Are You Crazy? He’s only an Intern Lawyer?
Chapter 371 - 369: The Challenge Has Arrived, Qin Shao Personally Takes Action?

Chapter 371: Chapter 369: The Challenge Has Arrived, Qin Shao Personally Takes Action?

Dongfang Capital, city center.

Inside a certain VIP room at the Jincheng Club.

The young master of Longteng International, Qin Shaocong, was meeting someone here at this moment.

Of course, those in the industry might find it strange.

Why would a lawyer from Longteng choose to meet a client on Jincheng’s turf?

But the Jincheng Club is open to all lawyers in Dongfang Capital, whether they’re from their own firm or not, they can all register as members here.

Of course, this is also Jincheng Law Firm’s way of demonstrating its magnanimity.

"Our Jincheng is the top-ranked law firm in Dongfang Capital, but those of you who are ranked second, third, or even unranked, are all welcome to take on cases here at our Jincheng. We don’t mind."

Probably, that’s the message the Jincheng Club wants to convey to the other law firms.

And Qin Shaocong choosing to receive guests here is aiming for a certain environment.

The Jincheng Club does a very good job with confidentiality.

"Lawyer Hu, Blackfoot has been rather quiet lately!"

Qin Shaocong held up his wine glass and toasted the person sitting across from him.

This person was none other than Hu Yaode from Blackfoot.

As the youngest senior partner of Blackfoot, Hu Yaode carried some weight in the Dongfang Capital Lawyer Circle.

Enough to warrant a personal reception by Qin Shaocong.

Hu Yaode did not answer but just silently drank down the contents of his glass.

"What’s the matter, have you lost confidence after losing a few lawsuits in a row?" Qin Shaocong set down his wine glass and spoke.

A shadow flickered in Hu Yaode’s eyes.

Losing isn’t scary!

What’s scary is continuously losing without finding a reason.

The scariest thing is losing to the same person and developing a psychological shadow, no longer having confidence in yourself.

For a lawyer, that is true terror.

And Hu Yaode was recently showing this trend.

Consequently, he himself had become a lot more low-key.

"Zhang Wei!"

After a long silence, he exhaled and called out that name.

"Indeed, Zhang Wei!" Qin Shaocong nodded slightly.

He had summoned Hu Yaode not just to discuss some collaborative projects between their two law firms, but primarily to talk about this person.

Qin Shaocong was alright; at least he had not personally clashed with Zhang Wei. The lawyer from his firm who had gone up against him was an obscure little character.

But even so, Zhang Wei had affronted the face of his Longteng.

You, a lawyer from Longteng, come to provoke me, Zhang Wei, and I’ll turn around and send you to Naihe Bridge to drink soup!

It was as if he was warning Qin Shaocong: I’m not someone to be trifled with, if you dare to provoke me, this is what awaits you.

The camera cuts to Xu Zhifeng in the morgue.

Therefore, Qin Shaocong had no fondness for Zhang Wei.

For this reason, he had specifically sought out Hu Yaode, the person who had faced Zhang Wei the most times and had been consistently defeated by him.

"Lawyer Hu, I believe you hate Zhang Wei even more than I do!"

"Yes!"

Hu Yaode didn’t deny it; the conflict between him and Zhang Wei was already widely known, almost spread throughout the entire Dongfang Capital Lawyer Circle.

"So, Qin Shao, you called me here to deal with Zhang Wei?"

Hu Yaode sneered and shook his head, "Qin Shao, let me give you a piece of advice. That little rat, Zhang Wei, is very tricky. Without assured victory, it’s better not to..."

"No, even if you are assured of victory, you might not be able to get the better of him, and there’s still the possibility of him turning the tables!"

Hu Yaode, of course, had the right to speak about Zhang Wei’s tactics.

The kid was devilish, and even if you thought you were certain to win, there was always the chance of an upset.

So, with Zhang Wei, you have to be extremely cautious at all times, never letting your guard down.

Otherwise, he’d become an example!

"I’m well aware of that, and I, Qin Shaocong, never fight a battle without certainty of victory!"

Qin Shaocong spoke with confidence, his face composed.

This caught Hu Yaode by surprise.

You mean to say you’re going up against Zhang Wei recently, and you think you’ve won already?

Wait a second... Why does this scenario seem familiar?

"Isn’t that me?"

Knock, knock, knock!

Just then, knocking sounds came from the door.

