Qian Hao lifted his head, mentally slapping a label on the man before him.
’How does this law firm even accept apes?’
’Didn’t they consider reproductive isolation?’
The two sized each other up.
They frowned at each other. Despite it being their first meeting, they stood frozen in place for a full five minutes, their minds racing.
After a long moment.
At the same time, they both reluctantly started walking toward the exit.
"Let’s go. The law firm is on Torch Road. It’s a bit of a drive."
Wang Chao led him toward the parking lot, with Qian Hao following behind, chin held slightly high.
A moment later.
Wang Chao stood in front of his familiar white sedan. He hesitated for a moment, then pointed to the door handle and said:
"This is modern society."
"This thing is called a car. This is a door handle. You pull the handle, and you can get in and sit down."
As he spoke, Wang Chao even demonstrated, pulling the handle to open the door.
Faced with a savage who knew nothing of etiquette.
Wang Chao felt it was his duty to guide the man into civilized society... starting with the car’s door handle.
Qian Hao was inwardly stunned, his face a mask of shock as he watched the man explain what a car was.
’The man actually knows what a car is!’
’The Ape has evolved!?’
Though their minds were racing with different thoughts, they finally got into the car.
"VRMM~"
The engine started.
With a puff of black exhaust, the four wheels began to turn.
Before long, the two of them slowly vanished from Nanshan Airport.
’I should find him a place to stay first,’ Wang Chao thought. ’The key is to get him settled into the firm in a couple of days.’
「At the same time.」
...
...
「Lusen City, Criminal Investigation Detachment.」
「Inside the detention cell.」
"CLANK!"
A crisp sound rang out.
The barred gate swung open. The police officer, Li Xiang, looked at the person inside the detention cell and said flatly,
"Guo Tu, right? Someone’s here to see you."
As the words fell.
Guo Tu, who had been squatting on the floor, subconsciously looked up. His usually fair face now appeared somewhat haggard.
Hearing that someone was here to see him.
Guo Tu felt a subconscious flicker of pleasant surprise; he thought Yang Chunping had paid to bail him out.
But when he looked up.
He saw an unfamiliar face.
The visitor was none other than Xu De.
"Mr. Guo, right? Twenty-two years old, just graduated not long ago from a second-tier university. An art student. After graduating, you became an art teacher at an educational center... Heh, you and Yang Chunping met at that center, didn’t you?"
Xu De strode into the detention cell, a smile on his face as he looked at Guo Tu.
Then, he sat down on a chair as if he owned the place.
The detention cell had no bed, only a table and chairs similar to those in an interrogation room, its purpose clearly being to question people.
"Who are you?"
Guo Tu’s heart tightened.
He watched Xu De, who had just rattled off his personal information, and an uneasy feeling grew in his heart. As he spoke, he glanced at the officer, Li Xiang, but the policeman showed no reaction at all.
Guo Tu’s heart clenched, and he quickly asked:
"Did Sister Yang send you?"
Hearing this, Xu De smiled. He gestured for Guo Tu to sit at the table and said,
"Tsk, Sister Yang... Mr. Guo, you really can stomach a lot. Yang Chunping is at least seven years older than you. In fact, after her birthday in a few days, she’ll be eight years older."
As the saying goes, a wife three years your senior is worth her weight in gold.
A three-year age gap between a man and a woman is nothing.
A six-year gap isn’t unacceptable either.
But eight years... that’s a pretty big difference!
The most crucial part is...
"Tsk, an eight-year gap, and you still went to such great lengths to get close to Yang Chunping. Mr. Guo, you truly are a man of perseverance."
Watching the man sit down before him.
Xu De mused once again.
"It’s the child I feel sorry for, suffering such an undeserved calamity for no reason at all."
Guo Tu knew from his words that this man did not come in peace. His heart tightened, but he said in a deep voice,
"I don’t know what you’re talking about."
"Heh, do I need to spell it out for you?"
Xu De scoffed. Without hesitation, he pulled out some of the preliminary evidence the police had given to Wang Yu and spread it on the table.
They were photos.
Photos taken of a child’s body!
On Wang Xiaoyu’s body—her thighs, abdomen, buttocks—there were obvious bruises in multiple places. A professional could tell at a glance that they were pinch marks!
Furthermore.
Near the top of her thighs, there were distinct needle marks.
"You took advantage of the child crying inconsolably, using sedatives to calm her down, and used that as a way to get close to Yang Chunping, didn’t you."
