An Lan was shocked.
After a while, she calmed down and said, âWhat? Weâre not dating yet, and youâre already thinking of coming to my place? Donât get your hopes up. No anyone can come to my home.â
âYou misunderstood me. I didnât mean anything by it.â Xu Baohan really didnât have any other thoughts, but after thinking about it carefully, he knew it was not a good idea to go to her place at this stage. He had to take things step by step. âAlright, How About tomorrow?â
â...Tomorrow then.â An Lan knew he wouldnât give up, so she agreed. âI donât need you to pick me up. Iâll drive to the place you choose to eat. I need to drive to work the next day anyway.â
âYou choose the place. I rarely eat in places other than small diners,â Xu Baohan added.
After the matter was settled, Xu Baohan put down his phone and walked out of the office.
Su Run noticed that his bossâ face had turned from gloomy to sunny. It was obvious he was happy about something.
He roared silently in his heart that men in love were as unpredictable as his girlfriend. He had to please his girlfriend at home and his boss at work. Life was so hard.
The hearing ended and it was almost time to get off work.
Xu Baohan went straight to his office and turned on his computer. âYou can go home. Iâll finish the verdict before going home.â
Su Run sighed. Did he have to work so hard? âYou can write it tomorrow. I can see that youâre very tired today.â
âThereâs a trial tomorrow and I still have a new case to look at,â Xu Baohan said calmly. âThe most important thing is that I have an appointment with Lawyer An for dinner tomorrow night.â
Su Run understood. âChief Judge, do you need to order some flowers? I have a business card for that.â
Xu Baohan looked at him in bafflement and nodded. âMaybe sheâll like it. Iâd better bring some flowers with me.â
Su Run thought to himself that all women liked flowers; only silly women didnât like flowers.
âOh right, I took a look of the case allocation form in the afternoon. Why do I have more cases than other judges?â Xu Baohan tapped on the table with his knuckles.
He studied his schedule and had difficulty in finding a time slot for dating.
âItâs because youâre the only judge in the entire court who isnât married,â Su Run said sadly. âDuring meetings, everyone would ask if you could take more cases. Since no one waits for you at home after work, you said yes.â
âHow come I donât remember it?â Xu Baohanâs face was gloomy.
âIt was three years ago...â Su Run stammered. Poor him. As Xu Baohanâs assistant, he had the heaviest work load among all the assistants. Could it be that his boss had finally understood the situation? Then his bad days were coming to an end.
Xu Baohan understood. âTomorrow, you tell them that I have taken on too much for them in the past three years. Now, itâs time for them to repay me.â
âI will.â Su run nodded. He could imagine the sad mood of the judges.
...
The next afternoon, Judge Zhao bumped into Xu Baohan in the corridor. He had a bitter expression on his face, âBaohan, look at us. Weâre over 50 years old. Weâre not as energetic as before, and we have old parents to take care of. You young people should be at the forefront of the nationâs construction. The cases...â
âThatâs right, Iâm really envious of you. Youâre over 50 years old, and youâre about to retire. When that time comes, youâll definitely feel depressed with no case to work on, so you must take on a few more big cases before your retire.â Xu Baohan patted him on the shoulder. âOh by the way, didnât you say that you wanted me to work hard so that you can attend my my wedding? Iâm working hard, but I need you guys to share my burden.â