Chapter 420: Chapter 307: Someone from the Upper City Is Investigating Me!?
See you in court?
These three words seemed to echo like a magic sound, causing Zhao Yi’s face to alternate between red and blue, much like scrambled eggs with tomatoes—full of flavor.
After calming down, Zhao Yi suddenly became suspicious, beginning to mutter and think.
"What the hell did this bastard dig up?"
As far as the current case goes... if the other party doesn’t have evidence, it’s hard to convict. It’s possible that in the end, the court might even rule in favor of Zhu Haoyi, making it a futile effort.
As for how to determine whether the other party has evidence...
That’s simple.
Watch the evidence period!
During the evidence period, observe whether Xu Liang presents any evidence for the case. If the other party has any legitimate, undeniable evidence... Xu Liang will definitely present it within the evidence period!
Unless he’s planning to pull a trick like in the Duan Feipeng case back then....
"Forget it, surely this kid won’t dare to mess around in Upper City."
Zhao Yi shook his head, putting away the chaotic thoughts in his mind.
This is Upper City.
The Upper City, where ’you can throw a brick out of a window and hit someone at a department level’!
All connections run deep, positions are high in rank, and the judicial system is extremely strict, the most central part of the Eastern Country!
Handling cases in this place like in Hanhai City... that’s purely asking for trouble.
After all, in Hanhai City and Qingshi City, Zhao Yi had no choice but to accept the evidence presented by the other party. Yet Upper City will not tolerate such behavior!
"Oh, in half a month it’s the human experiment case, and after that, it’s this case..."
Zhao Yi felt a wave of tongue-clicking, weakness all over, and then sighed as he prepared to go with his plastic bag to check out.
"Check out."
The owner lowered his head and looked at the plastic bag on his scale... there was only one plastic bag, completely empty!
The owner suddenly laughed.
"Are you here to make trouble!?"
Zhao Yi: ?
Zhao Yi froze, looked down, and a bunch of question marks popped into his head.
"No, I spent half an hour picking those vegetables!?"
Zhao Yi exclaimed in shock, his face full of disbelief.
There’s a thief!!!
...
...
In the evening, inside the courtyard.
"Sizzle~!"
"Splash~ Sizzle!!!"
"It’s done, put it on a plate!"
"..."
Xu Liang stood in the kitchen, his hand like a clamp constantly tossing the spoon. The dishes in the pot seemed to reflect afterimages, and the air was filled with an aroma that made one’s mouth water.
"Coming!" Su Yu, swift in action, placed the plate on the table.
Xu Liang smoothly placed the sour and spicy shredded potatoes from the pot onto the plate. Each strand of potato was evenly cut and glistening, and if it weren’t for the alluring aroma, it’d almost look like an artwork!
"When will the teacher be back?"
Xu Liang shouted while preparing food.
Behind him, at the faucet washing vegetables, Su Yu heard and looked up at the clock on the wall.
After a moment of thought, he replied:
"Soon, it’s already seven in the evening. The teacher should already be back by now."
Upon hearing this, Xu Liang nodded and said:
"I’ll go stir-fry another dish then."
With that, he plunged into another round of busy cooking.
In just a moment.
"Knock, knock, knock~"
The sound of knocking echoed, and Sun Zhongmin stepped forward and opened the door. Instantly, several figures appeared before them.
The person outside was Wu Chengjun and the other members of the project.
Just as the group was preparing to say something, as soon as the door opened....
The overwhelming aroma seemed to transform into a hand that slapped them fiercely on the face!!!
"Gulp~"
Wu Chengjun twitched his nose, showing a surprised expression while walking forward and speaking:
"Smells amazing, where did you buy it? I didn’t know Upper City has such a restaurant."
He had been in Upper City for decades but had never even smelled such a dish!
"Just something I made casually."
Xu Liang brought up a plate of squirrel mandarin fish.
The mandarin fish was scored with crosshatch cuts, fried in the oil, and those cuts instantly opened up.
Rich, thick sauce evenly coated every part, making it look like a lifelike, golden squirrel!
"You have this skill!?" Wu Chengjun was a bit surprised.
"A reward for the teacher’s hard work these past few days."
Xu Liang spoke with satisfaction.
Finished speaking, Xu Liang turned his head and looked at the two people behind him.
Wu Chengjun quickly introduced:
"This is Professor Zhang, and this is Professor Zhang’s student Li Jun, your junior."
Upon hearing this, Professor Zhang, who was enveloped in aroma, finally snapped out of it and gave Xu Liang a friendly smile.
He and Wu Chengjun were rivals.
For example, when Xu Liang was selecting ’guidance-level cases,’ he had once argued with Wu Chengjun at the desk, even demanding Li Jun produce several guiding cases.
"Alright, Professor Zhang, have you eaten? If not.... " Xu Liang spoke politely.
"Not eaten, not eaten!"
Professor Zhang responded, immediately sitting down comfortably on a stone bench in the living room, eagerly waiting for the meal!
Seeing this, Wu Chengjun’s mouth twitched and said:
"How can you be so shameless!?"
