Chapter 26 - 21: This Is Immoral

Lin Guodong fell silent.

He knew his daughter was a serious, responsible, and independent person. When she ran into a problem, she liked to solve it herself and wouldn’t rest until she found an answer.

That meticulousness was a good trait.

But she shouldn’t get so fixated that she runs a fever over it.

"No, Dad, I’m serious."

Lin Yue took a deep breath, a flicker of confusion in her eyes.

What Xu De had told her at the law firm a few days ago was, to say the least, shocking.

She had tried to find a flaw in his argument in the Criminal Code, but after days of searching, she found... ’It seems to be completely legal!’

"Honey, are you sure you don’t have a fever?"

Lin Guodong was a little worried. He even reached out to feel her forehead, but her temperature was normal.

Lin Yue shook her head, swatting his hand away. After a moment’s thought, she spoke.

"Dad."

"Tell me, if a lawyer were to... steal a child to fulfill a client’s request... would that be illegal?"

Hearing this,

although Lin Guodong didn’t know what she was up to, he went along with her and replied:

"Of course it’s illegal."

"To abduct a child for personal gain absolutely constitutes the crime of ’child trafficking’."

This was the most basic of basics; he only needed to recall the statute for a moment to find the answer.

But the moment he finished speaking,

Lin Yue spoke again.

"Then what if the person who commissioned it is the child’s biological mother?"

’The person asking to have the child stolen is the mother?’

Lin Guodong paused. He reached up to stroke his chin, hesitating slightly, but still responded.

"That... would also be illegal. In civil terms, it would infringe upon the other party’s guardianship rights."

"Criminally, it would constitute illegal detention, forcible seizure, and mass brawling."

It was as if she had been waiting for him to say exactly that.

Lin Yue pressed on urgently,

"What if the child’s father is deceased, leaving only the mother, and the child is currently just staying at the home of nominal close relatives!?"

"In that situation, is it illegal... to steal the child?"

Lin Guodong: ?

"Huh?"

Lin Guodong was stunned. Her rapid-fire questions had clearly caught him off guard.

’The father is dead? So... guardianship rests with the mother?’

’Wait, if you have guardianship, why would you go through the trouble of stealing your own child?’

’Wait a minute...’

Suddenly, something clicked for Lin Guodong. He looked up at Lin Yue, a look of bewilderment on his face.

"Yue, are you talking about Wang Mei’s case?"

The father is dead, the child is with close relatives, and only the mother is left—isn’t that the exact situation in Wang Mei’s custody case, the one deeply entangled with Li Family Village!?

And his own daughter happened to be the lawyer handling that case.

"It is that case."

Lin Yue nodded, not denying it.

The moment she said that, the corner of Lin Guodong’s eye twitched.

’Isn’t my daughter... an idealist, just like me? Since when did she start having such radical... even borderline-illegal ideas?’

At this thought,

Lin Guodong couldn’t sit still any longer. He shot to his feet and said to Lin Yue:

"Yue, I know the case is difficult and it’s hard to get the child back."

"But... but we can’t resort to toeing the line just because enforcement is difficult! That’s absolutely out of the question!"

But Lin Yue shook her head. She sighed and pressed him again:

"Dad, just answer my question first. In this situation, is it illegal to steal the child?"

Lin Guodong was about to refuse.

But the words stuck in his throat, like a fishbone he couldn’t dislodge.

He knew about Wang Mei’s case. With the biological father dead, guardianship naturally belonged solely to Wang Mei. So the so-called grandparents...

"But... custody still has to be decided by the court..."

Lin Guodong began to deny it hesitantly, but before he could finish, Lin Yue cut him off.

"The custody ruling was already made. Wang Mei won."

Lin Yue helpfully added,

"And besides, the child’s biological mother will go along to get him. The lawyer won’t go alone."

"Dad."

"Is that illegal?"

Lin Guodong opened his mouth, then closed it, then opened it again, the words still caught in his throat.

’Is it illegal?’

’With custody and guardianship in hand, the child legally belongs to Wang Mei. So, rather than calling it "stealing"... it’s more like a little game between mother and child!’

’And what about the family whose rights were infringed upon?’

’No, they have no rights.’

’Based on the conditions Lin Yue laid out... as long as Wang Mei and the lawyer don’t go there intending to assault anyone, and just take the child, there’s no risk at all!’

’Neither civil nor criminal!’

