First-Class LawyerCh217 - Weibo Extras (iv)-(v)

YSZ Birthday 2023

Surprisingly, Yan Suizhi and Gu Yan weren’t spending late January this year buried in voluminous case files or shuttling around various planets. 9NJjdc

They evaded the upscale dinner parties on De Carma and went to Wine City instead.

It wasn’t because there was anything charming about Wine City at this time of the year. Rather, the old director of Cloud Herb Welfare Home had invited them over multiple times, and it would be ungracious to decline.

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The director hoped to show them the newly constructed special school at Cloud Herb. As Cloud Herb’s biggest donors, they should have the right to know where their every dollar was going.

Other than that, however, the old director also had a small selfish motive. wZgxbN

He was getting old, and in a few years, the welfare institution would likely probably be transferred to someone else to manage. But before that, he wanted to see more of the friends he had the fortune of making as a result of the welfare institution.

The director wheedled the guests into a series of activities packed across four days, and everyone had a good time.

Yan Suizhi and Gu Yan were scheduled to return to De Carma on the fourth night. When taking into account the flight duration and the interplanetary time difference, it would be exactly the 24th when they landed at the port.

The distinguished Lawyer Gu had made restaurant reservations and ticket bookings long in advance for a modernised opera that Yan Suizhi was rather interested in. After touching down on De Carma, there would be just enough time to head to lunch with not a wasted second. It was the perfect plan.

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However, there was a minor hiccup to this perfect plan on the day they intended to depart from Wine City.

Wine City had always been renowned for the diversity of its marketplace; some trinkets that had become obsolete on other planets would still be in high demand here. For example…

Old-fashioned fireworks, the sort that people had to go up close to set off.

This item had disappeared from other planets years ago, yet stall after stall carrying such products lined the road to the port. Id5xFu

And the esteemed Dean Yan just had to pause briefly as they passed by, showing a hint of interest.

“Do you like them?” Noticing that, Gu Yan asked.

It wasn’t an arbitrary question. After all, with the lamp pines as precedent, he had a long-standing impression that Yan Suizhi held a natural fascination for things that twinkled in the dark.

Yan Suizhi browsed through several types with considerable interest, smiling. “Not exactly. It’s just that I vaguely recall seeing fireworks being set off before.” zGuatk

“Before?”

“Mm,” Yan Suizhi nodded, “many years ago. I was probably only…”

He gestured with his hand around Gu Yan’s waist. “This tall. When I was five or six years old.”

“Five or six? Then you were probably a little shorter.” Gu Yan darted a look at his hand and moved it several centimetres down. a8ALhE

Yan Suizhi clicked his tongue, saying huffily, “Must you get on my nerves over something like this?”

“No.” Gu Yan went, “You were only five or six. And then?”

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“I think it was also on my birthday. My mother had returned from a trip and collected many novelty items. She took a box out to play with.”

When reminiscing about the past, his eyes would often curve into shallow crescents, carrying a touch of mirth. “She probably intended to trick me into playing with them, but she ended up getting more interested in them herself, setting them off the whole afternoon. At the end of the day, she insisted that I had to pick out a favourite. I randomly pointed to one, which happened to be old-fashioned fireworks like these.” K1NqH

Actually, Yan Suizhi couldn’t quite remember what colours and shapes the fireworks had formed. He only vaguely remembered that near the end, the scintillating lights and the starry sky practically melded together in a gorgeous display.

“It’s just a pity that we didn’t record it,” Yan Suizhi said.

In the decades after, he never saw such old-fashioned fireworks bursting in the starry sky again.

“You’ve never purchased any to set off on your own?” Gu Yan asked. 1yVRit

Yan Suizhi, “There isn’t much free time for me to think of that in the first place. Besides, doesn’t it look a bit silly to buy them and set them off alone? Also that Gao Lin would be driven to anger if the sparks fall onto the garden and kill off the newly planted trees.”

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.

Gu Yan, “Hasn’t Gao Lin long been inured to you killing off the trees?”

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Tjc Velhtl, “Kbemtf. Vb, qglwjglis yfmjerf la ibbxr rliis.” gZOCdD

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Tjc Velhtl ujnf j rajga.

Gu Yan carried on, “You don’t have to light it. If you just watch from the side, you won’t look silly, right?”

Yan Suizhi, “Who will light it, then?” eGxuIk

Who else could it be?

Only the person wearing matching rings with him would be willing to look so silly on his behalf.

