Chapter 39: The Final Preparations Are Complete! |
The moment those words fell, the entire room fell dead silent.
Were Li Youcai and Liu Cui fools?
They certainly looked like it. Stupid and entirely illogical.
Back when criminal police officer Li Xiang brought a gun into Lijia Village for the rescue, Li Youcai had dared to surround him with over forty villagers, even threatening the police officer''s life!
Just two days ago, upon realizing that Wang Wei wouldn''t help him, he had even cursed the prosecutor out!
All these behaviors made the two of them seem like absolute fools, but in reality...
They were not.
Li Youcai and Liu Cui were simply pure evil!
The kind of evil that festered deep within their very bones.
Even cursing out Wang Wei was purely an attempt to forcefully compel the man to do his bidding!
So...
He wasn''t stupid. He knew exactly what Xu De was doing.
Threatening him.
It was a naked, undisguised threat!!!
"That is my grandson!"
Li Youcai was enraged. He was like a bull in an arena, poised to charge.
Unfortunately, his thin, withered frame and those gloomy, sinister eyes made him look more like a venomous snake lurking in a rainforest.
"Mr. Li, please don''t be angry. I know you are the child''s grandfather, a close relative by blood."
Xu De maintained his professional smile.
Hearing this, the raging fire in Li Youcai''s chest subsided slightly. However...
A second later, Xu De abruptly shifted the conversation and added another sentence.
"Likewise."
"I also know that Wang Mei is Li Yang''s mother... his birth mother, the sole biological parent who holds custody!"
The words fell heavily.
Li Youcai abruptly looked up, glaring at him. The recently extinguished fire reignited. He clenched his jaw and squeezed out two words through gritted teeth.
"You thug!"
Thug...
Yes, Li Youcai didn''t know what a shyster was.
But he could clearly sense that the man before him was no different from the common thugs in their village.
"I''m flattered."
Xu De smiled. He didn''t mind the insult at all; it even brought him a slight sense of joy.
Why?
For no other reason.
To make a scoundrel like Li Youcai, who treated the law with utter contempt, call him a thug only proved one thing... he truly had no other way to deal with him.
When dealing with this kind of scoundrel, acting like an honest man and lecturing him about the law was useless.
You had to out-thug him!!!
"You!"
Li Youcai felt a mouthful of blood well up in his throat, choking him.
It wasn''t hard for someone like him, who frequently threatened others, to understand what the lawyer meant.
It was nothing more than a threat—exchanging the child for the letter of forgiveness!
"Grandpa, Dahu is only six years old..."
Off to the side, Liu Cui had also grasped Xu De''s meaning. She lowered her head and whispered.
At her words, Li Youcai''s face grew even uglier.
Seeing this, Xu De smiled and stepped aside.
"You two chat. I''m going to have a smoke."
With that, he gave them plenty of space, walked to the other side, pulled out a cigarette, and slowly began to smoke.
Watching him leave, Li Youcai grew agitated. He squatted on the ground, dry-puffing his tobacco pipe, his heart filled with immense frustration.
Exchanging the child for the letter of forgiveness...
But did that mean his son died for nothing!?
And Wang Mei! That was a full five thousand! A daughter-in-law bought for five thousand, and after just ten years, she ran off just like that!?
He spent money to buy her. What right did she have to run!?
Li Youcai was unwilling to accept it, but on the other hand, the image of his grandson Li Yang surfaced in his mind...
A conflicted expression appeared on his face. On his deeply wrinkled visage, the look was somewhat hideous.
Until...
As he struggled to make up his mind, Liu Cui spoke up from the side, her tone carrying a hint of aggression and blame.
"Whether Wang Qiang gets the death penalty or not, it won''t change the fact that Erniu is already dead."
"But Dahu is still alive. He''s our only grandson. If we lose him... I''ll never forgive you!"
It was fine before; even though they didn''t have custody, the child was physically with them, so she hadn''t felt anxious.
