Are You Crazy? He’s only an Intern Lawyer?
Chapter 500 - 496: I Gave You a Chance, to Be a Hostile Witness!

Chapter 500: Chapter 496: I Gave You a Chance, to Be a Hostile Witness!

The entire courtroom was taken aback.

As a witness summoned by Zhang Wei, Vice President Wang had unexpectedly turned the tables against him.

"Director Wang, you..."

Zhang Wei pointed at Vice President Wang, his fingers twitching unnaturally.

"Lawyer Zhang, I’m sitting on the witness stand in the courtroom right now, so I can’t lie, can I?"

However, Vice President Wang sneered coldly and retorted, "Your client Bobo, she did meet privately with the top ranking brother. It’s something that’s been blown wide open by the platform users, you don’t think I would deny this well-known fact, do you?"

"You..."

Zhang Wei’s face was a picture of panic, and he found himself rendered speechless.

He could only look towards the defendant’s dock, toward Bobo.

She hung her head in shame, not daring to utter a word.

Luo Xiaobu, who witnessed this scene, felt as if his heart was being cut by a knife, a profoundly complex expression appearing on his face.

Pain!

Such pain!

It pierced his heart!

The defendant’s dock was engulfed in gloom.

But on the plaintiff’s side, at that moment, they were nearly ready to beat drums and gongs in celebration.

"Here it comes, here it comes!"

"Is this the feeling of winning? It’s absolutely wonderful!"

Spalasi~

Zhu Pitte and Sun Kongwen were feeling nothing short of ecstatic.

Seeing Zhang Wei looking defeated and helpless, and the anguished expressions on the faces of those at the defendant’s dock, they were far too pleased with themselves.

If this weren’t a courtroom, they would really be popping champagne.

"Is Zhang Wei going to lose?"

In the front row of the elders’ seats by the hearing, Ni Qiuping and Xu Suyun exchanged glances.

They felt there was something amiss.

But regardless of the facts unfolding before them or what the witness had just said, one thing seemed certain.

Zhang Wei was losing!

Not to mention, because of the witness’s testimony, the jury and everyone in the hearing were stirred up.

Indeed!

This woman really did hook up with a rich man!

That’s why she was so eager to leave the company, to shake off the shackles of her contract.

So you were thinking of eloping with the top ranking brother all along!

Then this trial is just you using us to further your own ambitions!

Rage!

Dissatisfaction!

Suspicion!

Contempt!

All the negative energy converged in that moment, focusing on the defendant’s dock.

Zhang Wei, who represented the defendant, also became the target of hostility from everyone in the courtroom.

"I’ve won!"

"Master, do you see? I’ve beaten Zhang Wei, the man you could never defeat. I’ve truly vanquished him!"

Sun Kongwen reveled in the scene, his mood soaring.

The thought of an aged Master Tang and of himself soon to become the chief strategist of Fierce Tiger Hall made him feel as if he were floating.

Because of the witness’s testimony, the entire courtroom’s pressure now landed on Zhang Wei.

He covered his face and bowed his head.

"Lawyer Zhang, are you alright..."

Judge Jiang asked tentatively.

Although I know you are going to fail, I still want to ask if you wish to continue.

"Judge Jiang, I..."

Zhang Wei’s voice faltered, and with shaking hands, he pointed at Vice President Wang, "I, I’d like to apply to have the witness... to have him..."

"Have him what?" Judge Jiang urged.

Say what you want quickly, so I can consider whether it can be done.

As Judge Jiang grew somewhat impatient, the painful expression at the corners of Zhang Wei’s mouth suddenly took on a sinister disappearance.

Not only that, his lips curled into a sly, peculiar smile.

"Judge Jiang, due to the testimony of the witness, we request to have Vice President Wang listed as a hostile witness!"

Zhang Wei released the hand covering his face and then raised his head to look directly at the bench.

At that moment, there was no trace of sorrow or dissatisfaction on his face, and even the curve of his mouth was distinctly visible.

"Huh?"

Judge Jiang was taken aback. How do you manage your expressions like that?

One second you’re heartbroken, and the next you’re making demands as if nothing had happened?

Have you been studying "An Actor’s Self-Cultivation"?

"What’s going on?"

It wasn’t just Judge Jiang; nobody in the courtroom had expected this turn of events.

They looked at the young man at the center, struggling to understand how he could remain so composed and make demands, despite the numerous setbacks he had faced.

Was it an act?

Or...

"What’s happening?"

