Chapter 10: One Hundred Thousand is My Life-saving Money

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"No!"

"Not even a thank you!"

"She's worse than a dog!"

These remarks deeply touched some of the students on the hearing and jury benches, and angered others.

But more were concerned about the former because that was two years of effort.

In total, that's 800 hours, 320 days, how many nights spent awake, and for what?

Nothing at all!

Zhang Wei had spent what could have been 20 graduation theses worth of time tutoring someone in their studies, only to end up with this.

Thanks to the example he gave, many students could now understand Zhang Wei's pain.

If it had been them, wouldn't they be furious?

Luo Xiaobu cautiously raised his head and glanced at Geng Hongxia on the judge's bench, "My questions are over..."

With that, he fled back to his seat as if he were flying.

In the defendant's seat, Zhang Hui was discussing quietly with Jia Meili.

"The current situation is extremely unfavorable for us. Zhang Wei's testimony has swayed the jury's emotions, but I have to ask, did you really never say a word of thanks?"

Zhang Hui was equally puzzled. Zhang Wei had tutored you, Jia Meili, for a whole two years, and you had no reaction at all?

"He offered to do it, and I simply went along with it. What's so wrong with that?" Jia Meili muttered disdainfully.

She was still completely unaware of her own mistake, of how ungrateful she had been to Zhang Wei.

In Jia Meili's eyes, what was Zhang Wei?

Just a fawning dog. She had no shortage of them around her.

During that time, she had been distracted by some things and hadn't focused on her studies, which led to her failing many courses.

It just so happened that Zhang Wei, a fawning dog with good academic performance, proactively offered to help her with her studies, and of course, she took it for granted.

Who was she? She was the department's beauty. Wouldn't anyone be grateful to be offered the chance to tutor her?

Who could have thought that Zhang Wei, such an honest person, would bite back now?

"Got it!"

Zhang Hui understood. It seemed the tutoring really did happen, and Jia Meili never gave Zhang Wei any appreciation.

Not even a simple thank you.

From beginning to end, Jia Meili believed that Zhang Wei's help was her due.

Because she was the department's beauty, a fawning dog should grovel at her feet!

Zhang Hui truly couldn't comprehend this attitude but she knew even more that she had to win!

If, as an intern lawyer, she was defeated by a junior in a mock trial, that would be the real embarrassment.

Moreover, the dean and professors of the law school were all watching her. She couldn't afford to back down!

"Defense attorney, it's your turn to cross-examine!" Geng Hongxia sat on the judge's bench and reminded.

Zhang Hui gathered her thoughts, slowly stood up, and approached Zhang Wei.

"Witness, you say you tutored my client for two years. That sounds very hard indeed."

"Mm, indeed it was hard. It felt more exhausting than studying on my own," Zhang Wei replied with a chuckle, sounding somewhat emotional.

Zhang Hui didn't care about that and looked directly at Zhang Wei, "Then tell me, did this tutoring actually take place?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the room fell silent.

A gleam of light flickered in Zhang Wei's eyes.

The fish had taken the bait.

Zhang Hui continued, "As far as I know, in our year, there were many diligent students who would go to the library to study after class, staying until closing time. These students often organized study groups on their own without any coordinated tutoring activities, and they would help each other without charging a penny."

"I don't deny that helping classmates with lessons should be compensated, good students have no obligation to help weaker ones, and we are not children who follow teacher's orders to guide those who are falling behind, wasting our own study time. What I'm suggesting is, is it not possible that both Zhang Wei and Jia Meili were part of such self-organized study sessions, and my client intended to rely on herself, but Zhang Wei offered his help, and she gave in reluctantly after struggling to say no?"

"My client never wanted you to tutor her. The whole thing is just you being presumptuous, and now you are demanding compensation for something you forced on her. What do you think?"

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Zhang Hui looked at Zhang Wei, waiting for a response.

At the same time, Yang Qingquan on the hearing bench was slightly surprised as well.

Zhang Hui's move could not be called anything less than clever, actually thinking of this defense strategy.

The tutoring Zhang Wei provided to Jia Meili was a service, but what if Jia Meili herself did not need it?

