Grassroots lawyers also have their day

"That's nothing! I handled a case before, an armed robbery. The perpetrator was sentenced to more than six years. Guess how much money that guy robbed?" Wan Sheng, the fat man, said mysteriously.

"Sentenced to over six years, he must have robbed quite a bit, right? 100,000?" Hao Renyuan, the tool, hurriedly made his presence known.

Seeing that Fatty Wan shook his head, Zheng the troll tentatively asked, "Fifty thousand?"

"Too high!" Fatty Wan disagreed with Critic Zheng.

"Ten thousand!" Pan Jinlian said confidently.

"Still high, not that much." Fatty Wan was very happy to see that his trick had worked.

"It can't be a thousand, can it? That's too little!" Pan Jinlian said, pouting.

"A thousand? Hey! If I didn't tell you, you probably wouldn't have guessed even if you tried for a whole day and night." Fatty Wan said with a grin, "That guy robbed seven times, stealing a total of seventeen dollars and eighty-six cents. And he robbed them all in the same place. He was caught red-handed by the police on the seventh robbery."

During the meeting, I asked him why he didn't try to rob someone else. He said he only knew this place and wasn't familiar with the others!

Out of curiosity, I later went to the place he mentioned. It was quite remote; in the summer, you'd occasionally see a few people taking an evening stroll, and most of them were elderly—very few of them would carry money! At most, they'd carry a large palm-leaf fan!

"Then... how come he was sentenced to more than six years for such a small amount of money? That doesn't make sense!" Zheng asked in confusion.

"That guy robbed people with a knife and injured several elderly people. It just so happened that there was a crackdown..." As soon as Fatty Wan said this, everyone immediately understood. It turned out that he was just unlucky!

Wang Chuan recalled that when the Asian Games were held, the capital city had a period of strict crackdown in order to maintain social order. At that time, someone from his village came to the capital city to work.

During his lunch break, the guy sat on the curb and looked at the flower beds along the roadside. There were many small flower pots in the flowers. With nothing else to do, he picked up a lot of pebbles to practice his aim and hit the flower pots.

As a result, more than a dozen flowerpots in the flower bed were broken. This flower bed was specially set up to coincide with the Asian Games. After he threw a bunch of stones at it, the beautiful flower bed was immediately in ruins.

Just then, a patrol car happened to pass by and caught him in the act, pinning him to the ground and handcuffing him. He was later reportedly sentenced to more than a year in prison.

"Attorney Mu, May Day is almost here. How about our firm goes out for a spring outing?" Pan Jinlian suggested, taking the opportunity to speak when Mu Huaijin was present.

Attorney Mu is quite young and usually jokes around with everyone; he's very amiable, unlike Old Niu who always has a stern face. That's why everyone likes to talk to him about their problems.

"What's the point of a spring outing? The weather is getting hotter every day. I'll treat everyone to a meal when I have the chance," Attorney Mu said with a smile.

"Alright, there's no time like the present, and no time like the present, how about tonight?" Zheng the troll said with a grin, seizing the opportunity.

Mu Huaijin clearly hadn't expected Zheng Shuang to speak up at this moment, showing him no respect. Seeing everyone looking at him, he knew he couldn't avoid this meal. Sigh! How hasty of him!

Considering how hard everyone has worked lately and how much legal fees have come in, Mu Huaijin gritted his teeth and nodded, "Alright, let's have a team-building activity. Anyone who doesn't want to go?"

Everyone present shook their heads. Zheng Yi had already taken out his phone and started reporting to his wife.

"Okay, I know a buffet restaurant not far from here, it's fifty yuan per person, everyone can eat as much as they want, that's where we'll go tonight." After Mu Huaijin finished speaking, he hurriedly turned around and went into the office, afraid that the beauties would make some other requests.

On their way to the buffet restaurant, Wang Chuan's Nokia 3210 rang.

"Fatty, what's up? If you're going to treat me to dinner today, I can only apologize, I have a dinner engagement tonight. If you're asking for money, I can only..." Wang Chuan said with a smile.

He was interrupted halfway through his sentence by the fat man: "Stop talking nonsense. Who invites you to dinner all the time? Are you the emperor? I need to talk to you."

"What is it?" Wang Chuan asked hastily, sensing that the fat man's tone was not joking.

"Our boss wants to consult you about something. Are you free this weekend?" the fat man asked.

"I already made an appointment with Brother Liu from the bar on Saturday afternoon. Let's do it on Sunday. I'm free on Sunday," Wang Chuan said.

"Then let's do Sunday night. Eat less at noon, and I'll have the boss treat you to dinner," said Fatty.

"What does your boss want to ask? Could you tell me beforehand?" Wang Chuan's experience was limited at the moment, so knowing what the other party wanted to ask in advance would allow him to prepare. This is the meaning of "know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated."

"His car was in an accident. It seems to have been impounded by the court. He probably wanted to consult about that," the fat man said.

In 2011, Beijing began using a lottery system to restrict car purchases, but at that time, people were unaware of the lottery system, and Beijing did not restrict the issuance of vehicle license plates.

"Okay, I understand." After chatting for a couple more minutes, Wang Chuan hung up the phone.

Around 9 PM, everyone finished their dinner. Even though the buffet was delicious, everyone has their limits, and Wang Chuan practically had to lean against the wall to get out – he was stuffed!

On the way back, Pan Jinlian hailed a taxi, and Zheng Pengzi, who was going the same way, rode in the same car.

Zheng Yi and Fatty Wan lived in the suburbs, which was in the same direction as Mu Huaijin, so Attorney Mu could drive them part of the way.

Hao Renyuan, the "tool," can be basically ignored. He lives not far from the law firm and not far from the places where he eats.

Mr. Wei has a business dinner tonight, and Ms. Wei plans to take the subway home with her senior brother. Of course, this was intentional on Wei Ping's part.

Sitting on the subway at a little past nine o'clock, there were still quite a few people on the train. It seems that there are many people working hard in the capital.

"Senior Brother, you sang really well at the bar the other day. Do you often play guitar? Why don't you teach me?" Wei Ping whispered to Wang Chuan beside her.

"You want to learn? Sure! I'll teach you when I have time," Wang Chuan said with a smile.

"By the way, what brand of guitar is good? I want to buy one too," Wei Mei asked, blinking her big eyes.

"Hmm... Lavis guitars from the US, Martin guitars from Germany, or Taylor guitars are all good brands. Actually, there are some good domestic brands too. If you decide to learn, I suggest buying a guitar that costs over 1,000 yuan. The cheaper ones aren't very good quality; the sound quality is inaccurate, and the build quality is unreliable," Wang Chuan suggested after thinking for a moment.

"What brand of guitar are you using now?" Wei Ping asked, tilting her head.

"My old guitar is ruined, so I don't have one now. I borrowed one for my bar performances!" Wang Chuan said a little embarrassed.

After hearing this, Ms. Wei's eyes lit up.

Just then, the subway stopped, the doors opened, and some people got off and some got on. A greasy middle-aged man walked onto the subway. He was wearing a business suit, his hair was like a bird's nest, and he was carrying a backpack.

After getting on the bus, the greasy middle-aged man sat opposite Wang Chuan and Wei Ping, covered his face with his hands, and soon his shoulders were shaking as he cried silently.