The first time Han Ding saw Luo Jingjing was at the hairstyle show party of the Pingling Century Hotel, Luo Jingjing was the first to appear, and she surprised Han Ding that night to make her unforgettable.

Before that, he didn't expect that there would be such a gorgeous and elegant party in the small Pingling, and in this not well-known city, there would be such a pleasing girl.

He remembers this day very well, because it was the last day of the last Chinese New Year holiday of the twentieth century. The holidays are now the cleanest time of the year in Beijing, and the sky is bright blue as soon as it is free of exhaust pollution. Taxis drive in high spirits on the empty airport expressway, and the continuous withered locust along the way is a unique blur of winter. When Han Ding arrived at the airport, he realized that he had arrived too early, and he remembered to call his parents on his mobile phone to say goodbye. Mom and Dad took advantage of the holiday to go to Hainan Island to bask in the sun, and he will only be back tomorrow, he left a message on their phone, telling them that he had gone on a business trip to Pingling City and might not be in Beijing for half a month. This was his first business trip after graduating from university and applying for a job at a Central Asia law firm. It was probably not difficult for Mom and Dad to hear the excitement in his voice in his message.

After making the call, he went around the bookstore in the airport hall again and bought a freshly baked "Fashion" magazine, with the unknown girl's face on the cover with the most natural and pleasing smile on Han Ding's face before he met Luo Jingjing. He stood in a conspicuous place at the entrance of domestic tourists, almost tired of the smile, Lin Bicheng shook his thin body, dragged a large suitcase disproportionate to his weight, and came like a knife mantis. Lin Bicheng is a veteran of Central Asia Law Firm and one of the partners of the firm. The seven or eight members of the firm were all partners when it was founded, except for Lao Qi, the chairman and executive president and director of the management committee, the rest were ranked in no particular order.

Since the establishment of their firm, it has only been seven or eight years old, and the seven or eight founders are only thirty or forty years old. Lin Bicheng is the oldest, forty-one years old this year, nineteen years older than Han Ding, Han Ding is not an exaggeration to call him uncle, and it is okay to call him eldest brother. Fortunately, the people in the institute are all called each other, he calls him Lao Lin, he calls him Xiao Han, which is both kind and formal, Han Ding thinks this is very good.

When Han Ding saw Lin Bicheng coming, he put away the "Fashion" magazine and called Lao Lin. Lin Bicheng casually called back Xiao Han. After the two completed the check-in formalities together, walked to the waiting hall, and sat in front of the designated boarding gate, Lin Bicheng cleared his throat and explained the task of the trip to Han Ding.

"Our trip is a case from Pingling Baochun Pharmaceutical Factory. At the end of last year, a girl was killed at the factory's expansion site. The woman was a migrant worker from Shaoxing, Zhejiang, and she was only 21 years old. I came out at the age of nineteen and wanted to make money, but it was only two years, and I didn't earn any money, so my life was on the line! ”

Lin Bicheng is a well-known abusive scholar in the firm, and he is often surrounded by women like clouds. Han Ding has always wondered how he has been a lawyer with his personality for so many years, excusing those criminals who kill people and exfiltrate goods every day, and I don't know who all those rich emotions are for. He smiled and said, "Since this woman is so unfortunate, then let's not defend the murderer, don't you have to be shot after arguing for a long time." Let's just save this trip and go home, and then we'll talk about the last Spring Festival of the 20th century. ”

"Murderer?" Lin Bicheng waved his hand, "Where, this case hasn't been solved yet, let's take over the civil compensation." The woman's family demanded that the pharmaceutical factory pay 400,000 yuan, but the pharmaceutical factory did not admit responsibility and did not want to pay any compensation. The court has already mediated once. Now a group of Shaoxing migrant workers on the construction site are making a lot of trouble, and the court finally mediates again, but the mediation is not successful and enters the litigation procedure for a court judgment. This is the second time I've been to Pingling. ”

Han Ding only received a notice from Lao Lin yesterday afternoon and asked him to follow him to Pingling. Hearing Lin Bicheng say the same, he was a little strange: "Isn't this woman just a migrant worker, how many families are willing to spend money to hire a lawyer in Beijing to fight such a bottomless lawsuit?" ”

Lin Bicheng waved his hand again: "Where, we are entrusted by Baochun Pharmaceutical Factory to negotiate with the victim's family." ”

Only then did Han Ding understand: "Oh, we are the defendants. ”

On this day, the passengers in the waiting hall of the capital airport were not crowded, and the plane departed on time. Han Ding crooked his seat, finished sleeping that he hadn't finished sleeping in the morning, and woke up when the plane had already landed at Pingling Airport. Walking out of the cabin door and down the gangway, Han Ding found that the sky in Pingling was overcast. On the way from the airport to the city, you can see that the fields along the way have been soaked with snow, and they look dark and damp under the overcast clouds. The glass of the car they were in was also covered with a layer of foggy and frosty moisture, which looked as dirty as the road outside the window.

