Chapter 11: CH 11

Chapter 11 – Professor Su

That slap landed so hard that the pain burned its way down to the corners of his lips.

He let out an inexplicable laugh and his voice sounded a little husky.  Several strands of hair fell on his forehead and covered his long narrow eyes.

He lifted his hand lazily and tapped the corner of his mouth with his index finger.  Then he raised his pair of dark eyes that reflected Wen Ruan’s face and said softly.

“Isn’t this ruthless?”

By this time, Wen Ruan’s groggy sleepiness had vanished completely and instantly woke up feeling agitated.

“That…….blame yourself for coming near me in the middle of the night and behaving inappropriately!”

Fu Zhihuan gestured towards the quilt on her body and slowly straightened up.  His tone sounded like he was smiling.

“Revenge for an act of kindness?”

Wen Ruan lowered her head and glanced at the quilt that was placed neatly on her and suddenly understood.

Ever since she was a child, she had the habit of kicking off the quilt and tossing and turning while asleep.

…….It looks like she had indeed taken revenge on an act of kindness.

She lowered her eyes guiltily.  “Sorry, I’m a little sensitive when I sleep.”

Speaking up to this point, she paused and sat up, then raised her face to look at his cheek and asked softly.

“Does it hurt?”

A delicate beautiful small face that had the fragrance of shower gel suddenly came close to him.

He was slightly startled and his body subconsciously leaned back a little.

The lights in the living room were not turned on and it seemed that only the lights gleaming in Wen Ruan’s eyes could be seen.

Perhaps it was because Wen Ruan had just woken up, her voice sounded a bit coquettish at this moment and the ending of each word was slightly lifted.

It felt as though his heart was being scratched by a cat…….a light itch.

He turned his head away from Wen Ruan’s gaze and stood up slowly.  His tone was deliberately suppressed and sounded indifferent.

“It’s fine.”

He remembered that when Wen Ruan encountered the human traffickers at the train station, her movements were also neat and smooth.

Just now when he approached her, his movements had been kept deliberately light but she was still keenly aware.

It looks like her vigilance is surprisingly high.

He laughed.  “Your reflexes are quite fast.”

Wen Ruan touched her head.

“That’s because my father wanted me to learn karate since I was a kid.”

“Karate?”

This is beyond his expectation.

Why did Wen Fengchen, a daughter’s slave, think of sending his daughter to learn this?

“It……..”

Wen Ruan sat up and wrapped the quilt tightly around her.  She lowered her eyelids and her tone sounded a little helpless.

“Perhaps it was because something happened to me when I was a child and it scared the wits out of my father.”

“Something happened?”

“Mm…….about 20 years ago…….”

Wen Ruan laughed and her voice was rather relaxed as though she was talking about something that was not related to her.

“I had once been kidnapped…….fortunately, the police came in time, so I was only slightly injured.  But my father became very nervous after that and he found me a teacher to teach me karate and forced me to learn.”

Fu Zhihuan paused slightly.  “20 years ago?”

“That’s right.”  Wen Ruan recalled as she counted with her fingers.  “At that time, I was probably just five years old.”

Fu Zhihuan frowned slightly and did not know why an inexplicable irritation suddenly seemed to rise from the bottom of his heart.  He pinched the space between his eyebrows and there was a hint of fatigue in his voice.

“Go to sleep.”

After speaking, he turned around and entered his room.

That night……..

The night sky was devoid of stars and only a blanket of darkness covered the sky and earth.  It seemed to pull people deep into the mire…….. to swallow people with one bite.

Fu Zhihuan placed his arms on the railing of the balcony and took out a cigarette from the cigarette case.  He held it between his lips and lit it.

Wen Ruan said it was 20 years ago…….

Based on the time, it happened to be the year when his younger sister, Fu Yuqing, passed away.

A bright red dot grew brighter between his fingers and the white smoke formed into a spiral as it slowly rose into the air and then gradually dispersed.

He pinched out the dot of firelight but could not suppress the irritation in his heart.

Coincidence?

***☆☆☆***

When Wen Ruan woke up in the morning, Fu Zhihuan had already left the house as she had expected.

As agreed, she should go to the law firm to see Professor Su today.  So Wen Ruan did not delay and after washing up, she went out.

By the time she reached the destination, it was 9.30 in the morning.

The law firm was founded by Professor Su Jingmin.

In Jiang City’s legal industry, Professor Su is a well-known figure with great influence.  He has been in the legal industry for more than 30 years and has a solid foundation and a rich source of cases.

When Wen Ruan was studying at Jiang City University, Professor Su was specially invited over to lecture for some time.

It was also from that time Professor Su showed appreciation for Wen Ruan in every way.

She performed up to his expectations and fought very beautifully in several lawsuits after obtaining her lawyer’s certificate.

All network connections and resources were already in place and everything had gradually stabilized……but everything was disrupted due to a minor manslaughter case.

After the victim’s mother committed suicide by jumping off the building, Wen Ruan’s state of health became worse and worse.

She would often dream of the female student who died in that case and the mother who committed suicide in despair.  They would stand in front of her and ask ~ ‘Shouldn’t you be standing on the side of justice?’

