The Final Piece Fell into Place!

The moment those four words were spoken, the entire place fell silent.

Were Li Youcai and Liu Cui fools?

They looked like it—stupid and irrational.

When Li Xiang, a criminal investigator, had gone to Li Family Village with a gun to rescue someone, Li Youcai had dared to surround him with more than forty villagers and even threaten his life!

And just two days ago, when he realized Wang Wei would not help him, he had cursed him out!

All of it made the pair look like fools, but in truth...

They were not.

Li Youcai and Liu Cui were simply rotten!

Rotten to the bone.

Li Youcai knew the police would not kill anyone, so he had dared to push them around.

Even when he cursed Wang Wei, he had only been trying to force him to do his bidding!

So...

He was no fool. He knew what Xu De was doing.

A threat.

A naked threat!!!

"He's my grandson!"

Li Youcai was furious. He looked like a bull in the ring, poised to charge.

But his scrawny frame and sinister eyes made him look more like a venomous snake lurking in the rainforest.

"Mr. Li, please don't get upset. I know you're the boy's grandfather, a close blood relative."

Xu De maintained his professional smile.

At that, the anger in Li Youcai's chest eased a little, but...

The next second, Xu De changed tack and added another sentence.

"Likewise."

"I also know Wang Mei is Li Yang's mother... his birth mother, and his sole legal guardian!"

Those words landed.

Li Youcai jerked his head up and glared at him. His anger flared again, and he ground out four words through clenched teeth.

"You damn thug!"

A thug...

Yes, Li Youcai did not know the word pettifogger.

But he could tell Xu De was no different from the thugs he often saw in the village.

"I'll take that as a compliment."

Xu De smiled. He did not mind the insult. In fact, it even lifted his spirits a little.

Why?

For one simple reason.

If a bully like Li Youcai, who had no respect for the law, was calling him a thug, it could only mean one thing... the man had no way to deal with him.

There was no point being decent and explaining the law to a bully like that.

You had to play dirty right back!!!

"You!"

Li Youcai felt as though something foul was stuck in his throat.

As someone who often threatened others, he had no trouble understanding what Xu De meant.

It was a threat, plain and simple: the child in exchange for a Letter of Understanding!

"Grandpa, Dahu's only six..."

Beside him, Liu Cui had caught Xu De's meaning too. She lowered her head and spoke softly.

Li Youcai's face darkened further.

Xu De saw it.

He smiled and stepped aside.

"I'll let you two talk. I'm going to have a smoke."

With that, he gave them plenty of space, walking to the other side and lighting a cigarette.

Once Xu De had gone,

Li Youcai grew restless. He squatted on the ground, taking dry puffs from his tobacco pipe, his mind churning.

The child in exchange for a Letter of Understanding...

But was his son supposed to have died for nothing!?

And Wang Mei—five thousand yuan! He had paid five thousand yuan for that daughter-in-law, and after just ten years, she had up and run away!?

He had paid for her. What right did she have to run?

Li Youcai could not accept it. But then his grandson Li Yang came to mind...

Conflict twisted his deeply wrinkled face into something almost frightening.

Until...

While he still could not make up his mind, Liu Cui spoke up beside him, her tone sharp with reproach.

"Whether Wang Qiang gets the death penalty or not, Erniu's still dead."

"But Dahu's alive. He's our only grandson. If we lose him... I'll never forgive you!"

Before, it had been fine. They might not have had custody, but the boy had been right there with them, so she had never felt anxious.

But ever since Xu De took the child away... Liu Cui had been frantic!

"Besides, wasn't our plan from the start to trade the case for the boy?"

Seeing Li Youcai still hesitate, Liu Cui added one more thing.

"We can still make that trade now!"

At her words,

The last trace of hesitation vanished from Li Youcai's eyes, replaced by resolve.

Yes. Exactly.

From the beginning, they had intended to use the case to pressure Wang Mei into giving them custody.

Now they were the ones being pressured. They had no leverage and could not set any terms...

But if they could get the boy back, that was what mattered!

With that thought,

Li Youcai swallowed his rage, looked toward Xu De, and said gruffly through clenched teeth:

"We'll sign the Letter of Understanding!"

Hearing him,

Xu De raised an eyebrow. He stubbed out his cigarette at once and walked over with a cheerful smile.

"Mr. Li, how generous of you!"

With that,

He pulled a Letter of Understanding he had drafted in advance from his bag, took out a pen, and pointed to the signature line.

"Sign here. If you can't sign your name, a fingerprint will do."

Li Youcai looked down at the paper, pen, and ink pad, then back up at Xu De. His resentment deepened.

A Letter of Understanding was not a standard form. Every case was different; there was no way Xu De could have one ready at a moment's notice. Yet here it was.

Unless...

Xu De had known from the start that he had them cornered and had prepared it beforehand.

Bastard!

But Li Youcai had no choice but to bow his head.

Still seething, Li Youcai pressed his finger into the ink pad. Just as he was about to put it on the signature line... he paused and looked up at Xu De.

"You promised."

"If I sign this, you'll give Dahu back to me?"

At that,

"Mr. Li, please don't put it that way. Let me be clear: a Letter of Understanding signed as part of a trade, or under coercion or threat, would be illegal. I would never do anything illegal!"

Xu De still wore a faint smile.

Before Li Youcai could lose his temper, Xu De went on.

"But."

"You absolutely have the right to spend time with the child!"

What was that supposed to mean?

Li Youcai frowned. Something about Xu De's words sounded strange, though he could not put his finger on it.

But it did not matter.

He understood the last part well enough.

He could see the boy!

With that in mind, Li Youcai moved to press his finger down again, but Xu De suddenly stopped him.

"Mr. Li, let me make something clear first."

"Custody would generally pass to close relatives only if both of the child's parents died."

Li Youcai frowned, puzzled and irritated. He waved a hand.

"As long as I can be with the boy, I don't care about custody."

He did not care whether he had custody. He had fought for it before only because, without it, the police and the court could take the boy away!

Now Xu De had said he could guarantee they would spend time together...

So what did he need custody for?

With that thought,

Li Youcai moved to put his fingerprint on the paper.

But Xu De stopped him again.

"Mr. Li, think this through. I'm recording this conversation."

"I'll say it again: generally, you can only obtain custody if the boy's parents die. Only then would he legally be in your care."

Xu De repeated the warning.

"Enough of your rambling!"

Li Youcai was getting angry.

The boy would not legally be his?

As if the boy had been legally his before! They had managed just fine. All that mattered was keeping the boy by his side!

The next second, he hesitated no longer and pressed his finger hard against the document.

Ssk!

His fingertip met the white paper. When he lifted his hand,

A bright red fingerprint, its ridges clearly defined, marked the page.

Then Xu De produced a Settlement Agreement. Li Youcai pressed his finger to that too, and Liu Cui did the same.

A moment later,

Xu De looked at the two documents and smiled.