Chapter 304: Chapter 213: Like a Mayfly Seeing the Heavens! [1/4]

"A prosecutor? I think teacher will definitely like that!"

"That old stick-in-the-mud of a teacher?" Lin Fuqiang paused, then shook his head.

"Teacher may be a bit old‑fashioned, behind the times, and petty... but all of that is just perfect for teaching prosecutors!" Xu Liang said.

Behind him, the corner of Sun Chuan’s mouth kept twitching.

What a filial disciple.

But after this interruption, Lin Fuqiang also lost the mood to push him to get married.

Xu Liang hurriedly pulled Yang Ruoxi away from Jiang City Court.

"Senior, I’ll head back to Hanhai City first to get the firm in order and prep for the appeal, I won’t stay here any longer. We’ll keep in touch by phone."

"Mm."

Watching Xu Liang’s back as he walked away and got into the car, Lin Fuqiang nodded.

Only when the other man drove off and disappeared from sight

did he finally pull back his gaze, shake his head with some emotion, then put away his stray thoughts as his eyes gradually turned cold.

"Cutting off pieces of living flesh... heh."

He hadn’t heard that phrase in years, and now it had actually showed up in his jurisdiction...

Then they’d better wash their necks and wait for the slaughter.

...

After leaving Jiang City Court,

Xu Liang drove off with the client, Qi Tao.

It was obvious that Zhao Hailong and Cheng Jia were not the kind to let down their guard; if Qi Tao stayed in Jiang City, it was highly likely they’d come knocking and stir up unnecessary trouble.

The three of them got in the car, and then headed toward Hanhai City.

Right now the first‑instance trial had just ended, and the second‑instance appeal had only just been put on the agenda.

Jiang City itself didn’t have an Intermediate People’s Court with jurisdiction over the second instance, so they could only go to Qingshi City Intermediate Court for the appeal.

And before that,

there was nothing left in Jiang City worth Xu Liang staying for.

"Vrrr~"

At five in the afternoon, the car’s tires rolled into Hanhai City’s jurisdiction.

Roughly half an hour later,

finally...

Hanhai City, Hongfu District, Hongfu Street, in front of Conscience Law Firm.

A car slowly came to a stop.

"Clack!"

The doors opened and the three of them got out.

"Hoo~"

Xu Liang took a deep breath of the fresh air, feeling his whole body relax quite a bit.

Inside the glass door of the firm, Xia Yao had assumed a client had arrived and instinctively stood up to greet them—until she saw who it was...

She froze on the spot, then hurriedly pulled the door open.

"Senior!"

Xia Yao called out, then faltered, not knowing what to say.

Xu Liang nodded, told Yang Ruoxi to arrange a place for Qi Tao to stay, then stepped into the firm.

Today was April 3rd.

The firm’s suspension had been lifted the night of April 2nd, and during that entire period they’d had no chance to take on any cases.

At most, they’d just signed a few retainer agreements and hadn’t had time to do any actual work yet.

So at the moment all ten people were still in the office.

When they saw Xu Liang return, Wang Feiyu and the rest fell silent at once. Their mouths opened, lips moved for a long time, but in the end not a single sentence came out.

Xu Liang didn’t mind at all. He glanced around, then chuckled:

"What’s with you lot, all looking like eggplants hit by frost, wilted and lifeless."

This bunch of fledglings fresh out of the nest.

They were a far cry from the chirpy, noisy kids they’d been at the start; now each one was quieter than the last.

Which Xu Liang found frankly amusing.

Hearing this,

Xia Yao and the others hesitated for a long moment, then finally sighed and said:

"Senior, I..."

"I’m sorry, I never expected someone would set a trap. I thought it was just a normal, legitimate retainer..."

Hearing that, Wang Feiyu took a deep breath and stepped forward.

"I... me too, I didn’t think it through carefully at the time."

The people at the firm were feeling heavily shaken right now.

A month ago, they’d still been top‑tier interns waiting for placements back at school.

At that time, including Xia Yao and Wang Feiyu, every single one of them was proud and arrogant, noses held higher than their eyes, hardly putting anyone else in their sights.

And they really did have reasons to be proud.

Graduates of Shuimu University and Upper City University, the two top universities in the country—their individual abilities were miles ahead of their peers. Back in the college entrance exam, which of them hadn’t ranked first in their school?

Who among them wasn’t a top scorer?

Not to mention that after enrolling, they’d gotten themselves a mentor—someone who was one of the most top‑tier academic big names in the profession.

If they weren’t proud, that would’ve been the strange part.

So.

