First-Class Lawyer

It wasnt the first day that Gu Yan was seeing him play dumb; he was already used to it.

It has an uncommon taste. He sampled a bit. Though the glass had been left out for a while, over-aerating the liquor, it still tasted good.

Yan Suizhi shut his eyes, hummed, looking like he wanted to go back to sleep.

After a moment, he said, seemingly conversationally, I rather like the taste of this gin. When it first enters the mouth, it has a subtle note of cardamom. I always thought that it was also complexed with an even lighter golden moonflower flavour, which peters into cranberry and sweet melon. The aftertaste is rather cloying on its own, but its perfect when you add a slice of lemon to it. Can you taste it?

This guys tongue probably had a life of its own.

Lawyer Gu, who had only casually taken a sip just now, took another one.

Yan Suizhi had eyes growing on the back of his head. Dont bother sneaking another sip; I know that you didnt properly attend your wine appreciation class back in the day.

In Maze University, everyone had to take a compulsory elective in their junior year called Wine Appreciation. It was probably setting a foundation, prepping students for their future of pretentious bullshit.

Students were delighted to attend this class. Every week, they didnt have to bring anything but their own wine glass set, lining their empty glasses on the table upon entering the classroom, drinking various wines in various glasses.

They could drink seven types of wine every lesson. Of course, each only just covered the bottom of the glass, giving them just a sample.

They sometimes got to taste excellent wine and sometimes ones that were hard to put into words. This mixed bag of surprises and scares was especially appealing to young students.

But Gu Yan had never been too interested in wine. Furthermore, he was particularly busy during that period and missed a lot of the lessons, many of which happened to be under Yan Suizhis purview.

Naturally, it wasnt that he couldnt appreciate wine; he just couldnt taste as many layers as Yan Suizhi had described.

It was the same for those who properly attended the class back then. Some students were able to perceive several distinctive flavours in the wine, whereas it was merely good wine and bad wine to others.

Gu Yan probably belonged to the latter category.

He compared what he tasted to Yan Suizhis, concluding, Youre too picky.

Without even opening his eyes, Yan Suizhi reached up to lightly scratch Gu Yans jaw. Nonsense.

Gu Yan let him. Why do you like this taste?

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Did you succeed? Gu Yan set the gin on the nightstand, adjusting his posture slightly, letting Yan Suizhi rest more comfortably.

Yan Suizhi said candidly, After meeting me, he stopped selling young plant varieties, feeling that selling them was equivalent to sending them to their deaths. He said that it pained his heart to look at my garden.

Youre actually laughing?

Gu Yan denied, I didnt.

The corners of Yan Suizhis lips curled upwards. Dont deny it, your chest moved.

Thunder abruptly clapped outside, shaking the window panes, followed by even heavier rain.

I used to dislike this weather, Yan Suizhi suddenly said.

After finishing this subject, he conveniently started to talk about something else.

Gu Yan glanced over at him, but he could only see the dark crown of Yan Suizhis head from his angle.

In spite of being unable to see his expression, he could tell from the tone that Yan Suizhi was very relaxed. It was just as he had assured last nightwhatever he recalled or saw, be it interesting or uninteresting, even if it was just a fresh flower growing on the roadside, he could tell Gu Yan about it.

Gu Yans mood suddenly turned for the better.

To be precise, he was already in a fairly good mood, but it now turned even better.

The two sips of gin hed just drank slowly perfused through his body. It was clearly an amount too small to be worth mentioning, yet it inexplicably made one feel tipsy.

He shut his eyes as well, going along with Yan Suizhis words, asking, Why didnt you like it?

Yan Suizhi laughed softly. In my adolescence, I was very lazy and didnt like to sweat. During the holidays, Id only either be painting or reading in the garden. Doesnt it rain a lot in the summer? The type that came without warning. Id get miserably drenched every time. And I was also at the age where I had the prideful temper of a young master. Id die before admitting that I didnt check the forecast and forgot to set up an umbrella. My mother liked to tease me, always saying that her favourite thing about rain storms was drinking tea in the house, watching me madly dash from the garden.

After they passed away, Id also look out from the window on stormy days. But it was insipid. My mood would be poor, and usually it was the bad luck of whoever that looked for me at that time. Yan Suizhis lips upturned at the corners. Under normal circumstances, on days with such weather, Id stay in my office or at home and drink a bit of this type of gin, lest I send too many people storming off in anger.

Was that why you poured a glass? Gu Yan said.

