Tacitus in love, Plato in trap

Chapter 18 Chaos & Comfort

Five past two.

Fang Quan sat restlessly on his seat and shook his legs.

"too slow……"

"Tsk, don't make trouble, it will be fine soon!"

"I said Yi... Chief Justice, don't be so leisurely just because there is no court session this afternoon!" Fang Quan jumped up, "This afternoon I have to go to the housing management bureaus in the district and the city, and I have to go to a bank to renew the freeze. It's very tight, so please don't relax here, okay?!"

"It's so noisy!" Yi Zhongming pushed the keyboard hard into the table, and said impatiently, "I almost didn't finish this paragraph, once you urged me, I couldn't write it at all!"

"Then you go back and write, anyway, you have plenty of time when you go back..."

"I have a case to write when I go back." Yi Zhongming packed up his briefcase sadly, "By the way, remember to bring that child's work permit with you."

"Which time do I not take it with me when I go out?" Chong Yi Zhongming rolled his eyes, and Fang Quan took out the work card from his pocket. This is Yi Zhongming's successor and sister Ping's predecessor, a man named Xing Jin. left by the clerk.According to Yi Zhongming's first meeting, this young man who was not much older than him unfortunately fell from upstairs after only working for more than half a year. Because of the serious injury, he could not return to work in a short time, so his work permit has been kept. It's all used by Fang Quan, a non-staff.

"Will he come back again?" Fang Quan muttered to himself.

"Probably not?" Yi Zhongming said.

"Isn't healed yet, Hurt?"

"The injuries on my body are probably almost gone, but after being so stimulated, I guess it's impossible to come back to work."

"Huh? Exciting?" Fang Quan frowned after Yi Zhongming walked out of the office after packing up, "Isn't it just a fall from upstairs? This kind of stimulation will make a person unable to continue working." ?"

"...Forget it, let me pretend that I haven't mentioned this..."

With his back to Fang Quan, Yi Zhongming waved his hand.He opened the iron door leading to the first floor. Brother Hou, the bailiff and driver, was already waiting for them in the hall. The three of them walked out of the court gate and walked down the last flight of stairs to the street.Just at this time, a group of people—about a dozen or twenty men and women/female—also climbed the stairs aggressively.

"Fang Quan, hurry up, go back!"

"What's the matter - woo!!!"

Being dragged by the arm, Fang Quan retreated into the courtyard chaotically under Yi Zhongming's drag - in fact, this is not accurate, because the rapidly advancing crowd was also pushing them inside.

"Excuse me, are you - wait! - ah!!!"

Hearing Brother Hou's mournful cry, Fang Quan hurriedly turned his head. Brother Hou, who was in charge of blocking the crowd, had been backlashed and disappeared. Only the blunt sound of being hit and the shrill screams echoed in the hall.

"Brother Hou!" Fang Quan tried to break free from Yi Zhongming's shackles to save him, but was pushed into the iron gate by Yi Zhongming.

"If you don't want to be beaten like Brother Hou, just stay here!" Yi Zhongming quickly closed the iron door and leaned his whole back against it.

"But...well..." Fang Quan stood where he was, biting his lips tightly, "What is the origin of this group of people?"

"How would I know?" Yi Zhongming laughed dryly, "Didn't you see that they started attacking before they reported themselves!"

Whoa!

There was a crackling sound outside—probably the glass door to the courtroom entrance had been knocked down.

"Fang Quan, come here quickly," Yi Zhongming turned sideways and greeted Fang Quan, "Hold against the door and grit your teeth."

"Grit your teeth?! - Woohoo!"

Whoa! ! !

This time the sound of "crash" was heard more clearly, because it came from the door that Fang Quan and Yi Zhongming were blocking.When Fang Quan came into close contact with the strong vibration, he felt his brain buzzing.

"Why - wooah!!!"

Before he could finish expressing his emotions, the next impact struck mercilessly.

"There's no reason!" Yi Zhongming squeezed out these words through clenched teeth, "You just need to know, if you can't keep here, everyone will be finished!"

