First-Class Lawyer

The sound of running water came from within the room. Gu Yan had taken out two fresh glass cups, washed them, and was now filling them with water.

Watching him from behind, Yan Suizhi asked, “Since you’d already seen through it from that early on, why didn’t you tell me?” 

The sound of water didn’t stop. Gu Yan didn’t answer as well.

He didn’t know if Gu Yan hadn’t heard him, or if he was considering how best to respond.

There was a mini refrigerator set to the corner of the wall near the bed. Gu Yan carried the two glasses of water, opened the refrigerator and bent down, searching inside for a while. After a soft flurry of activity, he added a green leaf into one of the cups, along with three ice cubes.

The ice cubes clinked crisply against the wall of the glass, listening to it sent a refreshing wave of coolness through the mind. 

It was amidst this refreshing background noise that Gu Yan finally opened his mouth, answering with utmost flippancy, “Watch the play and see how far your acting can take you.”

“…”

How stubborn must this guy be to come up with such an answer after two minutes of brooding over it?

If this conversation were between anyone else, most would certainly have passed out from rage. Even for the remaining who didn’t, such a response wouldn’t sit easy with them. But Yan Suizhi was an exception.

“If you had shown this side of you earlier, you can drop all thoughts of graduating.” Despite saying this, his eyes still carried faint mirth.

When it came to Gu Yan’s manner of speaking, especially when it came to him, Yan Suizhi did have this modicum of understanding—what was said might not necessarily be the truth, but it would surely be the most unpleasant to the ears.

In other words, the truth must be quite some more pleasing than this.

In all honesty, it was for the best that Gu Yan hadn’t made mention of it, dragging it out until today; had he confronted him as soon as he was certain, there could have been a very different conclusion. 

After all, Yan Suizhi was far from being as approachable as he seemed. He was a free spirit. While he didn’t really care much for anything, it was beyond difficult to gain his full trust.

He would always have his reservations. Yet, it was practically impossible to tell from the surface how deeply those reservations ran, what type of evaluation he held, whether he felt warmer towards you or believed others more.

If Gu Yan had shown his hand right after finding out, he might not hear a single word of truth leaving Yan Suizhi’s tongue for a long time. It was precisely because he had dragged it out several days, the many details that had manifested during which were enough to convince Yan Suizhi that Gu Yan was helping him, without any ulterior motives, genuinely standing on the same side as him.

Compared to any other explanation or verbal persuasion, at least when it came to Yan Suizhi, this was the most effective. 

With the two glasses of water, Gu Yan sat down in the rattan chair opposite Yan Suizhi, passing him the glass with just water, whereas leaving the glass with the leaf and ice cubes in his own hand.

His movements stirred a slight breeze. The scent of the iced water in his glass dispersed to Yan Suizhi’s nose.

Yan Suizhi could smell a refreshing, frosty note of mint.

“Mint leaf?” He lifted his chin towards Gu Yan’s cup. 

“Mn.”

“Steeping mint in ice…” Yan Suizhi clicked his tongue. “It’s a little too cold, isn’t it? Are you feeling hot?”

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After a brief hesitation, Gu Yan spoke, “Someone saved you before the explosion?”

Yan Suizhi gave a very slight start. 

This was, as matter of fact, the most insignificant question. After all, he was sitting safe and sound here now; the answer to this question could be deduced with barely any effort. Wasting breath to ask again was superfluous.

Being in this line of work, they rarely talked nonsense when having a serious conversation. The questions they threw out were the most critical ones; when receiving a case, they could draw the connections themselves and would not ask anything redundant.

And this sentence that Gu Yan asked was redundant.

It didn’t seem like a question, more like… he wanted to, through Yan Suizhi in person, ascertain once again that he was still alive, that he had escaped that explosion. 

Yan Suizhi studied him for a while, not minding in the slightest to provide an answer to this redundant question. “Yeah. Someone helped me, I escaped from death.”

Gu Yan nodded.

Now, the questions started to regain their usual traction.

“What happened that night?” 

Yan Suizhi, “I don’t know.”

Gu Yan’s eyebrows drew together.

“Stop frowning already, I really don’t know,” Yan Suizhi said shortly. “There was a little truth in what the reports wrote. I did have an upset stomach that day, and returned early to the hotel to sleep it off.”

Gu Yan asked, “Then what did the person who saved you say?” 

Yan Suizhi, “Nothing.”

Gu Yan, “…”

“He really didn’t say anything, he only said that he had preemptively squirrelled me away.” Professor Yan thought to himself, When have I ever explained something like this to anyone, and it’s even to a wretched student who didn’t have anything nice to say at all.

Gu Yan asked again, “Who saved you?” 

Yan Suizhi, “I don’t know.”

Gu Yan, “…”

After asking three questions, Lawyer Gu silently sipped his mint water.

Yan Suizhi, “…” 

He relaxed back into the chair, clasping his fingers before him, soundlessly putting on the picture of innocence for a while. He only spoke after Gu Yan set down the glass. “What happened was that I slept from the night of the explosion to the end of this month, just a few days before I reported to the law firm. When I woke up, this was left beside me—”

He lifted his finger, flashing the ring-shaped smart device.

“—and only this.”

He selectively chose a few key points to recount the sequence of events to Gu Yan, then laughed. “Just now, when I heard what your nameless friend said when the comms connected, I even suspected that you were the one who saved me for a split second.” 

After all, the one-way ticket and miserable balance were quite in line with Gu Yan’s style.

