Su Bai had not expected Li Xuezhen to come from a wealthy family.
But on second thought, if an ordinary undergraduate really had an unremarkable background...
How could a leading authority in law have taken her on as a student? That made everything fall into place.
Li Xuezhen had indeed just used proof of a small portion of her family's assets.
Seeing Su Bai's slightly surprised expression,
Li Xuezhen hurried to explain, "Mr. Su, I found that proof of assets online. I didn't expect her to actually believe it."
Do I have "idiot" written on my forehead?
The corner of Su Bai's mouth twitched. Whatever you say.
For now, it was better not to expose her.
"Ahem."
Su Bai cleared his throat twice and did not dwell on it.
"Next, take screenshots of everything in this lawyer Ye's fan group. Also, download and save all her videos."
"If she invites you onto a call and gives you advice, record the whole thing."
Seeing that Su Bai had not questioned her, Li Xuezhen breathed a quiet sigh of relief. She looked up and met his eyes.
"All right, Mr. Su. I understand. What next?"
"What next? Once Zhang Tongwei has gathered all the evidence I asked him to prepare, we file suit with the court."
"Okay!"
Li Xuezhen nodded solemnly.
Su Bai leaned back against the sofa. Every aspect of the case was ready.
All that remained was to file suit and fight it in court!
This lawsuit... might even bring an unexpected bonus!
Su Bai took a small sip of tea.
Before long, Zhang Tongwei had gathered all the evidence Su Bai wanted.
Su Bai had Li Xuezhen organize it, then go to the basic court to submit the filing documents.
The court soon accepted the case.
Meanwhile,
at Zhang Tongwei's home,
Zhang Tongwei watched his wife, Xie Jing, bring home yet more things bought with borrowed money. Displeasure flickered across his face.
Xie Jing started yelling brazenly.
"What? Sick of looking at me?!"
"Then divorce me! Every day you refuse, I'll borrow another two thousand yuan to buy furniture and household stuff. You can use everything I buy, anyway. It's not just for me, so it's joint marital debt. If you won't agree to a divorce, you'll still have to pay it back."
"I'm telling you, I'm doing you a favor by not suing!"
"My advice? Sign the divorce agreement while you still can!"
Xie Jing kept up her tirade.
It was a lie that she did not want to sue. But if she filed for divorce without a good reason, she might not get the outcome she wanted.
She had to make him file.
Since Zhang Tongwei refused, she would simply drag it out.
She would keep tormenting him until he agreed to divorce her!
Zhang Tongwei looked at the woman before him, his face full of impatience.
He tossed a delivery envelope onto the sofa.
"That's a court summons. Take a good look!"
Court?
The moment she heard that word, Xie Jing lit up with excitement. Her feet thudded against the floor as she hurried over to the sofa and picked up the envelope, talking as she opened it.
"Honestly, you could've just signed the divorce agreement."
"It's not like you haven't consulted a lawyer. Taking this to court means paying legal fees too. Why bother?"
Smiling, Xie Jing opened the envelope, assuming it concerned a divorce lawsuit.
But when she saw what the summons said, her eyes widened. She stared at Zhang Tongwei in disbelief and roared,
"Zhang Tongwei! We're supposed to be getting divorced, and you fucking sued me for fraud?!"
"Zhang Tongwei, explain yourself! What do you mean by this?!"
"Huh?!"
"We're getting divorced! What the hell do you mean, suing me for fraud?!"
Zhang Tongwei looked at Xie Jing calmly. "Exactly what it says. Either you take your debts and leave without a share of the marital assets, or we go to court!"
With that, he turned and left.
Xie Jing stared at the court summons, stunned.
The court accepted it... Could what I'd done actually land me in prison?
I only wanted a divorce! I didn't want to go to prison!
Xie Jing knew a little about the law, but not much.
The summons rattled her. She hurried to contact Ye Fei, the lawyer who had given her the advice.
"Ms. Ye, my husband has sued me!"
At that moment,
inside the Nanyuan Law Firm,
the Nanyuan Law Firm was one of the leading law firms in the Southern Capital, handling a broad range of matters, both civil and criminal.
Ye Fei was one of its partners.
When Ye Fei saw Xie Jing's message, she smiled faintly.
Another client secured.
"Don't panic. If your husband has sued you, isn't this the perfect opportunity to get divorced? Didn't you say he kept refusing? This is your chance, girl!"
"Hire me, and you can get at least forty percent of the assets, maybe even fifty!"
Ye Fei coaxed her patiently.
Xie Jing hastily replied,
"Ms. Ye, it's not a divorce case. My husband is suing me for fraud!"
Ye Fei: ????
Suing for fraud?!
This...
"It's fine. You're married to each other. How could he possibly win a fraud case against you? Don't worry. Hire me to represent you, and there's a ninety-nine percent chance we'll win. But if you hire someone else... there's no telling."
"All right. Sorry for the trouble, Ms. Ye!"
"It's no trouble, but a fraud charge is difficult to handle. The legal fees may be quite high."
Xie Jing gritted her teeth and agreed. "As long as you can win, Ms. Ye, I'll pay whatever it costs."
Xie Jing soon completed the paperwork to retain her.
With Ye Fei's assurance, Xie Jing became arrogant toward Zhang Tongwei again. All she had to do now was wait for the division of assets!
She might get less, but she had contributed nothing in the first place!
The court soon finished processing the case, and it moved on to out-of-court mediation.
Civil cases generally involved mediation.
Strictly speaking, Zhang Tongwei's case involved marriage fraud, but criminal law recognized no such offense. It could only be prosecuted as fraud,
with an incidental civil action attached to the public prosecution to achieve a divorce and division of assets.
First, the lawyers for both parties would take part in out-of-court mediation.
Out-of-court mediation was crucial.
The court would form a preliminary assessment of the case based on the mediation proceedings. If a settlement was possible, it would mediate one. If not, it would examine which party had refused mediation and on what grounds.
That would leave a lasting impression on the mediating judge and influence the judgment.
In the previous lawsuit against Nandu Bank, the bank had outright refused out-of-court mediation because it was confident.
The out-of-court mediation would be presided over by a female judge in her thirties from the Nandu Basic Court.
When Su Bai learned this, his teeth ached.
He had asked around. How should he put it? This judge's marriage was not exactly happy.
A judge's personal inclinations mattered enormously!
They were crucial to the ruling. Take Yu Caixia's judgment last time: had another judge handled the bank case, they might well have based their assessment on the first- and second-instance rulings.
"Fuck, I've got to get this judge replaced!"
Before you continue