"Well……"

Fang Quan closed his eyes, allowing his body to bear the impact from the door.Like other facilities in this first-class court, the iron door installed at the stairway is also an "antique", so under the action of external force, it will not make a thick "boom" sound like a home anti-theft door. Instead, it rattles back and forth like a branch in a gust of wind—and, as the impact continues, the ominous clatter grows harsher.

"What happened?"

Hearing this "tremendous" movement, the chief judge, sister Ping and even Judge Zheng also quickly came down to check the situation.

"As you see! See! We are! We are! Shocked!"

Fang Quan responded loudly—under the shock, he couldn't even speak coherently.

"Who's hitting? What's going on?"

"I don't know! I'm not a party to my case anyway!" Yi Zhongming took advantage of the gap between the opponent's attack and switched sides to hold the door, "They beat Brother Hou as soon as they came in without saying a word, and now——uh!"

"What, there are some unreasonable people here again..." A trace of helplessness flashed in the judge's eyes, but she cheered up in the next second, and she kicked off her high-heeled shoes quickly. Between Yi Zhongming and Fang Quan, stand against the rattling iron gate.

"President, you—" Fang Quan was shocked from ear to ear.

"Oh, shoes? If you want to wear those, I think this group of people of unknown origin will break my ankle." Judge Gong turned to Sister Ping, who was about three stairs away from the iron gate, "What are you doing standing there stupidly! Come down quickly and help hold it up!"

It was probably the first time for Sister Ping to see this kind of formation. From just now, she only dared to stare at the iron gate that was shaking with the impact with a pale face. When she heard the chief judge's call, she took a deep breath as if she had made up her mind. , sandwiched between Fang Quan and the president, blocked the door very hard.Seeing her trying her best, Fang Quan's heart was inexplicably moved and sad.

"Wang Ping, you didn't choose the right point of strength." Judge Zheng staggered down while supporting the handrail of the stairs, "Come on, Xiao Fang, get out of the way, let me teach young people how to use strength."

"Wait, Judge Zheng!" Fang Fangquan was completely at a loss, "You... your legs... and your heart..."

"Isn't the time to talk about this?" Judge Zheng smiled slightly, "Besides, how many years have I been a judge, don't you still believe me?"

"..."

Fang Quan lowered his head and walked up a few steps in silence, leaving room for Judge Zheng.I don't know if it's my own illusion or what, but after Judge Zheng went up, the vibration of the door seemed to be a little smaller than before.

...What are you doing? I can't even do such a simple thing as door opening...

"Xiao Fang, it's just right," the chief judge shouted to Fang Quan, who was in a daze, "Hurry up and call 110, this door probably won't last long!"

"Before JC rushes over, this door probably won't be able to hold on anymore, right?" Yi Zhongming looked up at the upper edge of the door, predicting pessimistically, "If they can feel tired and take a little rest..."

"Someone has to divert their attention." Although Judge Zheng was short of breath, her tone was still calm, "But it's too dangerous to go out from here now, the stairs in my office that lead to the mediation room... should be the door. Can you still drive it?"

"I'll go!" The judge stood up straight, took the key from Judge Zheng, straightened his clothes, and walked up the steps barefoot, "Even if this kind of judge starts to attack without asking questions, see the judge, see Women, you will restrain yourself a little, right?"

"No! You can't go! It's too dangerous!" Out of courage, Fang Quan opened his arms and blocked the way of the judge, "As you said, those people are the ones who started attacking indiscriminately. , so seeing the judge come out, even if it's a woman, it's probably just for them to vent their anger, right?"

"Huh?" The judge raised his brows upside down.

"So let me do things that attract attention!"

Before the brain could react, Fang Quan's mouth threw out these words without authorization.

"Xiao Fang, you..."

Seeing the chief judge staring at him in a daze, Fang Quan took the opportunity to snatch the key from her hand, turned around and climbed up the corner, and grinned back at her: "The boy you wanted so much before shouldn't come forward in this situation out?"