This is a semi-new Mercedes-Benz sedan, the inside of the car is still clean, and there is a thick blanket under the feet, which makes people feel a little dry and warm in the cold and damp weather. They were picked up by the director of the office of Luo Baochun, chairman of the pharmaceutical factory, surnamed Wang, a local man in his forties with a calm appearance. Lao Lin was also polite: Yo, Boss Luo is sick, it doesn't matter, do you want to go see him first? Fortunately, Director Wang took Lao Lin's concern as a politeness, and said again and again that it doesn't matter, it doesn't matter, our Mr. Luo's heart is not very good, there are many things in the company, and the gang of migrant workers have come to make trouble again in the past few days, and they have been blocked at the gate since the morning, and Luo always goes to the hospital only through the back door. I rushed over to pick you up after sending Mr. Luo, fortunately the plane was delayed, otherwise, I really wouldn't be able to pick you up.

Polite to each other, they entered the city and pulled to the old Pingling Hotel. In the afternoon, Han Ding and Lao Lin were in the guest room to read the materials, which were mainly some written records formed during the last court mediation, as well as letters written by the relatives of the deceased to the leaders of the pharmaceutical factory, as well as lawyers' letters from the opposing lawyers, as well as some reports on the case by the news media in Pingling in the previous stage. However, on the plane, Lao Lin said that the sensational descriptions in the newspapers are not to be read twice. The little boss of the Pingling City Public Security Bureau in charge of this case happened to be a classmate from Laolin Middle School, and the last time he came to Pingling, he asked this classmate about the situation, and he was not in the same position as the news that was hyped up by the tabloids.

Their first dinner when they arrived in Pingling was with Luo Baochun, the chairman of the pharmaceutical factory. Although Chairman Luo had a heart condition, despite Director Wang's dissuasion, he still asked for liquor and toasted them frequently. This meal was probably the sumniest dinner Han Ding had ever had, and the shark fin and lobster were all served. After drinking three times, Luo Baochun began to talk to Lao Lin about this case, and Han Ding could hear that he resolutely did not intend to give in to the family of the deceased, and his tone of voice was quite intense: "Those Shaoxing people are simply the underworld!" They were trying to blackmail me. Their leader is called Nobita, and he came to make a deal with me in private, asking me to pay 100,000 yuan to settle this matter, saying that as long as they give them 100,000 yuan, they can let me go, and they will no longer help Siping's family make trouble. Although my factory is very difficult now, as long as it is compensable, I will also lose money if I sell my house and car. Siping is a migrant worker on our construction site, and I have paid her funeral expenses according to the regulations, and she did not die of work-related injuries, so why should I pay 400,000 yuan to compensate her? Even if the Public Security Bureau finally finds out that I killed her, I will pay for her life, and I will not pay her money! ”

When Chairman Luo said this, he had already drunk several glasses of wine, his face was red, and his eyes were red. Lao Lin was going to say a few words to persuade him to give in, but seeing that his mind had been clouded by alcohol, he had to nod vaguely and talk about him left and right.

Except for Luo Baochun, who vented his indignation through wine, no one else said much. Director Wang hurriedly beckoned Han Ding and Lao Lin to go to the Century Hotel to watch the hair show, saying that there were many supermodels to participate, and also invited famous Japanese hairdressing masters to join the scene, which must be unprecedented. One of the sponsors of this large-scale show is their Baochun oral liquid. Baochun Oral Liquid is a natural medicine that specializes in nourishing the skin and hair, so it is closely integrated with the hairstyle performance. Luo Baochun specially introduced his relationship with this performance to Lao Lin and Han Ding: "Please go and see it, the most important thing is because one of the models performing today is my daughter, she is tall, so she likes to do this since she was a child." ”

Director Wang also added color without a beard: "Our daughter of President Luo can be regarded as a top-brand supermodel in our Pingling, and she can be counted in the province!" ”

Lao Lin hurriedly made a surprised gesture in response to the situation: "Yo, yes, then we must take a look, we must take a look." ”

