An Shuyao insisted that the driver was using a phone at the time, not noticing the turn signal of the car ahead, which caused a skid after rear-ending it. She estimated that the driver mistook the accelerator for the brake, directly hitting the car in front and crashing onto the sidewalk, leading to the tragedy.

"Did you see her playing on the phone with your own eyes?" Zhou Hao poured himself a glass of wine.

"I saw it. At that time, my mom was just squatting down, talking to me about the hospital, and out of the corner of my eye, I glimpsed the car window from a distance..."

Before An Shuyao could finish, Zhou Hao shook his head directly. This kind of statement wouldn't even make it into testimony and would be one hundred percent considered fabricated; even he didn't believe it: "You glimpsed? How sharp are your eyes?"

"Yes," An Shuyao replied with determination.

"Even if you glimpsed, could you remember it by heart?" Zhou Hao scratched his nose.

"Yes," An Shuyao continued to nod.

"You have to know that human memory can be faulty..."

Before Zhou Hao could finish, An Shuyao interrupted, "When you got in the car on your way home after work, you were reading something on your phone about 'Suggestions on Increasing Reform Innovation Efforts and Accelerating Agricultural Modernization,' it seemed like a news report."

Zhou Hao was taken aback, "Did you hack my phone?"

"No, the reflection in your glasses lens, I just glanced and saw," An Shuyao said honestly.

"Okay, but this proves nothing," Zhou Hao was unmoved.

"Then how can I prove that what I'm saying is true?" An Shuyao leaned forward, her eyes reddening, fists clenched and resting on her knees.

"You can't prove it, and I can't either, so please go back; this case can't be fought."

Zhou Hao saw that she wasn't moving, and added, "You're still young, you don't have a concept of money, your mom probably doesn't make twelve thousand a year, five million in compensation is quite a lot. Even if your mom made ten thousand a month, and didn't spend a penny for forty-one years, she could barely save that much. You could buy two or three houses on the outer ring and just live off renting them for the rest of your life."

"Would you sell your life for five million?" An Shuyao retorted.

"I would! Why not?" Zhou Hao, determined to send her away, was saying anything that came to mind, his shameless behavior not cultivated overnight: "If you give me five million, I'd even eat shit."

"Fine, I'll sign the waiver and use the five million to hire you to take on the lawsuit," An Shuyao stubbornly replied, like a rock in a latrine, both stinky and hard: "If you don't win, then you might as well die."

Zhou Hao was left speechless, unable to argue, so he simply grabbed her and dragged her out, shutting the door behind her.

An Shuyao rang the doorbell again, and Zhou Hao simply took out the batteries, so she started knocking, pounding the door loudly.

Zhou Hao didn't believe she could knock all night, so he put on earplugs and went to bed, ignoring her.

The next morning, he got up and removed the earplugs, only to hear the persistent knocking at the door, not as urgent and loud as the night before, but still determined.

When he opened the door, he saw An Shuyao's hands were bleeding from the knocking, the skin on her knuckles blistered, and she really had knocked all night without rest.

Zhou Hao pinched the bridge of his nose and said, "How about this, I'll introduce you to a pretty good lawyer in the industry, he's more capable than me, go find him, maybe you'll get a response..."

"No," An Shuyao refused.

She was polite, standing at the door without pushing in; but she was also impolite, knocking on the door in the middle of the night and disturbing others.

"Why do you have to choose me?" Zhou Hao couldn't understand. There were plenty of lawyers more capable, with stronger connections, so why was this girl dead set on him?

Was it a coincidence?

Or was he already somewhat famous?

An Shuyao gave an unexpected answer: "Because the driver who hit someone was your mom."

Zhou Hao was really stunned this time, stunned for a full five seconds, until An Shuyao thought his brain was malfunctioning and waved her hand in front of him, bringing him back to his senses: "That has nothing to do with me, I've cut ties with her... what are you thinking? Want me to sue her?"

To be precise, it's asking a son to send his mother to jail.

But Zhou Hao couldn't say it, as he didn't really recognize that 'mother.'

An Shuyao said earnestly, "I hope you can make up for her, persuade her to accept the legal punishment, and let her atone for her mistakes."

