Chapter 71 – Is Someone Tired?

On the water bar television at Hengtian, the same interview was playing.

Yan Ankuo went to grind coffee for himself, noticing the head of the department sitting on the sofa, he asked Zhou Tianrui if he wanted some, and after receiving a negative answer, he came to the coffee machine with his eyes straight ahead, focusing solely on the machine’s spout.

Zhou Tianrui lowered the TV volume, got up, and walked over to him, saying, “If I had known you were so camera-friendly, I would have put you in front more often in the past; maybe we could have brought back more cases.”

Yan Ankuo gave a bitter smile, “No need, I’m already busy enough.”

Zhou Tianrui tilted his head up and laughed, nodding towards him, “Now several newspapers are doing follow-up reports, public opinion is starting to discuss the legal profession as a whole. It’s not all bad, at least everyone isn’t just cursing one-sidedly.”

Yan Ankuo kept his head down, taking out a disposable wooden spoon from the operation cabinet, stirring it in the coffee cup.

Seeing him not answering, Zhou Tianrui asked again, “Actually, I’ve always had a question.”

Yan Ankuo put down the wooden spoon and looked up, “What’s wrong?”

Zhou Tianrui asked, “What were you thinking in court, why did you have to challenge their evidence-gathering process?”

Yan Ankuo picked up the coffee and took a small sip, “That was their most obvious weakness.”

“But you should know that this has a negligible impact on the outcome of the verdict.” Zhou Tianrui spent much of his early years on the front lines, having seen many similar cases, “The judge has a scale in his heart; even if the other side violates the rules in obtaining evidence and the evidence is not accepted, but you didn’t refute the plaintiff’s description, which is an indirect admission of the facts, the verdict will certainly take it into account, the result is still against you.”

Yan Ankuo lowered his head, cradling the coffee cup in his hands, “I know.”

Zhou Tianrui was puzzled, “Knowing that, you still proceeded like that?”

Yan Ankuo said calmly, “There was no choice.”

Taking advantage of the flaws in the opposing party’s chain of evidence was responsible to the client; not refuting the facts described by the opposing party was responsible to professional ethics.

Zhou Tianrui looked deeply at Yan Ankuo, finally turning his head away, somewhat lonely, “It seems I’ve been out of court for too long.”

Yan Ankuo was busy at the law firm until evening when he received a message from Bian Ji reminding him that he had forgotten to order dinner. He quickly ordered takeout with everyone else and then took a photo to send to Bian Ji, telling him that he was eating on time.

Recently, beautiful meals had become popular within the law firm; that is, arranging a pile of green and fresh healthy ingredients into a pleasing shape, achieving the effect of controlling calories while enjoying aesthetics.

Yan Ankuo looked at the vegetables and coarse grains in the bowl that had not been seasoned with any condiments and could only wrinkle his brow and force himself to swallow. During meal breaks, he had the opportunity to scroll through his phone and discovered that the heat surrounding Wenshun had subsided considerably, replaced by a criminal case in a neighboring province.

Mr. K, who had previously spoken out, also reappeared, discussing the origins of the defense system and the necessity of defending suspects, sparking considerable discussion about professions and justice.

Yan Ankuo browsed through various information expressionlessly, the yellow and white light reflecting on his glasses.

Suddenly, his hand paused on the screen, stopping near a topic.

“X Airlines Apologizes for Medical Incident on AD3241 Flight.”

Yan Ankuo remembered this flight number; Bian Ji had flown it last month.

He couldn’t help but click in, discovering that what was prominently displayed was a statement issued by X Airlines’ official website, which roughly stated that there was a child on board who suddenly suffered from a heart attack, and the crew actively knelt down to save his life through emergency treatment. However, due to limited medical facilities on board and severe turbulence, the child’s organs were injured. The airline apologized to the parties involved and the public, promising to strengthen medical support on board in the future.

