19 Xiao Mei (III)

"Why should I wear these? Do you really know who I am? For turtle's sake, I'm a lawyer! I can just barge in there and they won't blink an eye!"

Lawyer Chang continuously prattled while they made their way towards the police station.

Earlier, they met at the coffee shop.

Xiong Zhi had already messaged Linfeng that she needed to do something without his company.

So after school, she went directly to the agreed meeting place. She gave Lawyer Chang a cap, a set of uniform, and a box of food.

They both appeared as the food delivery staff.

From the time when Xiong Zhi sneaked in to the VIP floor at the hospital, she discovered that she had a liking for these kinds of things. Thus, she was enthusiastic for their task this afternoon.

Naturally, Lawyer Chang was strongly against it.

However, they needed to do it. Xiong Zhi did not explain anything, she just forced Lawyer Chang to wear the costume. In the end, after Lawyer Chang's constant grumbling, she gave up and reluctantly wore the uniform.

She still remembered Xiong Zhi's threatening words when she adamantly refused to wear it.

"If you don't wear it, we will alert CJ," she said.

They reached the entrance and the scene before them shocked them both.

At the lobby, no vacant chair could be seen. They were all occupied by the reporters. Some reports fiddled with cameras, others were writing on their notes, some were typing non-stop on their laptop, some were interviewing chiefs and officers, and others were simply waiting and chatting.

Lawyer Chang immediately closed her mouth.

They made their way through the sea of people. No one stopped nor recognized them.

They entered the visiting area. In this place, reporters were not allowed entrance.

"You should know that even without this disguise, they still cannot stop me. Also, they are reporters! People will know I will be representing Xiao Mei. The CJ Company will not be able to do anything about it," Lawyer Chang hissed at Xiong Zhi under her breath.

She was actually embarrassed. She now knew why Xiong Zhi wanted to disguise themselves. Lawyer Chang was a known figure in the field of law. Those reporters with sharp eyes would instantly notice her if she came in her usual black suit and people would swarm upon her like bees. The magnitude of attention will likely cause CJ to be totally guarded against her. Still, she was a proud woman so she tried to defend herself a bit.

Xiong Zhi furrowed her brows, a little annoyed. Her liking towards Lawyer Chang diminished a tiny bit. No wonder only her best friend Xiao Mei stayed with this stubborn woman. With impatience, she said,

"Half of the people is from CJ. They may also control the media to spread unwanted news. If we want to publicize it, we must do so with a trusted media."

"Still..." When Lawyer Chang wanted to say something more in defense, Xiong Zhi rolled her eyes.

She could not believe that Lawyer Chang was this childish.

Lawyer Chang saw the eye roll. She felt more shameful. She knew she acted childish. But her personality was like this—a little panicky and talkative when she felt nervous. It was a blessing that she turn nervous only by a few things, and that included Xiao Mei.

She was nervous of meeting Xiao Mei.

She had let Xiao Mei suffer this mess alone. What kind of best friend was she?!

She did not even discover what had happened to her and—

Her eyes suddeny went wide.

"Oh, turtle's butt!"

(A/N: it was her own way of cursing. )

Xiong Zhi looked at Lawyer Chang impatiently.

'What is it now?'

"I'm the worst. Granny, I forgot about Grandma Ping!" Lawyer Chang exclaimed with a panicked expression.

'How could I forget? Xiao Mei will never forgive me!'

Lawyer Chang felt like crying.

Xiong Zhi had already seen many sides of Lawyer Chang today. Unmoved, she ignored the crying face of Lawyer Chang.

They approached the police officer at the desk in charge of accepting visitors.

At the window panel, Xiong Zhi placed the food container in front of the officer.

"Mr. Officer, thank you for your hard work and for keeping the criminals at bay. Without you, our country will be in a mess. I really admire and am grateful. It's not much, but please accept this token of appreciation from me."

Xiong Zhi used her new learned skill: sucking-up and giving 'gifts'.

She gently pushed the food container towards the officer.

At her side, Lawyer Chang stared at Xiong Zhi with an open mouth.

'What the..! This is girl has smarter mouth than mine!'

Lawyer Chang planned to threaten the officer earlier for an audience with Xiao Mei, because for sure, the CJ Company would bribe these officers against letting others speak to her friend.

She did not expect that Xiong Zhi would open her mouth first. It was a usually a good approach. 'Let's see though if she succeeds.'

The officer was happy to hear compliments from a beautiful lady and accepted it with glee.

