to do a psychological evaluation for your mother, Ms. Yao Jing.” Wu Yi slipped a form to Shen Xiao Shi and continued, “If the result shows that she is mentally unstable, or has severe depression, we can use this as new starting points for our defense.”
Shen Xiao Shi scanned over the form and quickly signed his name in the lower right corner.
“In addition, we would also like to harness the media and use it to direct more public attention to this case.” A female lawyer said, “Domestic violence is a very good topic and will attract considerable attention.”
“Media?” Shen Xiao Shi asked, perplexed, “Why would we need to do this.”
“Well, actually……”
“Because it’s a win-win situation.” Sheng Min Ou interjected, cutting off the female lawyer who was still thinking about how to explain the matter to Shen Xiao Shi.
He leaned forward, his hand clasped, as he placed it on the table and looked directly at Shen Xiao Shi. He continued, “Through public attention, the process of the trial can be expedited, and our law firm can be featured in essentially advertisements for free as we gain a good reputation. Why shouldn’t we do it?”
Shen Xiao Shi seemed a little hesitant. After all, media intervention meant that this case would be put under the eyes of the public for their comments and scrutiny. Even if you censored the names and reserved anonymity, it was difficult to guarantee that this wouldn’t affect your future life.
I heard many of their meetings, and so I had also picked up a few things as I reminded Shen Xiao Shi in a low voice: “Xiao Shi, the momentum generated by public opinion may also affect the jury. ”
Although the jury had sworn an oath to make their own independent judgments, and to not be affected by any external factors, when faced with overwhelming public opinion one way, unless you maintained complete distance from the world being unseeing and unhearing, who could really guarantee to not be swayed at all by it?
I felt Sheng Min Ou’s gaze coming my way, so I responded to his stare with a reserved look of my own as I nodded at him.
Unlike previous instances, where as long as Sheng Min Ou was in the room my sight would never stray from him, this time when I entered the meeting room my main attention was fixed on Shen Xiao Shi. It was only now that I truly looked at him.
No matter what I thought in my heart, from the outside at least, it appeared that my gaze really no longer followed him.
I had carefully arranged a trap, one which looked harmless, careless, and made no commotion. I knew that my gull was especially acute, and that if my eyes betrayed any sense of fervour, if my actions were even the slightest bit excessive, his guard would be raised again. Therefore, I had to be careful, exceedingly careful, so that I could capture him completely.
“Given that it’s a win-win situation, why don’t you then just waive the attorney fee then?” I suggested, as I began to broach the topic of fees for Shen Xiao Shi, “The benefits of such widely seen advertisements are more than the little sum of this attorney fee. In short, you guys are still coming out of this with a profit.”
Wu Yi heard my proposal and laughed as he responded, “You can’t really put things that way…”
“Done.” Sheng Min Ou interrupted as he readily agreed.
Wu Yi shut up all of a sudden and after a while brought his hands together in a salute as he remarked, “You’re right!”
When Shen Xiao Shi heard that the lawyer’s fee would be waived, his expression instantly lightened up as he exchanged glances with me, his features revealing a joyful expression.
Shen Xiao Shi replied, “Alright, then let’s proceed with what you said.”
They continued the meeting, and I retreated to my state of being the wallpaper again.
Suddenly the phone shook and I saw that I had received a friend request. I took a closer look at it and it was from Zheng Mi Mi.
I quickly confirmed the request and Zheng Mi Mi was still online. Immediately after she had sent over a message, “Shi di, last time you shouted me some ham, this time I’ll treat you to a big meal, yeah.”
Treat me to a big meal?
I raised my eyebrows a little bit, and replied bemused, “You don’t have to go out of your way to treat me to a meal back.”
After a while, Zheng Mi Mi replied with a tearful emoji and finally spilled the truth.
“I’m not really going out of my way to treat you or anything, okay. Remember the charity dinner I mentioned last time? It’s right next month. I initially wanted my cousin-in-law to be my date, but he ruthlessly rejected me. I’m worried that if I carelessly invite some other guy I know then he’ll misinterpret my intentions, which will turn out to be annoying. However, I know you won’t think this way, as after all your heart belongs to someone already.”
