The Trial Begins!

"Take care. I won't see you out."

At the front entrance of Jinmao Law Firm, Xu De waved at the two retreating figures with a smile.

Li Youcai and Liu Cui snorted and left with their heads down.

Once they were gone, Xu De let out a long breath, then looked down at the Letter of Understanding and Criminal Settlement Agreement in his hands.

What did each document do?

The former applied to the criminal case and could reduce the sentence to some extent. The latter applied to the civil lawsuit. With it, Chen Wei's demand for 230,000 yuan in compensation would amount to nothing more than a tantrum!

What if they regretted signing and tried to back out?

What if they couldn't?

More precisely, Li Youcai didn't meet the conditions for revoking either document!

The law was clear: a Letter of Understanding could be revoked only if it had been obtained through "inducement, threats, coercion, or similar means," or if there had been a "material misunderstanding."

But Xu De had never threatened them!

And as for inducement...

"I didn't induce him, either."

"On the contrary, I repeatedly told him in plain language that he had no custody rights and couldn't get the child through the courts!"

"So the judge probably won't find that Li Youcai had a material misunderstanding."

"Even if the judge does, that's fine."

"I'll honor my promise!"

Xu De looked at the two documents in his hands and murmured to himself.

What had he promised?

Visitation Rights!

In the recording, Li Youcai had explicitly said he wanted to "see the child."

As long as Xu De fulfilled that promise, Li Youcai would not have lost out in the end. The consideration for the Letter of Understanding would have been provided, and the defendant would have lawfully fulfilled his side of the agreement.

The court would see no need to overturn documents that were already valid and legally compliant.

Could Li Youcai argue that he had wanted the child outright but had received only Visitation Rights?

No.

A mistaken motive did not affect a contract's validity!

"Everything's ready... Now I just have to wait for tomorrow's hearing."

Xu De smiled and turned back toward the firm.

It was three in the afternoon.

Eleven hours remained until the hearing, leaving him plenty of free time.

And while he had the chance...

It was time to handle some business of his own!

"Tap, tap, tap..."

Xu De returned to the lobby, poured out the cold coffee, and filled three cups afresh. He set them on a tray and headed for the reception room.

As he approached, he shifted his hip and pushed the door open.

"Creak..."

The door opened.

Through the gap, he saw two familiar figures.

"Coffee's here. Have some and perk yourselves up."

Xu De walked in with a smile and handed them each a cup.

They were Wang Chao and Lin Yue.

Wang Chao accepted his cup, took a solemn sip to taste it, then downed the rest in one gulp.

It was his own way of appreciating coffee.

The sip showed a "fancy" drink the respect it deserved. The gulp showed his stomach the respect it deserved!

Lin Yue took a graceful sip from the rim of her cup, then looked at Xu De in puzzlement.

"What did you want us for?"

Xu De sat down across from them and smiled.

"Mainly, I wanted to ask... have you two ever thought about striking out on your own?"

Striking out on their own? Did he mean...

Starting their own law firm!?

Lin Yue and Wang Chao both froze, but their reactions were completely different.

"Start a law firm? Lawyer Xu, you think too highly of me!"

Wang Chao was excited. He immediately sat up straight.

He was touched. Other law firms had looked down on him, calling him a fake graduate of a top university and saying he couldn't argue a case or explain the law.

Xu De was different. Working with him had felt right!

Wang Chao would never forget the night of the tenth, when they had gone to Li Family Village and Xu De had praised him for knowing how to climb walls and pick locks.

He had finally found someone who appreciated his talents!

"If you'll have me, I'll join you in this venture!"

Xu De smiled and nodded.

"If you're willing, I can give you a twenty percent stake."

"No. I should earn what I get. I know what I'm worth."

Wang Chao shook his head and said earnestly:

"You can insult me all you like, but don't insult my character with money!"

Xu De gave him a thumbs-up. "I respect that!"

"But this isn't up for debate. Your twenty percent stake is settled."

He turned to Lin Yue.

A law firm wasn't like an ordinary company. A standard Partner Law Firm had to be founded by three lawyers, so he needed them both.

"What about you, Lawyer Lin?"

At that, Lin Yue was tempted. She had wanted to strike out on her own for some time.

But...

"How much do you have saved right now, Lawyer Xu?" she asked.

"A little over three thousand," Xu De replied calmly.

Lin Yue shook her head. "That isn't enough."

To establish a law firm, the three of them had to contribute more than a hundred thousand yuan in total. Three thousand came nowhere close.

Before he could respond, Lin Yue continued:

"I can put up a hundred and fifty thousand, but I want a twenty-nine percent stake."

"And... how do you plan to grow the firm?"

"Where will the cases and clients come from?"

Her mother had founded a boutique law firm in Yanjing, so Lin Yue wasn't short of money. To her, the way the firm's leader thought mattered far more.

Xu De was prepared for that.

He handed her a document.

"With this."

The two of them looked down and saw...

"A Letter of Understanding?" Lin Yue frowned.

"For the Wang Qiang Case?"

She immediately understood, but still shook her head.

"That's not enough. If you want to make your name with the Wang Qiang Case, you can't rely on what happened at the first hearing. You need an overwhelming victory in the final judgment."

The best way for a law firm to attract clients was to win an unprecedented case!

Once everyone knew what you could do, clients would come to you.

If Xu De wanted the Wang Qiang Case to make him famous, the first hearing alone wouldn't do it. The final judgment had to count as a victory too!

In the legal world, people looked at results, not the process!

And a Letter of Understanding alone couldn't determine the verdict.

"Then what if I add this!?"

Xu De handed her the Settlement Agreement.

Lin Yue read it, her brows lifting slightly.