From the plaintiff’s row, Sun Kongwen also sensed something was amiss.

Zhang Wei’s expression seemed to be mocking him.

What was the situation? Hadn’t he already won? Wasn’t it because he had checkmated Zhang Wei?

Yet, the other’s expression did not seem to indicate that at all.

Where had things gone wrong?

Sun Kongwen didn’t understand and could only refocus himself and sit down, but his gaze was fixed on Zhang Wei.

"Judge Jiang, we request again to have the witness Vice President Wang listed as a hostile witness. The reason is that, as a witness summoned by us, his testimony is highly damaging to our party and has a serious incendiary effect on the jury!"

"Well, I’ve thought about it and I think you’re right!"

Judge Jiang nodded and looked towards Vice President Wang in the witness stand, "The court agrees, the witness will now be considered a hostile witness!"

As a hostile witness, that meant Zhang Wei could now pose leading questions to him.

"Vice President Wang, I gave you a chance, but why didn’t you appreciate it?"

Zhang Wei stepped up in front of the witness stand and asked coldly.

"Lawyer Zhang, I don’t understand what you’re talking about. I’ve only told the truth!"

Vice President Wang still didn’t realize anything was amiss, and even looked at Zhang Wei with a trace of disdain.

"Well then, since that’s how you want to play it, I won’t hold back. Just don’t blame me, okay?"

Zhang Wei gave a slight smile and took a few steps back.

"First question, Vice President Wang, do you know a woman named Julie?"

Upon hearing this, many in the court were puzzled.

Who is she?

How is this woman related to the case?

But as soon as the name "Julie" was mentioned, not only did Vice President Wang on the witness stand panic, but so did Zhu Pitte in the plaintiffs’ seat.

Upon hearing this name, Sun Kongwen took a while to react, and then he too was visibly shocked.

"Of course, I know her. She’s my wife!"

Vice President Wang’s face was a bit stiff, but he responded to the question.

"Oh, your wife, is she? Then, do you know that Julie is the sister of the plaintiff representative Zhu Pitte?"

This revelation surprised many in the courtroom.

Well, that’s something!

So Zhu Pitte is your brother-in-law. No wonder your testimony against the defense was so unfavorable.

Turns out there’s this family connection to the plaintiff’s side.

"This..."

"What’s the matter, Vice President Wang? You mean to say you don’t even recognize your wife’s brother? Isn’t that a bit too fake?"

"This..." Vice President Wang’s face stiffened, but he still gritted his teeth and admitted, "My relationship with Director Zhu doesn’t affect the validity of my testimony in court!"

"Sure, it doesn’t affect." Zhang Wei said with a casual smile, then pointed at the plaintiff’s row, "Then does this relationship affect the business dealings between your company and the network company owned by Director Zhu?"

"This..."

Now, Vice President Wang was completely lost for words.

He indeed had opened many backdoors for his brother-in-law, but these were not things one could comfortably admit.

Because once admitted, the company would launch an investigation into his activities.

Similarly, other clients and partner companies would also report him.

Although it was common to give family members a little preferential treatment, as long as there was no evidence, everyone turned a blind eye.

But with evidence, the companies in competition with Zhu Pitte’s network company would definitely stir up trouble.

If Vice President Wang were brought down, Tiger Fish would no longer give preferential deals to Zhu Pitte’s company. Wouldn’t the resources that were previously biased towards Zhu Pitte’s company possibly fall into their own laps?

"As long as there were interests at stake, there was motivation to stir up trouble."

So, Vice President Wang’s answer was, "No, absolutely not!"

"Really?"

Zhang Wei feigned surprise, then pressed directly, "Vice President Wang, are you sure there isn’t?"

"No, there is absolutely no deal regarding company interests between Zhu Pitte and me!"

Seeing Vice President Wang so solemn, Zhang Wei’s expression regained its coldness.

"Vice President Wang, that was your last chance I gave you, but you didn’t cherish it."

Having said that, he walked to his seat and took out several documents from his briefcase.

"Let’s go over them one by one, starting with the issue of bidding for the ranking spots, the promoted recommendation spots within the platform!"

"Vice President Wang, did you engage in a private deal with your brother-in-law, Zhu Pitte, regarding the front page recommendation spots on the platform, selling the one-week homepage advertising space, which is worth a million, at less than sixty percent of the price to Dai Ni Fei (Take You Flying) Internet Company for a long time?"

"Objection!"