"Of course! Becoming a policeman has always been my dream since I was young. To serve the country and protect it from those evil bastards, and to ensure that you beautiful ladies will have a safe place to live in."

"Oh my, thank you, officer. Please accept this gift."

"Since you say so," the officer accepted the box and took a peek inside. Better be safe just in case, he thought. He was shocked when he saw what was inside.

"Mr. Officer, this fan of yours was really in trouble. I really need your help." Xiong Zhi tried to sound pleading but the plain, monotonous and cold voice still came out.

'Maybe I should try voice lessons next time.'

The officer's ears perked up after hearing her words.

"Of course, I will help you! Anything for you, lady," the officer answered with a grin.

The police officer understood that the lady was bribing him. He was very familiar with it as he had done it for years. Generally, he only do small favors like extending the visiting time, handing food, medicine, ointments, books or any harmless objects brought by the family to the inmates.

"We are visiting my cousin. We want to talk to her, Xiao Mei."

"Oh, okay. I'll just check which cell she's in—" The officer had taken out the record book but then stopped abruptly.

On the record book, the name Xiao Mei was highlighted and had a note written beside it: Strictly No Visiting Allowed.

The officer was shocked for a moment and then looked at Xiong Zhi.

His eyes lost their mirth. They became serious with suspicion.

"I'm sorry. I cannot help you in this matter. It is authorized by higher ups that Xiao Mei cannot be visited by anyone. "

Xiong Zhi quickly embraced the box. That box contained food and piles of money.

"Is that so? Maybe I should give this to someone else then. I just need two minutes to talk to her. I need to tell her our grandmother is having her surgery done." 

The officer looked at the box with regret.

"But its fine, Mr. Officer. I will give this to anyone later, someone who can keep the fact that we spoke with cousin a secret. Of course, no one will know of what happened during his shift. We just wanted to tell her news about grandmother."

Xiong Zhi turned to leave with the box.

"Wait! Just talk for only two minutes, okay?" The officer gave in and looked greedily at the box. That amount should be worth it.

"Are you sure? We don't want to trouble you," Xiong Zhi asked.

"No, its fine. No one knew it happened on my shift, alright?" 

The officer was a bit nervous. For sure, his chief received a lot of bribe from some big shot to prevent that inmate from receiving visitors. Since his chief had received the money, why couldn't he? No one would know he did it anyway.

Accepting the bribe, he looked around to check if someone was nearby. Seeing no one, he quickly opened the door and lead Xiong Zhi and Lawyer Chang to the prison ward.

"I'm telling you this, we are not allowed to let anyone come into this area. If I let your cousin out, we might get caught with no escape. If someone saw us, you know what to say, right?" the police officer whispered hurriedly while leading the way. This was the first time that his part time—accepting small bribes—could possibly get himself fired.

But he thought, it's just a two minute talk, and all the money in the box would be his! Besides, their chief was the one in the wrong. He was just helping these two pitiful ladies give filial piety to their grandmother.

The officer reassured himself that he was not doing something bad.

They reached the prison ward and looked for the cell where Xiao Mei was in.

They arrived at the farthest cell.

Xiong Zhi peeked inside.

Inside the small cell, a woman with long, black, curly hair cuddled herself on the corner of the bed.

Lawyer Chang gasped when she saw her best friend's vulnerable state.

"Mei..."

Hearing the familiar voice, the woman looked up. Her teared-streaked face, puffy eyes, and dark circles was exposed to them.

Xiao Mei looked differently from what Xiong Zhi had seen in the television in her past lifetime.

Instead of a sharp, confident, smart-looking, and guarded Xiao Mei whom she had seen before, it was a broken and bedraggled young lady.

When Xiao Mei recognized Lawyer Chang, she quickly stood up and ran, stumbling towards them.

"Biv? Bi'er!" Xiao Mei's tears flowed out again.

"Mei..." Lawyer Chang choked and small sobs came out.

They held each other's hands and called the other's names.

When ten seconds passed, Xiong Zhi had to cut them off.

"We've got two minutes only. Xiao Mei, I'm Xiong Zhi." Xiong Zhi handed her card to Xiao Mei.

'I H Z H I?'

Xiao Mei looked at the card then to Xiong Zhi and finally looked at Lawyer Chang. Her eyes were asking, 'who is she?'.

Lawyer Chang understood Xiao Mei. She raised her right brow, seemingly asking, 'you don't know her?'

Xiao Mei pinched her brows, trying to recall if she had met Xiong Zhi before. However, no memories came up. She shook her head.