So they said goodbye to Luo Baochun, accompanied by Director Wang, and drove to the Century Hotel. It is said that the Century Hotel is not only Pingling City, but also the most luxurious foreign-related hotel in the province. There is a Century Hall in the Century Hotel, and the hair show party is held in this hall that can accommodate more than 600 spectators. At the entrance of the Century Hall, a huge billboard was erected, on which the names of more than a dozen sponsoring companies or brands were written in order. When Han Ding and the others arrived, the performance had already begun, and they hurriedly handed in their tickets and went in, and they didn't have time to care about whether there was the word Baochun oral liquid on the billboard. The lights in the hall had just dimmed, the music was on, and in the dim darkness it was almost full. Han Ding followed behind Director Wang and Lao Lin's buttocks, and was looking down to find a seat, when a bright light suddenly lit up on the catwalk. A girl with a high fan-shaped haircut on her head, wrapped in gold and silver, appeared dreamily under the canopy of the catwalk. She stepped on the music, greeted the beams of light, and walked towards the audience who suddenly fell silent, to hundreds of pairs of surprised eyes. Han Ding's whole body stiffened at that moment, and every nerve was held by the oncoming girl on the stage, and he dared to say that this was the most heartwarming moment he had experienced in his life. Compared with the average model, the girl's figure is slightly petite, but her picturesque face has an unbelievably beautiful face. Under the illumination of the strong light, the girl's face was pale, her eyebrows were shining, her movements in advance and retreat were unhurried, and a trace of indifference in her eyes loomed.

Han Ding thought, I hope she is the daughter of Chairman Luo Baochun.

Han Ding didn't sleep well last night, he yawned all day before the meal, he was not interested in watching any hairstyle performances, Lao Lin was coming, and Director Wang was gracious, so he sacrificed his life to accompany the gentleman, I didn't expect it to be so extraordinary tonight. They managed to find a seat in the back row, squeezed to sit down, craned their necks and looked through the cracks. In the blink of an eye, the T-shaped catwalk was already beautiful like clouds, with strange hairstyles and styles, and rainbow clouds came and went like fairies. Han Ding saw that his neck was numb and his back was sore, so he looked forward to the first girl to appear on the stage again. As soon as the girl appeared in the audience, there was a faint commotion, and the long hair like a fan turned into short hair like a hedgehog, which was extremely new and strange, and her gait and expression were the same as the hairstyle, which was extremely cheerful and lively. Han Ding's eyes followed her for a moment, and he was sure that his feelings 100% represented the voice of every man in the audience: no matter whether this girl's appearance was classical or trendy, she was undoubtedly the most dazzling one among the colorful models on the stage, and she was the center of attention of the audience.

Han Ding plucked up his courage and asked Director Wang: "Which is Mr. Luo's daughter?" He was prepared for the worst when he asked—perhaps the ugliest one on the sidelines, the girl with mediocre hair, tall and straight, with a face like a harlequin. Director Wang pointed to the stage with his hand: "That's it." ”

"Which one?"

"That! The ...... like a little hedgehog."

"The one that looks like a little hedgehog? It's true? ”

Han Ding's heart jumped wildly, and he instinctively felt that tonight might be a strange fate in his life.

Han Ding was born with red lips and white teeth since he was a child, and he has been the target of the girls around him since he was in elementary school. In middle school and college, he was a public lover in school. When he was in middle school, his nickname was Wu Qilong, and after he went to college, he became Nicholas Tse, and many friends encouraged him to go to the TV station to play a Nicholas Tse imitation show. Fortunately, Han Ding has not been close to women since he knew about people, and he has never been interested in picking up girls. To say that it sounds good is to clean oneself, and to say that it is bad to say that it is not enlightened in this regard. It can be said that before the hairstyle show party in Pingling, he had never been tempted by any girl.

After returning to the hotel from the Century Hotel after watching the hair show, Han Ding had not fallen asleep very late, except for the harassment of Lao Lin's snoring, it was the picturesque face of Peugeot, which was always floating in front of his eyes, and he could see it even when he closed his eyes. He had been turning his body anxiously all the time, looking forward to the dawn with the sound of mattress springs rumbling. Because according to the schedule, Director Wang had to take them to Luo Baochun's house at dawn to discuss the specific plan for participating in court mediation. In addition to Luo Baochun, Luo Baochun's family also lives with Luo Baochun's daughter, so the sunrise in the east has become an expectation and fantasy of Han Ding, and in this fantasy, things are developing romantically along the fastest shortcut.

