Are You Crazy? He’s only an Intern Lawyer?
Chapter 167 - 165: Simple-minded Person Got Cuckolded? Opponent Wants a Quick Battle

Chapter 167: Chapter 165: Simple-minded Person Got Cuckolded? Opponent Wants a Quick Battle

The next morning came, and it was still dark.

Ding-a-ling!

A series of urgent phone rings abruptly sounded, waking someone still deeply asleep.

Jessica’s eyelashes fluttered slightly as she removed a certain "salty pig’s hand" resting on her shoulder before rolling over to pick up the phone.

"Hello~"

Her voice carried a hint of laziness and a touch of irritation from having her sweet dream interrupted.

"Jessica, why is it you... Where’s that jerk Zhang Wei?"

On the other end of the phone, Zhao Xiaoxiao’s voice was filled with astonishment.

Realizing that the person who answered wasn’t Zhang Wei but Jessica, she looked down at the phone number.

That’s right, it’s Zhang Wei’s number. Why didn’t he answer the phone?

"Oh, got it, we’re sleeping right now, I’ll call him for you..."

Jessica, without thinking, instinctively pushed Zhang Wei’s head, and he too slowly awoke.

"Who is it?"

"Xiaoxiao’s looking for you."

"Oh, okay..."

Zhang Wei took the phone impatiently, his tone annoyed, "Little sis, what do you mean by this? What time is it, do you realize it’s 3 in the morning, calling me?

"You guys, you’re sleeping together?"

Unfortunately, on the other end of the phone, Zhao Xiaoxiao was also in shock.

If, maybe, possibly, probably she hadn’t misheard, it seemed Zhang Wei and Jessica were in the same room.

"Ah, don’t even mention it, the town is so small, and there’s no hotel. I had no choice but to share a bed with Jessica."

Zhang Wei complained, then promptly asked without paying attention to Zhao Xiaoxiao’s shock on the other end, "What do you need? Speak up, we still want to get back to sleep!"

"You still want to sleep!"

The voice in the phone went up a few decibels; Zhao Xiaoxiao was becoming increasingly shocked.

"Little sis, hurry up, do you know what time we went to sleep last night?"

"I... I really don’t care what time you guys went to sleep last night!"

Zhao Xiaoxiao stuttered out, then with some discontent said, "You guys sleep whatever time you want, what’s it to me!"

"Right, I called to tell you, about the matter you asked me to investigate, I’ve already found out some of it, but the rest will take some time!"

"Oh, thanks, little sis..."

"No need to thank me, have a good sleep, goodbye!"

On that end, Zhao Xiaoxiao, quite disgruntled, ended the call and stared at her phone, lost in thought.

She needed time to digest the information she had just received.

Zhang Wei and Jessica were "sleeping" together; the two of them have "gotten together"!

As for the matter of sleeping together, Zhao Xiaoxiao naturally understood.

She was well aware of how charming Jessica could be; probably no man could resist her.

Zhang Wei was obviously a man too; living under the same roof with a great beauty, it was impossible for him to restrain himself.

Thinking this way, it seemed only natural for the two of them to sleep together.

Zhao Xiaoxiao shook her head, a bit speechless.

How come the more she thought, the less it seemed Zhang Wei was in the wrong?

"Forget it, forget it, after all, I’m not the one getting hurt!"

With that thought, she quickly pulled out her phone and found Xia Qianyue in her WeChat contact list.

She scrolled through the profile avatars, finally settling on a green hat, which she placed as a decoration atop Xia Qianyue’s avatar.

She could see this decoration by herself, of course, Xia Qianyue would not be able to see it.

This accessory could also serve as a reminder to herself that a certain Simple-minded person seemed to have been cuckolded!

"Whatever, it’s none of my business anyway!"

The carefree Zhao Xiaoxiao yawned and finally felt sleepy.

Three in the morning, just the right time for her to sleep, and that guy who would have disturbed her at six in the morning wasn’t around, so she could finally sleep in.

Comfortable~

If there was one downside, it was probably that she would miss out on the delicious breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

The thought of only being able to eat takeout for three meals a day made Zhao Xiaoxiao feel despondent once again.

After getting used to someone’s culinary skills, the street takeout just didn’t taste right.