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Wen Ruan is a child that grew up in a greenhouse.

Father Wen and Mother Wen would always present the most beautiful side of life in front of her and with her identity, it seems that everyone in the world harbors good intentions for Wen Ruan.

So she naturally assumed that justice in the world is also naturally given.

Even though no one thought that it was her fault, Wen Ruan still felt that the moment she stood in court, she had deviated from all her original intentions.

Professor Su had said to her.  “Do you think that lawyers exist solely for justice?”

“Isn’t that true?”

“Wen Ruan, you have to understand that the scale of justice in everyone’s heart, differs.  If every lawsuit is handled according to one’s self-righteousness, then there’s no difference between man and beast.  Therefore, society has such things as laws.”

At that time, Wen Ruan could not understand Professor Su’s words.

And Professor Su was the saddest when Wen Ruan disappeared due to that case three years ago.

So this time when Professor Su found out that she intends to return to his firm, he was naturally very happy.

“I’m truly glad that you can finally free yourself from that case.”

A few years had passed and Professor Su had grown much older as compared to his image in Wen Ruan’s memory.  Although half of his hair had turned gray, he still looked very energetic.

“In the past, I asked many people about the responsibility of a lawyer.  All of them told me that a lawyer’s responsibility is to deliver justice.”

Professor Su laughed helplessly and put down the steaming teacup in his hand.

“People who are stuck with this idea are not suitable for this industry.”

Wen Ruan lowered her eyes and after a long silence, she said slowly.

“At that time, you told me that if one always aspires to be a hero that is full of justice then that person is not suitable to survive in the legal profession.  Back then, I still couldn’t understand the meaning.”

“Then what happened later?  How did you manage to understand?”

Wen Ruan looked at the cup of tea in front of her.  However, she did not pick it up and after a long while, she laughed softly.

“A year ago, my father bought a company according to normal procedures.”

“Most of the employees in that company were long-time employees who were already middle-aged and they couldn’t adapt to the current new technology and new environment.  They were still working on the assembly line using the same method as 20 years ago.  So after my father bought over that company, the first thing the top management did was to lay off those employees.”

She turned her head and looked out of the window.

The lawyer’s office was located in a tall building.  As one looked down from the floor-to-ceiling windows, one could see the endless flow of traffic on the roads and crowds of people moving on the sidewalk.

She pursed her lower lip and said lightly.

“Most of the employees that were laid off depended on their meager salaries to support their whole families.  And that time after they lost their jobs, there was no way for them to adapt to the new environment and secure new jobs.  To them, being laid off was equivalent to cutting off all their means to survive.”

Professor Su listened quietly.

“Then what happened?”

“There were people who repeatedly tried to look for the upper management to plea for leniency while some of them ran around and begged for help from others.  Some people brought their wives and children to sit outside the entrance of the company while holding signs and crying.  Many of them rented cheap apartments in faraway remote places to raise their elderly parents and children who were still studying.  To them, being laid off was like a bolt of lightning out of the clear sky but to the company, it was a helpless way to survive.”

Speaking up to this point, Wen Ruan paused slightly.

“Then I suddenly realized that there’s no absolute fairness in this world.  No one can have absolute justice and everyone lives for themselves.  It was just that I have always lived a pampered life and never understood all these.  I thought that everything should be as beautiful as my ideals.”

Professor Su was silent for a long time and then suddenly, he started to laugh softly and said.

“I didn’t expect that you, a lady born with a golden spoon in your mouth, would be able to understand this.”

Wen Ruan smiled and then stood up to bow to Professor Su who was standing in front of her.

“I’m very grateful for your teachings.”

It took her three years to understand the meaning of Professor Su’s words.

She also understood that if she is to carry on staying under the Wen Family’s protection, then all her achievements and glory would only be an illusion.

Wen Ruan was very grateful to Professor Su for giving her this opportunity.

“But……”  Professor Su suddenly dragged on the word.

He moved closer to the sofa and there was a meaningful tone in his voice.

“All these years, there’s someone who is even more eager to see you than me.”

Wen Ruan was surprised.  “Who?”

He did not reply and only just lifted his chin towards the cubicle in the outer office.

Still so mysterious?

She did not know why but her heart seemed to suspend in midair for an instant and a vague sense of anxiety rose.

After hesitating for a while, she slowly stood up and walked in the direction of the cubicle.

Wen Ruan reached out her hand and placed it on the doorknob.

*Crunch*

The door opened slowly……

Sitting on the sofa in the cubicle was a boy in school uniform.

The boy’s head was lowered and his hands were clasped together with his fingers interlocked.  He kept kneading his fingers and seemed to be very nervous.

Wen Ruan’s hand that pushed the door open stiffened.

When the boy heard the sound of the door opening, he raised his head as well.

With just a glance, he saw Wen Ruan in front of him.  The corners of his mouth pulled out a dry smile and his tone sounded bitter.

“Sister Wen Ruan……”

She remembers this face…….

Three years ago, this boy in front of her had sat in the defendant’s seat.   At that time, it suddenly attracted the attention of the media and school violence became a hot topic of discussion.

And she was his defense lawyer…….

He was the underage defendant in the manslaughter case……Lu Kechen.

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