If the tutoring had been imposed on Jia Meili by Zhang Wei, and she didn't want it herself, then Zhang Wei's demand for payment was clearly unreasonable.

It was not only Yang Qingquan who noticed Zhang Hui's intention, but other professors from the law school also realized it.

To negate the purpose of the tutoring, blurring Zhang Wei's own intentions.

"Is this your guess?" Zhang Wei spoke from the witness stand.

"No, right now I am asking you questions, Classmate Zhang Wei!" Zhang Hui tapped gently on the table in front of Zhang Wei with a very forceful attitude.

But faced with this threat, Zhang Wei simply ignored it and continued to ask, "But you are Jia Meili's agent, and all your actions must be in the interest of the client, protecting the client's interests, as required by the code of conduct for lawyers. So let me ask, does Classmate Jia Meili agree with this, that all my efforts were wishful thinking, just me being self-indulgent?"

Zhang Hui was helpless, as this fellow was impervious, actually using the code of conduct for lawyers to bind her.

But she had no choice, her questioning was itself on behalf of Jia Meili.

Jia Meili stood up from her seat and nodded, "Yes, Zhang Wei, I actually didn't need your tutoring from the start. It was you who insisted on tutoring me, and seeing your insistent attitude, I had no choice but to accept!"

She spoke these words with a sense of righteousness, without any burden.

In fact, this was indeed the case, it had been Zhang Wei who wanted to play the lackey, and she merely provided him the opportunity.

Seeing this, Zhang Wei opened his mouth.

"Zhang Wei, without my permission, please do not talk to my client on your own initiative!"

Zhang Hui immediately stood up to stop Zhang Wei from continuing to ask questions.

"It's still cross-examination time, and I have other questions!"

Zhang Hui continued to press on, "You mentioned before that my client and her best friend both attended your tutoring, is that correct?"

"Yes, Feng Li also participated," Zhang Wei nodded.

"But did you miss someone? As far as I know, there was a third girl who also received your tutoring. Her name is Xia Qianyue, and she's here in the courtroom today. What's more coincidental is that she's sitting in the plaintiff's seat!"

All eyes in the courtroom turned to the plaintiff's bench, focusing on Xia Qianyue.

Feeling the scorching gaze of those around her, Xia Qianyue, tough as she was, felt a bit nervous at the moment.

Zhang Wei promptly stood up to clarify: "That's right, Xia Qianyue also received tutoring!"

All eyes shifted back to Zhang Wei.

"So, as far as I know, Xia Qianyue also participated in the tutoring, so why didn't she pay you anything?"

"And I've also heard that you went shopping on Xiuyelou together during the weekend, and many East University students saw you. Is that correct?"

"Then I find it odd, why do you demand payment from my client but not from Miss Xia?"

Zhang Hui pressed on directly, "Can I interpret it to mean that you, seeing Classmate Jia Meili together with Yuan Dong, felt resentment and thus engaged in a series of retaliatory actions? And for Xia Qianyue, with whom you had a good relationship, you selectively overlooked payment, and this mock trial is all because you were resentful and seeking revenge?"

The jury and hearing committee erupted in commotion.

A boy liking a girl, not getting her, and then choosing revenge, this was the sensational news.

The entire venue was stirred up.

The eyes of the jury looking at Zhang Wei were filled with various emotions; there was disdain, disgust, as well as pity and sympathy.

They obviously felt Zhang Hui made sense, that Zhang Wei initiated this lawsuit as revenge against Jia Meili for choosing Yuan Dong, with the real motive being vengeance rather than seeking compensation.

"This Zhang Hui is no ordinary person. Within a few sentences, she has painted Zhang Wei as someone with impure motives, waiting to take revenge!"

In the front row of the hearing committee, Yang Qingquan nodded inwardly.

Although Zhang Hui's methods were somewhat unscrupulous, courtroom defense was like that, all kinds of tactics could be used, as long as they didn't break the law.

He had seen people using far dirtier and despicable tactics, and they still became great lawyers.

The other faculty professors sitting around Yang Qingquan couldn't help but lean in as well.

Naturally, he couldn't let the commotion in the venue continue, so he gave Geng Hongxia a look, and she quickly caught on.

"Order in the court!"

