Unscrupulous Lawyer

"What did you say?"

"Mental illness?"

Lin Yu held the phone to his ear with one hand, his brow furrowed so tightly it could crush a fly.

"Yeah!"

"That bastard somehow found a lawyer who claims he was mentally unstable due to the shock of his mother's death, leading him to act impulsively without control over his actions when he committed the crime."

Xia Yueshan's indignant voice crackled through the phone.

"Like hell he couldn’t control himself!"

Lin Yu couldn’t hold back a curse, grumbling angrily:

"Someone who can’t control their actions wouldn’t come up with such a meticulous plan!"

"Wouldn’t think to hire someone to steal your sister’s wallet!"

"Wouldn’t use returning it as an excuse to get her to open the door!"

"Where in any of that does it look like he’s mentally ill?"

Xia Yueshan agreed vehemently, seething:

"Exactly!"

"But the damn hospital actually issued him a mental illness certificate."

"Fuck!"

"Bunch of idiots."

"They’re the ones who need their heads checked!"

Listening to Xia Yueshan’s relentless swearing, Lin Yu was stunned by the diagnosis—but not entirely surprised.

When determining mental illness, doctors tend to err on the side of caution.

It’s the opposite of how judges rule.

In court, the principle is "innocent until proven guilty."

If there’s no concrete evidence, the accused walks free.

But with mental illness, it’s the reverse.

If someone seems even slightly unstable, doctors will likely diagnose them.

Because if they’re wrong and the person causes harm later, the doctor could face unnecessary trouble.

And given what he did—

Even planning to have someone else assault Xia Muzhu after he was done—

It’s proof enough his mind wasn’t right.

Suppressing his rising anger, Lin Yu steadied his voice and reassured Xia Yueshan:

"Don’t worry."

"He won’t get off on insanity."

"Our evidence is airtight."

"Enough to prove premeditation."

"Even if he’s mentally ill, it won’t save him. He’ll be convicted, guaranteed."

Xia Yueshan’s tone calmed slightly.

"Yeah, the police said the same."

"I just called to vent about this mess."

"It’s infuriating!"

"And that motherless bastard somehow hired a scumbag lawyer!"

"He showed up demanding we drop the charges and forgive him."

"When we refused, he started mocking my sister—got her so upset she almost cried!"

"Goddamn it!"

"If she hadn’t stopped me, I’d have kicked his teeth in!"

"This time, I’d make sure he never stood up again!"

Xia Yueshan’s voice burned with fury.

"Wait—he made her cry?" Lin Yu cut in, alarmed.

"What exactly did he say?"

Then a darker realization struck.

"Hold on—how the hell did he afford a lawyer?"

Xia Yueshan didn’t hesitate:

"Police said he had an accident insurance policy."

"Back when his mom was sick, he planned to injure himself to claim money for her treatment."

"Either he chickened out or changed his mind, but nothing happened, and the policy stayed active."

"Then recently, that piece of shit got what he deserved—someone in jail smashed his balls!"

"He’s still hospitalized. Rumor is he’ll need a catheter for life."

"Ha! Serves him right!"

"But it also got him classified as 'severely disabled.' The insurance paid out big, so that’s probably how he hired the lawyer."

Lin Yu’s frown deepened.

So his own revenge plot had indirectly funded the enemy.

The irony felt like fate itself was screwing with him.

After that horrific day, Lin Yu had developed a paranoia—like the universe was watching, twisting every coincidence against him.

But this? It didn’t matter.

The case was rock-solid. No lawyer could change the outcome.

The man would rot in jail until sentencing, then prison.

Nothing could go wrong.

Meanwhile, Xia Yueshan was recounting the lawyer’s insults:

"Lin Yu, you wouldn’t believe how vile that guy was!"

"At first, he acted polite. But when my sister refused to back down, he turned nasty."

"Leered at her and said, 'No wonder my client targeted you.'"

"Claimed she was mostly to blame!"

"Even insulted me—said hitting him proved I was raised without parents!"

"Fuck!"

"If she hadn’t held me back, I’d have broken his face!"

"Your sister was right to stop you," Lin Yu said. "That’s exactly what he wanted."

"He knows the case is unwinnable, so he’s resorting to dirty tricks."

"If you’d hit him, he’d have used it to pressure her into dropping charges."

A long sigh came through the phone.

"I know," Xia Yueshan muttered. "That’s why I held back."

Then, hesitantly, his voice softened:

"Lin Yu… can’t you come back?"

"Look how much my sister’s suffering."

"If you were here, that lawyer wouldn’t dare speak to her like that."

Lin Yu fell silent.

Truth was, he missed Xia Muzhu.

Not just because she was kind, gentle, beautiful, a fantastic cook, with a figure that turned heads and a scent like heaven…

Okay, maybe partly because of that.

But what he truly longed for was the sense of belonging she gave him.

Ever since crossing into this world, Lin Yu had felt like an outsider—

Like living abroad, where everything feels foreign and disconnected.

It left him aching for a place that no longer existed.

During the time spent at Xia Muzhu's home, Lin Yu genuinely felt a warmth that came from the heart, allowing his perpetually tense nerves to finally relax.

Though he lived in constant fear of Xia Muzhu coming to harm during those days, for some inexplicable reason,

being with her and Xia Aodi made him miss home a little less.

The world no longer felt so unfamiliar. Though anxiety and worry lingered in his heart, the tightly wound string deep within him remained loose, bringing him comfort and peace.

But ever since leaving Xia Muzhu, that sense of alienation—of being out of place in this world—returned.

Unavoidable. Inescapable.