Their son was in high school, a critical stage. Purchasing study materials and enrolling in tutoring classes both required significant expenses. They absolutely could not afford to get into this kind of trouble again. If they truly couldn’t shirk the responsibility of elder care, they resolved to take on the smallest share. After all, among the four sons, their financial situation was the worst. It was only right for them to contribute less.
「At the sa ti.」
Jin City.
In a staff dormitory at a certain school.
Jiang Siping returned ho, his face etched with puzzlent.
Is this lawyer... out of his goddamn mind?
He frowned, utterly baffled. He had just gone to a law firm to consult about legal aid. However, the lawyer either seed to really dislike him or was perhaps simply not competent enough to resolve the issue. The lawyer had even refunded his consultation fee. This ant his trip that day had been a complete waste of ti; nothing had been resolved.
"The lawyer didn’t say anything?" After listening to his account, his wife couldn’t help but urge, "Why don’t we just call Mom?"
Jiang Siping turned, looked at his wife impatiently, and said, "How many tis have I told you? We can’t call! We absolutely must not make that call!"
"She’s almost eighty! If we call her and she cos over, are *you* going to take care of her?"
"You have work, and you’re teaching a graduating high school class. Where would you find the energy to look after her?"
"She’s just trying to use this thod to make us give in!"
"Among us brothers, whoever makes the call will be the unlucky one!"
"They definitely won’t call, and I certainly won’t!"
He berated his wife, explaining the stakes involved.
However, his wife looked like she wanted to say sothing but stopped herself, clearly not fully convinced.
"Besides, I’m currently being evaluated for a promotion in my teaching position. This is a critical ti."
Jiang Siping took a deep breath and said gravely, "If we bring her here and she starts gossiping with others in the dormitory building, my reputation will be ruined!"
This was a significant part of his reasoning. Their apartnt was school-provided staff housing. Their neighbors were almost exclusively other teachers, people they saw constantly. If any gossip started circulating, the entire school would know by the next day. He absolutely couldn’t afford to take that risk.
Given that, it was better to just proceed with the lawsuit.
"Then... what if we lose the lawsuit?" his wife suddenly asked.
Jiang Siping paused, taken aback. Then he scoffed, "I’ll go ask another lawyer tomorrow. This ti, I’ll find a reliable one and see what they say."
His recent visit to the lawyer hadn’t yielded any useful information. After listening to his account, Zhang Wei had simply said he was powerless to help and refunded the consultation fee without another word.
Based on his own understanding of the law, he felt his actions couldn’t possibly constitute a cri. At worst, the court would order the four of them to share the responsibility of elder care. Of course, he wasn’t a legal professional, so he still needed to find a trustworthy lawyer to clarify the situation.
「Three days later.」
Jin City.
Nursing ho.
After submitting the necessary docunts to the court, Qin Mu had so downti again. He knew this case might be a difficult and thankless endeavor. But after learning about Feng Cuihua’s plight, he still felt compelled to step forward.
Situations like Feng Cuihua’s were, in fact, quite common. One often saw news reports about parents and children becoming estranged, with children refusing to provide support. He couldn’t ddle in other people’s affairs, but now that he had encountered Feng Cuihua’s situation, he couldn’t let these individuals off the hook.
It’s been several days, and no one has actually called...
Lying on a lounge chair in the courtyard, Qin Mu, who was taking a break, put down his phone and murmured to himself.
The court summons had probably been delivered by now. Yet, Feng Cuihua’s four sons had shown no reaction whatsoever. Zhang Qingyuan had ntioned that these sons were all incredibly stubborn, as if cut from the sa cloth. Not one of them had yielded and called to apologize.
Logically, upon receiving the summons, they should have all consulted lawyers. A lawyer’s primary advice would likely have been to seek reconciliation. This was a private criminal prosecution, aning there was still an opportunity to apologize, admit their wrongdoing, and try to get the lawsuit withdrawn. But Feng Cuihua’s four sons were proving to be even more obstinate than he had imagined.
That’s fine, any issues can be resolved in court.
Qin Mu shrugged.
Feng Cuihua was very soft-hearted. He was certain that if these four n apologized and admitted their mistakes, the case wouldn’t even need to go to court. But they insisted on going to court.
With that, he stood up and headed to Wang Dachui’s office, intending to finalize the details for the court hearing with him.
So far, the evidence in this case was clear-cut. Based on the substantial evidence provided by Feng Cuihua, along with witness statents from neighbors, their abandonnt could be proven. Furthermore, because the sons hadn’t been present during Feng Cuihua’s critical illness and hadn’t signed the necessary docunts in ti, her physical condition had suffered considerable damage. This was sufficient to convict them of abandonnt.
The key question now was the length of their potential sentences and the amount of support they would be required to provide.
"You tell , how should we approach this case?" Wang Dachui sat at his desk, looking up at Qin Mu, his posture attentive as he prepared to listen.
Qin Mu had passed the judicial examination but hadn’t yet received his lawyer’s practice certificate, so he couldn’t yet formally represent clients. Therefore, Wang Dachui would still be the one officially handling the prosecution.
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