So it turns out that this was what she had planned. Treating me to dinner was a guise, her true intention was to seek me for help.
“Honestly it isn’t really a big deal if you don’t have a date right…”
“No! I’ve already told my cousin that I’d bring a super handsome guy to the dinner. Since I’ve put the news out there already, are you going to just let me become a joke in front of my incompetent, annoying and spendthrift cousin?”
After a while, perhaps after seeing that I hadn’t responded to her despite some time having passed, she figured that convincing me would be a hard task. So she unleashed her ultimate move – applying a cute tone to her words as she sent over a voice message.
“Pleaseee, shi di, you know you’re the most handsome guy in my eyes. Besides you, I really can’t think of anyone who is worthy of being my date. You’re truly unique, you’re so resplendent, so different from the rest. Amongst all living beings on this earth the two of us managed to meet, so considering this fate, are really going to turn down this little favour I’m asking of you?”
As I was in a meeting, I used one of the functions to turn the voice message into text, and just when I had finished reading her text and was going to send a rejection her way, I heard Sheng Min Ou’s calm and collected voice ring out. All of a sudden, inspiration struck, and I suddenly changed my mind.
I turned the phone volume to the max, and clicked on Zheng Mi Mi’s voice message.
“Pleaseeee, shi di…”
Instantly, a sweet and soft female voice sounded abruptly in the conference room, and everyone was taken aback by it, as they stopped in their tracks and unanimously directed their stares at me.
Out of all the gazes I received, Sheng Min Ou’s stare was exceptionally cold, as he seemed greatly dissatisfied that I had interrupted his meeting.
Uh oh, the king got angry.
“Sorry, sorry!” I hurriedly got up, and covered my phone with one hand in an embarrassed manner as I walked out, looking as if I had been talking on the phone and accidentally pressed the speaker button. I responded in a soft voice, “Wait one second, I’ll go out to talk.”
As I passed Shen Xiao Shi, I patted his shoulder lightly and pointed outside the door, expressing that I was going to head outside to answer the phone.
Shen Xiao Shi was stunned by how saccharine the tone was just now, and took a long time before he had registered what I said as nodded at me and reacted.
The whole way, I pretended to hold my mobile phone next to my ear as I turned into an evacuation corridor. After confirming that there was no one around, I let go of the phone, having put up a good act.
I couldn’t return to the conference room until a good five or so minutes had passed. I took out a pack of cigarettes and simply began lighting one up in the evacuation corridor as I began smoking.
I sat on the steps and clicked on the chat box. After Zheng Mi Mi’s voice messages, I replied to her with a simple “OK” emoji.
Zheng Mi Mi was over the moon, as she repeatedly thanked me.
“No, thank you.” I said, quitting the chat app with a smile.
Thank you for the chapter~
Yeaah!!! Go Lu Feng!!! Make the Gull jealous!!! BWAHAHHAHAHAHHA 😂😂😂
Omg, I hope Zheng Mi Mi doesn’t suddenly drop dead somewhere, because we’d SO KNOW whose fault that would be…
But I like this kind of pettiness 😁😁
Thaaaaaaanks for the chapter ❤️
Thanks for the chapter!
Thanks for the chapter ♥️♥️
Hehehe I love how this is going
Hehehe the next chapters are going to be so good
Thank you for the chapter!
Lu Feng, you sly guy… 😏
I hope his two friends can go back to being friends again someday. Although that would be pretty disturbing to be attacked like that by someone you considered your good friend and brother.
Yes…. Make him jealous…. 🤭🤭
Oh My LF!! 👍 make him come out of his shell!!
Although I’m concerned for ur future darling…. making him jealous like that~~~
thank you for the chapter <3
Thanks for the chapter<3
thanks for the chapter!
Waiving the fees? That’s very generous of him. 👀
Go LU FENG!! Him playing it out loud was so funny LMAO. I like where this is going, i’m excited! 😀
i feel like this is the finally the turnaround that pays off all the miserable tension. Wonderful!! Thank you translator!!
Omg I hope he’s SMO is suppper jealous right now
BHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAHHA LUFENG OP 4000 IQ