Why was Cai Shengnan looking for her so late at night?
Gu Nianzhi muttered to herself, but was still curious. She picked up the phone. “Hello, who is this?”
She pretended not to know whose phone number it was.
Cai Shengnan paused for a moment, then said pleasantly, “Lawyer Gu? This is Cai Shengnan. I represent my client and would like to talk to you about a confession.”
After Cai Shengnan immediately said “confession”, Gu Nianzhi, who had wanted to hang up the phone immediately, was wide awake.
“What did you say? Your client wants to confess? Why are you looking for me instead of the Court?” Gu Nianzhi sat down at her desk and turned on her laptop. She was in no hurry to go to sleep.
Cai Shengnan seemed to chuckle and say, “As for the confession, of course it’s for the misdemeanor. Is lawyer Gu not familiar with this kind of operation?”
“I’m really not familiar with it,” Gu Nianzhi said with a smile. “I’m not practicing law in the United States, so I don’t understand your way of doing things.”
Cai Shengnan discerned Gu Nianzhi’s sarcastic tone and laughed lightly. “Now you can understand.”
After a few seconds, Cai Shengnan’s voice sank, “Before you agree or disagree, I want to tell you something. Before I say anything, I want you to turn off all recording devices and turn on the software that blocks the surveillance. Don’t blame me for not warning you. If you don’t do this, you’ll regret it.”
Gu Nianzhi was incredulous. “Are you threatening me? I’m sorry, but I never accept threats. I’ll do whatever I want. I’m hanging up.”
“You really don’t care? Even if it ruins your fiancé’s reputation, you don’t care at all?”
Gu Nianzhi’s fingers almost touched the “stop” button.
She paused and raised her phone to her ear. Her voice flat, she said, “What did you say?”
“Turn off the recording and surveillance equipment, and block all surveillance software. That’s what I said. Believe me, I don’t want your fiancé’s reputation to be ruined either, but if I have no other choice, I have no choice. After all, he’s not my fiancé. I don’t have the right to defend him.”
Cai Shengnan shrugged and made a victory sign to Luo Jialan, who was listening to her.
Luo Jialan pursed her lips into a smile. She felt inexplicable excitement and thrill in her heart.
Gu Nianzhi hesitated for a second before decisively turning off the recording and surveillance equipment. She then turned on the surveillance software on her phone.
This was a small app she had specially CODED after she found out that He Zhichu had hacked into her phone.
The app was based on He Zhichu’s methods and was analyzed using reverse programming logic. The final product was unbelievably powerful.
Gu Nianzhi didn’t tell anyone.
She didn’t want to constantly block other people’s surveillance. She just wanted to preserve some privacy when she needed it.
Like now.
Just to be on the safe side, she said to Cai Shengnan, “Send me your location. I want to know if you’re lying to me.”
Cai Shengnan didn’t suspect her and sent her location.
Gu Nianzhi used the backdoor of the location-sharing app to hack into Cai Shengnan’s phone and included her phone in her little app that blocked surveillance.
This way, no one on Cai Shengnan’s side would know what they were talking about.
That was Cai Shengnan’s home. Even though Luo Jialan had surveillance cameras around her, they wouldn’t be able to send her to Cai Shengnan’s house.
Therefore, as long as Luo Jialan didn’t use her phone, no one from the Special Operations Forces would know about their conversation.
Gu Nianzhi checked repeatedly to make sure no one else could eavesdrop on their conversation. She then said, “If it’s such an important topic, what about your side? Will someone be listening in?”
Cai Shengnan smiled. “Of course not. I’ve checked here many times. Other than this phone, there’s not even internet in my room.”
Gu Nianzhi nodded. “Tell me, what’s the big deal?”
“Okay.” Cai Shengnan glanced at Luo Jialan. Upon seeing that she was so excited that her face was red, she averted her gaze in disdain. She said to Gu Nianzhi, “My client gave me a new piece of evidence. I think I should discuss it with you before we submit it to the Court.”
“What new evidence? Didn’t you just say it was related to my fiancé?” Gu Nianzhi frowned. “Are you trying to trick me?”
“Of course not.” Cai Shengnan stood up with her phone in her hand. She turned off the speakerphone and put on her Bluetooth headset. She said to Gu Nianzhi, “My client told me something that happened 12 years ago.”
Gu Nianzhi: “…”
“Are you talking about a book? Why are you keeping me in suspense? Hurry up and make it quick.” Gu Nianzhi was getting impatient. “My patience is limited.”
“Okay, then I’ll make it quick.”Cai Shengnan walked slowly to the window and looked out at the night view.
The night in the mountains was pitch black, with only the stars shining brightly.
She looked up at the night sky and said lightly, “… twelve years ago, on the eve of your fiancé’s enlistment, he got drunk and raped my client. That year, my client was only sixteen years old.”
Like a nuclear bomb had exploded in her head, Gu Nianzhi’s mind buzzed. Mushroom clouds filled the sky, blotting out the sun and almost knocking her out of consciousness.
After a long while, Gu Nianzhi stood up angrily and said through gritted teeth, “Cai Shengnan! Don’t be so despicable! How dare you create such a rumor?! Where’s the witness? Where’s the physical evidence?! Don’t think you can accuse him of rape just because you say so! Show me the evidence!”
