First-Class Lawyer

From the looks of it, Chen Zhang was still particularly sensitive about what had happened before. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have taken the bait as soon as it was mentioned, changing his tune and obediently coming down to the visiting room.

He stared wide-eyed at Yan Suizhi, waiting for the response with bated breath, not daring to even breathe too loudly. 

In the end, Yan Suizhi only leaned against the chair, slowly tossing him four words. “Give it a guess?”

“…”

Chen Zhang almost stopped breathing right there.

“Actually, this is a very redundant question,” said Yan Suizhi. “If I were you, I definitely wouldn’t waste my limited time fixated on something with such an obvious answer.” 

Chen Zhang gave a start.

Indeed, how could he have known? This intern lawyer was young, so he must have heard it from someone else in the know. Who would that be…

His attention involuntarily gravitated towards the words relayed by the warden. ‘31-’47, a regular at Champagne… These words couldn’t have been speaking of the lawyer himself, so it must be his informant. Was there a guest who had been a decade-long regular of the club Champagne back then?

Chen Zhang delved into his memories; he did still have a little impression of the guestlist of Champagne.

Of course, he didn’t remember that many names on the list, only a few particularities. As Champagne was a small and expensive boutique club, it wasn’t a prime choice for one-off beachgoers. Why would they squander that kind of money when there were bigger and more popular clubs?

Champagne was especially popular amongst the rich tycoons. However, most only came by on occasion for a vacation to have a bit of fun and de-stress. Those who regularly came by over the years tended to fall into two categories.

The first sort were in their late prime, their seventies to nineties, who treated diving as a type of exercise, clocking in regular hours as if they were clocking into work. The other sort were the rich young men in their teens and twenties, just before and after they reach adulthood, thrill-seekers with ample time on their hands.

But no matter which category, they all had one thing in common—they were generous tippers. 

It was purely for this reason that Chen Zhang made a beeline for Champagne in the first place.

At that time, he had recently retired from a professional diving job that involved specialised underwater projects. Desperate for money, he beseeched someone to get him a job at Champagne as an unlisted instructor. But because he was unlisted, he didn’t have a fixed clientele. He would help to take someone on a dive today, and take someone else on a dive tomorrow. Were there any guests who would remember him?

How was that possible…

“You look like you’ve dug yourself into a molehill,” Yan Suizhi said. “Let me guess, you’re trying to recall if there was anyone back then who could have told me this?” 

Chen Zhang jolted. Faint embarrassment entered his expression.

In two short minutes, from a scant few words, Yan Suizhi had roughly gotten a grasp of Chen Zhang’s personality—his thoughts were easily led on a spiral by others; he couldn’t capture the main points. Put in a nicer way, he took everyone by their words and easily trusted people. Put bluntly, he was a fool, and an overly earnest fool at that.

Although this little bit of understanding wasn’t deep, at least…

Based on his personality, Yan Suizhi wouldn’t be surprised if there were other circumstances at play behind the suspicion cast on Chen Zhang. 

However, he didn’t like to preemptively form his conclusions—even if Chen Zhang’s every move broadcasted the standard ‘I’m hiding something, and I might be a little wronged, but I’m not spilling.’

“Is that important?” Yan Suizhi’s tone was very light.

Chen Zhang’s face flushed slightly. “I just can’t figure out how you know…”

And how did Yan Suizhi know? 

Of course because he saw it with his own two eyes.

Not everything that he had gotten the warden to relay was the truth. ‘31-‘47 was actually quoted by Yan Suizhi off the top of his head. He was nine years old in ‘31. Life was quiet and comfortable. Nothing had happened then, and he wasn’t at an age where he could make his own decisions.

But he really was a guest at Champagne early on, from the age of sixteen.

Mgbw atf juf bo rlzaffc ab akfcas-olnf, tf kjr j gfueijg ja Jtjwqjucf.  

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The topics ranged widely, from life philosophies that suddenly occurred to him, to an unobtrusive neighbour or colleague; he would chat with Yan Suizhi about whatever came to his mind.