While moving towards the destination, Fang Quan finished calling 110. The wooden door leading downstairs in Judge Zheng's office cost him a little more effort, but the rest basically went smoothly.Under the action of adrenaline, not only did he walk lightly/lightly, but the smiling muscles on his face also remained stretched and could not be retracted at all.

... How can I still laugh so happily at such a critical moment, I have no sense of crisis!

But from another perspective, maybe this is also a manifestation of his calmness in the face of danger?

The stairs led to what I always thought was the grocery room. Fang Quan slipped out lightly, trying to resist the urge to rush to Hou Ge and Lao Wang, who were lying on the glass slag with blood, and calmly He yelled at the group of thugs: "Stop it quickly! We have already called the police!"

"Haha, what a joke!" A middle-aged woman with short curly hair sneered and turned around, "What's the use of calling the police? Do you think we will be afraid of JC?"

"It's beating people and knocking on doors again. Do you know what you are doing?" Fang Quan replied righteously.

Well, while the banging over there doesn't seem to have completely stopped, at least some of the people are being drawn to themselves.

"This little brother is so new, isn't he new here?" The woman moved closer, "Before you ask us what we did, you should ask what you have done! We smashed this black yamen just to do justice for the heavens." That's all!"

"If you have any questions, please speak up! Why do you have to..." Seeing a few men holding bricks and sticks also approaching him, Fang Quan felt the adrenaline in his body evaporate instantly, and his legs became weak , "How about...?"

"What else can I talk to you people?" The woman grinned and said, looking at it, she might really have a blood feud with this first-class court, "It won't be enough to tear you all to pieces!"

As she said that, she turned around and continued to command the door-slamming team, while the remaining men continued to move closer to Fang Quan—too badly, not only did she not attract enough of their attention, she even made herself an unnecessary The sacrifice of the victim is really not worth the candle...

Just when Fang Quan closed his eyes, preparing to face the consequences of his impulsiveness——

"Hey, isn't this Aunt He? What wind brought you here?"

Suddenly, a familiar, carefree voice sounded from behind.

"Yi...Yi Zhongming?!"

This guy, what's he doing here instead of helping a few ladies to hold the door? ? ? ! ! !

"You—wait, I remember you!" The middle-aged woman just now, that is, "Aunt He" in Yi Zhongming's mouth, rushed forward in three steps at a time, almost getting close to Yi Zhongming's face , "This time it must be a good thing you did!"

"Me?" Yi Zhongming looked very calm, "What did I do?"

"Stop pretending to me!" Aunt He's voice immediately raised an octave, "That mediation statement must have been written by you, a little clerk!"

Mediation?Fang Quan frowned.

Since it's mediation, why do they want to...

"Aunt He," Yi Zhongming chuckled, "First of all, if I remember correctly, your case is with Judge Zheng; secondly, I am now a judge, not a clerk; and again——"

"What? You're a judge now?" Aunt He's face wrinkled into a ball, "Stop lying! When I came to file a lawsuit last year, weren't you still Judge Zheng's clerk?"

"Oh," Yi Zhongming raised his face, "Is it true that I have been a clerk before, so I have to be a clerk for the rest of my life?"

"Wh-hey, did you all hear that just now?" Aunt He greeted the surroundings, and even the people who were knocking on the door stopped, "This bastard yamen not only embezzled our litigation fees, but also let the clerk Be a judge! Oh my god, we are really 'doing justice for the sky' by coming here today!"

"I see," Yi Zhongming nodded thoughtfully, seemingly completely unaware of the gathering of people around him. "Is it because the lawsuit/legal fee was miscalculated? Can you elaborate—"

"Who will stop talking like this!" Aunt He snatched a brick from the hand of the person next to her, "Smash the black yamen, let's start by smashing you!"

Smash...?

Brick...?

!!!

Fang Quan gasped, and threw himself forward: "Dangerous, Yi—"

boom!

One step too late.

"Yi Zhongming..."