Yan Ankuo looked at these few lines, his brows furrowing tighter and tighter, the broccoli in the bowl becoming almost impossible to swallow. He took a deep breath and dialed Yan Fanxuan’s number, bluntly asking, “Has Bian Ji gone to work recently?”

“Huh?” Yan Fanxuan thought to herself, how would she know? The airline was so large, and the flight attendants only had the chance to meet when they were scheduled together or in the canteen, “I don’t know, what’s up?”

Yan Ankuo knew that such a big thing would inevitably lead to a lot of trouble: “Check the intranet, see if there are any investigation results made public.”

“Oh, okay.” Yan Fanxuan obediently began browsing. After a while, she exclaimed in shock, “My God! How did Chief Attendant Bian get another complaint? Grounded for a month, and even docked a year’s performance pay!”

Yan Ankuo took a deep breath, rubbing his nose in headache.

Yan Fanxuan continued to care, “You’re not at his place, right? You didn’t know he was grounded? My God, now colleagues are talking about it, saying he’s had bad luck.”

“Mm-hmm.” Yan Ankuo’s tone was a mix of anger, helplessness, and concern, “I understand.”

The humid heat persisted during the autumn evenings, and Bian Ji broke into a sweat on his way back to the apartment, feeling somewhat nervous.

Yan Ankuo would definitely see the news and would surely guess the reason behind it; this was something he had delayed facing until now.

At first, he hadn’t called Yan Ankuo for help because he was afraid the other was too busy, later because the problem had already been resolved, there was no need to bring it up again, and he was also afraid that if the other knew, he would be angry. But these were all excuses; Bian Ji was very clear that he was avoiding it. Avoiding the trouble of involving someone closest to him, avoiding dealing with the messy reality of their relationship.

In short, Yan Ankuo would likely be disappointed and sad now.

As the elevator doors opened, he found Yan Ankuo squatting on the bench in the hallway outside the door, looking as though he had been waiting for quite some time.

“How did you…” Bian Ji quickly approached, originally intending to ask why he didn’t go in, but then remembering that he had never given him the home door code and that he had always let him in using a one-time dynamic password, he asked guiltily and tenderly, “Why didn’t you tell me you were coming?”

Yan Ankuo stood up, straightened his windbreaker, and sniffed, “I’ll say a few words and leave.”

“It’s cold inside,” Bian Ji pushed him, “come in.”

Yan Ankuo didn’t move, “No need.”

Bian Ji had no choice but to stand in place, his eyes with a hint of moisture, helpless and innocent, like a Samoyed who had committed a mistake yet awaited a caress.

Yan Ankuo looked at him and asked, “Regarding that child’s matter, is it resolved?”

As expected, Bian Ji sighed in relief and nodded, “The child has been discharged from the hospital, and the parents have also settled out of court with us.”

Yan Ankuo’s tone remained unchanged, cold but caring, “Who handled the settlement?”

Bian Ji felt slightly guilty, “Our company’s legal manager, and Lawyer Chen from A Law Firm.”

“A Law Firm?” Yan Ankuo laughed self-mockingly, “You know people there too.”

Bian Ji lowered his head, “After Captain Qiao finished his lawsuit last time, he met some lawyers. He recommended them to me.”

Yan Ankuo asked with a stern face, “Is it tiring to handle all this alone?” Bian Ji shook his head.

Yan Ankuo looked up at the light, “Is there nothing else to say?”

Bian Ji’s fingers helplessly fiddled around Yan Ankuo’s collar, his tone somewhat coaxing, “I didn’t tell you at first because I thought you were still busy with the case, you were in a frenzy yourself, so…”

Yan Ankuo wasn’t swayed by this, impartially moving his hand away from the collar, sternly saying, “But as long as you speak up, I won’t be too busy to care about you.”

“I know,” Bian Ji persistently moved closer, placing his head on Yan Ankuo’s shoulder, his voice low, imitating the tone Yan Ankuo had used to comfort him last time, “Don’t be angry, baby.”