CH 23.2

Chapter 23 (part 2)

"Didn't I tell you so?" Xiao Mei gloated triumphantly, "How could Auntie Wang have suddenly found a 26-year-old boyfriend? He was a fake! She made it up!"

"The man is her neighbor. Who knows how she got him not to say anything about it, but them being in love with each other is quite false."

"Did she admit this to you?"

Xiao Mei lifted an eyebrow. "Why would she? She's hiding it, and this isn't exactly the sort of thing you brag about. Of course she didn't say it outright, but we got into a good gossip about love affairs and I could tell. She started out saying some pretty reasonable stuff, that they're in love and they want to get married, but the more I asked, the more holes there were in her story. I think she's shot herself in the foot just to try to keep up face. She probably spent money on this neighbor to make him pretend to be her boyfriend... "

Though Xiao Mei wasn't aware of all the minor details between Wang Liying and Lu Feng, Ning Wan's heart began beating faster. Xiao Mei's words had confirmed her guess. Lu Feng had told the truth - he really hadn't been in a relationship with Wang Liying, so...

So why had Aunt Wang claimed to be in love with him and wanted to marry him?

Fu Zheng was obviously thinking the same question. Frowning, he looked at Xiao Mei. "What else did Aunt Wang say?"

"She talked a lot. It hasn't been easy for her, with both her sons so unfilial." Xiao Mei sighed. "She's worked so hard all her life, never stopping to take a breath. She bought a house for each son and found wives for them. But now that they've got wives, they've forgotten all about their mother. They don't give her a single good thing, let alone money. Sometimes they even ask her for money."

When it got to this point, Xiao Mei seemed embarrassed. "I wasn't aware, but it seems that she hasn't been coming to square dancing recently thanks to having been diagnosed with cancer... While she was recovering, her two sons neglected her, and she used up all her retirement money to pay for chemotherapy. Her two daughters-in-law are even harping on her to just be conservative with her treatment, to not take the chemo, just fast, pray to the Buddha, and copy the sutras. It's obvious what they really care about."

"She was doing poorly after chemotherapy, and her two sons didn't care a whit. There were a few times when she lay down and couldn't get up again, and thought that she might die, but her neighbor was kind enough to make room in his busy life to see to her needs, or she said she might otherwise have died early! In my eyes, she's imagining that he's her boyfriend because she needs something to cling onto while she's seriously ill, and he took care of her!"

……

Xiao Mei spoke on for awhile, then smiled, looked at Fu Zheng, and patted her hair. She put a hand on his shoulder and told him to contact her when he was free sometime. Fu Zheng made some unclear noises, and Xiao Mei headed out reluctantly.

His face was dark as he watched her leave. "Did I become an 'escort' for nothing? It's only Xiao Mei speculation that Lu Feng and Wang Liying aren't in a relationship. All the rest of that was irrelevant..."

"Not at all! I think you've actually fulfilled your mission!" Ning Wan disagreed. "Don't you think we're very close to the truth?"

"What?"

"People have motives for doing things. To hear Auntie Xiao talk, Auntie Wang is actually very grateful to Lu Feng. He lent her a helping hand in her time of need, and her words are full of praise for him. According to common sense, she should have no reason to frame such a benefactor, but she's now uncharacteristically biting the hand that fed her and trying to force Lu Feng into a relationship. What might her original intentions be?"

Fu Zheng hesitated. "Should we appraise Wang Liying's mental state after all? Does schizophrenia run in their family?"

Ning Wan didn't know if she ought to laugh or cry. Sometimes she really admired the way Fu Zheng's mind worked. "Do you think there are that many crazy people in this community? The essence of personal disputes are money and interests. Think about it."

"I can't draw a conclusion," Fu Zheng said, shaking his head.

"Then don't. Let's go straight to Aunt Wang. I think we'll know the answer very soon."