A Settlement Agreement could indeed affect only the civil lawsuit. But that raised another point.

If a case involved special circumstances and both sides settled the civil lawsuit, a judge would often exercise discretion on those grounds and reduce the penalty. Wang Qiang had a good chance of moving closer to an acquittal.

But...

"Nine thousand yuan in compensation? To be paid off with interest within ten years?"

Lin Yue looked at the nine-thousand-yuan figure written plainly in the agreement and hesitated.

"Wang Mei hasn't adjusted to life yet, and Xu Hong is disabled. If Wang Qiang has to pay nine thousand yuan while supporting his family..."

Even if they won, it would be a costly victory.

Xu De had expected that reaction. Without another word, he placed a yellowed sheet of paper on the table.

"Then what if I add this too!?"

The two looked down and discovered several IOUs from ten years ago. They read...

[I, Li Youcai of Li Family Village, Greenwood City, together with Liu Cui, borrowed one thousand yuan from Li Jianguo to buy a daughter-in-law. We agree to repay it within three years...]

Farther down...

Li Youcai's and Liu Cui's signatures and fingerprints were there!

This was hard evidence that Li Youcai and Liu Cui had participated in the trafficking case as accomplices!?

"Where did you get this!?"

Lin Yue snapped her head up and stared at him in disbelief.

Even the prosecutors hadn't managed to find evidence like this!

"Don't worry about that. Besides this, I have three witnesses who'll testify tomorrow."

Xu De smiled, with no intention of explaining further.

Lin Yue's emotions were in turmoil. After collecting herself, she said objectively:

"Leaving the sentencing aside, there's still the nine thousand yuan in compensation..."

"Lawyer Lin, you have to think flexibly."

Xu De didn't seem concerned.

He pointed first to the Settlement Agreement, then to the IOUs.

"It's true that Wang Qiang will pay Li Youcai."

"But suppose that, as soon as I've used the Settlement Agreement, I use these IOUs to complete the Chain of Evidence and have Li Youcai and Liu Cui tried on the spot!?"

The Chain of Evidence was solid. The court might not even need a second hearing before handing down its judgment.

With all their crimes added together, Xu De expected at least twenty years!

"But Lawyer Lin, let me ask you something!"

Xu De's voice rose, his tone serious.

"How many more years do you think Li Youcai and Liu Cui have left?"

Lin Yue fell silent.

Both were over sixty. They lived in harsh conditions and already had a host of health problems.

Forget twenty years, or even ten. They would be lucky to live another eight!

"Li Youcai and Liu Cui can't spend the money in prison. If they die of old age or illness within ten years, what happens to the nine thousand yuan Wang Qiang owes him?"

Xu De explained it step by step. Without waiting for an answer, he continued:

"It becomes part of his estate!"

"And if it's part of his estate, someone has to inherit it, doesn't he?"

"So who inherits it?"

Lin Yue followed his reasoning. The moment she understood, she froze.

Inheritance generally depended on how closely related someone was to the deceased.

And that was the key...

Only one person was eligible to inherit from the two of them.

Li Yang!

"It's Li Yang, Wang Mei's son. And ten years from now, Li Yang will still be a minor, so Wang Mei will manage the money on his behalf!"

Xu De smiled.

"In other words... Wang Qiang's nine thousand yuan will go to Wang Mei!"

Silence fell over the reception room.

How could compensation paid by Wang Qiang to the plaintiff wind its way back, interest and all, into his daughter Wang Mei's hands ten years later!?

"Even more than that nine thousand yuan."

Xu De continued:

"Li Youcai's house, furniture, and savings all count as part of his estate!"

"Wang Mei was imprisoned and abused for ten years... Hah. She can't walk away without compensation."

What?

As for Xu De telling Li Sheng and Li Li they could take everything from the family?

He never said they were the ones who would get to do it!

Li Sheng might have tried to take everything, but that didn't mean his victim couldn't do the same!

In short...

"Add this to that. Is it enough!?"

Xu De fixed Lin Yue with an intense stare.

Lin Yue opened her mouth, but no words came out.

Even setting everything else aside, his workable inheritance strategy—which practically exploited a loophole—showed just how thoroughly Xu De had prepared.

And then there was his frightening ability to think on his feet. Looking at it that way, Wang Qiang's case really might...

Make him famous overnight!

"Enough!" Lin Yue took a deep breath and nodded.

He had offered money, yet somehow hadn't.

He was willing to grant Visitation Rights, but Li Youcai would be in prison, unable to exercise them. Having them would be no different from not having them.

What did it mean to get something for nothing?

This. This was exactly what it meant!

"Welcome aboard."

A smile spread across Xu De's face. He looked ready to take on the world.

With the matter of the law firm settled,

everything now depended on tomorrow's Trial Hearing!

At that thought, Xu De looked down at everything he had spent more than a month preparing from scratch.

"Letter of Understanding" + "Settlement Agreement" + "Chain of Evidence for the IOU" + "witnesses" + "Voluntary Surrender"...

Either

the prosecutor and Chen Wei would come at him even harder tomorrow, crush his defense, and send his career prospects plunging into darkness.

Or

he would stand alone in court against the prosecutor, attorney Chen Wei, Li Youcai, and Liu Cui, and carry out a brutal, textbook-perfect rout. The winner would take all!!!

"Will all my work come to nothing, or will I make a name for myself..."

"It all depends on tomorrow's Trial Hearing!"

The next day.

On November 15, an escort vehicle slowly drove into the Greenwood City Intermediate People's Court.

The case officially went to trial!

P.S. Please vote for the story! The trial chapters over the next couple of days will be as dry as the Sahara Desert, so remember to drink plenty of water while reading!

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