What the second young lady of Lin Mansion was complaining about, Zhang Wei in Tonghu Town had no clue.

He was now deep in thought—after hanging up the phone, he found himself pondering.

Just a moment ago, in his grogginess, he seemed to have said something wrong.

"It’s all the second young lady’s fault. Doesn’t she look at the time before making a call? It’s only three in the morning!"

Zhang Wei complained before placing his phone on the bedside table, then he prepared to change into a more comfortable position to continue sleeping.

However, strangely, he felt a heaviness on his chest.

Looking down, Zhang Wei was jolted awake.

Before his eyes was a vast expanse of snowy white skin; Jessica was lying on top of him, her ample assets slightly misshaped due to the pressure.

No wonder his chest felt stuffy, anyone would feel the same with two mounds of flesh pressing down on them.

However, for Zhang Wei, this feeling was very good, extremely good.

Jessica had drifted back to sleep again, and Zhang Wei couldn’t bear to disturb her, only gently adjusting the position of his hands.

Feeling the warmth of the person on top of him and the softness at his chest, Zhang Wei forced himself to close his eyes again, not thinking about anything else.

Gradually, he also fell into a deep sleep...

When he opened his eyes again,

It was already light outside, and the pressure on his chest was gone.

When Zhang Wei came down the stairs, he indeed saw a figure busy in the kitchen.

"Good morning, Zhang Wei, how did you sleep last night?"

"Mm, pretty well, though my chest felt a bit stuffy. I’m going to go out to the backyard to get some air..."

Zhang Wei rubbed his chest and walked somewhat embarrassingly towards the backyard.

"Mm, go ahead. After you’re done washing up, remember to come and eat breakfast. I made steamed eggs and cream of vegetable soup today!"

"Alright!"

Zhang Wei hurried to the backyard to freshen up.

When he returned to the first floor, he saw that Susan and Su Mei were also awake.

The four of them had breakfast together.

"By the way, Zhang Wei, did someone call this morning?"

Jessica gently brushed her forehead, tucking a strand of blonde hair behind her ear as she asked casually.

Her memory was a bit fuzzy, after all, that was at three in the morning.

"Yeah, I asked Xiao Xiao... to help me look into our opponents..."

Zhang Wei immediately explained and, after glancing at Su Mei and Susan, added, "I also asked her to gather information about the other five families, but that might take some time."

"Oh, I see!" Jessica nodded.

"Zhang Wei, are you investigating Wang Qiang and the others?"

Jessica had no objections, but Su Mei thought differently.

Upon hearing that Zhang Wei had someone investigate Wang Qiang and the other five families, she felt somewhat uneasy.

"They’re just like me, unfortunate people whose families have encountered tragedy. Surely you don’t need to investigate them, do you?"

"Aunt Mei, you’re thinking too simply. In court, knowing both yourself and your enemy ensures victory in every battle. If I don’t even understand my own people, wouldn’t I be at others’ mercy?"

"But all these families have been our neighbors for decades. I can assure you that they’d never hide anything from me!"

"Yeah, Zhang Wei, some of the uncles and elders, I know them, and they shouldn’t be problematic."

Seeing Su Mei assuring so surely for the families, Jessica couldn’t help but speak up.

"Are you certain?"

Zhang Wei saw Su Mei and Jessica both say this but just shook his head, "Is the Wang family okay too?"

"Qiangzi may be impulsive and blunt, but while he doesn’t mince words, he’s never really done anything wrong."

"Aunt Mei, are you vouching for them?"

"We’ve been neighbors for decades. I know them inside and out; they are not bad people!"

"Zhang Wei, if Aunt Mei says so, there’s no need to waste energy investigating your teammates. Focus your efforts on the opponents, how about that?"

Su Mei vouched, and Jessica echoed the sentiment, with Susan surely standing by her mother’s side.

"Alright then, since you all say so, I won’t waste the time!" Zhang Wei reluctantly agreed to compromise.

Since Su Mei had to consider the relationship between neighbors, Zhang Wei had no choice but to do her the courtesy.

After all, he was eating their food, living in their house, and she was Jessica’s elder, so he had to show respect!

He sent a message to Zhao Xiaoxiao and then borrowed Susan’s computer to log into his email and start downloading documents.

After breakfast, Zhang Wei began to sort through the information.

