The world of American TV series: Starting with the L.A. Patrol.

Jack adjusted the chair for Jiejie and let her sit down. Then he stood behind her and looked around the entire back garden. He saw two dark-skinned gardeners wearing sun hats, bending over and working busy in the hot sun.

After shaking off the 19th century vision in his mind, Jack calmed down and said in a comforting tone, "I know this is hard for you to accept, but we..."

"Aha." The "former" judge's wife sighed incomprehensibly, "Yes, but not entirely."

She shook her head slightly, with an indescribable expression, "He is no longer the man I married him. He is becoming more and more mean and irritable."

As she spoke, she waved her hand to interrupt Jiejie who was about to speak, "I'm not making excuses for him, I just want you to know"

"People change, don't they?" Jack said what she wanted to say.

"You're right." The "former" judge's wife sighed deeply, stretched out her hand towards Jack and then made a gesture of invitation to the tea on the table, as if she had met a confidant.

"When we first met, he was a kind, thoughtful, enterprising man who was dedicated to upholding the sanctity and inviolability of the law."

Thinking about the resume materials they had read before, Jiejie already had the same idea as Jack. She gave a gentle smile and tried to make her question seem less sharp.

"Cynthia, was Howard Rourke already a judge before you two met?"

"Of course not." The "former" judge's wife gave a slightly sarcastic smile, then restrained herself, picked up the black tea on the table and took a sip, hiding the hint of sarcasm at the corner of her mouth.

"We met after he moved back from Baltimore in 2010, when he lost his bid for district attorney there, so he came back to Forrest."

That is to say, after graduation, Howard Rourke worked as an assistant prosecutor for more than ten years but made little progress and had to return to his hometown in disgrace, Jack silently added in his heart.

"So he got some support in his hometown and became a judge?" Jiejie asked knowingly.

"Oh, of course not." The "former" judge's wife Cynthia withdrew her gaze from the garden, sneered, and simply said bluntly, "The reason why he can get support is because he married me.

My father was the chief of state police at the time, and everyone here knew my mother, whose family owned the largest farm in the state of Arkansas.”

Tsk, this is the American version of "The Son-In-Law". Jack understood that Howard Rourke became a criminal court judge relying on his wife's family power.

What happened next is easy to understand. After wasting more than ten years in the local court without making any progress, this judge, who was faced with his wife's strong family and was extremely career-oriented, became psychologically unbalanced.

Sure enough, Cynthia continued, “As I said before, before he had to admit that his career was over, he was completely changed.

His classmates and former colleagues in law school all seem to have good careers, and he is the only one left stuck in this small place of Forrest, unable to make any progress. "

"Ah," Jack sighed as he looked at the luxurious garden. "If it were me, I would be able to stay in such a peaceful and harmonious hot spring town, and spend every day with my wife wandering in the beautiful garden. What else would I be dissatisfied with?"

"It's a pity that Howard doesn't have a calm and strong heart like you." Cynthia smiled at Jack.

"He blames it all on the people around him, on the system he fought for, and look at what he did to me."

As she spoke, she lifted her sleeves, revealing a large bruise on her right arm that had not yet healed, and then pulled down the collar at her neck, revealing the scar on her collarbone.

"Did he hit you?" Jiejie was a little surprised. Although the elderly lady in front of her looked weak on the outside, the strength in her bones was hard to ignore.

There was some relief in Cynthia’s tone, “I told you before that my lawyer is handling everything. I’m not trying to distance myself from what he did, but to state the facts.

A week ago at the weekend, he came back here after meeting someone and went completely crazy, yelling and smashing things.

After he did that to me, I had his stuff packed up and I pointed the Winchester my father left me at him and told him to get the hell out of my house, that very gun."

As she spoke, she pointed to a Winchester Model 1866 lever-action rifle hanging on the fireplace in the house. It had an exquisite appearance and was worthy of being called a work of art.

Although the style is commonly seen in American western movies, the sword inlaid with gold and silver is obviously more valuable as a work of art than as a weapon.

“I then contacted my lawyer and never saw him again.”

Sure enough, this was the American Southern woman that Jack was familiar with.

It seemed that the key was found. Jie Jie quickly asked, "Who did he meet before?"

"An old friend and classmate of his, Arthur Hobbs, is the president of the State Bar Association." Cynthia's tone returned to calm.

