Chapter 179 - 112: Reporting Human Trafficking! You Did a Good Job

Lin Yue nodded, then quickly pushed Xu De forward and said,

"He’s my partner."

Partner?

Master Guanxin paused, his gaze lingering on Xu De for a moment as he reconsidered.

He and Lin Yue’s father, Lin Guodong, were a generation apart.

But they were actually on quite good terms. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have let him recuperate at the Daoist Temple.

So naturally, he had heard Lin Guodong mention Lin Yue’s law firm from time to time.

And every time the subject came up, Lin Guodong would look deeply troubled, muttering things like ’borderline,’ ’violations,’ ’raids...’

With this in mind,

Master Guanxin extended a hand, gesturing to one side of the coffee table.

"Please, sit."

Xu De happily took a seat.

There was no awkwardness between them, nor any need for pleasantries.

Master Guanxin pushed a glass of water toward him.

"How old are you, Lawyer Xu?" he asked gently.

"Twenty-five. I’ll be twenty-six after my birthday."

Xu De replied.

’Twenty-five... and he won’t be twenty-six for another three months.’

’That was very young, especially in the legal profession. Lawyers only get more formidable with age. For him to have such a track record at his age...’

"Impressive, very impressive."

"Even compared to the lawyers from Yanjing, Lawyer Xu is their equal, if not their superior."

Master Guanxin praised him repeatedly, and his words sounded completely sincere.

Seeing this, Lin Yue quickly chimed in,

"See? I told you he was incredibly talented, but my dad just wouldn’t believe me. That stubborn old mule..."

The master said, "Professor Lin has his own reasons and ideals."

Xu De, however, wasn’t concerned with the opinion of Lin Yue’s father.

He was more surprised by the man before him.

"You’ve heard of me?" Xu De asked, surprised. He stared at the man from his seat at the coffee table.

’My methods aren’t exactly savory.’

’Master Guanxin is a seasoned veteran.’

’He’s in his sixties. It’s 2003 right now. Turn back the clock sixty-some years, and you’re at a time before Dongguo was even founded!’

’He’s from the very first generation of legal professionals in Dongguo, a veteran of veterans, a living fossil in the legal world!’

’And Lin Yue said he was just a senior lawyer...’

’Anyone who believes that is an idiot. Back in the day, there was no talk of elite Red Circle firms or Gold Medal Lawyers. He’s called a ’senior lawyer’ simply because ’senior’ was the only term they had.’

’He even managed to navigate the country’s more turbulent times and protect himself, which is a testament to his capabilities!’

"I have."

Master Guanxin’s white eyebrows relaxed as a smile spread across his face. He personally steeped a cup of tea and pushed it toward Xu De.

He stroked his white beard and said slowly,

"The Li Family Village case and the 18th Middle School case. You did very well, my young friend. You quelled public outrage, and the Bureau of Justice’s performance review even benefited from your success."

"The people at the Bureau of Justice have been walking around with their noses in the air lately."

"The victims in those cases were all properly compensated as well. Very good..."

From the very start, he brought up Xu De’s two most significant cases.

Xu De raised an eyebrow.

’This man is sitting here in this little Daoist Temple, yet he knows what’s going on at the Bureau of Justice...’

’He probably knows a great deal about the internal workings of the courts, too. His network... must be incredibly vast.’

’But then again, if he knows all that... why isn’t he chewing me out?!’

"Master, you don’t have any... opinions you’d like to share?" Xu De asked tentatively, still surprised.

’Huang Shi, Hu Guang, Zhang Bingxin, Zhao Xing...’

’Those guys would love nothing more than to throw a sack over my head and beat me senseless in an alley!’

’And here’s a man who probably participated in amending the laws themselves, yet he’s speaking to me so pleasantly...’

"I already did."

Master Guanxin’s voice was aged, but it wasn’t murky. It was perfectly clear.

He smiled warmly and said slowly,

"Very good."

Xu De suddenly felt as if he were sitting on pins and needles. He actually wasn’t getting scolded.

The next second,

Then he heard the man say slowly, "My young friend, are you worried about your... methods?"

Xu De nodded.

At this, the smile on Master Guanxin’s face deepened. He said casually,

"It’s fine. They are merely means to an end."

He paused for a moment before adding,

"There are two sides to everything. As long as your heart is in the right place, it doesn’t matter if your methods are a bit crooked."

Xu De took a sip of his tea and glanced over at Lin Yue.

