The entire court was bustling with activity, from the presiding judge down to the bailiffs. Everyone was exceptionally busy, their feet barely touching the ground. Almost every mont, defendants were being tried and, after the truth was uncovered, judged on the spot.
Considering the social impact, most of the more than 1,800 people tried today received suspended sentences. Only a few—those who had spread ssages far and wide and used extrely vile language—were not granted suspended sentences.
Qin Mu and Zhang Qingyuan were busy from start to finish, moving between the eight courtrooms, sending off one defendant after another. It was like an assembly line.
"Today’s... finally over," Zhang Qingyuan, following behind Qin Mu, couldn’t help but exclaim with relief. After a busy day, his old back and legs were aching all over, and he felt sowhat overwheld.
But... for the sake of his own compensation, he had been gritting his teeth and cooperating actively. Earning money... was really not easy at all.
"Let’s continue tomorrow," Qin Mu shrugged, ready to leave the courthouse with Zhang Qingyuan.
In the span of this one afternoon, they had processed 1,800 people. If one counted the whole day, they could complete the trials of nearly 3,000 people. By that estimation... in five or six days, they could conclude the trial of this case that had shocked the entire internet. Overall, the court was very fast.
He and Zhang Qingyuan chatted as they walked outside. But just as they left the courthouse, they saw a sea of people, a scene that made their scalps tingle. Even after seven in the evening, the crowd outside the courthouse had not dispersed. On the contrary, it seed to have grown even larger. Besides the defendants and their families, many curious onlookers who didn’t know the details had gathered. The defendants who had completed their trials today, with mixed emotions, t their relatives and told them the results of their sentences.
Human joy and sorrow were quietly unfolding outside the courthouse.
"Dad, I don’t have to go to jail," a university student said, his eyes red and voice sowhat choked up as he looked at his father, whose hair was slightly graying, at the courthouse gate. His father, anwhile, heaved a long sigh of relief, his slightly bent back trembling fiercely. Clearly, he had been on tenterhooks, fraught with fear, the entire ti his son was being tried.
"Dad, I know I was wrong. I won’t ever recklessly attack others online again." Hearing his son’s confession, the father cracked a smile and solemnly nodded. "One mistake is okay; we still have a chance to make it right."
With that, he led his son, and they squeezed into the thick crowd. Supporting each other, the two disappeared into the sea of people.
Scenes like this were actually not uncommon. These relatives were unwilling to leave because they were worried about their sons or daughters. Seeing that they had not been sentenced to prison, smiles finally appeared on their anxious faces. For them, as long as their loved ones weren’t imprisoned, it was a good outco. It ant there was still hope for everything.
"Being a parent is heart-wrenching," Zhang Qingyuan remarked, having overheard so of these comnts. He even saw parents nearly sixty years old with their children, who were already in their thirties.
These people really thought the internet was a lawless realm. When doing these things, they hadn’t considered the consequences at all. Even though they received suspended sentences, it still had a huge impact on their imdiate children. Certain positions still require political vetting spanning three generations!
Qin Mu silently nodded. For these people, he did not relentlessly pursue them. Many internet trolls don’t inherently have bad natures. They are often swayed by group dynamics and, lacking judgnt and critical thinking, beco tools in others’ hands. Receiving suspended sentences was, for them, already a considerable punishnt. He only hoped that these people would rember this lesson and not so easily take sides in the future. At the sa ti, this also served as a warning to those online harassers whose actions didn’t et the threshold for filing a case and thus weren’t brought to trial. They had escaped this ti only because the extent of their dissemination was insufficient. Next ti, they might not be so fortunate.
「At the sa ti, in the bank manager’s office in Jin City.」
Pei Xuanqing stared at the computer screen that had gone black, lost in thought. Today, he had sat there, watching the live broadcast all day.
After all, whether Qin Mu won the case would determine if the bank’s investnt loan could be recouped. This was also his first ti seriously watching a courtroom live stream online. And Qin Mu’s performance... it had impressed him multiple tis. He was glad to have beco friends with Qin Mu and not offended him. Cheng Chuxiao and the other seventeen individuals were all sentenced; not one received a suspended sentence! Even with the aid of top lawyer Zhang Wei, the outco hadn’t changed. Instead... Cheng Chuxiao had achieved a certain milestone by being sentenced to ten years, two years more than the recomnded eight years! This also taught him sothing new. A court’s sentence could actually be higher than the sentencing recomndation! Being too arrogant in the courtroom... only ends up harming oneself. And the assembly-line-style trials in the second half... they also thrilled him imnsely. Each defendant’s trial was processed very quickly, tackled in batches of a hundred. On just the first day, 1,800 defendants had undergone trial and received the punishnts they deserved. This ant... his investnt this ti was essentially secure! What would follow was the return of litigation fees and Qin Mu repaying a portion of the investnt. This ti, he had lent assets worth over one hundred million to Qin Mu. Their agreent was...
User Comments
0 comments from readers