Ever since encountering Deng Ming, Cheng Yao had been consumed with worry back at Junheng. Based on her understanding of him, even having fabricated evidence, he’d likely resort to other underhanded tactics too—lacking genuine skill but possessing plenty of cunning, he excelled at finding shortcuts through devious means. To protect his so-called undefeated reputation and maintain his premium fees, Deng Ming was bound to pull some other trick to make absolutely sure Lu Jian’s case was airtight.

But Cheng Yao hadn’t expected Deng Ming to sink quite this low.

Not long after the pre-trial evidence exchange, a local A City influencer posted a supposedly anonymous tip-off—

“Gossip: modern-day adulteress cheats on her husband, bears an illegitimate child during marriage, and doesn’t even know who the father is due to a chaotic love life.”

Under this post were unblurred photos of Lin Fengjuan, along with numerous candid shots of her appearing intimate with various men.

Soon, “concerned” netizens gleefully exposed Lin Fengjuan’s home address, phone number, and photos of Hanhan in the comments, viciously speculating about which man in the photos the baby most resembled.

And compared to those still using relatively tame language, some of the other comments were downright vile.

“Wow, this chick’s that slutty, huh? Let me have a go too, guarantee I’ll blow her mind.”

“A total whore who’s slept with a thousand men!”

“This girl’s not bad looking, if she’s got such strong needs and wants that many men, why not just sell it outright? Satisfies herself and covers her kid’s medical bills too.”

…

The influencer’s post was written with deliberate inflammatory intent, framed as a submission from a friend of Lin Fengjuan’s ex-husband, dripping with righteous indignation, written to feel personal and credible. Public outrage swelled rapidly, and the views and shares skyrocketed.

Cheng Yao knew Deng Ming loved to manipulate public opinion, trying to pressure clients and put media pressure on presiding judges, but she hadn’t expected him to still be pulling the same old tricks after all these years.

After the Bai Xingmeng affair, Cheng Yao no longer panicked in the face of this kind of media firestorm. She calmly screenshotted everything as evidence for a potential defamation lawsuit.

What she hadn’t expected was that Lin Fengjuan, who not long ago had held her hand pleading for justice and a name for her child, changed her mind entirely just two hours later.

When Cheng Yao took her call, her first instinct was to reassure her. “Don’t worry, I’ll help you send a formal legal letter…”

“Lawyer Cheng, I don’t want to pursue this lawsuit anymore. Please help me withdraw it!”

Cheng Yao was taken aback. “What happened?”

“We can’t win this.” Lin Fengjuan’s voice broke. “I’m just an ordinary person, I can’t compete with someone as powerful and connected as Lu Jian. You’ve seen those posts online, haven’t you? Ever since they went up, people have shown up at my door—some throwing paint, some sending funeral wreaths, even some throwing feces…”

Lin Fengjuan continued, anguished. “I did wrong, but the only person I wronged was Ah Min. I never wronged any of these strangers online—why are they treating me like this? Those photos online of me with different men, they’re not even real, they’re all Photoshopped fakes. In my whole life, the only men I’ve ever been with are Ah Min and Lu Jian. If I really was who those posts claim, I’d deserve to get hit by a car walking out my front door today!”

Anyone facing this kind of online abuse for the first time would likely react with the same fury and fear as Lin Fengjuan, desperate to explain their innocence to the entire world.

Cheng Yao remembered her own sense of helpless panic during the Bai Xingmeng case, and her tone softened involuntarily. “Don’t be afraid. I believe you. This is probably Lu Jian’s lawyer’s doing.”

At this simple reassurance, Lin Fengjuan finally broke down crying on the other end of the line. “Lawyer Cheng, thank you for saying that. That’s exactly why I can’t drag you into this any further. Let’s withdraw the case—we can’t win against Lu Jian’s kind of influence.”

Cheng Yao froze, suddenly alert. “Drag me into this?”

Lin Fengjuan didn’t answer, hastily changing the subject instead, flustered. “Anyway, even if Lu Jian forged the medical records, if he had connections to get the hospital to help fabricate them, then on the surface, those documents will check out even if we investigate. And even though I know for a fact Lu Jian’s fine, we can’t force him to drop his pants in front of the judge, can we. We’re not going to win, Lawyer Cheng. Neither of us has the connections, the resources, the influence that Lu Jian and his lawyer have…”

Cheng Yao tried to talk her out of it, but though Lin Fengjuan was clearly holding something back, her resolve to withdraw and give up the lawsuit remained firm—insisting this decision was made not only out of practical necessity, for her own sake, but for Cheng Yao’s sake too.

