Justice System: I Litigate for the Whole City

Chapter 166 : The Words ”Reviewed”

The pencil traced over that line on page eight a second time, and the paper started to gray.

March 12, 8:40 in the morning. She was the only one upstairs at Zhengping Firm. Three long sheets of paper hung on the wall in columns: the left column listed the page order and page names of the thirty-four sealed pages in the case; the middle column held the hospitalʼs ”Page Correspondence Table”; the right column held that quoted line from the opinion. On the ”Page Eight” row, each column said something different — the left: ”Erasure Marks”; the middle: ”Page Numbered According to Reorganized Same-Sequence Page”; the right: ”The record on this page is continuous, with no evidence of alteration or insertion.”

He Xiufen came upstairs carrying a plastic bag. Inside was a stack of blank paper, the letterhead already printed: Zhengping Law Firm. She set the bag on the long table, looked at the wall first — a full half-minute before she turned around.

”Reasoning?”

”Apply to have the appraiser appear in court. One line: the page he read is not the page in the case file.”

”That line works.” He Xiufen settled her glasses onto the bridge of her nose. ”How many requests?”

”Three. One, summon the appraiser in this case to appear for questioning. Two, the appraisal opinion should not be admitted, or the appraisal institution should be ordered to return the sealed case materials, correct them, and reissue the opinion. Three, obtain the reference materials currently held by Qiushi, present them in court, and have the appraiser identify them.”

”The third one matters most,” He Xiufen said. ”The first two he can wave off with one word — ʼunfounded.ʼ The third he canʼt block. If he doesnʼt show up, nobody can identify that cabinet full of paper.”

Shen Zhixia sat down to write. At the third line, He Xiufen reached over her shoulder and crossed out two lines with her pen.

”Cut these two?”

”One says, ʼthe appraisal institution cannot evade its duty of neutrality.ʼ The other says, ʼprocedural defects undermine fairness.ʼ” He Xiufen capped the pen. ”ʼNeutralityʼ — thatʼs the courtʼs word. Every sentence you write has to be followed by a page number or a date. If you put that kind of language up there, the court looks at your attitude first, not your paper.”

”Then what do I write?”

”Write what you actually have.”

”For the second one, I originally wanted to write ʼthe appraisal opinion must not be based on materials not confirmed by the court.ʼ”

”Then youʼd be answering for him.” He Xiufen said. ”How do you know what he relied on? All you know is the page he read doesnʼt match the one in the file. Put both paths in — not admitted, or returned for correction. Let the court choose. Donʼt choose for them.”

In the end, three requests were settled on, each one biting into a single page:

One: The body of the Judicial Appraisal Opinion in this case states: ”Reviewed page eight of the medical record; the record on this page is continuous, with no evidence of alteration or insertion.” At the corresponding position on page eight of the sealed original in the case, the sealing inventory states: ”Erasure Marks.” The ”Page Correspondence Table” attached to the Explanatory Note on Versions of Appraisal Materials states at its bottom: ”Page Eight: original page damaged, handwriting illegible; page numbered according to reorganized same-sequence page.” Three documents correspond to the same page number. Which one was cited — the appraiser is requested to indicate in court.

Two: Item two of the reply letter obtained by this court on March 7 states: the three pages of the Explanatory Note on Versions of Appraisal Materials ”were transferred by a first-floor staff member of this office to the Medical Damage Appraisal Room for review, and after review were returned to reference storage during the cabinet inventory on March 3; they were not included in this caseʼs appraisal materials.” Since these three pages were transferred to the appraisal room, who transferred them, who reviewed them, and which pages were at hand during review — all are requested to be explained.

Three: The Judicial Appraisal Opinion in this case is dated March 11, six days earlier than the institutionʼs originally scheduled deadline. The trial transcript of this court from March 5 already records: ”The position of materials in the cabinet has changed.” The dispute over the version of appraisal materials has not yet been resolved.

”Your second one is right.” He Xiufen read through each item, then tapped her fingertip on the last line. ”Underneath the words ʼreviewedʼ — what youʼre asking isnʼt whether he looked. Itʼs which page he was looking at.”