"According to the information, Haofangzi Group’s paperwork is very clean, their product line undergoes safety inspections every year, and they always pass!"

"The same goes for their production line. The chemical products they use, such as the furniture flame retardants, are all legal and safe, and the pollution they cause is within the local environmental standards!"

The information provided by Zhao Xiaoxiao wasn’t of much help to Zhang Wei—probably the only useful piece was...

"According to the pathological investigation report, the chemical substances used by Haofangzi Group’s furniture factory have some bioaccumulative and carcinogenic properties. It’s a pity that the experimental data from this report was not based on human subjects, but on laboratory mice!"

Upon mentioning mice, Jessica shook her head.

"Zhang, you need to understand, the data from laboratory mice has almost no use for human toxicology reports. In clinical medicine testing, although mice are often used as pathological experiment subjects, a mere one in a million of tetanus toxin can be lethal to them. Using mice as animal experiment subjects has less than a 50% accuracy rate when applied to human experiments."

As a former surgeon and practicing psychologist, Jessica’s opinion was akin to expert advice.

Zhang Wei also understood that this report wasn’t very important.

"If this path is not viable, then we have to rely on that expert witness and your court testimony!"

Just then, Susan’s phone rang.

"It’s a call from the court!"

She spoke and immediately answered the phone.

Before long, the call ended.

"Haofangzi Group had submitted a request to dismiss the case, but it was rejected by the court. The court has notified us that the hearing of the case will start today, and preliminary review can be done by tomorrow!"

"Preliminary review tomorrow? How could it be so soon?"

Zhang Wei hadn’t expected that they would start selecting the jury by tomorrow.

"A friend at the court told me, it was Haofangzi Group that requested the expedited proceedings. After their dismissal request was rejected, they demanded that the trial be expedited, and the presiding judge agreed!"

"So the court where the trial will be held is?"

"It’s Taoyuan District Court; that can’t be changed!"

"Oh, they’re trying to catch us off guard, and with the home ground advantage, this is very unfavorable for us!"

Hearing Susan’s response, Zhang Wei understood.

Haofangzi Group was ready with two strategies: the first was to attempt to withdraw the lawsuit, which failed, so they moved on to their second strategy of hastening the court proceedings.

They had calculated that Zhang Wei’s side wouldn’t be sufficiently prepared and aimed for a quick resolution!

Moreover, they had another advantage—fighting on their own turf!

Susan had submitted a request to change the venue of the trial, but it too had been rejected by the court.

It seemed as though the court had struck each side equally, but for Zhang Wei’s side, the situation was overwhelmingly unfavorable.

"So... what do we do now?"

"Don’t worry, we’ll take it step by step. Sometimes the opponent’s tactics can become our opportunity!"

Zhang Wei signaled Susan to be at ease and then proceeded to continue studying the information.

The day quickly passed.

...

The next day, the day of the preliminary review.

Unlike the previous days, Zhang Wei got up early today and made breakfast for the three of them.

This was a surprise to both Su Mei and Susan—Zhang Wei could actually cook, and his culinary skills were quite impressive.

Enjoying their breakfast, the Su mother and daughter looked at Jessica with a hint of blessing and envy, which made her blush with embarrassment.

After breakfast, Su Mei rested at home while Jessica drove Susan and Zhang Wei to the district court.

Taoyuan District, District Court.

Inside a first-floor courtroom, Zhang Wei’s side arrived early.

Since it was just a preliminary hearing and because several families in Tonghu Town still had sick members to care for, Susan didn’t ask them to come to the review.

After all, selecting the jury was something Zhang Wei and Susan could handle on their own.

Jessica sat in the first row of the witness bench, cheering the two on.

"Zhang Wei, what do I need to do later?"

Although it wasn’t yet time, Susan couldn’t help but feel nervous.

"It’s simple; you just need to ask a few questions. Just follow my lead—when I nod, it means accept; when I shake my head, it means reject. Do you understand?"

"Understood!"

After giving a few instructions to Susan, their opponent finally arrived.

Haofangzi Group brought a lot of people, Zhang Wei estimated around twenty to thirty - the hearing seats were almost full.

"Quite the imposing lineup, bringing so many people. Are they here for a group fight?" Seeing the opponent’s tactics, Zhang Wei patted Susan on the shoulder for comfort.