But ever since Xu De stole the child away... Liu Cui was thoroughly panicked!
"Besides, wasn''t our plan from the beginning to use the case in exchange for the child?"
Seeing that Li Youcai was still hesitating, Liu Cui added.
"Trading for him now is the exact same thing!"
Hearing this.
The last trace of hesitation in Li Youcai''s eyes vanished, replaced by determination.
Yes, that was right.
From the very beginning, they had wanted to use the case to threaten Wang Mei in exchange for the child''s custody.
Although they were now the ones being threatened, lacking the initiative and unable to set the terms...
As long as they could get the child back, it was still a win!
With this thought, even though Li Youcai harbored endless fury, he had no choice but to grit his teeth. He looked at Xu De in the distance and said in a muffled voice:
"We are willing to sign the letter of forgiveness!"
Hearing his shout, Xu De raised an eyebrow. He stubbed out his cigarette and happily walked over to Li Youcai.
"Mr. Li is generous indeed!"
After speaking, he pulled a pre-drafted letter of forgiveness from his bag. Taking out a pen, he pointed at the signature line and said:
"Sign here. If you can''t write, a fingerprint is fine too."
Li Youcai looked down at the paper, pen, and inkpad, then looked up at Xu De, feeling even more stifled.
A letter of forgiveness wasn''t a standardized template; every case was different, making it impossible to just casually whip one out. Yet, Xu De had produced it just like that.
Unless...
The lawyer had calculated from the very start that he had them trapped, and had drafted it well in advance.
Animal!
Unfortunately, a man standing under the eaves must bow his head.
Li Youcai sulked as he stained his finger with the red ink. Just as he was about to press it onto the signature line... he paused and looked up at Xu De.
"You promised."
"As long as I sign this, you''ll give Dahu back to me?"
As his words fell...
"Mr. Li, you absolutely must not say that. I declare right here and now that a letter of forgiveness signed under the premise of a transaction, coercion, or threat is illegal. I firmly refuse to do anything illegal!"
Xu De still wore a faint smile.
Before the old man could get angry, he immediately continued:
"However."
"You absolutely have the right to spend time with the child!"
What kind of nonsense was this?
Li Youcai frowned. He felt the lawyer''s wording sounded a bit strange, but he couldn''t put his finger on exactly what was wrong.
But it didn''t matter.
He could understand the last sentence perfectly.
He could see the child!
Thinking of this, Li Youcai was about to press his finger down again when Xu De suddenly interrupted.
"Mr. Li, let me make this clear to you first."
"Custody rights typically only pass to close relatives if both of the child''s parents are dead."
Li Youcai frowned, utterly baffled. He waved his hand in dissatisfaction.
"As long as I can be with the kid, that''s enough. I don''t care about whatever custody you''re talking about."
He didn''t care at all whether he had custody. The only reason he had fought for it earlier was simply because, without it, the police and the courts would forcefully take the child away!
Now that Xu De guaranteed he would be able to spend time with the child...
Then what did he need that useless right for?
With that thought in mind, Li Youcai moved to sign once more.
But he was once again stopped by Xu De.
"Mr. Li, you must think this through clearly. I am recording this conversation."
"I will reiterate one more time: typically, only if the parents die can you obtain custody of the child. Only then, legally, will the child belong to you."
Xu De reminded him once more.
"So much nagging!"
Li Youcai felt a flash of irritation.
Legally didn''t belong to him?
He talked as if the child had legally belonged to him before. Hadn''t they lived just the same? As long as the kid was by his side, that was enough!
The next second, he hesitated no longer and firmly pressed his finger down onto the document in front of him.
"Ssst~!"
The pad of his finger met the white paper. When he lifted his hand again, a bright red, clearly lined fingerprint was stamped onto the page.
Next, Xu De pulled out a Settlement Agreement. Li Youcai pressed his fingerprint onto it, and Liu Cui repeated the action.
A moment later.
Looking at the two documents.
A smile blossomed on Xu De''s face.
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