"Qin Shao, it’s me!"

Outside the door, a faint voice arose.

It wasn’t that the person outside was speaking too softly, but rather the soundproofing of the room was so effective that even if one shouted from outside, only a faint sound could be heard inside.

"It’s one of my capable subordinates, whom I tasked with closely monitoring Zhang Wei’s movements!"

Qin Shaocong explained briefly before letting the subordinate in.

The subordinate walked up to Qin Shaocong and whispered a few words into his ear.

"Hmm, go ahead, continue monitoring!"

"Your subordinate takes his leave!"

The subordinate departed, but Hu Yaode kept his gaze on the retreating figure.

"Qin Shao, you have quite a few elites under you, this person is no ordinary person!"

"Lawyer Hu, he’s just a subordinate, not worth mentioning!"

Qin Shaocong waved his hand dismissively, moving straight to the main topic: "I won’t hide it from you, my subordinate just reported a major event to me!"

Hu Yaode poured himself another glass of wine and downed it in one gulp, seemingly uninterested in this so-called major event.

"It’s about Zhang Wei!"

But the next words from Qin Shaocong caused Hu Yaode, who was holding his glass, to pause slightly.

Gently setting down his glass, he asked, "What is it?"

"It goes like this, I remember Zhang Wei has a woman, a psychologist, who seems to have gotten herself into some trouble recently, and Zhang Wei has already gone over there."

Qin Shaocong leaned in close to Hu Yaode and whispered what his subordinate had reported.

"Oh, a civil lawsuit, huh? Doesn’t that mean, someone will have to confront Zhang Wei directly?"

Hu Yaode understood the procedure of the matter with just a few sentences.

If it were a criminal case, the Procuratorate Headquarters or the local Procuratorate’s Office would initiate a public prosecution.

But now that the person had been dead for so long without any action from the Procuratorate, it might mean they have decided not to prosecute.

In that case, if the victim’s family couldn’t turn to the Procuratorate, they would have to go through the civil litigation process.

Civil litigation, then, is a clash between the lawyers for both the plaintiff and the defense.

And whoever takes on this lawsuit will have to confront Zhang Wei directly.

The thought of facing Zhang Wei directly made Hu Yaode’s head hurt.

"What’s the matter, Lawyer Hu, are you not interested in this case?"

Qin Shaocong was surprised, he had kindly informed you of the matter, yet you showed no reaction?

"Lawyer Hu, are you really scared of that Zhang Wei?"

"Qin Shao, let’s not beat around the bush, I indeed have no interest in this case."

"You, this..."

Qin Shaocong was choked up by Hu Yaode’s response and couldn’t speak.

"Lawyer Hu, don’t tell me you really have a psychological shadow because of Zhang Wei, that you’ve become timid and cowardly?"

"Qin Shao, as I said, I’m not interested in the case!"

Hu Yaode rejected the offer out loud, but a sneer was forming in his heart.

You think I can’t tell that you actually intend to have me act as a vanguard to probe Zhang Wei’s depth for you?

I have conflicts with Zhang Wei, but those are all due to legal disputes.

Without a lawsuit, at most we just don’t see eye to eye.

You, Qin Shaocong, is it not the same? Your conflict with Zhang Wei, isn’t it just that he hurt your pride?

And incidentally "took care of" a junior lawyer at your firm?

It’s not that big of a deal between you, right?

Do you really think I, Hu Yaode, am a fool?

Hu Yaode inwardly rolled his eyes and then slowly stood up.

"Qin Shao, I have other cases to deal with recently and don’t have the time to meddle in these matters. My final word of advice to you: be careful with Zhang Wei. If you’re going to mess with this guy, you can’t relax for a second!"

After speaking, Hu Yaode walked out the door without looking back.

"Be careful, not relax for a second, isn’t that what I’ve been doing?"

Watching Hu Yaode leave, Qin Shaocong’s eyes narrowed slightly.

He then took out his phone and dialed a number.

"Go, take care of that family’s affair!"

"Tell them, I have taken the case!"

After giving his orders, Qin Shaocong’s half-squinted eyes narrowed into slits.

Within those slits, one could vaguely see a trace of confidence, as well as a hint of cunning.

...

In Central District, at a certain field office of the law enforcement.

Xia Donghai was looking at the group of relatives in front of him, as his colleagues interrogated them one by one.

"Are you saying, you are not at all related to them?"