“Lawyer Cheng, you’re not going to make any money off this case anyway, so really, don’t take it any further. Use this time for a more important, better-paying case instead. I won’t hold it against you—I’m already very grateful to you.”

…

For a case that had reached this point, the wisest move, on the surface, would have been to simply withdraw the lawsuit. After all, this was only a legal aid case to begin with, and now it had run into Deng Ming, with the current evidence tilting heavily in favor of the opposing party. Anyone with eyes could see this was a case with a ninety-nine percent chance of loss—continuing wouldn’t just fail to bring any sense of accomplishment, it would likely bring nothing but frustration.

But Cheng Yao wasn’t willing to give up.

The phone call hadn’t gotten through to her, so Cheng Yao decided to go see Lin Fengjuan in person.

Lin Fengjuan lived in a chaotic, crowded urban village, cramped shanty houses packed one against another, squeezing the path between them into a narrow strip, made damp and filthy by wastewater carelessly dumped by residents on both sides.

Cheng Yao had expected Lin Fengjuan’s home to be hard to find, but after walking down that path for about ten minutes, she recognized it at a glance.

Among the row of shanty houses, only one had its door splashed with fresh red paint.

Words like “slut,” “whore,” “tramp” covered the outside of Lin Fengjuan’s home, with curious neighbors gathered around, pointing and murmuring, while Lin Fengjuan silently cleaned up the mess.

Her hair hung loose and lifeless around her face, and only as Cheng Yao got closer did she notice the injuries hidden beneath it.

Lin Fengjuan’s face was swollen and bruised, one eye completely swollen shut, dried blood still crusted around her nose, her cheekbone badly swollen. Seeing Cheng Yao, she looked startled. “Lawyer Cheng…” But the moment she opened her mouth, some injury seemed to catch, and she gasped in pain.

Cheng Yao pressed her lips together tightly. “Who did this? Did Ah Min send someone?”

Lin Fengjuan shook her head, fighting back tears. “No. Ah Min has always been good to me. Even knowing what I’d done, he never said a harsh word—he just treated me like a stranger and calmly filed for divorce.”

Thinking of the happiness she’d once had within reach, only to destroy it with her own hands, Lin Fengjuan finally broke down crying. “The people who did this all claim to be friends of Ah Min or netizens standing up for him, but I know this wasn’t his doing. That post online couldn’t have come from his friends either—he’s not that kind of person, and neither are his friends. Even after what I did, he’d only cut ties with me, never stoop to something like this.”

“These people didn’t just hurt me—when my parents came out to help, they didn’t spare even my parents, who are in their sixties. My mom fainted from the shock, my dad just took her to the hospital in an ambulance.”

Cheng Yao hadn’t expected the attacks against Lin Fengjuan to extend from the internet into real life like this. Her tone turned serious. “Is there any surveillance footage around here? I’ll go pull it…”

Lin Fengjuan shook her head bitterly. “There’s none. Look at this place, there’s no surveillance anywhere, and even if there were, it wouldn’t matter—we’d never win a case against them. Lawyer Cheng, I know they weren’t sent by Ah Min.” She glanced at the abuse scrawled across her door. “The posts online, and this—I know it was Lu Jian who arranged it. Because every time they finished trashing the place, they’d say the same thing: ‘she’s the slut trying to extort money.’ If it were just one group saying that, it might not mean much, but every single group said the exact same thing—that’s not a coincidence…”

Though Lin Fengjuan had indeed committed adultery within her marriage, and was clearly at fault there, Lu Jian—who had knowingly slept with a married woman—wasn’t entirely blameless either. And now, to shake her off, under Deng Ming’s “guidance,” he’d resorted to such vile tactics: fabricating evidence, doxxing, intimidation, and violence. That was truly despicable.

“Ms. Lin, don’t worry, I will absolutely get justice for you, with everything I have.”

Faced with Cheng Yao’s determination, Lin Fengjuan shook her head. “It’s no use, Lawyer Cheng. Lu Jian’s family connections run deep, he’ll never admit to Hanhan being his, not under any circumstances.” She pressed her lips together. “I heard from other classmates that he’s about to marry his fiancée, that it’s a business-arranged marriage between their two families with huge financial stakes involved. Neither family will let anything jeopardize that.”

“And that Lawyer Deng, I looked him up online too, he’s a genuinely formidable lawyer.” She fell silent for a moment, her face turning pale with resignation. “I heard he’s extremely skilled in litigation, almost never loses, graduated from a top school, has tons of experience, and even seems to know the judge personally…”

Lin Fengjuan probably didn’t realize it herself as she spoke, but on reflection, her words carried an unintended slight toward Cheng Yao—an implicit lack of confidence in her qualifications, even if unspoken.

