Chapter 33: Heartless People

The sound outside was very noisy. In addition to the sharp female voice, Zhu Shan also felt that the hood of the vehicle was tapped twice, causing the car body to vibrate slightly.

Her vision was dark and her mind was confused, but her hearing gradually became sharper.

She heard the female voice asking in a fast and forceful tone, "Lawyer Ling, why are you defending Ren Xingyan?"

"Lawyer Ling, please answer my question."

"Lawyer Ling, there is a lot of criticism on the Internet right now. What do you think?"

"Are you avoiding answering because you are ashamed?"

Although Zhu Shan was just a reporter in a small column of a city TV station who had not yet become a regular reporter, she could still tell that the reporter outside was unprofessional.

Not like a journalist, more like a private studio to hype up topics.

It’s even more like taking eye-catching personal reporter accounts on a short video platform.

Zhu Shan thought that Ling Xiao disdained to talk to her, but she didn't expect that he actually spoke.

His tone was cold, "In our country, every citizen has the right to request legal help. I just did what I should do."

Female reporter, "Then if he was not the eldest son of the Indo-Japanese Group, would you still choose to defend him?"

Ling Xiao, "Your hypothesis is not valid."

Female reporter, "Excuse me, Lawyer Ling, how much are the legal fees for this lawsuit?"

Ling Xiao's voice was filled with impatience, "No comment."

After speaking, Ling Xiao honked the horn twice.

The female reporter refused to give up, "Is he really innocent? If you exonerate a rapist, do you have a good conscience? Aren't you afraid of ruining your career and being cast aside by this society?"

"I emphasize again that my defense is based on facts and the law, and safeguards the legitimate rights and interests of the parties concerned." Ling Xiao's tone was low and dangerous, "Also, pay attention to your wording, 'exonerate him' four One word is enough to get you a lawsuit."

Ling Xiao's words did not threaten her, but after a moment of silence, she began to ask sharp questions again.

Ling Xiao seemed to have no intention of paying attention to her and just honked the horn twice more.

The female reporter glanced inside the passenger seat. Although it was obscured by clothes, she could tell from her legs that she was a woman, so she increased her voice, "Comrade female next to you, you are also a woman, what is your experience with Bonjour?" Don’t you have empathy? Are you hiding your face because you feel embarrassed? Do you also disagree with lawyers who defend rapists? You..."

Of course Zhu Shan knew that these questions were asking her.

She reached out with her little hands, grabbed the suit jacket on her head, and tried to pull it down.

Suddenly, her hand was grabbed.

Her whole hand was completely covered by the hot palm and she couldn't move.

Ling Xiao tried hard, and Zhu Shan even felt a little pain from the squeeze on her fingers.

“Bah, bah, bah—”

The female reporter's last words were cut off by Ling Xiao's continuous sound of vehicle horns.

As soon as the horn sounded, Ling Xiao's cold voice came, "Anyone who has any suspicion or evidence against Ren Xingyan can report it to the public security agency; anyone who has any dissatisfaction or doubts about me can report it to the Lawyers Association."

Female reporter, "I..."

Ling Xiao interrupted again, with a cold tone, "I remind you, illegally intercept and ride on a motor vehicle. According to Article 23 of my country's "Public Security Administration Punishment Law", you will face a warning or a fine of less than 200 yuan, and serious penalties. If detained for not less than five days but not more than ten days, a fine of not more than five hundred yuan may be imposed."

The female reporter's tone was trembling, but she pretended to be calm, "For, for the sake of justice, even if we are imprisoned for a few days or fined, we, we are not afraid!"

After two seconds of silence, Ling Xiao chuckled.

This laughter is actually biting in the hot summer.

Ling Xiao, "If you block others like this, this may be the result, but here..."

He paused strategically, and when he spoke again, the air around him seemed to have dropped two degrees. It was a professional dimension-reducing blow, "You blocked my car, caused trouble in public places, and caused traffic jams behind me. , seriously disturbing the order of public places, and intimidating me and harassing the lady next to me, so I will charge you with the crime of picking quarrels and provoking trouble according to Article 293 of the Criminal Law of our country..."

His tone slowed down, and the air seemed to freeze, waiting for his next words.

Ling Xiao raised his left hand and tapped the window, "One, two, three, four... four people?"

? ? ?

Many things are not achieved overnight. Just like now, the atmosphere needs to be enhanced layer by layer.

