Grassroots lawyers also have their day

"A gentleman uses words, not fists! ...Hey! ...Hey! ...Hey! ...You were born in the twelfth lunar month, your hands and feet are freezing. Ouch! ...It hurts, it really hurts! Don't...you're really going to pinch me!"

Pan Jinlian only stopped hitting Wang Chuan amidst his cries of pain as the bus pulled into the station. Thankfully, there weren't many people around, but even so, many passersby still pointed and whispered about the two of them, assuming they were just a couple playing around.

On the way back, whenever Pan Jinlian had a spare moment, she would use the Shaolin martial art "Finger Talisman" to strike Wang Chuan a couple of times, bringing tears to his eyes.

Wang Chuan could only look up to the sky and sigh: Alas! Trouble comes from the mouth, the ancients were right!

Wang Chuan originally wanted to hide for a few days to avoid the limelight and prevent Pan Jinlian from using him to practice her "flower-picking finger" technique again, but Comrade Lao Niu made him and Pan Jinlian work shifts at the legal services office. Tragically, things turned out badly!

At lunchtime, Pan Jinlian ordered a spicy tofu rice bowl for her senior brother. She even seriously told the restaurant owner that Wang Chuan was from Sichuan and that the spicy tofu should be extra spicy. As a result, the spicy tofu rice bowl that was served was bright red.

When Wang Chuan saw the bright red plate in front of him, he was so frightened that his scalp tingled. He tried to escape while he went out to buy water, but Pan Jinlian saw through his plan.

"Senior Brother, this is your favorite spicy tofu. Eat up! Don't be shy, it's on me today," Pan Jinlian said sarcastically, her eyes filled with murderous intent.

Wang Chuan glanced at Pan Jinlian, his heart skipped a beat, then looked at the spicy tofu rice bowl in front of him. This wasn't spicy tofu rice bowl at all; it was more like a red chili pepper rice bowl. "Um... can we talk this over? I appreciate your favor, but I won't eat this. I'm on a diet right now."

"You're on a diet, yet you eat so much this morning? Are you looking down on me?" Pan Jinlian glared fiercely at Wang Chuan and said, "How about this, I'll cover your lunch for the next few days. If you eat it all, I promise I'll let bygones be bygones, how about it?"

"This..." Wang Chuan was speechless. Looking at the bright red chili rice in front of him, he decided that a short, sharp pain was better than a long, drawn-out one. He closed his eyes, stomped his foot, and endured it!

The next morning, Wang Chuan's walking posture was somewhat distorted, and he kept adjusting his sitting posture in the legal services office.

"Xiao Wang, what's wrong? Do you have hemorrhoids?" Zhang the conman asked after seeing him.

"Oh dear! Senior Brother, you have hemorrhoids? How about I ask my dad to arrange for them to be removed..." Pan Jinlian said with a friendly tone and a wicked smile, her back to Zhang Da Huyou.

"Cut it off?...No, no need to arrange that."

Wang Chuan looked panicked and hurriedly waved his hands at Pan Jinlian, thinking to himself: If your dad had arranged it, wouldn't he have cut both my front and back heels off? Besides, don't you know why I'm like this? Where did these hemorrhoids come from?!

After saying that, he turned to Zhang the Conman and explained, "Sister Zhang, it's nothing. It's not hemorrhoids. I was just craving something spicy yesterday and ate too much chili. So..."

After hearing this, Zhang the Conman looked enlightened and laughed, "Oh... you'd better be careful in the future. Illness enters through the mouth, and disaster comes from the mouth. You'd better keep your mouth shut."

Wang Chuan nodded, thinking to himself: I don't want to eat either! But I have a shrew next to me, what should I do?! I need help urgently!

At lunch, Pan Jinlian didn't mention the Sichuanese people again, but the restaurant owner remembered that Wang Chuan had enjoyed his meal the day before, so he served him the same amount again. And then… sigh!

"What are you looking at? Eating isn't like fortune telling. Stop staring and eat!" Pan Jinlian urged Wang Chuan, who was holding his chopsticks and staring intently without taking a bite.

"This rice is too spicy! I'm from Hebei province, and I eat spicy rice every day..." Wang Chuan said with a pained expression, "Can I order another one?"

"Oh! Forget it! Look at you, so pathetic!" Pan Jinlian, seeing that her senior brother had been upset all morning, calmed down and softened: "Boss, give him another braised beef rice bowl. No spice!"

Wang Chuan's anal pain didn't subside until he returned to the office on Friday. He had been feeling so bad for the past two days that he almost went to buy some Ma Yinglong ointment.

Foodies often say, "I'd rather have pus oozing from my anus than suffer poverty from my mouth." That sounds easy, but Wang Chuan believes that if they experienced the burning sensation in their anus for three days and three nights, let alone pus, most people would stop saying that.

As the saying goes, Wednesday is Sunday, and Friday arrived in the blink of an eye. As soon as Zheng Yi got to work in the morning, he asked Wang Chuan to prepare the materials. After lunch, the two set off for the Haidian Court for the court hearing.

The courtroom was solemn and quiet, which unconsciously created a sense of tension. But lawyers who frequently travel between courtrooms were already used to it.

The young female judge looked at the defendant restaurant's lawyer, a tall, square-faced man with a sly glint in his eyes.

"Defendant, did the plaintiff fall and get injured in your restaurant?" the young female judge asked expressionlessly.

"Yes, we acknowledge that the plaintiff was injured in our restaurant, but we believe we are not liable, as we have fulfilled our duty to warn," said the lawyer with the large face.

"What evidence do you have to prove that you fulfilled your duty to provide notice?" the young female judge pressed.

"We have evidence. We have photos of the entrance to the private room." The lawyer with the square face looked at the restaurant manager sitting next to him, a middle-aged man in his forties with a buzz cut.

The middle-aged man with a buzz cut took out several developed photos from his bag and handed them to the judge.

"Plaintiffs, please take a look at the photos and give your comments on the evidence." The young female judge instructed the court clerk to hand the photos to Wang Chuan.

Wang Chuan and Zheng Yi examined the photo closely. Wang Chuan pointed at the photo and whispered something to Zheng Yi, who nodded, indicating that Wang Chuan should give his opinion.

"Judge, we do not acknowledge the authenticity of the photos provided by the defendant, but we acknowledge their relevance and legality."

According to the video footage provided to the plaintiff by the defendant, there were no warning signs at the entrance to the private room at the time. However, the photos submitted by the defendant in court showed a warning sign with yellow background and black lettering posted at the entrance of the private room.

"We believe the evidence provided by the defendant is false, therefore we do not accept its authenticity," Wang Chuan said slowly.

Wang Chuan spoke slowly to accommodate the clerk's recording speed, giving her time to write down everything he said.

"Do you have any evidence that there were no signs at the entrance to the private room?" the young female judge asked, glancing at Wang Chuan.

It's clear the judge didn't carefully review the case file before the trial, at least not the DVD the plaintiff presented as evidence. The DVD recorded the entire incident of the plaintiff falling, and it's evident there were no signs outside the private room. However, Wang Chuan and Zheng Yi couldn't criticize the judge in court—you know why!

"Judge, the evidence we've provided is on the disc. We brought a computer, so we can play the disc in court."

Wang Chuan took out the computer and placed it on the plaintiff's seat. The computer belonged to Zheng Yi and was originally prepared for playing CDs; he hadn't expected it to actually come in handy.