Cheng Yao didn’t take offense, though. She simply looked at Lin Fengjuan. “So you’re just giving up? The person you wronged was Ah Min and his family. You’ve wronged neither Lu Jian nor any of these bystanders online. Why should you have to endure this kind of treatment?”

“Ms. Lin, you told me on the phone before to go take on other, more profitable cases, but to me, whether it’s a public interest legal aid case or one worth tens of millions, once I take it on, that case matters just as much to me as any other. Your interests are my highest priority,” Cheng Yao said, her gaze steady. “I know I’m younger than you, that my experience doesn’t measure up to Deng Ming’s, that I’m not personally acquainted with Judge Meng, and I would never resort to the kind of underhanded tactics Deng Ming uses.” She straightened her back, lifting her chin. “But I believe in the law. I believe that in the end, the law won’t side with someone who fabricates evidence and resorts to intimidation.”

Lin Fengjuan hesitated. “Lawyer Cheng, I don’t want to withdraw the case outright either, I want to try too. But if we keep going, not just me, but you too—you might end up targeted by these so-called ‘righteous vigilantes’ too…”

“I’ll arrange for you and your parents to stay temporarily at a hotel with adequate security. As for myself, I know how to take care of myself, and I’ll protect myself properly.”

“But…”

“I’ll cover the hotel costs, don’t worry about that.” Cheng Yao smiled, thinking of Qian Heng. “Our firm has a subsidy fund for legal aid cases.”

Lin Fengjuan’s eyes welled up with tears. “Thank you, thank you so much! I really don’t know how to repay you!”

“Don’t thank me, thank Lawyer Qian Heng at Junheng instead. This subsidy fund was his idea in the first place.”

“Lawyer Qian Heng?” Lin Fengjuan said, puzzled. “When I looked up Lawyer Deng Ming, I saw his information too, isn’t he supposed to…” She caught herself, quickly correcting course. “Isn’t he supposed to only handle major, high-profile cases? He also supports legal aid cases?”

“Mm. He’s a very, very good person.” Cheng Yao’s eyes were bright, her tone certain. “As a lawyer, I should never promise a client a guaranteed win, but please believe me, I will do everything in my power to win this case for you.”

In this life, no one was perfect, everyone made mistakes. Lin Fengjuan had committed adultery within her marriage and borne an illegitimate child—from her ex-husband and his family’s perspective, she was undeniably at fault, unforgivably so. But no one else had the right to sit in moral judgment over her, and certainly no one had the right to take the law into their own hands.

However imperfect a wife she might have been, Cheng Yao had seen the look on Lin Fengjuan’s face when she gazed at photos of Hanhan—a look carrying both bitterness and helplessness, but also fierce love and determination. It convinced Cheng Yao that if Hanhan had the funds for his heart surgery, Lin Fengjuan would do everything in her power, no matter how hard or exhausting, to fight for her child’s future.

Compared to Lu Jian, with all his power, influence, and Deng Ming’s malicious assistance, Lin Fengjuan, left to raise Hanhan on her own, was exactly the kind of vulnerable party that legal aid and protection existed for.

Cheng Yao’s resolve hardened. The law, by its very design, could only balance competing interests to the greatest extent possible, striving for maximum fairness—but in reality, differences in education and income directly resulted in unequal access to legal resources.

Someone like Lu Jian could afford the best lawyers, while Lin Fengjuan had only the legal aid Cheng Yao could provide.

Qian Heng understood and accepted this maximal, imperfect fairness the law offered. He was mature enough to recognize that every system had its flaws, that the law, which strove to protect fairness to the greatest extent, could never achieve absolute fairness in practice. He accepted this and had never sought to change it.

Cheng Yao had once held a somewhat naive view on this matter, and after working through case after case alongside Qian Heng, she’d found herself instinctively believing his perspective was correct—yet some lingering doubt had always remained, unresolved, in the back of her mind.

Only now did she finally understand what it was.

She wanted to be that little boy on the beach after the tide went out, picking up stranded fish one by one and throwing them back into the sea.

Naive, foolish, far too weak to fight against the larger tide of circumstance—and yet, to each individual fish, it mattered.

She might be young, impulsive, overly passionate, perhaps even too emotional at times. She understood the inherent unfairness in the distribution of legal resources, and had no power to change it on a grand scale, yet she wasn’t willing to simply accept the rules as they stood. She wanted to do everything within her own power to make a difference, to bring more legal relief to people like Lin Fengjuan.

To her, this might be nothing more than a minor case in the grand scope of her future career, but for Lin Fengjuan, it could change the entire trajectory of her life.

