CHAPTER 167: CHAPTER 125 HOW COULD I POSSIBLY GET MYSELF INTO TROUBLE IF I KNOW THE LAW?_4

Afterward, he began to use his spare time at work to intensively study books on courtroom litigation.

Using his "Photographic Memory" skill, he learned about the techniques and strategies of courtroom litigation.

As a party involved, he could defend himself even without a lawyer’s license, just like Jia Zuoying and Wang Fenlan in the previous case.

However, a defense required professional methods and solid evidence, and couldn’t involve making an unreasonable scene.

「The next day.」

At eleven in the morning, in the Mountain and Water Garden District, at the lottery shop.

"Hello, you are Chen Ping, right? This is a summons from the court."

Two court staff members had come to his door. They handed Chen Ping an envelope containing documents.

In that envelope were the summons and a copy of the lawsuit.

He... he has finally sued.

After the court staff left, Chen Ping furrowed his brows.

Over the past few days, he had been trying to contact Qin Mu, hoping to settle the compensation issue privately. But Qin Mu had completely ignored him.

As expected, after the police station decided not to file a case, Qin Mu had directly sued him in court!

"It’s all over, what do we do now? They’ve really sued us..."

Xie Lili, who was helping in the store, opened the file envelope. Seeing the summons and the copy of the lawsuit inside, she immediately panicked.

She became restless and started to complain incessantly.

"What do we do now? How do we fight this lawsuit?"

"I told you it was risky! I asked you not to do it, but you just had to covet their 7,000,000!"

Chen Ping, however, remained calm, saying unhurriedly, "It’s just a lawsuit. I know quite a few Senior Brothers in Jin City, all of them well-known lawyers. We can’t lose!"

"Really?" Xie Lili still doubted her husband’s capabilities.

Chen Ping snorted coldly. He didn’t argue further but picked up his phone, intending to call the Senior Brothers he knew for help.

Although he wasn’t academically strong, he still remembered one thing from school: after being sued... the first thing to do was find a lawyer.

A professional lawyer could play a crucial role during the trial.

I’ll give Senior Brother Zhang a call and see what he says.

After thinking for a moment, he brought up the contact information for his old law school Seniors and found one of them.

Among those he knew, this Senior Brother Zhang was undoubtedly the most successful in Jin City. The others either couldn’t get any cases and almost starved, or had accidentally gotten themselves convicted while defending someone else.

By comparison, this Senior Brother Zhang had reportedly taken on several major cases recently and was famous in Jin City legal circles.

BEEP—

Soon, the phone connected.

"Hello? Senior Brother Zhang? This is Chen Ping. Yes, we studied for the lawyer’s license together back in the day..."

As soon as the call connected, Chen Ping immediately started making small talk.

「Meanwhile.」

At Zhang Wei Law Firm, Zhang Wei looked at the unfamiliar incoming call on his phone and couldn’t help frowning.

Chen Ping? Sounds familiar...

After thinking for a while, he finally recalled an underachieving junior schoolmate. Zhang Wei had been one academic year ahead of him. Back when Zhang Wei was a senior preparing for the lawyer qualification exam, they had studied together for a period.

However, it had been too long ago, and he had forgotten some of the details. The name Chen Ping... if not for his notably poor academic performance, Zhang Wei might not have even remembered him.

"Oh, it’s you. What made you suddenly think to call me?" Once he confirmed the other person’s identity, Zhang Wei also exchanged some pleasantries. "By the way, did you eventually get your lawyer’s license? Are you practicing as a lawyer now?"

On the other end of the phone, Chen Ping suddenly fell silent for a few seconds before saying, rather embarrassedly, "I missed it by a few points back then. I didn’t become a lawyer. Now I’m just running a lottery shop to get by."

Zhang Wei nodded. "Running a lottery shop isn’t bad. At least the income is stable."

The two briefly caught up.

Then, Chen Ping got to the point, "Senior Brother Zhang, I’m calling you this time... mainly because of a case."

Following that, he explained how he was being sued because he had printed a lottery ticket with the wrong numbers.

"Lotteries are matters of chance. Provided you printed the ticket incorrectly *before* the draw, even if it subsequently won a million, there shouldn’t be an issue. You should know these basic principles, right?" Zhang Wei, upon hearing this, immediately offered his free "consultation."

Chen Ping let out a wry laugh. After hesitating for a moment, he made his request, "It’s like this, the case is a bit complex, Senior Brother Zhang. I’d like to hire you as my attorney."

Out of caution, he didn’t dare to reveal the truth right away.

"My attorney? For this civil dispute, the attorney fees are 220,000. Are you sure you want to hire me?"

At Zhang Wei Law Firm, Zhang Wei was taken aback after hearing this, somewhat incredulous. His breathing even quickened slightly.

A civil lawsuit case, 220,000 in attorney’s fees! That was comparable to what he’d make from ten criminal cases.

However, he still remained cautious and didn’t rashly agree. A classmate he hadn’t contacted for many years suddenly showing up and offering a 220,000 case... it was too suspicious.

And, with the precedent of Jia Zuoying and Wang Fenlan not far behind, he was worried about being tricked again.

After careful consideration, he resisted the temptation and took a deep breath.

He refused, saying, "Chen, I truly would like to help, but my expertise over the years has been in criminal defense, specializing in sentence reductions. I’m not very well-versed in civil litigation."