Chapter 1: Legal and Compliant! |
2002, October 1st. East Nation, Qingwu Province, Lüsen City.
4 PM. Huoju Street Commercial District. A lavishly decorated law firm called Jinmao Law Office.
Inside the bathroom.
Splash—!
A handful of ice-cold water splashed across his face, jolting Xu De back to partial consciousness.
He raised his head.
The mirror reflected a young, water-drenched face staring back at him. He stood there frozen, his gaze going distant.
After a long moment, two separate sets of memories finally finished sorting themselves out in his mind, and the situation became clear.
"I've transmigrated..."
In his previous life, he had worked in the field of law, serving as Chief Legal Officer—CLO—at a top-tier corporation. He had never made a single misstep in his entire career.
Right up until his last opponent: some drunk fool with the luck of the gods stumbling out of a gutter.
The result spoke for itself. A narrow defeat.
And so, he had transmigrated into this parallel world, into the body of his 2002 self.
And this world's version of him...
"Graduated from Yandu University in 1999. After completing his internship, he returned to Lüsen City and joined Jinmao Law Office."
"But shortly after joining, he was inexplicably targeted by a group leader who had been parachuted in through connections."
"And 'I'—having planned to get a feel for Lüsen City's legal environment before jumping ship to another firm—had not expected that while working at the law office, I would suffer a sudden sharp pain in my chest..."
Which led directly to the present moment: pulling himself up off the bathroom floor and standing before the sink.
"I'm a lawyer now?"
Xu De sank into thought. After a long moment, he exhaled slowly.
"At least the laws of the two worlds are the same."
The legal framework of this parallel world in 2002 was not significantly different from his previous life's. That, at least, saved him the week he would have spent hunting for legal loopholes.
As for why his very first instinct was to hunt for legal loopholes... that was none of anyone's business.
"Since I'm here, I might as well make the best of it. A lawyer... not bad. It's even halfway in my field. There's room to make something of myself."
But just as Xu De was mentally cataloguing the finer differences between this world and his own—
A shout erupted from outside the bathroom.
"Xu De! Xu De!"
"Where the hell is Xu De?!"
The voice drew nearer, eventually hollering through the main hall just outside the bathroom door. It sounded vaguely familiar.
Someone's looking for me.
Xu De paused, then pulled out a paper towel, dried his face, shut off the tap, and walked out.
---
Creak—
The bathroom door swung open, and the hall spread out before him.
Inside, a few figures in professional attire had gathered.
"Where is Xu De? It's the middle of the afternoon and he's disappeared again!"
"Attorney Xu wasn't feeling well earlier and went to—"
"Not feeling well? If everyone pulled that excuse, we might as well just shut this whole firm down!"
Group Leader Sun Hao glared at the assembled lawyers with evident displeasure.
The lawyers' expressions soured, but constrained by his position, they could only mutter under their breath:
"What, would it satisfy you if he dropped dead at his desk?"
The words were quiet, but Sun Hao caught them. His face darkened and he was about to blow up—
When Xu De's voice suddenly rang out.
"I'm here."
His voice echoed through the hall, and everyone instinctively turned to look.
There he was, walking steadily out from the bathroom doorway toward them.
Sun Hao swallowed his anger, shot a warning glare at the other lawyers, then turned to Xu De with a smile spreading across his face.
"Attorney Xu, not feeling well?"
Xu De's expression didn't change. "I'm fine."
This group leader was the connected insider who had been making his life difficult. Arrogant by nature.
"Good to hear." Sun Hao smiled, then pivoted smoothly, holding out a contract. "Didn't you say the other day you wanted the group to assign you some cases?"
"I had a look around—no criminal cases available. But..."
"The firm happens to have a Specialized Consultation today."
"The consultation fee is a full seven hundred yuan."
"The client is waiting for you now in Reception Room 103. Sign the contract and head over—don't keep them waiting."
Seven hundred yuan didn't sound like much.
But it wasn't, not in this era. In 2002, people with monthly incomes below one thousand yuan were as common as grass.
Of course, what caught Xu De's attention most wasn't the money. It was—
[Ding. Ordinary civil case detected ×1. Accept?]
[Civil Case Reward: Low probability of drawing one random Ordinary Skill from the client; high probability of receiving a quantity of Gratitude Coins.]
[Note: Reward quality improves with client satisfaction.]
Out of nowhere, a voice chimed in his mind, and a pale blue luminous panel materialized before his eyes.
---
[Current Status]
[Name: Xu De]
[Age: 25]
[Gratitude Coins: 0]
[Win Rate: None]
[Cases Accepted: None]
[Innate Skills: None]
---
What... was this?
Xu De's eyes flickered sharply. He glanced around—no one else seemed to notice the panel at all. He narrowed his eyes and continued studying it.
He hadn't responded yet, and someone beside him instinctively spoke up.
"Reception Room 103? The specialized consultation?"
The surrounding lawyers exchanged surprised looks, then furrowed their brows, crossing their arms.
"Leader Sun, isn't this a bit much? Attorney Xu is so young, he... he..."
Sun Hao had seen Xu De's interest pique, and when the others started to object, his expression darkened.
"Precisely because he's young—he needs to seize every opportunity!"
Another lawyer frowned. "But the client in Room 103 has been dragging on for a full month. Sending Attorney Xu to deal with this isn't exactly fair to him..."
Sun Hao brushed it off. "That just means the previous lawyers weren't capable enough. Attorney Xu is a top graduate!"
"Besides, the man himself hasn't said anything yet!"
Sun Hao turned and looked at Xu De, grinning. "Attorney Xu, what do you say?"
Xu De, who had been fully absorbed in studying the panel, was jolted back to reality.
He glanced at the looks the other lawyers were giving him, considered briefly, then made his decision with a thought.
