Even an honest judge cannot judge family affairs
In a society like Anhe County where relationships are important, the power of a recommendation from a top professional field is astonishing.
Less than an hour after Lu Yu made that call, a local unfamiliar number called.
"Hello, is this Mr. Lu Yu? I'm attorney Wang Jing. I'm contacting you on behalf of Professor Zhang Bowen of Jinghua Law Firm."
Lu Yu quickly and concisely recounted the situation. Lawyer Wang listened quietly on the other end of the line, occasionally interrupting him with one or two precise questions to elicit the most crucial information.
"Okay, I basically understand the situation." After just five minutes of the call, Lawyer Wang concluded, "Mr. Lu, please come to my law firm tomorrow morning at 9:00 AM with your client, the child's mother, for a face-to-face meeting. I'll text you the address. We need to confirm the client relationship as soon as possible and then begin collecting evidence immediately."
Be decisive and well-organized.
"Really... is there really a lawyer willing to help us?" Shi Guang's mother murmured, her tone full of disbelief.
"Yes, Auntie." Lu Yu answered affirmatively, "And he is the best lawyer in Anhe County."
While waiting to meet with his lawyer, Lu Yu wasn't idle either. He knew that □□'s connections outside were complex and that his old phone number was likely to be harassed or even located. Security must begin with the most basic communication isolation.
He took Shi Guang to the most prosperous commercial street in the county and got two new mobile phone cards for Shi Guang and his mother at the business hall.
At nine o'clock the next morning, Lu Yu, along with Shi Guang and his mother, appeared in Lawyer Wang's office on time.
Wang Jing sounded even more competent in person than she did on the phone. She was about forty, dressed in a well-tailored business suit, with short hair and a sharp, focused gaze. Her office, consisting solely of bookshelves filled with legal files, exuded an air of rigor and calm.
"Hello, Lawyer Wang." Lu Yu extended his hand.
Wang Jing gave him a brief, firm handshake, then turned her gaze to Shi Guang and his mother, who seemed a little uneasy beside them. "Please take a seat," she said, gesturing to the chairs across from the desk. She then personally poured them two glasses of water.
The interview began without much emotional preparation. Wang Jing got straight to the point: "Madam, I know your story evokes sympathy, but legally, sympathy doesn't translate into evidence. So, next, I need you to describe as detailed and objectively as possible all the instances of domestic violence committed by your husband. The more specific, the better, such as the time, location, reason, extent of injury, and...whether there were any witnesses."
At first, Shi Guang's mother was a little nervous and her story was disjointed. But under Wang Jing's professional and calm guidance, and Lu Yu's constant encouragement and reminders, her fragmented memories, which had been buried for many years, were pieced together bit by bit.
As Wang Jing listened, she quickly wrote down key words in the notebook in front of her. Her brows were slightly furrowed. It was obvious that the severity of the case exceeded her initial estimation.
When Guang's mother finally finished pouring out the grievances she had suffered for decades, Wang Jing also stopped writing.
"Based on what you just said, there are three key points in this case." She pointed, analyzing the evidence clearly. "First, the validity of the evidence of domestic violence. Those photos of the injuries and the hospital medical reports you mentioned, if they are still preserved, will be the core evidence. Second, there are the police records, which are official evidence proving the long-term existence of domestic violence. Finally, there are the witnesses, that is, the neighbors or relatives who are willing to testify in court."
"Second, regarding the debt issue." Her gaze grew sharper. "We need to prove that □□'s debts were used for personal gambling, not for marital affairs. This is crucial, as it directly impacts the division of property during a divorce and whether you'll be held jointly liable in the future."
"Third, and most importantly, is the application for a personal safety protection order. The threshold for this application is very high, requiring proof of imminent danger of domestic violence. □□'s detention and his past history of violence are our most powerful weapons."
She looked at Lu Yu and Shi Guang and laid out a clear battle plan: "Next, we'll split up. First, I'll immediately, as their attorney, go to the public security bureau to retrieve all past police records regarding □□. Second, Lu Yu and Shi Guang, you two will take care of the most important part. Return to your homes and contact reliable neighbors who witnessed the violence and are willing to testify on your behalf. Witnesses are the key to a resounding victory in this case."
"Third," she looked at Shi Guang's mother, "what you need to do is to organize all possible physical evidence. Then, adjust your state of mind. Because once the case is filed, you will face a tough battle."
Anhe County is a typical acquaintance society, where interpersonal relationships are like a vast, dense web, through which any slightest disturbance can spread rapidly to every corner. □□ was arrested by the police for beating his wife and owing usurious loans. His wife and son were determined to divorce him. This explosive news spread throughout their vast circle of relatives in just one day.
The first people to react were none other than □□'s brother and sister-in-law, Shi Guang's uncle and aunt.
The next afternoon, shortly after Lu Yu and his team returned from the law firm, the hotel doorbell rang. Shi Guang looked through the peephole and his face instantly darkened.
Outside the door, Uncle Chen Jianjun and his loud-voiced wife were carrying a net bag of not-very-fresh fruits, with extremely hypocritical smiles on their faces.
After opening the door, the two walked in as if they were familiar with the place. Auntie sat down on the edge of the bed, took Shi Guang's mother's hand, and spoke in a heartbroken tone:
"Oh, my dear sister-in-law! How could you be so careless! Such a big thing, why didn't you discuss it with us before you went to the police station? Now, Jianguo's face, our Chen family's face, has been completely disgraced by you!"
