Chapter 42 - 34: Making a Name for Oneself! Morning Paper

Just as Lin Yue was about to say something more, the sound of a heated discussion suddenly erupted nearby.

"Huh? Court adjourned? The case wasn’t decided on the spot!?"

She paused.

Instinctively, Lin Yue and Xu De turned to look at the people at a few nearby tables.

They saw it then.

A few people, who had been eating breakfast while reading the morning paper, were now staring blankly at the pages, looks of astonishment spreading across their faces.

The people next to them saw this and leaned over to look, their eyes full of curiosity.

"What wasn’t decided?"

Hearing this, the first man snapped back to reality.

Forgetting his food, he broke into a broad smile and pointed at the newspaper.

"The human trafficking case from Li Family Village!"

"Come look! The morning paper says the trial was yesterday! They didn’t sentence the defendant, and all the evidence from the public prosecutor is being reinvestigated!"

’All the prosecution’s evidence was rejected?’

’Then... how did he do it!?’

"Let me see! Just the other day, I thought this case was a lost cause!"

"How’d they do it?"

"Did the presiding judge think the defendant was innocent? Was he personally biased toward the defendant?"

"Bullshit! The paper says it clear as day. Apparently, some defense lawyer came out of nowhere and argued the prosecution and the plaintiff’s lawyer into silence!"

"What the hell? He silenced the prosecution? Let me see!"

At this, the others also put down their breakfast bowls and quickly gathered around the man with the newspaper.

Seven or eight people, strangers and acquaintances alike, all crowded together in the cramped space.

"Look, it says so right here in the headline."

The man who bought the paper, his face beaming with excitement, pointed a finger at a headline and began to read aloud:

"[SHOCKING! CASE REVERSED! IN THE LI FAMILY VILLAGE CASE AT LUSEN CITY INTERMEDIATE COURT, FIRST TRIBUNAL, A DEFENSE LAWYER’S THREE-HOUR ORATORY ROUTS OPPOSITION! ALL PROSECUTION EVIDENCE REJECTED! LAWYER MOUNTS FEARLESS ACQUITTAL DEFENSE!]"

"[AN ASTONISHING ANGLE OF ATTACK! OF THE FORTY-PLUS PEOPLE AT THE SCENE, NOT ONE COULD PROVE THE DEFENDANT KILLED ANYONE!]"

"[THREE-HOUR ORATORY MASTERCLASS! WHO IS THIS YOUNG DEFENSE LAWYER? ACCORDING TO OUR SOURCES...]"

"[TURNING THE TIDE! ONE MAN DOMINATES THE ENTIRE COURTROOM! WHERE DID THIS LAWYER WHO TURNED HIS DEFENSE INTO A ONE-MAN SHOW COME FROM!?]"

"[...]"

Headline after headline, article after article.

The crowd’s eyes grew wider as they read, their breathing becoming slightly ragged. By the end...

"One guy argued down the entire courtroom!?"

someone said in astonishment.

"Wait, the Li Family Village case... there’s hope!?"

At this point, it dawned on the crowd.

If the prosecutor was on the defensive, didn’t that mean his indictment had been argued full of holes?

If the indictment was gone, Wang Qiang had to be innocent!

In other words...

"Son of a bitch!"

a burly, red-faced man dressed like a migrant worker exclaimed, his neck muscles bulging.

"An acquittal defense, and he even had the prosecution on the ropes... This lawyer’s got balls!"

He couldn’t read, but just listening and imagining the scene in his mind was enough to make his blood boil with excitement.

When other lawyers were too scared to take the case, someone dared to. And not only did he take it, he even dared to argue for a full acquittal.

What does it mean to turn the tide against all odds?

This is what it means to turn the tide against all odds!

"Xu De? Never heard of him. What law firm is he from?"

"No idea... But after today, this lawyer’s going to be famous. Winning a case like this, it’d be hard *not* to make a name for yourself."

"Tsk, this really isn’t something an ordinary person could do..."

"..."

It wasn’t just at the breakfast stall.

In government office buildings, at wet markets, on buses, at intersections...

In short, wherever people gathered and read the newspaper, everyone was dumbfounded, exclaiming at how brilliant it was. They felt their blood race and a sense of exhilaration swelling in their chests.

At this moment, even though the case wasn’t won yet, the name Xu De had already become famous in Lusen City!

「Back at the breakfast stall.」

"Tsk."

Lin Yue watched the fervent crowd at the next table, then pulled her gaze back to the man beside her—Xu De, who was silently eating at the edge of the crowd as if it had nothing to do with him.

The people reading the paper had no idea that the man they were discussing was right beside them.

He was even silently eating street food right behind them.

"So, Lawyer Xu, do you have an acceptance speech prepared?" Lin Yue asked, an unconscious smile gracing her lips.

