Chapter 1 Iron Bars, Glass, Telephone

No matter what Boss Zhou was busy with, Lawyer An had to take the time to do what he needed to do. Even though his business now had to be split eight-two with Zhou Ze, it didn't dampen his passion for his work.

Truth be told,

this work earned him favors, favors from both the underworld and the overworld. He gave Zhou Ze eighty percent as an investment in their relationship. As for the hell money he pocketed along the way and the resulting improvement in his quality of life, Lawyer An considered them mere byproducts.

Actually,

he still didn't understand,

why the owner of the Late Night Bookstore,

liked money so much?

What was so great about money?

It was smelly,

and dirty.

The prisoner sat down and picked up the telephone, his expression gloomy.

Clearly,

he had been having a little too good of a time in prison lately, well, he was the one being pampered, like a dewdrop on a flower pistil at dawn, tender and alluring.

"Get me out of here!"

His first words were a demand to be released.

"Wait a little longer." Lawyer An refused bluntly.

"How about you come in here and live for a while? How do you think that would feel?" The prisoner was a bit agitated. "I'm telling you, I can't take it anymore. These guys are bullying me every day!"

"Since you can't take it, you can just go on a killing spree in prison."

Lawyer An took out nail clippers and began trimming his nails.

"If you can't even handle this, I'm sorry, I can't let you out to be free, because that means you'll just cause trouble for me again."

The conversation

fell into silence.

The guys who came out of hell were rarely good people. How could someone who was all about harmony and non-violence even think about rioting and escaping?

Therefore, a large part of Lawyer An's work was spent on "breaking" them.

Grinding away their edges and making them understand the rules of the human world.

"How much longer do I have to stay?"

"Two months."

"Why is it extended again?"

"Because today's conversation disappointed me a bit." Lawyer An shrugged.

"You, shameless!"

"Please, I only earn hell money, but if something goes wrong and some inspector suddenly comes to check things out, I could lose my life.

So,

please,

shut up,

and enjoy prison life."

"That person contacted me." The other party said.

"Which person? From below? Do you have the ability to contact the underworld from here?"

Lawyer An frowned. He was very unhappy with this situation. If the underworld clients interfered with his arrangements, it would throw off his "breaking" plan.

"No, it's the one I told you about last time, the one who gets his sentence reduced by writing books in prison."

"Bang!"

Lawyer An slammed his hands on the glass, staring intently at the prisoner in front of him.

"Hey, watch it!"

In the distance, a prison guard pointed over here and warned him.

Lawyer An made an apologetic gesture to the guard and sat back down, but said with a grim face, "I remember warning you not to get close to that person."

"I didn't get close to him. He took the initiative to talk to me."

"What? He took the initiative to talk to you?"

"Yes, he took the initiative to talk to me, saying he needs to find a lawyer. He knows I have a very good lawyer, so he wants me to introduce you to him."

Lawyer An's expression was uncertain. That person wanted to find him?

"He really said that?"

"What would I gain from lying to you? Also, you can go to the prison authorities now and say you want to be his lawyer. You should be able to arrange a meeting quickly.

Because he is a model prisoner in the prison, a publicity tool. The prison will definitely grant this, and besides, he only has one year left before he gets out."

"I understand."

Lawyer An nodded.

The phone was hung up,

the prisoner was taken back to prison by the prison guard,

and Lawyer An slowly packed up his briefcase.

After walking out and smoking a few cigarettes in the smoking area, Lawyer An took the initiative to contact the prison authorities. After explaining his intentions, the prison authorities indeed made it easy for him.

Of course,

Lawyer An also got feedback that the other party's application to hire a lawyer had been submitted yesterday.

About an hour later,

still in that visiting room,

Lawyer An sat back there again.

His fingers were tapping lightly on the briefcase. Honestly, he was a little nervous.

This person was completely different from the customers he had seen before. In the past, he was the one who went to find them, but this time, it was the customer who came to find him.

He really wanted to refuse, he really wanted to refuse, but curiosity killed the cat, and Lawyer An really wanted to know what the other party wanted him for!

The door was opened,

and he walked in, without even wearing handcuffs. Even the prison guard who escorted him over smiled at him.

Yes,

this kind of prisoner,

in the eyes of the prison authorities,

was like a good student in the eyes of a teacher,

plus, he had less than a year before he could get out, so he was indeed very reassuring.

The other party sat down across the glass.

Without speaking,

Lawyer An maintained his posture, crossing his legs, and didn't speak either, but the muscles in his legs were already a little stiff.

After a while,

Lawyer An grabbed his thigh with one hand, put it down, then took a deep breath, and picked up the microphone.