Before dawn he couldn't figure out how he fell asleep, and he had a chaotic dream for some reason, as if he had dreamed of the girl, but his face was blurred, and the plot of the dream was completely forgotten when he was woken up by Lao Lin. He opened his eyes and saw that it was already dawn, so he hurriedly got out of bed to wash with swollen eyes, and after washing, he followed Lao Lin to have breakfast in the café downstairs, and after breakfast, he saw Director Wang's car drive to the door of the hotel on time. Han Ding carried a briefcase full of documents and followed Lao Lin into the car. The car turned three or two on the street that had already been lively, went out of the city, and then drove along a Kangzhuang Avenue for five minutes, and then entered the famous Yellow Crane Lake Scenic Area. It was the middle of winter, and the snow had melted a few days ago, and although the lake had not frozen, it had been frozen into a pool of stagnant water in the cold air, so deep that there was no trace of it in sight, only the woods on both sides of the road were moistened by the moisture of the snow, shaking out a little bit of vitality, and vaguely evaporating a little early spring breath. According to Director Wang, it is not the best season for Yellow Crane Lake, so there are not many tourists on the road along the lake. Their car stopped in front of a small courtyard surrounded by trees near the mountain and lake, there is an old double-storey small building in the courtyard, and a few gloomy ancient acacia trees are planted in front of and behind the building...... Director Wang introduced on the road that Chairman Luo's home was the official residence of the Kuomintang Pingling City Garrison Commander before the liberation, and later a forward command post of the People's Liberation Army attacking Pingling. Half a century has passed, the scenery of Yellow Crane Lake is still the same, but the small building has become a cultural relic, and now it is owned by the scenic area management office, and it was rented by Luo Baochun for a long time last year, and it was made a villa of the Luo family. Luo Baochun originally had a place to live in the city, but after renting this old house, he has been living here, mainly to be quiet.

Han Ding had no distractions from the moment he got out of the car, walked into the yard, and walked into this old villa, only thinking about whether he could see the girl in his dreams. But the one who came out to greet them, except for Luo Baochun, who had just woken up with swollen eyes, was the thin and dry old nanny of his family. The old nanny poured four cups of tea that could not be boiled for the four guests, and brought Luo Baochun cooked porridge and two plates of pickles, and then left the living room. Luo Baochun talked while eating, his attitude was as fierce as yesterday's drunkenness, and he rejected Lao Lin's tentative suggestion that on the basis of insisting on not bearing the responsibility for compensation, he should make some concessions and give some moral assistance to the relatives of the deceased, so as to soften the attitude of the other party. He put the porridge bowl heavily on the coffee table and said in a rough voice: "I have run this factory for so many years, starting from scratch, how much hardship I have suffered, how many nights I have stayed up, I am only in my forties, you look at my hair, and how many black ones!" My wife is sick and dying, and I don't have the money to save her! The money is all bet on this factory! Who has given me moral assistance after all these years? Who? Every penny of Baochun Pharmaceutical Factory is my blood and sweat! Now, the brand of Baochun oral liquid has been played, and consumers have recognized it, if anyone wants to break me down at this time, it is not so easy! They are bandits! If I succumb to them, they'll eat me endlessly! So, I can't budge. If I don't budge, what can they do? I don't believe the law will be in their favor. For private enterprises like us, the law should be vigorously protected! ”

When he said this, Lao Lin was helpless. Han Ding read the materials yesterday and has a general understanding of the ins and outs of this case. The girl who was killed, Zhu Siping, was a temporary worker employed by the Baochun Pharmaceutical Factory to collect statistics on the expansion site of the pharmaceutical factory, and was found dead in the office of the construction site at the end of last year. The materials in Han Ding's hands are only documents related to the civil compensation dispute in this case, and there is not much explanation of the details of Siping's killing. But from the words of these materials, it can still be understood that Siping died quite tragically. The 20-year-old girl was beaten in the head with a wooden stick and then stabbed three times to death. Her parents are both laid-off workers, from the ancient city of Shaoxing in the south of the Yangtze River, and they sent their newly adult daughter out to earn money, but they brought back a handful of cold ashes from the child. The situation is indeed sympathetic. But Han Ding thought to himself, they are not here to help the poor, they are lawyers, and their task is to let the relatives of the deceased know that although Siping died in the factory area and died in the office, there is no legal basis to determine that the factory bears unshirkable responsibility and must pay a huge compensation of 400,000 yuan. Han Ding remembers that not long ago, there was a case in the toilet of a disco in Beijing where a guest was killed, and the relatives of the deceased demanded compensation from the dance hall, but the dance hall refused to pay compensation because it believed that it was not responsible, and the result was that the relatives of the deceased finally lost the case. This dance hall murder case is very similar in nature to Siping's murder case, so Lao Lin also believes that the court will generally not support the lawsuit of Siping's relatives and those who cheered for the villagers. However, the last time he came to Pingling to participate in the first court mediation, he already felt that the Pingling City Court obviously hoped that Baochun Pharmaceutical Factory would add some additional bereavement benefits, spend money to buy peace, and calm the situation, but did not want to intensify the contradictions and add hidden dangers to social stability. Siping's parents are now unable to even get their laid-off wages on time, and their living conditions are indeed very bad.

