Are You Crazy? He's only an Intern Lawyer?-Chapter 33 - Have you had a drink

“Got it, Sister Baihe.”

At the prosecutor’s table, Xiao Baihe was giving Tan Yingying her final ideological coaching.

Although Tan Yingying always called Xiao Baihe “sister,” they were actually the same age; in fact, Tan Yingying was a few months older than Xiao Baihe.

But at the Procuratorate Headquarters, it’s a place where hierarchy matters, and since Xiao Baihe is the ace prosecutor, it is normal for Tan Yingying to look up to her.

Tan Yingying finally stood up and began to question.

“Witness Ding Suo, your style is quite unique, it looks very trendy, so much so that it has caught the attention of everyone on the jury,”

“This is the current trend, leaning towards alternative art.

Actually, my dream is to become a rapper,”

“A rapper, huh?

So that’s why you dyed your hair and got ear piercings?”

“Yes, I’m just imitating my idol!”

“It seems you are someone who loves their dreams,”

Tan Yingying nodded involuntarily, but she was muttering doubts to herself.

I almost believed that statement myself; if it weren’t for having seen your criminal record, I might have thought you were just a youth chasing dreams.

She dismissed the thoughts from her mind and continued to inquire, “Okay, let’s end the self-introduction here.

Now, I want to ask, on the night of last Thursday, were you and the deceased, Wei Hong, together?”

“Yes!”

“What happened then?”

After thinking for a moment, Ding Suo narrated, “It was probably around 8 p.m., we were passing by Jinnan Street Downtown, that street is very crowded, especially in the evening, almost shoulder to shoulder.

It seemed like Wei Hong bumped into him by accident, and then a conflict arose.”

At this point, he pointed in the direction of the defendant.

“Who started the physical altercation first?” Tan Yingying asked immediately.

“It was him!” Ding Suo replied without hesitation, pointing again at the defendant, Lin Xiao.

“He’s lying, Lawyer Zhang, he’s lying!”

At the defendants’ table, Lin Xiao looked agitated but was cautioned by Zhang Wei’s eye signal not to act rashly.

“I know he’s not telling the truth, but it’s not my turn for cross-examination yet.

He’s stating his so-called facts, and I can’t interrupt.

But don’t worry, when it’s my time to question him, I’ll make sure the jury understands what really happened.

You just need to stay composed.

I want the jury to see a calm individual when they look at you again, not an impulsive criminal!”

“I’ll try my best…”

Although Lin Xiao agreed, his gaze towards the witness stand was filled with a seething rage.

If it wasn’t for these people, how would he have ended up in such a predicament!

“…At that time, Wei Hong and us just wanted to reason with him, but unexpectedly, he was so irrational.

He resorted to violence as soon as he spoke, catching us off-guard.

When we tried to intervene, we saw Wei Hong had already been pushed to the ground by him, and he looked so agitated that we didn’t dare to approach,” Ding Suo recounted.

Tan Yingying nodded and asked, “So you’re saying, at that time, you felt Lin Xiao was dangerous?”

“Yes, I suspect he had also been drinking.

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He seemed to be drunk!” Ding Suo said, pointing at Lin Xiao.

“That’s bullshit!” But at that moment, Lin Xiao in the defendant’s seat could no longer contain himself, erupting with a roar, “I didn’t drink at all!

My father went to jail because of alcoholism; how could I possibly touch alcohol!”

“You’re lying!”

“You’re the one lying!”

Due to Lin Xiao’s sudden outburst, all eyes in the courtroom were now on the defendant’s seat.

Zhang Wei knew about Lin Xiao’s unstable emotions, but he had not expected such an outburst, which surprised even Zhang Hui beside him.

At the prosecutor’s table, Xiao Baihe’s eyes flickered with satisfaction, and she slightly raised her chin.

This had clearly worked in her favor!

“Defendant, please watch your language!” The judge at the bench warned with a rap of the gavel.

Seeing Lin Xiao struggling to remain composed, Zhang Wei made a decisive call, “The defense requests a 10-minute recess!”