Right after Zhang Wei asked the question, a cold voice of objection came from the plaintiff’s bench.

However, this time, the person expressing opposition wasn’t Sun Kongwen but Zhu Pitte himself.

Hearing Zhang Wei mention this matter, he couldn’t sit still any longer and, mimicking Sun Kongwen, raised an objection.

But the result, naturally, was...

"Objection overruled, Mr. Zhu, have I not warned you that if you continue to disrupt the order of the court, I will..."

"Judge Jiang, our side understands Mr. Zhu’s reaction and chooses to forgive him!"

Just as Judge Jiang was about to lose her temper, Zhang Wei waved his hand, pleading on behalf of Zhu Pitte.

"Lawyer Zhang, are you serious?"

"Yes, after all, doesn’t everyone have their moment of desperation?"

Zhang Wei’s teasing made quite a few people in the courtroom laugh.

But Zhu Pitte in the plaintiff’s seat couldn’t hold back any longer and shouted angrily, "Are you f**king calling me a dog?"

"Director Zhu really likes to take things personally, huh? I didn’t point fingers, and yet you jumped up to admit it?"

"You..."

Zhu Pitte wanted to continue his outburst but was held back by Sun Kongwen.

"Director Zhu, hold back!"

"Your objection is meaningless. You’re not the defense attorney; you have no right to make objections!"

"Moreover, the question just now was leading, but your brother-in-law is a hostile witness, and the court allows lawyers to ask leading questions to hostile witnesses!"

Sun Kongwen’s words were basically telling Zhu Pitte to stop fussing because it was futile, better to sit down and save some energy.

Zhu Pitte could only clench his teeth and sit down resentfully.

Meanwhile, in the courtroom.

Vice President Wang was restless, even sweating on his forehead.

He was panicked, very panicked.

Because if he didn’t answer this question well, he might be subject to an investigation.

"I..." He opened his mouth, uncertain of how to answer.

To answer ’no,’ Zhang Wei had so many documents in hand, there might be evidence among them.

To answer ’yes,’ wouldn’t that be admitting that their company had auctioned off advertising spaces, which was nothing short of fraud?

"Vice President Wang, why aren’t you speaking? Is this question difficult to answer?"

Seeing Vice President Wang in a very difficult position to answer, Zhang Wei laughed right away.

"Since you can’t answer, let me help you!"

As he spoke, he opened a document in his hands and exposed it directly: "This is an internal financial report from Tiger Fish platform. Among the revenue items, there is indeed one from bidding for rankings!"

"Vice President Wang, I have to say, your Tiger Fish platform really tries to play innocent while being guilty. You claim there is no bidding for recommendation spots internally, yet such an item is in your revenue report, albeit disguised as an ’Homepage Operations’ project. People who aren’t aware of the details probably can’t even make out what this is, can they?"

Zhang Wei placed the document on the projector, and the content of the financial report immediately appeared on the projection screen.

"This financial report clearly states the revenue from homepage operations, with an income of 7.14 million each week. In other words, your platform’s app has eight spots on the homepage recommendations that can bring in about a million each in revenue. As for the missing portion, those are the discounts you give to long-term cooperation companies!"

Zhang Wei pointed to one of the entries and loudly said, "You can see that the company Take You Flying has always been in the revenue report. They have been paying the lowest cost of 400 thousand for the homepage client’s recommendation spots, while the discounts for other companies fluctuate, requiring a minimum of 850 thousand to 900 thousand!"

"In other words, Vice President Wang, sitting in the witness stand, has consistently sold company resources to the plaintiff’s side, that is, his brother-in-law, at less than half the price!"

After circling the information in the document with a red pen, Zhang Wei walked up to Vice President Wang, whose expression had turned ugly.

"Speaking of which, why would your company allow you to do this? Isn’t there anyone who would blow the whistle?"

Zhang Wei looked puzzled but then seemed to realize something, saying with a sudden understanding, "Almost forgot, you’re the highest person responsible for the operation of the Tiger Fish platform. The president above you is busy with managing and negotiating the entire company’s operations; he has no time to deal with these matters."

"So in Tiger Fish platform, your power is the greatest, no wonder no one blew the whistle on you, because the reports of whistleblowing would ultimately be submitted to you."

Hearing Zhang Wei’s taunt, everyone in the court understood.

This is just like asking, "Who would dare to accuse the judge himself?"

Who could afford to play that game?