Zhu Shan felt it firsthand when her head was covered.

Like everyone present, she remained silent, subconsciously being dragged into a very oppressive circle by Ling Xiao.

Ling Xiao's tone was slow, as if he was preaching, "Just enough people. It turns out that gathering! Crowds! It's a crime to pick quarrels and cause trouble."

For Ling Xiao, who has seen many criminals and faced countless lawsuits, big and small, to manipulate people's hearts is a good thing.

He sneered, "Isn't that at least five years?"

"..."

Ling Xiao suppressed his smile, looked straight ahead with dark eyebrows, and said in a voice like a knife, "I will do my duty a little more, and ten years is not impossible."

A few words were muttered outside the car window.

"Lawyer Ling, that's not what we meant, it was... it was..." the female reporter's voice was obviously panicked, "It was Zhuo Yue who asked us to come, we..."

Ling Xiao didn't want to hear it and said, "Get out of the way!!"

Zhu Shan felt that those people must have been shocked, because the vehicle drove again and accelerated evenly.

After Ling Xiao took his right hand away, Zhu Shan noticed that her palm was stained with sweat.

She didn't move, still stuck in the darkness.

Then I probably cleared my mind.

Last week, Ren Xingyan's case went through the third trial, and he was acquitted in court. The "Social Hotline" column team also produced a third program about the rape case.

Interviewed Ren Xingyan, Zhuo Yue, and professional judicial practitioners.

Although the verdict has been announced, both Ren Xingyan and Zhuo Yue still insisted on different opinions during the interview.

Judicial practitioners analyzed the trial of this case from a professional perspective.

There was also a confrontation in the comment area.

In the past few months of her career, Zhu Shan has witnessed several news hot spots, which come and go as quickly as they come.

I thought that this should be the case, but I didn't expect that Zhuo Yue hadn't given up yet and actually found unprofessional, so-called 'journalists' from nowhere to block people, intending to expand public opinion.

After a while, the car slowly stopped.

Zhu Shan's heart tightened, and she picked at the suit jacket covering her head with her little hands. The fabric was no softer than her clothes, thick and wide.

Ling Xiao raised his hand to open his coat, but his movements were not gentle.

Zhu Shan's hair was curled up in her coat, and even the hairband on her head slipped down to her forehead, and her hair covered her face.

Her little face turned crimson from suppressing the pressure, and she looked at the sky in a daze.

It seems that he has not yet recovered from what happened just now.

Ling Xiao thought she was scared, after all, she was timid.

He looked at her hairband that collapsed above the gauze on her forehead. Before she could reach closer, Zhu Shan immediately leaned toward the car door.

Dodge.

Zhu Shan, "I'll do it myself."

She raised her hand to take off the hairband without wearing it again, and then scratched her hair.

The red light started counting down, Ling Xiao took back his hand and looked away.

After a while, Zhu Shan raised her hand, "The supermarket is over there, don't you want to buy groceries?"

"There is also a supermarket here."

"oh."

The car became quiet again.

The embarrassment now was different from the embarrassment at the beginning. At first, Zhu Shan was embarrassed and shy, but now...she didn't know how to comfort Ling Xiao.

The car drove for a long time before stopping.

Zhu Shan didn't understand why he had to take a long way to come to such a supermarket, which was not a large one.

There were no trolleys at the door, but plastic shopping baskets stacked in a hand-holding pile.

Seeing that he was not in a mood, Zhu Shan took the initiative to run forward and carry the basket.

Zhu Shan picked some dishes by herself and took two bags of snacks before going to check out.

Ling Xiao kept following her without saying a word.

When she got home, Zhu Shan rolled up her sleeves and got to work.

She steamed the rice and started preparing the ingredients.

She wants to make her best curry chicken rice bowl.

Forty minutes later, Zhu Shan arranged the dishes and went to knock on Ling Xiao's door.

He opened the door, changed into home clothes, and seemed to have taken a shower. There was a faint smell of shower gel.

Zhu Shan rubbed her palms and forced a smile, "Let's eat."

The two sat opposite each other, each eating the food on their plates.

The space is extremely quiet, and occasionally you can hear the sound of a spoon accidentally scratching a porcelain plate.

Zhu Shan glanced at Ling Xiao several times. When she was almost finished eating, she took out her phone and said stiffly, "I recently wrote an article about a news item about the lawyer industry. Can you help me refer to it?"