Even thought Ning Wan had said so, Fu Zheng didn't expect to be able to visit Wang Liying. If you went by Auntie Wang's previous performances, the possibility that she would admit to her own deception was remote. In a case about infringement upon personal reputation, it was her word against Lu Feng's, so as long as he had no evidence to prove his own innocence, this case would be difficult to win...

He followed after Ning Wan, but didn't know what she was thinking. They had spent time to look for Xiao Mei and gotten a bunch of gossip, but this information is useless at best. Ning Wan's visit to Wang Liying seemed like it would be fruitless. Fu Zheng was prepared for her to be summarily rejected.

Sure enough, after learning of their identities and purposes, Wang Liying's face was dark. Though she reluctantly let them into the room, she refused to talk or negotiate.

Fu Zheng waited for Ning Wan to speak. She cleared her throat, but what she said what she opened her mouth, was quite different from what he had thought.

She was not at all soft or approachable, but instead serious and cold. "Mrs. Wang Liying, we have obtained evidence of your slander toward our client, Mr. Lu Feng."

Without waiting for a reaction, Ning Wan went on. "Although we understand that you're reluctant to allow your unfilial sons to inherit your property, and instead hope for Lu Feng to inherit it through marriage, the manner in which you've gone about it  is illegal, and has without a doubt caused great trouble and injury to Lu Feng.."

Fu Zheng frowned. He was suddenly unable to keep up with Ning Wan's logic. What was this? What was happening?

Seemingly unmoved, Ning Wan continued, "Your behavior has seriously affected my client's ability to live a normal life. He had planned to remarry his ex-wife, but having heard of your rumors, there is now a misunderstanding between her and Lu Feng. She has refused to negotiate and communicate further. Not only has your behavior made Lu Feng lose his happy marriage, but his daughter Jiao Jiao has also lost the possibility of a reunited family and is once again a motherless child!"

The cadence of Ning Wan's voice was dignified and cold, and so full of righteous words that Fu Zheng had to reboot his brain before he could react to this serious nonsense.

First of all, they had absolutely no evidence; Second, when did Wang Liying propose just to give her house to Lu Feng? Finally, what was up with Lu Feng remarrying his his ex-wife? This was all just Ning Wan's loose lips flapping...

Before everything else, a lawyer had to be based on facts. They couldn't just make things up as they went. What was Ning Wan doing? Facts were not something that one could just make up in court...

But outside of Fu Zheng's expectations, Wang Liying, who had always been wholly uncooperative, listened with a frown and remained silent for awhile. Then she asked a completely irrelevant question, "Lu Feng wants to remarry?"

Ning Wan nodded, and without batting an eye, lied, "Yes."

Just when Fu Zheng thought that she would continue with her serious attitude, she softened her tone. "Aunt Wang, we all have the evidence. We know why you must want to marry Lu Feng, but please put yourself in his shoes and think about it. You are resentful and dissatisfied with your two sons and don't want them to inherit your home, but Lu Feng is completely innocent of this affair, and it isn't good to involve him in it. It's too unfair to Lu Feng."

"With a bad reputation so young, let's not even talk about his ex-wife - what good and serious girl will follow him in the future? Do you think he will be happy to receive the house after marrying you? You didn't even ask him if he wanted the house, but are instead dragging him into your mess. Are you grateful to him or do you hate him? Do you want to ruin his life just for this house? Your two sons ignored you before during your chemotherapy, while Lu Feng helped you sincerely without asking for anything in return. How could you coldly ruin a good man?"

Ning Wan, those are all guesses! Fu Zheng felt like all of this was unfounded nonsense. Although Wang Liying's sons really were unfilial, she could just have changed her will if she didn't want to give them the property and instead wanted Lu Feng to inherit. There was no need to marry Lu Feng. This wasn't about giving rewards, but slander. No logical lawyer would have come up with this strange chain of events. Fu Zheng didn't know where Ning Wan had come up with it.

