Are You Crazy? He’s only an Intern Lawyer?
Chapter 447 - 443: Father-Daughter Grudge! Temporary Reconciliation?

Chapter 447: Chapter 443: Father-Daughter Grudge! Temporary Reconciliation?

Thursday, City Court.

Judge Liu looked calmly at the prosecution and defense before him.

He had already received the news in advance, so he was very composed.

"Judge Liu, based on the latest information we have received, we have evidence to prove that the prosecution enticed expert witness Zhao Xiaoxiao to illegally tamper with evidence, which would damage the defendant’s interests. The defense requests the case be dismissed on the grounds of prosecutorial misconduct,"

Li Meijia, accompanied by Hu Yaode, explained the situation to Judge Liu.

On the other side, Xiao Baihe’s face was full of anger, and Tan Yingying also pursed her lips, looking like she wanted to speak up in defense.

They actually wanted to tell Judge Liu, we don’t know anything.

But in the end, Judge Liu nodded towards the defense, "I understand. In fact, this court has also received feedback from the special combat team that prosecution witness Zhao Xiaoxiao did indeed engage in misconduct; therefore, the defense’s request is approved by the court!"

"Thank you, Judge Liu!"

"Thank you, Judge Liu, for understanding our client!"

Upon hearing this, both Li Meijia and Hu Yaode burst into laughter, their smiles extravagantly smug.

"Now, the case is dismissed. You all may step down!"

Although he was somewhat reluctant, Judge Liu could only wave his hand to send both parties away.

Li Meijia and Hu Yaode, of course, played the victors, almost strutting out of the office with their heads held high.

And Xiao Baihe and Tan Yingying, naturally, were the remaining losers, almost leaving the office with their heads down and shoulders shrunk.

Outside the office, two people were waiting.

The subject of the case Cui Yibin and... Zhang Wei.

"Mr. Cui, congratulations, your case has been dismissed by Judge Liu. The prosecution will not be able to charge you with this crime again, meaning you are free!"

Upon hearing the news, Cui Yibin was extremely excited, his face lit up, and he almost couldn’t control his hands from triumphantly cheering aloud.

"Lawyer Zhang, I am so sorry, we won today."

Li Meijia, still not done, strolled up to Zhang Wei along with Hu Yaode, her voice filled with mockery.

"Yes, Zhang Wei, I didn’t expect we would actually win against you once."

As Hu Yaode spoke, he seemed almost regretful, "It’s a pity though, our opponent in this case was actually the prosecutor from the Procuratorate Headquarters. Theoretically, you were just a minor advisor, there’s completely no thrill in defeating you!"

Show off!

At this moment, Hu Yaode was the epitome of "showing off."

"Lawyer Zhang, this won’t be your first defeat. From now on, I, Li Meijia, will become your nightmare!"

Li Meijia glared at Zhang Wei with a venomous look, then a cold smile spread across her lips.

"Lawyer Hu, let’s go!"

The two, with the demeanor of victors, made to leave.

"Jia Meili!"

But suddenly, Zhang Wei called out loudly.

Li Meijia instinctively turned her head, ready to say something, but then suddenly realized.

"Lawyer Zhang, who are you calling?"

"Oh, nothing, I just suddenly thought of a stupid woman, so I blurted it out subconsciously. Miss Li, why did you stop?"

"Hmph!"

Li Meijia snorted coldly, and without responding further, she left immediately.

"Is that really the case..."

Zhang Wei watched the retreating figures of Hu Yaode and Li Meijia, his face showing a knowing expression.

Li Meijia, if you read the name backwards, isn’t it Jia Meili?

Back at the law school’s graduation ceremony, Hu Yaode had indeed appeared with Jia Meili.

Afterward, Jia Meili disappeared, but Heizu gained a woman named Li Meijia. Isn’t that too much of a coincidence?

And the most crucial point was, Li Meijia’s inexplicable hostility towards him.

Zhang Wei was certain he didn’t know Li Meijia, but he knew Jia Meili.

Combining this with the woman’s experience of cutting across her own face, then everything clicked.

Jia Meili changed her name to Li Meijia.

Not only did she forge an identity and educational credentials, but she also managed to secure a decent position within Heizu, even appearing on the boss’s radar?

It seemed that Duanmu Heizu had spent quite a bit of effort on this woman.

The moment he thought of Duanmu Heizu, an idea flashed through Zhang Wei’s mind.

He had previously thwarted Duanmu Heizu’s attempt to steal the Heart of the Ocean. Could it be possible that the other party would seek revenge against him?

