Lin Guodong felt like the sky was falling.
He knew his daughter was an earnest, responsible, and independent person. She liked to solve problems on her own and wouldn't rest until she found an answer.
That kind of determination was good.
But she couldn't just obsess over something until she gave herself a high fever!
What did she mean by asking if stealing a child was illegal? Were those really the words of his straight-A daughter, Lin Yue?!
"No, Dad. I'm serious."
Lin Yue took a deep breath, a hint of confusion flashing in her eyes.
A few days ago, the things Xu De had told her at the law firm had been nothing short of shocking.
She had tried to find loopholes in his argument using the Criminal Code, but after searching for days, she discovered... it actually seemed to be legal!
"Sweetheart, do you really have a fever?"
Lin Guodong was a bit worried. He even reached out and felt her forehead, only to find her temperature was completely normal.
Lin Yue shook her head and brushed his hand away. After a moment of thought, she asked:
"Dad."
"Tell me, if a lawyer steals a child to complete a commission... does that constitute a crime?"
Hearing this, Lin Guodong still had no idea what she was playing at, but he humored her and replied:
"Naturally, it's illegal."
"Abducting a child for profit absolutely constitutes the Crime of Child Abduction and Trafficking."
This was the most basic of basics. He only needed to quickly recall the law to find the answer.
However, the moment his words fell, Lin Yue spoke up again:
"Then what if the client is the child's biological mother?"
The person asking to steal the child is the mother?
Lin Guodong paused slightly. He rubbed his chin, a little hesitant, but still answered.
"That... is also illegal. Civilly, it infringes on the other party's custody rights."
"Criminally, it constitutes the Crime of Illegal Detention, robbery, and gathering a crowd to engage in a brawl."
It was as if she had been waiting for him to finish that sentence.
Lin Yue spoke up once more, her voice urgent:
"Then what if the child's father is dead, leaving only the mother, and the child is currently just staying in the home of nominal close relatives!?"
"Under those circumstances, is stealing the child... illegal?"
Lin Guodong: ?
"Hold... hold on."
Lin Guodong was stunned. Her rapid-fire questions had clearly caught him off guard, and his mind was reeling.
The father is dead? That meant... the custody rights rested solely with the mother?
Wait, if you have custody, why would you have nothing better to do than steal your own child!?
Hold on...
In a daze, Lin Guodong's eyes widened as something suddenly clicked. He looked up, staring at Lin Yue in shock.
"Yue, are you talking about Wang Mei's case!?"
His exclamation echoed in the small bedroom, his expression one of utter bewilderment.
The father is dead, the child is with close relatives, and only the mother is alive. Wasn't this exactly Wang Mei's custody dispute, which was deeply tied to the Lijia Village case!?
And his own daughter seemed to be the lawyer handling this case!
"It's that case."
Lin Yue nodded, not denying it.
The moment she confirmed it, Lin Guodong stared at her with wide eyes.
His daughter... wasn't she an idealist like him? Since when did she harbor such wicked thoughts like stealing a child!?
Thinking of this, Lin Guodong couldn't sit still anymore. He immediately stood up and urged Lin Yue:
"Yue, the case is difficult, and I know it's hard to get the child back."
"But... but we can't just go steal a child because enforcement is difficult! That is absolutely unacceptable!"
But Lin Yue shook her head. She sighed and pressed again:
"Dad, answer me first. Under these circumstances, is it illegal to steal the child?"
Lin Guodong was just about to reject the idea.
But the words caught in his throat, and he couldn't spit them out no matter how hard he tried.
He knew about Wang Mei's case. Since the biological father was dead, custody naturally belonged to Wang Mei alone. So the so-called grandparents...
"But... custody still requires a court ruling..."
Lin Guodong hesitated, about to voice his denial, but before he could finish, Lin Yue interrupted him.
"Custody has already been decided. Wang Mei won the case."
Lin Yue helpfully added, "Moreover, the child's biological mother would be brought along during the theft. The lawyer wouldn't go alone."
"Dad."
"Is this illegal?"
Lin Guodong opened his mouth to speak, then stopped, then tried again.
His face flushed red as his thoughts spiraled into chaos.
Was it illegal?
With both rearing and custody rights in hand, legally speaking, the child belonged to Wang Mei. Therefore, rather than calling it stealing... it was more like a fun little game between mother and son!
And what about the family whose rights were being infringed upon?
No, the other party had no rights.
Based on the conditions Lin Yue provided... as long as Wang Mei and the lawyer didn't go in with the intent to assault anyone, simply stealing the child carried absolutely no risk!
Neither civil nor criminal!
"This... this, this..."
Lin Guodong's face grew redder and redder, yet he couldn't utter a single word.
This wasn't right. This wasn't right at all.
