When the car stopped, the driver told me that it had arrived, and I looked out the window and the office was on the upper floor of the building, but I asked the driver to drive the car back again. The driver looked surprised and asked, "Did you forget something?" ”

I nodded: "Yes, I'm going to go back and get it." ”

Twenty minutes later, the car stopped outside the courthouse again, and I paid the fare and stepped out of the car, looking blankly at the majestic building in front of me, which looked particularly solemn in the sunlight.

The reception staff was also surprised to see me coming back, and I said to look for Lao Yu.

After standing for a while, I saw Lao Yu running out of it, and before he could speak, I took a step forward and asked, "Did you handle this divorce case or Xiao Dong?" Lao Yu was stunned and replied to me: "Of course it's me, isn't it me who has been tried with you every time?" ”

I squinted my eyes and made the same request as before: "I want to see Xiao Dong." ”

Lao Yu's face showed unhappiness: "Lawyer Jia, your head is very busy, it's not what you want to see when you say it." ”

"You first ask him if he asked me to speak with evidence just now, and now I have something to give him."

Lao Yuhu looked at me suspiciously, but he still called Xiao Dong in front of me for advice. Listening to the momentum, Xiao Dong said just now that he would not see me again next time, I approached with an arrow and raised his voice: "Xiao Dong, I have something to ask you, if you are busy, then I will wait." Lao Yu didn't expect me to come to this trick, glared at me angrily, I don't know what Xiao Dong said on the other end of the phone, Lao Yu put down the phone and said, "Xiao Jian let you go up." ”

I lowered my eyes and went straight upstairs.

When I walked to the office door again, I felt a little slapped in the face. An hour ago, I swore an oath that there would be no next time, but I turned around and came back again.

When Xiao Dongbei pushed the door and walked in, he didn't turn back when he heard the movement on my side, but asked in a deep voice: "What do you have to ask me?" I stared at the light and asked word by word: "Before the second trial of the Bashan case, did you meet Zhou Yu?" ”

Xiao Dong turned around, with a rare puzzle on his face: "Why do you suddenly ask like this?" ”

"You answer me first."

"You don't know what I have done with him, I've seen him in court. You've won the case, now are you coming back to show me off? Xiao Dong said to me with a calm face.

I narrowed my eyes and emphasized again, "You really haven't seen it in private?" ”

Xiao Dong: "What exactly do you want to ask?" In order for me to pass the divorce case, did you start messing around with me? ”

After a few seconds of silence, I lowered my eyes, looked somewhere on my desk, and whispered, "When did you start smoking?" ”

In the corner of the desk, there is a glass ashtray with two cigarette butts lying in it. It was empty when I came, and even though he opened the window to dissipate the smell of smoke, there was still a faint smell in the space.

Xiao Dong didn't seem to think that I would suddenly change the topic, and paused before saying, "Occasionally." ”

Xiao Dong, whom I know, never smoked, but time has changed, and today he replied to me that occasionally.

When I raised my eyes, I already had a certainty in my heart: "The night before the second trial of the Bashan case, you and Zhou Yu met in the book city." ”

Zhou Yu didn't come back that night, and when I rushed to Bashan Book City to look for it, I saw cigarette butts in the ashtray on the workbench, which was the same as the one now. In fact, the moment I pushed the door in, I smelled it, and my heart was already settled, so I asked him aggressively.

Xiao Dong's eyes were bright, and when he spoke, he was expressionless: "That's right, he asked me to meet in Bashan." ”

"Can you tell me what you talked about?"

"On the eve of the second trial, it is natural to talk about matters related to the case."

My heart sank, "What exactly?" ”

Xiao Dong was slightly silent and asked me, "Why don't you ask him directly?" ”

"He's on a business trip abroad now, and he's jet lag reversed. And I'd like to hear different versions, what exactly is it that he asked you to talk to? As far as I know him, there's no way he's going to bow down to you. ”

Xiao Dong's eyes flashed, "You see the fact that he is looking for me as bowing to me?" What if I say he's come to beg me? ”

"Impossible!" I vetoed it, this is not Zhou Yu's character, it is impossible for him to ask others in his life. "Xiao Dong, in fact, you don't have to hide it anymore, I have basically guessed the content of your conversation. In fact, you already knew that Zhou Yu would show those hole cards in the second trial, right, you could have avoided it at that time, but you deliberately guided it upward, and you must have reached some kind of agreement between you and him. ”

"I don't know what you're talking about." Xiao Dongru is negative.

I leaned against the wall behind me and asked, "Is it so that I can win?" ”

I can think of a reason that would prompt Zhou Yu to find Xiao Dong on the eve of the war, but I have nothing else.

And Xiao Dong was finally silent.

Astringent and smiling, I don't know how to describe my mood at this time, as uncomfortable as knocking over a five-flavor bottle.

I said: On the way back, I filtered the entire Bashan case in my mind, and suddenly realized that I had ignored many details, from the defeat of the first instance to the counterattack of the second trial, and it turned out that there were many strange things hidden in it. It's just that maybe I've been out of this industry for too long, and I don't have that acuity, or maybe I've never questioned the people around me, and I haven't shown up.

