"Yes."
The accompanying police officers nodded.
"Wait a minute!"
Sun Chenglin, who had been staring intently at Shen Dao, was suddenly dumbfounded.
"Officer, could there be some mistake?"
He swallowed hard, panic completely overtaking him.
Actually, after seeing the barrage of comments, he had resisted his greed and hadnât dared to touch the bank card Qin Mu handed over. Although the card contained two hundred thousand yuan, taking it might lead to jail time, and he could still weigh the priorities.
But what he hadnât expected was that even though he hadnât taken the money, he was still going to be arrested.
"After we came in, we knelt before Li Weiguo the whole time. We didnât curse anyone, didnât use violence, and didnât deceive anyone. So how is that extortion?"
"Right, Brother Sun is correct! We recorded a video; it can prove what weâre saying!"
"You police officers handle cases based on evidence. How could we have committed extortion?"
"Although weâre not highly educated, we know some basic legal concepts. Weâre always honest and law-abiding, and we never dare to touch anything illegal..."
Seeing this, the other two men could no longer remain seated. They crowded around Shen Dao, continuously proclaiming their innocence and decrying the injustice. According to them, they were model citizens who had never done anything illegal.
In reality, having learned from their wivesâ mistakes, they had even done their homework before coming this time. They hadnât concealed any facts, fearing theyâd be arrested for fraud again.
But they never imagined... they hadnât committed fraud, yet they were being charged with extortion!
"Youâve never engaged in any illegal activity?"
Listening to the three menâs self-assessment, Shen Dao almost laughed at their ignorance. In this live stream video, roughly two hours long, the three of them had been continuously engaging in illegal activities without a momentâs pause.
"Of course!"
Sun Chenglin and the other two exchanged glances, still firmly believing they hadnât broken any laws.
Shen Daoâs mouth twitched. He picked up his phone, scrolled the video to the beginning, and played it again.
At the same time, he said, "Firstly, you ignored the security guardâs warnings and trespassed into the nursing home, illegally entering a private residence. Anyone committing this crime can be sentenced to up to three years of fixed-term imprisonment or criminal detention."
"If they press charges, you wonât escape this!"
Upon hearing this, Sun Chenglin and his companions widened their eyes in disbelief.
They hadnât realized... that from the moment they stepped into the nursing home, they had already broken the law? No, more accurately, they had committed a crime? And one punishable by up to three years of imprisonment!
"Second, as soon as you entered the nursing home, you started a live stream. You continuously filmed the nursing homeâs environment, as well as Li Weiguo and others, without their consent, infringing on their rights to property, reputation, image, and privacy."
"Although this isnât a criminal offense, it violates public security administrative regulations and can result in up to 15 days of detention and a fine."
As the video played, Shen Dao snorted coldly and continued, "Third, I looked at the description for your live stream. You deliberately concealed the truth about your wivesâ imprisonment, deceptively sought sympathy from netizens, and incited public opinion to attack and pressure others."
"Spreading rumors, inciting public sentiment, and misleading thousands of viewers in the live stream will result in more than 10 days of detention and a fine."
Crime after crime was detailed by Shen Dao, each supported by clear evidence and reasoning.
As Sun Chenglin and the others listened, their faces gradually turned pale, the earlier confidence completely gone. If Shen Dao hadnât pointed it out, they wouldnât even have realized just how many laws they had broken.
"Xiao Qin, why do I get the feeling... theyâre the real outlaws here?"
On the other side, Zhang Qingyuan, who had gathered to watch the commotion, also swallowed hard and looked at Qin Mu.
It wasnât just him. Li Weiguo and the other onlookers from the nursing home were almost dumbstruck. The video had barely begun playing, yet Shen Dao had already listed three illegal acts. The main charge, extortion, hadnât even been brought up.
These three people... at a minimum, were looking at sentences of up to three years. What would happen if more was added on top of that?
Qin Mu, too, watched in surprise as the scene unfolded, his mouth twitching.
As the one who had called the police, even he hadnât imagined Sun Chenglin and his companions had committed so many offenses. In such a short period, they had managed to commit a whole slew of them, both intentionally and unintentionally.
"Fourth, you knelt before Li Weiguo. When he refused to help you, you refused to get up. This constitutes coercive behavior," Shen Daoâs voice continued to resonate in the courtyard.
"Combined with the pressure from the live stream audienceâs comments, your actions to coerce and force Li Weiguo to do something against his will constitute the crime of coercion. Depending on the severity, this carries a sentence of up to three years of fixed-term imprisonment."
"Fifth, in the video, you said your child hasnât attended school since junior high. This deprives the child of their right to education and violates the Compulsory Education Law and the Protection of Minors Act."
Shen Dao held up his phone, pointed at the live stream video, and glared at the pale-faced Sun Chenglin and his companions.
He continued, "As parents, while this may not be a criminal offense, it is a serious violation of the law!"
"Sixth, you have already arranged with a factory to send your underage child to work there. This is a violation of child labor laws and constitutes forced labor."
"According to criminal law, anyone who forces another person to work by means of violence, threats, or restriction of personal freedom shall be sentenced to no more than three years in prison or criminal detention, and shall also be fined."
At this point, he paused and scoffed, "In just two hours, youâve committed six distinct illegal and criminal acts. And you still dare to claim youâve never engaged in illegal or criminal acts before?"
Sun Chenglin and his companions didnât dare meet Shen Daoâs sharp gaze. They all hung their heads, their expressions incredibly grim.
And this wasnât even addressing the main charge of extortion... They already felt that a single misstep had led to eternal regret, and they were destined to spend the rest of their lives behind bars. Six charges! Most people wouldnât manage to commit so many ânoteworthyâ acts in an entire lifetime.
"We admit all of those, but... we really didnât commit extortion!" Sun Chenglin clenched his teeth and raised his head again, attempting a final defense.
"Oh?" Shen Dao raised an eyebrow and continued, "Seventh, the crime of extortion. This crime has three constituent elements."
"The first is the intent of illegal possession, meaning an attempt to take the other partyâs property. The video clearly records that upon your arrival, you demanded one hundred thousand yuan from Li Weiguo!"
Upon hearing this, Sun Chenglin swallowed hard, finally realizing that starting a live stream had been an incredibly foolish decision. No, it was far worse than unwiseâit was downright suicidal! This live stream had recorded all his offenses. Otherwise, the authorities would have no concrete proof of these actions. Take the coercion, for example; based solely on the testimonies of Zhang Qingyuan and the other seniors, a conviction would have been impossible! And the extortionâif not for this video, as long as he hadnât actually taken the money, he definitely couldnât have been charged with extortion! For a moment, a bitter taste filled his mouth, and his heart sank with despair. It seemed he... had truly shot himself in the foot.