Actually, Yan Suizhi had not a smidge of interest in the trivial matters he went on about. But he would always give an appropriate ‘mhm’ or a hummed laugh, which was enough to keep the instructor excited enough to keep going for a long time.

He remembered that there was once that he sat propped up on the side of a dive boat, lazily sipping from a glass of water and looking at another dive boat a short distance away. There weren’t any enthusiastic divers on that boat—only a lone instructor standing in a corner, his body a hand propped against his waist as he daydreamed, staring at the water. 

He watched him for a while, then raised his chin in that direction, asking, “Who’s that? I never saw him around before.”

His instructor chugged down half a bottle of protein drink like a buffalo next to him, rubbing his stomach and saying, “Oh. A new colleague.”

When he was a teenager, Yan Suizhi rarely asked questions of his own accord. So, on the rare occasion that he did, his instructor became very excited, opening his mouth like a gramophone to give him an introduction, almost writing a thesis paper on the other’s biography.

Yan Suizhi had only asked this question offhandedly and wasn’t really that interested. As such, he hadn’t really listened too carefully, and only a few sentences went through his head. 

“His name is Chen Wen, someone introduced him to the club two days ago. He used to be a professional diver for a specialised underwater project, so his skill level is unquestionable.” The instructor said, “And he’s very young. Apparently, the reason that he had retired from his previous position was because of the onset of a health condition last year, making him unfit to continue working on underwater projects.”

In fact, Champagne rarely used people with less than transparent backgrounds. After all, their clientele were all rich kids and generous tippers; no instructor would be happy to divide up their profits. Therefore, new unlisted instructors in Champagne standing alone like Chen Wen were a frequent sight.

“I think that he’s not a bad guy, just overly quiet,” said the instructor. “He doesn’t easily get close to people, so no one in the club is familiar with him. I’m probably one of those who talk to him more, but even then I know very little about him.”

The instructor pointed at his own eyes. “The one thing that really strikes me is how special his vision is. He is insensitive to many things during the day, but he can see clearly in the night; he’s practically the type who is born to dive.” 

Yan Suizhi turned his head over to look at him. “How did you know?”

“I accidentally left something behind at the club once and came back for it. He also had work to sort out that day and was working late in the office above the club. When I went into the equipment room, I was fumbling like a blind man for the light switch, and ended up touching his hand.”

The instructor gave an exaggerated shudder. “My soul was fucking scared out of me! After the fuss, it turned out that he had to go to the equipment room to get his diving kit and was too lazy to turn on the light, so he was searching for it when he bumped into me.”

Possibly because the instructor’s reenactment back then was so theatrical, or that there was something special about Chen Wen’s solitary figure on the dive boat—somehow or other, after all these years, that insignificant scene remained in Yan Suizhi’s memory even to this day. 

In the years that followed, possibly just that the timings of Yan Suizhi’s visits didn’t line up to Chen Wen’s, or that he seldom paid attention to others, he didn’t form any new impressions of Chen Wen. On the few occasions that he did see him, it would always be from afar on the beach or amidst a crowd, and Chen Wen was always alone.

But it wasn’t that he and Chen Wen had never crossed paths. The one and only time they did was in ‘47.

That day, his chatterbox instructor disappeared without him having to lose him.

“Something cropped up at home, I asked Chen Wen to take you.” When he arrived at Champagne, his instructor left him this message. 

Yan Suizhi, at that time, was a little distracted by other things that had occurred around that period. After giving a dismissive response, he headed to the VIP locker to get a diving suit and gear to change into. When he came out of the changing room to head to the beach, he happened to see Chen Wen being made to leave by a few bodyguards with their arms slung over his shoulder and back, half in invitation, half in coercion.

He had a vague memory of those bodyguards. They always followed behind a certain young master in his teens. He also remembered that the instructor had said before he left that Chen Wen was also bringing another troublesome guest that afternoon.

The instructor was probably referring to this.

As someone who also had ample experience dumping his coach, Yan Suizhi knew what the bodyguards were doing at one glance. At that time, he had simply smiled, going to the dive boat alone. He waited on the dive boat for a while, but when he didn’t see Chen Wen coming, he directly went down himself. 

