First-Class Lawyer

Chapter 118 - In the Wake Of (i)

If the heavens would give Joe a chance to start anew, he'd choose to saw off his mouth.

Sadly, this universe didn't come with a rewind button.

Young Master Joe's brain was completely blank during the split second that he was chucked off. He didn't even realise what had happened to him, only vaguely sensing that his knee hurt a bit and his palms were stinging a little...

By the time he finally regained his wits, he was already reflexively covering his face with one hand and tugging at the waist of his pants with his other.

His elbows were being propped up. Joe could tell that it was Gu Yan and Yan Suizhi, who had rushed over to support him.

"Did you hurt your face?" Yan Suizhi asked. "Hey, don't cover it."

Gu Yan attempted to pull his hand away, trying to see what was wrong with his face.

Come hell or high water, Young Master Joe refused to move his hand away. He shook his head, saying in a muffled voice, "I'm fine—I'm fine, seriously—stop pulling me. I need a moment."

"Let us check if you're bleeding first," Yan Suizhi said. "There's a first-aid kit in the room. Before anything, we at least have to take care of any injury. You can't just sit around like this."

Joe still refused to lift his head. "I didn't hit my face. I'm sure; my hand's over it."

"Then what are you covering your face for?"

"..." Young Master Joe kept his face behind his hand, his expression crumbling for a while before affecting calmness. "Conditioned reflex."

Gu Yan, as Joe's best friend, understood at once.

Yan Suizhi asked doubtfully, "What conditioned reflex is that?"

Gu Yan, "...Covering his face out of embarrassment."

This was Young Master Joe's life creed.

For as long as Joe could remember, his sister, Eunice, had given him this advice—when embarrassed, either cover someone's face or cover your own.

It was probably meant as a joke, but Young Master Joe at the tender age of three was a Little Fool through and through. After having been told so many times, it had become an action as natural as habit.

It wasn't Gu Yan's first time witnessing this.

Young Master Joe held his free hand up, giving Gu Yan a silent thumbs-up to indicate that he had hit the nail on its head.

Yan Suizhi, "..."

To Young Master Joe in the present, lifting his head to see the person in question was much more terrifying than getting injured or bleeding.

Why don't they do him a favour and let him off, yeah?

"Are you really not injured?" Yan Suizhi confirmed again. "What about your knees?"

Joe shook his head.

The esteemed Professor Yan regarded this little fool with resignation for a moment, hen his mind abruptly recalled the scene just now.

It'd even replayed several times like a smash hit.

Eventually he couldn't resist it anymore. After patting Joe in consolation, he draped himself on Gu Yan's shoulder, bursting into soundless laughter like a righteous bastard.

Gu Yan, "..."

Under the sunlight in another corner of the living room, Ke Jin's fingers suddenly twitched. He stared at Joe for a long moment, as though he couldn't understand what had happened to him, but also like a desperately drowsy person struggling to break out the haze obscuring his awareness.