"My guess is... you had your eyes on Wang Yu’s money?"
Xu De asked.
Marriage and romance scams don’t just target the rich.
In fact, the most frequent victims are ordinary people. Some men use their looks to trick women into divorcing their husbands or transferring all their money to them before taking the cash and disappearing.
Xu De didn’t know if Guo Tu planned to run later.
But he was certain the man was currently fanning the flames behind Yang Chunping’s divorce!
At the very least, he’d said a few words to persuade her to get a divorce!
"I don’t understand what you’re saying!"
Guo Tu felt immense pressure, but he forced himself to appear calm.
Xu De smiled faintly. His calm eyes swept over the other man, and he suddenly said,
"Mr. Guo, Yang Chunping isn’t your only lover, is she?"
The moment the words left his mouth.
Guo Tu’s pupils constricted. He looked up at Xu De in disbelief.
He was just about to speak, but unexpectedly, the other man spoke again:
"Are you thinking that Yang Chunping is going to get you out of here?"
"Heh, don’t even think about it. Imagine, if she found out about this... would she still care about you?"
"And... you don’t really think the police are going to let you go, do you?"
’That was a rhetorical question. Did he mean... the police aren’t going to let me go!?’
"Yang and I are in love. The police can’t..."
Startled, Guo Tu unconsciously clenched his fists.
"True love? No, no, no. I don’t have time to bother with your affair."
Xu De cut him off, extending a hand to point at the photos on the table.
"You don’t possibly think..."
"...that this stuff will be treated like evidence of an affair and that you’ll be let off easy, do you?"
An affair is one thing, and catching a cheater is another.
The police have no obligation to deal with those things, but what was found on Wang Xiaoyu’s body...
...clearly goes far beyond a simple affair!
In other words...
"Guo Tu!"
Suddenly.
Xu De’s expression turned grim and his voice dropped. He slammed his palm on the table—BANG!—startling Guo Tu and sending a jolt of adrenaline through him.
"This is a crime!"
"This is intentional injury, child abuse, and bullying a vulnerable member of society!"
He hit him with a triple accusation.
Intentional injury and abuse—if handled correctly and the victim doesn’t settle—could easily land you in prison for several years.
Add the ’vulnerable member of society’ buff to that, and the sentence will be even more severe.
That’s right.
In the eyes of the law, using the same methods to bully different groups of people will result in different punishments.
Some people might think of the elderly.
A thirty-year-old man and a seventy-year-old man. The old man doesn’t have much time left, the young man is in his prime. From a ’profit and loss’ perspective, killing the old man versus killing another thirty-year-old...
...you’d think killing the thirty-year-old would result in a longer sentence.
But in reality, the law is skewed to protect the weak.
You’d get a heavier sentence for killing the old man!
Setting aside practical application and talking purely about the law, the statutes would see it as preying on the weak. Specifically targeting a vulnerable group is considered a particularly heinous act that must be punished more severely.
And as it happens, among all vulnerable groups, the one that elicits the most severe sentences...
"...is children. Minors."
Xu De looked at Guo Tu, his eyes narrowing as a calculating smile played on his lips.
"Especially a four-year-old child. The law has infinite discretion to favor them!"
"Mr. Guo."
"You don’t think we’re just going to pursue you for having an affair, breaking up a family, or being a homewrecker, do you?"
"We... are going to file a criminal lawsuit against you."
"Guess how long a sentence... a homewrecker like you... will get when the law is infinitely skewed against you?"
Being a third party in a marriage is already a transgression.
On top of that transgression, you add bullying a vulnerable person, a victim who isn’t even sixteen years old...
Just four years old!
You even caused severe psychological trauma, the ’incurable’ kind that will affect her for the rest of her life.
In court...
That’s a sentence enhancement on top of a sentence enhancement on top of a sentence enhancement!
Putting everything else aside.
Just based on the information provided by the police, any random lawyer could get you seven years.
"An average lawyer could get you seven years."
"Mr. Guo, do you know how long the homewrecker in the last divorce case I handled was sentenced for?"
As he spoke.
Xu De stated a number.
"Ten years!"
"And I didn’t even have to get personally involved for the other party to be sentenced to a full ten years!"
"Mr. Guo... you don’t want to go to prison, do you?"
The moment the words fell.
An invisible pressure settled on Guo Tu’s shoulders. His breath caught in his throat, and he felt as if he were suffocating.