Chapter 153 How a Lawyer Handles a Homewrecker

After Wang Zhihao finished his phone call and conveyed Long Teng's stance, Yang Meng asked with curiosity, "Lawyer Wang, if today's situation happened to you, how would you handle it? I mean, catching an unfaithful spouse."

To Yang Meng's surprise, Wang Zhihao wore an awkward expression and stammered, unable to give a direct answer.

Not understanding what was going on, Yang Meng looked to Long Teng, who explained, "Master, your question hit Lawyer Wang right where it hurts. When his brother-in-law cheated, Lawyer Wang was the one who handled it, and to this day, his family is still in such an uproar that Lawyer Wang can't even go home."

"Oh?" Yang Meng stared at Wang Zhihao in astonishment. "There's a story like that? Master Lawyer, do tell me about it."

With a bitter smile, Wang Zhihao said, "Mr. Yang, since you really want to know, I'll tell you. Anyway... sigh! How should I put it? To this day, I still don't think I did anything wrong. I used the most correct and effective solution, but I underestimated human nature."

Hearing this, Yang Meng's curiosity was piqued even further. He hurried over to the mini-bar, grabbed a bottle of juice, and handed it to Wang Zhihao. "Here, take your time and tell me all about it!"

Wang Zhihao took the juice, took a sip, and began to recount the events of those years from the very beginning.

To put it bluntly, the matter was quite simple: his sister found out that her husband had rented a hotel room with his mistress, and she dragged Wang Zhihao along to catch them in the act!

As a lawyer, Wang Zhihao naturally knew that taking matters into one's own hands recklessly was unwise, so he repeatedly asked his sister what she really wanted and whether she truly couldn't go on living with her husband.

His sister's exact words were: she couldn't stand the marriage anymore, she wanted to blow the matter wide open, and she was determined to divorce her husband!

One of them was his own sister, and the other was his brother-in-law—needless to say, blood is thicker than water. Therefore, Wang Zhihao adopted what he considered to be the most foolproof method to catch the mistress.

How do ordinary people usually catch an unfaithful spouse? Hiring people to tail them, checking hotel reservation records, wiretapping, or taking stealthy photos. Were any of those methods useful?

The answer was: completely useless.

Because all such evidence was obtained illegally, how could it possibly be presented in court?

So, what did Wang Zhihao do? Once he confirmed the exact hotel room where his former brother-in-law and the mistress were staying, he didn't rush in. Instead, he directly dialed the police emergency number and made a real-name report that illegal transactions were taking place on the premises.

"Why make a real-name report?" Yang Meng asked with a puzzled look.

Wang Zhihao explained, "As long as it's a real-name report, the public security department is obligated to investigate directly. Think about it—can the police break down the door? Can they take photos and gather evidence? Can they catch them in bed? Yes, they can! And none of those pieces of evidence are obtained illegally, right?"

Only then did a light dawn on Yang Meng. "Ah, I see. Go on."

Wang Zhihao continued, "Once the police hauled them in, they naturally had to handle it as an illegal transaction case, right? That meant bringing them back to the police station for questioning. How do they question them? They separate the man and woman and ask standard questions like 'What is your relationship?', 'What is the other person's name?', 'Where do you live?', 'What is your occupation?', and things of that sort. If they fail to give matching answers, isn't that an illegal transaction by definition?"

"If it gets classified as an illegal transaction? Then you're in real trouble. Detention for fifteen days and a fine of five thousand yuan is just the light version; in severe cases, they send you away for re-education. Remember that nationally renowned 'good son-in-law' television actor? Wasn't he sent away for six-month re-education precisely because of this kind of incident? Therefore, both parties will desperately try to shed this criminal label. That includes spilling everything—what kind of relationship they had, how long it lasted, how they met, and even every single time and place they ever hooked up. They'll confess down to the last detail. Then the police finish the interrogation records, and the suspects sign and press their thumbprints. Even though the two of them manage to prove they have nothing to do with illegal sex work, hasn't their illicit affair been thoroughly investigated and exposed in the process? Furthermore, every single piece of evidence is completely valid and verifiable."

"You guys literally used the police as a gun!" Yang Meng exclaimed in awe.

Wang Zhihao said solemnly, "Mr. Yang, strictly speaking according to the law, that is the most proper way to handle it."

Yang Meng pondered for a moment. "Fine, you're right. Then why did Long Teng say this matter is your Achilles' heel?"

Wang Zhihao sighed. "As I said earlier, I underestimated the problem of human nature. Afterwards, things went just as my sister had wished: the two of them divorced, and my former brother-in-law was left penniless."

Yang Meng raised his thumb. "Well done! Your sister must have been very grateful to you, right?"

"Grateful to me?" Wang Zhihao gave a wry smile. "When Long Teng said earlier that I couldn't go home because of this, he wasn't joking. Right now, neither my sister nor my mom and dad can stand the sight of me!"

"Why?" Yang Meng was utterly baffled.

Wang Zhihao sighed heavily. "Why else? Whenever my sister thinks of the good things her ex-husband used to do, she blames me for taking things to such a bitter extreme; my parents are even worse, saying that my sister's current state is entirely my fault. Tell me, who did I offend? At the time, it was my sister who gritted her teeth and insisted on a divorce, and I secured the absolute best possible outcome for her in that divorce. Yet in the end, I turned out to be the ultimate villain."

Long Teng shrugged. "Wang Zhihao, you really can't be blamed for this. The thing human nature excels at most is shifting responsibility. You just happened to be the unlucky scapegoat. 'Even an honest official finds it hard to resolve family affairs'—the ancients spoke the absolute truth."

