Zhang Dashan called out Fang Changlei in the same way a thief in a crowd finds himself pointed out. All eyes were drawn to him. However, this thief was rather intense, psychologically. He did not panic in the slightest. Instead, he was incredibly annoyed, and his eyes glowed with viciousness as he gave Zhang Dashan a death stare."Your Honor, allow me to call another witness. His testimony will suffice to prove that all these incidents have to do with Fang Changlei," Zhang Dashan said calmly.
The presiding judge nodded. "Yes, you may!"
Boom!
The courtroom door was pushed open forcefully. Dressed in plain clothes, Zhang Donghai walked in uneasily, looking slightly panicked. After helping Gao Qingfeng off the witness stand, he walked over.
The moment he saw Zhang Donghai, a cloud of gloominess flitted across Fang Changlei"s eyes, and his eyelids twitched a couple of times. He hadn"t expected the trusted subordinate, whom he"d so carefully cultivated, to betray him.
"What"s your name, witness?" the presiding judge asked.
"Your Honor, my name is Zhang Donghai. I am from Qi"an," Zhang Donghai answered honestly.
Zhang Dashan pa.s.sed on Xiao Luo"s words and bellowed in an authoritative tone, "Zhang Donghai, tell us everything you know."
"Yes," came the reply.
Zhang Donghai nodded sheepishly, then looked somewhat timidly at Fang Changlei, who was sitting amid the audience, then said slowly, "On the surface, I am the head of Luo"s Workshop"s factory, but in secret, I work for Fang Changlei of Taste Buds. To defeat Luo"s Workshop, Fang Changlei once told me that he had conducted secret operations to spread the news of the deadly bread incident, which took place Luo"s Workshop. He aims to tarnish Luo"s Workshop"s reputation.
"Other than that, he also spent money bribing workers from Luo"s Workshop"s factory to go on strike, while I added fuel to the fire from the sidelines. A few days ago, he gave me a firm order to create an incident while Luo"s Workshop was rus.h.i.+ng to complete the orders for the mid-autumn festival. He wanted me to force the factory to stop the manufacturing process!"
As soon as he finished speaking, a commotion arose amid the audience, and the netizens" comments flooded the internet like bamboo shoots after rain.
"Oh my goodness! So this is the big boss hidden behind the scenes!"
"Fang Changlei of Taste Buds is the troublemaker behind everything. What a surprising outcome."
"I"m so f*cking surprised! This trial has so many ups and downs. It is more interesting than many tv dramas."
...
[In court]
"Bullsh*t, Your Honor. He is framing me. He is framing me!!!"
Fang Changlei could hardly stay calm anymore, and the flesh on his face trembled violently. His face was grotesque and terrifying as he roared while pointing at Zhang Donghai.
Bang, bang, bang! The presiding judge banged the gavel and called out, "Silence! Please stay silent!"
Once the entire courtroom returned to quiet, he looked at Zhang Donghai and said, "Mr. Witness, can you promise the court that you have spoken nothing but the truth here today?"
Zhang Donghai nodded forcefully and answered, "Your Honor, I swear that I have spoken no lies. To be safe, I even deliberately recorded my conversation with Fang Changlei."
As he said this, he handed over a USB drive.
The bailiff pa.s.sed the USB drive to the judicial a.s.sistant, who then gave it to the presiding judge and the rest of the judges. After checking that there was nothing suspicious with the drive, the judge instructed the courtroom workers to play the recording it contained. When the sounds of Zhang Donghai and Fang Changlei"s conversation rang out in the large courtroom, everyone looked surprised.
Meanwhile, Fang Changlei gritted his teeth, and his hand on his thigh couldn"t help but shake slightly.
After everyone finished listening to the recording, Zhang Dashan again called another critical witness, w.a.n.g Tiechui, who had been discharged from the hospital.
w.a.n.g Tiechui admitted that a stranger had given him 20 thousand and asked him to organize a strike and protest for the workers of Luo"s Workshop, corroborating Zhang Donghai"s testimony.
At the same time, Chen Jianbai, who was scared sh*tless, also admitted that he"d only written an article tarnis.h.i.+ng the reputation of Luo"s Workshop because Taste Buds had offered him some benefits in exchange. He also explained that Liu Huilong, who had written the autopsy report, had been bribed by Taste Buds and had now left the country.
This concrete proof left no room for reb.u.t.tal!
From the presiding judge to the other judges and members of the public, everyone present had finally realized that everything they"d seen and heard in court was due to a conspiracy set up by Fang Changlei, Taste Buds" boss, to target Luo"s Workshop. His goal was apparent: to destroy Luo"s Workshop.
Fang Changlei"s face was ashen, and cold sweat appeared on his forehead and body. While everyone"s gaze was still on him, he sat unmoving in the audience gallery. It wasn"t that he didn"t want to move, but his legs were no longer his to control. It was if all energy had left his body in an instant.
He had lost!
Lost completely!
The trial had not been a preceding against Luo"s Workshop, but against him and Taste Buds. But how had this happened?
He had some trouble coming back to his senses. Had he not taken Xiao Luo of Luo"s Workshop seriously enough? Or, in his desperation to destroy Luo"s Workshop, had he just left too much evidence behind?
In the plaintiff"s seat, Li Zimeng stared at Zhang Dashan in a daze. She realized that Zhang Dashan was very charismatic today. Besides the cursing and swearing earlier on, when he talked, somehow, she could sense a trace of Xiao Luo in him. More than once, while Zhang Dashan was speaking so eloquently before the court, she had mistaken him for Xiao Luo.
...
"Phew."
Back at the café, Xiao Luo exhaled deeply. He closed the website that was live-streaming the public trial then took off his earphones. For him, it had been a relatively hard battle, but the outcome of complete victory had left him incredibly satisfied.
He lifted the cup that was on the table, wanting to drink the coffee inside. But he realized that the coffee had turned cold, so he snapped his fingers and asked the waiter to bring him another.
Only then did he notice Gu Qianlin sitting opposite him. The woman had not left this whole time and was staring at him intently with a weird look.
"Who on earth are you?"
As if she were sizing a prisoner up and down, Gu Qianlin"s gaze flitted over Xiao Luo"s every characteristic. Xiao Luo surprised her almost every time they met. He was outrageously good at fighting. Even Red Scorpion, the mercenary, had died at his hands. And now, he"d won a lawsuit by controlling it from afar.
Such a mysterious man made her tremble from the bottom of her heart. She thought: is he even human? Surely, he"s more like an alien?
"My name is Xiao Luo. I come from Xisheng. You"ve probably read my data so many times that the doc.u.ment pages are worn out by now, Officer Gu," Xiao Luo answered her calmly.
"Is that your real ident.i.ty?" Gu Qianlin asked persistently. "Your abilities are beyond my comprehension. To me, you are a dangerous character. If you are indeed a criminal, Jiangcheng probably isn"t even enough for you. You are like a bomb hidden in a crowd, ready to explode anytime and bring about destructive disaster."
"You"re overthinking things!" Xiao Luo chuckled.
"Am I?" Gu Qianlin shot back coldly, "I hope so."
Xiao Luo didn"t answer her. He took a small sip of the hot coffee that the waiter had served, opened an episode of "The Big Bang Theory" on his computer, and began watching the show.
"Join the police. How about that? With your abilities, I think you will become criminals" worst nightmare," Gu, Qianlin suddenly offered.
In her eyes, Xiao Luo was a dangerous beast who was going to cause significant harm to society at any moment. She hoped to leverage the police to bind the beast"s teeth and claws or to use them against criminals.