Today you blow the whistle, and tomorrow you might be reassigned to the company’s janitorial department, charged with mopping the toilets and taking out the trash, pressured to resign of your own accord.

Who dares to blow the whistle?

Naturally, no one dares!

The CEO only cares about the overall report; as long as the numbers aren’t too off, he couldn’t be bothered with these matters.

So, in the Tiger Fish platform, it could be said that Vice President Wang held all the power in his hands.

All eyes focused on the witness stand.

Many people were not interested in self-evidence, but they were very excited about such explosive information.

Now that Zhang Wei was revealing explosive information, he naturally attracted everyone’s attention.

"Vice President Wang, what’s the matter, not talking anymore?"

Zhang Wei approached Vice President Wang with a mocking expression on his face.

"You..."

"Vice President Wang, you haven’t answered my question yet. Is it true that you’ve been selling the recommended spots on the Tiger Fish platform for less than half the price to your brother-in-law, Zhu Pitte?"

Although he was asking a question, Zhang Wei’s tone was already affirmative.

Vice President Wang didn’t answer, but the whole room had already assumed they knew the answer.

Vice President Wang knew the situation and clenched his teeth.

"I..."

"No need for you to answer, everyone’s already clear on the answer. Moreover, if you answer no, you would be jailed for perjury, so you can only say yes, right?"

Zhang Wei laughed "hehe," with the look of someone who had completely figured out the other party.

Vice President Wang’s face looked as uncomfortable as if he had swallowed a fly, but he could not react.

"Vice President Wang, so regarding the competitive pricing for the homepage recommendation spots on the Tiger Fish platform, let’s just take it as your tacit admission, shall we?"

Vice President Wang didn’t reply, truly taking it as tacit consent.

"Alright then, let’s continue with the next item!"

Zhang Wei said, looking around the room.

"Next up is about what Vice President Wang just mentioned regarding the female livestreamers meeting with the top patrons offline. You said that the platform is taking action against such behavior, isn’t that right?"

"Yes..." Vice President Wang answered through gritted teeth and nodded his acknowledgment.

"Vice President Wang, I’m not criticizing you, but why do you say one thing in public and do another in private?"

"What... what do you mean?"

"It’s quite simple. You say you want to crack down on this behavior, but behind the scenes, you encourage it. Why’s that?"

Upon hearing this, Vice President Wang’s expression changed once again.

"Oh, right, let me mention this. The Tiger Fish platform did indeed issue a public notice that sternly cracks down on female livestreamers offering offline meetings to fans in exchange for large gifts. There is a notice."

As he spoke, Zhang Wei displayed a screenshot on the projection screen.

This was an official announcement from the Tiger Fish platform, clearly stating their crackdown on such activities.

"Vice President Wang, do you know when this announcement was made?"

"Middle of last month, around the 14th."

"Hmm, the 14th of last month!" Zhang Wei nodded, then seriously added, "In that case, may I ask, just after the 14th, in less than a week, you held a meeting. What did you say at that meeting?"

"This..."

That meeting was held 6 days after the announcement was released, and as for its purpose...

Vice President Wang found it incredible, as the content of that meeting was a company secret. How could Zhang Wei possibly know about it?

"Vice President Wang, can’t answer? Then let me ask you directly!"

Zhang Wei cleared his throat and asked coldly, "Vice President Wang, was the purpose of that meeting to encourage female livestreamers to ask for gifts by any means necessary, even suggesting they could continue to stimulate fans by offering offline meetings, is that correct?"

As soon as these words came out, Vice President Wang’s face twisted dramatically.

The entire room was in an uproar.

Everyone looked at Vice President Wang on the witness stand, struggling to keep his composure, with disdain in their eyes.

What a piece of work!

The Tiger Fish platform surely is something!

The official announcement prohibited and severely cracked down on it.

But what happens behind closed doors? Quite the opposite!

"Vice President Wang, did you instruct the managers of various departments in the meeting to liaise with the unions and agencies to convey this message, your insinuations, to them and to the female livestreamers under them?"

"This..."

"Vice President Wang, if you say no and I present evidence to the contrary, you will be jailed for perjury!"

Seeing Vice President Wang clenching his teeth, ready to deny it, Zhang Wei immediately issued a threat.

This time, Vice President Wang’s tentative show of defiance was instantly shattered!

This scene was also clearly seen by Ni Qiuping and Xu Suyun from the "senior bench."

"Hmph, thinking you can offend Zhang Wei and get away with it is like dreaming!"

These two were all too familiar with such scenes!