George looked at Zhao Wan and comforted him. "The conditions inside arenât tough. You just need to accept the churchâs 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 Wanâs 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, thatâs the only way," he said. "Take the heat for now. Weâll 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 couldnât 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 wouldnât 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!
"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 fundsâ whereabouts.
ăJin City.ă
In a nursing home dormitory, it was midnight. "Old Zhang called! He said theyâve 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? Theyâre having court sessions so late? Theyâre really pushing themselves, arenât they?"
"Itâs called a time difference, do you understand? A time difference! Itâs night here, but itâs mostly daytime over there!"
"And they have these pre-trial conferences? Why donât 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 Zhangâs 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 canât compare to ours. Theyâre so secretive; what do they have to hide?"
"Exactly! Once youâre in court, whatâs the need for so much privacy? Youâre already in court, yet still fearful of this and that."
"I donât know how long this case will take. Itâs been days since weâve 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.
ăThe next day.ă
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 thereâs one person missing on their side?" Zhang Qingyuan murmured from the defendantsâ bench as he surveyed the opposing side.
Across from them, only George sat at the lawyerâs bench, and Xu Liming was at the plaintiffâs 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 plaintiffâs side, George rose from his seat and addressed the grizzled judge. "Your Honor, following the courtâs 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 couldnât understand.