Lawyer Chang's gaze turned sharply towards Xiong Zhi.

She had let her guard down. It turned out this girl's identity was suspicious!

"Don't look at me like that." Seeing the questioning eyes of Xiao Mei and the suspicious gaze of Lawyer Chang, Xiong Zhi just rolled her eyes.

"I will not be here trying to get you out if I want to harm you. I'm here with a proposal."

Lawyer Chang raised her brow, Xiao Mei was stunned and the police officer was confused.

"I will help you get out of here but with a deal," Xiong Zhi directly stated her goal.

"Wait. What kind of deal you are talking about? And you girl, who are still underage, what can you do in this situation? Do you think I agreed to your demands earlier because I wanted to? No, I was forced! CJ is blocking everyone who tried to help Xiao Mei. Can't you see the difficulty of the situation? We are really thankful that you reached out to us about Xiao Mei's situation. But you better stop now. You should not concern yourself with this matter anymore. It is the adults' problem," Lawyer Chang rushed in a quick breath.

She liked this Xiong Zhi girl, but this girl might have been sent by CJ. If they could frame their loyal employee without batting an eye, what about sending a teenager to go against them? They would surely destroy this girl's bright future.

Xiong Zhi, hearing this, wanted to roll her eyes at them again.

Could they at least let her finish? 

"I know you do not believe me. But Xiao Mei, you don't have much time. I visited your grandmother at the hospital yesterday and the attending doctor said they needed your consent for your grandmother's surgery."

"W-what happened? W-what surgery?" Xiao Mei could not believe what she was hearing. Her grandmother was healthy before she entered the jail. What had happened?

Xiong Zhi took out her phone and let them see the picture of Xiao Ping's X-ray, the results of tests, and the last picture was of the aged Xiao Ping on the hospital bed. Only seconds passed and she put her phone away.

"Believe me now?" Xiong Zhi asked expressionlessly.

Both Lawyer Chang and the officer stared dumbfounded at Xiong Zhi. They had the same thought.

'That's the cruelest way of delivering news...'

(A/N : yup, but the most detailed and short one, no explanation needed. See, effortless. That's our Xiong Zhi )

(E/N: I'm more surprised two minutes hadn't passed yet)

"Grandma!" Xiao Mei could not control herself anymore, she cried while trying to grab Xiong Zhi's phone.

Even from that quick glance, she recognized her grandmother in the picture. It was genuine. Her grandma truly have a serious illness and needed surgery as soon as possible.

Xiao Mei blamed herself. Her grandmother took her in when her parents died because of an accident, leaving their ten year old child behind.

Since she became an adult, her only wish was to give her grandmother a comfortable and luxurious life. She wanted to repay all the love and care her grandma had given her. When she was in prison, all she could think of was her grandma. What if she heard the news? How heartbroken would she be? Now, seeing her grandma on the hospital bed, suffering without anyone staying by her side, made Xiao Mei want to break out of prison no matter what.

"Don't worry. Her condition has stabilized, but it can get worse. You need to get out of here and stay by her side while she undergoes surgery. You want that right? My proposal is that you will work for my company once I get you out—"

"Haven't you heard what I said? CJ is not easy to take on! You will suffer—" Lawyer Chang cut her off.

"Then tell me, if you handle the matter, how long can you take Xiao Mei out of here?" Xiong Zhi rebuked, losing her patience.

"I have everything planned. Huo Dian will help us. But finding evidence against them might be difficult. I think at least a month. I will not let this case close until Xiao Mei's innocence is proven."

Lawyer Chang answered with a stern face.

Xiong Zhi turned to Xiao Mei.

"Can you tolerate for a month? Do you want to stay here for a month and longer?" Xiong Zhi asked her. Xiao Mei was horrified and shook her head. She did not want to stay here any longer! Her grandmother needed her now as they speak!

"I talked to the doctor, he said the elderly Xiao Ping needed urgent surgery. By next week at least. Xiao Mei, the card that is in your hand represents the company that I just created. I want you to be the Vice Director of IHZHI. I will bring to you the contract and the details later after you leave this place. Lawyer Chang said she can take you out of here but she needed a month or maybe longer. But I guarantee you, if you accept my proposal, I will get you out of here in a week. Not just that, I will make sure CJ will not be seen standing anymore. How is it? It's worth a try right?"

The three people heard her say this and was shocked beyond comprehension.

Lawyer Chang's mouth hung open in disbelief.

'In. A. Week?!'

