Zhu Shan was such a lackey.

Perhaps someone would call it adapting to the circumstances.

She was so afraid that the conversation would become unpleasant in the evening!

Ling Xiao snapped his fingers composedly and confidently. "Let's go."

Zhu Shan followed him with small steps. "Where's Li Shang?"

"Back to the law firm."

"What are we going to do now?"

"We are going to have dinner."

"So early?"

Ling Xiao stopped and looked back at her casually, "It's getting late. I have something to do tonight!"

He has something important to do later.

Zhu Shan was delighted with a flash of joy in the eyes after hearing that and showed good consideration, "If you have something to do, go ahead. I'll be fine on my own."

Ling Xiao bent down slightly with a smile and said in a particularly slow tone, "It's my fault that I didn't make it clear. What's going on tonight has something to do with you."

His arrogance made Zhu Shan want to punch him.

But she didn't dare.

Zhu Shan lowered her eyes, subconsciously frowning and biting her lip, an action she often does when thinking.

She was trying to find an excuse to get away.

The next second, the slight pain on her right cheek interrupted her thoughts.

Ling Xiao slightly pinched her plump cheeks and tutted, "What are you trying to play in my face?"

The words in Zhu Shan' s ears sound the same as "Behave yourself"

Zhu Shan compromised angrily. "OK."

Only then did Ling Xiao feel satisfied. He turned around and walked ahead.

It was getting dark at 4 p.m. in Yuhe City in the early spring. Zhu Shan was not calm.

She thought that if she met Ling Xiao again, she would be very, very angry or very embarrassed.

But now she felt none of them.

Perhaps it's because he had turned up to help her today.

Or it was for some other reasons.

When he pinched her face just now, Zhu Shan knew that she didn't hate him as much as she had thought.

When they arrived at the parking lot, Zhu Shan saw from a distance the beautiful Prosecutor Shu from the court.

She had changed her clothes into a hip-wrapped dress and a long coat over it with a belt around her waist, outlining her delicate waist.

She stood in front of a white car as if she was waiting for someone.

Zhu Shan could tell by the direction in which she gazed, that she was waiting for Ling Xiao.

Before Zhu Shan could figure out what was going on, Ling Xiao grabbed her arm and pulled her forward.

He opened the front passenger door of the white car, pushed Zhu Shan in, and closed the door.

It was too quick for Zhu Shan to resist.

Before the car door closed, Zhu Shan faintly heard a sentence, "Ling Xiao, have you seen the victim?"

Zhu Shan observed through the car window and felt that the two of them did not have a good chat.

She tried to roll down the window and hear something, but unfortunately, she didn't make it.

After a long while, Shu Qiwen left.

The two of them parted on bad terms.

After getting in the car, Ling Xiao steered the wheel and asked Zhu Shan as if nothing had happened, "What would you like to eat?"

"Up to you!" Zhu Shan rolled her eyes. "It looks like you are familiar with Prosecutor Shu?"

"We went to the same college!"

"Oh, the deep friendship in the past but confronting in the court now! That's a typical Idol Drama."

On the banter from Zhu Shan, Ling Xiao only smiled with his mouth up but said nothing.

The exit way of the parking lot was as winding as a snake so that it took them a long time to get out.

Only then did Ling Xiao spare the time to glance at Zhu Shan.

Zhu Shan caught that glimpse, and immediately became alert. "What?"

"As I said, neither of us should cause any trouble to the other during our marriage."

Zhu Shan felt a heavy heart beat as she thought of what had happened in the morning.

Is this getting even with me?

She licked her lips and explained, "I was wronged earlier! It was an accident! I didn't mean to put you to the trouble."

Ling Xiao glanced at Zhu Shan and said, "Article 258 in Criminal Law: Bigamy: Anyone who marries another person while having a spouse, or who marries another person while knowing that he or she has a spouse, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than two years or criminal detention."

“?”

"It also counts when just getting along with others in the name of husband or wife."

“?”

"It's not far from the crime when the thought of developing a relationship with others comes up."

Zhu Shan was confused. "So?"

"So don't worry," Ling Xiao said in a calm tone, "I won't break the law."

Zhu Shan thought for a few seconds before she came to her senses. "I didn't say that the relationship between you and Prosecutor Shu would bother me. I'm not going to sue you for bigamy. Anyway, next year..."

Suddenly, a phone ring broke in and interrupted Zhu Shan.

Ling Xiao put on his Bluetooth earphones and answered the call.

He said confidently, "Don't worry, Mr. Ren. Today's trial went so well. Your son will definitely be released in court in the third instance."

Mr. Ren?

Your son?

The defendant today was also surnamed Ren.

This means that the rape charge would not succeed.

Zhu Shan suddenly came up with what Prosecutor Shu had said.

- "Have you seen the victim, Ling Xiao."

