It was causing her immense discomfort, as if she were being forced to make a choice: to persist in demanding the bride price, or to give it up.
The former meant she might end up in prison for more than ten years.
The latter... if she gave it up, the money for her sonâs bride price would be lost.
Relying on just the two of them, it was impossible to gather a car, a house, and 660,000 yuan for his bride price.
"Mom, has the problem been resolved? What did the lawyer say?"
In the living room, Wen Jingming saw her return and asked while playing a game.
She sighed. "The lawyer said if we canât reach a compromise, then we can only acknowledge the marriage and let your sister marry into his family."
Wen Jingming was immediately displeased upon hearing this. "Then what about the money for my bride price? Does this mean I wonât be able to get married?"
"Mom, this bride price money from Sis, even though itâs coming from their side, once Iâm married, wonât the money still be ours? The house and car will be ours, and weâll both come back often to show our filial piety..."
Wen Jingming then continued to argue his case.
Yan Yeyun smiled indulgently and said with a bitter smile, "That may be so, but if we refuse to compromise now, Mom might have to go to jail."
Wen Jingming, however, paid no heed, relentlessly demanding enough money for his own wedding.
"Iâll go talk to your sister and see if we can figure something out," Yan Yeyun said. Helpless, she walked into Wen Leâs bedroom.
She recounted what had happened that day and complained, "Look at the kind of boyfriend you found! To think heâd sue us over the bride price! Now weâre in a bind. They refuse to pay the bride price, we canât gather enough money for your brotherâs wedding, and the lawyer says if Mom loses the case, I might have to serve ten years in prison! Tell me, what should we do now?"
Her attitude was a complete 180-degree turn from how sheâd been moments before. With her son, she was full of patience, but with her daughter, it was all blame and sharp criticism.
Wen Le bit her lower lip, seemingly accustomed to this treatment.
She cautiously explained, "But... thereâs nothing I can do either. Feizhang said both his legs were broken, and his father is about to disown him."
"I donât care!" Yan Yeyun dismissed her explanation with a cold snort. "Youâre the eldest in this family. You *must* find a way to get the money for your brotherâs wedding!"
Wen Le lowered her head. Even after thinking for a long time, she couldnât come up with a solution.
In this situation, the Wan Family definitely wouldnât contribute any money. If Wan Feizhang were to say even one more word... he might really be beaten to death!
Yan Yeyunâs gaze, however, flickered as she proposed a new idea. "Doesnât Wan Feizhang listen to you the most? Why donât you go stay at the Wan Familyâs place for a few days? Get him to use his dadâs bank card to transfer more bride price money to us. How about that?"
In her view, this was the only way left to scrape together enough money for her sonâs bride price.
"Wouldnât that... constitute theft?" Wen Le asked, startled.
"A son taking his fatherâs money? That counts as theft?" Yan Yeyun looked skeptical, not quite believing it.
It wasnât until Wen Le searched online for the potential consequences of such an action that Yan Yeyun finally dismissed the idea.
"Then what do you suggest? If this wonât work and that wonât work, whatâs the use of me having a daughter like you?"
After a while, Wen Le slowly raised her head and voiced her idea. "The most urgent thing right now is to avoid jail time. Perhaps... Wan Feizhang and I should have the wedding first, and my brother can marry later. Once Iâm married into their family, I can slowly send money back home..."
This method was undoubtedly the safest and also seemed to avoid any legal repercussions. Compared to directly demanding one or two million yuan as a bride price, however, it would take a very long time.
"I suppose thatâs the only way," Yan Yeyun said, frowning as she reluctantly agreed to this plan. This way, she could avoid the risk of going to prison and also slowly gather the bride price money.
...
ăJin City.ă
ăThe Retirement Home.ă
ăSix oâclock in the evening.ă
Qin Mu had finished his dayâs work and was preparing to clock out on time when he suddenly saw Wan Zhongyuan rushing frantically toward him.
"Vice Director? Is something wrong?" Qin Mu asked, somewhat surprised.
Wan Zhongyuan caught his breath. He had just returned from the law firm and relayed Qi ZhaoYuâs concerns.
If the other party compromises... his bride price money will basically be gone for good.
That was why he had sought out Qin Mu again.
...
Qin Mu thought. The corner of his mouth twitched.
He suddenly realized something. Wang Dachui had been on leave for the past few days and wasnât at the Home. It seemed Wan Zhongyuan had started treating him as a legal consultant, coming to him whenever a problem arose.
"Xiao Qin, youâre very experienced. Youâve sued so many people; if you havenât sent ten thousand to prison, it must be at least three thousand. Can you give me some advice?" Wan Zhongyuan looked at Qin Mu, his eyes shining with eagerness to learn.
Lately, he had been avidly watching legal programs and had learned a great deal. His understanding of what constituted âminor injuryâ in legal terms, for instance, came from these programs. So, when he found out the other party might not have to bear any responsibility, the more he thought about it, the angrier he became, prompting him to find Qin Mu before work ended.
"Didnât I already give you two options?" Qin Mu reminded him with a shrug.
A few days prior, Wan Zhongyuan had consulted him about this very case, and Qin Mu had proposed two approaches. One was to sue for unjust enrichment, charging them with misappropriation. The other was to sue for marriage fraud, charging them with general fraud. These were two different legal avenues.
"As for the fraud charge," Qin Mu elaborated, "it primarily targets marriage fraud. If they compromise, then the marriage fraud itself effectively ceases to exist."