Chapter 77 - 68: Xu De: Senior, I’m Counting on You

December 14th.

The plaintiff received the court summons. The trial date was now known to all three parties. It was set for December 17th, just three days away.

After some discussion, it was decided that to prevent the plaintiff from being influenced by the defendant’s side, Yang Huan would be present at the courthouse but would not need to appear in the courtroom unless necessary.

Acting as the plaintiff’s representative in court would be state guardian He Miao.

...

December 15th.

Public opinion on the case began to swell.

Numerous newspapers and media personalities started tracking and reporting on the No. 18 Middle School case.

However, due to other factors, the media buzz was contained within Qingwu Province. While it didn’t spread beyond the province, the case made quite a name for itself in Lusen City.

Especially among the various law firms.

Jinmao Law Firm, in particular, was a frequent topic of discussion, simply because the victim’s litigation representative was a man named Xu De.

...

December 16th.

The final day before the first hearing of the No. 18 Middle School case!

5:00 PM.

Inside the Lusen City People’s Procuratorate.

Second Prosecutorial Department, Criminal Division.

"Prosecutor Huang... for this case of yours... you should brace yourself."

In the Criminal Division office at the Procuratorate.

Prosecutor Hu Guang suddenly spoke up, stopping Prosecutor Huang Shi, who was about to leave. Hearing his name, Huang Shi turned to look at him.

Huang Shi was thirty-five this year. He was thin, with above-average looks, and wore a pair of gold-rimmed glasses that gave him a scholarly air.

At his age, he was on the cusp of middle age in the wider world.

But within the system... he was still considered a young man.

And since he was a young man...

"If you realize the outcome won’t match your expectations... you can abandon your ideals and fight for what’s possible in the here and now."

Hu Guang stood up, walked over to his side, and spoke while filling his water bottle.

At that, Huang Shi sighed and gave a wry smile. "For this case... I have no ideals."

He understood what the other man meant. It was just that if a satisfactory result was impossible, he should try to push for the best outcome he could possibly achieve.

But that was the problem.

He had never expected a satisfactory ending for this case in the first place!

Why?

Because two people were dead, yet the defendant was just a sixteen-year-old girl!

More importantly, there was no direct evidence to prove that Liu Jingqi had personally, maliciously, and intentionally killed them. Add her age to the equation... and the maximum sentence, even if severe, would be fifteen years.

If the sentence was light, she might get seven years and be out after serving just four!

So... Huang Shi had abandoned any ideal of a perfect resolution from the very beginning.

"Sometimes, that’s just how cases are."

Having filled his water, Hu Guang straightened up, a wistful look on his face, his eyes filled with faint traces of memory.

’When I first became a prosecutor, who wasn’t an idealist?’

But this line of work was like that. Sometimes you had to face the reality of playing the villain yourself, especially in situations where you actually pitied the defendant...

Huang Shi was already doing well. At the very least, he was fighting for the victim’s interests.

"Director Hu, you..."

Huang Shi paused, then looked at him and suddenly asked, "Did you just stop me to say all this?"

Hu Guang snapped out of his reverie and shook his head. He thought for a moment before saying, seemingly nonchalantly:

"The civil litigation lawyer for your case... he’s very capable."

"Perhaps you should listen to his opinions more."

’A civil litigation lawyer?’

Huang Shi’s eyebrow twitched.

’Since when does a public prosecutor need to listen to the opinion of a civil litigation lawyer?’

Even if it was Xu De... this wasn’t a defense. It was a public prosecution that required substantive criminal evidence for the accusation!

"He hasn’t submitted any evidence," Huang Shi said, shaking his head.

But Hu Guang seemed both exasperated and resigned. He said with feeling, "When I went up against him in court... he didn’t submit any evidence either."

"I didn’t even know he had a letter of forgiveness."

"It wasn’t until after the verdict was announced, when he came to me personally, that I found out he had irrefutable proof of Li Youcai and Liu Cui’s crimes!"

After the incident with Li Youcai and Liu Cui, Hu Guang had truly come to terms with his feelings about Xu De.

He couldn’t help it.

In the detention center, those two kept wailing about some agreement they had signed with Xu De and what they had supposedly negotiated.

But when he looked into it a little, he discovered...

The man had somehow managed to mitigate every possible risk. Even if Li Youcai and Liu Cui had wanted to revoke the letter of forgiveness, there was nothing they could do. Xu De had even applied for an asset inventory to make them compensate Wang Mei for ten years of losses...

In his decades of practice, he had never seen a lawyer who could plot a person’s complete downfall in utter silence!

"In any case..."

"During the trial, if you’re out of ideas, you can try to leave some extra time for him to speak."

Hu Guang clapped him on the shoulder and said no more.

Then, he turned and left.

As for Huang Shi...

A suspicious expression crossed his face.

’Let him speak? He hasn’t submitted any evidence. How can he speak without evidence?’

’An evidentiary ambush? No, that’s not right. Surprise evidence is easily dismissed unless the cross-examination is successful, but he hasn’t made any moves to question evidence either.’

Huang Shi frowned and pondered this for a long time before letting out a helpless laugh.

"He can’t possibly expect me to do the cross-examination for him, can he?"

The thought was so absurd that Huang Shi found it funny. He sighed and left on his own.

...

On this day, lawyers stared at six-dimensional diagrams lost in thought, while prosecutors tossed and turned late at night, sighing over the meager evidence.

Some lamented over the basic case information, while others argued online about whether the laws regarding minors were flawed.

Reporters began preparing their drafts, and media personnel requested resources in advance.

In short...

The night passed with unusual slowness, as if time itself had frozen.

Until...

...

...

On December 17th, the day of the trial...

It arrived!

Inside the Intermediate People’s Court of Lusen City, Qingwu Province, Dongguo.

As it was a homicide case, the first-instance trial was handled by the Intermediate Court. At 1:30 PM, the hearing began on schedule in the Second Courtroom.

And, because a minor was involved, the trial was not held publicly. However, reporters were still allowed to wait outside the courtroom doors. If the soundproofing was poor, they might just be able to eavesdrop.

Noon.

12:50 PM.

"SIGH... a case involving a minor..."

Huang Shi led prosecutors Wang Mang and Zhang Qing into the prosecution’s waiting room.

The three of them sat down. Huang Shi thought about the case, sighing from time to time.

He just couldn’t summon any enthusiasm for this case.

It wasn’t that he was being irresponsible to the family, but simply that... his strength was useless. No matter what he did, he couldn’t get around the laws protecting the defendant due to her age.

Huang Shi sat in the waiting room, his eyes closed, his breathing even.

Until...

"CREAK—"

The door to the waiting room was pushed open again. Huang Shi opened his eyes, turned his head, and saw three lawyers.

He paused, then asked subconsciously, "The counsel?"

"That’s me."

Xu De nodded, looking at this ’ally’ he was meeting for the first time—his esteemed ’teammate,’ his naturally-bound ’partner in interest’!

A smile appeared on his face.

"Prosecutor Huang, we’ll be counting on you entirely for the trial later!"

"Counting on me?"

Huang Shi was baffled. The prosecution did have evidence.

But against the defense, that evidence was like an ant trying to shake a tree—utterly insignificant. How could they possibly count on him?

Lin Yue and Wang Chao, looking as guilty as thieves, averted their eyes, not daring to look at him.

Xu De, however, spoke with a face full of admiration. "Yes, we’re counting on you for the trial!"

Huang Shi: ?

’Wait, what are those two so guilty about?’

Huang Shi was completely confused. Just as he was about to ask again, a bailiff walked over to them.

"The prosecution, please prepare. The trial..."

"Is about to begin!"

...