“Yes, we are a family, so I won't say anything more and will leave this case to you,” An Yanyuan said with relief.
“We’ll take care of it,” Ye Jinghuai readily agreed.
For some unknown reason, An Nuan was a little moved by that reassuring moment.
If it had been Gu Yan Sheng, he would have definitely used being too busy as an excuse to find ways to refuse getting involved. But Ye Jinghuai had been actively and voluntarily participating all along.
In front of Ye Jinghuai, Gu Yan Sheng was truly worthless.
“Right, should we call Lawyer Hou over to discuss the court session next Friday together?” An Yanyuan suddenly remembered and urged.
“No,” An Nuan directly refused.
Ye Jinghuai and An Yanyuan looked at her in surprise.
“Lawyer Hou has to help me fight the lawsuit. If he’s not familiar with the case, he can’t defend me well,” An Yanyuan explained.
“Hou Ning can also be bought off,” An Nuan enunciated word for word.
An Yanyuan didn't seem to quite believe that.
“Right now I don't trust anyone,” An Nuan could see her dad's doubts. “Since they could falsely accuse me, they must have made thorough preparations. Isn’t bribing the opponent's lawyer a common tactic?”
The reasoning made sense.
But Hou Ning had known him for many years.
It shouldn’t have gone so far that he would really sell him out!
“Dad, can you try defending yourself?” An Nuan asked.
According to North Wen Country's laws, in court, the only person who could serve as defense counsel other than hiring a professional lawyer was the defendant themselves.
She didn’t want to hire any lawyer.
Any lawyer might betray them halfway through.
Once the lawyer was bribed, they would be worthless in court, or even worse, negative value.
Because the lawyer would help the prosecution speed up or even exacerbate her dad’s sentencing.
“When facing my own employees, I can still intimidate them a bit, but having to suddenly plead my case in court, I really don’t have full confidence,” An Yanyuan clearly rejected the idea.
An Nuan pursed her lips.
Forcing her dad to serve as his own defense counsel...
The prosecutors they would be facing were definitely the top lawyers nationwide. With her dad’s defense skills, she didn’t actually feel it would be a perfect solution either.
But...
It was truly so difficult to find a trustworthy lawyer.
She had interacted with too few people in her past life and even fewer lawyers.
She had no confidence in who might switch sides halfway through at all.
“If we really can’t find a suitable lawyer, how about I try?” Ye Jinghuai suddenly spoke up.
An Nuan frowned.
What kind of mess was he stirring up now?
“I have a lawyer's license,” Ye Jinghuai said.
An Nuan was astonished.
So were An Yanyuan and Li YaJu.
Everyone knew that the requirements to pass the bar exam in North Wen Country were extremely strict. Being able to obtain a lawyer's license not only required strong memory, logical reasoning, but also adaptability to respond on the spot. It could be said they were the elite of the elite students.
"When did you take the exam?" An Nuan struggled to keep calm as she asked.
"When I was in university."
"As an elective?"
"No, just took it as an amateur candidate through the lawyers' association."
"..." That made it even more difficult.
Universities were usually more lenient toward their own students taking the bar exam.
Once leaving campus, passing the exam through the lawyers association was like picking one out of ten thousand.
"Do you know licensed lawyers have to take yearly qualifying exams to renew their license?"
"I just passed it before getting married," Ye Jinghuai replied.
“You’re truly a time management wizard!” An Nuan couldn't help but retort sarcastically.
She didn't know whether she was praising him or mocking him.
After all, a man who spent everyday chasing girls and topping the trending searches actually still had time to study and even succeeded!
"Does my wife have any other doubts?" Ye Jinghuai smiled lightly at the corners of his mouth.
His tone was extremely gentle.
To An Yanyuan and Li YaJu’s ears, it was Ye Jinghuai doting on An Nuan.
The two elders were naturally overjoyed.
"Have you appeared in court before?" An Nuan asked.
"Do college debate competitions count?" Ye Jinghuai asked in response.
"..." Was she allowed to beat him to death?! She forced herself to stay calm. "How many debate matches did you win?"
"Lost in the first round."
She told herself not to panic.
Ye Jinghuai always had extraordinary abilities beyond ordinary people.
She should have hope in him.
But...how could she not panic?!
Good grades didn't equal good oratory skills, good oratory skills didn't equal good litigation skills.
"Other than me, do you have any other options?" Ye Jinghuai bluntly pointed out her dilemma.
An Nuan suddenly calmed down.
He was right.
She didn't even have a choice to deliberate over.
"Then it's decided. You'll help my dad fight this lawsuit. Dad, do you have any objections?"
On this matter, An Yanyuan was actually more broad-minded than An Nuan. "I agree."
He felt...
Although Ye Jinghuai looked a little unprofessional on the surface, he wouldn't do things he wasn't confident about.
And he could tell...
Ye Jinghuai truly loved his daughter.
Since it was true love, he certainly wouldn't let his daughter down.
Having Ye Jinghuai help him fight this lawsuit, he suddenly felt their odds of winning were very high.
After discussing some more case details together, An Nuan and Ye Jinghuai didn't leave An family villa until after dinner.
The two of them sat in the car.
An Nuan casually picked up her phone to check the news.
Then her expression changed.
"What's wrong?" Ye Jinghuai seemed able to instantly notice her change in mood.
It felt...like his full attention was placed on her.
If she so much as shifted slightly, he could immediately perceive it.
"My grandma is making trouble again."
"Hm?" Ye Jinghuai moved a little closer.
He looked at An Nuan's phone screen which said: An elderly Madam An announces severing mother-son ties with An Group Chairman An Yanyuan.
An Nuan tapped to open the full article for Ye Jinghuai to see.
Reading every word made her nearly die from anger.
It said how extremely unfilial her dad was to her grandma. Not only would he never visit her at the old house, every time they met he would hurl abuse at her. It even said her dad would secretly beat her grandma.
It said if not for her big uncle accompanying her grandma and caring for her, she would have entered a coffin long ago.
It said her dad's lack of filial piety also caused her to be extremely unruly. She showed no respect whatsoever to her grandma either and would talk back in any situation, even going so far as to frequently curse at her.
It even said An Group was something her dad had obtained through improper means, not truly left to him by her grandfather...
“Should I teach your grandma a lesson?” Ye Jinghuai asked.
Compared to An Nuan who was practically bursting from anger at the moment...
Ye Jinghuai was relatively calm.
Within that calmness, there also seemed to be a hint of cruelty.
Bloody cruelty...
“No need,” An Nuan refused. “I have ways to deal with her.”
“For such an unreasonable person, I don’t think you need to show her courtesy,” Ye Jinghuai said.
Show her courtesy?!
She only wanted her grandma to understand clearly...
That a coffin wasn't the worst possible outcome.
A fate worse than death existed!