To be honest, Professor Zhang generally wouldn’t yield over mere money; in the past, facing such statements from a rival, he would have turned and left!
But.... not now.
The aroma was too enticing; every cell in his body urged him to eat, yet he couldn’t open his mouth or move his legs!
"Let’s eat."
Xu Liang wasn’t particularly concerned. He had made plenty, enough for everyone to eat.
Gathered around, Wu Chengjun was the first to pick up a piece of Squirrel Mandarin Fish and put it in his mouth.
The exterior was crispy, and a subtle oiliness tingled his taste buds as the fragrance spread in his mouth. A gentle bite captured the tender fish meat with his tongue.
Delicious!
So good that it was almost bitten off the tongue!
Wu Chengjun kept stuffing food into his mouth, while Professor Zhang and Li Jun did the same.
But as they ate, Professor Zhang suddenly became sentimental.
"Other people’s students are so much better... Three instructive cases, one reference case, handsome and capable, and cooks so well..."
Thinking of this, Professor Zhang looked at Li Jun with disappointment.
"Why can’t you cook, kid!?"
He said to Li Jun inexplicably.
Li Jun, who was focused on eating, looked up, the question marks on his face clearly visible.
"Why should a law student know how to cook!?"
Li Jun felt perplexed, and then turned his frustration into appetite, continuing to sweep through the entire dining table with gusto.
Soon, everything on the table was gone.
"Alright, Old Zhang, stop hiding it and bring it out."
After eating and drinking his fill, Wu Chengjun spoke to Professor Zhang.
Hearing this, Professor Zhang rolled his eyes, then took out some books from the handbag he carried.
"Some personal collection items, Old Wu said you needed them. Keeping them with me is a waste, you can take a look if you want."
With that, he handed them to Xu Liang.
Xu Liang reached out and took them; after glancing through, he raised an eyebrow.
These items... were extremely niche and obscure books!
They might not have ever been sold publicly; the number printed could merely be a few copies!
"This..."
Xu Liang was a bit surprised, and then immediately understood why the other party had done this.
Probably due to the aftermath of the human experiment case, needing ’manuscripts,’ as he’d tormented the old man horribly back then.
"Should I be gentler in the future?"
Xu Liang pondered this in his mind, then looked at the treasures in his hand.
These things... could be considered extremely valuable!
In the military, there are warlords; in academia, there are academic oligarchs!
Yes, the term ’academic oligarch’ is obscure and difficult to grasp, but the truth is, academic oligarchs monopolize a large amount of valuable knowledge you can’t learn, or even touch.
And these books he held...
Are the knowledge they possess!
Getting these, it seemed Wu Chengjun must have spent considerable effort.
Xu Liang’s gaze focused at this thought.
Lighten up?
No.
Intensify!!!
"Haha, thank you, Professor Zhang." Xu Liang accepted them casually, showing a slight smile.
"No trouble at all."
Professor Zhang chuckled, then looked at the dining table, feeling a bit unsatisfied, before leading the students out.
"Since the items are delivered, I won’t disturb you any longer."
As he spoke, Professor Zhang paused.
After thinking for a moment, he turned around and looked at Xu Liang, conveying a message.
"By the way, someone in Upper City is investigating your background... Hmm, it was about a day ago, through the head complaint case investigation. Did you cause trouble, kid?"
Someone in Upper City is investigating me!?
What could they be investigating about me!?
Xu Liang paused, his face showing surprise, as he hesitated for a moment and instantly thought of a suspect.
Zhu Haoyi!
If investigating him would bring benefits, Xu Liang could only think of Zhu Haoyi!
But...
"Is Zhu Haoyi’s background that deep? Knowing people in Upper City too?"
"If so... who could it be?"
Xu Liang pondered for a moment, then asked: "Does Professor Zhang know who?"
Professor Zhang shook his head, giving an answer, "I don’t know, just sensitive and noticed it."
With that, he took the student Li Jun and disappeared at the door.
The courtyard returned to its quietness.
A moment later...
"Though Old Zhang is a bit old-fashioned, his connections and resources are vast."
Wu Chengjun spoke calmly, thinking about it, then continued:
"His family has been in academia for four generations; both parents are senior intellectuals, the father even involved in confidential work, and the mother is an academician."
"Holding substantial resources; you can go exploit him when free."
If Wu Chengjun broke through countless hardships, rising from a rural kid to become a professor in Upper City,
then Professor Zhang comes from a family steeped in scholarly tradition!
Four generations gathering connections, even Wu Chengjun didn’t know someone was investigating Xu Liang, yet the other party knew beforehand, and...
"Why would they investigate you?"
Wu Chengjun furrowed his brows, looking at Xu Liang with an expression of confusion.
"I took on the head complaint case," Xu Liang said and then pointed at Liu Jinshui, who hadn’t spoken.
"This is my client, also the one on the newspaper."
Upon hearing, Wu Chengjun paused, instinctively looking at Liu Jinshui, who appeared in the courtyard.
Seeing the other’s face, he was immediately taken aback.
Goodness, it’s truly the person making the head complaint!
But....
"Wait, didn’t he have accomplices? Where are they?"
