Too Bad I Take Things Seriously-Chapter 564 - 224: You Wouldn’t Be Guilty of Abandonment Too, Would You?
Only those with a familial relationship... possess the legal standing to file charges for the crime of abandonment.
Clearly, based on the current situation, it appeared that the Jiang Daping before them had committed an act of abandonment, or was suspected of such an act. Otherwise, the court would not have agreed to hear the case. Furthermore, the reason Zhang Wei wanted to be clear about the plaintiff... was mainly because he was afraid. Ever since the last case involving Lawyer Zhang Kuang, he had become much more cautious.
If the plaintiff’s side included Qin Mu... the risks in his defense would undoubtedly be much greater.
Last time, when he defended Zhang Kuang, he nearly got himself sent away too.
For his own safety... he planned to avoid cases related to Qin Mu as much as possible.
"To be honest, the person who sued me... is my mother," Jiang Daping said with a wry smile. He recounted the recent events and their causes in detail, including the fact that Feng Cuihua was living in a nursing home without the funds to pay the fees and had called him.
"A nursing home?" Zhang Wei’s pupils shrank, and his body involuntarily shivered. He then asked, "Do you know the name of this nursing home? And do you know Qin Mu?"
After dealing with so many cases, he now couldn’t help but think of Qin Mu whenever he encountered a nursing home. Qin Mu... works in a nursing home and has a very good relationship with a group of elderly people.
"I... I’m not sure. I only know that in recent years my mother found a nursing home for herself. Qin Mu... I don’t know him," Jiang Daping said, clearly confused, shaking his head. He had never cared about his mother and was even less concerned about which nursing home she chose. As for the Qin Mu mentioned by Zhang Wei... this was the first time he had heard of him; he did not know him before.
"You don’t know him?" Zhang Wei paused, giving Jiang Daping a deep look. He saw that Jiang Daping’s expression did not seem false; it appeared he really did not know Qin Mu.
"Should I... know him?" Jiang Daping lifted his head, asking in confusion.
Zhang Wei’s mouth twitched slightly. He said quietly, "Actually, not knowing him is probably a good thing for you." Most people who know Qin Mu... have suffered his "torment." They belong to those industries, especially the medical field, which has been prominent lately. Now, it’s said that even janitors in the medical industry can recognize Qin Mu on sight. That shows the impact he has had on them.
Then, looking at Jiang Daping, Zhang Wei couldn’t resist saying, "But for you not to even know which nursing home your mother lives in, that’s a bit much."
Jiang Daping looked to be over fifty years old. His mother must be at least seventy. For an elderly person of that age, whose children didn’t even know which nursing home she resided in... it was indeed quite unreasonable.
"I... I... you don’t understand. My mom said before that she didn’t need us to take care of her, and we were busy with work, so we didn’t pay much attention..." Jiang Daping’s old face reddened as he couldn’t help but defend himself.
He had never spoken of his family matters... to outsiders, mainly for fear of being despised and looked down upon. This time... if it hadn’t been for this case, he wouldn’t have revealed everything to Zhang Wei.
Zhang Wei nodded and said seriously, "Alright, now tell me in detail about the situation between you and your mother. Try not to hide or omit anything, so I can give you the most appropriate advice."
Jiang Daping had come to him for advice on this case. In fact, many people, upon receiving a subpoena, immediately consult a lawyer on how to respond. Some subpoenas are for civil litigation. If the civil dispute between both parties is resolved, there’s actually no need to go to court. But Jiang Daping’s subpoena... was for a criminal private prosecution. The nature of the case was completely different.
"It’s like this: there are four brothers in my family, but when we were young, my mother was extremely biased and doted on the youngest..." Jiang Daping pursed his lips, slowly recounting his family’s internal affairs. In his description, their family used to be harmonious. Apart from their mother always favoring the youngest brother, the siblings would help each other out when necessary. That was until their father died and left all his inheritance to their mother. By chance, they had all separated and gone their own ways. At that time, they all still needed money. Each of them wanted to take their mother in to provide for her and also requested some financial support from her. But... their mother said she would use the money for her own old-age care to prevent them from being unfilial in the future. And just like that, because of this inheritance, the four families got into a huge conflict. Eventually, none of them were willing to take care of their mother anymore, and, in a fit of anger, she spent the money to move into a nursing home. The longstanding grievances accumulated, resulting in the four families no longer having any contact with each other.
"So, you’re saying that over these years... not one of your families has fulfilled the due obligation of providing for your mother?" Zhang Wei couldn’t help but ask after hearing this.
Jiang Daping, however, suddenly took offense, defending himself, "How can you say that we didn’t fulfill our obligation of support? If my mom hadn’t said she didn’t want us to support her, would we not have?
"It was clearly her who turned this family into what it is now.
"Even the youngest, whom she adored the most, doesn’t bother with her now. That just shows how cold-hearted her actions were.
"This can’t be blamed on us, right?"
His face was etched with defiance. From start to finish, he never felt it was his fault.
But Zhang Wei took a deep breath and said firmly, "The obligation to provide support cannot be ignored just because the other party verbally declares they don’t need it from you."
