Xu Baohan’s gaze paused on her for two seconds before he said, “There are no lawyers or prosecutors, then there’s no need for judges to exist. They all work for the law, there’s nothing to hate or dislike.”

An Lan listened to his indifferent and magnanimous words and suddenly remembered the case she lost a few days ago. She had even secretly scolded him in the toilet, which indeed made her seem narrow-minded.

“I’m sorry about Lin Hao’s case last time…” An Lan sincerely apologized. The incident with Sun Xiaoxiao had allowed her to see Xu Baohan’s soft side.

Xu Baohan pursed his lips. “What’s the point of having the police if apology works? If you really feel apologetic, then treat me to a meal.”

“…”

An Lan almost wanted to pick her ears, was he shameless? She was merely apologizing out of emotion, but he actually shamelessly climbed asked her to treat him to a meal.

Her emotion just now must be due to her short-circuited brain.

“Chief Judge Xu, I remember I just treated you the last time,” An Lan said through gritted teeth. “You can’t always rely on me to treat you to a meal just because you are renovating your house and you need to save money.”

Xu Baohan looked at her calmly. “I just feel that the word ‘sorry’ is useless. It can’t be treated as a meal. I think it’s more practical to eat.”

“I refuse,” An Lan said without hesitation. “To you, the word ‘sorry’ is very simple. It’s just moving your lips, but to me, it’s a huge amount of courage. It represents my sincerity, so I definitely won’t treat you to a meal again.”

Xu Baohan’s eye brows were deeply furrowed.

Did she think that what he wanted was that meal? Wasn’t it just to find an excuse to get to know each other better.

“Oh yes, Sun Xiaoxiao fell ill because the murderer didn’t get a sentence after her parents died?” An Lan changed the topic.

“Yes.”

As she didn’t agree to that meal, Xu Baohan’s eyes darkened. “She was initially agitated when she saw her parents’ tragic death. At that time, the police suggested that she receive psychological treatment, but because she had to appear in court, she had to recall that painful experience over and over again. In addition, the murderer was released in court, she couldn’t accept it…”

An Lan was dejected. If it was her, she would probably be so mad that she wanted to die. “She must have hated you very much.”

Xu Baohan nodded. “She didn’t have the chance to hate me. After the case was over, she went crazy.”

“…”

An Lan felt a strong sense of sadness.

Xu Baohan continued, “At first, she was in the county’s mental hospital, but the conditions there weren’t good. After I transferred to Xia City, I brought her here as well. After her parents died, she did have relatives, but none of them was willing to accept a person like her who was mentally ill.”

An Lan understood that mental illness was really scary. Sometimes, they would even do harm to others. “I can’t tell that Chief Judge Xu has a kind heart, too.”

“You’re thinking too much.” Xu Baohan didn’t seem to like others saying that he had a kind heart. “I just feel that this case was handled by me, so I’m responsible.”

“You’re not responsible, you’re just following the rules.” An Lan smiled as she looked up at him. “You’re just kind-hearted.”

Her eyes were clear and bright.

Xu Baohan felt an inexplicable sense of uneasiness from her stare, his ears were also burning.

This was his first time he was praised for being kind-hearted. He had seen too many people pointing their noses at him and calling him “Cold-blooded and heartless”, including his most important family members.

“An Lan, you don’t understand me,” he said coldly and slowly.