Wang Zhihao smiled bitterly, "That's why lawyers generally hate taking lawsuits for their own families. No matter what the final verdict is, it will never satisfy everyone."

Yang Meng laughed, "Master Lawyer, are you trying to seal my lips beforehand? All my legal matters have been handed over to you!"

Wang Zhihao quickly waved his hands. "No, no, no, I really didn't mean that."

"Just kidding, why so nervous? I thought we were all friends," Yang Meng said speechlessly. "By the way, Long Teng, where is Duan Bowen? I haven't seen him around at all lately."

Long Teng replied, "Bowen is in charge of operations over at the Long Group, so naturally he can't stay by my side all the time. Nanyao was feeling depressed after that last incident, so my dad had her take on more responsibilities in the company group. Once she's busy, she won't let her mind wander, right? But Nanyao lacks experience after all, so Bowen has been accompanying her and assisting her the whole time."

A mischievous grin spread across Yang Meng's face. "No wonder Duan Bowen is nowhere to be seen. Doesn't this play right into his wishes? Hey, I have a feeling Bowen is well on his way to becoming your brother-in-law."

"Huh?" Long Teng was momentarily stunned, then laughed, "Master, now you're misunderstanding Bowen. The few of us grew up together; Bowen looks at Nanyao like a younger sister."

"Countless 'wives' started out as 'little sisters'! You'd better prepare yourself mentally! Anyway, I can tell Duan Bowen is interested in Long Nanyao; whenever her name is brought up, the guy gets all tense," Yang Meng teased.

"Really?" Long Teng thought about it for a second. "No way. I need to ask Bowen about this... Wait, did you have something you wanted to find Bowen for?"

Yang Meng nodded. "Yes, of course I do. I want to ask him to help me rent a place."

"Rent a place?" Long Teng asked with curiosity. "Why? Are you not satisfied with living here?"

Yang Meng shook his head. "It's not that I'm unsatisfied. Living here is practically too comfortable—no need to clean up and no need to cook. But I need to cultivate as well. Did you think all these skills of mine dropped out of the sky?"

Long Teng grinned widely. "Ha, and here I thought it was something major. Master, actually I've been wanting to bring this up. You've been guiding our training this whole time—wouldn't it be much simpler if you just trained right alongside us?"

Nearby hung a heavy sandbag used for practicing kicking techniques. Hearing Long Teng's words, Yang Meng turned around and delivered a fierce kick straight into the center of the bag. With a loud rip, the thick canvas sandbag instantly split right down the middle, tearing into two halves as sand spilled all over the floor.

"You still want me to train with you guys?" Yang Meng asked rhetorically.

Long Teng swallowed hard. "A monster is truly a monster!"

"What did you say?" Yang Meng glared at him.

Long Teng hurriedly shook his head. "I didn't say anything... Uh, didn't you want to find a place to live? What kind of requirements do you have?"

Yang Meng replied, "It doesn't matter if it's a bit remote, but it needs to be relatively quiet. I don't like being disturbed."

Long Teng chuckled. "Is that all your requirements? No problem! Master, did you forget what my family's founding business was? Real estate! My family lacks everything except houses. I don't even need to call Duan Bowen; I can handle this for you myself!"

"Oh? Where is it?" Yang Meng asked curiously.

"Naturally, it's Handong Paradise. A penthouse duplex with an absolute view, and it's quite close to here as well. I bought that place right when it was newly built, but I rarely go there to stay, so you might as well just move right in! By the way, Master, you won't end up demolishing the apartment while practicing your martial arts, will you?" Long Teng asked playfully.

Just as Yang Meng was about to answer, he noticed Long Teng's phone ringing again.

Long Teng answered the call. Although Yang Meng couldn't hear the person on the other end, Long Teng's expression turned rather peculiar.

After hanging up, Long Teng said, "Master, you said it didn't matter if the place was a bit remote, right?"

Yang Meng blinked. "Yes. Is there a problem?"

"How does a place over at Fengnan Mountain sound?" Long Teng asked with a tangled expression.

Yang Meng blinked again. "Didn't you just mention Handong Paradise? I've never lived in such a nice place before! You're shipping me all the way out to the suburbs with a single stroke. It's not like I'm not paying rent—that's a huge gap!"

Long Teng quickly reassured him, "Master, don't get upset just yet. Bowen just called me and made a very valid point. He said that your cultivation methods would definitely cause a massive stir if anyone found out, so it's much better to go to the suburbs where you have a standalone property, right? If you find it too remote, the worst I can do is assign a personal driver to pick you up from the martial arts gym!"

Yang Meng laughed, "I'm just teasing you. Let me tell you, even if you begged me to live in Handong Paradise, I wouldn't go. Coming from the countryside, I still prefer a proper estate with a large courtyard gate."

Long Teng hurriedly added, "Master, Bowen has thought things through very thoroughly for you. Knowing that you love reading books, he has already arranged for people to ship books over there and set up a dedicated study room for you."

"A study room?" Yang Meng was slightly taken aback. "How big is this place that it even needs a study room?"

Long Teng explained, "Our Long Group developed a villa district over at Fengnan Mountain, and all the supporting facilities are fully complete. You'll definitely be very comfortable living there."

"A villa district? How much would the rent be?" Yang Meng shook his head. "I'll just find a place similar to Xinmin Lane."

"What rent are you talking about? Even if you tried to give it to me, I wouldn't take a single cent. Once Bowen finishes tidying it up, you can just move right in!" Long Teng said with a smile.

"Well, well! Does that mean I'm going to be a villa resident too?"

"That goes without saying!"