More importantly, who exactly was this freshman named Ming Mei? How had she managed to hire Li Mingkang?
Li Mingkang was a renowned figure in the legal world across the two capitals and one major city—Capital City, Shanghai, and Huacheng. His consultation fee alone amounted to tens of thousands of yuan per hour. Without substantial family wealth, who could possibly afford to bring him out of retirement to handle a case?
And for something as trivial as spreading rumors?
Wang Jianguo carefully read through the lawyer’s letter once again. Then he looked up, asking hesitantly, “Attorney Li, this Ming Mei is…?”
“Ah, I haven’t introduced her to you yet, have I?” Li Mingkang said, putting on an apologetic expression. “Ms. Ming is the new owner of Mingkang Law Firm.”
He smiled and continued, “She has hired our entire legal team, including me, to work exclusively for her at an annual salary of 100 million Longguo yuan.”
Wang Jianguo lowered his eyes to conceal his shock. He knew that this matter could no longer be settled privately.
With a student from such a wealthy family, how could her background possibly be ordinary?
This was going to be troublesome.
Li Mingkang raised his chin slightly. “Does Dean Wang not intend to look at the evidence?”
Wang Jianguo forced a smile. “Of course. I’ll look at it now.”
With that, he opened the neatly organized evidence file and examined the documents page by page.
By the time he finished, his face had turned dark.
When the student union had first proposed setting up a Confession Wall, he had opposed the idea. He had felt that the whole thing was inappropriate.
However, the student union president had submitted an application, and several young teachers had also come to persuade him. They argued that other universities had Confession Walls and that their own school would look backward without one. They also claimed that such a platform could strengthen the sense of community among students.
Eventually, he had relented and approved the proposal.
But looking at the situation now, what kind of mess had this Confession Wall turned into?
The administrator had been subtly manipulating public opinion, while a group of people whose identities were unknown had posted disgusting remarks under the guise of being students from their university.
Just look at the things they had written! Could someone who had received higher education really say such things?
Wang Jianguo was so furious that his liver nearly hurt.
At first, he had felt that Liu Hao was somewhat pitiful. After all, the young man had supposedly made only a couple of casual remarks, yet someone was pursuing him so aggressively.
Now, after seeing the evidence, Wang Jianguo realized there was nothing pitiful about Liu Hao at all.
He had brought this upon himself!
Wang Jianguo forced a smile at Li Mingkang.
“Please wait a moment, Attorney Li. I’ll call Liu Hao’s academic counselor.”
He found the contact information for the counselor of Electronic Information Class 2 on his phone and immediately made the call.
The other party answered quickly.
“Dean Wang!” a man’s voice came through.
“Xiao Liu, where are you right now?” Wang Jianguo asked.
“I just finished dinner and was about to head back to the faculty dormitory. Is something the matter, Dean?”
“Don’t go back to your dormitory. Come to my office instead!”
After saying that, Wang Jianguo hung up before the other person could respond.
On the other end, Liu Zhicheng stared at his phone after the call abruptly ended, completely bewildered.
“What on earth is going on?” he muttered before turning around and heading toward the office.
About ten minutes later, Liu Zhicheng arrived at Wang Jianguo’s office.
“Dean Wang, you wanted to see me?” He pushed open the door and walked inside.
“You’re here, Xiao Liu.” Wang Jianguo’s expression was neutral. He didn’t even bother inviting him to sit down. Instead, he asked coldly, “Do you know a student named Liu Hao?”
Liu Zhicheng replied, “Yes, I do. Dean, may I ask what happened?”
Wang Jianguo snorted.
“I suspect you do more than just know him!”
Liu Zhicheng looked a little embarrassed.
“Dean, you really have an eye for detail! Hahaha. Liu Hao is my nephew, but he got into Shanghai University entirely through his own efforts. It just so happened that I was assigned to teach the Electronic Information class, so I had him enroll in that program.”
Wang Jianguo’s expression softened slightly.