Never did he expect that he would run into an accident right there…

In the visiting room, Chen Zhang rubbed his fingers together. After being called out by Yan Suizhi twice, he finally gave up digging that meaningless molehill. He changed to ask, “You… Then you mentioned you know about that accident. What do you know about it?”

He mulled over it before giving up and lowering his gaze. His voice held a trace of mocking. “Is it the underwater accident that a guest had due to my negligence?”

Yan Suizhi considered it. “Pretty much.” 

Chen Zhang harrumphed, snapping his head away. His face was extremely dark with deeply ingrained bitterness.

Yan Suizhi paused for a moment, then raised his eyebrows and went on to say, “But you probably need to add another preface, that you were deliberately obstructed by bodyguards.”

For that fleeting moment, Chen Zhang didn’t react to it, still maintaining the ‘a nose isn’t a nose, eyes aren’t eyes’ fed-up expression.

After approximately three seconds, he then violently swivelled his head back, staring at Yan Suizhi. “You really know?!!” 

Yan Suizhi shrugged. “Isn’t that obvious? I already said so.”

Chen Zhang had always remembered that day. At the start, those bodyguards seemed to be only jesting around as they blocked him. But when they reached the changing room, their attitudes changed in the blink of an eye, ultimately forcing him to stay in the changing room without any room for argument, unable to go to the beach to hinder anyone.

‘Hinder’. That was the word they had used back then, allowing Chen Zhang to understand that Young Master Manson had resolved not to allow an instructor to follow him on the dive.

Even so, Manson was only fourteen years old. Chen Zhang was, in truth, unable to set his mind at ease, making several attempts to leave the changing room and check out the situation underwater. However, no matter how he reasoned with them or tried to force his way through, those bodyguards remained unmoved. 

When he later found out about what had happened, his heart stuttered. Cold sweat broke out all over his body.

As Manson lay in the hospital, Chen Zhang kept charging up to the hospital, but he was never able to see even the door of the ward. The bodyguards blocked him again, their attitudes as unyielding as before.

After that, Champagne notified him that he didn’t have to come down to the club anymore. The job that he had found with much difficulty went down the gutter.

And the reason was plain as day. 

Those were the hardest days of his life. Everything bad stacked up together, slamming him like a truck in his face, and even the most basic source of livelihood was stripped from him. Every time he thought of that incident, he couldn’t help but feel resentment against the fourteen-year-old Young Master Manson.

If it weren’t for Manson insisting for his bodyguards to block his way, then the things that happened after would never have occurred. And he wouldn’t have been refused employment by all the clubs for a good several years afterwards.

Those years, he was in such dire straits that he was unable to even put food on his table, living from day to day.

Resentment was something that only grew deeper with every thought and very difficult to uproot. 

Every passing day that his lot never made a turn for the better, was a day that he would be unable to let go of the brewing resentment.

Later on, he tried to explain the truth behind this incident, but no one was willing to believe him. Or, better put, no one dared to believe him.

Even now, the mere mention of this past incident still complicated his expression wth gloom.

“You didn’t cause the accident,” Yan Suizhi said. “I know.” 

There wasn’t any sympathy in his expression. Only deep calm, like he was saying something perfectly mundane.

But it was precisely because of how calm Yan Suizhi was that made people feel—this was what he actually thought; these weren’t words spoken simply in consolation.

And that was what Chen Zhang cared most about. He didn’t need comfort. After these many years, comfort was of no use to him. After all, he had already endured what he had to endure. The only words that he wanted to listen to were that there was someone who didn’t need any explanation from him, who didn’t need him to bring out any evidence, yet was crystal clear that he hadn’t meant for that to happen. He wasn’t the person responsible for the accident.

Chen Zhang stared at Yan Suizhi numbly. 

He was different from Joshua Dale. He might also have his grievances, but he couldn’t express them. The many years wore down on him and now, even the rims of his eyes would no longer turn red. He sat in a stupor for a long time before lowering his head to wipe his face. Only after did he speak to Yan Suizhi, unwavering, “No matter what, I’m very glad to hear you say this.”