"This... this is..."

Lin Guodong was speechless for a long moment, unable to utter a single word.

’This is wrong, this is wrong.’

’The justice system doesn’t work like this.’

’If you want the child, you’re supposed to fight a year-long lawsuit. After winning, you wait for the enforcement period to pass. If the other party still doesn’t comply, you then apply to the police and the court for compulsory enforcement. Only after the enforcement order is approved can you finally get the child back! That’s how it’s supposed to work!’

’How can you... the court just issued a ruling, and you don’t even want to wait for the enforcement period...’

’You’re just going to straight-up steal him?’

’That’s not how legal procedures and statutes are meant to be used!’

"That’s not..."

Lin Guodong took a deep breath, suppressing his inner turmoil, and demanded:

"Who put this idea in your head!?"

Lin Yue didn’t answer. She simply handed him the documents Xu De had prepared regarding the ’legality’ of the plan.

She had already asked Xu De, and to reassure her, he’d said she could have someone else verify his claims, as long as no confidential details were leaked.

So her father was free to look them over.

RUSTLE.

Lin Guodong snatched them from her, the papers making a crisp sound.

His eyes immediately fell upon the documents, but when he saw the words written there...

The next second, his pupils constricted slightly.

The documents essentially said the same thing Lin Yue had.

But in far greater detail!

It not only cited legal precedents and statutes, providing a rigorous analysis of the original text to argue why their "stealing" the child wouldn’t violate any laws,

it even dedicated more than half a page to itemizing the evidence that proved Li Youcai and Liu Cui were the ones breaking the law!

After he finished reading...

Lin Guodong: ?

He was shaken.

Shaken to his very core!

In that moment, Lin Guodong’s conservative worldview, built over decades, faced an unprecedented challenge!

He scrutinized the document from top to bottom, front to back, reading it over and over again, trying to find a single flaw.

After a long time,

Lin Yue couldn’t stand it any longer. Sitting in her chair, she looked up at him and asked tentatively.

"Dad."

Lin Guodong snapped back to reality, as if waking from a dream but not yet fully awake. He looked at his daughter with dazed eyes.

"Hm?"

Lin Yue asked, "Is it illegal?"

Lin Guodong: ...

Lin Guodong looked into her sincere eyes. He stood there with his mouth open for a long time without replying. Finally, he managed to force out three words.

"This is immoral."

Lin Yue raised an eyebrow, asking suspiciously, "So, is it illegal?"

"It’s unprofessional!"

Lin Guodong repeated loudly.

’Don’t ask if it’s illegal. If you ask, the answer is that it’s immoral.’

But by extension, that also meant...

"You can’t find anything illegal about it, can you?" Lin Yue suddenly said.

Lin Guodong fell silent, unable to respond.

"So it’s really true!"

Lin Yue was amazed, even though she had expected this deep down.

But seeing even Lin Guodong rendered speechless still shocked her.

Beyond her shock, Lin Yue thought of another of Xu De’s masterstrokes—the case of ’the unarmed Wang Qiang righteously protecting a gun-wielding police officer’—and the corner of her mouth couldn’t help but twitch.

The trial was in two days.

With a lawyer like that in Lusen City, the local prosecutors were in for a real treat.

At this thought, Lin Yue couldn’t help but want to laugh. She could already imagine what the scene in the courtroom would be like.

Having resolved the question of ’whether it was illegal’,

Lin Yue seemed much more lively. She stood up and said cheerfully,

"Alright, Dad, you should go eat. I’m going to go change."

With that, she pushed Lin Guodong out of the room.

With a CLICK, the door was shut.

Lin Guodong, standing outside the door, remained dazed for a long time.

He didn’t even realize when he had returned to his own room, or when he had sat down at the dining table!

"Old Lin, what are you thinking about? You seem completely out of it."

At the table,

his wife, Su Xin, looked at her dazed husband, who had been in a stupor ever since coming back from their daughter’s room. A hint of confusion appeared on her face.

Lin Guodong came to his senses a little.

He looked at his wife, his lips parting.

The next second, this leading figure in the nation’s legal circles, this top university law professor, this giant of the academic world, a man whose work was foundational... asked a question full of hesitation.

"Tell me..."

"Is it illegal to steal a child?"

Lin Guodong had seen radicals before, but... this was a bit too radical!

Su Xin: ?

"Are you delirious from a fever!?"