Zhu Shan still remembered that Prosecutor Shu once said in the court that the victim was in a bad condition and was still in hospital.

After Ling Xiao hung up the phone, Zhu Shan asked, "Have you seen the victim, Ling Xiao?"

Ling Xiao obviously didn't expect that Zhu Shan would ask such a question. He pressed on the brake when the red light turned green, took off his Bluetooth earphones with a stone face, and threw it casually. "Is it important?"

"Does it matter?"

Zhu Shan frowned, " Of course it's important!"

"So what if I have or what if I haven't?"

Before Zhu Shan could respond, Ling Xiao said, "Do you want me to sympathize with her?"

It seems that what he said was right.

But it feels a little cold-blooded.

"The course of justice is based on evidence," Ling Xiao looked at Zhu Shan and said calmly, "I'm a lawyer. My duty is to stand firmly on the side of the client and defend him."

The red light turned green, and the car set off again.

Zhu Shan thought for a moment and turned to look at Ling Xiao.

Zhu Shan couldn't tell what was wrong, but she still felt uncomfortable.

The car stopped at the shopping mall and Zhu Shan followed Ling Xiao to a hotpot restaurant.

The Chinese-style decoration of the hot pot restaurant was quite eye-catching in the open-air square of the shopping mall.

Seeing the signboard of the hot pot restaurant, Zhu Shan couldn't help feeling excited. She grabbed Ling Xiao by the arm and asked, "Has 'Zhengyuan hot pot' been relocated here? I was going to visit it the next day after I came back from abroad. I went to the former address but found it torn down."

Ling Xiao glanced at Zhu Shan's arm and replied with a light "hmm".

After sitting down, Zhu Shan ordered the spicy hot pot regardless of the waiter's obstruction.

She was picking the food and said proudly, "Medium spicy? I, don't know what medium spicy is."

Zhu Shan hesitated for a moment and looked up at Ling Xiao. "Can I have a Stewed Beer?"

Before Ling Xiao could reply, Zhu Shan emphasized, "I'm already 22 years old."

She looked serious, and there was a hint of sincerity and eagerness in her eyes, which made Ling Xiao laugh.

Ling Xiao raised his chin and asked in an annoying tone, "Are you that afraid of me?"

"Have you forgotten that how many times Ling Yue and I were punished because of you when we were young!"

Ling Xiao nodded casually as if he was recalling something.

Then, he murmured, "Copying homework, jumping over the wall and skipping classes, going to Internet cafes under age, going to cram classes..."

Zhu Shan gritted her teeth and waved her hand to stop him. "Stop it."

It was a period of being in charge of that she was unwilling to look back at.

"Fine, you can have it."

Zhu Shan froze when Ling Xiao allowed it and grinned a few seconds later. Then she picked up the pencil and ticked the Stewed Beer on the menu.

Stewed Beer is beer stewed with red dates, wolf-berry, white fungus, fermented glutinous wine and others. It tastes like soft drinks after the astringent flavor dissipates and rock sugar is added.

Zhu Shan quickly finished a pot of Stewed Beer because the hot pot was too spicy.

The contempt she had for "medium spicy" just now seemed pretty ridiculous at this moment.

She forgot that she hadn't been back for several years and couldn't eat spicy food as before.

Seeing her like this, Ling Xiao got up and went to the counter to get some yogurt.

Zhu Shan felt a burning sensation all over her body. She took off Ling Xiao's coat and gazed at the lawyer's badge for two seconds, then looked up to search for Ling Xiao.

Hot air lingered in the lively hot pot restaurant. He was standing in front of the refrigerator, bending down, and carefully selecting drinks.

Ling Xiao came back with yogurt and sat down. When he looked up, he caught the sight of Zhu Shan.

Zhu Shan had a grim look in her eyes. She propped her cheek up with one hand, and her small face was a little deformed, " Ling Xiao, you're really good today. If you were my father's lawyer back then, would that thing have been solved a long time ago?"

Ling Xiao grabbed the yogurt, put the straw to her lips, and interrupted her arrogantly, "Yes."

Zhu Shan froze for two seconds. She took the yogurt and had a sip before saying, "You're really confident."

"Of course."

Zhu Shan rolled her eyes at his arrogance.

Ling Xiao took a sip of tea and said leisurely, "We will go to fetch your luggage later and then go back home."

???

It was a sudden topic.

Zhu Shan blinked her big eyes, and her little face gradually twisted. She spat out the straw and asked, "You bought a house? Is it your home?"

Ling Xiao leaned back in his chair, looking like a benevolent rascal. "Half of my assets are yours."

Zhu Shan didn't dare to think about his assets.

She put down the yogurt heavily and said flatly, "We'll get a divorce next year."

Ling Xiao pursed his thin lips and nodded.