Xu De chuckled, not seeming particularly fazed. Seeing that everyone had finished eating, he wiped his mouth and said:

"Let’s go."

"To the courthouse. Let’s give the prosecutor something to do."

With that, Xu De stood up and led the way out.

Watching his retreating figure, Lin Yue couldn’t help but chuckle. Shaking her head, she put on her coat and followed him with the others.

And just as they flagged down a taxi and got in...

On the roadside, someone suddenly froze.

"Hey! Lawyer Xu, what a coincidence! Are you also late—"

Li, who was running late for work, had spotted Xu De on the side of the road. She was just about to greet him with a smile, but before she could finish her sentence, he got into the taxi and disappeared from sight.

Li’s unfinished words were stuck in her throat.

She was an accountant at Jinmao Law Firm. She had been in charge when Zhang Hu settled his bill for the "divorce case" and was on pretty good terms with Xu De.

’Why was he in such a hurry?’

Li watched his retreating figure, a puzzled look on her face. Just then...

"A hero emerges from the young! A true hero emerges from the young!"

"I’m telling you, those veteran Gold Medal Lawyers in Lusen City have lived their lives in vain! They’re no match for this young lawyer named Xu De!"

’Xu... Xu De?’

’What about Xu De?’

Li froze.

She cast a suspicious glance at the crowd of people huddled around a newspaper, exclaiming in shock. Her face filled with curiosity.

She craned her neck, trying to get a look at their newspaper. She hadn’t been concerned before, but one glance...

In an instant, a look of utter astonishment appeared on Li’s face, and a storm of emotions churned within her.

"The indictment was re... rejected!?"

She knew exactly what kind of case Xu De had taken on.

That case... calling it "hell-level difficulty" was an understatement!

Forget a new lawyer; even a Gold Medal Lawyer in that courtroom would have had to fight tooth and nail just to make their case.

But from what she’d glimpsed... how could the prosecution be in full retreat!?

And what was this about the defense having overwhelming momentum!?

Unfortunately, Li had only caught a glimpse before her view was blocked. By now, she could no longer contain her curiosity.

’The newspaper rack! Right, there’s a newspaper rack at the firm!’

An idea flashed in Li’s mind.

The law firm had a public newspaper rack. They subscribed to both the morning and evening papers, so this edition would definitely be there!

Thinking of this, she didn’t dally any longer.

Her anxious heart urged her to run across the street to the Jinmao Law Firm.

BANG!

Li impatiently shoved open the firm’s large glass door. The loud noise attracted the attention of her colleagues in the lobby, who had just arrived for work and were still feeling a bit sluggish.

Everyone turned to see Li standing in front of the newspaper rack, reading a paper with a look of pure shock on her face.

"Yo, Li, did you win the lottery or something? So eager to read the paper, did you match the winning numbers?"

someone joked lazily, leaning back in their chair.

"It’s not me, it’s Xu De."

Li replied, her eyes still glued to the page.

"What’s up with Lawyer Xu?"

The people in the lobby were still joking around, though one person said thoughtfully:

"Did something go wrong with Lawyer Xu’s case?"

"To be honest, it would be normal to lose this case. I heard the prosecution is led by Hu Guang... The last time I was in court representing a plaintiff, I was scared to even look at him. His presence is nothing like a regular prosecutor’s, let alone facing him as a defendant. Losing is perfectly normal."

"Exactly. Even the director, who’s always been optimistic about Lawyer Xu, didn’t think he could win."

"Lawyer Xu is still young and well-educated. It’s only a matter of time before he becomes a Gold Medal Lawyer. He just has a long road ahead of him, and cases like these are stepping stones."

"..."

Listening to their words, Li looked up from the newspaper.

Her face was flushed red. She looked at her colleagues, who were chatting away casually, and opened her mouth to speak, then closed it, struggling to find the right words.

’Xu De still has a long road ahead of him?’

’Losing to Hu Guang, a rival even Gold Medal Lawyers take seriously, is normal?’

That was true.

But the problem was...

’Why did the newspaper say that a lawyer fresh out of the tutorial zone had defeated Prosecutor Hu Guang, the game’s final boss, in an overwhelming victory?’

’This has to be some kind of fantasy, right!?’

Li looked at everyone in the firm’s lobby.

Listening to the noisy chatter around her, her face grew redder and redder. Finally, she took a deep breath and shouted at the top of her lungs:

"It’s insane... The court has gone insane!"

"You all need to read the morning paper!!!"

...

PS: Asking for votes, asking for votes.

Today is Monday, and the new book rankings have been updated. The author would like to ask for monthly passes to climb the ranks.

The new book has been out for 14 days and updated with over 100,000 words—more than what many books have when they go premium. I’m begging you all, please have pity and give me a monthly pass. QAQ

I’ll 100% do a mass release once it’s on the premium shelves!