Chapter 43 - 35: Breaking Out in a Cold Sweat

"Come and see the morning paper for yourselves!"

Li, the cashier, held up the morning paper, which had just been delivered and was still warm from the printing press.

The commotion immediately drew everyone’s attention.

A few lawyers, with puzzled expressions, couldn’t be bothered to tidy up their desks. They stood and walked over to her.

"What’s wrong with the morning paper?"

Generally speaking, lawyers made it a habit to read the morning paper every day.

But then again, first thing in the morning at the firm, hardly anyone had the energy for it, let alone reading a newspaper.

As they gathered around Li and took the paper, their eyes scanned the print, and then... the smiles on their faces instantly froze.

The next second...

The pupils of the lawyers around her contracted sharply. Their hands tightened on the newspaper unconsciously, muscles tensing until the edges of the paper began to tear.

But right now, no one cared about such minor details.

They wished they could press their eyes right against the page, scrutinizing it word by word!

What was written in the morning paper?

Just as they expected, it was about the case Xu De had argued in the intermediate court yesterday.

But what was *not* expected was...

"Re... The indictment was rejected!?"

After a long silence, someone in the crowd suddenly cried out, their eyes filled with disbelief.

It was like a single stone setting off a thousand ripples, instantly igniting the quiet crowd.

Everyone stared at the newspaper, sucking in a sharp breath. Their faces showed a mix of bewilderment, shock, and confusion.

A fierce discussion erupted.

"Wait, what does it mean the prosecution’s indictment was rejected by Lawyer Xu, all by himself!?"

"’Acting heroically for a just cause’? What the hell? How did he dare say that in court, in front of over four hundred people!?"

"Combining the two cases... using the trafficking case as the entry point! Brilliant! That angle is absolutely brilliant!"

"..."

A few lawyers in the distance had been enjoying the show, but from what they were hearing... it didn’t seem to be going as they’d expected.

They quickly walked over, took a look at the paper, and a moment later, the same shocked expressions appeared on their faces.

Then, their brows furrowed, and they began to read it carefully, word by word.

As the saying goes, laymen watch the spectacle, while experts see the technique.

An ordinary person reading the paper would just feel a sense of satisfaction, of catharsis. But to them, his colleagues, it felt... utterly inconceivable!

To be able to organize the entry point, debate points, statutory logic, objective evidence, and legal loopholes into a coherent framework, while also laying a massive trap for Chen Wei... it was simply...

Terrifying!

It looked simple, but putting it into practice was as difficult as climbing to the heavens, especially coming from the unassuming Xu De.

"Am I still dreaming!?"

Someone blinked, only to find the words on the paper hadn’t changed at all. They instantly began to question reality.

"How old is Lawyer Xu? Does anyone remember!?"

Li, the cashier, couldn’t hold it in any longer and immediately responded:

"He’s twenty-five. His birthday is in April, and he’s only had his practice license for a little over three years!"

"Twenty-five? He’s only twenty-five!?"

The man exclaimed.

"He debated both Hu Guang and Wang Wei into a corner in court!? And his logic was so tight the judge couldn’t even find a single flaw, and you’re telling me he’s only twenty-five!?"

"Those are the facts," Li said.

"What about before? Has he ever handled any other major criminal cases?" someone else couldn’t help but ask.

Lawyers are similar to criminal detectives.

You have to devour a massive number of cases to level up your skills!

Normally, someone with this kind of ability would have handled dozens of major cases, at the very least.

This isn’t an exaggeration; it’s a fact. If you don’t have the experience, you simply don’t know how to operate.

And Xu De...

"He probably had some in Yanjing, but only under the conditions that allowed him to take on legal aid cases. Other than that, he has no formal criminal case history."

Li took a deep breath. "No law firm assigns major cases to a rookie in their first two years."

"And since coming to Jinmao Law Firm... well, you all know."

After joining Jinmao Law Firm, just because Director Han saw his potential, he drew the ire of Sun Hao.

He could barely even get a normal consultation, let alone a major criminal case!

Even the Wang Qiang case was only approved because Sun Hao thought he was a moth flying into a flame and agreed with malicious intent.

In other words...

"So what you’re saying is,"

"He’s twenty-five, with no track record, no famous mentor, no legal team behind him, and on his very first major criminal case, he went up against Hu Guang from the procuratorate..."

"How in the world did he pull it off?"

Someone stared at the paper, questioning reality, feeling as if their entire worldview was crumbling.

The only possible explanation was...

"A genius. He’s a genius among geniuses!"

"To dominate a debate against Hu Guang on his very first case... Xu De’s future... is completely immeasurable!"

What’s the difference between one lawyer and another?

You have to understand.

Whether you’re in the law department of a Project 985 university or a second-tier one, you’re all memorizing the same statutes.

Therefore, the difference between schools lies in the faculty and resources. But what truly determines a lawyer’s upper limit is their personal ability...

Their mindset!

A mindset that can’t be copied, a unique perspective for interpreting the law!

Clearly, Xu De excelled in both, especially his mindset. Everyone present had to admit they were impressed.

After all, they could rack their brains and never come up with the idea of using "acting heroically for a just cause" as bait to lure the other side into admitting the "trafficking case" was not yet over!