“My client was very clear about the time, place, and person involved in the incident, and…”
Like a cat playing with a mouse, Cai Shengnan deliberately paused for a moment. She enjoyed Gu Nianzhi’s unspeakable anxiety, hatred, and anger, then said, “And my client still has the evidence, the physical evidence.”
“It must be fake.” Gu Nianzhi denied the authenticity of the evidence without any explanation. “I never had any expectations for Luo Jialan’s character, and now I have no expectations for your professional ethics, lawyer Cai.”
“Haha, lawyer Gu, you haven’t even seen the evidence, so how can you deny it right away?” Cai Shengnan hugged her arm and looked down at the tightly wrapped dress on the windowsill.
Through the translucent seal, the dress was clearly visible. It was red with white flowers and was made of silk. However, there were sticky filth on it that could be seen with the naked eye.
“Is that so? Then tell me, what evidence did you fake?”
“I don’t know if it was fake or not.” Cai Shengnan turned and sat on the windowsill with a smile on her face. “I have a wrapped silk half-length dress with visible semen stains on it.”
“You don’t need me to tell you whose it is, do you?”
Gu Nianzhi was so angry that she almost laughed. “Haha, Luo Jialan wants to learn from Lewinsky? My fiancé isn’t a zipper, so save your breath. If you have the guts, submit the evidence to the court and have the court examine the DNA. I don’t believe that that crappy dress has anything to do with my fiancé.”
“Lawyer Gu, why are you so certain?” Cai Shengnan asked curiously. “As far as I know, you only met your fiancé seven years ago, but Luo Jialan had known your fiancé for almost a lifetime.”
“Well, if Luo Jialan only plans to live to be 28, then she has indeed known my fiancé for an entire lifetime,” Gu Nianzhi said sarcastically, “I won’t be threatened by you. I believe in my fiancé’s character. Besides, if that dress was real, you would have submitted it to the court already. You wouldn’t have waited until now to make a deal with me. I’m not that stupid. If you want to threaten me, find another way.”
Cai Shengnan secretly praised Gu Nianzhi’s quick-wittedness, but if Gu Nianzhi really believed that, she was still too naive.
Cai Shengnan’s voice didn’t carry any emotion. She enunciated each word clearly, “Yes, we’ll take it to court, but we’ll announce it on Weibo at the same time.”
Gu Nianzhi’s voice suddenly stopped, and her throat felt as if it had been strangled by someone’s hand. She couldn’t breathe for a long time.
Cai Shengnan said meaningfully, “Lawyer Gu, do you understand what that means?”
“A high-ranking military official raped a minor 12 years ago, and this minor was his cousin. Lawyer Gu, do you think the netizens will give up on such an scandalous and sensational topic?”
Gu Nianzhi opened her mouth, but found that she couldn’t say anything to refute her.
“We both know that once this matter is published online, so what if it’s fake?” Cai Shengnan scoffed. “There are still many people who are brainless.”
“There are also many people who are afraid that the world wouldn’t be in chaos and that society isn’t dark enough. They will immediately believe such scandalous topics and draw out even more dark secrets for you to prove yourself. As for what the truth is, does it matter to them?”
“Don’t tell me you don’t know that every Weibo post that creates rumors has more reposts than those that refute them?”
Gu Nianzhi’s hands were trembling. It took her a lot of effort to stop her voice from trembling.
She suppressed her anger and said lightly, “But if you fake it, the court won’t accept it. I’ll even counter-sue you for perjury. What’s the point of doing this?”
“First, my client didn’t fake it. She swore to me that it was true.”
“Second, what’s the point of doing this? — of course it’s significant. If the court doesn’t accept it, the netizens definitely wouldn’t think it’s because of the fairness of justice. They’ll think it’s because of your high position and power that you’re deliberately pressuring the court not to accept it. If the DNA doesn’t match, then you’ve changed the evidence.”
Cai Shengnan’s intimidating presence was fully unleashed at this moment, crushing Gu Nianzhi in minutes. She was like a master of the dark side of online public opinion.
It was obvious that the Cai family was indeed an prominent family in the media industry. They had extensive experience and knowledge on how to manipulate people’s hearts.
“… when the time comes, who cares whether your fiancé is in the wrong? He will pay the price for what he has done, and so will you. His reputation would be completely ruined. I don’t think your organization would be willing to let such a person remain in the organization, so his career prospects would also be ruined.”
“Gu Nianzhi, think about it. Do you really want this to happen to your fiancé?”
“I admit, my client did go a little overboard with Song Jinning. But she really had no intention of killing her. Besides, she said that she had always resented your fiancé after he had raped her, so she took it out on his mother.”
Cai Shengnan spoke very cautiously and wasn’t afraid of Gu Nianzhi’s recording.
She had blamed everything on Luo Jialan. She had recounted everything from Luo Jialan, and wouldn’t be afraid to go to court even if it was made public.
Gu Nianzhi snapped out of her daze and sneered. “Is that so? She resents my fiancé for raping her, but why is she racking her brains to marry my fiancé now? Doesn’t she hate him?!”