Zhou Hao laughed, unable to hold back his laughter.

"What's so funny?" An Shuyao asked, "I know this idea is naive, but I think..."

"No, it's not your issue," Zhou Hao waved his hand, still laughing, very joyfully: "I'm laughing at her... You might not understand her. Looking for me is less useful than finding her boss."

"Really?" An Shuyao was a bit skeptical, "You don't have a good relationship with her?"

"No, I'm not familiar with her."

Zhou Hao's words were far colder than 'not a good relationship,' when he said it, he was still laughing, as if talking about a stranger.

"How could someone not be familiar with their own mom?" An Shuyao couldn't understand, subconsciously having a very good relationship with her own mom, so much so that when Chen Huixin took her mom's place, it didn't feel out of place, she just felt the daughter-mom relationship should be like that: "If something happened to her, wouldn't you defend her?"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Hao gradually restrained his smile.

He stared at An Shuyao, scrutinizing her for a long time, making her a bit uneasy.

Standing at the apartment doorway, the two stared in silence, and suddenly Zhou Hao stepped aside, gesturing to let her in, saying, "I've changed my mind, I'll take the case."

Overjoyed, An Shuyao's curiosity got the better of her, and she couldn't help but ask why.

Zhou Hao claimed it was out of compassion, she didn't believe him, fearing he'd slack off on the case, she pressed him persistently, leading Zhou Hao to half-truthfully say, "You remind me a little of my childhood."

"In what way?"

An Shuyao was even more confused. She and Lawyer Zhou were of different genders, had good relations with their mothers, and viewed money as dirt, the exact opposite of Lawyer Zhou—a complete life reflection, with no similarity at all.

"Maybe just one-tenth as smart as I was—a pillar of the future, a successor, deserving of protection," Zhou Hao continued to jest: "Don't underestimate one-tenth of my intelligence, it's quite remarkable, worthy of a prodigy, quite delightful."

"Liar!" An Shuyao didn't believe a word, "If there was a girl as smart and persistent and cute as I am, would you agree to help her too?"

"So you know you're persistent, huh?" Zhou Hao's demeanor switched instantly, his cold expression terrifying: "How do you have the face to call yourself cute?"

An Shuyao fell silent, obediently walking in, recounting the incident in detail as instructed by Zhou Hao.

This time Zhou Hao asked very thoroughly, inquiring about even the smallest details like what they were doing out, what they ate that morning, where they stood on the sidewalk.

An Shuyao had excellent memory and narrative skills, recounting the incident with complete accuracy and no subjective elements, without any vague terms like 'seems like,' 'approximately,' 'should be,' 'possibly,' or 'impressed.'

Zhou Hao stroked his chin after listening, thinking the case was difficult, but not unmanageable.

Just needed to be a bit more ruthless.

Even if that woman was powerful and wealthy, she was still just a rookie before the judicial system, and otherwise, she wouldn't need to pay five million—fattening before slaughter wasn't uncommon, and Zhou Hao knew this game better than she did.

"Let's go." Zhou Hao had an idea, got up, and put on his coat: "Let's visit your home."

"Now?" An Shuyao wasn't clear what he was playing at.

Zhou Hao handled cases energetically, not bothering to explain to An Shuyao, dressing up, grabbing his briefcase, and heading out.

An Shuyao followed, guiding him, and they took a ride to 'An Shuyao's home.'

Just as Zhou Hao mentioned, Chen Huixin's income wasn't high, living in an old city rented apartment, with no elevator, no tiles, just bare cement stairs, and wooden doors for each residence, with permanent residents installing iron burglar bars.

An Shuyao unlocked the door in front and entered, slightly awkwardly turning on the lights.

The warm yellow light illuminated, and the interior wasn't as rundown as the exterior; the walls were cleanly painted, the table was covered with a cloth, the sofa was filled with stuffed toys, giving a rather cozy feel, with a faint scent of gardenias in the air.

Zhou Hao inexplicably felt his heart being struck, not knowing where it hit him or what his problem was.

Before him was not only a cozy little home.

But also a girl drenched from head to toe, and a mother-daughter photo placed on the cabinet.

—Chen Huixin holding An Shuyao, both smiling at the camera.

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