Song Yue was thus arranged with President Qin Mo personally picking him up and dropping him off every day, while his assistant Zhang Guan handled all other trivial matters. He simply buried himself in files, trying to recover four years of memories.

Over the following week, no other incidents occurred, and Song Yue could completely recite all the cases he had handled during those four years. On this day, it was time for him to appear in court for defense.

“Brother Song, can you handle it? Should we have someone else substitute for you?” Zhang Guan had become familiar with Song Yue and was beginning to speak more casually. Comparatively speaking, he preferred Song Yue after his memory loss, because the previous unsmiling Song Yue had been like a robot that only knew work.

“No need, I can manage.” Song Yue organized the materials in his hands. Although he had lost four years of memory, the legal knowledge he learned in school was completely intact. Moreover, after reviewing trial records for a week, civil cases frequently involved property disputes – either divorce or inheritance disputes – they couldn’t produce many new variations. While he wasn’t confident he could be as clean and efficient as before, he wouldn’t be unable to handle it either.

“Eh? Brother Song, you’re not wearing that archer’s ring today?” Zhang Guan noticed Song Yue had finished organizing and was about to leave, so he immediately reminded him. Only after speaking did he remember Song Yue didn’t remember anything, so he proactively walked to his side, opened a desk drawer, and took out a small brocade box. “Brother Song, you have a quirk – this archer’s ring is something you must wear when going to court.”

Song Yue was slightly stunned. Having a lucky charm wasn’t strange – for example, he used to use the same pen for all his exams when studying. This was indeed like his style. But what made him daze was that he actually had an impression of this archer’s ring.

This was something he had acquired from an antique shop shortly before coming to Qin’s for his interview four years ago. This archer’s ring was slope-shaped with string grooves, made of bone material. Due to its age, it had turned light brown, and the shop owner said it was made from tiger bone. Actually, he didn’t care what material it was made from. When he had tried on this archer’s ring, he somehow couldn’t take it off no matter what, but fortunately the price wasn’t expensive, so he had bought it without much thought at the time.

Song Yue recalled that he seemed to have worn this archer’s ring when he came for the interview at Qin Law Firm. Qin Mo had even curiously asked about the ring’s origin. And during the car accident afterward, he must have been wearing it too.

So after the car accident, he was able to take off this archer’s ring?

Song Yue inexplicably felt that his loss of four years of memory might be related to this strange archer’s ring, so when Zhang Guan handed the ring to him, he instinctively refused, not even touching it, and asked Zhang Guan to put it back. Although Zhang Guan found this strange, he didn’t say anything, thinking Song Yue had no impression of this ring.

The trial proceeded smoothly. Although Song Yue was, strictly speaking, appearing in court for the first time, he didn’t make any mistakes, and the case was won successfully.

Song Yue noticed Zhang Guan’s expression was very surprised, so he specifically asked him privately. The latter, having become familiar with him during this period, spoke freely, expressing his surprise at Song Yue’s changed methods of evidence presentation and argumentation.

Zhang Guan used a vivid martial arts analogy, comparing Song Yue’s usual habit to using Ximen Chuixue’s swordsmanship – “In all martial arts under heaven, only speed is unbreakable” – direct and straightforward, a simple thrust to the heart. The current Song Yue was like Guo Jing, who had practiced internal skills, winning through strength and convincing people through virtue.

After hearing this, Song Yue’s eye twitched – what kind of messy analogy was this? But he had to admit the description was quite vivid. Having familiarized himself with four years of files, Song Yue naturally knew what sharp words would be more effective in court, but this approach was perhaps too impersonal.

One should be more tactful in dealing with people. The power of words could rival swords, and even be more terrifying than swords, creating invisible wounds that were harder to heal.

Most importantly, those skilled in war die by weapons, and those skilled in swimming drown in water. This blade called language was a double-edged sword – it could not only strike at others but also harm oneself. Song Yue knew his being ambushed was probably due to trouble coming from his mouth.

He didn’t know what he had been thinking during those four years. Logically, such sharp-tongued behavior wasn’t his personality, but these past days, as he gradually understood what had happened over the four years, he was becoming increasingly confused. Because everything placed in his room was arranged according to his habits, even the documents saved on his computer were the same – finding things was very convenient.

Unable to figure it out, Song Yue returned to the firm, greeting colleagues amiably, then looking somewhat embarrassed at their expressions of inability to adapt, and quickly walked back to his office. It had been a week – hadn’t they gradually gotten used to it? Did he have to maintain a stern face and pretend to be expressionless in the future?

Bored, he opened his computer and saw the surveillance video on the desktop. He instinctively clicked it open, playing it on loop repeatedly. He watched the suspect’s figure, trying hard to recall any clues, but the more he watched, the uglier his expression became.

When Qin Mo pushed open the door, he saw Song Yue sitting behind the computer screen with a gloomy expression, and for a moment thought he had recovered his four years of memory, feeling somewhat regretful.