Facing the field officers, several relatives clearly became scared and began to spill the truth.

"We don’t know them at all; we were simply hired to act as family members, told to shout and cause a scene outside the hospital, to make a bigger fuss so it would be easier to demand money later."

"Yes, yes, officer, we didn’t know anything, truly just trying to earn some hard-earned money, we’re just trying to get by."

"Exactly, exactly, we really didn’t feel assured about this matter ourselves, because seeing how stingy that mother and son were, we wondered if they would even willingly pay up."

These people sneakily glanced over at a short distance away, where the young man and his elderly mother were also being interrogated.

"Oh, what a setup, this is a whole industry chain, huh!"

Xia Donghai couldn’t help but lament; this was just...utterly deplorable.

These grown men, fit and able, couldn’t they find a proper job, or learn some skills?

"Say, don’t you know that doing this kind of thing is illegal? And there are many ways to earn hard-earned money, you don’t have to stoop to doing this, right?"

In response to Xia Donghai’s question, these people all showed a scornful smile.

One even scoffed, "Field officer, you must be joking, isn’t everything else harder than this?"

"That’s right, I’ve worked as a warehouse mover, as a kitchen help in a hotel, as a factory operator, and even on a construction site. Working myself to death, I’d make at most 300 yuan a day, having to carry cement and bricks, or else moving boxes and boxes of parts and goods. It’s exhausting and on top of that, you take flak from bosses and supervisors."

"Doing this, you get about the same amount for a day’s work without any physical effort, and if the victim’s relatives get more money, our share increases too. This beats working on a construction site, it’s much more comfortable~"

"This..."

Xia Donghai was speechless by what these people had said.

"Now you understand the problem, right? Doing this kind of work is illegal!"

"Understood, understood, we deeply recognize our mistake and guarantee we won’t re-offend in the future!"

These people were quick to plead for mercy and admit their wrongdoing.

But Xia Donghai was a seasoned field officer; he could tell at a glance whether someone’s promises were genuine.

He knew very well that these people would return to the same line of work once they got out.

As for their reasons, they had already explained them.

This group was too cunning; your lectures would be meaningless.

"Alright, you can stay in detention for a few days, I believe you’ll come to understand your mistake!"

"Ah, officer, kind sir, we’ve recognized our mistake, why do we still have to go to detention?"

"Recognizing your mistake doesn’t mean you haven’t committed a crime. If everyone thought admitting fault was enough, then what would be the need for laws?"

Facing these slick veterans attempting to argue their case, Xia Donghai immediately applied to send them to detention.

After all, 15 days of administrative detention was just routine for them.

These fake relatives weren’t the real issue; the real problem lay with...

Xia Donghai said this and stood up, walking over to the elderly mother and young man.

"We won’t accept this, my big brother is dead, and instead of going after the murderer who killed him, you’re arresting me and my mom. Is there no justice in this world, no rule of law?"

"Sir, we have not received any similar complaints on this matter, but gathering a crowd to cause a scene in front of the company, that we have evidence of!"

"We were only trying to..."

"What you were doing was gathering a crowd and causing trouble, do you really think you can fool us with your little tricks?"

Just as the young man tried to argue further, Xia Donghai walked over and interrupted him.

He spoke as he took some documents from a colleague.

"You’re called Zhou Sanliang, right? Your brother Zhou Erliang was a well-known martial arts instructor locally. He came to Dongfang Capital to participate in the martial arts tournament, but got into a fight while drunk one evening, was stabbed and critically injured, and died after unsuccessful medical treatment!"

"Ultimately, it was your brother’s own fault. Even after drinking, and relying on his few years of martial arts discipline, he chose to cause trouble while drunk and ended up injured like this. Do you think he bears no responsibility?"

"Moreover, the actions of that doctor were merely fulfilling a medical duty, yet you insist on harassing him for money. Do you want to exploit your brother’s death for a payout?"

Faced with Xia Donghai’s inquiry, Zhou Mother’s face became slightly embarrassed. She lowered her head and fell silent, not uttering a word.

But Zhou Sanliang, upon hearing these admonishments, revealed a disdainful smile.

"Field officer, what are you talking about? My brother died, I’m seeking compensation, isn’t that my rightful due?"

As he spoke, he even put on a defiant look, which was quite provoking.

"You..."

"Sorry, field operatives, I need to speak with my superior’s client!"

Just then, a rash voice interrupted Xia Donghai and Zhou Sanliang’s conversation.