”What if he says he just flipped through casually, never used it as a basis?”

”Then why did he write ʼrecord is continuous.ʼ” He Xiufen said. ”Those four words only come from eyes on the page.”

[Thud. The moment he wrote ”continuous,” there had to be a page spread open in front of him.]

The three-page application was transcribed clean, signed, and dated. She pulled open the hard-shell folder to collect attachments. The three pages in the right slot were still there, weighed down — Hengzheng Law Firmʼs Legal Opinion Letter, signed Lu Jibai. She pulled them out, glanced at the signature, put them back, and smoothed the divider page flat.

”Donʼt use those three pages for this case.” He Xiufen stood at the door.

”Not now.”

”Not now.” She pulled the door shut behind her.

In the afternoon, she copied three sentences by Lu Zhicheng from the March 5 trial transcript into a single line and taped it beside the middle column: ”Without a transfer letter, I wonʼt accept it”; ”The case filing number was entered on February 27”; ”On March 3, the courtʼs letter arrived, and I went through everything in the cabinet.” The first question to ask in court was in those three lines.

March 13, nine in the morning, third floor of the courthouse. Three items submitted at the window: one original and one copy of the application; two types of attachments — one, photocopies of the reply letter and its attached copies, each page corner stamped with the verification seal; the other, the three-column comparison chart she had made, with the quoted line from the opinion at the bottom of the right column. The court clerk flipped to the comparison chart.

”You made this chart yourself?”

”The third column is word-for-word from the opinion. Not a character changed.”

”For reference.” The stamp came down. ”The materials in the case file control.”

A two-part receipt. She kept her copy. On the way back to the firm, she copied the number of copies, the receiving clerk, and that string of serial numbers into the seventh row of the left-column page.

At noon, she went downstairs for noodles. Two people at the table by the door were watching a video on a phone — Tang Guoʼs voice came through the speaker, explaining what a transfer letter was and how materials pass from one set of hands to another. One said: ”Then whoever wrote in that notebook can be identified.” The other said: ”But they wrote ʼfirst-floor staff member.ʼ” She finished her noodles and didnʼt look back.

In the afternoon, Tang Guo sent a message with a screenshot of a comment: ”Someoneʼs asking, does ʼreviewedʼ count as ʼreadʼ? Answer or not?”

”Donʼt answer.”

”Then Iʼll delete it.”

”Leave it,” she said. ”Let it hang there on its own.”

March 14, the copy of the application was served on the defendant. On the morning of March 16, the court forwarded two pages from the defendant: Opinion on the Plaintiffʼs Application for the Appraiser to Appear in Court, signed Chengbei Hospital, agent Song Qiming.

She spread the two pages on the long table and read through each item:

”One: The receipt and numbering of appraisal materials are internal affairs of the appraisal institution. The version dispute alleged by the plaintiff has no bearing on the appraisal conclusion. Two: The Explanatory Note on Versions of Appraisal Materials was reviewed by staff of the institution and returned to reference storage. It was not used as a basis for the appraisal. ʼReviewʼ produces no evidentiary effect. Three: The appraisal opinion is based on the medical record as a whole. ʼNo evidence of alteration or insertionʼ is a general description of the pageʼs appearance and has no causal connection to any determination of whether the medical record was written in accordance with standards. Four: The plaintiffʼs entire application should be denied.”

At the end of the two pages, one more line: ”This agent expresses opinions only on matters recorded in the record.”

”Three phrases.” He Xiufen pressed the paper flat. ”ʼInternal affairs.ʼ ʼGeneral description.ʼ ʼNo connection.ʼ Watch whether he dares to lay those three ʼreviewedʼ pages out in court.”

[Thud. The words ”reviewed” — they wrote those themselves in their reply letter.]

That afternoon, she went to the court and filed a two-page Supplementary Opinion, answering point by point. First: the word ”reviewed” is taken verbatim from the institutionʼs reply letter, not an inference by the plaintiff. The defendantʼs claim that it ”produces no evidentiary effect” requires the appraiser to state in court what was reviewed. Second: whether the medical record was altered or inserted into is the very issue in dispute in this case. ”No evidence of alteration or insertion” is a judgment about the process by which the document was created; it does not fall within ”appearance description.” Third: the opinion is dated six days earlier than originally scheduled. It should be investigated together with the March 3 cabinet inventory.

