It was causing her immense discomfort, as if she were being forced to make a choice: to persist in demanding the bride price, or to give it up.

The former meant she might end up in prison for more than ten years.

The latter... if she gave it up, the money for her son's bride price would be lost.

Relying on just the two of them, it was impossible to gather a car, a house, and 660,000 yuan for his bride price.

"Mom, has the problem been resolved? What did the lawyer say?"

In the living room, Wen Jingming saw her return and asked while playing a game.

She sighed. "The lawyer said if we can't reach a compromise, then we can only acknowledge the marriage and let your sister marry into his family."

Wen Jingming was immediately displeased upon hearing this. "Then what about the money for my bride price? Does this mean I won't be able to get married?"

"Mom, this bride price money from Sis, even though it's coming from their side, once I'm married, won't the money still be ours? The house and car will be ours, and we'll both come back often to show our filial piety..."

Wen Jingming then continued to argue his case.

Yan Yeyun smiled indulgently and said with a bitter smile, "That may be so, but if we refuse to compromise now, Mom might have to go to jail."

Wen Jingming, however, paid no heed, relentlessly demanding enough money for his own wedding.

"I'll go talk to your sister and see if we can figure something out," Yan Yeyun said. Helpless, she walked into Wen Le's bedroom.

She recounted what had happened that day and complained, "Look at the kind of boyfriend you found! To think he'd sue us over the bride price! Now we're in a bind. They refuse to pay the bride price, we can't gather enough money for your brother's wedding, and the lawyer says if Mom loses the case, I might have to serve ten years in prison! Tell me, what should we do now?"

Her attitude was a complete 180-degree turn from how she'd been moments before. With her son, she was full of patience, but with her daughter, it was all blame and sharp criticism.

Wen Le bit her lower lip, seemingly accustomed to this treatment.

She cautiously explained, "But... there's nothing I can do either. Feizhang said both his legs were broken, and his father is about to disown him."

"I don't care!" Yan Yeyun dismissed her explanation with a cold snort. "You're the eldest in this family. You *must* find a way to get the money for your brother's wedding!"

Wen Le lowered her head. Even after thinking for a long time, she couldn't come up with a solution.

In this situation, the Wan Family definitely wouldn't contribute any money. If Wan Feizhang were to say even one more word... he might really be beaten to death!

Yan Yeyun's gaze, however, flickered as she proposed a new idea. "Doesn't Wan Feizhang listen to you the most? Why don't you go stay at the Wan Family's place for a few days? Get him to use his dad's bank card to transfer more bride price money to us. How about that?"

In her view, this was the only way left to scrape together enough money for her son's bride price.

"Wouldn't that... constitute theft?" Wen Le asked, startled.

"A son taking his father's money? That counts as theft?" Yan Yeyun looked skeptical, not quite believing it.

It wasn't until Wen Le searched online for the potential consequences of such an action that Yan Yeyun finally dismissed the idea.

"Then what do you suggest? If this won't work and that won't work, what's the use of me having a daughter like you?"

After a while, Wen Le slowly raised her head and voiced her idea. "The most urgent thing right now is to avoid jail time. Perhaps... Wan Feizhang and I should have the wedding first, and my brother can marry later. Once I'm married into their family, I can slowly send money back home..."

This method was undoubtedly the safest and also seemed to avoid any legal repercussions. Compared to directly demanding one or two million yuan as a bride price, however, it would take a very long time.

"I suppose that's the only way," Yan Yeyun said, frowning as she reluctantly agreed to this plan. This way, she could avoid the risk of going to prison and also slowly gather the bride price money.

...

「Jin City.」

「The Retirement Home.」

「Six o'clock in the evening.」

Qin Mu had finished his day's work and was preparing to clock out on time when he suddenly saw Wan Zhongyuan rushing frantically toward him.

"Vice Director? Is something wrong?" Qin Mu asked, somewhat surprised.

Wan Zhongyuan caught his breath. He had just returned from the law firm and relayed Qi ZhaoYu's concerns.

If the other party compromises... his bride price money will basically be gone for good.

That was why he had sought out Qin Mu again.

... Qin Mu thought. The corner of his mouth twitched.

He suddenly realized something. Wang Dachui had been on leave for the past few days and wasn't at the Home. It seemed Wan Zhongyuan had started treating him as a legal consultant, coming to him whenever a problem arose.

"Xiao Qin, you're very experienced. You've sued so many people; if you haven't sent ten thousand to prison, it must be at least three thousand. Can you give me some advice?" Wan Zhongyuan looked at Qin Mu, his eyes shining with eagerness to learn.

Lately, he had been avidly watching legal programs and had learned a great deal. His understanding of what constituted 'minor injury' in legal terms, for instance, came from these programs. So, when he found out the other party might not have to bear any responsibility, the more he thought about it, the angrier he became, prompting him to find Qin Mu before work ended.

"Didn't I already give you two options?" Qin Mu reminded him with a shrug.

A few days prior, Wan Zhongyuan had consulted him about this very case, and Qin Mu had proposed two approaches. One was to sue for unjust enrichment, charging them with misappropriation. The other was to sue for marriage fraud, charging them with general fraud. These were two different legal avenues.

"As for the fraud charge," Qin Mu elaborated, "it primarily targets marriage fraud. If they compromise, then the marriage fraud itself effectively ceases to exist."

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