Chapter 174 - 110: A Tricky Method

"Your wife’s infidelity has already caused your child psychological trauma. You can absolutely use that as your breakthrough!"

Wang Yu was a high-income earner.

The asset split should be 60/40, with the unfaithful party getting sixty percent.

But with the child involved, Wang Yu could turn that 60/40 split into him being the one to receive sixty percent of the assets!

What’s more, the wife would have to pay a certain amount in child support.

In other words, the child’s involvement meant you’ve already won half the battle. This was the critical juncture that could lead to an 80/20 or even a 90/10 split in your favor—or perhaps even leaving her with nothing at all!

Most importantly...

"Mr. Wang, are you certain your child’s psychological trauma is limited to just seeing a strange man?"

Xu De narrowed his eyes.

His Level 2 Psychology skill activated, and he subconsciously sensed that something was off.

"You have to understand, psychological trauma... isn’t some trivial thing that happens quietly without a trace."

"The emphasis isn’t on ’psychological.’ It’s on the word ’trauma’!"

What is trauma?

Getting stabbed with a knife—that’s trauma!

In other words, broken bones, injuries from a fall, open wounds—those all count as trauma.

But if you think about it, you’ll realize that trauma... often indicates that an act ’exceeding the normal capacity for endurance’ has occurred.

It’s like a red-hot branding iron being pressed against your skin, leaving a scar!

"Your child... are you sure he only saw a strange man?"

Xu De asked again, this time with a much clearer hint.

Wang Yu froze. A moment later, his eyes flew open, and he shot to his feet, slamming his hand on the table.

"You’re saying someone harmed him!?"

he exclaimed, aghast.

’Harming the child... Yes.’

’Only harm that exceeds a child’s capacity to endure would cause psychological trauma.’

’And human memory tends to only retain the most critical parts, so...’

"In all likelihood, your wife and that man engaged in some behavior that you are unaware of."

"And this behavior is what directly caused your child’s psychological trauma."

Xu De explained, dissecting the situation.

He was like an elite psychologist, extracting the core of the problem with just a few words.

Even Wang Yu himself hadn’t realized this problem!

Lin Yue and Wang Chao couldn’t help but stare at him, inwardly stunned.

They couldn’t believe his perception was so sharp. Wang Yu had only mentioned that his child was feeling down, and from that, Xu De had managed to deduce a new line of investigation: that the lover had done something to the child!

"If you can verify this lead... then you will get custody of your child, one hundred percent!"

"Also, Mr. Wang."

"I need to remind you of something."

"Regarding the matter of asset division in a divorce case..."

As he finished speaking, Xu De didn’t hesitate to add:

"The *Civil Code* clearly stipulates that if one party is guilty of a major fault during the marriage, the innocent party has the right to demand the faulty party receive a smaller share of the assets, or even pay you compensation!"

"According to Article 1091 of the *Civil Code*, there are five types of major marital fault:"

"’Bigamy,’ ’cohabitation with another person,’ ’committing domestic violence,’ ’abuse or abandonment of a family member,’ and ’other major faults.’"

"What happened to your child..."

"Already clearly constitutes ’domestic violence’ and ’abuse’—two of the five categories!"

Just one of these has a huge impact on the division of assets.

Two of them makes it entirely possible for the other party to walk away with nothing!

You have to understand, this is forcing someone to leave a marriage with zero assets. It’s no joke. When the other person is unwilling, it’s almost impossible for a judge to issue such a ruling.

Most cases where someone leaves with nothing are because they voluntarily gave up their share.

In terms of difficulty... it’s comparable to proving ’justifiable self-defense’ in a criminal case!

"If you can verify it."

"The child will be in your custody, and there’s at least a twenty percent chance she’ll walk away with nothing, and an eighty percent chance you’ll get a 70/30 split of the assets!"

Xu De said, his eyes locked on him.

"Also, I must remind you of one more thing."

"Child support payments are unrelated to the asset division ratio."

What that means is this: if the marital assets are low—say your wife only gets 300 from the split, but the child support is set at 1,000 a month—does that mean she doesn’t have to pay?

No.

She still has to pay. It’s court-mandated!

In other words.

"With a 70/30 split, you’ll be giving up thirty percent of the assets, but... in exchange, you could get a continuous stream of child support from her for the next 14 years."

Xu De said.