Yan Suizhi clicked his tongue. Focus on the main point. Why do you keep circling back to this glass of gin.

Whats the main point?

The point is that my bias against terrible weather is going to change in the future, Yan Suizhi said.

Why?

Yan Suizhi, Because the last two times that Ive run into weather like this, my waist wasnt too comfortable. You tell me, do you have any vested interest in this type of weather?

Gu Yan,

The distinguished Lawyer Gu was silent for a long time. Unable to find any argument to defend himself, he could only work hard to correct this one-sided impression in the future.

However, speaking of rainstorms, he also made a rare mention of his past. When I was young, I used to get a headache whenever it rained.

Really? Whys that? Yan Suizhi could vaguely remember the kid-version of Gu Yan from back then, and when he heard this, he deliberately shrunk this Gu Yan down in his head. The mental image tickled him.

My grandfather was worried that Id dash out into the rain like an idiot, rolling in the mud before coming back. So, whenever it rained, hed hand me books of legal code and get me to memorise them in order. Gu Yans voice when speaking of it now still carried a mild hint of helplessness.

Yan Suizhi, How old were you then?

Gu Yan, About five or six.

Are you his biological grandson? Just three booksAlliance Commercial Law, the Civil Code, and the Statutes on Criminal Lawstacked together would be taller than you, no? Yan Suizhi began to wildly slander again.

Lawyer Gu fell silent for a moment, but was ultimately unable to stop himself from shooting back at his teacher-cum-partner, With all due respect, thats probably your height at five or six, not mine.

Yan Suizhi whipped his head over to glare at him, but Gu Yan swiftly blocked his eyes.

The torrential rain outside deepened the tranquillity of the room.

This seemed to be their first time resting this intimately together, casually chatting about matters of no real importance, sprinkled with bickering and laughter.

Eventually, the wisps of drowsiness curled over them again, quickly lulling the two, who were leaning against each other, back to sleep.

Before falling asleep, Yan Suizhi mumbled, Gu Yan, when theres time, come with me to Helan. Ill take you to visit my parents.

Gu Yan hummed in assent, responding, And my grandfather.

This supposed catch-up on sleep ended up being only about an hour more for Gu Yan.

At around ten in the morning, he and Yan Suizhi were already sitting on the sofa in the living room, accompanied by Joe, who was also awake. He stretched from side to side, dark eye bags hanging down to his cheeks, then sprawled back onto the sofa like a corpse.

Why torture yourself when youre so tired? Yan Suizhi set a freshly brewed cup of coffee in front of Joe and took a glass of milk for himself. He picked the plushest chair and sat himself down in a rather elegant posture, not showing the slightest sign of discomfort in his waist.

Young Master Joe lay facing the ceiling for a long time before eventually enacting a corpse reanimating into a zombie. He sat up, rubbed his face, and downed the cup of coffee. Every muscle in my body is reminding me that I cant be undisciplined.

If he lost his figure, then how could he lug Ke Jin around?

Or so Young Master Joe said on the inside.

He had a bit of breakfast and turned on the exercise bike. Having learnt from past lessons, Joe was now avoiding treadmills. He sat on the exercise bike without holding the handles, going through his smart device as he pedalled.

I dragged my sis into a conversation that lasted until three in the morning. Course, I didnt let her know anything she shouldnt. Joe opened a page with handwriting that was as illegible as a zombie talisman. We discussed a whole bunch of stuff. It might be rather detailed stuff; its quite messy. I dont know if you can still remember them, Dean Yan.

He looked like he was getting a migraine as he spoke, sighing, Frankly, we also didnt know where best to go in from.

Yan Suizhi glanced at Gu Yan, then smiled at Joe, asking, If you really dont know where to start, then, if you dont mind, you can try talking about what you and your sister believed your father has done and what raised your doubts. This way, itll also be easier for me to find any relevant details in the medical case. Naturally, you can choose to say only a portion and keep some to yourself.

Joe gave a start.

His expression turned conflicted for a moment, but it gradually eased as he looked towards Gu Yan and Yan Suizhi. Youre right. It would be much easier to do that.

He had been having a headache all night because the medical case that Yan Suizhi had fought was considered a downstream case. It was challenging to swim upwards against the current; more so, it was impossible to start without giving Yan Suizhi context. However, flipping it around, it would be much easier to move from upstream to downstream instead.

If its anyone else, I wouldve turned heel and left by now. But since its you guys I can be at ease, Joe said.