Xiao Dong was silent for a while and then spoke: "Since you won, why bother to pursue the past." You can rest assured that even though I knew the outcome of that lawsuit, I did my best in the process. ”

But what you call doing your best is actually to arouse my fighting spirit!

I didn't say that, it didn't fit with him.

I just want to know - "What did you agree with Zhou Yu?" ”

"Didn't you just win."

I shook my head, "No, you're lying. Xiao Dong, maybe you have changed a lot over the years, and I don't know you anymore, just like when you learned to smoke and I don't know, but some things are born in your bones. You've taught me before not to do meaningless things. Zhou Yu must have prescribed the conditions that you are interested in, and you will follow the direction that the game should go. So, what exactly is this condition? ”

Xiao Dong didn't respond to me directly, but only gave me a plausible sentence: "Jia Ru, you always misunderstand me sometimes." "The rest of him asked me to ask Zhou Yu, saying that he couldn't find the answer there.

The fact is roughly as I guessed, the two did meet before the second trial. And the real reason why Zhou Yu doesn't want me to go to court is actually not that he wants me to see Xiao Dong.

Because of jealousy? Or is it because I'm afraid of being noticed?

I deliberately waited until late that day, and I didn't wait for Zhou Yu to call, so I turned out the number he used abroad and called.

I suddenly realized that he had been calling me for the past few days, and I hadn't taken the initiative to call him, and I didn't know if that person would still fool me. But I made up my mind that even if I couldn't get an answer on the phone, I would have to interrogate him when he returned.

But the phone rang for a while and no one answered, so I put down the phone in frustration, and I couldn't find anyone else?

When I woke up the next day, I picked up my phone and saw that he didn't call me back, and there was no message. I calculated the time, it was about one o'clock in the night, and I tried to grit my teeth and call him to wake him up, but I gave up.

It's just that I was restless after a whole day of work, and the more I thought about it, the more I felt that something was wrong, and Xiao Dong's behavior became contradictory. Before, I judged that Xiao Dong had turned against me, and he even did not hesitate to conspire with Chen Huan in order to frame Zhou Yu, but now that I look at this case again, all his actions seem to be defending the plaintiff, but in fact, from the first trial to the second trial, he deliberately guided the matter to the foundation, so that Zhou Yu could completely turn the tables and solve the dispute together.

So back to the present, if Xiao Dong is not as utilitarian as he appears in reality, and he reaches an agreement with Zhou Yu to let me win that lawsuit, can it be determined that he still has a trace of friendship for me? Then he won't deliberately obstruct this divorce case in my hand again. Thinking back to his evaluation of Li Rou's divorce case, I didn't think about it because of the confrontation with him at the time, and at this time, I thought about it repeatedly, and he was actually ...... Reminding me of the loophole in this case?

I couldn't sit still, and when I went to the court to find Xiao Dong, I didn't feel that face, but there were many questions waiting for him to solve.

After hesitating, he walked to a quiet place and dialed Xiao Dong's phone, and when it rang for nearly ten times, he thought he wouldn't answer, but he was about to put down his phone but heard it connected: "Hey? Who is it? ”

I forgot that my number had changed since I left the courthouse that year, and I replied softly: "It's me, Jia Ru." ”

His tone seemed impatient: "What are you looking for me?" As I already said, if you ask him directly about things related to Zhou Yu, I can't find any answers here. ”

"I just want to ask why you didn't give Li Rou and Chen Huan this divorce case a trial?"

"If you don't try it, it's natural that there is a problem in your own case."

I took a deep breath, "Do you also think that Li Rou's filing for divorce may be fraudulent, and this lawsuit may be a script directed and acted by their husband and wife, in order to transfer assets and escape debts?" ”

After a moment of silence, I heard Xiao Dong's voice coming: "Since you know, why do you still file a lawsuit with the court?" ”

"Since they still want to make up their minds with me, then I will fulfill them. But this time, I want Chen Huan to go into the water completely, and there is no possibility of turning over. ”

Xiao Dong: "Jia Ru, you are defying the law. ”

"No, I'm making the villain no longer have a will, instead of being passively vigilant, it is better to take the initiative to attack and lead the snake into the urn."

Xiao Dong asked: "Chen Huan is worth your effort?" ”

"He's not worth it." I shook my phone vigorously and said softly, "Xiao Dong, I'm sorry." Then he hung up.

This apology is something I owe him, and I have chosen to dissociate myself from him in the end. But I forgot that he had witnessed the failure of my marriage with Chen Huan, so how could he choose to cooperate with Chen Huan one day?

So I have every reason to judge that he and Zhou Yu met in Bashan that day, no matter what the purpose was, there was one thing they agreed on, that is, to use this case to help me make a comeback in the legal profession and regain my confidence.

Otherwise, with Xiao Dong's acumen, he would definitely be able to detect Zhou Yubu's game early, and he would definitely have the ability to control the situation in court and not let the wind go to Zhou Yubu's chessboard. But he chose to go with the flow and chose to lose.

If so, there must be something unspeakable behind my case back then.

I don't want to pursue it anymore, things have changed, and what has passed is in the past. Even if I know that Xiao Dong is not so ruthless to me, it is impossible for me and him to go back to the beginning.

Now it's only Zhou Yu's side, and he hasn't called today.

7