Uncle Chen Jianjun paced around the room like a leader, then cast his gaze at Lu Yu, who was standing beside him. His eyes were filled with undisguised scrutiny and rejection. He cleared his throat and spoke in the tone of an elder teaching a younger person:
"Sister-in-law, I know Jianguo has a bad temper and sometimes likes to drink a few glasses. It's wrong for him to get physical. But when a couple lives together, how can they avoid quarreling? They quarrel at the head of the bed and make up at the foot of the bed! As a daughter-in-law, can't you be more tolerant and understanding? A man is working outside to earn money to support the family. The pressure is so great!"
This couple worked in perfect harmony.
"Yes, yes," the aunt immediately took over, her voice sharp and harsh. "Besides, you're all getting a divorce, but have you ever thought about Shi Guang? He's still a student. What will people think of him if he goes out and tells others that his parents are divorced? An incomplete family has such a huge impact on a child! You can't be so cruel and ruin a child's life just for your own pleasure!"
This kind of logic that confuses right and wrong almost made Lu Yu explode with anger.
But the siege by relatives was only the beginning. When Lu Yu and Shi Guang followed Lawyer Wang's instructions and returned to the old residential building to search for the key witness, they truly realized how terrifying people's words were and how fickle the world was.
Almost every neighbor in that building was unaware of the situation at □□'s home. There were even a few times when □□ got drunk and acted violently in the hallway, and the neighbors had to pull him apart.
However, when Guang, a usually taciturn boy, mustered up the courage to knock on the doors of those who had once shown him sympathy and asked them to testify in court for his mother, he was met with unprecedented indifference and avoidance.
"Oh, Shi Guang, this... this is your family affair, and we outsiders shouldn't interfere." An aunt who once gave him candy waved her hands and avoided his gaze through the gap in the security door.
"Testify? I dare not, I dare not!" Another uncle who usually looks quite righteous shook his head like a rattle. "You know your father, what if he gets out of jail and takes revenge on our family? We have elderly parents and young children to support. We can't afford to offend him, we can't afford to offend him."
"Even a judge cannot judge family disputes." This sentence is like a universal shield, used by countless people to cover up their cowardice and selfishness.
These outright rejections, though chilling, were to be expected. But what truly stung like poison arrows were the whispered gossip that followed their departure.
"Have you heard? His family is getting a divorce. It seems that the male classmate Shi Guang brought back was the one who instigated it."
"Yeah, yeah, that boy looks like a decent human, but it's obvious he's not from here. I don't know what he's up to. He's always with his family, so it seems like they have a special relationship..."
"An outsider, trying so hard to meddle in other people's family affairs, must have some ulterior motive, right? Maybe he's attracted to this old house?"
"I think his mother is not a good person either. It takes two to tango. If she does well, will the man beat her every day?"
These malicious speculations and dirty associations, like cold poisonous snakes, came from all directions and entangled their hands and feet.
Lu Yu and Shi Guang walked in the dark corridor, the sounds seeming to seep out from every crack in the wall, penetrating everywhere. Shi Guang's fists were clenched tightly, his nails digging deep into his flesh, and his face, which was already pale to begin with, was now as white as a sheet of paper.
He could tolerate others' criticism of him, but he couldn't tolerate their filthy speculations about Lu Yu. The person who had pulled him out of hell, the person who had shielded him from all the storms, now had to endure these unwarranted and vicious attacks because of him.
The moral blackmail of relatives, the indifference and gossip of neighbors, like two shrinking walls made of soft knives, squeezed from both sides towards the mother and son who had just mustered up the courage.
The physical violence was temporarily isolated, but the mental violence swept in in a more suffocating way.
That night, in the hotel room, Shi Guang's mother's mental state completely collapsed.
"Xiao Yu...did I...did I really do something wrong?" She sat on the edge of the bed, her eyes hollow, tears silently falling, her voice filled with self-doubt and despair. "Uncle and the others are right, am I too cruel? For the sake of the child, should I have endured it a little longer? Now that things have turned out like this, everyone is avoiding us and talking about us behind our backs... talking about us..."
She choked with sobs, unable to continue. The day's experience had completely shattered her already fragile psychological defenses. She began to waver, to retreat, and even began to use the most vicious logic to examine herself and Lu Yu.
Lu Yu looked at the woman in front of him who was devastated by rumors, and a huge feeling of powerless anger surged in his heart.
In this closed and backward small county, what really trapped Shi Guang and his son was not just the tangible cage waving its fist.
What is even more terrifying is an invisible cage woven together by a tangled web of rumors.
To break a physical cage, he could call the police or seek a lawyer. But how could he fight against this deeply ingrained mindset of killing without bloodshed?
There was deathly silence in the room.
Shi Guang stood behind his mother, watching her trembling figure. He then glanced at Lu Yu, who stood across from him with an equally solemn expression. His heart ached so much that he could barely breathe. He was afraid—terrified that his mother would give up, that Lu Yu would retreat because of the criticism.
Lu Yu walked in front of Shi Guang’s mother and squatted down.
"Auntie, please raise your head and look at me."
"You're not wrong. The one who's wrong is the one who hit you, and the ones who are confusing right and wrong are wrong! Your only mistake is that you've endured it for too long!"
"Can the eyes of others protect you from being punched? Can the reputation of your relatives pay off your gambling debts? When you and Shi Guang were being beaten, did any of those rumors speak up for you?"
"So, what you need to do now is not to doubt yourself, but to be more determined than all of them! The more they want you to retreat, the more you must move forward! We must continue this battle!"
He looked at her, and also at the time behind her, with a flame burning in his eyes.
"Not only for freedom, but also to regain your dignity that has been trampled upon for twenty years!"
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