’My curiosity about this old man is growing.’

’Theoretically, Dongguo’s old guard are all supposed to be stern, stodgy types. But this man was being indulgent—no, he was practically encouraging me.’

Lin Yue, however, lowered her head, burying her face and playing the part of an ostrich with its head in the sand.

Seeing this,

Xu De turned back to the master. After a moment’s hesitation, he asked,

"Objectively speaking, my actions... do disrupt judicial order to some extent. Don’t you think that’s wrong?"

’Judicial procedure is important.’

’It’s the cornerstone of social order, yet when I litigate a case, I all but ignore it...’

But Master Guanxin simply said,

"Do you think it’s right?"

"If you think it’s right, then it is."

"There are no perfect people in this world, nor are there perfect laws. There are only complex people, bound by those laws."

"Some people use the law to evade order, while others are protected by it."

"The law itself is flawed. The way it’s cited is flawed. The people it protects are even more flawed. Given that foundation, what does it matter if one more method is a little flawed, too?"

’To be a corrupt official, you must be cunning. To be an honest official, you must be even more cunning than the corrupt ones!’

’It’s the same for lawyers.’

’It was just as the man said.’

’The law is meant to be the cornerstone of society, but society is composed of too many people. It’s impossible to constrain everyone.’

’Inevitably, a small portion of people will become victims.’

’But the law can’t be easily changed, because its purpose is to maintain stability for the vast majority.’

’And so, you end up with a situation where the stability of the majority is bought at the cost of a minority of victims whom the law fails to protect.’

"So you don’t think the law is a set of rigid rules?"

Xu De raised an eyebrow, growing even more surprised by this old veteran.

The old veteran, Master Guanxin, let out a hearty laugh.

"Of course."

"Procedures, processes, the scorn of others... my young friend, you should learn to let these things go."

"After all, the law itself is imperfect. Why should every lawyer be expected to abide by its rules when dealing with people who have already broken them?"

The law is imperfect, which means a small minority is destined to have their interests infringed upon.

Take divorce cases, for example.

The idea that the woman almost always gets the child and receives child support is quite unfair; it can be seen as oppressive to the man.

But what is the reality?

Imagine for a moment that there were no laws favoring the woman. How would custody be determined?

Naturally, it would depend on who could better provide for the child’s future—their food, clothing, and shelter.

But here’s the problem: due to their physical makeup, men on average have a greater capacity for physical labor and thus command higher average salaries.

In that scenario, what grounds would there be for awarding the child to the mother?

Therefore,

Without such laws, the positions of men and women would be reversed.

The man would be almost guaranteed to get custody!

But the mother is the one who carries and gives birth to the child, a process that comes at great cost. Yet in the end, she might not even get to keep her child...

Furthermore,

A woman’s physical makeup often results in a lower average salary, yet if she divorces, she could be left to raise a child all on her own...

From a purely objective standpoint, is that reasonable?

Such a completely warped and distorted outcome is, of course, unreasonable. And so, it is not permitted!

That is why the relevant statutes appeared in the Civil Code.

They address the issue of custody rights by directly favoring the woman!

This pulls the woman’s competitiveness in court up to the same level as the man’s, or even higher!

But this also created a new problem.

What if someone deliberately exploits this law?

For example... Bai Jie, the wife of the food company owner Zhang Hu, or Yang Chunping, the wife of Wang Yu.

What is to be done when people like them exploit this important law for their own selfish gain?

There’s no easy answer.

After all, it is better for a few people to suffer than for all women to suffer.

"It’s just your reputation."

"Learn to let it go. As long as you can accept it, that’s enough."

"The law itself isn’t good or bad. Even without laws, lawbreakers would just find other ways to pursue their selfish interests."

Master Guanxin said.

His attitude was simple: he saw the law as a tool—an imperfect tool that could never be perfected.

This imperfection means the law primarily restricts those who play by the rules.

Meanwhile, some lawbreakers operate outside of them.

It’s like trying to use the sword of a past dynasty to execute an official of the present one.

Their actions exist outside the law, so how can you use the law to restrain them? You can’t!

All in all,

Master Guanxin looked at Xu De, his expression gentle.

"My young friend."

"You are doing very well."

Xu De was overjoyed, as if he had found a kindred spirit. He blurted out,

"So, Master Guanxin, you also think there’s nothing wrong with me bullying prosecutors!?"

Master Guanxin: ?