MTB - Chapter 34
Chapter 34: The Law Firm and an "Old Acquaintance"
As November approached, the temperature dropped to single digits with visible speed. The dry, cold evening wind of Beicheng swept up withered leaves. Amidst the hurrying pedestrians, Tang Yuelou spotted Yun Yang sitting in the bus shelter at a single glance.
She was wearing a hat and talking to someone on the phone. Though her expression was one of impatience, she forced herself to respond with good-natured words. Guan Yan paced anxiously beside her.
“...The university will definitely give you an explanation. If this really blows up, it won’t be good for you either. For a young girl, this sort of thing isn’t exactly glorious, right?”
Yun Yang hooked the edge of her mask with her finger but didn’t reply.
Her silence made the person on the other end think she was considering their words, so they continued their gentle persuasion. “Whether or not he’s disciplined, and how he’s disciplined, that’s an internal matter for our university. If word gets out, it won’t just be you; our school’s reputation will suffer too. So there’s no need to file a police report. Let’s just keep this quiet for now and handle it slowly. For now, just stay in your dorm and don’t run around. We can discuss this slowly, okay?”
Yun Yang hung up the phone.
“Your counselor knows? What did she say?” Guan Yan asked hurriedly. “Did you tell her you were going to the police?”
“I didn’t. She told me to calm down first,” Yun Yang answered.
She was about to put her mask back on, but then a rather familiar-looking female student at the bus stop glanced her way while whispering to a companion. A wave of annoyance washed over Yun Yang. She ripped the mask off, met the other girl’s gaze with a defiant look, and even gave her a magnanimous greeting.
Most people weren’t any braver in real life than they were online. Few dared to gossip about someone to their face. Seeing this, the student wished she could retreat a hundred paces, at most casting a malicious glance before hurrying past.
“Why isn’t she here yet,” Yun Yang muttered to herself, hooking the edge of her mask.
Guan Yan didn’t quite hear her and asked instinctively, “Who?”
“Tang Yuelou.”
Yun Yang kicked a small pebble at her feet, and it happened to hit the pant leg of a person standing two steps away.
She slowly raised her head, her gaze sliding over Tang Yuelou’s pant leg and the hem of her coat. Then Tang Yuelou reached out and took off her hat.
“This scene feels familiar,” Yun Yang commented.
She looked as if she had just been crying. The corners of her eyes were still tinged with red, and a few lashes were damply stuck to her eyelids. Tang Yuelou’s heart skipped a beat. She crouched down and gently brushed Yun Yang’s eyelashes. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah.” Yun Yang sniffled. “I knew I should’ve waited until I was inside the police station to hit the table. The pain’s almost gone now.”
Tang Yuelou was speechless.
Seeing that the girl was still in the mood to joke, she finally relaxed a little. “Does Teacher Liu know?”
Yun Yang and Guan Yan exchanged a look.
“Was that Teacher Liu who just called? Sorry, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop.” Tang Yuelou understood the gist of it. “She told you to let the matter die down, right? It’s true that teachers don’t want this kind of scandal to get out.”
“Yangyang, actually, I also think… First off, I’m not trying to speak up for Chen Hao,” Guan Yan said, choosing her words carefully. “I just asked a senior from the law department, and he said that even if you sue him, the most you’ll get is some money… I don’t really get it, but can this even get him locked up? Our university is so small, we’re bound to run into each other. What if he tries to retaliate against you in the future?”
Yun Yang lowered her head, her fingers twisting the strap of her mask without a word.
Tang Yuelou glanced around. Passing students were casting intentional or unintentional glances their way. She bent down, put the hat back on Yun Yang’s head, and gently smoothed the long hair that fell to one side. “Yangyang…” she began.
“In middle school, there was a boy in my class who pestered me constantly,” Yun Yang suddenly interrupted. “He went around telling everyone we were dating and that we’d slept together. I was probably the last person in the entire school to find out, and I heard it from a friend who’d cut ties with me because she had a crush on him.”
Guan Yan froze, her eyes wide with shock. “Yangyang?!”
“I was young and naive, and my dad didn’t give a damn about me, so my first reaction was to tell the teacher.” She gave a bitter laugh. “The result was that we were both punished with writing a self-criticism essay. My homeroom teacher, that woman, told me to let the matter drop, that girls should have some self-respect and keep their distance from boys.”
From that day on, she had two phrases she hated most in the world—one was “let the matter die down,” and the other was “it takes two to tango.”
Guan Yan fell silent.
She opened her mouth, but it took a long while before she found her voice. “I’m sorry.”
Yun Yang shook her head. “No, I should be thanking you.”
Her emotions had been on a rollercoaster this short afternoon. Guan Yan, who rarely cried, was so moved by that “thank you” that she was stunned by a mix of feelings and nearly burst into tears on the spot. For a moment, she didn’t know how to respond. It wasn’t until Yun Yang looked at her with an “are you okay” expression that Guan Yan rubbed her nose, nodded emphatically, and took on a surprisingly righteous air.
“Alright, we’re going to sue him into the ground today!” Guan Yan took a deep breath and rolled up her sleeves. “Do we need to find a lawyer first? I know a senior who works at a law firm. By the way, is this a criminal case or a civil case?”