The world in front of me seems to have lost its color, everything is just black and white, only a touch of red remains, it trickles down slowly along Yi Zhongming's temples, drop by drop...

"Yi Zhongming!!!"

*******************************************************************************

"...Then JC came, and they ran into the courtroom and stood on tables and chairs such as the trial table, the plaintiff's seat, the defendant's seat, and even if JC asked them to get down, they would not move. , they still didn't move. Then the dean in charge came..."

"I know all of this. Just tell me about what happened after that—after I went to the hospital with them."

Fang Quan turned his face and looked at Yi Zhongming. If the gauze and glasses were removed, Yi Zhongming, who had turned into a yin and yang head, looked like a member of a punk band. But seeing such a ridiculous Yi Zhongming, Fang Quan could only feel deeply. guilt and sadness.

"Say it!" Yi Zhongming urged impatiently, "Could it be that you were beaten just now and your brain slowed down?"

"I—wait, where is this?"

Because the hospital is not very far from the court, the two decided to walk back to the court after visiting Brother Hou, who needed to be hospitalized, and sending away the scratched Lao Wang, but now they were walking, and they didn’t know why they came to a lakeside park. inside.

"Forget it, I know the way back anyway..." Fang Quan sighed, and continued to explain what happened in the afternoon, "Where did the talk come from? Oh, by the way, didn't the dean in charge come? Then you go The hospital, the dean worked with the group of people for nearly an hour, and made various guarantees in the middle, they got off the table and chairs, went back, and the matter came to an end. Then the dean severely scolded A few of us were left, and after the dean left/the head of the court scolded Sister Ping severely——Sister Ping was scolded and cried—but the mediation paper that forgot to sue/was charged in half was indeed true. It was written by Sister Ping on behalf of Judge Zheng. After that, I followed the judge to the hospital to see you... Well, it's gone..."

"Is that so..."

Yi Zhongming nodded stiffly.

"Also... I don't know if it's appropriate to say this..." In order to prevent bumping into the runners, Fang Quan moved towards the inner road, almost rubbing against Yi Zhongming, "If you weren't here at that time, I'm afraid I was the one who got the stitches and was hospitalized...Thank you..."

"No way, attracting attention or something, you are not that kind of material, coupled with their dangerous behavior, no matter how reasonable we are, it is basically a certainty that we will be beaten. Instead of letting you, Lin Daiyu with a handle, take the risk Life is in danger, why not let a tough guy like me go up to it, besides, you are my precious clerk! So I didn't think much about it at the time—”

"Just what?" Hearing that Yi Zhongming's words stopped abruptly, Fang Quan turned to look at him curiously.

"...It's nothing." Yi Zhongming turned his head to look at the dark lake, as if he didn't want to continue this topic.

Then, the two fell into an awkward silence again.After walking half a circle around the lake, they came to a secluded bamboo forest by the lake, sat down on a long stone bench, and he asked again: "The group of people who came to make trouble... Are they all right?"

"Huh?" Hearing Yi Zhongming's question, Fang Quan, who had just sat down, almost jumped up in shock, "What can they do? Even JC dare not do anything to them?!"

"Then... are there many onlookers? Are there any reporters?"

"The onlookers... are okay, not many. As for the reporters, I haven't seen them."

"It should be that there are no reporters, very good, very good. This matter is so good..."

"What's so good?! How do you talk to the dean and the others?" Fang Quan said angrily, "I don't understand. We were the ones who were smashed and several people were injured for no reason. Why should we be criticized? ? Why can those perpetrators go back as if nothing happened, without any punishment?"

"Because this matter didn't make a big splash." Yi Zhongming said calmly, "Besides, there is a lawsuit/legal fee on our side that forgot to halve the charge. It's the fault first, isn't it?"

"Then we deserve to be beaten and smashed by them?" Fang Quan's voice raised an octave, "Their faults are not equal to our faults at all!"