Ling Xiao didn't raise his head and said softly "Yeah".

Zhu Shan just took advantage of the time when the curry chicken in the pot was collecting juice to check some information and then typed a lot of words with a notepad.

She read accordingly, "Lawyer is not a profession that makes people empathize. It is not like a teacher who teaches and solves doubts, nor is it like a doctor who treats illnesses and saves people, nor is it like a scientific researcher who promotes the development of humanities and society. It is like the law itself, cold and serious. .”

Ling Xiao's hands froze for a moment and he raised his eyes to look at Zhu Shan.

Zhu Shan stared at her phone intently and continued reading, "Before a criminal suspect is convicted, he is just a suspect. No one has the right to convict him in advance. Most of these suspects may be really guilty. But as long as there is a wronged person, even just one, this is the meaning of the existence of lawyer defense. Just imagine, if a wrongfully accused suspect does not understand the law and cannot hire a lawyer, that is a lack of rights."

"..."

"People always have a misunderstanding that lawyers' laws are universal. In fact, they are not. They also defend clients based on evidence and legal rules. Judges judge right and wrong, and lawyers are just agents fighting for legitimate interests." Zhu Shan Licking his lips, "The law is the bottom line of morality. Lawyers exist not to uphold justice, but to uphold the dignity of the law."

Zhu Shan simplified this based on the information she consulted. She didn't know if it could comfort Ling Xiao.

After she finished reading, she raised her eyes, looked at Ling Xiao, pursed her lips and asked timidly, "What do you think of what I wrote?"

Ling Xiao just looked at Zhu Shan, and then slowly put down the spoon in his hand.

There was a slight wrinkle on his brow, "Which program are you writing for?"

"Ah?" Zhu Shan blinked her big eyes and stumbled, "That, that program may not be selected or broadcast. I, I am just preparing first. If it is to be broadcast, I will tell you."

Ling Xiao raised his eyebrows and nodded slightly.

Zhu Shan just breathed a sigh of relief.

Ling Xiao asked again, "Zhu Shanshan, why didn't you let me touch you in the car just now?"

"W-what?"

Ling Xiao tilted his head, his dark eyebrows now looking stern, "Also, I asked you not to open your clothes, why did you want to do it then?"

Why did you want to pull away at that time?

Because that female reporter pressed me for no reason?

Of course not.

She simply wanted to stand up and say a few words for him when others were attacking and humiliating Ling Xiao for no reason at that moment.

Just like he did to her back then.

At that time, at school, things were going on with Zhu Shan’s father. She was blocked in the playground by a group of people and said extremely unpleasant things.

There were many senior classmates inside, and Ling Yue couldn't protect her by herself, so she had to look for Ling Xiao.

It was Ling Xiao who came over and stood beside her, supporting her domineeringly.

Because I have experienced it, I understand.

I also know how powerful it is to have someone standing by my side at times like this.

Zhu Shan reminded him, "You also stood by my side like this before, have you forgotten?"

After saying that, she muttered and added, "I will repay kindness, and I am not a heartless person."

Ling Xiao slowly lowered his eyes, with some slight doubts in his tone, "Aren't you a heartless person?"

These words reached Zhu Shan's ears, and she felt that they were no different from saying that she had no conscience.

She wanted to fight back, but when she thought about her rejection of him over the years, she felt like she was indeed a heartless and unjust person.

But she couldn't just accept his... love without thinking because of the word 'conscience', right?

If she can't accept it, doesn't that mean she has no conscience?

Ling Xiao saw her frowning and biting her lip, knowing that her thoughts were wandering away again.

He raised his hand to clasp the table and raised his chin slightly, "The question just now has not been answered yet."

Zhu Shan's thoughts were still wandering, and her eyes turned around blankly, "What?"

"Why didn't you let me touch you in the car?"

"???"

Zhu Shan's eyes suddenly brightened, and then her ears turned slightly red.

Ling Xiao folded his hands on his chest, leaned slightly on the back of the chair, and looked at Zhu Shan calmly.

Watch her purse her lips, watch her eyelashes flutter, watch her fingers slowly clenched into fists.

He's not in a hurry.

Wait for her to squirm, wait for her to think, wait for her to answer.

Surrounded by the warm aroma of curry, Zhu Shan felt panicked.

She gritted her teeth, pushed the porcelain plate in front of her forward, then stood up and looked down at Ling Xiao.

Then he said confidently, "You wash the dishes today."