Chapter 47 - 39: Final Preparations Secured

The moment those words were spoken, the entire scene fell silent.

Are Li Youcai and Liu Cui idiots?

They looked like it—stupid and illogical.

Back when Detective Li Xiang had gone to Li Family Village with a gun to save someone, Li Youcai had dared to surround him with over forty villagers and even threatened his life!

Just two days ago, when he realized Wang Wei wouldn’t help him, he had even cursed him out!

All of these actions made the two of them look like fools, but in reality...

They weren’t.

Li Youcai and Liu Cui were just purely evil.

The kind of evil that’s rotten to the core.

He knew the police wouldn’t dare to kill anyone, which was why he dared to push his luck so brazenly.

Even cursing out Wang Wei was purely an attempt to force the man to do his bidding!

So...

He wasn’t a fool. He knew what Xu De was doing.

A threat.

A blatant threat from the other man!!!

"That’s my grandson!"

Li Youcai was furious. He was like a bull in an arena, poised to charge.

Unfortunately, his thin, withered body and sinister eyes made him look more like a venomous snake lurking in the rainforest.

"Mr. Li, please don’t be angry. I know you’re the child’s grandfather, a close relative by blood."

Xu De still maintained a professional smile.

Hearing this, the fire in Li Youcai’s chest subsided slightly, but...

The next second, Xu De’s tone suddenly shifted as he added another sentence.

"Likewise."

"I also know that Wang Mei is Li Yang’s mother... his birth mother, and the one and only biological parent with guardianship rights!"

With that single sentence.

Li Youcai snapped his head up to glare at him, the recently extinguished fire flaring up again. He clenched his jaw, forcing out three words from between his teeth.

"You damn thug!"

A thug...

That’s right. Li Youcai didn’t know the word "shyster."

But he could clearly sense that this man was no different from the common thugs in his village.

"You flatter me."

Xu De just smiled, not at all bothered by the insult. In fact, it even made him feel a little thrilled.

Why?

The reason was simple.

For a ruffian like Li Youcai, who held the law in utter contempt, to call him a thug could only mean one thing... he was truly at his wit’s end.

’When dealing with a ruffian like this, being an honest person and trying to reason with him about the law is useless.’

’You have to be a bigger thug than he is!!!’

"You!"

Li Youcai felt like he had a mouthful of stagnant blood stuck in his throat that he couldn’t spit out.

For someone like him, who frequently threatened others, the man’s meaning wasn’t hard to understand.

It was nothing more than a threat: trade the child for a leniency plea!

"Old man, Dahu is only six years old..."

At his side, Liu Cui had also understood Xu De’s meaning. She lowered her head and spoke in a small voice.

As she said this, Li Youcai’s expression grew even uglier.

Seeing this, Xu De broke into a smile and stepped to the side.

"Why don’t you two talk it over? I’m going to have a smoke."

With that, he gave them plenty of space, walking to the other side, pulling out a cigarette, and starting to smoke slowly.

Seeing the man walk away, Li Youcai grew agitated. He squatted on the ground, taking dry puffs from his pipe, his heart heavy with frustration.

’Trade my grandson for a leniency plea...’

’But does that mean my son died for nothing!?’

’And Wang Mei! Five thousand yuan! A daughter-in-law bought for a full five thousand yuan, and after only ten years, she just up and ran away!?’

’I paid for her! What right does she have to run!’

Li Youcai was indignant, but then, the image of his grandson, Li Yang, surfaced in his mind...

A conflicted look appeared on his face. On his wrinkled features, such an expression looked almost monstrous.

Until...

While he was still unable to make a decision, Liu Cui spoke up from the side, her tone somewhat aggressive and resentful.

"Whether Wang Qiang gets the death penalty or not won’t change the fact that Er Niu is already dead."

"But Dahu is still alive! He’s our only grandson. If he’s gone... I’ll never be done with you!"

Before, it was fine. Even though they didn’t have custody, the boy was physically with them, so they didn’t feel anxious.