From the judge's bench, the sound of the gavel rang out, and the courtroom gradually quieted down.

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"Zhang Wei, faced with such a situation, do you still need to answer any questions?"

"Of course!"

Geng Hongxia didn't need to ask—Zhang Wei was already prepared to respond.

He took a deep breath and began, "I understand the accusation from the defense, they believe I intentionally retaliated against Jia Meili and selectively ignored classmate Xia Qianyue, but the truth is not so."

"Zhang Wei, you are standing in the witness stand now, you must be responsible for what you say!"

"Sister Zhang Hui, you don't need to remind me—I naturally know that!"

Zhang Wei nodded to Luo Xiaobu, who immediately understood and produced a plastic bag containing a piece of paper.

"The prosecution submits Evidence No. 2, bank transfer records!"

Luo Xiaobu jogged over to Geng Hongxia and handed the bag to her.

Zhang Wei immediately explained, "This is a bank transfer record, the accounts for the transferor and transferee are Xia Qianyue and myself, respectively, and the amount of money transferred is 100,000 yuan, which corresponds exactly to her tuition fee."

"Classmate Xia Qianyue thought my tutoring was very useful and paid the fees for it, I want everyone to understand this point," he said.

Seeing this, Zhang Hui hurried to the judge's bench and picked up the evidence bag.

"Wait a minute, why was this transfer made on a weekend?"

"Classmate Xia Qianyue didn't have that much money before. A hundred thousand yuan isn't a small amount, after all—she needed time to prepare."

"Then why, after the transfer, did the 100,000 yuan get transferred back to your account?"

"You are mistaken, the 100,000 yuan did not come back to me, that was money I paid to Xia Qianyue, and it has nothing to do with the tuition fee!"

"Are you joking?"

Zhang Hui raised the evidence and emphasized, "The two transactions were only 10 seconds apart. I strongly suspect that you have fabricated the evidence, deliberately creating a transaction record!"

She handed the evidence back to Geng Hongxia, "Your Honor, please look into the matter of Zhang Wei and Xia Qianyue fabricating evidence!"

"Zhang Wei, do you have anything to say about this? I think Zhang Hui has a point."

All eyes in the room were trained on him again.

"As I said, the two sums of money are different," he emphasized.

After that emphasis, Zhang Wei slowly said, "The first hundred thousand was tutoring fees transferred to me by classmate Xia Qianyue, while the second amount was my life-saving money!"

"Life-saving money?"

Not only Zhang Hui but also those at the judges' bench and in the witness stand were taken aback.

"That's right, life-saving money!"

Zhang Wei took a deep breath and spoke with an utmost serious tone, "Everyone must have heard about the incident I was involved in; it led to me being hospitalized for several days. But the truth is that classmate Xia Qianyue saved my life. Without her, I might have lost my life, so to express my gratitude to Xia Qianyue, I gave her this money as life-saving money."

"There's a saying, 'Life is priceless.' Human life is invaluable, so using a hundred thousand yuan to thank classmate Xia Qianyue shouldn't be an issue, right?"

He laughed self-deprecatingly, "Actually, I think that even two hundred thousand or a million wouldn't suffice to compensate Xia Qianyue. So this hundred thousand is just a token of my gratitude, her kindness is something I will never forget!"

Hearing Zhang Wei's reply, the crowd suddenly understood.

Zhang Wei having an incident had even been known among the students of the law school.

Those in the witness stand who hadn't been aware of it now grasped the full situation thanks to the explanations provided by those around them.

Their gaze towards Zhang Wei slowly shifted from suspicion to understanding.

After all, what's giving her a hundred thousand yuan in return, given that she saved one's life?

"Your Honor, are you satisfied with this explanation?"

"You mentioned that human life is paramount; naturally, the court will accept this explanation," said Geng Hongxia, nodding after some thought.

Having heard this, Zhang Hui had no further counter.

However, Zhang Wei didn't let the matter rest: "So now the question arises: Xia Qian has already paid the full amount of my tutoring fees. When will Jia Meili make her payment?"

"Zhang Wei, it is not your place to ask questions now!"

Zhang Hui quickly interjected, but both the jury and the audience turned their attention to Jia Meili in the defendant's seat.

