“There’s really something like this going on? This is Shanghai! Someone dared to commit assault in broad daylight?”
“The police already arrested all those people. Tongtong asked them—the police said they’re just a bunch of small-time thugs who cause trouble all the time.”
Knock! Chen Junmiao gave Chen Sichu a flick on the forehead. “I call you dumb, and you really aren’t smart. How could small-time thugs just beat up your friend for no reason? Didn’t you two think about why?”
Chen Sichu was stunned, and the girl lying in the hospital bed froze too.
Chen Junmiao covered her face and let out a long sigh. Now she understood how these two had become friends.
“So, neither of you ever considered that the thugs might have been hired by someone?”
“Tongtong, my sister’s right. Think quick—have you offended anyone recently?” Chen Sichu said to the girl lying in the hospital bed.
The girl lowered her head in thought, then suddenly looked up—clearly something had come to mind.
“I—I did offend someone recently. About a month ago, when I was working as an extra, a director noticed me and said he wanted to invite me to shoot a short film.
At—at the time, I was with Qin Le, and Qin Le got mad about it for days. She said the director had been looking at her first, and that I deliberately stepped forward to steal her opportunity.”
“Qin Le? Do you have her contact info?” Chen Junmiao asked.
“Yes. She’s the model who ran away the moment the thugs came in.”
Hearing that, Chen Junmiao understood everything.
How could young people today be so emotionally immature? Hiring someone to hurt a person over some nonexistent opportunity? That’s something you have to bear legal responsibility for.
Luo Ming was thinking the same thing. This person was ridiculous. Never mind whether the director had noticed her first—even if he hadn’t picked her in the end, it was obviously because she had some shortcoming.
And she hired someone to hurt people over that? Way too absurd!
“Chuchu, what does your friend plan to do?” Luo Ming asked.
“Definitely go through legal channels. Hiring someone to cause injury counts as the principal offender in joint intentional injury crimes. If the circumstances are relatively minor, it’s up to three years in prison, criminal detention, or surveillance.
If it causes serious injury, it’s three to ten years in prison. If it causes death or causes serious injury by especially cruel means resulting in severe disability, it’s ten years or more, life imprisonment, or the death penalty.
Minor injuries don’t constitute a crime, but the public security authorities may impose administrative penalties, meaning detention or a fine. In addition, the injured party still has to be compensated financially.”
After hearing Chen Sichu’s words, Luo Ming smiled slightly and said, “You can even recite legal provisions. Looks like you’re not too silly after all. Do the police know about this?”
“They know. I had Zhou Qiutong call the police and explain the situation,” Chen Junmiao said.
“Has the injury been assessed?”
“It has. It counts as minor injury. If we go through legal procedures, the person who hired the thugs should be sentenced to one to two years in prison, though it might be suspended.”
“Suspended? The other side wouldn’t even have to go to jail? In that case, wouldn’t it be better to ask for more money?” Luo Ming frowned.
“Wen-jie, you can’t think like that. Whether she goes to jail or not doesn’t matter. The key is that this stain will be on her record. That stain will follow her for life, and it’ll have a huge impact on her children too,” Chen Junmiao said expressionlessly.
“That’s true. So what else can I help with? Miaomiao, you’ve probably already arranged the rest, right? Do you want me to help hire a lawyer?”
“No. Wen-jie, I’ve always been the one handling things like contacting lawyers for you. Thanks to you, I already have those connections myself.”
“Then what is it?”
“We want to ask Sister Shan for help—to contact this director and see if he can wait for Tongtong. This opportunity really means a lot to Tongtong. She came to Shanghai to struggle when she was 17.
She worked as a model and extra for years. She finally got this chance, and she really doesn’t want to miss it.
Her right arm isn’t fractured—it’s just a bone fissure. She won’t need to rest for too long.”
“Chuchu, don’t rush. About this matter, it’s better not to let Sister Shan know. With Sister Shan’s personality, she doesn’t like you bringing personal matters into work.”
“We’ve thought about that. Wen-jie, as long as you put in a word, I’m confident I can persuade Sister Shan to help,” Chen Junmiao said firmly.
“I didn’t say I wouldn’t help. Listen to me first. Think about it—which big director would pick an extra to be the female lead of a film? Even for a short film, they wouldn’t, right?”
The Chen sisters exchanged a glance and nodded at the same time.
“So this director is most likely a rookie just starting out, or a small director with no fame. You two agree with that too, right?”
The two nodded again.
“This kind of director has one common problem: they lack money. At a time like this, instead of having Sister Shan step in, it’d be better to have the boss of a company come forward.”
“Wen-jie, are you talking about the boss of that company you invested in?” Chen Junmiao probed.
“Yes!”
“If it’s President Luo, then it’ll definitely work!” Chen Sichu said excitedly.
Chen Junmiao shot Chen Sichu a sideways look and thought, “You’ve only met him twice. What do you know? But if Wen-jie trusts him this much, then it should be fine.”
Meanwhile, Luo Ming was thinking, “How is it up to him to make decisions about the Chen sisters’ matters? Better to toss the hot potato to their boss.”
And so both sides reached a consensus. Luo Ming directly dialed Lin Shuwen’s number.
The moment Lin Shuwen picked up and was about to speak, Luo Ming beat her to it: “Miaomiao, Chuchu, you two tell President Luo about this yourselves!”
Lin Shuwen was stunned for a moment, then realized the Chen sisters probably needed a favor from her, and Luo Ming didn’t want to make the decision for her, so he pulled this move.
But Luo Ming could have waited until the two left before calling her! Calling right in front of them—was the matter urgent?
Or was it that the matter was tricky, and having “Luo Ming” be the one to refuse would avoid hurting “Lin Shuwen’s” relationship with the Chen sisters?
Whatever she thought, Lin Shuwen didn’t hesitate at all when she spoke. She asked directly, “Is there something you need my help with?”
“Yes, President Luo. It’s like this…”
After hearing the Chen sisters’ explanation, Lin Shuwen rolled her eyes on the other end of the line.
That bastard Luo Ming—she’d just been thinking so much, and it turned out this guy just wanted to dump the responsibility on someone else!
“President Luo, would it be convenient for you to help?”
“Sure! It’s just that if I call the director as the head of a company, the director will instinctively think I’m an investor. If we really want the director to agree, it might cost some money. Wenwen, you’re the company’s investor—what do you think?”
The ball was back at Luo Ming’s feet. This woman really held grudges.
“If it helps, spending some money is fine—”
“Wen-jie, I can pay for this.” Chen Sichu cut Luo Ming off. “Wen-jie is already willing to help. We can’t let you pay too, Wen-jie!”
