Chapter 311 - 160 Innocent Defense!_4

"No way. I’m Diamond, you’re Gold. We’re not a match."

"Sister Lan seems to be in a good mood today, randomly picking four victims in the group?"

"Everyone in the group is an old hand at this. I reckon no one will fall for your tricks. Playing games with you is just torturing ourselves."

"..."

These cheeky chat group members showed no mercy, relentlessly mocking her.

She called out for quite some time but still couldn’t manage to assemble a team of five.

"Sister Lan, it’s been a good few days since the uploader posted a video. Don’t you know him? Go prod him for an update."

"If you can get the uploader to post a video, we’ll get the King-ranked player from Server 1 to personally carry you."

"It’s been almost half a month since the package theft case ended. I wonder who the next lucky one will be."

"Is it possible that public safety in Jin City has improved? I suggest the uploader move to another city."

"..."

In the group chat, members started discussing pestering for updates again. Ever since Qin Mu discovered their last hideout, they hadn’t dared to pester him for updates in person anymore. The risk was just too great. Everyone was pressuring Qing Lan to do it. Some even suggested she sacrifice herself by using a honey trap...

"Pester him for updates?"

Qing Lan blinked.

Actually, she was quite curious too. Ever since the package theft case ended, Qin Mu’s video update frequency had slowed down again. Some time ago, the dog rescue case had also nearly wrapped up. She’d heard that the two women had publicly apologized and made appropriate compensation to the victim’s family. Online public opinion had died down considerably. However, the Study Law Alliance Forum was becoming increasingly popular, with daily active users climbing steadily. As Qin Mu’s videos were reposted across the internet, more and more like-minded individuals had joined.

Thinking of this, she lost the urge to play games and couldn’t help but open the Study Law Alliance Forum, where she started browsing around.

Of the three main sections, the most popular wasn’t the Study Law Alliance Zone, but rather the "Turn Over a New Leaf" Section. Jokes flew wildly, and comments became increasingly uninhibited.

"A hard-learned lesson, everyone: don’t pester for updates anymore! If you want to send someone to jail, let *them* be the one to pester. I once sat in the public gallery, and just because I glanced at the uploader, I’m only getting out now."

"The three most dangerous activities on this forum: pestering for updates, pestering for updates, and still, pestering for updates!"

"It’s torture not being able to pester for updates! Maybe the uploader is just short on material. Is there any brave soul on the forum willing to sacrifice themselves for everyone else’s amusement?"

"Fun is fun, and jokes are jokes, but don’t mess with your freedom. The uploader will genuinely send people to prison if there’s cause."

"..."

Looking at these comments, Qing Lan smiled to herself. She then clicked on the Study Law Alliance’s comment section, intending to check out those law questions so convoluted they could give you a decade-long stroke.

She then spotted a post with hundreds of replies titled: "Privately Raised Parrots Sold and Prosecuted: How to Mount a Defense?"

The original poster briefly described a case: someone, as a hobby, had privately raised some parrots. A customer took a liking to them, and the owner reluctantly sold three. In the end, he was reported. The public prosecutor’s office filed charges, seeking a twelve-year prison sentence. The poster asked how one should mount a defense in such a situation.

The post was extremely popular, with netizens commenting one after another.

First Floor: "This is beyond my knowledge. Why can selling a parrot get you twelve years?"

Second Floor: "I just looked up the relevant laws—good heavens, there really is such a criminal statute!"

Third Floor: "So many people have been sentenced for this! There are several cases each year!"

Fourth Floor: "I just saw a case where someone sold two parrots and was sentenced to two years in prison, suspended for three years."

Fifth Floor: "So, in the situation the original poster described, how should one mount a defense? Can anyone explain?"

Sixth Floor: "Sixth Floor doesn’t know. Ask Seventh Floor."

Seventh Floor...

For hundreds of comments in a row, people discussed related issues, while others shared information about relevant laws and regulations.

"The consequences of buying and selling parrots are actually this severe?"

As Qing Lan continued reading, she couldn’t help but swallow hard.

Her grandfather, it seemed, also kept a parrot. She wondered... was that parrot an endangered wild animal?

---

PS: This case is also adapted from a real-life one. The defense strategies outlined draw upon the diligent efforts of defense lawyers in numerous actual parrot cases.