She was determined to give this case everything she had.

Even with her mind made up, though, this wasn’t something that could succeed on attitude alone. Having settled Lin Fengjuan and her family somewhere safe, Cheng Yao still had no breakthrough on the case.

Tan Ying called her. “Hey Cheng Yao, how’s the case going? Did the pre-trial evidence exchange go smoothly?”

Cheng Yao gave her a brief update, and no sooner had she hung up than Bao Rui called too.

“Hey Cheng Yao, I heard your case ran into Deng Ming. That guy’s got a terrible reputation—I see he’s already started stirring up public opinion online to pressure your client and probably influence the trial too. Are you running into any trouble with this case?”

If it had just been Tan Ying’s call, Cheng Yao might not have thought much of it, but after Bao Rui’s call too, she finally put the pieces together.

The moment she hung up with Bao Rui, she called Qian Heng directly.

“Didn’t we agree you’d let me handle this case completely independently?”

Qian Heng’s voice sounded a bit off, though he vehemently denied it. “Haven’t I let you handle it independently? Have I asked you about this case even once?”

“Right, you haven’t asked me. Because you went and asked Tan Ying and Bao Rui instead.”

“…”

After a pause, Qian Heng gave a somewhat pained laugh. “Those two useless idiots, selling me out this fast.”

“No, no, they didn’t say anything, neither of them ratted you out.” Cheng Yao, worried Qian Heng might retaliate against Tan Ying and Bao Rui with overtime work, hurried to explain. “I figured it out myself.”

“Hmm?”

“Because normally, we all handle our own cases independently, never asking about each other’s.”

“Fine, then let them work overtime tonight.”

Cheng Yao: ???

Qian Heng said, perfectly composed, “As the veterans of the team, showing no concern for the new hire at all—no team spirit whatsoever.”

“…”

Talk about finding excuses out of thin air—Bao Rui, Tan Ying, I’ve done everything I can for you two, I can’t help you any further than this!

“Anyway, I can handle this case myself.”

Qian Heng gave an awkward “Mm,” and after addressing a few other work matters, somehow the conversation circled right back to Cheng Yao’s legal aid case.

“About this case—I heard the opposing lawyer is Deng Ming. You already know he doesn’t win through professional skill, but through underhanded means. If you…” He clearly caught himself getting involved in the case again, and abruptly cut himself off, his voice carrying a helpless note, along with a hint of poorly concealed embarrassment. “Sorry, I’m not usually like this. Given my hourly rate, I wouldn’t normally talk this much.” He paused. “I just… couldn’t help myself.”

Though he wasn’t there in person, Cheng Yao could practically picture him, phone in hand, speaking with perfect composure while his ears turned faintly red.

Just imagining it, she found it rather endearing. She wanted to tease him.

“I know. I’m not afraid of him, I’ll definitely beat him.”

Qian Heng returned to his usual cool, aloof demeanor, as if that fleeting moment of embarrassment had never happened, and cautioned her, “Don’t approach Deng Ming the way a normal lawyer would. Confidence alone won’t be enough to beat him. And don’t go drinking any of that ‘I’m a righteous, conscientious young lawyer, so pure determination alone will topple an industry giant’ nonsense.”

Cheng Yao laughed. “I’m not drinking that kind of nonsense. I’m drinking the ‘I’m Qian Par’s girlfriend, so of course I’ll win’ kind.” She covered her warming cheeks. “Wait, doesn’t that kind of sound like ‘I’m the big boss’s woman’ or something?”

“…”

Qian Heng’s voice carried both exasperation and helplessness. “Cheng Yao, what exactly goes through your head all day?”

Cheng Yao, well used to bantering, replied almost without thinking. “Thinking about you.”

Qian Heng seemed about to say something else, but at that moment, someone’s voice called out to him faintly in the background. He covered the receiver, said something to whoever it was, then came back and murmured an apology to Cheng Yao.

“Something’s come up at work. I’ll talk to you later.”

Cheng Yao hadn’t expected to see him that very evening, though.

As she got off work and walked out of the office building, the familiar black Bentley slowly pulled up beside her, the window rolling down.

“Get in.”

“Didn’t Bao Rui say you’d need two or three more days? Why are you back already?”

Qian Heng pressed his lips together, saying evenly, “My efficiency got the job done in a day.” He glanced at her lightly. “Besides, didn’t you say you missed me.” He turned his face away. “Since you already miss me that much, I figured I’d better come back before you got yourself sick from longing. Isn’t that a thing—lovesickness?”

Cheng Yao choked. She thought to herself, next time, maybe she really shouldn’t tease Qian Heng so casually—it always ended up backfiring on her.