The judicial system didn't work like this!
If you want a child, you should first fight a lawsuit for a year. After the lawsuit, you bicker with the other side for a few months, wait another few months for the compliance period, and then, after the other side fails to comply for two years, you apply to the police and the court for forced enforcement. Then you wait a few more months for the enforcement application to be approved before you can finally snatch the child back!
How could you not even wait for the compliance period right after the court ruling...
And just steal him outright!!!
And yet, it seemed they had actually threaded the needle through a bunch of legal loopholes!
Bastards, legal procedures and laws are not meant to be used like this!!!
"No..."
Lin Guodong's face was bright red. He looked at his daughter as if she were a stranger, his chest heaving violently.
"Who put this idea in your head!?"
Lin Yue didn't answer. Instead, she handed him the portion of the documents Xu De had compiled regarding the 'legality' of the plan.
She had asked Xu De about it too, and to ensure her peace of mind, Xu De had said she could have someone corroborate his words without leaking confidential information.
So her father was completely allowed to look at it.
Rustle.
Lin Guodong snatched the papers, the sheets making a crisp sound.
Immediately, his eyes locked onto the document, but the moment he clearly read the text upon it...
His eyes bulged, looking as if he wanted to glue his face to the black and white text.
The contents of the document were generally the same as what Lin Yue had just described.
But much more detailed!
Not only did it cite legal precedents, analyzing the original text of the law with strict precision to prove that their stealing of the child did not violate any laws.
It even left more than half a page free to list the evidence proving that Li Youcai and Liu Cui were the ones actually committing illegal acts!
When he finished reading...
Lin Guodong: ?
Lin Guodong was dumbfounded. As a leading figure in the legal field, this was the first time a document had ever made him feel this way.
Shocked.
Unprecedentedly shocked!
Decades of his worldview were being challenged like never before at this very moment. A massive earthquake was shaking his core beliefs!
He just stood there frozen, repeatedly scrutinizing the document up, down, left, and right, desperately trying to find a single flaw.
A long while passed.
Lin Yue finally couldn't take it anymore. Sitting in her chair, she looked up at him and carefully asked:
"Dad."
Lin Guodong snapped out of it, acting as if he were waking from a dream but hadn't fully shaken off sleep.
He looked at his daughter with bewildered eyes.
"Hm?"
Lin Yue asked, "Is this illegal?"
Lin Guodong: ...
Lin Guodong choked again.
Looking into her sincere eyes, he held his breath for a long time before finally replying:
"This is unethical!"
Lin Yue raised an eyebrow, asking suspiciously, "So, is it illegal?"
"This lacks professional ethics!"
Lin Guodong repeated loudly, his face turning an even deeper shade of red.
Stop asking if it's illegal. If you ask, it's just unethical!
But correspondingly, that meant...
"You can't find anything illegal about it, can you?" Lin Yue suddenly said.
Lin Guodong fell silent, unable to speak.
"It really isn't illegal!?"
Lin Yue was thoroughly surprised, even though she had expected as much.
But when even Lin Guodong was left speechless, she couldn't help but feel shocked.
Amidst her shock, Lin Yue also recalled Xu De's other ultimate weapon—namely, the matter of Wang Qiang being unarmed and acting bravely for a just cause to protect an armed police officer.
The corners of her mouth twitched involuntarily.
The trial was in two days.
With a lawyer like this in Greenwood City, the local prosecutors were in for a real treat.
Thinking of this, Lin Yue felt the urge to laugh. She could already picture the scene that would unfold in the courtroom.
Having resolved the burden of whether it was 'illegal' or not, Lin Yue seemed much more lively.
She stood up and cheerfully said:
"Alright, you should go eat. I'm going to change clothes."
With that, she pushed Lin Guodong out of the room.
With a click, the door shut.
Meanwhile, standing outside the door, Lin Guodong couldn't snap out of his daze for a long time.
His expression was deeply moved, his eyes bewildered.
Within that bewilderment lay a touch of shock, and within that shock, a trace of horror.
His entire person seemed to have lost its soul, wandering like a walking corpse.
In fact, Lin Guodong didn't even realize when he had returned to his bedroom or when he had sat down at the dining table!
"Old Lin, what are you thinking about? Why do you look so out of it?"
At the table.
His wife, Su Xin, looked at her husband, who had been absent-minded ever since returning from their daughter's room, a hint of confusion on her face.
Lin Guodong regained a bit of clarity.
He looked at his wife and parted his lips.
Then, this leading figure of the domestic legal world, a top-tier university law professor, a true heavyweight authority in academic circles, a man regarded as a founding grandmaster... asked a question that came straight from his soul.
"Tell me..."
"Is stealing a child illegal?"
Su Xin: ?
"Has your fever made you delirious!?"