He wasn’t worried, but Susan was startled to see so many people show up together.

Especially the person leading them, the well-known Lawyer Su Bancheng.

In preparation for the court session, and to dampen Zhang Wei’s sharpness, Su Bancheng had called upon all his loyal subordinates.

Therefore, in the jury box, one could see a uniform presence of colleagues in suits and leather shoes, representing the elite of Jinying City’s legal community.

And they all focused their gaze on Zhang Wei and Susan, their eyes turning into blades, wanting to cut the two into a thousand pieces.

Su Bancheng sat in the defendant’s seat, with President Wu beside him. The two of them looked at Zhang Wei and simultaneously showed a mocking smile.

This was the pretrial greeting, something akin to provocation.

Neither side intended to approach the other to exchange pleasantries, with Susan too nervous to speak and Su Bancheng too disdainful to greet the two juniors.

Soon, it was time for the pretrial conference.

"All rise!"

The judge arrived.

After sitting on the bench, he glanced at the defendant’s seat and nodded to Su Bancheng as a signal.

This scene made Zhang Wei narrow his eyes; it seemed the judge was somewhat acquainted with Su Bancheng.

It was just unclear whether this connection would affect the court’s direction during the trial.

"Today’s case for review is the lawsuit filed by the residents of Tonghu Town against Haofangzi Group for environmental pollution at the furniture processing plant in Tonghu Town. We shall now begin with the pretrial conference. Each party, please state your respective claims for argument in court..."

Following the judge’s announcement, both parties stated their claims.

"Since that’s the case, let’s begin with the selection of the jury!"

The judge nodded in approval, and naturally, the Court Guard invited the potential jurors into the courtroom.

Upon seeing the jurors entering the court, Susan quickly sought advice, "Zhang Wei, what do you think of these jurors?"

"Susan, I know what you’re worried about, but jurors are bound by a duty of honesty. When the court assembles the large panel, they give priority consideration to Haofangzi Group’s influence and will exclude those who have direct or indirect connections with the group," Zhang Wei reassured her.

"If they work within the group, or their relatives have ties to Haofangzi Group, or even if they might be ex-employees, partners, dealers, these people will all be excluded!"

Hearing Zhang Wei’s explanation, Susan breathed a sigh of relief.

"Even so, we still need to screen the jury, because Haofangzi Group’s influence is really too wide-reaching. Even if someone has no connection to this company, there will always be some who might want to curry favor with a large corporation!"

But Zhang Wei’s next sentence made Susan tense up again.

"How should we screen the jury then?"

"We need to find people who don’t care about big companies and large groups, or say, people who are independent, fearless of power, and also..."

Zhang Wei paused, then swept his gaze over the jury, "and also be mindful of those who have been deceived before!"

"Why?" Susan asked, naturally puzzled.

"It’s simple, such people tend to be more extreme in their actions, which is a double-edged sword in a trial. If used correctly, making the opponent stand with us, then we will have secured a solid and unwavering chip amongst the jurors!"

Susan nodded numbly, completely unfamiliar with these trial tactics.

"That woman!"

Suddenly, Zhang Wei pointed at a woman sitting in the corner of the jury box, "Look at her seat, the bottom left corner, surrounded by women, right?"

"Yes!"

"She wasn’t the first to enter, nor the last, but when she walked into the candidates’ seating area, she could have chosen a seat closer to the entrance, yet she went to the furthest spot, deliberately distancing herself from the few men nearby. Now look at her right hand, there’s a clear mark from a ring, yet her eyes carry an aggressive look, and she seems slightly hostile towards the men around her..."

After observing for a moment, Zhang Wei analyzed, "My guess is this woman has recently divorced, and was likely cheated by her husband. Pay more attention to her during the selection!"

"Okay, I’ll do my best..." Susan responded, her eyes wide with the daunting task ahead.

Do we really need to be this thorough in selecting a jury, have you conducted background checks on these people?

Of course, Zhang Wei had not, but given the level of his opponent, he had to respond with all his might.

With that in mind, he looked towards Su Bancheng in the defendant’s seat, just as the latter looked back at him.

Their gazes met in mid-air, sparking off latent energy.

At that moment, both became increasingly aware of one thing.

The opponent they were facing was not like any they had encountered before; this was not an adversary they could easily defeat!