155 Smugness (2/2)

”Fine, fine, it appears I've been casting pearls before swine.”

Zhang Dashan sighed with a hint of disappointment, expecting his newfound reputation to precede him.

Xiao Ruyi was offended. She put down her chopsticks and glared at Zhang Dashan angrily. ”Zhang Dashan, who are you calling a swine?”

Zhang Dashan quickly doubled back on his words, then casually pointed at Feng Wuhen and Little Five, who were both digging into the food, and said with disdain, ”I said that they are swine, look at them, see how much they can eat, just like two greedy pigs.”

”Brother Zhang, Little Five and I are innocent, we're not committing any crimes here!” Feng Wuhen lifted his head and laughed obligingly.

”Innocent your *ss, I'm praising how sturdy you are when I compare you to swine, you bunch of illiterate people.”

Zhang Dashan continued to rebuke him in jest, then changed the topic. ”Oh yeah, Sister Luo, I must tell you something. Your brother, Old Xiao, is not how he used to be. He may have been a loser in the past, but has now become a CEO and is among the most successful people around.”

Xiao Luo rolled his eyes at him, ”Watch what you are saying!”

He wasn't about to keep a lid on his recent success, not his own sister. So he allowed Zhang Dashan to continue saying as he pleased.

”Am I not talking properly right now, can you not interrupt me?” Zhang Dashan shot back.

”Big-face Zhang, you haven't even started drinking any alcohol, why have you already started talking nonsense?” Xiao Ruyi interjected, assuming that it was all a bad joke.

”Why don't you believe me! Am I am not telling the truth?”

Zhang Dashan couldn't help feeling irked. Out of sheer frustration, he suddenly thought to take out his phone and immediately searched for the video footage of the public trial. ”Well, after watching this clip, you will then know whether I am telling the truth.”

Xiao Ruyi and Tang Ren took the phone from Zhang Dashan, a little surprised with his conviction. They clicked on the clip and started watching.

”Brother Shan, why are you on the plaintiff's seat? You are the representative of Luo's Workshop?” Tang Ren said in surprise.

Enjoying his moment of fame, Zhang Dashan had his hand on his chin, smoothing out a nonexistent beard like a spiritual sage master that had left this dimension. Then, still stroking his beardless chin and acting the part, he squinted his eyes and said, ”Continue watching, I will explain to you all after you've finished watching the whole clip.”

Xiao Luo quietly nibbled away at his food. He had noticed that besides establishing the fact that Xiao Luo was now the boss of Luo's Workshop, Zhang Dashan was also busy bragging about his exploits in court. He couldn't help repeating every detail about his bold and impressive performance in court to Ruyi and Tang Ren.

As expected, after watching the condensed version of the public trial video, Xiao Ruyi saw Zhang Dashan in a new light. ”Big-face Zhang, you are quite capable, I'm surprised that you can be the representative of Luo's Workshop and anger the lawyer of the other party so much that he lost his head and was kicked out by the presiding judge directly. I must give you a ”like: this time around.”

”I only had to deal with Fu Heyu, easy-peasy, haha...” Zhang Dashan said as he gestured with a wave of his hand.

”Fu Heyu? Oh, you mean the guy that you angered so much that he cursed in court, was Fu Heyu? I heard that he's a top lawyer, at par with the likes of Ge Zhongtian.” Tang Ren said with a feigned expression of shock. But to be honest, he had his doubts about the video clip's veracity, thinking it plausible that the sound and video feed had been edited with.

”In front of Brother Shan, Fu Heyu is nothing. It doesn't matter what jade [2] they send, all of them must kneel on the ground and submit to me, haha...”

Zhang Dashan's conceit was thoroughly appeased that day. He sat confidently, looking smug, unconsciously shaking his legs in excitement, as he continued to revel in unending bluster. As to why he mentioned Fu Heyu? It was purely to brag about how he put down one of the top attorneys in the city. And he took particular pleasure in showing off in front of Tang Ren and Xiao Ruyi.

Amid his ranting, a sharp, angry voice suddenly pierced the air.

”B*stard, what bullsh*t are you sprouting over there?”

He turned and saw that the voice belonged to a young man with a look of fury that matched his words.

[1] In Chinese, ”driving a car” is slang for making lewd jokes or sharing/ creating obscene material, depending on the context.

[2] 'Yu' means jade in Chinese.