"It's impossible for me to live with you!"

Ling Xiao did not retort. He smiled and said slowly, "Then you can leave and come back next year."

Zhu Shan knew for sure that "the leave" meant going back to SJP, but it took her a lot of effort to return here.

And it was so hard to get a job at the TV station.

Zhu Shan sounded displeased. "What does my coming back have to do with you?"

"You only grew up in body but not in mind. How can I rest assured after what happened today?" Ling Xiao looked at her mockingly, "besides, you don't seem grown up in body."

"The girl at 1.65 meters tall is not short."

"Then should I praise you?"

Zhu Shan,"…"

Ling Xiao rubbed his chin and looked her up and down, "Really? You are not that tall, are you sure you are not lying?"

Zhu Shan pursed her lips and felt a little guilty. She unconsciously raised her tone and said, "I must be that tall with shoes on!"

Ling Xiao snorted.

Zhu Shan tried to say something, but she realized that the topic had changed.

She went back to the former topic and said firmly, "I'm not going back!"

Their eyes met. Zhu Shan blinked and lowered her voice in less than two seconds, "I don't want to go back. I just want to stay in Yuhe City."

Ling Xiao did not reply immediately.

He tapped the table with his well-shaped fingers, in a single motion.

A few seconds later, he paused and said in a tough tone, "You have two choices, Zhu Shan. First, go back to SJP immediately and come back next year. Second, work under my nose and retain from any distractions."

Zhu Shan was a little timid because Ling Xiao called her by her last name, and she also felt a lump in the throat for what he said was just the same as long time ago. She looked at Ling Xiao for a few seconds before she lowered her head.

She had known Ling Xiao since she was born.

The Zhu family and the Ling family were neighbors, and Mr. and Mrs. Ling were geologists. They often went on business trips for months or even a year.

That was why Ling Xiao and Ling Yue had been boarding at Zhu Shan's.

Zhu Shan and Ling Yue were born in the same year, and they had the same rotten smell and a good relationship.

And Ling Xiao was four years older than them.

Ling Xiao was a good student and was versatile. Plus the advantage of age, he had been in charge of Zhu Shan and Ling Yue since he was a child.

Therefore, Zhu Shan and he had been enemies in a way when they were young.

Although they had never been too close, she didn't think he hated her to the point of forcing her to go abroad.

But the truth was the truth.

Whether it was six years ago or now, he had forced her to go abroad.

Zhu Shan remembered what happened six years ago.

At that time, she was sixteen years old, a freshman in senior high school, while Ling Xiao was already a sophomore.

She had been boarding at Ling's for two years after losing her parents. Suddenly, one day, her aunt, who she had never seen before, found her and said that she would adopt her and take her back to SJP.

She didn't want to leave for SJP in her mind.

She placed her hopes on Mr. and Mrs. Ling, expecting that they could adopt her.

In fact, in the past two years when she lived in Ling's, Zhu Shan was no different from an adopted daughter there except for the adoption procedures,

She had already regarded them as her families.

It was supposed to be a matter of course and to be assured without any difficulties.

But she didn't expect that Ling Xiao would cut off her last straw.

When Ling Xiao learned that his parents were going to adopt Zhu Shan, he rushed back overnight from the city where his college was to Yuhe City and insisted that he did not agree to his parents' adopting Zhu Shan.

Zhu Shan clearly remembered that it was raining cats and dogs that night.

Mrs. Ling slapped Ling Xiao hard in the face. It was the first time Zhu Shan had seen Ling Xiao being beaten.

Ling Xiao fell over on the ground. The lightning and thunder outside the window set off his cold face.

His eyes were downcast and the water on his hair was dripping down his chin, "No means no."

Mrs. Ling beat him up for what he said, but Ling Xiao remained stubborn and stood against the adoption.

Zhu Shan didn't have a chance to cry. It was cold in April. She stood aside in a daze, watching Ling Xiao being beaten, and watching his father and Ling Yue stopping and mollifying them.

After a long while, Zhu Shan came to her senses and walked up to stop Mrs. Ling. "Mrs. Ling, don't hit him. I'll go with my aunt."

With tears on the face, Mrs. Ling hugged Zhu Shan and said, "Shanshan, I'll cut off the relations with him. Don't worry. I'll go through the adoption procedures tomorrow."

"Mom." Ling Xiao raised his head and said in a deep voice, "She has her own relatives, and you have two sons. Do you think it's that easy for you to go through the adoption procedures?"

Mrs. Ling was so angry that her hands started trembling. She went up to Ling Xiao and slapped him hard on the shoulder and back. "Now you've learned the laws. You're really something!"

Zhu Shan went up to pull Mrs. Ling away.

She was not a family, in the blood way. She had been eating and drinking here for free for two years. In no position is she to ask someone to cut ties with her own son and adopt her.