Are You Crazy? He’s only an Intern Lawyer?
Chapter 309 - 307: Where is Old Tie? Bailing Someone Out of Detention

Chapter 309: Chapter 307: Where is Old Tie? Bailing Someone Out of Detention

(Feeling gloomy, there’s a positive case right at my doorstep, three days of continuous nucleic acid testing, the neighborhood gets locked down... emmm...)

...

Tuesday, a workday.

At the Jincheng Law Firm, Criminal Department office.

Zhang Wei got up very early as usual, and came to work first thing in the morning.

He had no choice, he was competing for the Employee of the Year award.

"Lawyer Zhang, good morning!"

"Good morning, Lawyer Zhang!"

"Good morning, Lawyer Zhang, good morning!"

Today, Zhang Wei didn’t sit in his office but stayed in the Criminal Department’s workspace instead.

After the new employees clocked in, they all greeted him very respectfully, their tones even carried a hint of admiration.

Zhang Wei waved his hand in response, trying to maintain his aloofness and authority.

"Master, good morning~"

But his aloofness and authority case instantly when he saw his listless apprentice’s greeting.

There was Lin Yumeng with her hair in a mess and dark circles under her eyes, looking as if she hadn’t woken up yet.

"Xiao Meng, what happened to you, didn’t you win a case yesterday?"

Zhang Wei said, puzzled, "You look like you’ve lost a case and haven’t slept all night because of self-reproach."

"Master, it’s precisely because I won the case yesterday that I was too excited and couldn’t sleep all night..."

The apprentice responded weakly with drowsy eyes.

"How can that be alright, looking at you, if you don’t sleep soon, you’re going to collapse!"

Zhang Wei hurriedly grabbed her favorite blanket from Lin Yumeng’s seat.

"Go on, go to my office and get some sleep, my sofa is all yours. Don’t let me see you in the office today, or you’ll have me to answer to!"

"Master, how can I do that, if I sleep at work, I’ll feel guilty..."

"What’s there to be afraid of, Old Tie isn’t here, don’t feel burdened, your health is what’s important. Besides, you’re always slacking off, and it’s not like I can’t see it. This time let yourself slack off for real, consider it a reward for winning the case."

As he spoke, Zhang Wei pushed his apprentice into his office.

Only after seeing her finally lie down, did he let out a sigh of relief.

This little apprentice was always a cause for concern!

It was a good thing that Old Tie wasn’t around, otherwise...

Wait a minute!

Only then did Zhang Wei remember what his task was this morning while staying in the workspace.

He was waiting for Tie Ruyun.

How many days had it been since this guy showed up for work?

It was bad enough that he was an office leader, the main person in charge, and he had been absent for almost three days, right?

If you counted from last Friday, adding yesterday and today made it exactly three days.

For a department head to be missing for three days was somewhat inexcusable, wasn’t it?

In fact, the newbies in the office also found it strange.

Why had their leader, Big Boss Tie, been absent for the past few days?

It was the last week of June; wasn’t it time to start some summary work?

Typically, law firms require new staff to write summary reports and monthly statements at the end of the month.

But with Tie Ruyun absent, there was no one to give the order.

Although Li Yueqin was eager to do so, such matters needed to be decided by the head leader, and she had only recently become team leader, so she couldn’t just issue orders.

So the most crucial question was, where was Tie Ruyun?

Zhang Wei saw that all the new staff had arrived and Xiao Li had already taken her seat, but Tie Ruyun still hadn’t shown up.

"This won’t do, who knows what might have happened to Old Tie!"

Thinking this, he immediately took out his phone and made a call.

"I’m sorry, the number you have dialed is currently unavailable. Please try again later..."

As he heard the unable-to-connect message on the phone, Zhang Wei was stunned for a moment.

Tie Ruyun couldn’t even answer his phone anymore; what on earth could have happened?

He needed to ask someone who might know the situation.

In the entire office, the only one who might know Tie Ruyun’s whereabouts was Tie Cuilan.

Criminal Department, general assistant workspace.

Since Tie Ruyun’s promotion, when the Criminal Group became the Criminal Department, Tie Cuilan had also been promoted.

She was now the general assistant of the Criminal Department, had her own administrative workspace within the department, and Jincheng had even assigned her two assistants.

After all, she used to handle clerical work for a group, but now it was for an entire department, which was too much work for one person alone.

At this moment, Tie Cuilan was busy with clerical work, along with her two female assistants.

"Xiao He, you’ve done this form wrong; I wanted a statistical table, and you’ve made it into a data report, all these numbers need formulas applied!"

