Me! A disgraced celebrity! Starting by seeking justice for impoverished students.

The courtroom fell silent.

Zhang Xiaoyu sat in the plaintiff's seat, her eyes reddening.

But not because I was angry.

It's because someone spoke up for her sister!

The live stream chat was flooded with comments:

[Jiang Chen is absolutely right! What you wear or what time you come home is not a reason to get beaten up!]

[That lawyer's expression just now, hahaha, his face turned green!]

Using a rape case as an analogy is too ruthless; Huang Wen is now practically roasted in the fire!

Jiang Chen pushed the other party's logic to its utter absurdity and then overturned it!

This is the difference between a good lawyer and a bad lawyer: a good lawyer speaks out for the weak, while a bad lawyer whitewashes for money!

Presiding Judge Zhou Zhengping remained silent for a moment.

His gaze slowly fell on Huang Wen.

"Defendant's representative, do you have any other evidence or defense arguments to add?"

Huang Wen took a deep breath and stood up again.

"have!"

His voice regained its composure, but his tone became more cautious.

"Your Honor, even if we withdraw our defense regarding the victim's misconduct, other important questions remain in this case!"

"According to the surveillance footage, after being intercepted, the victim did not immediately flee or seek help from nearby shops or passersby. Instead, she chose to remain in place and argue and verbally abuse the defendant, continuously provoking him!"

"This behavior is tantamount to putting oneself at risk!"

Putting oneself in danger means knowingly being in a dangerous situation but choosing not to avoid it, thus exacerbating the conflict and allowing the harmful consequences to occur or worsen.

According to Huang Wen.

The subsequent tragedy was also related to Zhang Xiaolu's lack of awareness of crisis!

The defendant shouldn't be entirely blamed!

Therefore, the victim bears undeniable primary responsibility for the occurrence and escalation of the harm!

Huang Wen continued, his expression serious.

"The court of first instance did not fully consider this factor during the trial, resulting in an excessively high compensation amount of 150 million yuan."

"This verdict clearly favors the plaintiff and violates the principle of fairness!"

These words immediately caused an uproar among viewers in the live stream!

What? Not running is wrong?

How could a thirteen-year-old girl, surrounded by several grown men, possibly escape?

[Does arguing with someone mean putting yourself at risk? Does that mean you have to kneel and beg for mercy if you're bullied in the future?]

This lawyer will say anything to win!

Even through the screen, I already want to go up and punch him!

Zhang Xiaoyu clenched her fists so tightly they cracked, and bit her lips until they turned white.

Even his eyes were so red they looked like they were about to bleed.

His body was trembling slightly with anger.

She wanted to talk, she wanted to curse.

I want to stand up and speak out for my sister!

But Jiang Chen's words were still echoing in my ears.

"Don't act impulsively!"

She took a deep breath and swallowed back all her anger.

We can't afford to mess things up on our own!

Huang Wen didn't stop and continued speaking.

"In addition, all of the defendants are under the age of eighteen, the oldest being Zhao Peng at seventeen and the youngest being Wang Moumou at fifteen."

"They have limited social experience, weak legal awareness, and lack of family education."

"After the incident, the young people were extremely remorseful and repeatedly tried to visit the victim's family to apologize and negotiate a settlement, but they were all directly rejected!"

At this point, Huang Wen's tone became heavy.

"The court of first instance did not give the young people a chance to reform. The huge compensation will ruin several ordinary families, and these young men will be burdened with huge debts. Their lives will be completely destroyed by a single impulsive conflict!"

His words sounded like he was pleading for someone's life.

"They have no criminal record; they are just idle young workers, not thugs."

"They didn't have any malicious intent to beat or injure anyone; it was just a conflict or friction between young people!"

"The court of first instance characterized the civil dispute as malicious and intentional injury, and the sentencing and compensation standards were too harsh!"

He paused, his voice softening.

"Therefore, we earnestly request the appellate court to reclassify this case, changing the charge of intentional injury to affray or assault, thereby reducing the sentence and lowering the amount of compensation!"

"Give these young people... a chance to turn over a new leaf!"

After Huang Wen finished speaking, he bowed deeply.

The atmosphere in the courtroom underwent a subtle change.

Viewers in the live stream chat were also discussing it extensively.

What he said does make some sense... those children are indeed still very young.

[Bullshit! Seventeen is too young? Why didn't you say you were young when you were hitting someone?]

But his claim that he was refused an in-person apology is probably true; they wouldn't even give him a chance...

[If your sister were in the ICU, would you give her a chance? It's easy for you to say that when you're not in her shoes!]

If we can turn the intentional assault into a verbal altercation, then there's a chance things can be de-escalated!

That's right! That's exactly what the opposing lawyer wanted!

Jiang Chen nodded and slowly stood up.

"presiding judge."

"The plaintiff has responded to the new defense arguments presented by the defendant's lawyer."

Presiding Judge Zhou Zhengping looked at him: "Please make your statement."

Jiang Chen's gaze fell on Huang Wen, his tone calm.

"The defendant's lawyer just mentioned four key points."

"First, the victim did not flee, which means he put himself in danger."

"Secondly, several of the defendants were under the age of twenty, had little social experience, and lacked proper family education."

"Third, they regretted it afterward and wanted to apologize and reconcile, but the victim's family refused."

Fourth, this was just a verbal altercation between young people, not malicious harm.

"I will now respond to each and every one of them!"

Upon hearing this, Huang Wen's expression changed slightly.

What does that mean?

Could it be that Jiang Chen is going to refute all of his requests on the spot?

Zhou Zhengping looked at him with some surprise.

Faced with these key points, what else could Jiang Chen say?

Jiang Chen slowly raised one finger.

"First, regarding the risk of self-inflicted harm."

"A thirteen-year-old girl was surrounded by several young men late at night who asked to add her on WeChat. After she refused, she was beaten."

"In this situation, isn't it a normal human instinct for her to stay and argue with the other party instead of running away?"

Why didn't she run? Because she was surrounded!

"The surveillance footage shows that the defendants were positioned in a fan shape, leaving the victim with absolutely no way to escape!"

Why didn't she ask for help?

"Although the incident occurred near a bar and night market, it was past 10 PM, and there were few pedestrians around!"

"She shouted, but no one heard her! Or they heard her, but no one dared to intervene!"

"The law never requires victims to make the most rational or perfect choice in a crisis."

"She was a victim of the abuser's actions, not someone responsible for the incident!"

Jiang Chen paused, then emphasized.

"The defendant's lawyer is attributing the victim's failure to flee to self-inflicted risk? This is shifting all responsibility onto a thirteen-year-old girl!"

"Following this logic, in the future, if any violent crime occurs and the victim doesn't perfectly escape, perfectly beg for mercy, or perfectly avoid conflict, then it's the victim's own fault?"

Is this reasonable?

There was a moment of silence in the courtroom.

No one spoke.

Jiang Chen, with a serious expression, slowly stated his conclusion.

"Lawfully, there is no such thing as a perfect victim!"