Or perhaps, the revenge had already begun...

Clomp, clomp, clomp!

But just at that moment, the sharp sound of high heels tapping on the ground came from behind Zhang Wei.

"Old Xiao!"

Upon hearing this sound, Zhang Wei knew who had arrived.

"Zhang Wei!"

A sharp cry, Zhang Wei turned around, only to see a dark shadow attacking his face.

Slap!

A crisp slap.

Zhang Wei did not dodge, a stinging pain assaulted his face.

"The thing I regret most is letting you be the consultant on this case!"

Xiao Baihe glared, looking at Zhang Wei with an expression of extreme anger.

"If it weren’t for you, if it weren’t for your words, this case wouldn’t have turned out like this!"

"Even before, if I had just stood my ground and not listened to your damned words, we wouldn’t have lost this case!"

"Even in the end, even in the very end, even if Guider Zhou hadn’t agreed, I still wouldn’t have lost, not like today..."

Xiao Baihe clenched her teeth, her voice filled with unwillingness.

"Old Xiao, let me ask you again, if there was a clue that could prove the defendant’s innocence, would you choose to ignore this clue, to pretend you didn’t see it?"

"I..."

"Right, you wouldn’t, because you are not like those people, you still have justice in your heart!"

Zhang Wei helplessly comforted her with those words.

Even if time could be reversed and Xiao Baihe had to make the choice again, she would still agree with Zhang Wei’s decision.

"Hmph, next time, don’t let me see you again!"

Xiao Baihe, probably frustrated, huffed and turned to leave.

"Sorry, Lawyer Zhang, we’re leaving now!" Tan Yingying bowed to Zhang Wei and quickly followed after.

Following this, the corridor of the court suddenly became empty.

"Ah, this is tough!" Zhang Wei also sighed. Was he about to face his first defeat in his legal career?

He walked out of the court, only to see a black luxury business car come to a stop.

The car door opened, and inside was Zhao Qingyan.

"Xiao Zhang, let’s go, we’re going to see Xiao Xiao."

Zhang Wei got into the car subconsciously, then immediately realized something.

"Uncle Zhao, you’re going to see Xiao Xiao?"

No wonder Zhang Wei was astounded.

Don’t you know the situation between the two of you?

"Xiao Zhang, although Xiao Xiao and I have conflicts, and she still harbors resentment towards me, she is my daughter after all..."

Zhao Qingyan showed a bitter smile. At such a time, they had to put aside their differences.

Moreover, it was not easy for ordinary people to enter that place; it was thanks to Zhao Qingyan’s connections that he could go there.

The business car carried them once again to the territory of the War Department from yesterday.

After the driver handed over the pass, they were allowed to enter.

Going through multiple layers of security checks, rounds of monitoring, and vetting, they finally entered an opaque area in the inner layers.

The corridors here were pitch-dark, and even though there was faint lighting, the oppressive atmosphere weighed heavily on the mind.

At the end of the corridor was a dimly lit meeting room.

After Zhang Wei and Zhao Qingyan were seated, Zhao Xiaoxiao was escorted over by people from the War Department.

In just one day, Zhao Xiaoxiao had become much more haggard, with disheveled hair, a pale face, and her body clad in a loose dark green prison uniform that hung baggily on her and clearly did not fit well.

Although she was not a criminal, her actions had indeed endangered national security, and she had lost her freedom.

"What are you doing here!"

Upon seeing Zhao Qingyan and Zhang Wei, Zhao Xiaoxiao immediately wanted to turn around and leave.

But the people from the War Department shut the door of the meeting room, giving her no opportunity to leave.

"Xiao Xiao!"

Zhao Qingyan quickly called out. Zhao Xiaoxiao’s movements hesitated for a moment before she reluctantly turned her head.

"Xiao Xiao, come sit down. I was only able to see you thanks to Uncle Zhao pulling some strings."

Zhang Wei also spoke up at the right time.

Zhao Xiaoxiao could only sit down reluctantly, taking a seat in front of the two.

But she kept her head lowered the entire time, showing no intention of looking up.

Zhang Wei watched this scene, and he couldn’t help but sigh deeply in his heart.

"Today I spoke with the person in charge, and we can talk anytime."

Zhao Qingyan said, then made a gesture to the guard standing at the door and shouted, "Please prepare some drinking water for us, we’re going to have a long talk!"

The man walked away and soon returned with a thermos and three cups. Zhang Wei hurriedly took them and went back to his seat.