Yun Yang was speechless.
“...No problem, you can file a private prosecution directly. The court will accept it.” Ouyang Jun carefully examined the screenshots Yun Yang provided, then turned to Tang Yuelou. “Kids this age generally don’t have much ability to handle major issues. Even if it doesn’t go all the way, just going through this process is enough to scare most of them. The deterrent effect is what’s most important, so choosing the legal route is the right decision, and a very brave one.”
She gave Yun Yang an approving look. Yun Yang clutched the water cup in her hands and mumbled an affirmation.
It was truly a coincidence. Tang Yuelou didn’t know any lawyers in this field, so she had contacted Ye Ziqiu before coming. That troublemaker Ye Ziqiu, whether intentionally or just because she was busy, took ages to reply and casually sent her a WeChat contact. Because the matter was urgent, Tang Yuelou contacted the recommended lawyer directly.
She didn’t have Ouyang Jun’s WeChat, so it was only after adding her that she realized it was an “old acquaintance.”
If their last meeting had an element of Ouyang Jun’s intention, this time was a complete accident. Although the atmosphere was a bit awkward, Tang Yuelou skipped the pleasantries on the phone and got straight to the point. Ouyang Jun hesitated briefly before saying they could come to the law firm to discuss it in detail if they had time.
Yun Yang had no reason to avoid this ex-girlfriend of Tang Yuelou’s, whom she had met once. So, despite her reluctance, she trusted in Ouyang Jun’s professionalism as a lawyer and agreed.
Now, receiving this affirmation, Yun Yang didn’t feel particularly happy. Just then, the door to the break room opened with a soft creak. Tang Yuelou, having finished her call, came in and sat down right beside her.
As if sensing her mood, Tang Yuelou reassuringly took her hand under the table.
For some inexplicable reason, Yun Yang felt annoyed and pulled her hand back.
The law firm’s break room had a long table. The two of them were sitting on the same side. Ouyang Jun, on the opposite side, didn’t notice this small movement. Guan Yan, being the straightforward person she was, was more curious about the law firm itself than her friend’s mood and kept peeking out through the glass, paying even less attention.
So Yun Yang grew bolder. When Tang Yuelou tried to touch her palm again in a gesture of goodwill, she slapped it hard.
With a crisp sound, everyone’s head snapped in their direction. Yun Yang was so embarrassed she wished she could find a hole to crawl into.
“By the way, I have a copy of the surveillance footage here. I don’t know if it’ll be useful.” Tang Yuelou, her expression unchanged, was the first to break the awkward silence. She took a USB drive from her pocket. “It’s from the KTV hallway on the day you fought.”
Ouyang Jun nodded. “Let me take a look.”
She got up to get a laptop. Yun Yang glanced in her direction, then shot Tang Yuelou a glare. “No wonder you made me wait by the road for so long.”
“I’m sorry,” Tang Yuelou apologized readily. “Am I forgiven?”
Yun Yang scoffed.
“Were you allowed to get that?” Guan Yan pointed at the USB drive curiously. “Can KTVs just show their surveillance footage to outsiders?”
“I’m not exactly an outsider. This KTV is under my father’s name,” Tang Yuelou said without batting an eye.
Guan Yan nearly spat out a mouthful of water.
“I’m sorry, I admit I was very rude to both you and Yun Yang before.” She offered her water cup with both hands respectfully. “If I start calling you President Tang now, is it too late to latch onto you?”
“Thank you.” Tang Yuelou smiled politely. “But ‘President Tang’ is my father. People don’t usually call me that.”
Yun Yang knew she didn’t like talking about this and was about to change the subject when the phone on the table rang.
It was Teacher Liu.
In the hour it took to get from the bus stop to the law firm, Yun Yang had already received three calls from her. Now, just seeing the caller ID gave her a reflexive headache. She was about to ignore it out of sight, out of mind, but Tang Yuelou said, “It’s fine, take it. Teacher Liu is just concerned about you. I just spoke with her. If she still says something that upsets you, just give me the phone.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
Half-convinced, Yun Yang went outside to take the call. Before leaving, her gaze shifted between Guan Yan and Tang Yuelou, and she pointed at Guan Yan. “Can you come with me?”
Guan Yan met Tang Yuelou’s faintly smiling eyes and felt an inexplicable chill run down her spine. She quickly scurried after Yun Yang.
When Ouyang Jun returned with the laptop, only Tang Yuelou was left in the break room. She pushed open the door, and Tang Yuelou looked up. Their eyes met. Tang Yuelou said apologetically, “I’m sorry to trouble you with this.”
“It’s no trouble.” Ouyang Jun hesitated for a moment but didn’t close the door. She set down the laptop and took a paper cup from the cabinet. “Although outsiders might see these cases as big or small, in my view, the harm suffered by the victim is very real. Besides, a lawyer’s reputation isn’t built just by taking on major cases. Who knows, maybe one day I’ll be the one thanking you.”
“In any case, thank you.”
Ouyang Jun nodded.
As she filled her cup at the water cooler, she could hear Yun Yang and Guan Yan talking to their counselor on the phone through the open door, the sounds mingling with the gurgle of water from the dispenser. Ouyang Jun was silent for a moment before saying, out of the blue, “They’re very different, aren’t they?”
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