Chapter 51 Is he your gigolo?

In the morning, Lin Xi picked up Lu Wei from the hotel.

During the hottest days of summer, Lu Wei wore a long-sleeved shirt and iron-gray trousers, with a matching suit jacket draped over one arm and a briefcase in the other.

Seeing the rolled-up shirt sleeves, Lin Xi immediately experienced PTSD, feeling as if those well-defined fingers were about to clench into a fist and come at her.

Lu Wei didn't notice any of this. Even without a jacket, his long sleeves were still uncomfortably hot. He nodded and greeted them before opening the car door and sitting down.

Lin Xi silently turned the air conditioner temperature down to the lowest setting.

She was also wearing a white shirt today, but it was a casual short-sleeved style, paired with a silk bow tie, which made her look a little more formal.

As a defendant, one cannot lack spirit and energy, but one does not need to be as professional as Lu Wei.

When Lin Xi arrived at the court, she realized that not all court hearings were like those in TV dramas—where the defendant and plaintiff sat facing each other, the judge stood high above, and there were audience members in the courtroom.

Civil litigation is often conducted in a small hall, with no audience, only the judge, the parties involved, and their lawyers.

Zhang Xiulan and Lin Cheng not only brought their entire family of five, but also many older relatives to support them.

Among these people, some faces were ones Lin Xi had seen long ago when she and her parents returned to Yunxiang, but she couldn't remember their generational affiliation.

Compared to Zhang Xiulan's large group, Lin Xi only had Lu Wei as her lawyer, which put her at a disadvantage in terms of numbers, but Lin Xi felt inexplicably at ease.

On the one hand, in her eyes, Lu Wei was someone who could get everything done; on the other hand, she had checked the law and found that her actions were not illegal, and the court hearing was just a formality to resolve the problem.

The court would not allow unrelated persons to crowd into the plaintiff's seat; only Zhang Xiulan and Lin Cheng sat in the plaintiff's seat.

Their lawyer was a young man who looked quite young, and his ill-fitting suit made him appear even more immature.

He looked like a college student, perhaps a law student from some university, who had been invited as a relative or friend.

Compared to the well-dressed Lu Wei, she lacked a certain imposing presence.

Zhang Xiulan stared at Lu Wei and gave Lin Xi a look of disgust.

Lin looked at the young college student, but in his heart he was thinking, how could this young man be so ignorant of right and wrong at such a young age?

Anyone with even a basic understanding of law knows that Zhang Xiulan's family's so-called "passing down to sons only" and "eldest son inheritance" is unacceptable. What was he thinking, choosing to be their defense attorney?

After both parties confirmed that there were no errors, the court session officially began.

Lin Cheng and Zhang Xiulan sued Lin Xi for encroaching on other people's property and damaging other people's houses without authorization.

In their eyes, Lin Xi's house and land belonged to them. Now that Lin Xi has demolished and rebuilt it, there is also the charge of damaging other people's houses.

Lin Xi remained silent, leaving everything to Lu Wei on her behalf.

Lu Wei produced the land deed certificate given by Lin Xi, which was still in the name of Lin Xi's father, "Lin Yi".

After Lin Yi's death, Lin Xi did not return to Yunxiang for seven years and did not change the name on the property deed.

Lu Wei's indifferent voice now carried a hint of depth: "Although my client Lin Xi did not have time to transfer the property, according to the inheritance law, as Lin Yi's only daughter, Lin Xi has the right to inherit Lin Yi's property."

Zhang Xiulan's lawyer opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by Zhang Xiulan's rough voice: "The inheritance law also has a priority order. My mother-in-law, who is Lin Yi's mother, said before she passed away that she would pass the house to the eldest son's family."

Lin Cheng chimed in, "That's right. My mother said she'd give the house to me, not Lin Yi. How could it have ended up in Lin Xi's hands before it even reached Lin Yi?"

Lin Xi found it both funny and thought that this family wasn't so stupid after all, as they knew how to deduce and analyze the inheritance law.