Unexpectedly, however, after hearing what Ning Wan had to say, a crack appeared in Wang Liying's flawless front. Tears welled up in her eyes and she said, "Because of what I did, his ex-wife refuses to remarry him?"

Ning Wan nodded solemnly.

"I thought it was too easy." Ripples finally showed on Wang Liying's face. There was guilt and embarrassment, and her lips trembled as she choked out, "I... I really... didn't think about Lu..."

"Since you already know, I won't hide it." The old lady looked dejected and mournful. "I was bent on not giving the house to those two dogs. I raised them with great difficulty, only for them to hope I'd die early once they were grown, so that I wouldn't drag them down. Even Xiao Lu next door was better to me than they were. I really didn't want to hurt Xiao Lu. I... I really just wanted Xiao Lu to inherit the house once I die..."

……

To Fu Zheng's utter shock and surprise, Ning Wan's nonsense had actually hit upon the truth. He didn't know if to boast that she had made her fever dream come true, or if she had been a blind cat that had caught a dead mouse.

To sum up a long story, under Ning Wan's half-truth-half-lies guidance Wang Liying had let down her guard. She gave them a full account of all the kinks in her heart, which were nearly word-for-word the same as Ning Wan's wild guesses.

"So you dragged Lu Feng into marriage just to repay him by giving him your house?"

Faced with Fu Zheng's question, Wang Liying nodded, wiping away her tears. "I'm not otherwise related to him, so how else could I do it? When I die, my two sons will definitely come for the house. But if Lu Feng and I get a license together, won't it belong to him when I die? My two sons should have nothing to say."

Fu Zheng was flabbergasted. He ended up having to explain how inheritance distribution worked to Wang Liying carefully and in simple words. "If you don't leave behind a will, then inheritance will be distributed according to law. If you and Lu Feng marry, then when you are gone, Lu Feng, as your husband, your two sons and your daughter will have an equal share in your estate. It would not be the case that the house would be given only to Lu Feng. If you would like to leave the house to him, then you must write a will saying just that."

He gave her a long explanation, and when Auntie Wang finally understood, she wiped away her tears and stammered, "I... I'm not very well-read, but I've watched some TV dramas. In the drama, before the old man died, he wrote a will and left the house to his younger adopted son. But when he really passed on, his biological sons refused to accept the will. They took it to court saying that it was fake and went to court. The old man was dead so he couldn't get a say, and in the end his adopted son didn't get anything..."

"After I saw that I knew it would be useless to write a will giving the house away. When I die, who knows how much fuss my two sons will kick up, and..."

"And I can't write," Wang Liying confessed. "I can only sign my name, I can't write anything else. Even if I wanted to write my own will, I couldn't do it, and if I had someone else put it down for me then my two sons would even more so never accept it... I thought so hard. Only by marrying Xiao Lu and making him my relative could I rightfully give him the house... Isn't marriage protected by national law?"

So that's how it was. Fu Zheng hadn't realized.

Community law was indeed completely different from his usual field. However, the difficulty was not in the application of the law, but in the communication between the affected parties and finding evidence to support claims.

Commercial disputes generally involved parties who were well-educated and with some background knowledge of law. Therefore, Fu Zheng had never before had trouble communicating with his clients. He could use his own logic to infer theirs because they were all at the same level and understanding. However, the residents in the community had an uneven grasp of legal matters. There were many educated people among the younger set, but there were also a large number of folk like Wang Liying, who were illiterate and whose knowledge of legal matters was shaky at best. Most of what they knew about the law came from some unreliable TV show...

In hindsight, Fu Zheng realized that Ning Wan's previous remarks might not have been nonsense after all. Instead, she had put herself into Wang Liying's shoes, and according to the clues Xiao Mei had provided, she had used Wang Liying's way of thinking to infer the problem.

The reason why she had been able to figure it out on the first try was neither beginner's luck nor the dumb luck of a blind cat finding a dead mouse, but rather her rich practical experience and flexible way of thinking.