And so…

Decades later, Yan Suizhi saw another brilliant spread of stars in the sky. 6SpdRw

On the edge of a lake in the remote suburbs, about two kilometres from the port, on a night when the lights of Wine City were sparse.

This time he finally remembered to take a recording, but the camera was directed not at the night sky, but at his lover under the fireworks.

Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.

 

Despite this unforeseen interlude, they still ultimately managed to make it in time for the lunch reservation and opera performance on De Carma. GvYwhu

Everything was perfect.

Except for Lawyer Gu’s expensive coat, which sported countless dark specks after sparks showered down on him when he stood too close to set off the fireworks.

Sometime later, when he sent the coat to be maintained at a shop, the staff gaped at the tiny dark specks, questioning, “How did it get to this state?”

The distinguished Lawyer Gu thought, Beats me. oV4yTa

If he were to explain, then it’d probably be that something had charmed away his capacity for clear thought.

– Edited by snoflakesun

 

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GY Birthday 2023 • Student Days

In a manner of speaking, Gu Yan did inherit some traits from his grandfather.

The esteemed old judge had dedicated a lifetime of ceremoniousness to the courtroom, reserving his superb memory for time and dates on the alliance’s legal codes, bills, and history. On the contrary, the amount he invested into personal matters was close to zero.

With him as a role model, there was a very long period of time when Gu Yan didn’t consider birthdays to be any special occasion. MrUaBh

The purpose of the series of digits denoting the date was, objectively, to be integrated into the alliance’s lengthy identity number for the legal differentiation of individuals.

Barring that, it was no different from any other day.

Also thanks to his grandfather, Gu Yan’s favourite leisure reading during his adolescence was casebooks and suchlike, examining the gamut of human nature from every dimension.

So, from a very young age, he learned to calmly accept the diversity of human behaviour. 5hSZb1

For instance, despite his blasé attitude towards birthdays, he wasn’t taken aback by someone like Joe, who absolutely adored celebrating birthdays by setting off fireworks across the alliance.

But Joe couldn’t wrap his head around it.

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The family friends, childhood friends, and party friends that Joe had come to know in the twenty-plus years of his life were just like him. Birthdays were meant to be flaunted to everyone under the sun. Even if one toned down on the celebrations, there would still be a simple party at least, if only as a symbolic gesture.

Therefore, when he first heard Gu Yan claim “I don’t celebrate my birthday”, he waved it off as politesse. 6c8zaQ

After all, they had just entered Maze University and had been roommates for less than a month at that point. In the world of the rich, ‘I don’t celebrate my birthday’ translated to ‘We’re not close enough for me to invite you to my birthday party.’

Later on, when they became much closer, Joe asked Gu Yan again how he planned to celebrate his birthday, to which the response remained “I don’t celebrate my birthday.”

In Joe’s worldview: How’s it possible that someone doesn’t celebrate their birthday? Preposterous. My ears must have gone wonky. Either that or there’s something else afoot.

And so Joe fixated on the notion that ‘My friend doesn’t want to celebrate his birthday, so something must have happened on that day’, concocting an entire tragedy in his head. He even came close to taking action, but, thankfully, Ke Jin intervened, caught between laughter and tears. R5liwz

Only then did he find out that Gu Yan simply didn’t have the habit.

Back then, Joe said, “So what if it’s not a habit? There’s a first time for everything. C’mon! I’ll organise a grand birthday party for the both of you this year. It only comes once a year; how can you not celebrate such a special day?”

Gu Yan, “The average life expectancy is two hundred years.”

“That’s just two hundred times in a lifetime,” Joe said. “Is two hundred a lot? That’s way too few.” pZSlNo

He immediately started tapping on the screen of his smart device, looking like he was already making preparations. “Tell me, what are your favourite numbers? Interstellar fireworks have to be pre-ordered. Let me see how many we’ll need.”

“…”

A single firework was conservatively estimated to cost over 10,000 xi.

Ke Jin jumped out of his skin, hurriedly reaching out to tap off the screen. R1BKcE

Gu Yan, “…Am I missing some law that states you’ll be incarcerated if you don’t set off fireworks on your birthday?”

Joe was amused. “Course not. It isn’t as if I release fireworks on every birthday.”

To offset his hedonistic image, Joe added, “It’s not about how many people you invite or how many fireworks you set off, either. Actually, I’ve always advocated that on your birthday, you should do what brings you joy.”