“Me?” Gu Yan’s face was cold. “I would never have let you handle that shuttle ticket on your own, but simply dumped you to the most remote planet, making sure that you can’t run riot.”

Yan Suizhi, “…”

Again, he couldn’t parse if there was any truth to this remark, but hearing it really made him want to hang Gu Yan up and beat him. 

“You really don’t have the barest semblance of a student,” Yan Suizhi said, smiling.

Gu Yan lifted his eyes to look at him for a moment before blandly saying, “Likewise to you.”

“…”

“Did you enter Southcross Law Firm to look into the case?” 

“Otherwise?” Yan Suizhi arched his brows. “Do I really lack an internship?”

Gu Yan heartlessly exposed him. “Your asset balance might raise an objection.”

Yan Suizhi, “…”

“Do you still have any mint?” The esteemed Professor Yan asked, his expression exceedingly cordial. “I might need a leaf too.” 

Gu Yan pretended not to hear him. His face remained impassive as he said, “I had already gone through the explosion case several times. Without insider information, I was unable to find any flaws. The chain of evidence is solid, the motive is clear, there isn’t any issue with the oral confessions, and the court records are the usual. It is a watertight case that all lawyers like.”

A case where the breeze was still and the waves were quiet; where everything proceeded without a hitch. There wasn’t even any public controversy.

In fact, this case really didn’t stir up any controversy. All the media coverage perpetually harped on about how unfortunate the young dean was. Some were even indignant that the culprit had escaped a death sentence with the golden ticket of mental illness.

As for the case itself, everyone smoothly accepted it as gospel. Aside from Yan Suizhi and Gu Yan, no one else suspected any foul play. 

“If even you have said so… does that mean I shouldn’t waste my time going through the case file again?” The corners of Yan Suizhi’s lips quirked upwards.

“I’ve already opened all the permission channels I can. Whether or not you go through it, and how many times you do is up to you,” Gu Yan said. Then, he paused slightly. His fingers circled the glass cup before him, eyes casted downwards on the mint gently floating on the water. Out of the blue, he reminded, “Don’t be so unrestrained when you’re at Southcross.”

“Do you believe that Southcross has a hand in it as well?” Yan Suizhi swiftly grasped the implication hidden in his words; or, to be precise, he had such doubts too, which just happened to coincide with Gu Yan.

“You don’t have to care about most of the lawyers, you’ve me.” Gu Yan said this before stopping for a beat, possibly realising his matter-of-fact tone was slightly out of place. But he only raised his eyebrows, quickly continuing, “Avoid the management level. Though, you don’t have to hold back in front of Fizz, just act as you naturally would.” 

It wasn’t wrong to say that Fizz could be quite obtuse, but it also wasn’t wrong to say that she could simultaneously be quite astute. Towards Yan Suizhi’s level of unruliness, her mind would only fill with gossip and she wouldn’t find it odd at all. But if there came a day when Yan Suizhi suddenly acted all prim and proper, she would conversely feel that something was amiss.

Where she stood might not necessarily be on the opposite front from Yan Suizhi and Gu Yan. There was a high probability that she did not know anything about what was going on behind the scenes. Nevertheless, she was still the information hub of Southcross Law Firm; many people would get their information from her.

“However—” When Gu Yan came to this, his words suddenly took a turn. “I still advise that you leave Southcross as soon as possible.”

Yan Suizhi smiled. He unhurriedly took a sip of water from his glass cup, neither nodding nor shaking his head. He only deliberated slightly before saying, “Why? I think that this arrangement is quite convenient. If I can’t find enough clues, I can just shake myself a bit and shake some chinks into my cover. Once the other side grows suspicious, they’ll surely take the initiative to come knocking, saving me the effort of having to move my legs.” 

Gu Yan, “…”

He just knew it.

A certain someone never had the slightest mind to keep the sheepskin tightly wrapped around him from the very start.

His face paralysed, Lawyer Gu took another two sips of his mint water, wordlessly staring at Yan Suizhi for a long time; whether this stare was a glare or out of speechlessness, was open to interpretation. 

“Quite a good idea, isn’t it?” Professor Yan, easygoing by nature, completely lacked any self-awareness.

Gu Yan drained half a glass of mint water, using a thumb to wipe the corners of his mouth. He lifted his chin towards the room door, his tone particularly barbed. “Go back to your room.”

Yan Suizhi, “Tch.”

However, this sound was ineffectual. Student Gu was determined not to talk to him anymore and wanted to chase him out of the room. 

Yan Suizhi didn’t sweat over it, treading on the black slippers as he got up and calmly walked towards the door. Just before he left, a new idea popped into his head. “Since we’ve both come clean, how about swapping rooms?”

Gu Yan scoffed, glancing at the lamp pine forest beyond the balcony. He coldly said, “Don’t even think about it.”

“…”

This ungrateful thing who didn’t know how to show his teacher basic respect. 

Yan Suizhi harrumphed but quit teasing him. Only, just before closing the door behind him, he appeared to suddenly think of something, turning his head back to smile at Gu Yan. “Right. I seem to have forgotten to mention; thank you for your hard work in the recent days.”

And once saying this, without waiting for Gu Yan’s response, he closed the room door behind him.

The rustling sound that the slippers made was immediately blocked out, and the room suddenly quietened.

Gu Yan stood next to the balcony. After gazing at the nightscape through the glass balcony door for a while, his fingers moved. He projected the messaging interface on his smart device, sending Joe a message: 

-Are you awake? Pull some strings for me.