When the other party saw Lawyer An's movement, he also picked up his microphone and put it to his ear.

"Glug…………"

Lawyer An swallowed.

"Hello."

"Hello."

After a simple and direct greeting, Lawyer An finally asked again:

"You… looking for me?"

The other party nodded.

"Need me to help you… do what?"

The other party shook his head.

"This…………"

Then what the hell did you ask me here for?

"Want you guys to do nothing." The other party said.

"Do nothing? Wait, you said 'you guys'?"

Lawyer An emphasized the word "guys."

"Yes, you guys."

"Can I ask who this 'guys' refers to? My clients? Or the one from the underworld?"

The other party shook his head.

"Then what does it mean?"

"Where are you living now?"

"I live in..."

Lawyer An understood.

"Do nothing, for the time being, that's how it is."

"We don't seem to be doing anything lately. You don't know how listless the bookstore I live in is. The whole family is lazy and idle, and all they do every day is do nothing."

"So tired."

"What?"

"Talking to you."

"Talking to me is tiring?"

The other party nodded.

"…………" Lawyer An.

"I don't really like talking. I prefer to write, to write stories."

"Yeah, I know that."

"I just finished writing an article recently, but it's hard to publish because of the subject matter.

The domestic environment is very strict about literary creations involving the supernatural, and it's easy to be accused of promoting feudal superstition. Several magazines and newspapers that used to accept my manuscripts have rejected them this time."

"And then?"

"Although it can't be published outside, the prison still published it in the prison's own internal journal. You can ask the reception office for a copy to read when you leave. It's a pretty interesting short story."

"Okay."

Then,

there was silence again.

"Anything else?" Lawyer An asked.

The other party shook his head.

"Then can I go?"

The other party nodded.

Lawyer An was speechless for a while, but he didn't rush to leave. Instead, he smiled and said jokingly:

"It is said that you were the one who killed your wife and children…"

The other party suddenly raised his head,

somewhat puzzled,

somewhat empty,

Lawyer An stopped talking instantly.

Silence,

more silence.

The other party opened his mouth, then sighed and said, "That was my fault."

"Uh… I shouldn't have asked."

"So, curiosity will kill the cat." The other party smiled and continued: "If you get hit by a car one day, don't complain."

"I'll be careful."

With that, Lawyer An stood up.

"Don't you want a reward?" the other party asked.

Lawyer An sat back down.

"Unfortunately, if you want it, I have nothing to give you."

The other party seemed a little regretful.

Lawyer An immediately stood up, picked up his briefcase, and walked out.

He was angry,

how could he play with people like this!

Walking all the way out, Lawyer An planned to drive back early. Before returning to the bookstore, he could go out to eat and treat himself to the famous dish "Two Phoenixes Holding Pearls" to satisfy his cravings.

When passing the front guardhouse,

Lawyer An seemed to have thought of something, walked over, and knocked on the window.

"What's the matter?" The prison guard inside opened the window and asked.

"Comrade, do you have any journals here, the ones from inside the prison?"

"What do you want this for?" The other party was a little curious.

Most people in their own unit didn't bother to read their own journals. If they didn't think it was too rough to wipe their butts with, they would probably all be destroyed in the toilet.

"Oh, an article by one of my clients was published in it. He asked me to take a copy back to show his old mother. He finally won an award for his writing in his life."

The prison guard searched on the table, took out a very thin magazine, and handed it over.

The magazine was very thin. Of course, most magazines these days weren't thick if you removed the advertising pages.

And no business would be crazy enough to sponsor a prison internal journal.

"Thanks."

Lawyer An thanked him and walked to the parking lot with the magazine.

He started the car, turned on the air conditioner, but the car was very hot and stuffy from the sun. Lawyer An could only stand next to it first, waiting for the air conditioner to continue running and let the temperature inside drop.

He lit a cigarette and smoked it.

He picked up the magazine casually.

The cover was printed very crudely,

but the magazine name was very domineering:

"Prison Break."

"Tsk tsk." Lawyer An clicked his tongue and flipped through it casually. That guy's article was at the end.

The title was "Untitled."

Lawyer An remembered that he had read many good novels in the first half of his life by an author named "Anonymous."

The story wasn't very long. It seemed that only the first part was written, so he was planning to serialize it.

It was about a good policeman who sacrificed himself to save hostages,

and after his death, his soul returned due to special reasons,

revived,

and continued to fight against criminals…

"It's so cliché. I've seen a lot of similar European and American movies."

Lawyer An finished reading the story and found it a bit boring,

but slowly,

he seemed to have thought of something,

and was stunned.