He knew Liu Zhicheng’s family background. The Liu family had been among Shanghai’s earliest households to receive compensation from urban redevelopment. Liu Zhicheng’s elder brother had also learned a thing or two about stock trading, which had made the family quite wealthy.
However, aside from their money, the family had little influence. They certainly lacked the power to tamper with someone else’s college entrance examination results. Nor would they be foolish enough to lie about something so easily exposed.
Liu Zhicheng was also a capable teacher.
Thinking of this, Wang Jianguo frowned and asked, “Do you know your nephew well?”
Liu Zhicheng was even more confused.
“Dean, what kind of question is that? He’s my own nephew. How could I not know him?”
After speaking, he cautiously glanced at Li Mingkang, wondering why the man looked so familiar.
Wang Jianguo slapped the document envelope against Liu Zhicheng.
“If you know him so well, then explain how your nephew managed to do something like this!”
Liu Zhicheng caught the envelope and took out the lawyer’s letter. The more he read, the paler his face became.
After examining the evidence as well, his complexion turned an even darker shade of purple.
Finally, Liu Zhicheng, drenched in sweat, put all the documents back into the envelope.
He looked at Wang Jianguo and said, “I’m truly sorry, Dean! Liu Hao is the eldest grandson in our family, and the elders have spoiled him since childhood. I thought he was merely a little mischievous, but I never imagined he would…”
Liu Zhicheng struggled to finish the sentence.
“I never imagined he would have such serious character problems! We clearly failed in raising him properly. I’m truly sorry to Ms. Ming Mei. I will absolutely make Liu Hao apologize to her in person!”
Wang Jianguo sneered.
“Apologize? If an apology were enough, I would have simply called Liu Hao here myself. Why would I need you?”
He then pointed toward Li Mingkang, who had been quietly watching the exchange.
“This is Attorney Li Mingkang, Ms. Ming Mei’s legal representative. Since you’re Liu Hao’s elder, you can discuss the matter directly with him.”
Liu Zhicheng looked at Li Mingkang and finally remembered why the man seemed so familiar.
Wasn’t this the famous lawyer Li Mingkang, one of Shanghai’s most renowned legal figures?
At that realization, Liu Zhicheng felt as though the world had gone dark before his eyes.
He understood that there was no way this matter would end peacefully.
Nevertheless, he gritted his teeth and greeted him.
“Hello, Attorney Li.”
Having enjoyed the spectacle long enough, Li Mingkang stood up and smiled.
“Hello, Mr. Liu Zhicheng. I’m the legal representative of Ms. Ming Mei. I will be speaking on her behalf throughout this defamation case. If there’s anything you’d like to say, you may tell me directly.”
Liu Zhicheng spoke sincerely.
“I sincerely apologize to Ms. Ming Mei for what Liu Hao has done! I can have Liu Hao write her a letter of apology and apologize to her in person. Would that be acceptable?”
Li Mingkang studied Liu Zhicheng’s expression and smiled.
“Mr. Liu, you need to understand that your nephew, Liu Hao, has broken the law. Furthermore, our side already issued him a warning regarding his defamatory conduct. Not only did he refuse to delete the post and apologize, but he went even further and continued slandering our client.”
Li Mingkang’s expression grew colder.
“Our client is extremely angered by his behavior, and we have already submitted the complaint to the court for review. Let me be frank with you. I didn’t come here on behalf of my client to listen to your apologies. I came to inform you that the trial is scheduled for this Friday.”
Wang Jianguo was stunned. Liu Zhicheng was even more anxious.
“Wait, how did this suddenly turn into a trial? Isn’t an apology enough? I’ll make Liu Hao apologize to Ms. Ming Mei! We’ll compensate her financially, too. Any amount she wants! As long as Ms. Ming Mei is willing to forgive Liu Hao, I’ll even make him kneel down and apologize to her! Why does this have to go to court?”
Looking at Liu Zhicheng’s bewildered expression, Li Mingkang allowed some of his smile to fade.
“Mr. Liu, I hope you understand that your nephew, Liu Hao, has committed acts that violate the criminal law. We have simply taken him to court in accordance with the law.”