’Give up thirty percent in exchange for at least 20%, maybe 30%, of her monthly income for at least 14 years!?’

When he thought of it that way, Wang Yu’s expression turned to one of shock, and a chill ran down his spine.

’No wonder... no wonder in divorces that aren’t amicable, so many people fight tooth and nail for custody of the children.’

The stakes... were just too high!

"If my firm handles this, I can guarantee you an 80/20 split."

Xu De smiled, radiating extreme confidence.

Most lawyers specialize in one area.

A criminal lawyer, for instance, will specialize in criminal law and falter in civil or economic cases.

But Xu De was different.

He was proficient in all of them!

In the truest sense, he had maxed-out stats across all four major legal categories: criminal, civil, economic, and administrative!!!

"I..."

"How do I gather evidence?"

After his initial panic, Wang Yu suddenly felt like he was grasping at a lifeline.

He quickly discussed the contract with Xu De.

Then, he asked impatiently:

"I don’t know how to gather evidence..."

"I don’t even have evidence of her cheating right now, but the court date is imminent..."

"Just have the police gather the evidence," Xu De said.

Have the police gather evidence?

"Mr. Wang, civil cases and criminal cases are a bit different."

"Specifically, the evidence you gather isn’t treated as hard proof in the judge’s eyes. It’s merely information that can influence their ’free evaluation of the evidence.’"

Lin Yue, who was at his side, suddenly spoke up to explain.

In civil cases, evidence found by witnesses or lawyers is treated differently than in criminal cases.

In a criminal case, once evidence is verified, it’s considered fact. A judge will trust it ninety percent of the time.

But in a civil case, a judge might only give forty, or even just thirty percent credence to evidence found by a lawyer!

That’s because they lack official standing, they lack the status of ’impartiality.’ It’s like in the No. 18 Middle School case, when Xu De had Prosecutor Huang Shi handle the witness examination. People in official positions are inherently seen as ’impartial,’ so their evidence is considered sound.

So.....

"If you can get the police to help you gather evidence..."

Xu De thought for a moment, then formulated the first step for him.

"Then the evidence submitted by the police, in the context of a civil case, would be an overwhelmingly decisive blow!"

In a civil case, there’s only a plaintiff and a defendant, no public prosecutor.

A judge will only give about thirty percent weight to their evidence, and the same goes for the evidence presented by the opposing side.

But evidence from the police? A judge is ninety percent likely to accept it!

With each side’s evidence effectively canceling the other out, even if the defendant has a counter-argument, in the face of police evidence... it would be like an adult playing against a toddler.

There’d be no way for you to lose!

But that raised a problem.

"The police don’t handle this."

Wang Yu’s face fell, his expression turning bitter.

"I’ve gone to the police. They don’t handle this kind of civil matter."

"Let alone catching a cheater... The Lusen City police have no obligation to help residents catch their spouses cheating."

Although the police might be very happy to help Wang Yu catch them.

After all, watching a spectacle is in the nature of Dongguo people, especially the spectacle of catching a cheater.

But catching cheaters isn’t part of a police officer’s duties.

So...

"There’s no way to get the police to find evidence."

Wang Yu sighed deeply.

The plan Xu De laid out was cunning, yet also very simple.

Center everything on the child.

Get the police to gather evidence, simultaneously proving that the wife and her lover were not only having an affair, but also caused indelible psychological trauma to the child.

Present that in court... and the defendant wouldn’t have a leg to stand on, no matter what they said.

It sounded simple enough, but carrying it out seemed impossible from the very first step!

Get the police to catch the cheaters?

Are the administrators of Lusen City insane or just stupid!?

It’s 2003. All of Dongguo is so short-staffed they wish they could split one cop into three. You think they’re going to pull someone from a criminal investigation to waste energy on a civil matter like this?

Not to mention catching cheaters!

"Or maybe... I catch them myself?"

Wang Yu steeled himself and said through gritted teeth:

"I can catch them myself!!!"

"No, no, no. I already told you, with privately gathered evidence, its credibility is very, very low."

"Besides, catching them in the act would likely lead to a confrontation. That would just muddy the waters and be detrimental to your case, with no upside."

Wang Yu was out of ideas. He threw his hands up in resignation.

"Then what do we do?"

"If we don’t catch them in the act, there’s no way to get evidence!"