"Xiao Zhang, can you explain the situation for us?"

Seeing that Zhao Qingyan had thrown the topic to him, Zhang Wei took a deep breath and reluctantly stepped up to the plate.

"The situation now is very bad because the USB drive that Xiao Xiao brought that day was found to contain a highly covert and powerful virus. I had Liu Dashun and Zhu Erdan analyze it, and they said the virus is identical to the one that attacked the airline company."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Xiaoxiao’s pupils contracted slightly.

Seeing her reaction, Zhao Qingyan spoke up directly, "Chai Jingjing is Snake, she entered the scene even before some of you and has been at it for a long time!"

"She hacked into the defense department of a Western country at the age of 8, was wanted by ten countries at the age of 10, and covertly orchestrated a cyberwar in the South at the age of 12, affecting nearly 20 countries!"

"Even now, she is still wanted by over 40 countries on Blue Star, a figure more renowned and successful in battle than you all!"

Listening to Zhao Qingyan, Zhang Wei was secretly astonished.

Who would have thought that the skinny, dark-skinned girl would turn out to be another top figure in the hacker world?

Being wanted by over forty countries is indeed no small matter.

"Where is she then?" Although she didn’t really want to talk to Zhao Qingyan, Zhao Xiaoxiao couldn’t help but ask.

"She has disappeared, without a trace, obviously having found a safe house, one that cuts off all networks, all connections!"

With these words, Zhao Xiaoxiao’s emotional defenses finally crumbled.

"She, she actually, she..." The young girl’s eyes moistened.

She had felt compassion for Chai Jingjing, treated her with sincerity, even helped her hide this matter, and put in so much effort.

And what did she get in the end? Betrayal, lies!

"Xiao Xiao, I know you hate deception the most, just like when I promised you when I was young, but everything I did was for your sake!"

"You’re lying, you kept saying you’d come back to stay with me, but each time you were absent. Every year on my birthday, I spent it alone, you lied!"

"That’s because your birthday is in February, the first work week after the New Year, every time I have to work overtime, discussing the New Year’s plans with the Strategic Department, I just couldn’t make it!"

"Work, work, it’s always about work, isn’t it!"

"Xiao Xiao, I did that, really for the sake of our family!"

"This family only includes you, not me!"

"Xiao Xiao..."

"Shut up!"

The father and daughter finally had a full-blown argument.

But unexpectedly, Zhao Xiaoxiao was so emotional that Zhao Qingyan’s attempts to explain were completely ignored.

Zhang Wei listened for a while and picked up the gist of it.

Zhao Qingyan’s job is as a programmer.

Moreover, he’s not just any programmer, but the Chief Research Officer at Blacksmith Technology.

So he’s busy, extremely busy, so busy that he spends 300 days a year living in the office, working all night.

Being so busy with his career naturally means he has neglected his family.

His wife had complaints, and so did his daughter.

Eventually, Chen Xiaoyu couldn’t stand it anymore and left the Zhao Family. Zhao Xiaoxiao became more and more rebellious, but Zhao Qingyan was too engrossed in his work to manage.

He thought that Zhao Xiaoxiao was just being a petulant young girl, and that she would be fine after a little coaxing, or that she would calm down on her own after a while.

But he didn’t expect that Zhao Xiaoxiao was serious.

The daughter’s resentment towards her father wasn’t of a day or two, but had built up over the years since her mother left.

In the end, it led to a situation where Zhao Xiaoxiao harbored a deep hatred for her father, Zhao Qingyan.

What did she hate?

Obviously, his chronic unreliability, his perpetual absence.

Zhang Wei had listened for a long time and, in the end, Zhao Xiaoxiao finally ran out of energy.

She grabbed a cup, took a big gulp.

Gulp, gulp, gulp...

After setting down the cup, Zhao Xiaoxiao seemed to be gasping for air, breathless as if she had shouted herself hoarse.

To curse someone until she was out of energy was a first for this girl.

However, she soon glared at Zhang Wei.

Zhang Wei instantly understood; the younger daughter was still thirsty. He hurriedly picked up the thermos and poured her another cup of water.

"Careful, it’s hot, sip slowly..." Zhang Wei cautioned her, while the girl held the cup, sipping little by little.

At this, Zhang Wei looked towards Zhao Qingyan again.

"Xiao Zhang, you must find this all quite laughable,"

"It’s fine, Uncle Zhao, I’ve been through such a phase..."

"Ah?"