Coming out after filing, she saw Song Qiming in the corridor, holding the copy of the attachment the court had sent.

”That circle on page eight — you drew it.”

”I drew it.”

”Iʼve verified it.” He said. ”None of the earlier documents in this case will be withdrawn. What needed verifying, I verified. The sealing inventory, page eight, that column says ʼErasure Marks.ʼ Those four words are in the file. On hearing day, Iʼll read them as they appear.”

”Your two-page paper says ʼgeneral description.ʼ”

”Those two pages came from the hospital.” He folded the photocopy. ”Whatʼs in the record, I report. Those four words are in the file I verified.”

”You could report two different things.”

”I wonʼt speak for them, and I wonʼt delete for them.” He looked at her. ”If you want to ask who wrote that line, donʼt ask me. All I guarantee is that I donʼt alter the paper.”

”Then on hearing day, you just sit and listen.”

”Iʼll sit and listen.” He turned and walked off, his leather shoes striking the corridor floor with an even sound.

At 6:10 in the evening, Director Xuʼs call came in.

”The materials issue is with the court now,” he said. ”Weʼll cooperate.”

”Cooperating means clarifying two things. Who delivered those three pages to the appraisal room on February 19? Who ordered that cabinet cleared on March 3?”

”I donʼt understand the technical side.”

”Then who does?”

”Go ask them.” He paused. ”Director Huang asked me to pass along one line: Page eight is just a sheet of paper.”

”Then let him produce that sheet,” she said. ”The page in the case file has erasure marks. The one you sent out doesnʼt. Which one is real — let the man who read it say so.”

After hanging up, she wrote on the back of the paper: 6:10, call lasted two and a half minutes, no answer.

At noon on March 17, Peng Weidong called. In the background, a thin, fine cry.

”Lawyer Shen, sheʼs home. This morning.”

”Three catties, eight taels?”

”Three catties, eight taels.” He coughed. ”I reported the name from the sign — Nianman.”

”Iʼm walking every path I can.”

”Any news from the other side?”

”Maybe this afternoon,” she said.

At three in the afternoon, the court called. The Notice had three items: One: The plaintiffʼs application to summon the appraiser for questioning is approved. This court has notified Lu Zhicheng, appraiser of Ningchuan Qiushi Judicial Appraisal Office, to appear and explain the materials underlying the appraisal opinion in this case. Two: A hearing is scheduled for 9:00 AM on March 19 in Courtroom No. 3 of this court, for cross-examination regarding the version of the materials underlying the appraisal opinion. Agents for both parties shall appear and bring the sealed originals in the case. Three: The reference materials the plaintiff has requested will be obtained by this court through official correspondence. The institution is ordered to deliver them by a deadline.

She copied that line from the notice into the eighth row of the left-column page — ”March 19, 9:00 AM, Courtroom No. 3” — and then added nine more characters below: Let him read his own page.

[Thud. This time you donʼt have to listen. When he turns that page, the whole courtroom will hear it.]

In the rider group, someone asked whether the brothers should come and fill two rows on the nineteenth. She replied: ”No need. Just wait until Iʼve finished reading that page.”

She also sent Lin Qi a message: Hearing at 9 AM on the nineteenth. You can come or not. Half an hour later, three characters came back: ”Iʼll remember.”

He Xiufen put on her glasses and read the three columns on the wall from beginning to end, stopping at the row on page eight that had been traced twice. She took the glasses off and hung them from her collar.

”On the nineteenth, tell Peng Weidong to come, front row.” She said. ”With him sitting there, people will speak a little slower in court.”

”Both pens?”

”Bring both pens.” He Xiufen walked toward the stairs. ”One to write down what he says. One to write down what he doesnʼt say.”

One of the stairwell lights had gone out. She traced the red circle on the middle-column ”Page Eight” row again. The paper grayed. She didnʼt wipe it.