On the third floor, within a conference room.

“Are you really that irrational, losing your temper right in front of the judge during the trial?

You think you’re brave?”

Zhang Wei looked at Lin Xiao, and Lin Xiao was looking back at him.

“He lied, said I drank alcohol, but it’s impossible for me to drink because my father…”

“I know, your father went to jail because of drinking, but do you have any idea how much information you’ve just conveyed to the jury with that statement?

And that information is all against you!”

Zhang Wei shook his head and analyzed, “You said your father was an alcoholic, which indicates that you might have grown up with domestic violence, and your father’s imprisonment is not something good for you either.

Fortunately, your father died in jail and couldn’t be subpoenaed by the prosecution as a witness, otherwise this case would be in jeopardy.”

“There’s also something else you need to know; your wife is considering a divorce precisely because of your irrational behavior.

She feels no security being with you!”

At the mention of his wife, Lin Xiao calmed down a bit.

He looked toward his wife, and Chen Lan was also looking at him at this moment.

Chen Lan asked, “Lawyer, do we still have a chance?”

“Of course, as long as the jury hasn’t pronounced the verdict, the outcome isn’t decided yet.

I can assure you, the current situation is in our favor.

You just need to restrain yourself a bit, and we can strike back soon.”

“I hope that’s the case…”

Finally, Lin Xiao calmed down, though he was not very optimistic about the trial’s situation.

The ten-minute recess ended, and everyone returned to the courtroom.

It was at this moment that Zhang Wei noticed the jury looking at Lin Xiao with a bit more wariness and suspicion.

It seemed that his earlier outburst had indeed influenced the jury.

Plus, he knew it wasn’t only him who could see it—Xiao Baihe must have noticed it too.

On the stand, the judge signaled a question with his eyes to Tan Yingying.

“Your Honor, we have no more questions for the witness,” she said.

“In that case, let’s have the defense start the cross-examination!”

Zhang Wei approached the front of the witness stand and looked at Ding Suo.

“Witness, you say my client has drunk alcohol.

What evidence do you have for that?”

“He was already in such a state, how could he not have been drinking?”

“In what state?” Zhang Wei questioned again, “Did he go into a drunken rage on the spot, did he spout filthy language, or could he not even walk steadily?”

Ding Suo thought for a moment and then said, “All of that, I guess…”

Zhang Wei’s eyes narrowed suddenly as he questioned again, “Is that right, are you sure?”

“Objection!” Tan Yingying stood up from the prosecution side, “Repeated questioning, harassing the witness!”

“Objection sustained.

Lawyer Zhang, I have limited tolerance for rookies!” Judge Wang made a swift decision, warning Zhang Wei.

“Sorry, my mistake.”

Zhang Wei slightly acknowledged his fault, then walked up to Ding Suo; the two practically faced each other nose to nose.

“Mr.

Ding Suo, I have one simple question next, and I hope you can answer honestly.

Is that okay?”

“Of course!”

“Alright, since you say my client has been drinking, let me ask you, did you drink that night?”

“I…” Ding Suo froze, not expecting Zhang Wei to ask this.

But all eyes in the room were on him, and the prosecution did not object.

Seeing Ding Suo hesitating, the judge reminded, “Witness, please answer the question!”

“I…

drank a little, I suppose.”

“A little?”

Zhang Wei laughed and walked back to the center of the courtroom, once again looking at Ding Suo.

“Do you know, last night I also went to Jinnan Road with my girlfriend.

Do you know what I saw?”

Hearing Zhang Wei mention the word “girlfriend,” Xia Qianyue in the spectator’s seat blushed.

“Girlfriend?!”

On the prosecution’s bench, Xiao Baihe also turned back to glance at Xia Qianyue.

When she saw Silly, who was always straightforward, showing a shy expression, her face took on an incredibly strange look.

“Witness, guess what I saw?”

“How would I know?”

“Okay, I’ll tell you.

There’s a bar on Jinnan Road that just opened.

