"Xiao Qin, I’ve got something I’d like to consult you about."

Qin Mu swallowed hard.

He couldn’t help but raise his eyebrows. "You’re not... also thinking of suing someone, are you?"

Song Tiancheng nodded, surprised. "How did you know?"

The corner of Qin Mu’s mouth twitched.

He had no choice but to put down his phone, stop slacking off, and ask, "What happened? Weren’t you jogging by the riverbank this afternoon?"

Old Song enjoyed fishing. When he wasn’t fishing, he liked to jog along the riverbank.

The last incident, the case of saving the drowning dog... Old Song was the one who had discovered it.

"Yeah, I was jogging along just fine when suddenly someone approached me trying to sell health products. They even claimed the products were state-approved. As if I’d fall for that kind of trick!"

Song Tiancheng sat down on a chair.

He took a sip of tea and said calmly, "I knew right away he was a scammer. But I figured if I didn’t let him scam any money from me, he wouldn’t technically be committing fraud."

"So..." He paused.

A proud look spread across his face. "I bought five boxes of health products on the spot, gave him the three thousand yuan I had on me, and brought all the products back."

As he spoke, he lifted the bag he was carrying and tossed it in front of Qin Mu, his face beaming with smug satisfaction, clearly expecting praise.

Having learned from Qin Mu for so long, he was well aware of the criteria for fraud. According to Jin City’s economic development level, an amount needed to exceed three thousand yuan to constitute fraud. Anything less wouldn’t even be grounds to file a case.

"Now, the money has been transferred, so the crime has been committed. The cash has my fingerprints on it, and I have the shoddy health products he gave me."

Song Tiancheng calmly picked up his cup and added, "Actually, I wanted to record him, but I was afraid he’d notice if I took out my phone, so I didn’t."

He believed he’d considered everything thoroughly, without the slightest oversight.

This case... This could definitely land the other guy in jail!

"By the way, how long is the sentence for defrauding someone of three thousand yuan? What should I do next?"

After saying all this, Song Tiancheng looked at Qin Mu curiously.

Qin Mu, however, wore a very peculiar expression as he looked Song Tiancheng up and down.

He couldn’t help but think Old Song had a screw loose.

He knew the person selling health products was a scammer, yet he still transferred the money... all to ensure the crime was committed.

The crucial part was... he hadn’t even detained the man on the spot.

Now that the money was paid, the man was long gone. Even if they reported it to the police, the police would have to search high and low for this health product-peddling scammer.

"Regarding this... you should report it to the police first. Filing a case should definitely be possible," Qin Mu said, his expression complicated as he looked at Song Tiancheng.

Regarding the threshold for filing a case... Song Tiancheng had nailed it. He was even willing to let three thousand yuan go down the drain just like that.

"And after the case is filed?" Song Tiancheng asked, taken aback. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

"After filing the case, you just wait for news. Once they catch the person, you can press charges, they’ll be sentenced, and you should be able to recover the stolen money," Qin Mu said irritably, rolling his eyes.

"Huh?" Song Tiancheng’s mouth fell open, his face a mask of bewilderment.

This was nothing like the scenario he had imagined.

In his mind, the police should have been able to catch the person quickly. Then he could go to the police station to retrieve his three thousand yuan. He might even receive a ’Good Samaritan’ banner from the police.

By then, he’d be able to boast about his exploits to Old Zhang and the others. In fact, he’d already figured out how many years he could dine out on this story.

"If there’s surveillance at the intersection and that person didn’t get far, they should be able to track him down pretty quickly," Qin Mu said earnestly after a moment’s thought.

This type of fraud was different from online scams. Peddling substandard health products in person often meant being caught by the extensive public surveillance network. As long as they pursued the investigation diligently, they could identify the fraudster relatively quickly. The investigation difficulty was comparatively low.

"One more thing," Qin Mu added, looking at Song Tiancheng. "From now on... never go out of your way to scrape money together like that again. If you couldn’t get it back, wouldn’t it be a total loss?"

Three thousand yuan. For an elderly person, that wasn’t a small sum. If it were truly lost, Old Song would probably be angry enough to have a heart attack.

"COUGH, COUGH. I understand," Song Tiancheng said, his old face flushing red. After listening to Qin Mu’s explanation, he also realized how rash he had been.

If they couldn’t catch the person... the money might really be gone for good.

But... this scammer selling shoddy health products to them, the elderly, had surely conned more than just him! And right now, the fraudster was still at large. Others were likely still in the dark or didn’t know how to report it. He just happened to have some knowledge in this area. He’d acted on impulse, without thinking it through.

"I’ll go report this to the police now."

Shortly thereafter, he left the office looking somewhat ashamed, taking the boxes of health products he had purchased with him.

"Honestly, why is everyone such a handful?" Qin Mu grumbled helplessly after Song Tiancheng left.

All he wanted was to sit quietly in the office and slack off. Yet he kept encountering one problem after another, all related to legal matters people came to consult him about.

You know, just a few days ago, his job had been quite relaxed, with nothing happening at all.

"Surely no one else will come looking for me now, right?" he muttered to himself, sitting back in his chair. He lowered his head, picked up his phone, and prepared to goof off again.

But... he had barely been sitting for a few minutes when he saw Zhang Qingyuan rush in.