But ever since Xu De took the child away... Liu Cui had become truly frantic!

"Besides, wasn’t our plan from the start to trade the case for the child?"

Seeing Li Youcai still hesitating, Liu Cui added another sentence.

"It’s the same if we trade now!"

Hearing this, the last trace of hesitation in Li Youcai’s eyes vanished completely, replaced by determination.

’Yes, that’s right.’

’From the very beginning, their plan was to use the case to threaten Wang Mei and get custody of the child.’

’Now, they were the ones being threatened. They didn’t have the upper hand, and they couldn’t set any conditions...’

’But as long as they could get the child back, it was worth it!’

Thinking of this, though a tempest of fury raged in his heart, Li Youcai had no choice but to clench his teeth, look at Xu De in the distance, and say sullenly:

"We’re willing to sign the leniency plea!"

Hearing his voice, Xu De raised an eyebrow. He stopped smoking, stubbed out his cigarette, and walked cheerfully over to Li Youcai.

"Mr. Li is truly magnanimous!"

After speaking, he pulled a pre-drafted "leniency plea" contract from his bag, took out a pen, pointed to the signature line, and said:

"Sign here. If you can’t write your name, a thumbprint will do."

Li Youcai looked down at the paper, pen, and ink pad, then looked up at Xu De, feeling even more aggrieved.

A leniency plea isn’t some template document; every case is different, so it’s impossible to have one ready at a moment’s notice. Yet Xu De had just pulled one out.

Unless...

He had been certain he had them in the bag from the very beginning and drafted it in advance.

’Bastard!’

Unfortunately, when you’re in a weak position, you have no choice but to yield.

Li Youcai, fuming silently, dipped his finger in the ink. Just as he was about to press it onto the signature line... he suddenly paused and looked up at Xu De.

"You promised."

"As long as I sign this, you’ll give Dahu back to me?"

As his voice fell.

"Mr. Li, you must not say things like that. Let me state for the record: a leniency plea signed on the basis of a trade, coercion, or threat is illegal. I would never do anything illegal!"

Xu De still wore a faint smile.

Before the other man could get angry, he immediately continued:

"However."

"You absolutely have the right to spend time with the child!"

’What the hell is he talking about?’

Li Youcai frowned. He felt there was something strange about the way the man was talking, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on what was wrong.

’But it’s fine. He could still understand the last sentence.’

’I can see the child!’

Thinking this, Li Youcai was about to press his finger down again when Xu De suddenly interrupted.

"Mr. Li, let me be clear with you first."

"Guardianship rights generally only pass to close relatives when both of the child’s parents are deceased."

Li Youcai frowned, feeling this was all a bit strange. He waved his hand dismissively, somewhat annoyed.

"As long as I can be with the kid, I don’t give a damn about guardianship or not."

’He didn’t care one bit about guardianship rights. The only reason he fought for it before was because without it, the police and the courts could take the child away by force!’

’Now that Xu De had said he could guarantee he’d be able to spend time with the child...’

’What did he need that for?’

Thinking of this, Li Youcai moved to sign again.

But was once again stopped by Xu De.

"Mr. Li, you’d better think carefully. I’m recording this."

"Let me reiterate: you can generally only get guardianship of the child if both parents are deceased. Only then would the child belong to you in the eyes of the law."

Xu De reminded him once more.

"So long-winded!"

Li Youcai was getting angry.

’Doesn’t belong to me in the eyes of the law?’

’As if the kid legally belonged to me before. Didn’t we get by just fine? As long as the boy is with me, that’s enough!’

The next second, he no longer hesitated, pressing his hand down hard on the document in front of him.

The pad of his finger made contact with the white paper. When he lifted his hand again,

A bright red, clearly-lined thumbprint was imprinted on the page.

Next, Xu De pulled out a "settlement agreement." Li Youcai pressed his print on it, and Liu Cui repeated the action.

「A moment later.」

Looking at the two documents, a smile spread across Xu De’s face.