Chapter 45 - 37: Legal Child Stealing

In the courthouse lobby.

Li Youcai stood guard by the public telephone, pacing back and forth anxiously.

His breathing was heavy, labored and agitated. He was a powder keg about to explode, his forehead drenched in sweat.

’Impossible. When I left yesterday, the boy was fine at home. How could he just vanish now...’

’That lawyer and Wang Mei were in court all afternoon, and today was the first day of the recess... By any calculation, they couldn’t have had time to go to Li Family Village.’

’Surely that lawyer didn’t drive straight there after the hearing ended...’

Li Youcai’s heart burned with anxiety. Every thought was a searing chain lashing at his soul.

He wanted his grandson.

He needed his grandson to carry on the family line! To inherit his ’family business’!

If... If something really happened to the boy, he was afraid he’d get so angry he’d roll his eyes back and faint on the spot.

As he thought this, he was like a fish in a hot pan, constantly shifting his weight from one burning foot to the other.

After a long while...

RING RING RING~

The phone rang again.

The sound pierced a nerve in Li Youcai’s brain, making his heart clench. He instinctively pressed the receiver to his ear.

"Hello?!"

"Youcai, I just went over to Er Niu’s second uncle’s place."

On the other end of the line, there was a hint of confusion in Zhang’s voice, and it was that very confusion that filled Li Youcai and Liu Cui with dread.

"And?"

Li Youcai pressed, his heart burning with impatience, "Did you see our Dahu?!"

Liu Cui, standing beside him, added urgently, "Is Dahu playing at home?!"

Logic told them the boy should be at home. After all, the timeframe was just too tight. It was impossible for the child to have disappeared overnight.

But the reality was...

"He’s not at Li Sheng’s house. His second uncle said the boy went to find his mother," Zhang reported truthfully from the other end.

N-not there?

The boy already went to his own mother?!

How is that possible!!!

Li Youcai and Liu Cui were struck dumb, as if by a lightning bolt, frozen to the spot.

They had only arrived in the city yesterday at noon.

He was fine before they left. Including the court hearing, it hadn’t even been a full 24 hours... How could the boy be gone in such a short time?!

Unless...

’Those defendants didn’t even stop to eat after the hearing. They just drove straight to Li Family Village.’

’And...’

’Li Sheng and Li Li must have gotten something out of it, too. They must have let the boy go on purpose. Otherwise, why would they be so straightforward about it!’

’And to think I trusted them so much, often leaving the boy in their care. In the end, they ’sold’ me out in a single night.’

Li Youcai’s face turned beet red. The veins on his forehead bulged, pulsing like writhing earthworms.

’They didn’t even eat, just ran straight to my old home to steal my grandson...’

’Is that what a lawyer does?!’

’What kind of lawyer does something like that!!!’

Li Youcai’s face grew redder and redder. His breathing became heavy, his chest heaved violently, and blood rushed to his head.

He was furious!

Furious that the trial had ruined his daydream of striking it rich!

Furious at their shamelessness! Right after the hearing, he was still mulling over the proceedings, while they drove straight to his home to steal the boy...

And he was even more furious about that phone call in the hallway just now.

’They definitely let me hear that on purpose!!!’

"You bastards..."

Li Youcai trembled with rage, forcing the two words from between his clenched teeth.

He couldn’t even catch his breath. He was clearly taking in more air than he was letting out, shaking violently. Black spots began to appear in his vision, and he started to stagger.

Beside him, Liu Cui noticed something was wrong and was startled.

"Old man! Old man, what’s wrong with you? Don’t you scare me!"

Liu Cui wailed, but unfortunately, after using his last ounce of strength to roar out a final sentence, Li Youcai fell stiffly to the ground.

"You bastards!!!"

He roared.

The next second, his vision went black, and he collapsed onto the floor.

Liu Cui shrieked, collapsing to the ground as her wails grew more piercing.

"Someone! Somebody help!"

"Help! Quick, help! Someone’s dying! Come save us, please..."

The sharp cries echoed throughout the lobby, drawing everyone’s attention.

In the distance, Prosecutor Wang Wei, who had been about to leave, noticed the commotion. When he saw someone collapse, the pained look on his face instantly changed.

"What’s going on?"