"Zhou Er, have you applied for all the materials that I asked you to request? Next month, our Criminal Department will be running for its second month, and we need all the logistical support to keep up!"

Sister Cuilan was exerting an air of authority, teaching two newcomers in the office how to do their jobs.

"Sister Cuilan!"

Suddenly, a head popped in at the office door.

"Oh, it’s Zhang Wei. What brings you to our administrative office?"

The appearance of Zhang Wei made both newcomers, Zhou Er and Xiao He, look up.

"What are you looking at? Get back to work!"

Sister Cuilan urged them, then walked over to Zhang Wei.

"Sister Cuilan, do you know where Old Tie is?"

"Cousin, I’m not sure where he is either. In fact, I haven’t been able to contact him all weekend."

"You can’t get in touch with him either?"

"Yeah, I thought he was just busy with all the Criminal Department stuff. Looking at you, could it be that cousin isn’t busy with the department’s affairs?"

"Damn, Old Tie has really gone missing!"

Since Sister Cuilan had no clues about Old Tie’s whereabouts, Zhang Wei had no choice but to take his leave.

He walked away quickly, his face filled with anxious concern.

"Is that the Lawyer Zhang?"

"He looks so ordinary, but who would have thought he’s the notorious ’Homicide Lawyer’!"

"Maybe that’s his cover, playing the simple-minded person, looking ordinary on the outside, but harboring a beast inside."

"Yeah, I’ve heard that lawyers have all sorts of tricks up their sleeves. Lawyer Zhang’s heart must be like an abyss!"

After Zhang Wei left, the two newcomers in the administrative office whispered to each other.

Of course, Zhang Wei didn’t know about this.

He also didn’t realize that his reputation within Jincheng Law Firm was quite significant, very significant.

But Zhang Wei wasn’t concerned with his fame or the administrative staff’s opinions of him right now.

What he cared about was where Old Tie could be.

Having found no leads from Sister Cuilan, Zhang Wei had to look elsewhere.

The first person he thought of was the affectionate and lovely "second daughter," Zhao Xiaoxiao.

Zhang Wei immediately pulled out his phone, ready to send her a message.

Ding-dong!

But before he could send it, another message interrupted him.

[Xia Qianyue: Is this person from your office? He’s been detained here for almost 30 hours now, and he looks so pitiful.]

[Xia Qianyue: "Picture"]

Looking at the picture Xia Qianyue sent, Zhang Wei was stunned on the spot.

The picture was of a detention room with dark iron bars, and sitting inside was a person with a look of utter dejection.

He was dressed in a suit, sitting in a corner with an expression of sheer desolation.

It was none other than Tie Ruyun, the man Zhang Wei had been concerned about.

[Zhang Wei: Silly, why is Old Tie with you guys?]

[Xia Qianyue: I don’t know. It’s not our Team 7’s case. I only noticed him because he looked somewhat familiar/confused when I was transferring suspects today.]

[Zhang Wei: Okay, I’ll be right over!]

Zhang Wei put down his phone and hurried over to Li Yueqin.

"I know where Old Tie is, I’m going to find him!"

He left a quick word, then sent another message to Zhang Xinyan, asking him to get the car ready.

A few minutes later, the car departed from the underground garage, heading straight for the Martial Association Detention Room.

...

Martial Association, temporary detention room.

Tie Ruyun already had a rather despondent look to him.

After being locked up in the detention room for over 30 hours, he now looked even more desolate.

Footsteps sounded outside the detention room, and Lin Ruonan appeared.

Tie Ruyun wasn’t sure if it was good luck or bad that his case was being handled by the Major Crimes Unit 1.

The interrogator just so happened to be Lin Ruonan, coincidentally.

"Tie Ruyun, you are a lawyer, and not just any lawyer, but one of Jincheng’s, a criminal defense lawyer at that. I don’t need to tell you what you’ve done, you surely know what kind of trouble you’re in!"

Lin Ruonan stated, with a tinge of contempt on her face, "For someone like you to have made such a basic mistake and for us to catch you red-handed... it’s baffling."

"I am innocent!"

Tie Ruyun replied, though he found his own words laughable.

As a criminal defense lawyer, the phrase he heard most from his clients was this one.

He never expected that one day he would experience it firsthand.

"With the way you are now, you’re not capable of defending even yourself, are you?"

Lin Ruonan shook her head, then said, "And even if you can defend yourself, we still have eyewitnesses, including that woman’s testimony. You can’t escape this!"

"I never thought about escaping. I am innocent!"

"Are you sure? But you gave money at the time, we also saw that woman in the car being intimate with you, even trying to take off your clothes!"

"I said, it was a misunderstanding!"