It should be known that since Song Yue came to work at their firm, he was recognized as an iceberg, having no deep relationships with anyone. He could only have some extra communication with him as the boss, probably only because this firm belonged to him. He was completely and thoroughly a workaholic. Of course, this type of employee was also what Qin Mo very much liked, so he had continuously promoted him over the four years. But as Song Yue took on more and more cases, Qin Mo increasingly experienced some dissatisfaction. The most important thing in their lawyer profession was connections, and although today they might stand on opposing sides for defense, tomorrow the opponent might hire them for help.

Song Yue’s mouth was too good at offending people, so Qin Mo didn’t dare let him handle major clients, only allowing him to handle civil cases. Otherwise, if Song Yue handled criminal cases, he might have been stabbed several times already.

He had specifically paid attention to today’s trial record and suddenly found that Song Yue hadn’t just changed personality due to memory loss – even his trial techniques had changed accordingly. Such tactful victory-winning, making opponents convinced and without even resentment, truly matched Qin Mo’s principle of harmony bringing wealth.

A lawyer who didn’t offend people was very rare indeed – the lawyer profession was naturally one that offended people.

Of course, the previous Song Yue had been too extreme.

Qin Mo was still feeling regretful, but his steps didn’t stop. He walked over to look at Song Yue’s computer screen, surprised to see the surveillance footage playing: “What’s wrong? Did you notice something?”

Song Yue pointed at the pedestrians coming and going on the screen, saying in a deep voice: “The place where I was attacked isn’t far from the company, but it took you a full five minutes to arrive. Yet in those five minutes, so many people passed by, and not one person came forward to check the situation – at most they just called 110 to report to police.”

Song Yue had felt something was wrong the first time he watched, and now he finally saw what it was. In broad daylight, the suspect committed assault, yet not only did no one come forward to stop it, they just let him lie in the street to live or die? This was too absurd!

Qin Mo was stunned, then smiled bitterly: “Song Yue, it seems you still haven’t recovered your memory. Nowadays, there are fewer people willing to do good deeds, especially in our city. And… speaking of which, this matter is also related to you.”

Song Yue was dazed – what did this mean?

Qin Mo glanced around Song Yue’s office. These days, Song Yue had been constantly reviewing his cases from the past four years, so these files had never been taken away. Qin Mo searched for a while, then pulled out a file folder from the very bottom of the pile and handed it to Song Yue: “You should read this yourself first.”

Song Yue took the file and saw it was from 2008, right when he had just entered Qin Law Firm. Because he had only been an assistant to other lawyers then, he wasn’t the main defense attorney, and there was no record of him in the trial transcripts, so Song Yue had never looked at it. Opening the file with confusion, Song Yue immediately understood Qin Mo’s meaning.

This was actually a very simple case – the defendant and plaintiff had collided somewhere, the plaintiff’s leg was fractured, and they demanded the defendant compensate for medical expenses. But this small case didn’t end simply. Because the police station’s transcript was lost, the defendant overturned their previous testimony, claiming they had just been a passerby who kindly helped the plaintiff. The defendant also informed several familiar online forum friends, and the matter instantly expanded in influence. With the addition of media eager for chaos, it suddenly became complex.

Song Yue held the documents, suddenly at a loss. He didn’t know what role he had played during this period, because there were few mentions of his name in the files, but thinking of the records from the past four years, he had used all possible means.

“We were the defendant’s lawyers. At the time, we were also significantly affected. The lawyer who handled this case transferred to another law firm after it concluded.” Qin Mo flipped through the documents, pointing to one of the photocopies: “This case ultimately concluded with our loss, which was quite normal. After all, the defendant really did hit someone, but no one could have expected it would have such a big impact. The plaintiff and defendant reached an agreement – on the basis of the defendant’s compensation, both parties signed an agreement that neither could disclose relevant information about this case in the media.”

“This way, wouldn’t no one be able to know the real facts?” Song Yue was stunned. This agreement was obviously to cover for the defendant. A person who had lied could escape public criticism and instead appear wronged despite paying compensation.

Qin Mo didn’t say much, only saying lightly: “Song Yue, we are lawyers.”

Song Yue remained silent. He had understood the lawyer profession very clearly when he chose to study law. Regardless of whether the person being defended was truly guilty or innocent, one must fight for the maximum rights and benefits. Under such standards, this case was obviously very successful, but…

“No one expected the final impact would be so great.” Qin Mo consolingly patted Song Yue’s shoulder. “A few months ago, a reporter also re-reported this matter, interviewing the Political and Legal Committee secretary, completely revealing all details of this case. Unfortunately, no one cares what the facts really are anymore. In the information age, what attracts attention is always more scandalous events. Public opinion focuses are fleeting – few people will dig into what the truth really is.”

Song Yue’s throat tightened. He had no way of knowing how his four-year-ago self had faced such a case – his mind was completely blank regarding such memories.

But if time could return to four years ago, how would he choose?

This was simply an unanswerable question.