"It doesn't matter anyway..." Yi Zhongming tried to scratch his scalp with stitches, but when he remembered the doctor's order, he stopped in mid-air, "To be honest, in a place like ours, as long as things don't If things go wrong, as long as things are still within the controllable range, they are all small things, and they are all good situations that can be salvaged. As for our working environment and what happened to the staff, the people above them will not care about it!"

"...Then what do you think?" After listening to Yi Zhongming's words, Fang Quan lowered his head and asked softly, "Are you willing to encounter such a thing?"

"What do I think? How can I think?!" Yi Zhongming laughed dryly, "Is it useful for a person like me to think about this kind of question?"

"Huh? What do you mean 'someone like you'?"

"A person like me is just like me!" Yi Zhongming's shoulders trembled, "I was born as a dispensable existence, and my thoughts became popular to dispensable majors, and I was doing a lot of work on solving conflicts and educating the public. It is a dispensable job, but it bears the name of "civil servant" and "law/official" which are easy to attract right and wrong. Under such circumstances, if today I am unfortunately shot to death by a brick or Seriously injured, then when this incident spreads on the Internet, everyone's comments should be "deserved", "good fight", "one less corrupt/official official" and so on? So no matter what people like me think No matter what you do, no one will care..."

"What nonsense!" A nameless anger rose in his chest, and Fang Quan stood up abruptly, "Didn't the judge come to see you as soon as the matter came to an end? Didn’t you care about the situation of the wounded in the end, dean who was showered?”

"Oh," Yi Zhongming's tone was neither salty nor dull, as if he was talking about tomorrow's weather, "That's just a polite way of saying-"

"——and I'm worried too!" Fang Quan roared out with a flushed face, and several birds in the bamboo forest were frightened and flew away by him, "You know, what happened on that board? After the brick fell on your head, I couldn't concentrate at all!"

Yi Zhongming was stunned for a moment, and then sneered: "What kind of sympathy, you don't need to follow that trend..."

"Who is following the trend! I said what is going on with you? You have such a negative attitude when others treat you badly, and now you still have such a negative attitude when others treat you well. It's strange, you! Others ——No, I care about you, is it so unacceptable to you?" Seeing that Yi Zhongming turned his head and said nothing, Fang Quan sat down beside Yi Zhongming again, and said slowly, "Probably Seven years ago..."

"Hey, isn't your mind jumping too much?"

"Thinking jumps, I just learned from you!" Fang Quan stuck out his tongue at Yi Zhongming, and continued to tell his own story, "About seven years ago, I was a citizen of Sanshui City just like you. At that time, my family had a small non-staple food store in a residential area in the city center, and although life was not rich, a family of four was able to make do with it.”

"One day, people from the industry and commerce came to my shop and said that there was a problem with a batch of goods that would be sealed up, impounded, and towed away in a car. My parents argued with them, and everyone quarreled after coming and going. Xiaoxi—— My sister was still young at the time, and she went up and hugged a staff member's leg. The uncle who came to my house to help move the goods that day was afraid that Xiaoxi would be injured in that chaotic situation, and wanted to pull her aside, but was caught by the worker. The officer kicked the spleen and ruptured it, and lay on the ground coughing up blood on the spot."

"In any case, a broken internal organ is a terrible thing, and it will cost a lot of medical expenses. As someone who asked my uncle for help, my family paid a lot of medical expenses, but for those who kick people in business, We never got a satisfactory answer. They said it was just an accident, and there was no evidence to prove that the injury was caused by their staff, so they refused to pay compensation. We were almost desperate at the time, so we decided to give it a try The business has sued the court."

"Now, in the eyes of us law students, this is just an ordinary administrative lawsuit/litigation case. But at that time, our practice of 'people suing the government' caused quite a stir in the neighborhood. Everyone was People in small businesses are afraid of offending people in business and industry, so even if someone saw my uncle being kicked out, they would not dare to testify for us in court. As for lawyers, our family did not invite them because they had paid for my uncle’s medical expenses in advance. Starting from a lawyer. In the judicial office and so on, my family felt that the official people were all in the same group, so they didn’t dare to invite them—it can be said that my family was basically helpless when fighting the lawsuit. At that time, people in my family We all thought we were going to lose the case."