-

Jack said goodbye and left the mansion of the daughter of the largest landowner in Arkansas. He looked solemn until Jiejie couldn't help but touch him with her arm.

"What have you been thinking about?"

"I think the story of a son-in-law should be very popular in this country, right?" Jack blurted out.

"What is the concept of "Zuixu"?" Jiejie was a little confused. In fact, there is also the concept of "Zuixu" in Europe and the United States. There are even two words that can be used to describe this form of marriage, "Uxorilocal" and "Matrilocal".

"Uxorilocal" comes from Latin, which roughly means "living with the wife's tribe or family." It can be seen that this form of marriage has a long history in Europe and the United States.

After all, who made Britain have a queen? The queen's husband must follow the royal family, no matter his surname or religion. Other royal families and wealthy families in Europe and the United States have had similar marriages, such as the well-known Hilton family.

But there are almost no more stories about a son-in-law. Even the short videos of pretending to be cool and getting slapped in the face that have become popular recently are mainly about the werewolf style that is a deformation of the domineering president style and the crooked-mouthed dragon king style. Of course, the main reason is that someone is unsure about the market and has not tested the waters yet.

Now Jack thought about it and felt that this form of marriage seemed to be quite common in the upper class of Europe and the United States. After all, the daughters of top wealthy families also had to get married, and marrying into the family was not uncommon. Therefore, it seemed that there was no problem in adding a branch of a son-in-law in the wealthy family literature.

"So you don't plan to continue writing your "Jack Reacher" series?" Jiejie looked at someone suspiciously.

She knew that the Wolfe brothers and Justin had been working on projects such as short dramas and short video apps recently, which had been very high-profile, and they were even in close contact with the Anderson family behind Zoe.

She also knew that Jack seemed to have a considerable stake in it. According to his explanation, it was because he provided a lot of innovations and suggestions in planning.

Originally, Jiejie had never thought about it in this regard, but when she thought about the fact that someone was also a writer, and then thought about the domineering novels written by those anonymous writers that had been dominating the bestseller lists since last year, she couldn't help but feel a little suspicious.

"No way." Jack realized that he had let the cat out of the bag and quickly explained, "I just thought that giving Jack, the protagonist who has been wandering around, an identity like this would be more dramatic and add more eye-catching conflicts."

"Really?" Jiejie listened with half belief and half doubt, and secretly kept this matter in mind.

Even Jack himself didn't know it, but if he and the people around him were ranked based on their gossip levels, Jiejie, who usually seemed to be inconspicuous, might be above him.

But Jiejie usually doesn't gossip actively. She prefers to listen with her ears perked up. Whether it's Rhett's sweet first love or Emily's mysterious boyfriend, she can blink her beautiful big eyes and eat two bags of potato chips with relish.

Uh. After meeting Jack, potato chips have turned into melon seeds of various flavors.

Someone thought he had gotten away with it, and while secretly rejoicing, he turned the steering wheel and drove towards Little Rock.

-

Finally, in the evening, the two met Arthur Hobbs, a truly respected state court justice, at the Arkansas Court of Appeals.

The United States federal courts and state local courts are different judicial systems that apply federal law and state law respectively. Therefore, they each have their own appellate courts. Violations of federal law go to the federal courts, and violations of state law are naturally decided by the state local courts. In theory, they are not subordinate to each other.

Of course, the fact that federal courts and local courts often fight each other for "power and profit" is another matter.

But in any case, in the state district court system, Arthur Hobbs was undoubtedly at the top level, while his classmate Howard Rourke was just an ordinary criminal court judge in the lowest level county district court, which shows how miserable his life was.

Compared to the bald and obese Howard Rourke in the profile photo, Chief Justice Arthur Hobbes is more in line with the public's general perception of the profession of judge.

There are two extreme attitudes towards men's beards in European and American societies, but whether growing a beard or shaving it clean requires diligent daily care. Some people may think that an untidy beard makes one look more unruly, but this is obviously not applicable to the upper class.

Judge Arthur Hobbes is a perfect example of a clean-shaven man, with his slightly gray but neatly combed 6'6" hair, giving him the air of a gentleman and easy-going elder.

He spoke slowly and clearly, as if he was ready to give a public speech at any time, but without any "official tone". When he met the two FBI agents, the judge showed a hint of sadness on his face.

"I am sorry to hear the tragic news about the St. Francis County District Attorney's Office. I am deeply saddened by the tragic loss suffered by these dedicated attorneys."