At this moment.
The seventh lawyer for Black Dragon smiled: "You think these documents are all forged by Black Dragon Group, right?"
Opposing counsel: "I am not saying your documents are forged; I am saying you are confusing black and white. These documents do not represent anything. Since you claim that old man is an actor, and since he is an actor, he must have left his identity with your group. Then let me ask you, where is this old man right now? Don't tell me you have no idea at all..."
The seventh lawyer for Black Dragon: "Of course we know..."
Opposing counsel: "Where is he?"
The seventh lawyer for Black Dragon: "He is right here..." He looked at the Presiding Judge: "Presiding Judge, we have an important witness who needs to enter the courtroom. Permission requested!"
Presiding Judge: "Granted!"
What?
Opposing counsel's expression changed drastically:
An important witness?
What important witness?
Could it be...
...
Bang!
The side door of the courtroom opened once again.
Then they saw—
A Black Dragon Personnel pushed in a wheelchair, and an old man sat in the wheelchair. Judging by his appearance, he was unmistakably the same old man who had been brutally beaten by Black Dragon Personnel in the video.
...
"Holy shit!"
The expressions of several opposing lawyers all changed drastically.
After all:
The news they received was that Huanyu Group had spent a huge price to find this old man but could not find him, leading them to believe that the old man had already been silenced by Black Dragon Group. But now, a dead man had appeared here, and judging by his vigor, he seemed to be doing quite well.
This was too huge a blow to their plan...
It completely did not match their expectations...
...
Yins Father and Yins Mother were also dumbfounded...
How could this be?
This old man was actually still alive? Looking at his appearance back then, the pain alone could have killed him. How come he even looked fatter now...
...
Those reporters and media personnel frantically aimed their cameras at the person in the wheelchair to film:
"Audience friends: The key witness of this case has appeared—the old man who was beaten in that video."
"The old man looks to be in good spirits, but his legs seem to truly be crippled..."
"The old man was pushed out by the people from Black Dragon Group. It seems the matter is truly about to usher in a reversal..."
Relying on the sharp intuition of reporters and media personnel, they felt that something big was likely to happen next...
...
The opposing lawyers exchanged glances:
"What should we do? Why is this old man still alive? This is completely different from expectations."
"Damn it! Our contingency plan didn't include this... How are we supposed to fight this next... It's going to be tough..."
"Yeah, now that the person is in their hands, won't they say whatever they want?"
"Don't panic! The situation isn't that terrible yet. At the very least, this man's leg is genuinely broken... Even if we can't convict Qin Jiang and the others, we can at least push public opinion up... That way, even if we lose the lawsuit, we can still save face."
As soon as these words were spoken,
the other lawyers immediately understood.
Right now...
the situation was already extremely unfavorable for them.
The only evidence they held in their hands was that video, yet the protagonist of the video was now in Qin Jiang's hands. This meant that the old man sitting in the wheelchair would definitely speak up for Qin Jiang.
The involved party was speaking up for Qin Jiang!
Then the so-called intentional injury, or even silencing him, was completely sheer nonsense without any evidence. As for the illegal detention mentioned by Yins Father and Yins Mother, there was also no evidence whatsoever. Not to mention Qin Jiang, who didn't appear in the video, even Li Hao and the others who appeared in the video could not be convicted.
Winning the lawsuit was basically impossible!
But could they just give up like this?
Absolutely not!
If they did that, would the reputations of top-tier lawyers like them still matter? Would Chairman Ma of Huanyu Group let them off? They could only steer the entire lawsuit away from winning and toward public opinion, making people believe that although this old man came out to testify, he was coerced by Black Dragon Group.
Use public opinion to nail Qin Jiang and Black Dragon Group to the cross!
That way, even if they lost the lawsuit, they could build a lofty reputation for themselves as champions of the people who stood up for the impoverished, and they might even be able to continue demanding money from Chairman Ma of Huanyu Group using this as an excuse.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
The lawyers nodded at each other and finalized the plan.
...
Wu Yue: "Hahaha... There's a witness... They got the witness out. I knew Zhu Zheng had a sure grasp on things..."
Old Friend: ( = ﾟ Д ﾟ = )
He hadn't expected that Zhu Zheng of Black Dragon Group would actually have a witness. You must know that Qin Jiang's arrest was extremely sudden, and the outside world had no idea what matter Qin Jiang was arrested for. Yet within such a short time, Black Dragon Group not only prepared so much sufficient evidence but also brought the witness along. It was simply absurd...
How on earth did they pull it off?
Did they receive insider information in advance?
Or was it purely figured out through deduction?
Whichever it was, it was utterly terrifying.
...
Elder Lin: "That's not right... The situation isn't right..."
...
Ma Jun: "Damn it? Didn't you say this person was dead? What's going on? What on earth is going on..."
Secretary: "I don't know either. I really sent people to investigate this person, but we truly couldn't find anything..."
...
The courtroom!
At this moment, everyone focused on the old man sitting in the wheelchair.
They saw—
The old man said calmly: "My name is Zhou Guoqing! I heard someone say I was dead."
Up above,
the Presiding Judge said: "Your name is Zhou Guoqing!"
The old man: "Yes!"
Presiding Judge: "Now I ask you: Is the person tied up in the video played on the big screen you?"
The old man: "Yes!"
Presiding Judge: "May I ask if you were imprisoned and abused at that time, or if you were acting in a film."
The old man: "Acting!"
Opposing counsel: "You're talking bullshit! How could filming be so realistic? How could a leg be twisted to that extent? Why are you sitting in a wheelchair now? Where are your legs..."
The old man calmly lifted his clothes to reveal his lower body, which was completely empty: "My legs have been gone for a long time... They were amputated..."
Opposing counsel seemed to have grasped useful information: "Did you hear that? His legs were amputated! Why were they amputated? Wasn't the video just now obvious enough? He is clearly being coerced by Black Dragon Group right now and doesn't dare tell the truth! Black Dragon Group must have threatened him."
"Zhou Guoqing, don't be afraid. No one dares to coerce you here in court right now. Tell us, wasn't it those people who broke your legs..."
Zhou Guoqing: "No? They were run over and crushed in a car accident..."
Opposing counsel: "You're lying... How can there be such a coincidence? You film a scene with a broken leg, and shortly after, your leg gets run over by a car and amputated... How can there be so many coincidences in this world..."
Another lawyer stood up: "You said your legs were broken in a car accident. What kind of car was it, where did it happen, what are the other party's auto insurance records, and where are the hospital records..."