The first beer is free, and every beer after that is half price.

Did you know that?”

“I…”

“Objection!”

Seeing Zhang Wei’s questions becoming more and more casual, Tan Yingying finally couldn’t bear it, “Your Honor, this is a courtroom, not a place for the defense attorney to chat.

Please maintain order in the court!”

“Your Honor, I’ll tell you the address of the bar later, oh, no, I mean I will prove the purpose of my question.

May I have 2 minutes?”

Judge Wang fell into thought, unsure whether he was guessing whether the drinks at the bar were good or pondering Zhang Wei’s statement.

“Alright, but I don’t need the address of that bar.

You can tell it to Court Guard Old Lu after the court is adjourned.

He likes to drink and might want the specific address of the bar.”

As Judge Wang spoke, his gaze hinted at the working guard Old Lu beside him, and then he banged the gavel, saying, “Objection overruled!”

Old Lu, however, was distressed.

I’ve been working in the court for nearly twenty years; everyone who knows me knows I don’t drink.

What are you implying by winking at me?

It’s actually you, Judge Wang, who likes to have a few drinks after work.

Are you playing this game with me here?

Zhang Wei didn’t care about the inner dealings of the judge and the court guard but approached Ding Suo again, smiling, “Mr.

Ding Suo, where were we?”

Ding Suo didn’t speak, but Zhang Wei continued, “Oh, I think I just asked whether you knew a bar on Jinnan Road just opened?”

“I remember I asked a clear question, and as a witness, you should answer it, right?”

Upon saying this, all eyes in the courtroom turned to the witness stand.

Feeling the pressure from everyone, Ding Suo fell silent for a moment before he said, “I…

I know…”

“So, you knew.

Then I find it strange, why is it so hard for you to answer the question I asked?”

As Zhang Wei spoke, he beckoned to Zhang Hui in the defense seat.

The latter understood immediately and began to operate on the laptop in front of him.

Zhang Wei asked again, “Mr.

Ding Suo, do you know when that bar opened?”

“I don’t know.” Ding Suo shook his head; he really didn’t know that.

All they knew was that there was alcohol to drink, but they had no idea when the bar had opened.

“Now that’s strange.

The day you went to drink was the very first day the bar opened, wasn’t it?

All the drinks were free that day, how could you possibly forget that?”

Zhang Wei wore a look of surprise, then his expression changed to one of utmost seriousness,

“Your Honor, the jury, and everyone in the courtroom, I will now play a video for you.

This video was obtained from the owner of the Jinnan Road Bar, and it records Mr.

Ding Suo and his companions drinking.

If I recall correctly, the witness testified that he had drunk, but only a little, right?”

“As for how much they actually drank, I believe the video will give us the answer.

Let’s play it now!”

With a gesture from Zhang Wei, Zhang Hui began to operate, and the large display screen behind the witness started playing a video.

In the video was the entrance of the bar, with crowds flocking to enjoy the free drinks offered to everyone.

In the footage, four men with dyed hair, acting brazenly and exuding a hooligan aura, appeared.

“Bro Wei, this bar just opened?”

“All drinks are free, aren’t we able to drink to our heart’s content all at once?”

“Come on, get the drinks, I’m going to drink this bar into bankruptcy today!”

“Here, get them for me!”

The four men didn’t queue up; they just picked up the drinks and started to gulp them down.

Glug, glug, glug…

They chugged bottle after bottle, each drinking at least a dozen beers, and in the end, they were still not satisfied.

When the bartender refused to provide more alcohol, they nearly started trouble with the bar.

“Fuck, I’m just trying to drink, and you have to bitch about it.

Are you asking for a beating?”

“Sir, you’ve had too much.

For your safety, our bar cannot continue to serve you alcohol for the time being.”

“Damnit!”

…

“Stop!”

As Zhang Wei saw this scene, he immediately exclaimed.

The image froze at the moment the group of four confronted the bar owner.

“Mr.

Ding Suo, just how much did you drink that night?”

“Even the bar owner couldn’t stand to watch and tried to stop you from drinking any more.