It's just a pity...

Just as Lu Wei was about to speak in his defense, Zhang Xiulan interrupted, "We have witnesses to the will. Our uncle and the village chief can both testify. My mother-in-law said those words."

The judge asked, "Besides witnesses, is there any written evidence? Such as a will, signatures, etc."

Empty words are meaningless.

Lu Wei coldly said, "Regardless of whether there is evidence or not, the property deed is already in Lin Yi's name and has legal effect. Unless Lin Yi himself applies for a change, other statements have no legal effect."

Zhang Xiulan sneered, but after hearing the judge acknowledge Lu Wei's words, she was stunned and exchanged glances with Lin Cheng.

Lin Xi clicked her tongue inwardly. She had already thought about what Lu Wei was going to say when she was preparing the materials, but now that there was a lawyer with a stable temperament speaking for her, she felt comfortable slacking off.

Lin Xi didn't expect her first lawsuit to go so smoothly. The defense attorney who hadn't said a word from beginning to end to Zhang Xiulan suddenly spoke up.

He raised his voice forcefully, making it sound somewhat harsh: "Even if the house belongs to Ms. Lin's father, Lin Yi, after Lin Yi's death, his estate will not be inherited by Lin Xi alone."

Zhang Xiulan, who had been secretly rolling her eyes at her useless defense attorney after realizing she was at a disadvantage on the issue of property ownership, immediately perked up upon hearing this and chimed in:

"Yes, yes, we found out that this brat sold Nanhua's house and pocketed the millions of yuan."

Lin Cheng chimed in, "The money and the house are all the property of our Lin family. We can't let a girl take them away."

"..." Lin Xi couldn't help but roll her eyes.

Maintaining excellent professionalism, Lu Wei did not show any impatience and calmly said, "Inheritance law is unrelated to men and women."

Zhang Xiulan's defense attorney finally managed to steer the issue to Lin Yi's inheritance, only to have Zhang Xiulan and her husband dredge it up to irrelevant matters of love and relationships, leaving the defense speechless.

Zhang Xiulan and Lin Cheng got more and more excited as they talked: "This is all money my brother earned for the Lin family. Once this girl gets married, the money and house will belong to outsiders. My brother will die with regrets."

Lin Xi knew it was pointless to reason with these people about gender equality and inheritance rights; the judge would teach them the lesson later. But before that, she had to use magic to defeat magic.

Lin Xi gave Lu Wei a look, signaling that he wanted to speak.

Lu Wei nodded slightly.

Lin Xi replied calmly, "I'm not getting married. In the future, I'll find a husband who will marry into my family. The house and money will still belong to the Lin family, so you can rest assured."

Lin Cheng and Zhang Xiulan were both taken aback by her words.

They really couldn't retaliate.

Zhang Xiulan was furious and glanced at Lin Xi and Lu Wei: "Yesterday Liu Caifen said she saw you two checking into a hotel in town. So this is the gigolo you were talking about. No wonder he helped you with the lawsuit. He was after that money. You're shameless."

Lin Xi didn't expect that her words would lead to Lu Wei being implicated and ridiculed, and even mistaken for her gigolo. She felt both amused and sorry for Lu Wei.

She couldn't help but glance at Lu Wei sideways, but Lu Wei didn't react at all, as if he hadn't heard what she said.

Zhang Xiulan's defense attorney, a young man with slightly flushed cheeks, stammered as he interjected, "Lin Yi's estate does not entirely belong to Lin Xi. Given the death of Lin Yi's spouse, both Lin Xi and her grandmother have the right to a share of the estate. Therefore, the proceeds from the Nanhua house and the Yunxiang house need to be redistributed."

Lu Wei had not asked Lin Xi about this beforehand, and at this moment Lu Wei calmly replied: "Lin Xi's grandparents passed away before Lin Yi. According to the inheritance division law, the only heir to Mr. Lin Yi's estate is my client, Lin Xi."

The decision was final.