[Accept.]
[Civil case accepted!]
[Note: Please do your utmost to satisfy the client!]
Watching the pale blue panel before him, Xu De hesitated for just a moment, then looked up.
"I'll give this case a shot."
With that, he took the contract from Sun Hao's outstretched hand and signed his name.
Sun Hao's face broke into a delighted grin—the grin of someone savoring another's misfortune.
"Excellent! As expected of a top graduate. I knew you had it in you."
He tucked one copy of the contract under his arm and headed off toward the accounting office.
The moment his figure disappeared—
The other lawyers couldn't hold themselves back.
"Attorney Xu, you shouldn't have taken this one. This case is a real headache!"
Xu De thought for a moment, then offered a simple explanation.
"What can I do—I've barely had any cases these past few months. Turn this one down, and I might as well go beg on the street."
"Don't worry. I know what I'm doing."
With that, he turned and walked toward Reception Room 103.
The other lawyers watched his retreating figure, words dying on their lips. In the end, all they could do was sigh.
"...Sigh."
---
Tap, tap, tap...
Footsteps echoed through the cold corridor.
Then stopped—in front of a door marked "103."
Xu De placed his hand on the door handle and pressed.
Creak—
The door opened.
The reception room was sparse: a sofa, a table, and a water dispenser in the corner.
As the gap widened, a man came into view—around thirty years old, square-jawed, dressed in a black suit, seated on the sofa. An ordinary enough face, with a silver watch on his wrist.
Xu De's heart stirred. He walked briskly to the other side of the table.
"Hello. I'm Attorney Xu De, the lawyer handling your specialized consultation today. You may call me Attorney Xu."
At the sound of movement, Zhang Hu opened his eyes. The moment he saw the young lawyer who had walked in, he blinked, and the deep furrow in his brow eased slightly.
"Your name?" Xu De retracted his assessing gaze.
"Zhang Hu," the man replied.
Xu De settled into the sofa, gave him a quick look, then spoke directly.
"Mr. Zhang, please tell me your situation again from the beginning."
Zhang Hu was silent. After a long moment, he drew a deep breath and said in a low, heavy voice:
"I've been cuckolded..."
At the very first words, Xu De's brow lifted slightly.
A matrimonial and emotional dispute case.
No wonder the firm hadn't been able to resolve it in a month. Cases like this were notoriously messy—no matter what you did, you could never fully satisfy the client. The fees were low, yet they dragged on endlessly.
Sun Hao had really handed him a hot potato...
Xu De laughed inwardly, but kept his expression neutral, turning his full attention back to Zhang Hu.
"Please continue."
Zhang Hu nodded. Lacing his fingers together, eyes fixed on the floor, he spoke slowly:
"I met that bitch back when I was in university. We got married right after I graduated."
"After the wedding, I was out there grinding away from dawn to dusk on my own. I never asked her to work. Hell, she didn't even have to cook a meal!"
"And what did she do? She turned around and got involved with some gym trainer, saying I don't know how to be romantic, that I'm stuffy and boring!"
"A while back, that bastard found out I own a food company..."
"After that, not only did he egg that slut on to divorce me and take the money—he actually reached out to me directly, sending me photos and videos of the two of them together!"
"I wasn't going to just take it, so I tried to take it to court. And then..."
As he spoke—
BANG.
Zhang Hu slammed his palm down on the table. His chest heaved violently.
Suppressing his rage, he ground out through clenched teeth:
"The court told me that adultery during a marriage is a moral matter—no criminal liability. And I'd still have to split half the assets in a divorce!"
"Thinking about those two pieces of filth sneaking around behind my back while I still have to pay them..."
"And if I wanted to vent my anger by having someone beat that bastard up, I'd be the one going to jail."
"I feel like I'm suffocating!"
He turned to Xu De, face dark with barely contained fury.
"I refuse to accept this."
Xu De nodded—he understood perfectly. But all he could do was shake his head.
"Your case is very difficult."
"Under the law, even a wife who has committed adultery retains the right to claim her share of marital assets in a divorce—unless she voluntarily waives it."
"But clearly, that's not going to happen."
The suffocation on Zhang Hu's face deepened. His fists clenched until the skin over his knuckles went white.
He had cycled through so many lawyers.
And every single one of them—
Every one had told him that division of assets was inevitable. Even if his wife had cheated, found a lover, even sent him photos and videos to rub his face in it, he still had to hand over the money like a clueless, spineless cuckold.
Suffocating.
Absolutely suffocating.
It wasn't even about the hundreds of thousands—Zhang Hu didn't want to give her a single cent.
But reality was brutal.
Divorce meant you couldn't escape the law on asset division.
Just as Zhang Hu was preparing to resign himself to his fate—
Xu De, who had been deep in thought, suddenly changed direction entirely.
"But... it's not completely without options."
If it were simply a matter of dividing assets, Xu De could easily offer a few suggestions. But—
The quality of the system's case rewards was tied directly to the client's level of satisfaction.
A standard asset division approach would, at best, make the client accept the outcome through gritted teeth. Not satisfied. Certainly not grateful.
In that case...
He would have to bring out something rarer.
A method that, in his previous life, had kept him firmly in his seat as Chief Legal Officer—without a single slip-up.
Zhang Hu blinked, wondering if he'd heard wrong. "Wh... what?"
"Mr. Zhang, from everything you've told me, what you actually want isn't really the divorce, or a smaller settlement. What you want is..."
"The ability to retaliate."
Xu De paused for a moment. Then he raised his eyes and looked directly at the man across from him.
His low voice, like a devil's whisper, coiled around Zhang Hu's ears with an irresistible pull:
"What if I told you I could make that retaliation..."
"Completely legal and fully compliant?"
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