"Lawyer!"

Upon hearing this familiar yet formal opener, Xia Donghai’s first reaction was lawyer, and his second was Zhang Wei.

Unfortunately, the person who came was not Zhang Wei, but some male lawyer from another law firm.

And this male lawyer went straight over to Xia Donghai’s side.

Of course, he wasn’t Xia Donghai’s lawyer, but...

"Mr. Zhou, hello, I am a member of your legal team. I advise you now, until you have my permission, you and your family must not utter a single word!"

The male lawyer walked up to Zhou Sanliang and issued such a warning.

"You’re my lawyer?"

"No, to be exact, I’m a subordinate to the lawyer entrusted to represent you!"

The male lawyer revealed a profound smile.

But upon hearing this, Zhou Sanliang immediately shook his head, "No, no, our family doesn’t have money, we can’t afford a lawyer!"

"Mr. Zhou, our representation does not require you to spend any money."

"Are you serious? I have no money and will not pay any lawyer’s fee!"

"Rest assured, Mr. Zhou, I can promise you that we will not charge you a lawyer’s fee."

"Oh, well that’s good then!"

Hearing that it wouldn’t cost him anything, Zhou Sanliang’s defensive expression finally relaxed, replaced by an arrogant one.

"Haha, now that my lawyer is here, direct any matters to him—don’t harass us!"

The male lawyer showed a trace of annoyance on his face.

I hate dealing with these smug nobodies. Didn’t I instruct you not to say a word without my permission?

Are you deaf, or did you not hear me?

If it weren’t for Qin Shao needing you, I might have left in displeasure already to let you continue facing off with these operatives on your own.

But now, well...

The male lawyer looked at Xia Donghai and began to bargain, "Field operative, we are from Longteng International Law Firm, and Mr. Zhou’s instructing attorney is our Mr. Qin Shao. We hope you can give our Mr. Qin Shao some face and let this incident slide!"

"Once we return, we will certainly inform the client that everything must be based on the law, and we will also express our demands correctly within the bounds of law and reason."

Xia Donghai, about to reject the lawyer’s well-reasoned argument, suddenly had his cell phone ring.

Looking down, he saw it was a call from his superior.

Xia Donghai had no choice but to excuse himself to take the call.

The male lawyer naturally agreed, even flashing a smile.

A few minutes later, Xia Donghai came back, but his face wore a hint of reluctance.

"You’re a subordinate of Long Teng’s Qin Shaocong?"

"Correct!"

"It must be said, the big law firms really live up to their reputation with their shrewd tactics, but isn’t it a bit beneath him for Mr. Qin Shaocong himself to step in for such an individual?"

Facing Xia Donghai’s teasing, the male lawyer simply stood up and leaned in close.

"Mr. Xia, you and I both know you are Zhang Wei’s father-in-law, so I’m not afraid to tell you, Mr. Qin Shao could not care less about the life or death of this client. What he is interested in is your son-in-law!"

"Oh? What about Zhang Wei?"

"Nothing’s wrong with him, it’s just that he’s become too famous in Dongfang Capital, and Mr. Qin Shao wants to take a shot at challenging him, to see if he can bring down the so-called ’Homicide Lawyer’!"

Xia Donghai pointed to Zhou Sanliang and Zhou Mother, "So they are just a means for your Mr. Qin Shao?"

"Exactly, that’s right!" The male lawyer openly admitted, and with a smile said, "Mr. Xia, you can go back and tell your son-in-law that Mr. Qin Shao wants to use this case to compete against him!"

"By the way, the person you were just speaking with on the phone was your superior, right? So, about this client’s issue, is it possible that..."

"Yes, but you must ensure that he behaves properly. If I catch him again, even if our superior comes, it won’t help!"

"Mr. Xia is indeed upright. It’s just that I wonder, if you go to court, whether you would make a biased statement in favor of your son-in-law?"

"I, Xia Donghai, have always conducted myself openly and honorably. Do whatever you want, I fear nothing!"

"Good, then we shall take our leave!"

Having said that, the male lawyer promptly left with Zhou Sanliang and Zhou Mother in tow.

Xia Donghai watched them go, but all he could do was shake his head and sigh.

The matter now was up to Zhang Wei to handle.

Wait a minute... what was the relationship between that doctor and Zhang Wei again?

Xia Donghai had a feeling that something here just wasn’t right.