He hurried over to Li Youcai’s side and briefly checked his condition.

Seeing no external injuries, he reached out and pressed down hard on the philtrum point below the man’s nose.

A few seconds later...

COUGH COUGH!

With a series of violent coughs, Li Youcai’s eyes fluttered open, and he began to gasp for air.

"What happened to you?" Wang Wei exhaled, his brow furrowed.

But Li Youcai ignored him, just sitting dazedly on the floor, his eyes staring blankly at the wall.

’Ten years ago, I finally scraped together my savings and borrowed money to buy a daughter-in-law from a human trafficker.’

’How, in the blink of an eye...’

’...did my son die just because that daughter-in-law wanted to run away? I spent money on her, a full five thousand yuan! We bought her, what right does she have to run!’

’And now, even my only grandson is gone...’

’Why?!’

Li Youcai felt as if the heavens themselves couldn’t stand to see him happy. The next second, an idea suddenly sparked in his mind.

"Prosecutor, you have to get justice for us farmers!"

Li Youcai started wailing, and having just regained consciousness, he threw himself forward and hugged Wang Wei’s leg, wiping his snot and tears on the prosecutor’s trousers.

Meanwhile,

Wang Wei had been about to leave since the man was ignoring him, but now he found himself trapped and grew a bit flustered.

"Speak clearly! First, just tell me what happened!"

Li Youcai covered his face and cried out in anguish:

"My grandson’s been stolen! Tell me, how am I supposed to live now..."

’His grandson was stolen?!’

Wang Wei’s expression changed, and his focus sharpened. "Who stole him? Do you have a suspect?"

Li Youcai continued, "It was that defense lawyer! It wasn’t enough that Wang Qiang killed my son—now he’s stolen my grandson, too! How am I supposed to live!"

As he spoke, he sobbed uncontrollably, a vicious resolve hardening in his heart.

’Stealing his grandson?’

’Report him. I have to report him!’

’That’s his own flesh-and-blood grandson, snatched away just like a trafficker would do it, stolen the moment his back was turned...’

’What if it were someone else? What if he was sold to another family?!’

Therefore... Li Youcai was going to make Xu De have a taste of prison!

’Defending that ungrateful bitch, even ruining his claim for compensation... and now stealing a child, *his* child. Li Youcai was going to make him taste prison food!’

"Xu De?"

Wang Wei was taken aback for a moment, then his expression turned serious.

A defendant secretly stealing the plaintiff’s child during a lawsuit to use as leverage—such things had indeed happened before.

"Are you sure it was him?!" Wang Wei asked sternly.

"Yes, it was him! Someone in the village saw him!" Li Youcai said, throwing caution to the wind and doing his best to slander him.

"Alright, I understand."

Wang Wei’s face was grim. He nodded and was about to stride away, but after just two steps...

...he suddenly stopped.

The expression on Wang Wei’s face was one of... bewilderment.

’Wait, the one who stole the child was Xu De? No, or rather... the defendant?’

’If it was the defendant, then it was Wang Mei who did the stealing. Legally speaking, a biological mother can’t just take her biological son from the father’s family’s home, but...’

’Then again, Li Erniu is dead. The sole custody rights belong to Wang Mei!’

’Wang Mei and her lawyer taking her own child back at night.’

’Is that...’

’...considered stealing? Does that make them human traffickers?’

For once, Wang Wei’s brain stalled on a legal question. He stood frozen in place for a long time.

Beside him, Li Youcai, who had been thinking about how to press charges once Xu De was arrested, saw this and asked suspiciously:

"Director Wang, what’s wrong? Go and arrest him!"

"What if you’re too late and they get away?!"

Wang Wei snapped out of it and looked at him hesitantly. "Are you certain... that Wang Mei and Xu De are the ones who took the child?"

"It was them!"

Li Youcai was jumping up and down with anxiety. "The boy is definitely with them right now! Hurry up and bring him back!"

Wang Wei opened his mouth, unsure of what to say. He hesitated for a moment.

Finally, he took a deep breath and said something that even he found a bit absurd.

"Mr. Li, while they may have ’stolen’ your grandson, they..."

"...might have done so legally."

"I have no jurisdiction in this matter."

Li Youcai and Liu Cui: ?