Just as she was about to open the car door and climb in, Bao Rui’s voice interrupted.

“Hey, Cheng Yao? Perfect timing, I was looking for you—where’d you put the evidence checklist you organized for the Chen Jun case? Do you have a digital copy? Send it to me.”

Cheng Yao nodded. “Sure, I’ll send it to you later.”

Bao Rui nodded, then, belatedly noticing it was Qian Heng’s car, looked at Cheng Yao curiously. “You and Qian Par…”

Cheng Yao quickly cut in with an explanation. “I’m just heading home this way, hitching a ride!”

“Oh, is that so? My place is on the way too, then—I’ll hitch a ride as well!” Bao Rui said cheerfully, pulling open the car door and plopping himself right into the Bentley, completely oblivious as he called out to Qian Heng in the driver’s seat, “Thanks, Qian Par!”

He then glanced back at Cheng Yao, still frozen outside the car, and patted the seat beside him. “What are you standing there for? Get in.”

“…”

Once inside, Bao Rui grew animated. “Man, I’m telling you, a Bentley’s a Bentley—rides so smooth. Honestly, I hardly ever get the chance to ride in Qian Par’s car, this is such an honor.” After gushing his gratitude for a while, he grew curious. “Qian Par, why does your face look so off since I got in the car? Something bothering you? Anything we can help with?”

Bao Rui went on enthusiastically, “I mean, you’re the boss, but we’re still all on the same team. Weren’t you supposed to be away for two or three more days? How come you’re already back today—did something go wrong, so you had to fly back to A City tonight and catch another flight to B City tomorrow morning?”

Cheng Yao blinked. “You guys still have things to wrap up? You have to fly to B City again tomorrow morning?”

Bao Rui, utterly clueless, replied without a hint of self-preservation instinct. “Yeah.” He then glanced at Qian Heng again. “Hey, Qian Par, why does your face look even worse now?”

“…”

Bao Rui, whoever gets caught red-handed showing off can’t exactly expect to keep smiling, you know?

But Bao Rui hadn’t the faintest idea he’d stepped in it, and completely unaware, launched into an animated one-man show, entirely absorbed in his own story.

“So get this, on this trip to B City, that client of ours, besides his legitimate business, also runs some shady side operations—you know, massage parlors and that sort of thing—and he actually hinted we could enjoy some ‘top-tier massage service’ on the house, said plenty of big shots frequent the place, and the girls there were supposedly gorgeous and innocent-looking.”

Cheng Yao couldn’t help but interject. “What? He was inviting you to a brothel?! Bao Rui, you have a family!”

“Yeah, yeah, I couldn’t do that to your sister-in-law, so I turned it down. That client kept egging Qian Par on too, hah, and Qian Par turned him down even more bluntly and coldly than I did—took one look at the girls’ photo album and said they looked nowhere near as good as his girlfriend, that their faces weren’t as pretty, their figures not as nice, said he had zero interest in anyone besides his girlfriend.” Bao Rui laughed. “I gotta say, Qian Par’s got quite the knack for making up stories on the spot—sounded pretty convincing too.”

Cheng Yao glanced over at the driver’s seat. Qian Heng’s face remained stony, but his ears, unmistakably, had turned a faint shade of red.

Meanwhile, the client whose secrets Bao Rui had just laid bare in full finally lost his patience.

“Bao Rui.”

“Yeah? What’s up, Qian Par?”

“Do you feel like you haven’t had enough overtime work lately?”

“…”

Unfortunately, Bao Rui’s moment of self-awareness didn’t last long. Soon enough, he opened his mouth again.

“Qian Par, almost there, Cheng Yao’s place is coming up, just turn at that corner up ahead. Looks like Cheng Yao’s getting dropped off first out of all of us tonight.”

Of course—tonight, Qian Heng had flown back specially, and it certainly wasn’t so he could drop her straight home! But how to respond to Bao Rui? Cheng Yao said nothing, instinctively glancing toward Qian Heng instead.

Qian Heng cleared his throat. “Actually, I just remembered, Cheng Yao still has some work matters to report to me. We’ll grab dinner together while she briefs me. Bao Rui, let me drop you home first—don’t want to keep your wife waiting too long.”

Touched that Qian Heng would show such consideration for him, Bao Rui nearly welled up with gratitude—except—

“Oh, no need, Qian Par, my wife’s not home tonight, I was just about to worry about what to order for dinner. Since you and Cheng Yao are eating together anyway, count me in too—I can help brainstorm on the case as well! Didn’t you tell me to look out for the new hires more, as a team veteran?”

…