luctant to leave right away. 。Everything that she had once taken for granted, every sight and object, now felt precious to her as if she had survived a great calamity. 。She walked down the bustling s...Three years later.
At a certain legal aid center, a family was in turmoil over the issue of eldercare.
The old woman of this family sat on the ground, slapping her thighs and crying out.
“Lawyer Shu, you must do justice for me! I'm going to sue these two unfilial grandsons.” The old woman cried out again. Because of the tug-of-war earlier, one of her slippers had fallen right at Shu Tinglan’s feet.
As soon as the old woman finished speaking, her two daughters-in-law immediately objected, also raising their voices and shouting.
“Old lady, you have to speak with conscience! When you were young, you left for a distant place and ignored your two underage sons. You lived well for yourself. Oh, now that you're old, you remember you have sons”
"Dad endured hardships and raised his child, it's only natural for us to take care of him in his old age and see him through until the end. But who are you Have you ever fulfilled the responsibility of being a mother"
Two daughters-in-law pointed at the elderly woman on the ground and scolded her, one after another.
"I am their mother, and they have a duty to support me until I die." The old woman said this with conviction.
"I've seen shameless people, but I've never seen someone as shameless as you. You deserve to be a mother When you were young, you despised your poor family and left to live a good life, and now you have the audacity to come back and ask for alimony."
"Listen, if he dares to keep you, I'll divorce him. This is unbearable."
The two daughters-in-law were quite fiery, being stubborn and unwilling to yield. The two sons stood silently by with their heads bowed.
Shu Tinglan, the lawyer hired by the old lady, stood at the door, watching them argue fiercely. He remained there to prevent being caught in the crossfire if things escalated.
The elderly woman on the ground, upon hearing what her two daughters-in-law had said, immediately cried even more pitifully.
"Is there any justice left in this world A son doesn't care for his elderly mother, and allows a wicked daughter-in-law to bully her. I haven't seen such injustice anywhere else… Mr. Shu lawyer… you absolutely must help me get justice!"
Xiaoxīn, an intern lawyer beside Shū Tínglān, couldn't help but roll her eyes in her head. She regretted even more that she had been caught slacking off by Lawyer Shū this afternoon and was now brought here to deal with such trivial matters. It wasted her youth and her life.
And facing these shrewish women, he was truly a little intimidated. They looked quite formidable.
They started arguing again inside. The old woman jumped up from the ground and started pulling at both daughters-in-law. It was a complete mess in there.
Only to see Lawyer Shu drag a loudspeaker and clang it over from the side, carrying over a chair with three or two moves, climbing onto the chair and shouting at them with the loudspeaker in his hand.
“Stop fighting, all of you!”
She was full of power, and with the amplified voice, it was like a radio wave, deafening everyone. The entire legal aid center was filled only with her shouting.
She didn't get angry, just her voice was too loud. The three women who were pulling and tugging at each other stopped their actions and stared blankly at the lawyer standing on the chair holding a loudspeaker.
The lawyer wore a black suit and pants, a sleek, shoulder-length bob, and black-rimmed glasses. Besides her white skin, she gave off an overwhelmingly dark impression, even her expression was dark, intimidating them all.
"You, you just punched the old woman twice, and you, you kicked her twice. I filmed it all. I can press charges against you for intentional assault." Her voice was cold but firm. The two daughters-in-law didn't know if she was right or wrong, so they hurriedly let go of the old woman.
"As for the two of you, regardless of whether the old woman took care of you in the past, the law now clearly states that you have the obligation to support her. Failing to support the elderly is illegal, do you understand You decide yourselves, does the old woman take turns living with each of you, or do you give her a monthly allowance"
She was decisive and efficient, not bothering to ask for their consent. She simply presented them with two options and let them choose. She cut through the clutter quickly. Her phone rang several times in her bag. The kindergarten teacher called to ask what time she would be picking up her child, but she didn't have time to waste.
"I'm not living with her."
"I wouldn't live with her."
Two daughters-in-law answered in unison, and the old woman nodded frequently. She wouldn't live with her daughters-in-law, would she Living with them was just being abused!
"Okay, based on your local cost of living, I've calculated that each of you would pay the elderly woman 800 yuan per month for her upkeep. If she gets sick and needs to be hospitalized, you will share the medical expenses."
Both sons-in-law and daughters-in-law were unwilling, still wanting to say that sentence, "Why should we raise her She hasn't taken care of us."
Shuting Lan said, "Based on the law, if you disagree, you need to go through legal procedures and see how the court finally rules. But let me remind you, if you sue the court, I will not be a pro bono lawyer; I will charge fees. And you have a 100% chance of losing the case. Then my legal fees will be borne by the losing party. My legal fees are charged per hour and are very expensive. Think it through carefully for yourselves. Now give me your answer."
To be completely objective, her speech was very fast, making it difficult for the other party to fully understand. They only grasped that they would lose the case and have to pay legal fees. In fact, they had already consulted with a lawyer beforehand. In their situation, avoiding the responsibility of supporting their mother was impossible. By creating this commotion today, they hoped to reduce the amount of alimony. This lawyer, Mr. Shu, was considered decent as he didn't demand an unreasonable sum. He agreed on $800 per month, which was barely acceptable.
"However, we have a condition: we're willing to give her alimony, but she has to apologize to us. She abandoned us since childhood and never looked back. Now she comes back asking for child support without even a single apology. Is that reasonable"
"I'm sorry, it's my fault. I'm sorry to both of you, my sons. Back then... things were too hard, and I had no choice..." Besides the two daughters-in-law who coldly watched from the sidelines, the mother and her three sons cried together as one.
Shu Tinglan was too lazy to watch their melodramatic performance. She jumped down from her chair and said to the intern, Xiao Xin,
“Draw up a maintenance agreement for them, have them sign and fingerprint it before they leave.”
"Mr. Shu, I haven't drafted any agreements. I'm afraid...I can't handle this." Xiao Xin looked at the family, all of whom seemed formidable. He dared not face them alone.
"I wouldn't just go online and find a template to copy, would I" She said in a cold tone. The intern didn't dare say a word. Watching her hurried figure disappear, he quickly asked
"Shū lawyer, where are you going"
"Get the kids!"
Shu Tinglan drove from the legal aid center to kindergarten, and she was almost an hour late. Her two children were waiting for her at the kindergarten entrance, being led by their teacher hand-in-hand.
Although it was late, quite a few other children were also picked up late. Their parents, seeing that the two little kids looked so cute, couldn't help but ask...
“Are you really twins”
"Yeah, we're twins!" the two little ones said in unison, their little faces beaming with pride.
Twins... Surprised Unexpected
Actually, I planted foreshadowing a long time ago. Back then, Shu Ma was knitting in the psychiatric hospital, making one blue sweater and one pink one.
And Zhu Zong also gave Tinglan a set of houses with two children's rooms.ed, Zhao Tingxing could guess with his toes that it was Xu Zefang who did it, to be precise, it was Gu Ruandong who instructed him to do it. 。These two are each worse than the other, they can't get an...