Nobody Knows What's Legal Better Than Me!

"L-legal!?"

"How is that possible?"

"He stole my grandson! Isn't that obviously a crime?"

Li Youcai cried out, rejecting the claim outright.

Liu Cui was flustered too. She hurriedly chimed in, "Sir, are you sure you haven't misunderstood something?"

"How could a child trafficker steal a child without breaking the law? Didn't you say our son broke the law? How come it's legal when he does it..."

At that, Wang Wei was speechless.

So they knew child trafficking was illegal. Why hadn't they thought so when they bought someone?

Now that it affected them, they couldn't stop insisting the other party had broken the law.

And then there was Xu De.

He had actually stolen a child. A lawyer had gone to Li Youcai's house while he was away and taken the child in the middle of the night!

Wang Wei had thought Xu De's moves in court were surprising enough. He hadn't expected this one in reserve.

He kept those thoughts to himself. Instead, he took a deep breath and explained slowly.

"I can't make you understand it."

"But I can tell you this much with certainty."

"As long as he didn't have a direct, physical confrontation with you, he didn't break the law."

Li Youcai and Liu Cui were stunned.

After all that thought, Wang Wei's answer was that it wasn't illegal unless there had been a physical confrontation!?

But Xu De had driven over and stolen the child while Li Youcai couldn't get home. They had been dozens of kilometers apart. How could there have been a confrontation?

"How can that be? Do you think you can fool me just because I'm a farmer!?"

Furious, Li Youcai turned his anger on Wang Wei.

Wang Wei had had enough and shook him off.

"In any case, it's outside my jurisdiction. If you object, you can go to the police."

With that, he turned to leave.

Before he went, though, Wang Wei paused. He looked back at the two of them and delivered one more piece of news.

"The court has set the hearing for three days from now. Don't forget to appear."

Only then did he leave.

The prosecution's filing had been challenged, but the defense's points were easy to verify. They only had to look into the confrontation between the police and the people at the scene.

Confirming even one point would bring the entire chain of reasoning together.

And as it happened, Xu De could verify that one point directly with Li Sheng's and Li Li's testimony.

Counting today, four days was plenty.

Li Youcai and Liu Cui weren't thinking about any of that.

They stared after Wang Wei, faces flushed and fists clenched.

Legal...

"He must have taken a bribe!"

Li Youcai's eyes burned with resentment. He cursed Wang Wei's ancestors and descendants alike.

Liu Cui's expression darkened just as quickly, her gaze turning vicious.

But no amount of cursing would bring the child back. After thinking it over, the two settled on what to do next.

"Let's go home first. Maybe Dahu wasn't stolen!"

They decided to return to their village before doing anything else.

That afternoon, Li Youcai returned to Li Family Village and found that Li Yang was indeed gone. He flew into a rage.

The next day.

November 12.

Two days remained until the hearing resumed.

"The child was stolen? Are you sure?"

At ten that morning, two officers at the Greenwood City police station regarded Li Youcai and Liu Cui, who had come to report the theft, with grave expressions.

"Yes! You've got to help us! He's our only grandson. If we lose him, how are we supposed to go on living..."

Liu Cui wailed. Li Youcai stood beside her, his face full of grief.

"Well..."

The two officers hesitated.

If anyone else had made such a report, they would have followed procedure and dealt with it at once.

But they recognized the pair. These were the same two who had thrown a tantrum at the station before. They had even accused the police of murder! A claim that a child had been stolen wasn't necessarily any more reliable.

Fortunately, someone came to their rescue.

"What's going on?"

Detective Li Xiang approached, thermos in hand and brows furrowed.

The two young officers looked as though help had arrived. They quickly told him what had happened.

"Their grandson was stolen?"

Li Xiang paused and eyed Li Youcai and Liu Cui with suspicion.

"Yes. They say someone named Xu De did it..." one officer added.

"Xu De..."

Li Xiang murmured the name. Then his expression grew strange.

If he remembered correctly, Wang Mei's custody case was over, and the court had awarded the child to her.

Li Ergou was dead, leaving Wang Mei as the child's only guardian. Judging by Li Youcai's account, there probably hadn't been any confrontation when the child was taken away.

In that case...

For the first time in his more than twenty years as a detective, Li Xiang found himself at a loss. At last, he spoke.

"I understand."

"Go home for now. Come back at two this afternoon, and I'll tell you what we find."

Li Youcai and Liu Cui left in high spirits.

But when they returned at two that afternoon, they were told...

"The Legal Affairs Division says it was entirely lawful and compliant. No crime was committed," Li Xiang said.

The two stared at him in disbelief.

"How can it not be a crime? I'm Dahu's grandfather! He stole my grandson! How is that not a crime?" Li Youcai demanded.

Li Xiang took a drag on his cigarette and shook his head. "The Legal Affairs Division contacted the other party. It really wasn't illegal, so the police won't open a case."

Li Youcai nearly jumped out of his skin. He burst into abuse.

"You're getting back at me on purpose! I know you are!"

Li Xiang was speechless when Li Youcai suddenly brought up the time they had gone to rescue Wang Mei.

Funny how his attitude changed when he needed help.

He waved the pair off.

"If you're not satisfied, go to the Procuratorate. The evidence is clear as far as the police are concerned."

"We can't open a case!"

Li Youcai fumed and cursed for a while longer. When it became clear that it was useless, he finally left.

November 13.

Only one day remained before the case returned to court.

After making a scene at the police station to no avail, Li Youcai and Liu Cui went to the Greenwood City Intermediate People's Procuratorate.

