However, upon hearing this, the two lawyers exchanged troubled glances, looking extremely distressed.

One of them stepped forward and said, "Here’s the situation, Miss Cheng. This civil dispute arose from the dog not being leashed, and there’s a direct causal relationship between this failure and the outcome."

"We’ve reviewed the relevant civil codes. In daily life, any illegal act inevitably implies fault, and the party is usually determined to be primarily or entirely responsible."

"Property damage caused by an unleashed dog must be borne by the party at fault. The other party has surveillance footage that can prove our dog... Binbin, startled and collided with them."

At this point, he sneakily glanced at Cheng Chuxiao. Previously, when they discussed the case with Cheng Chuxiao, she had seemed quite displeased with them referring to Binbin as a dog, insisting that Binbin was a family member, not an ordinary dog. Reluctantly, the lawyer had to adjust how he referred to Binbin.

"My primary responsibility?" Cheng Chuxiao asked, her face stern.

The lawyer nodded and corrected, "To be precise, it’s full responsibility."

This is a civil dispute, unlike a criminal assault case. Civil law protects each citizen’s private property, but when that property poses a threat or causes damage to others, they are permitted to take emergency measures to avoid danger. Compared to the right to personal health, the property rights of pets are negligible. If the opposing lawyer isn’t foolish, they could use the principle of emergency avoidance to shift all blame onto Cheng Chuxiao.

Getting the other party to pay compensation in this lawsuit is almost impossible.

From a moral standpoint, it might seem that the other party should pay for killing her dog. Legally speaking, however, there’s no issue with them not offering compensation.

"That’s roughly the situation," the lawyer continued. "By the way, Miss Cheng, who is the opposing counsel? Could you provide us with their information?" 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

While Cheng Chuxiao was still in a daze, the lawyer, suddenly remembering something, promptly asked. They had already gone over the case details, but they still didn’t know who their opponent was. As a good lawyer, he knew it was essential to understand both his own case and his opponent thoroughly before trial to prevent unexpected situations during court proceedings. Even though the legal standards in Jin City weren’t particularly high, he still needed to respect every opponent and be responsible for the case he represented.

"The opposing lawyer?" Cheng Chuxiao’s mouth twitched. She said irritably, "His name is Qin Mu. There should be plenty of information and case studies about him online. You can look it up yourselves."

Mentioning Qin Mu, her feelings were currently very complicated. The two lawyers her friend recommended had already given their definitive judgment: there was no chance of winning her claim, and they could only try to reduce the damages she might have to pay. Even if she offered more money, the two lawyers maintained they were helpless. It seemed her Binbin had truly died in vain, with the other party facing no punishment whatsoever.

And all of this was thanks to Qin Mu.

When she first approached the nursing home, they had been ready to compensate her. Although it was a small amount, it was still compensation. But now? Not only were they refusing to pay a cent, but they were also demanding fifty thousand yuan from her for damages! That figure of fifty thousand stabbed at her again and again. That was the exact amount she had claimed for Binbin; the other party was clearly mocking her.

"Qin Mu? We’ll look into him when we get back."

The two lawyers silently noted the name and then departed from Cheng Chuxiao’s home.

「 」

Back in the villa, after the two lawyers had left, Cheng Chuxiao became increasingly angry. She took out her phone and opened the core rights protection group chat.

She typed accusingly, "Are these the lawyers you found for me? Their fee is exorbitant, and they tell me the lawsuit is bound to fail! Are you sure these are top-tier lawyers from out of town?"

She was utterly dissatisfied with this outcome. The trial was the next day, and she didn’t even want to go to court anymore.

"What’s wrong? Is it really that bad? Lawyer Liu has over ten years of legal experience; can’t he even handle this civil case?"

"That can’t be right! Binbin was killed, shouldn’t the other party compensate?"

"Sister Cheng, are you sure you didn’t misunderstand something? Lawyer Wu is highly skilled; he won a case for me last time that everyone said was unwinnable!"

"The dog is dead, and they weren’t even injured. Why shouldn’t they compensate?"

...

In the group chat, other members quickly chimed in with various speculations, all believing that the case couldn’t possibly be lost.

Seeing these messages, Cheng Chuxiao became even more infuriated. She relayed the legal points her two lawyers had explained.

After her messages were sent, the group chat fell into a brief silence. These legal points took everyone some time to process.

Minutes later, people began to chime in one by one:

"Sister Cheng, maybe you didn’t offer enough money? Even if it’s a guaranteed loss legally, those two lawyers are really skilled. They’ve won many supposedly unwinnable cases."

"Yeah, the Lawyer Liu I recommended is best at winning hopeless cases. You surely didn’t pay enough."

"Sister Cheng, why don’t you ask those two lawyers again? See if there’s another way?"

"There’s nothing in the world that money can’t solve. If there is, just add more money."

...

In the villa, Cheng Chuxiao watched this exchange, her expression brightening slightly. She had been too upset just moments before and hadn’t considered this. If offering more money could win the lawsuit and get justice for Binbin...