"What about Sun Hao? Has Sun Hao seen the morning paper?"

Amid the daze, someone changed the subject.

That single sentence immediately made everyone’s expressions turn strange.

Xu De was now completely famous. If Sun Hao found out... what would his reaction be?

Speak of the devil.

CREAK~!

The main door of the law firm was suddenly pushed open.

Two figures walked in. The man in the lead, about fifty years old and clad in a formal suit, was thin. He walked straight to the time clock on his own.

As for the person behind him...

Everyone stared at his still-swollen face for a long time before they finally recognized him and exclaimed in surprise:

"Ah, Team Leader Sun, what happened to your face!?"

Hearing this, Sun Hao, who had been looking a bit shifty-eyed, instantly flew into a rage. He pointed at the crowd, his tone dark.

"Is the firm a place for you to stand around and chat? All of you, crowding here instead of going out to find some cases!"

He’d been beaten up by Chen Wei yesterday, and his face still ached terribly.

Now that someone was laughing at him, he naturally couldn’t stand it. After all, he couldn’t do anything about Chen Wei, but surely he could handle his own people!?

If this were any other day, the people around him would have been angry. But now, their expressions were just getting stranger and stranger as they stared at Sun Hao, brows furrowed.

"What are you all looking at?" he demanded.

Li waved the newspaper in her hand. "The morning paper."

The morning paper?

Sun Hao paused. He recalled Chen Wei saying that this so-called morning paper was the reason he’d gotten beaten up.

He immediately hesitated, then held out his hand.

"Let me see."

Li didn’t refuse. She silently handed over the paper, then retreated back into the crowd with an expression that said she was ready for a good show.

"The morning paper... What’s so interesting about this thing..."

Sun Hao muttered to himself, but his hands deftly smoothed out the newspaper.

His slightly dismissive gaze scanned the page. He had intended to read it quickly, but after seeing the headline...

"[Turning the Tide! Defense Attorney Xu De Overpowers Entire Prosecution, Court Enters Emergency Recess...]"

As he read, Sun Hao’s expression froze. He stood as still as a stone statue, but inside, a tidal wave of shock was raging.

’This is... Xu De? That hopeless case... the prosecution’s indictment was rejected by *him*!?’

’No... Impossible. How is this possible?’

’He’s just a greenhorn lawyer fresh out of school. No team, no track record... how could he possibly have done this...’

He roared internally.

But the morning paper wouldn’t lie!

GULP~

Sun Hao swallowed hard, suddenly realizing something.

Ever since Xu De had been assigned to him, his own attitude had been extremely hostile.

Refusing to give him cases, deliberately obstructing his every move...

Before, it was fine. The kid had no say, and he could just claim it was all to "temper" him. Xu De wouldn’t dare to object.

But...

If he had managed to turn the Wang Qiang case around all by himself... his status would instantly undergo a heaven-and-earth-shattering change. He would be on the same level as the firm’s Gold Medal Lawyers!

And those people were on equal footing with his cousin, Director Han.

At that point, if Xu De were to say even the slightest thing to his cousin...

"I’m finished..."

Suddenly, Sun Hao’s vision went black. His mind went blank, his limbs turned ice-cold, and his breathing grew ragged.

And, as if on cue, a person’s worst fears often come true.

"What’s everyone looking at?"

Having just clocked in, a cheerful Director Han walked over to the group and casually picked up a morning paper from the rack to read.

One look was all it took. His eyebrows shot up, and his face immediately lit up with a pleasant surprise.

"Beautiful! Beautiful! This is how it’s done!"

"A not-guilty defense... and a dominant one at that!!!"

"Haha, Xu gave me such a wonderful surprise! Tearing a hole in the Wang Qiang case... he’s every bit the rising star I thought he was!"

Director Han was overjoyed, slamming his hand on a desk in admiration.

He knew about Xu De’s background.

His mother died at birth, his father in his early childhood, yet he had clawed his way up from the very bottom all the way to Yan University...

He cherished this kind of talent.

And as it happened, his own relative, Sun Hao, had also joined his firm. So he thought he’d give Sun Hao plenty of autonomy, let the two of them build a relationship... Then, he would have two capable lieutenants in the firm.

One would be Sun Hao, bound by blood, and the other would be the exceptionally talented Xu De!

The three of them, united as one—would he still have to worry about the other partners’ moods then?

"Not bad, Lawyer Sun, not bad at all!"

Director Han had never laughed so heartily. He reached out and clapped Sun Hao on the shoulder.

"I was a bit hesitant when you first recommended Xu take this case, but I never expected you two were planning a surprise for me!"

"When Xu gets back, I’ll make sure you get credit for this!"

With that said, he strode toward his office with a stately pace, a clear spring in his step.

What he didn’t notice, however, was...

Sun Hao remained frozen on the spot, cold sweat pouring down his forehead. His fingertips were cold, and his previously ragged breaths were now growing faint.

’I’m screwed, I’m screwed, I’m screwed...’

Sun Hao’s hands were trembling. He didn’t dare to imagine what would happen if Director Han found out the truth.

Meanwhile, the other lawyers standing beside him exchanged glances, their eyes filled with amusement.

"Heh... This is going to be fun to watch."