"But even so, we still won the lawsuit - the behavior of the industry and commerce was illegal, and they should compensate the medical expenses! But in this way, we offended them even more. As those of us who run small businesses, this means that We couldn't survive in this place. So after the case was settled, we sold the store and the family moved to my mother's hometown in the neighboring province."

"You probably think that our gains outweigh the losses, right? But we still regard ourselves as winners. Looking back now, the joy of victory is still talked about by our family..."

"Haha," Yi Zhongming laughed dryly, "I thought you were trying to show your concern for me by comparing yourself to me, but in the end you wanted to show off! So what are you trying to do by telling me this?"

"What do you want?! Hey, you are still a graduate student, why can't you understand human language?!" Fang Quan put his hands on Yi Zhongming's shoulders angrily, making him look up at him, "Can we Win, we have provided sufficient evidence on the one hand, and another very important reason is that we met a good and fair judge! When we were alone and helpless, they gave our family justice! I was just Why would a foolish boy who is so muddled that his grades in ordinary high schools are dangerous, why would he aspire to be a judge? It was because I was affected by this incident and felt the favor of the law to vulnerable groups like us, so I hated it from the bottom of my heart. Judge, I have longed for this career!"

"!"

A light flashed in Yi Zhongming's gray eyes.Fang Quan did not miss this point, so he continued to say——

"After I entered university and took courses in administrative law and administrative procedure law, I realized that for a judge in an administrative tribunal, this kind of case is like a divorce case in our hands. It cannot be more ordinary. This case, but it is such an ordinary case for a judge, but it has profoundly changed my family and changed my destiny—don’t look away, listen to me!” Fang Quan shook violently Looking at Yi Zhongming's shoulder, looking straight into his eyes, "Assistant Yi, Judge Yi, Judge Yi, it may not be convenient for me to comment on your past, but I would like to say that it may be relatively It doesn't mean much to you, but it is extremely important to others, to the parties like us back then! So you have to understand that there are many pairs of eyes looking at you, and many hearts caring about you. There are many people who care about you! Among them, maybe some people not only look at you as a 'judge', but also care about you as a 'person'! Don't say something frustrating like a wretch, call Get up, work hard, live well, and look at yourself well-you know, you are more important than you think!"

Yi Zhongming opened his mouth slightly and stared blankly at Fang Quan. The next second, he pulled Fang Quan into his arms and hugged him tightly.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you..."

Like reciting a spell, he kept whispering in Fang Quan's ear.Fang Quan was terrified by his sudden action, but he was more relieved than surprised.

... For Yi Zhongming like this, I dare not push him away at all...

but……

Why do my neck and temples feel wet?

Is it...? !

"I'm sorry," Yi Zhongming whispered to Fang Quan, slightly distanced from Fang Quan, "Although you told me that I am more important than I imagined, I am indeed useless in some aspects..."

Fang Quan's deduction was correct, and the corners of Yi Zhongming's eyes were shining brightly under the street lamp.

"Why, why are you always redeemed...so seriously, why?"

Yi Zhongming raised the corner of his mouth slightly, without any hint of sarcasm, Fang Quan almost melted into such a smile.

"This time, I was saved by you again..."

The distance between the two shortened again, but this time, his face was closer to him, his breath was on his face, it was wet and itchy, and it was heart-stirring.

... This feeling is just right.Closing his eyes drunkenly, he also got closer to the distance between himself and the other party.

No matter who he is, no matter what he has done to himself in the past, at this moment, Fang Quan just wants to abandon all rationality and give all his actions to instinct.

However, those rough lips just rubbed against the corner of his mouth, and finally landed on the right cheek.

"So," he next pressed his forehead, "even though I've said it many times, I still want to say: thank you."

Fortunately, he was able to hold himself in such a state...

Fang Quan smiled self-deprecatingly, stretched out his hand, and put his arms around Yi Zhongming's back as well.

"What are you thankful for! Don't forget, I'm your precious clerk..."