Even if Lawyer Chang did her best, she could only confidently say that she could do it in a month. However, a sixteen year old is saying she could do it in a week, which is just not possible!

(E/N: what happened to two minutes?)

Xiao Mei was taken aback at hearing the girl in front of her say that she had started her own company and was even recruiting her as the Vice Director in this situation. This girl even sounded confident in proving Xiao Mei's innocence. She said she would do it in a week! Then make the CJ Company fall from its heights? Even Xiao Mei who always saw the best in people could not believe what the teenager was saying.

Still, Xiao Mei realized that the girl was serious and confident. As if everything was ready in her hand and was just waiting to strike. The aura that Xiong Zhi emitted was too strong that Xiao Mei kind of wanted to trust and believe in her.

The officer was shocked. Was it okay for him to listen to this conversation? He was witnessing a conspiracy here! Also…

'I thought they were cousins.'

Xiong Zhi stared at Xiao Mei waiting for her answer.

Xiao Mei looked at Xiong Zhi and decided to gamble.

"Thank you for taking care of my grandmother. The fact that you even knew my grandmother's condition tells me how serious you are about all this. Sure. I agree. I don't care how you do it. But please, let me get out of here fast. My grandma needs me. She is the only relative I have. I will never forgive myself if something happened to her—"

"Xiao Mei—" Lawyer Chang started.

"And I'm sure Bivia and Dian'ge will help you," Xiao Mei continued on.

"Bi'er, she is my and grandma's benefactor. I know, you were probably caught up with something this past week, right? Xiong Zhi really helped me this time. Let's trust her. She also said she will give the contract later once I am out. We can adjust the conditions then. I know you somehow trusted her, if not, why accompany her here? If you really don't want to, you will still be able to reach me with Dian'ge. I know you Biv," Xiao Mei persuaded Lawyer Chang.

Lawyer Chang sighed. She was also grateful to Xiong Zhi for helping. She was just worried. How could a sixteen year old girl handle this? No matter what though, she would do her best to help Xiao Mei.

A corner of Xiong Zhi's lips curled up slightly. Finally.

"Don't worry. I keep my words. I'll definitely get you out. See you next week."

Xiong Zhi strode off, not even glancing back.

The three people who were left behind stared at her back.

Moments later, Lawyer Chang bid her goodbye to Xiao Mei and ran after Xiong Zhi. Her clothes were still with the girl. She could not go home like this.

Meanwhile, the officer was staring at the box. He could not believe what he had witnessed today.

'I'm not going to die right? They said people who knew many secrets are better off dead. The dead do not tell tales… huhuhu… so much for bribery. I won't do it anymore...'

Then he opened the box, set aside the food and counted the money. At least it was a good sum. At the bottom, there was a note.

"I recorded the whole thing. You better not tell it to anyone. If you do, be prepared to become unemployed for the rest of your life. I hope we can work together in the future. Thanks."

'Waaaahhhh... No more!!!'

___________________________

Lawyer Chang was still in a daze as she changed her outfit. She felt like earlier was a dream. They actually made a deal with a minor and put Xiao Mei's life into her hands.

'Is it really fine? No matter how I think about it, it is impossible.'

But even if it was impossible, Xiao Mei was also in desperate need. She was desperate enough to even believe a kid.

'But it concerns Granny's life. It's a matter of life and death.'

No matter how illogical it was, she had to put her faith in Xiong Zhi. She hoped Xiong Zhi had cards up her sleeve and bring miracles out.

"Lawyer Chang, can I bother you to help a friend of mine?" Xiong Zhi said as she finished changing her clothes.

"Ah?" Lawyer Chang was slow in response as she was still thinking of the earlier matter.

"I have friend in prison. He was still waiting for his trial. It was just a light case. You can help him out simply by announcing your name."

Lawyer Chang went back to being a strict lady.

"I don't help bad people." It was silly but that was her principle.

"He is not a bad person. He was a victim. He was like Xiao Mei, framed. His client wanted to sexually harass him. Now he is in prison." Xiong Zhi described Fang Dien's story concisely.

Lawyer Chang's expression relaxed. She was ready to help if that was the case. Besides, Xiong Zhi, who asked for help, was the girl whom she decided to help for Xiao Mei's sake.

"Alright. I'll investigate first."

"Please do it in three days."

Lawyer Chang's mouth twitched. Why did she felt like the favor became a task given to her? Surprisingly though, she was not irritated, rather she felt it was as expected of this girl. Lawyer Chang had an inkling that this Xiong Zhi would be an ultimate boss in the future.

Oh, how right she is.