“Just think about it this way. Do whatever makes you happy as a form of celebration. If you can’t think of anything, just throw a party and have fun with everyone…” ZLVuxv

Joe spent all of that day trying to brainwash Gu Yan.

After all his efforts, he asked, “How about it, Gu? Any ideas?”

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And after a moment of silence, Gu Yan said, “None.”

Joe, “…” y Yozp

From that day onwards, Joe concluded one thing: this bestie of his had the predisposition to be a workaholic. Perhaps he naturally lacked the gene for ‘having a good time’ and didn’t have anything that could put him ‘in a good mood’. Which was why he could remain completely resistant to persuasion.

At this rate, his friend would go two hundred years without celebrating his birthday!

He’d even secretly made a bet about it with Ke Jin.

Little did Joe expect that he would lose the bet in less than two years. ZdVwH0

 

It was Gu Yan’s final September at Maze University.

That year, an early chill had settled into the autumn days on campus.

Cold currents blew across oceans and mountains into this time zone, causing the broad-leaved plants and vines, which usually didn’t start changing colours until late October, to take on a yellowish hue in early September. YlbZa7

The path leading to the law school and auditoriums was lined with an abundance of vines, leaves densely climbing up the walls, with some even reaching up to the sunny windowsill of the dean’s office.

Graduation was still over six months away, but some students had already decided on a general direction. Gu Yan was among the earliest of them.

There weren’t many modules scheduled for that academic year, and a portion of students had taken long-term leaves of absence. They seldom returned to the university any more, other than to attend a specific professor’s lectures and exams.

‘A specific professor’, among the law students here, referred exclusively to Yan Suizhi. LIanYp

But Yan Suizhi was only responsible for a very limited number of modules this year. Even counting the non-coursework lectures, they only came up to a paltry sum.

On that day, a scrolling timetable for the lectures and tutorials for the academic year was displayed on the holographic screen in front of the law school.

Gu Yan was on the way to the student administrative office to pick up a file when he passed by the holographic screen. Just then a certain someone’s name happened to scroll by, and his already unhurried footsteps faltered briefly.

Actually, he had Yan Suizhi’s teaching schedule memorised. He even had an impression of the classes not in his year. 4uOY n

But he still couldn’t help but pause in front of the screen, checking it again.

Unlike his grandfather, Gu Yan’s remarkable memory for numbers and dates was unknowingly dedicated to these areas, alongside legal codes and cases.

Chrysanthemum Garden.

The timetable was not long, only occupying one page. Coupled with the lectures, which were subject to last-minute changes, there were no more than twenty entries.

Gu Yan read the timetable and suddenly remembered Joe once said—Is two hundred a lot? That’s way too few. 7zcYyR

If two hundred was few, then what about twenty? In the context of two hundred years, that was truly a rarity.

 

Gu Yan still had to rush to the port that day to catch a transfer elsewhere. According to the plan, he had to set off immediately after picking up the file.

But at the time he was supposed to leave, instead of hopping into a hovercar to the port, he sat in the first-year law class. NMLlCa

That period was a seminar held in a medium-sized lecture hall with high-backed chairs that covered half the back row.  There were even handouts displayed on the digital table surfaces for the students to peruse.

Gu Yan was sitting in the last row.

The electronic handouts contained content he had learnt years back, and the name of the professor for this class was marked clearly at the top of the document: Yan Suizhi.

As always, the man entered the lecture hall on the dot. Probably coming straight from a meeting, he still wore his fatigue-relieving glasses. As he looked down and flicked through the hologram, it brought to mind the image of him sitting in his office, reviewing some documents. fatYh3

And when he looked up again, the gentle crescents of his eyes resembled a lake with the reflection of the autumn sun.

The smart device on Gu Yan’s finger vibrated. He tapped the screen, and a message popped up. It was from Joe: [You’re taking the 6 p.m. space shuttle tonight to Planet Skybridge for a business trip, right? I’m also going over to run an errand for my sis. Wanna go together?]

[Gu Yan: I might not be able to make it.]

[Joe: Why, did anything urgent come up?] v3E8oW

[Gu Yan: A personal matter.]

[Joe: Huh? What personal matter can stand between you and work? My curiosity is killing me. What are you doing?]

Gu Yan raised his gaze, looking at the person at the podium.

His tall and lean figure cast a faint shadow on the holographic screen behind him. A virtual clock was beside the shadow, and today’s date was next to the time. eEn9ko

It was September 11, a fair autumn day.

Gu Yan watched him quietly for a while before lowering his head to reply: [Celebrating my birthday.]

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