Tie Ruyun raised his head to defend himself, but his eyes seemed to have lost their light.

Lin Ruonan could see that the mental state of the man before her had probably collapsed.

"If I were you, I would choose to let your colleague defend you. You have the right to hire a lawyer, do you want me to help you contact someone from Jincheng Law Firm...?"

"Don’t!"

Hearing Lin Ruonan offer to help, Tie Ruyun quickly interrupted.

"Humph, what time is it, and you’re still worried about these impacts?"

Seeing this, Lin Ruonan scoffed, her face showing even more disdain.

Don’t think I don’t know what you, Tie Ruyun, are afraid of. It’s nothing more than the fear that your own issues will affect the face of the Criminal Department and the image of the law firm.

But all these are immaterial, external things; you should worry about yourself first.

"Tie Ruyun, I’ll tell you one last time, you could actually plead guilty, you..."

"The lawyer’s here~"

Just when Lin Ruonan was ready to speak sternly and warn him again, an urgent greeting interrupted her.

Hearing this voice, Lin Ruonan’s heart skipped a beat.

"Troublesome person has arrived!"

She didn’t need to look to know who was coming towards her.

Because she was all too familiar with that voice.

Heard before seen.

Zhang Wei!

The ace of the Criminal Department at Jincheng Law Firm, the Procuratorate Headquarters’ biggest headache, the Criminal Investigation Department had also listed him as a "dangerous individual."

Of course, not a dangerous individual in terms of criminal offenses, but a dangerous individual among lawyers; there is a fundamental difference.

In fact, the latter is even more dangerous!

"Yo-ho, Team Leader Lin, what a coincidence?"

Zhang Wei arrived in front of the detention room and greeted Lin Ruonan.

Following that, he feigned surprise and looked towards the detention room.

"Old Tie, what happened to you, Old Tie? How come I’m seeing you here?"

"Zhang... Zhang Wei, you’ve arrived..."

Tie Ruyun managed to squeeze out a smile more painful than crying.

"Team Leader Lin, what’s going on with Old Tie? Maybe you could fill me in. Oh right, I suspect you guys have abused him. Otherwise, how can my boss, who’s always so spirited, end up like this? Please explain this situation to us quickly!"

"Right, I also need to call a doctor to assess my boss’s physical and mental condition. Please contact the cooperating medical institution. If there’s even a little problem with my boss’s health, I’m definitely going to make you compensate!"

Hearing Zhang Wei asking her again and making many demands, Lin Ruonan felt another headache coming on.

Indeed, dealing with someone who understands the law and isn’t afraid of them is just headache-inducing.

And the worst part was, they couldn’t refuse the demands the other party was making.

"Okay, you wait here then. I’ll contact the hospital and prepare the case report for you!"

Lin Ruonan indicated that she truly did not want to see Zhang Wei, so she left directly.

"Zhang Wei, isn’t this unnecessary? I feel pretty good..."

"No, you feel very bad, and you’re exhausted both physically and mentally, with a lot of stress!"

Zhang Wei interrupted Tie Ruyun and spoke righteously, "Old Tie, the investigation department can detain you temporarily for a maximum of 48 hours. It’s only been 30 hours, you don’t want to continue to stay in this detention room for another 18 hours, do you? There’s a hospital bed for you to sleep on, aren’t you satisfied?"

"Uh... okay then!"

Convinced by Zhang Wei, Tie Ruyun nodded seriously.

A few minutes later, Lin Ruonan arrived with medical personnel, who directly carried Tie Ruyun away on a stretcher.

Only when Tie Ruyun was sent onto the ambulance did Zhang Wei feel at ease.

"Team Leader Lin, I’d like to clarify now that our boss has just formally hired me as his defense attorney, so you can tell me about his situation!"

"Here, it’s all in this report. Take your time reading it!"

Lin Ruonan said, handing over a photocopy of a report to Zhang Wei.

"Team Leader Lin, don’t leave. I still have to ask you about the details of the case..."

"I’ll arrange for my subordinates to contact you. If there’s any problem, talk to them directly!"

Lin Ruonan expressed that she didn’t want to deal with Zhang Wei for even a moment longer and quickly left.

"What, am I a flood or a savage beast?"

Zhang Wei touched his nose, somewhat speechless.

How could so many people be afraid of him when he’s such a friendly person?

This is all a misunderstanding by worldly people. He, Zhang Wei, is indeed an easygoing person.

With that thought, he beckoned Zhang Xinyan to continue driving them back to the law firm.

Inside the car, he started to go through the case report right away.

"Holy shit, Old Tie actually went whoring!"