Zhao Qingyan’s face showed surprise, and even Zhao Xiaoxiao lifted her eyes.

You’ve been through it?

What have you been through, a daughter’s rebellious phase?

How old are you? You don’t have a daughter, do you? Why haven’t we heard you mention this?

"Cough cough, I mean I understand. Work is busy, and in taking care of this family, you chose work over family members. You thought that by advancing in your career, you could give your family a better life, but your frequent absence has created a rift between you and your family, leading to estrangement."

"In my view, you’ve invested too much in your work, giving it your all. You think you haven’t done anything wrong because many in society do the same, but have you ever thought about why there are so many broken families out there, isn’t it because of these reasons?"

Zhang Wei looked at Zhao Qingyan, "Uncle Zhao, you’ve given a lot for the family, pity that Xiaoxiao can’t see it."

Then he looked at Zhao Xiaoxiao, "Xiaoxiao, your father has worked for years for your sake. Do you think he’s doing it for himself? Essentially, he’s doing it to give you a good life."

"Hmph!" Zhao Xiaoxiao turned her head away, pretending not to want to listen.

But the place was only so big, and anything anyone said could be heard by the other two people.

"Uncle Zhao, have you ever thought about apologizing to Xiaoxiao?"

"Yes, my biggest wish right now is to say sorry to Xiaoxiao."

Zhao Xiaoxiao’s gaze shifted slightly, and she couldn’t help but sneak a look at Zhang Wei and the other.

When she realized they were looking at her, she quickly turned her face away.

"Xiaoxiao, if Uncle Zhao apologizes to you, would you choose to forgive him?"

"Hmph, impossible!"

"Then, what about a temporary truce, at least until this case is resolved?"

"That..."

Zhao Xiaoxiao fell silent.

"My dear Xiaoxiao, just for this case, can’t we cooperate well until it ends?"

Zhang Wei quickly signaled to Zhao Qingyan and then coaxed persuasively, "At least you should consider your own freedom. If you’re this uncooperative, how can Uncle Zhao and I help you?"

Zhao Qingyan immediately got the hint and also quickly chimed in, "Right, girl, this time we’re not facing ordinary people. If you act like this, how am I supposed to help you?"

"How about this, let’s have a temporary ceasefire until this case is over. After it’s finished and you regain your freedom, I definitely will not meddle in your affairs anymore, and you can continue to follow Zhang."

Zhao Xiaoxiao thought for a moment; considering her current situation, it seemed that she could only rely on these two people to possibly regain her freedom.

"Alright...let’s agree, before this case ends, we’ll call a temporary truce..."

"But don’t think for a moment that I’ll forgive you. Once this case is over, I’ll still do whatever I want, and I won’t listen to you!"

Seeing that Zhao Xiaoxiao’s attitude had finally changed, both Zhang Wei and Zhao Qingyan breathed a sigh of relief.

The two exchanged glances, with Zhao Qingyan’s eyes filled with gratitude.

At last, this girl had softened. Now that they had this starting point, improving their relationship step by step no longer seemed like an impossible dream.

The hardest part is getting started, and a good start is better than anything.

"Alright, now we should start planning on how to deal with this mess before us."

Zhang Wei said, raising one finger, "The key to this case is obviously Chai Jingjing; finding her is the only way to resolve all of this!"

"But she’s disappeared, and even if we can prove she is Snake, what good is it if we can’t catch her?"

"Uncle Zhao, didn’t you mention before that she’s wanted by over forty countries abroad?"

"Yes, actually, it’s more than forty. There are many allied countries among these ones seeking her, and nations share warrant information among themselves."

"So, does that mean Chai Jingjing actually can’t leave the country, and even her current identity is fake?"

"Very possibly, very much so."

As Zhang Wei spoke, an idea flashed through his mind.

"Xiaoxiao, tell me, when did Cui Yibin meet Chai Jingjing?"

"I don’t know, probably a long time ago. It seems like they’ve known each other for two or three years."

"Known each other for two or three years, haven’t broken up, what do you guys think about the relationship between this couple?"

As Zhang Wei spoke, he looked at Zhao Qingyan.

"Uncle Zhao, what do you think is the one thing a girl who grew up hacking lacks the most, and what would she do if the boy she relied on gained his freedom?"

Zhao Qingyan couldn’t help but widen his eyes in astonishment, muttering to himself, what a good move.

This Zhang Wei, he had actually thought of a very interesting breakthrough.

"Alright, I know what to do next!"