Chapter 245: The Shitty Building

After a night of passion, Shen Mingyue went to the office. Chen Qingdi then picked up his phone and called his older sister, Lin Qingmeng.

As soon as the call connected, he noticed something was wrong with Lin Qingmeng’s voice. She sounded flustered and dejected.

"Sis, what’s going on?"

Lin Qingmeng hesitated before saying, "It’s nothing. I’m just about to go to a court hearing with Mom. How about we talk in detail after we get back?"

Chen Qingdi was taken aback for a moment, then pressed, "What kind of court hearing?"

When he suddenly heard a catch in Lin Qingmeng’s voice, his anxiety spiked.

"Sis, where are you? Just wait for a bit, I’m on my way!"

Just then, the voice of his godmother, Lin Zhongxue, came through the phone. "Qing Meng, the hearing starts in half an hour. We need to hurry so we don’t give anyone anything to criticize."

Chen Qingdi realized something was very wrong with the mother and daughter’s demeanor. He called Chen Yuan and told him to use the technical department to locate where the two were heading for their hearing.

A short while later, Chen Yuan informed him that the mother and daughter were on their way to the tribunal on Qingjiang Road.

He immediately got in his car and sped toward Qingjiang Road. Luckily, it wasn’t far, and he managed to catch up to them before they reached their destination.

He honked his horn, signaling for them to get in his car.

When Lin Zhongxue saw that Chen Qingdi had actually chased after them, she looked a little embarrassed.

"What are you doing? I can’t let you get involved."

But Chen Qingdi wasn’t concerned with that. "Just tell me. Why the court hearing?"

Qing Meng, sitting in the passenger seat, knew she couldn’t hide it anymore. She sighed and explained.

"It’s about that apartment we picked out two years ago. We took out a loan and made the down payment. It was supposed to be handed over last July, but as of this year, we still haven’t gotten the keys."

Chen Qingdi knew that the mother and daughter had indeed bought an apartment before they came to live with him.

But what was baffling was that they still hadn’t gotten possession of it.

"Isn’t it fine living with me? Why do you want to move out?"

Lin Zhongxue sighed.

"Qingdi, your sister is getting older. If she lives with you for too long, people will start to gossip. It’s better if we move out. Besides, this way, you’ll have another home, won’t you?"

Chen Qingdi didn’t respond, just looked at Lin Zhongxue.

"Sis. Then why the court hearing?"

"Because we still haven’t gotten the apartment, but the Money Shop keeps demanding we make payments on the thirty-year mortgage. Mom doesn’t want to touch the money you gave us, so we had no other choice but to sue the developer."

Only then did Chen Qingdi realize it was the classic unfinished-building scam. He sighed. "An unfinished building like this... honestly, it’s no longer a legal problem that can be solved by the law. It’s a social problem."

With the real estate market so weak, and with unscrupulous developers playing shell games, it has become a common method for developers and Money Shops to collude and rake in cash.

It’s a form of fraud with an official seal of approval. The ones who get screwed aren’t the Money Shops or the developers; all the consequences fall on the homebuyers.

The Government Office acts as both the player and the referee in this game. Winning a lawsuit is incredibly difficult. Even if you do win, the developer can just play dead, and there’s nothing anyone can do.

As for the real estate funds, a portion goes to the Government Office that sold the land, a portion goes to the Money Shop, and the rest is pocketed by the developer.

Or it’s used to buy irreversible trust funds for their children. Even if the court had heaven-defying powers, it couldn’t magically produce a finished building for the homebuyers.

In reality, it’s just a game of the big fish eating the small fish. You can’t scam the rich and powerful, because they don’t care about that small amount of money. You can’t scam the bankrupt farmers either; whether a bottle costs one thousand or ten thousand, they can’t afford it, so there’s no debt to speak of.

The ones who get scammed are the middle class—not rich enough to be untouchable, but not poor enough to be off the hook.

Of course, once this group has been fleeced completely, society will be left with either the powerful elite or bankrupt commoners—a clear and unbridgeable divide.

This achieves the ultimate monopoly on wealth.

Just as the experts in the Dragon Country have analyzed, five percent of the people control ninety-nine percent of the wealth.

In this kind of environment, trying to sue a developer and win is just a pipe dream.

Chen Qingdi was extremely pessimistic about the situation. After all, with the three great mountains of the Government Office, the Money Shop, and the developer impossible to move, whoever buys a presale home is just asking for trouble.

He suddenly asked another question. "Since you’re planning to sue, didn’t you hire a lawyer?"

Lin Qingmeng shook her head. "I can’t afford a lawyer right now. I’ll have to represent myself."

He also wanted to see for himself just how these bastards pulled their scams, so he insisted on going to the hearing with them.

When they entered the tribunal, they found that the developer himself wasn’t present. In his place was a beautiful female lawyer wearing a high-quality hard hat.

Seeing the three of them approach, she shook her head with utter disdain. ’What a trio of fat sheep!’

As the three of them tried to enter the tribunal, the female lawyer in the hard hat blocked their way.

"Let me introduce myself. I’m Yang Anna, the legal counsel for Honest and Safe Living Real Estate. You must be the plaintiffs?"

Chen Qingdi stood back, supporting his godmother. Lin Qingmeng looked at the lawyer in the hard hat and walked toward her, intending to shake her hand.

But the female lawyer recoiled as if by reflex, taking several steps back and shouting, "Bodyguards!"

She was surrounded by numerous bodyguards, who immediately formed a protective circle around her.

"I suspect this woman is a violent individual! Check her for a hammer! See if the hammer is overweight! Can my hard hat even block it?"

A few of the bodyguards sneered.

"Ma’am, we suspect you intend to pose a threat to Lawyer Yang’s life. Please submit to a body search!"

Qing Meng was furious. "This is ridiculous! Are you here for a lawsuit or to cause trouble?"

One bodyguard eyed Lin Qingmeng up and down several times, then pointed at her chest and said, "It’s bulging right there. I suspect your hammer is hidden in there. We have to search it!"

But Lin Qingmeng was no pushover. She snapped back angrily.

"We are here at the tribunal to proceed with a lawsuit, not to bicker with people like you! Get out of the way! We’re going to court!"

The bodyguard ordered his men to surround Lin Qingmeng completely.

"Ma’am, I suggest you let us conduct a proper search. Take off all your outer clothes, leave only your undergarments. Once we confirm you aren’t hiding a hammer, an iron bar, or anything else that could threaten our Lawyer Yang, only then will you be allowed to enter the courtroom!"