Yan Suizhi’s gaze swept across his face. He asked, “Did you do plastic surgery afterwards? You didn’t look like this when you were going under the name Chen Wen.”

This was also the reason why Yan Suizhi didn’t find him familiar back when they encountered each other at the beach.

The case file had never mentioned this point. The police had entirely skipped over it, either because Champagne was no more, or because his former colleagues were no longer in this industry and had scampered off to some unknown planet. Possibly, there was no one left with any impression of him. 

Most importantly, Chen Zhang’s oral confession was so smoothly obtained that the police didn’t bother expending any effort to look into those other miscellaneous details.

Chen Zhang hesitated for some time before he spoke. “I met a benefactor afterwards. He suggested that I change my appearance and my identity for a new life. So that’s what I did, leaving those unhappy times far behind me to have a fresh start. All of this was only possible thanks to my benefactor. Actually, what I did wasn’t plastic surgery, but genetic modification surgery.”

“Genetic modification?” Yan Suizhi repeated once, then asked, “There are records kept of all genetic modifications done in the alliance. If you had gone under the knife, this documentation would be automatically bound to your identification file. But the field for modification history on your file is completely blank.”

“It wasn’t done through official channels, of course.” Chen Zhang said, “I needed a fresh start, not to broadcast to the world that I’m the same Chen Wen involved in that accident. But it was no more than changing my looks and my name.” 

“So it was a grey channel?”

Chen Zhang nodded. “My benefactor said that he had a few back doors that could let me quietly get my genetic modification done.”

This brought about a sense of deja vu.

Yan Suizhi said, nodding, “My intuition tells me that I’ll regret it if I don’t ask who your benefactor is, and where the grey channel that he had referred you is.” 

Hesitance slipped into Chen Zhang’s expression; he didn’t loosen his tongue.

“Or you can choose to tell me everything that happened that night on Yaba Island.” Yan Suizhi glanced at the time on the wall. “After all, for at least twenty-five minutes of this half-hour, all you did was sit in a daze, and sit in a daze with a resentful face on. Now that there’s not much time left, you can only answer one of the two.”

Chen Zhang, “…”

“I’m just an intern,” Yan Suizhi said without a single qualm. “This is my first time taking on a case. I’m very nervous and scared.” 

Chen Zhang, “………”

“My performance in this case will undoubtedly have a long-term impact on my future career progression,” said Yan Suizhi. “If I perform too terribly, such as not even being able to pry open my client’s mouth and showing up empty-handed, it’s highly probable that I won’t be able to find employment.”

Chen Zhang, “……………”

Yan Suizhi’s lips moved, as if he was about to keep going. 

Chen Zhang’s expression collapsed. “I already said all of it in the oral confessions and clearly wrote out what happened that night. You can just read that.”

Yan Suizhi smiled. “I’ve read it, naturally. But I still want to hear you recite it once more.”

Chen Zhang, “…”

He endured it for a moment, and again for another moment more, and then was finally unable to endure it any longer. He said, “I choose to tell you about that damn channel.” 

Yan Suizhi made a hand motion, inviting him to freely go on.

Chen Zhang recalled it for a moment, saying, “That benefactor… he has helped me a lot. I… I’m really grateful to him, so pardon me for being unable to say much. I don’t want to needlessly bring him trouble. As for that grey channel, the one I went to was at the west end of De Carma. I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of it, but there’s a black market there.”

Yan Suizhi’s gaze jolted. “I have, in fact.”

“When you enter from the western entrance of the black market, count seven stores down from the left. Go up the stairwell next to it; it was at an apartment on the third floor that I got someone to help me with the genetic modification surgery.” Chen Zhang was very detailed. 

Yan Suizhi’s expression was unchanging, but he had already memorised the route in his mind.

It was a route that he couldn’t be more familiar with. That was the area where he was arranged to stay after waking up, and he felt that perhaps, this wasn’t coincidence.