But when he saw the first page, Zhang Wei couldn’t contain himself.

Old Tie, Old Tie, who would have thought someone who looks so honest like you would also...

Well, it’s true, Old Tie is almost 40 years old.

It’s said that he’s still a bachelor, without even a girlfriend.

An occasional indulgence isn’t really anything strange.

Zhang Wei expressed his understanding of Old Tie’s behavior.

After all, Old Tie wasn’t him; he himself had a girlfriend.

"Going whoring, where at, how much do they charge, are the girls any good there?" Zhang Xinyan, who was driving, became interested as soon as he heard Zhang Wei’s words.

"Stinky little brother, just drive, don’t think I don’t know what you are thinking. Do you want me to contact Sister Xiao Wu and tell her that her little brother is ready to meet a ’nice girl’ to discuss life?"

"Forget it, can’t I just shut up!"

Hearing that Zhang Wei was going to contact Zhang Xinwu, Zhang Xinyan immediately clammed up.

"Wait, what is a ’nice girl’?"

"Oh, it’s our lingo among criminal defense lawyers; ’nice girls’ refer to the courtesans of ancient times, also known as prostitutes. This term has continued to be used up to now, and many people also like to call them ’miss,’ but we consider them all female Bodhisattvas, hence ’nice girls’!"

Zhang Wei explained briefly.

The main reason is that the term "nice girl" doesn’t evoke the same revulsion as "prostitute" does; even if you say it to others, it’s less likely to provoke disdain.

Zhang Xinyan agreed and thought to himself: I want to meet a ’nice girl’ too, I’m already this old, and I haven’t even held a girl’s hand yet...

...

Jincheng Law Firm.

Criminal Department office.

After returning to the law firm, Zhang Wei did not publicize Old Tie’s incident; instead, he went back to his own office.

On the sofa, Lin Yumeng was still asleep, with the small blanket kicked off to the floor and both hands flailing about, drool covering half of her face, presenting a very touching sleeping posture.

However, Zhang Wei didn’t have the heart to deal with her; after covering her with the small blanket again, he started to get busy.

Old Tie getting caught while out whoring was too embarrassing, and it was necessary to consider the reputation of the department.

In short, the impact of this incident wasn’t minor, especially since Old Tie was a lawyer.

But Zhang Wei found it strange because, according to the case report, the female involved in the whoring was a "Liuying."

Liuying is also industry jargon, meaning a freelance ’nice girl.’

This category belongs to those without a fixed workplace and is the lowest tier among ’nice girls,’ generally charging a few tens to a few hundred yuan per time.

"What’s going on, Old Tie is the head of our Criminal Department office, even if he wanted to go whoring, he should have chosen somewhere a bit more upmarket, right?"

"Like the bunny girls at the Jincheng Club. Although they’re like public buses, at least they’re a step up, and it’s safer inside the Jincheng Club, isn’t it?"

"At the very least, you could go to some clubs or modeling companies and rent some princesses or business models. That would definitely be better than picking up a Liuying, right?"

"Those models, with their S brands and T brands, they have a high-status feel to them, and that would be more fitting of the image of the head of our Criminal Department."

Zhang Wei couldn’t help but facepalm, inwardly cursing Old Tie for being so disgraceful.

He himself, as an experienced driver, was now critiquing Old Tie who was like a rookie on the road.

Having an "accident" as soon as he hit the road, he should give up on being a "driver" for life.

"Xiao Wei?"

But while flipping through the report, Zhang Wei noticed a somewhat familiar name.

The name of that Liuying, Old Tie seemed to have mentioned it before.

A memory flashed through Zhang Wei’s mind.

On Thursday afternoon, while returning to the law firm from the Jincheng Club, Old Tie received a phone call, which seemed to have come from this Xiao Wei.

"So, there’s something fishy about this case!"

Zhang Wei took a deep breath, and his expression became unnatural.

Because, if that was the case, could Old Tie have been framed?

Who could it be, or is there some coincidence here?

This indeed warrants some pondering...

"Zhang Wei, something bad happened!"

Just as Zhang Wei was contemplating, the office door was suddenly pushed open.

"Xiao Li, don’t alarm everyone like that, what’s the matter?"

"Ah, what happened, what happened, has someone found out that I was shirking work and sleeping?"

This shout not only interrupted Zhang Wei’s train of thought but even woke up Lin Yumeng, who had been soundly sleeping on the sofa.

"Zhang Wei, it’s really bad, the whole firm is talking about the team leader being caught whoring!"

Li Yueqin could not care about anything else and immediately shouted.

Zhang Wei’s heart suddenly skipped a beat.

Who on earth... leaked the news?