Chapter 2: This Lawyer Is Very Unethical

Perfectly legal revenge?

Zhang Hu’s heart skipped a beat. His breathing quickened, and he snapped his head up to look at him.

"R-Really!?"

’That’s right, revenge!’

’He didn’t care about the money. What he cared about was that she had wronged him and was getting away with it, facing no consequences whatsoever!’

"Of course, it’s real."

Xu De nodded, then said,

"In that case, let’s change our objective. Instead of focusing on divorce, let’s strategize a perfectly legal revenge plan centered around you!"

"First, since she has angered you financially... we’ll impose financial sanctions!"

"She wants to use the divorce to get a cut of your money and profit from it. So... what if you don’t get divorced?"

’Don’t... don’t get divorced?’

The expression on Zhang Hu’s face froze.

Before he could voice his doubts, Xu De brewed a cup of tea, pushed it in front of him, and continued,

"Why are you in such a hurry to get a divorce? What’s the benefit for you?"

’Were there benefits to a divorce? Yes, but the losses were far greater!’

’First, his assets would be divided. Second, without the constraints of marriage, the adulterous pair would be free to be together, taking his money to run off and live it up!’

’So...’

"For you, a divorce does more harm than good!"

"What’s more, your wife’s entire goal is to divorce you and take your money!" Xu De said slowly. "From a revenge standpoint, not divorcing her is how you prevent her from achieving that goal!"

"But..."

Zhang Hu hesitated. He felt the lawyer was right, but something also seemed off.

"That may be so, but if we don’t divorce, isn’t all income earned during the marriage considered joint marital property..."

"Doesn’t that mean half of everything I earn from now on will be hers?"

Hearing this, a smile—a very shrewd smile—appeared on Xu De’s face.

"No, no, no."

As he spoke, Xu De suddenly pulled out a pen and paper and began to write and scribble.

"Mr. Zhang, you may have a slight misunderstanding of the law regarding ’joint marital property.’"

"First! You need to know that Article 301 of the Civil Code clearly states:"

"Joint property rights do not equal unconditional usage rights!"

To put it simply, joint property rights mean that if one party wants to use two-thirds of the family’s savings, they need mutual consent from both parties.

This doesn’t restrict daily expenses or personal funds.

For example, if your post-marriage salary is ten thousand a month, and you have enough money to buy a five-thousand-yuan piece of clothing, you can still buy it even if your wife disagrees.

The biggest restriction this rule imposes is on large-scale expenditures!

’Would Zhang Hu be making any large-scale expenditures?’

’Yes, but he could bypass the family funds. He wouldn’t need the cheater’s consent!’

But what if the cheating party wanted to make a large expenditure? Zhang Hu had the right to refuse her request!

"So..."

Zhang Hu was stunned. The lawyer’s words had left him dumbfounded, a hesitant look on his face.

"So, you’re saying I only need to give her a small amount for expenses?"

"No!"

Xu De didn’t hesitate. He continued speaking, using the pen and paper to run the numbers for him.

"Theoretically, you don’t even have to pay her any money for personal enjoyment. You only need to provide for certain household funds!"

"This relates to Article 1060 of the Civil Code: Agency for Daily Household Affairs!"

"This covers many things, but the most important for you are necessities of life and entertainment involving minor expenses."

"For the latter, if your salary isn’t high, you can refuse to provide the money."

"As for the former—food, clothing, housing, and transportation—even if you pay for them, you don’t have to hand the money over to your wife."

In a marital relationship, while both spouses have a duty to support each other, there’s a prerequisite.

This duty is only triggered when one party is incapable of working, such as due to a disability, and can then request support payments from the other.

But his wife is capable of working and has no reason not to. So, theoretically...

"Even with the joint marital property law, you don’t have to give her a single cent."

Xu De said with certainty, then paused and added,

"Of course, that’s just in theory."

"In reality, you’ll have to give her a little something, but not much!"

So, if Zhang Hu didn’t get divorced, he would only have to pay a tiny amount of money. Besides, he didn’t actually have a strong need to get divorced anyway.

It was his wife who was the one who truly wanted the divorce!

"Is... is this legal?"

Zhang Hu hesitated. It wasn’t that he didn’t understand.

On the contrary, he understood perfectly, which was why he was so shocked!

"Even with the so-called joint marital property... in reality, I don’t actually have to give her much money at all!?"

Zhang Hu said in shock.

"That’s right."

Xu De nodded.

Zhang Hu pressed on, "Then how much money do I have to give?"

Xu De continued to write and calculate on the paper, asking casually,

"How much does your wife typically spend per month right now?"

Zhang Hu answered instinctively, "A month... probably ten or twenty thousand."

Xu De nodded and said,

"The amount you give... assuming your monthly income is two thousand, after deducting household expenses, you’d probably only need to give her..."

As he spoke, Xu De wrote a number on the paper and pushed it toward him.

Zhang Hu took it. His heart leaped when he saw the number on it, and he blurted out instinctively,

"Three hundred yuan!?"

He looked up at Xu De in disbelief.

Only giving her three hundred a month... that’s just three thousand six hundred a year!

From twenty thousand, plummeting to three hundred!?

Never mind that it’s hard to go from a life of luxury to a frugal one—even an ordinary person couldn’t accept living on just three hundred a month!

But then again, if he really did drag out the divorce... she would only have three hundred a month to spend!

’The result would be...’

’If she wanted money for entertainment and spending, she would be forced to get a job!’

’His wife’s education was poor and she had no skills. If she really had to earn money based on her abilities... she wouldn’t even qualify for manual labor. She could only do tiring, low-paying jobs!’

A light began to dawn in Zhang Hu’s eyes.

His heart began to pound, his whole body trembling with excitement.

’Making a gold digger go to work... that would be a fate worse than death for her!’

"In fact, it could be even less than three hundred!"

A smile spread across Xu De’s face. "This is just a conservative estimate."

Zhang Hu was overjoyed.