Too Bad I Take Things Seriously

Chapter 785: Chapter 279 Outrageous! Sending a teammate in with your own hands!_3

George looked at Zhao Wan and comforted him. "The conditions inside aren’t tough. You just need to accept the church’s baptism daily and confess regularly. Some prisons even allow a luxurious life similar to that of a white-collar worker."

Zhao Wan still looked decidedly unhappy.

With a grand wave of his hand, George added, "I can use my connections to try and get you into one of these high-end prisons."

Zhao Wan’s face was a picture of misery, looking utterly desolate. He quickly turned to Xu Liming, hoping Xu Liming would speak up for him.

But unexpectedly, Xu Liming simply nodded. "At this point, that’s the only way," he said. "Take the heat for now. We’ll try to resolve this case first and then move on to developing the next batch of tourists."

This matter was now severe enough to be bone-crushing. They held a legitimate business license in Ames City, a fact that couldn’t be ignored. If they got dragged into the case and the court ruled against them, it would greatly impact their future tour business. Perhaps they wouldn’t be able to operate tours at all anymore. Moreover, if they lost the case, other elderly folks, knowing there was a precedent, would refuse to pay. That would be even more disastrous for them. Therefore, no matter what, they had to win this case and reclaim the forty thousand dollars from Zhang Qingyuan and Feng Cuihua! freewebnøvel.com

"Go ahead with peace of mind. Once we win the case, I will transfer the funds to your domestic account," Xu Liming clapped Zhao Wan on the shoulder, saying in an indisputable tone.

CLANG!

Zhao Wan collapsed onto the floor, feeling as though the world had fallen apart. Ahead was nothing but grayness. Inexplicably, he had been made a scapegoat; his own team members had decisively abandoned him, leaving him to take the blame and shoulder the mystery of the donated funds’ whereabouts.

「Jin City.」

In a nursing home dormitory, it was midnight. "Old Zhang called! He said they’ve scored an initial victory!" someone cried out.

All the elderly residents in the dormitory were roused from their sleep and quickly got dressed, gathering in the hallway. Rubbing their sleepy eyes, they looked around blankly. Soon, their spirits lifted.

"Is that true? They’re having court sessions so late? They’re really pushing themselves, aren’t they?"

"It’s called a time difference, do you understand? A time difference! It’s night here, but it’s mostly daytime over there!"

"And they have these pre-trial conferences? Why don’t we have them in Jin City?"

"According to Old Zhang, Xiao Qin directly confronted the judge during the pre-trial conference. Fortunately, the judge seems to be quite decent."

After exchanging a few words, their drowsiness vanished immediately. Li Weiguo, Song Tiancheng, and others even moved stools to sit in the hallway, chatting late into the night. For the past few days, they had been closely following the "situation" abroad, eager to know the continuation of Old Zhang’s case. Unfortunately, Qin Mu had sent back news explaining that the overseas court system was different from the domestic one. To protect the privacy of all parties involved, broadcasting was not allowed. Whether it was civil or criminal litigation, broadcasting was prohibited.

"Speaking of which, foreign courts can’t compare to ours. They’re so secretive; what do they have to hide?"

"Exactly! Once you’re in court, what’s the need for so much privacy? You’re already in court, yet still fearful of this and that."

"I don’t know how long this case will take. It’s been days since we’ve seen Xiao Qin and Old Zhang..."

"It should be over soon. I have a feeling Xiao Qin is going to turn things completely upside down over there."

With dark circles under their eyes, they sat around chatting idly, speaking freely one after another. The more they talked, the more excited they became. Then, Li Weiguo even called Zhang Qingyuan to ask about some specific details of the case.

On the phone, Zhang Qingyuan began boasting to his old friends, embellishing stories of how he and Qin Mu were an invincible team. Unfortunately for Zhang Qingyuan, Li Weiguo and the others knew him inside out. They were skeptical about his words and not swayed by his bluster.

「The next day.」

Abroad, in Ames City, at the courthouse, it was eleven A.M. Qin Mu arrived on time for the pre-trial conference with his translator Chen Tiankuo, and his clients, Zhang Qingyuan and Feng Cuihua. They were participating in the second round of the pre-trial meeting.

"Xiao Qin, it feels like there’s one person missing on their side?" Zhang Qingyuan murmured from the defendants’ bench as he surveyed the opposing side.

Across from them, only George sat at the lawyer’s bench, and Xu Liming was at the plaintiff’s bench. An empty seat remained.

Qin Mu also noticed this and frowned. Just as he was about to speak, he witnessed a very dramatic scene unfolding in the courtroom.

From the plaintiff’s side, George rose from his seat and addressed the grizzled judge. "Your Honor, following the court’s requirements yesterday, we went back and thoroughly investigated the donation funds. I regret to report an unfortunate incident," he stated. "The funds that we initially submitted to the church were all misappropriated by our person in charge, Zhao Wan, and their whereabouts are currently unknown."

"We firmly resist and condemn such blatant embezzlement of donations, which harms the noble sentiments of the donors!"

"Last night, we turned Zhao Wan over to the law enforcement authorities. Here is his written confession..."

With that said, George produced a document, which the clerk passed to the judge.

"Damn it!" Chen Tiankuo blurted out a curse in his native tongue upon seeing this. Fortunately, he spoke in his native language, which the foreign attendees couldn’t understand.