March 15.

Under the gaze gathered from all over Sunzhou.

The first environmental pollution lawsuit concerning the Jinyang Steel Plant...

"Is about to begin!"

...

Twelve o'clock.

Sunzhou, Punk Judicial Identification Center.

"Almost time."

At the entrance, Xu Liang held all kinds of information in his hands, his face grave, his eyes dead serious.

It was the lunch break.

But he hadn't chosen to rest or eat; instead, his eyes kept darting around.

His gaze would now and then flick toward the corners, then sink into thought again.

The sight left the people around them full of question marks.

"Brother Liang, what are you doing?"

Wang Chao scratched his head, confusion in his eyes.

"Nothing."

Xu Liang calmly put away the documents in his hand.

Compared to the files from the last few days...

The pile in his hand had more than doubled!

A few blurred lines of text were caught by Wang Chao's eyes; he froze for a moment, then suddenly widened his eyes as he realized something!

"Hanhai City? Qingshi City? Salt Sea City?"

"Huh? Brother Liang, have we ever investigated these places?!"

Thinking back to the words he had just seen, Wang Chao was a bit dazed.

These past few days he'd been in Sunzhou with him the whole time, and he didn't know anyone from those cities.

At most, it was only through Zhao Deshan's mouth that he'd learned that the ten thousand tons of steel in 1987 had flowed into those cities.

So, logically speaking, those place names should only be mentioned in passing in the materials.

But... that file not only had detailed information on how the building materials were used, it even had steel samples, as well as data on human health!

Where did this come from!?

"Someone gave it to me."

Xu Liang said.

As he spoke, he looked solemnly at the file in his hand, then sighed inwardly and slipped the materials into his briefcase.

Right now Sunzhou had already turned into an information cocoon.

Everyone was fixated on the pollution case, completely unaware of what was happening in the other cities, or who had gone there...

And today... was when this cocoon would be pierced!

"Someone?"

Wang Chao's eyes grew even more puzzled.

He had contacts in other cities too? Impossible.

Besides, anyone halfway normal who could dig up this kind of data... would definitely know what it meant!

The key point was, anyone with the ability to investigate this kind of thing on a large scale... had to be official!

The official agencies of those cities had given him the data!?

In an instant.

A trace of shock flashed across Wang Chao's face. He stared at the outwardly calm Xu Liang, while his own heart was in turmoil.

He suddenly realized that this guy seemed to have been hiding something from him... doing some big, secret thing behind the scenes!

In just that split second, goosebumps crawled up his back, leaving him chilled.

Just as Wang Chao was about to press further, a sudden sound cut in from behind them.

"Beep beep beep!!!"

"Beep beep!"

"Beeeeep~!"

The shrill, clear car horn yanked their attention away. Seeing a car pull up outside, the two of them immediately dropped the topic.

They quickened their pace and headed toward the SUV.

When the person inside saw them coming out, he immediately lowered the window and snapped:

"You punk, you're a grown man already and still haven't bought yourself a car!"

"Sunzhou's got so much going on waiting for your senior brother to handle, and you still insist on making me drive you to court..."

The person in the driver's seat was Lin Fuqiang. He was cursing at Xu Liang with a half-smile.

Last night.

On the night of March 14, at ten p.m.

While he was still working in the municipal building, Lin Fuqiang suddenly got a call from him, asking him to drive him to court today.

Lin Fuqiang had thought this was a total joke!

You should know, on the afternoon of the 15th, right after the hearing, they were going to hold a big meeting—people from all over Sunzhou gathering to discuss strategies for the case.

Where would he find the time to chauffeur someone...

But in the end, he couldn't resist the other's repeated pestering, and could only squeeze out a few dozen minutes to give him a ride.

"I just missed you, Senior Brother."

Xu Liang tugged at the muscles at the corner of his mouth, but couldn't manage a smile. He gave up on smiling altogether and simply got into the car.

Wang Chao stared curiously at his own immediate boss's boss, then also slipped into the car!

"Sit tight."

Lin Fuqiang said, then stepped hard on the gas.

"Vroom~!"

The engine greedily devoured gasoline, the four rubber tires suddenly gripped the road, and the car shot toward the courthouse.

On the way.

"You brat, how much are you trying to make the steel plant pay this time?"

"That old fox of a senior brother took a look. I don't know what his real purpose is, but right now, when it comes to compensation, his attitude is very positive."

Driving, Lin Fuqiang casually dropped some information to Xu Liang.

In the context of a trial, this kind of intel was viciously sharp.

Why?

Because what Lin Fuqiang was doing was basically laying out the steel plant's psychological expectations!

You have to know, in any negotiation, the side that bids first and reveals its bottom line is always at a disadvantage.

Now that he'd revealed the steel plant's attitude, Xu Liang no longer had to be cautious or guess; he could just open his lion's mouth and bite a big chunk of meat off them!

"So at least the victims' families can get some compensation for their losses... sigh."

Lin Fuqiang said, letting out a sigh.

Hearing that.

Xu Liang didn't respond. He sat in the passenger seat, looking weighed down with worry.

The sight made Lin Fuqiang frown.

Taking advantage of the red light, he quickly asked:

"What's wrong?"

"Too little time and you couldn't find evidence?"

"Don't worry, the steel plant is voluntarily admitting responsibility. Even if you've got nothing, just hand those newspapers up and you can..."

Before Lin Fuqiang could finish, the other suddenly cut him off.

"Senior Brother, that meeting at the municipal building this afternoon... don't go for now."