Even as interns, Xia Yao and Wang Feiyu hadn’t wanted to just casually find some random firm like students from ordinary schools; they’d come straight to Xu Liang.

"Graduated in ’03, and in ’04, at just 23, he shocked everyone with one case, overturning a death sentence on appeal..."

"After that, the Sun Quan Case and the Zheng Mei case were both major, high‑profile cases, and he even, in ’05, with the very first case of the new year, directly blew the steel‑trading case wide open!"

"On the courtroom floor he debated circles around everyone, arguing in front of an audience of millions, fighting his way from the grassroots courts all the way up to the High Court, hammering the other side down with ironclad evidence!"

"Only 24 and already holding three guiding cases and one reference case..."

This... this was basically the ideal version of themselves!

They’d decisively joined his firm.

After that,

they’d planned to really make a splash after graduation, to handle their first case beautifully and become "the next Xu Liang"! 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

But...

"Reality smacked you in the face, huh?"

Xu Liang looked at Xia Yao and Wang Feiyu in front of him, grinning from ear to ear.

Xia Yao’s expression, however, was downright bitter.

She’d thought she could be just like him—hit the ground running at the peak and make a name for herself with her very first case.

But who could have guessed...

That just as she debuted—no, they hadn’t even properly debuted yet, they’d merely signed their names—and the very next day they were reported all the way to Upper City!

And then the firm was ordered to suspend operations for a month!!!

"Senior, stop laughing at us, I..." Wang Feiyu said with a bitter, self‑mocking smile.

"I’ve been reflecting this whole time..."

The others nodded.

They couldn’t help it; this had hit their self‑esteem hard.

They knew the inside story.

This hadn’t been targeting them on purpose—it had been targeting Xu Liang.

In other words, this was just aftershock from one of the cases Xu Liang had in hand right now, and not even a finely‑crafted piece of aftershock.

But even so, all ten of them had failed to notice there was a trap hidden inside and had marched straight into it...

The gap.

A chasm like the distance between heaven and earth suddenly appeared before their eyes!

And this was just the aftershock... If they had to face Luo Jun and Liu Kun, Director Zhou and Duan Jianhao themselves, they’d probably be chewed up without even bones left!

But those same people had been chewed up by Xu Liang so badly not even crumbs were left...

"Why are you comparing yourselves to him, are you just looking for something to torment yourselves with?"

At this moment,

after handing Qi Tao over to Su Yu, Yang Ruoxi came down from the second floor. Seeing the scene before her, she immediately rolled her eyes.

"None of you are ever going to learn the tricks he uses."

Compare yourselves to Xu Liang?

Yang Ruoxi had thought about that herself at the beginning, but later she’d given up.

His methods simply aren’t something a normal lawyer can wield!

Call them legal, but there isn’t a single one of his cases that doesn’t brush up against the line.

Call them illegal, but once you dig into every detail, there’s never anything you can actually pin down.

Leaving everything else aside, at least before this, Yang Ruoxi had never seen anyone go to the funeral home in the middle of the night, or take cops with him to secretly dig up a grave...

"Assistant Yang..."

Xia Yao gave a bitter smile.

Before joining the profession, watching Xu Liang had been like looking at the moon in a well—seemingly distant yet making her feel that while he was amazing, she might still try to catch up someday.

After taking a solid punch from society...

She realized she was nothing but a mayfly gazing up at the sky.

"Alright, you’ve taken your beating, as long as you learn from it, that’s enough."

Xu Liang didn’t think much of it. He waved his hand, and didn’t bother comforting them.

Handle one case and maybe you’ll gain a bit of experience.

But take one hard punch, and the experience you gain is more than just "a bit".

Not to mention, Xu Liang could guarantee that just based on this alone, if you compared these ten to rookies at other firms who started at the same time, their personal abilities had improved significantly.

And as long as he taught them one more move...

At that thought,

Xu Liang suddenly paused, his expression turning serious.

"I’ll teach you a move—but don’t use it unless you really have no other choice, and unless the other side has already flipped the table first... absolutely don’t take the initiative to use it!"

Teach them a move?

And one to be used only as a last resort!?

Wang Feiyu and Xia Yao’s eyes lit up at once. They instinctively looked at Xu Liang, full of anticipation.

Seeing this,

Xu Liang smiled and pulled out his phone.

This tactic wasn’t part of courtroom skill at all—it was more like a shyster’s trick, something most people couldn’t use at all. But these ten, standing in front of him, actually qualified.

And this move was called...

Calling in reinforcements.

Xu Liang pressed the dial button, and a sound rang in his ear.

"Doo... doo... doo..."

"Thunk~!"

The call connected.

"Hello, teacher?"