You just said you had a little bit—how much is a little bit?

Five glasses, ten glasses, or maybe fifteen glasses?”

Ding Suo wanted to speak but hesitated, yet Zhang Wei didn’t care.

“After drinking so much, when you left the bar, could you even tell your directions apart?”

“I’m asking you, after you left the bar, where did you go first?

Before encountering my client, what places did you pass, and where exactly did you run into my client?”

“I…”

Ding Suo was bewildered by the barrage of questions and didn’t know how to answer.

The truth was, he didn’t know either, because he had drunk too much and couldn’t remember any of it.

“What’s the matter, can’t remember at all, can you?

Of course not, with that much alcohol, how could you remember!”

Zhang Wei walked up to the jury box, his face displaying a cold smirk, “Four men, drunk out of their minds, it’s hard to imagine they could remember the details of the incident clearly.

And four drunk men wandering the streets—I can hardly imagine any fool would voluntarily provoke them.”

“Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, if you encountered four drunkards on the street, what would you do?

Would you go and provoke them, or would you avoid them?”

“It’s possible my client accidentally bumped into Wei Hong, but it’s also possible that Wei Hong was looking for trouble and ran into my client.”

“Please put yourselves in their shoes.

If you were surrounded by four drunk men, what would you do?

Would you try to reason with them?

Would they listen to reason?”

Zhang Wei’s words caused the jury to look contemplative, and some couldn’t help but nod in agreement.

“Objection!” Tan Yingying stood up from the prosecution’s table.

“My bad, Your Honor, I take back my last statement,” Zhang Wei hastily apologized and returned to the defense table, embarrassed.

“I have no further questions for this witness!”

“Anyway, he was drunk at the time; he won’t remember anything.

Most of what he testified earlier was probably made up!”

“Objection!” Tan Yingying objected again, but Zhang Wei just smiled at her.

In the courtroom, Judge Wang tapped the gavel as a reminder, “The jury is instructed to disregard the attorney’s last remark!”

But would the jury really ignore it?

Of course not~

Seeing the situation turn unfavorable, Tan Yingying became restless.

“The prosecution calls the next witness!”

Soon, another witness took the stand.

This time the witness was Wei Hong’s father, an old man with greying hair and glasses.

“I’m Wei Hong’s father, an associate professor at Dongfang Capital Aerospace Academy.”

“Hello, Professor Wei,” Tan Yingying nodded to the elderly man, then asked, “The loss of Wei Hong must have been very hard on you.”

Professor Wei nodded and glanced at an old lady in the auditorium.

“When my wife and I heard the news of our son’s death, our world collapsed.

He was such a good person, always bringing gifts to visit me during the holidays.

Sure, sometimes he was playful, but who doesn’t have their youthful moments—I…”

Professor Wei choked up with emotion, nearly sobbing as he recounted the memories with his son.

Tan Yingying couldn’t help but nod and then asked, “Life must have been difficult for you after losing your son, hasn’t it?”

“Yes, he was my only son.

I still remember everything from his childhood—he…”

Professor Wei started recalling the moments he had with his son.

In Professor Wei’s narrative, Wei Hong was the epitome of filial piety!

Many in the courtroom and the jury expressed sympathy for Professor Wei.

“Little brother, what should we do?” Zhang Hui whispered anxiously, seeing the unfavorable turn of events in the court.

“Stay calm, I have a strategy for this!”

However, Zhang Wei appeared nonchalant, allowing Tan Yingying to question the witness.

“Calling family members to testify is a poor strategy, something I generally dislike, especially in a case like this where the family itself has a slew of issues—flaws are bound to surface upon even a cursory investigation.”

He glanced at the professor in the witness stand, the corners of his mouth curling into a cold smirk.

The moment he received the list of witnesses, he had already started investigating.

Although he didn’t have an ace investigator by his side, sometimes he didn’t need to dig deep—a simple inquiry with neighbors was enough to get a clear picture.

And for this witness on the stand, he had prepared a countermove!