Early that morning, they got into a heated confrontation with the staff there.

"What's that noise outside?"

In his office, prosecutor Hu Guang stopped working and turned to Wang Wei.

Wang Wei sighed helplessly and told him the whole story.

Hu Guang was left speechless.

What kind of defense lawyer took advantage of a court recess to rush to the plaintiffs' home and steal a child before he'd even eaten, while the prosecutors were on their way back to the Procuratorate!?

And under the circumstances, the lawyer had somehow managed to do it entirely within the law...

"Well..."

Hu Guang fell silent.

He had never seen a lawyer so willing to act on such a wild idea, walking a tightrope above disaster and dancing back and forth along the edge of the law.

Hu Guang shook his head, set the matter aside, and returned to the information before him.

Outside, Li Youcai and Liu Cui kept up their protest for a long time. When nothing came of it, helplessness began to well up inside them.

Until...

November 14.

The day before the hearing resumed!

Two in the afternoon.

At Jinmao Law Firm.

"Hey, Attorney Xu. Attorney Sun's been out sick for days. He hasn't shown his face at the firm."

"What do you make of that?"

Several lawyers in the firm's lobby teased Xu De.

Xu De was pouring himself a coffee. He merely smiled, looking unconcerned.

Sun Hao had taken leave.

Sick leave. He had put in for it on the eleventh without even waiting for Xu De to return. He hadn't dared face him.

In all likelihood, Sun Hao was hoping Xu De would lose tomorrow's hearing so he could come back afterward.

Xu De couldn't be bothered with him.

Another lawyer remarked, "Shame we don't know who gave him those lumps on his face. At least the sick leave lets him hide for a few days."

Knowing smiles spread through the group, and laughter rang through the lobby.

Then...

A voice caught Xu De's attention as he poured his coffee.

"Attorney Xu, someone's here to see you!"

Someone's here for me?

Xu De raised an eyebrow. Without betraying anything, he took a sip of coffee and headed out.

"All right. I'll handle it."

He set down his cup and walked toward the firm's entrance.

The front door creaked open, revealing two familiar figures: Li Youcai and Liu Cui.

Their faces were dark with anger, their mouths set in deep frowns.

They fixed Xu De with venomous stares, like snakes ready to strike.

Their clenched fists made their fury plain.

"Well, if it isn't Mr. Li and Ms. Liu."

Xu De put on a professional smile and stopped in front of them.

"What can I do for you?"

Li Youcai's anger surged.

Did Xu De really not know why they had come!?

Damn it, he'd spent the past two days going to every government office he could find in Greenwood City. He'd visited the Procuratorate several times, gone back to the police station more than once, and even tried the fire department.

But every place gave him the same answer...

The other party had acted legally and in compliance with regulations!

Li Youcai was so furious his chest felt ready to burst, but there was nothing he could do. He had gone everywhere he could. Getting revenge and putting Xu De behind bars seemed impossible now.

He could only settle for the next best thing: come to the man himself and get the child back.

"Where's my Dahu!?"

Li Youcai suppressed his fury, his voice low and rough.

At that, Xu De put on a look of sudden realization, then said with a smile:

"Dahu? Is that Li Yang's nickname? Nice. Sounds like a healthy kid."

Hearing this utterly irrelevant nonsense only made Li Youcai angrier.

"Where's my grandson!? Don't give me all that nonsense. I'm telling you, if I don't see my grandson today, this isn't over!"

At those words.

"Mr. Li, I know you're anxious, but hear me out."

Xu De soothed him repeatedly, then said slowly:

"Don't be anxious."

Somehow.

Although there wasn't a single swear word in it, those words made Li Youcai feel as though his entire chest were burning with rage. His fists clenched involuntarily, and his teeth ached with fury.

"Where's my Dahu!?" Li Youcai gritted his teeth, his face twisted into a vicious grimace.

"Oh, you want your grandson? You should've said so! If you'd told me sooner, I'd have known that was why you came to see me," Xu De said.

At that.

The flames in Li Youcai's heart subsided a little, but...

"But, Mr. Li, as you know, things don't always go the way we want in this world."

A smile suddenly appeared on Xu De's face. He looked at the other man and said slowly:

"For instance, the Wang Qiang Case goes back to court tomorrow for a retrial."

"And I'd like a 'letter of forgiveness' and a 'criminal settlement agreement.'"

"But do I have them? No."

A letter of forgiveness... a criminal settlement agreement?

Although the other man's phrasing sounded a little strange, the instant those two terms came out... Li Youcai froze.

Then.

His brows knitted tightly, and he stared hard at Xu De. Vaguely sensing what he meant, he lowered his voice and said:

"You..."

"What do you mean!?"

"Exactly what I said."

Xu De narrowed his eyes.

Generally speaking, obtaining a letter of forgiveness through threats, explicit coercion, false promises, deception, or similar methods was illegal, and the letter would be invalid.

But then again.

Under the law, if he made no threats, used no coercion, struck no deal, and the other party signed a letter of forgiveness purely because of conclusions he had drawn on his own...

Then even if Xu De's words contained a touch of verbal artistry, as long as they did not amount to "fraud" or compromise the "genuineness of the expression of intent," the letter of forgiveness would remain valid and legal.

No one understood breaking the law better than he did!!!

Xu De spoke slowly with a pointed, genial smile:

"You want the child, but you can't get him. I want a letter of forgiveness, but I can't get that either. Things don't always go the way we want in this world..."

"It's not as though you'd sign a letter of forgiveness for me right now."

"Mr. Li... wouldn't you agree?"