Realizing the trouble, she could only plead with the judge, "Your Honor, the question Zhang Wei has just asked is out of order!"

"Agreed!"

After striking the gavel, Geng Hongxia declared, "The jury is instructed to disregard Zhang Wei's recent question. As a witness, he does not have the authority to ask questions!"

But even after saying that, she knew in her heart that the jury wouldn't really be able to ignore that question.

This Zhang Wei, was simply an old hand at court proceedings!

She glanced toward the witness stand, where Yang Qingquan made a slight gesture.

"Now, does the defense wish to ask any more questions?"

"No, our questioning is finished," Zhang Hui said after thinking it over, only able to shake her head helplessly.

This round of questioning had been calculated by Zhang Wei, forcing her to end it prematurely.

Zhang Wei smiled faintly and stepped down from the witness stand, returning to the plaintiff's seat.

"Your Honor, the plaintiff requests a 10-minute recess!" Just at that moment, Zhang Hui suddenly stood up, asking for a pause.

Geng Hongxia glanced at Zhang Wei, who gave no indication, and nodded her head, "The court agrees, we will recess for 10 minutes."

Zhang Hui immediately led Jia Meili and the others back to the backstage rest area, while Zhang Wei did not leave his seat.

After all, it wasn't he who was flustered, but his opponents.

Although the courtroom recessed for 10 minutes, the students in the audience did not move from their spots; this trial was too intriguing, and they feared losing their seats should they step out.

In contrast, it was Yang Qingquan in the front row of the witness stand who actively stood up and approached the defendant's seat.

"Zhang Wei, where did you learn these courtroom tactics? Those moves you used just now can't be performed by someone without a wealth of trial experience!"

"The Dean flatters me; I learned all this through self-study, and just now was merely a stroke of luck," Zhang Wei responded modestly.

But to Yang Qingquan, those words took on a different meaning.

This kid was definitely hiding something, but he couldn't figure out what it was.

"Hmm, you performed well; to suppress Zhang Hui like that on your first trial, and she's not just any student to deal with. Next up is the witnesses for the defense; do you feel confident?"

"Of course, I have some confidence, but there are no absolutes in court, and I won't make any promises!"

"Hahaha, well said; as lawyers, we can never make one hundred percent guarantees."

Yang Qingquan laughed and slowly walked back to the witness stand.

However, in his heart, he had already labeled Zhang Wei.

This little wheeler-dealer, always saying things just to appease others!

...

On the other side, in the preparation room.

Zhang Hui, Jia Meili, Yuan Dong, and Feng Li sat together surrounded by a heavy atmosphere, with no one opening their mouths first.

After a moment, Jia Meili finally spoke, "Senior, how does the situation look now?"

"The situation is extremely unfavorable for us; you saw it, Zhang Wei's last question could very well have swayed the jury."

"But didn't the judge tell them to disregard it?" Feng Li immediately pointed out.

"Foolish, do you really think the jury will forget that statement? Not only will they not forget it, but they will also remember it firmly," Zhang Hui couldn't help but lose her temper, shaking her head internally at how foolish her teammate was.

"Senior, what should we do?" Jia Meili, feeling anxious, was not willing to lose to a sycophant.

"The only option now is to have you take the stand at the end, I had the chance to break them when Zhang Wei took the stand himself, it seems I was naïve!"

Zhang Hui felt unwilling, and even began to doubt whether Zhang Wei had deliberately mentioned Feng Li initially, leading her to investigate Xia Qianyue, then taking advantage of being saved to set a trap.

And she had foolishly fallen for it, now forced into the current predicament.

If it really was like that, then Zhang Wei's scheming could be described as unfathomably deep, having calculated so many moves ahead.

She shook her head, dismissing the thought; how could an undergraduate from East University Law School think so far ahead? It must be a coincidence.

Yes, definitely a coincidence!

"Later, I will resubmit the witness list; you'll need to testify at the end, even if you have to pretend, make it as pitiful as you can, it's the safest method now!"

"Senior, I understand!"

Jia Meili nodded seriously, while a flash of annoyance appeared in her eyes.

Zhang Wei, that bootlicker, was really good at causing her trouble!