Lao Lin told him about his worries, but Luo Baochun didn't listen. He stubbornly believes that some of the people who have been in difficulty these years are that the court should take care of them all, can they manage it? I'm still in difficulty, there is too much backlog of products in my factory to sell, the capital turnover can't be turned, and the loan can't be paid when it expires, who will help me! The court will not kill the rich and help the poor. If my factory closes down, the tax revenue in the city is reduced, thousands of workers are unemployed, they are looking for trouble to eat, the companies that supply me to help me sell will not be able to get the money and the goods will be affected, and the small capital will also go bankrupt, will the court all help? Is the court afraid that the world will not be chaotic?

The more Luo Baochun spoke, the more angry he became, and his face turned red, just like he had drunk too much wine last night. Lao Lin will not say more, lawyers are only entrusted by the parties to act as agents in civil litigation, as long as they do not violate the law, they must act according to the wishes of the parties. Han Ding didn't talk much, his thoughts at this time were only looking forward to seeing Luo Baochun's daughter here. He faintly heard in the next room, there was always a light footstep moving from time to time; In the hallway from the living room to the backyard, it seems that a faint shadow can often be seen passing thinly on the wall. When Lao Lin was talking to Luo Baochun, Han Ding was always distracted, always imagining that maybe the girl would walk through the corridor in the next second, or push open a certain door that connected to the living room, and walk out lightly.

Unfortunately, it was not until it was close to noon, when they finished talking, drank all their tea, got up to say goodbye to Luo Baochun, and left the villa by car, that no one came out of the end of the corridor or through the closed doors. On the way back to the city, Han Ding couldn't help but ask Director Wang: With such a big villa, Chairman Luo lives alone, and he is not lonely? Director Wang smiled and said, "You should also see that our Mr. Luo has a very strange temper, especially after his wife died a few years ago, he can't listen to others, and he can't pull back ten cows for what he has decided." We also advised him that it is too inconvenient and unsafe to live so far alone, in case there is a sudden illness or something, there is no one around to help, and the old lady who can only cook next to him, what three long and two short must be delayed. ”

Director Wang's words finally gave Han Ding the opportunity to ask what he wanted to ask and was most inconvenient to ask: "What about his daughter, doesn't he have a daughter who is a model, don't you live with him?" ”

"Ah, you mean Luo Jingjing, she lives in the city, and Luo always has a house in the city."

Lao Lin smiled and interjected: "There is indeed such a kind of person, who is used to being withdrawn, and even annoys his wife and children by his side, so he likes to be alone, there is this kind of person." ”

Director Wang also smiled: "That's not it, Mr. Luo is annoyed with others, but he feels most sorry for his baby daughter, he is afraid of melting in his mouth, and he is afraid of falling in his hand. It was Luo Jingjing who didn't like to live with her father, and her father had to go with her. Today's young people don't want to be disciplined. ”

Lao Lin echoed with deep sympathy: "That's right, how can young people nowadays think so much about adults?" You should persuade Mr. Luo that you still have to find a wife when you are old. Birth, old age, sickness and death still have to have someone around to serve you, and it is useless for the child to be close. The "good song" in "Dream of Red Mansions" has long been decided: there are many infatuated parents in ancient times, and who has seen filial piety to their children and grandchildren! ”

Director Wang also sighed: "It's useless to persuade. People who have a successful career are the most difficult to serve in life, and successful people are both withdrawn and lonely......"

The more the two talked, the more speculative they became, and they sighed as if they were worried about the ancients. Han Ding had no interest in how Luo Baochun could prevent illness and how to care for the elderly, what he was thinking about was Luo Baochun's baby daughter Luo Jingjing, where did she live in the city? A girl who lives alone, a beautiful model, and a child of a rich family, what kind of life does she live every day? Does she have a boyfriend? How can she take care of herself at such a young age? He really wanted to get close to her, to get closer to her daily life, to take a closer look.

On the way back to the city, in the car, Han Ding looked at the remnant winter outside the window absent-mindedly, and some signs of spring warmth on the side of the road also made him indifferent. It's still early in spring, he thought, but his heart was restless. He could never have imagined that about twenty hours later, that is, the next morning, he really saw Luo Jingjing, the girl who fascinated him for a moment in the spotlight of the catwalk, in an unexpected scene.