Not a single word mentioned money, yet every sentence revolved around it.

Little did they know that decades ago, getting married didn't require a house, a car, nor an exorbitantly high bride price. The parents from both sides would prepare engagement gifts and a dowry, which were basically furniture and clothing. But now, getting married either consumed half of the parents' lifetime savings or burdened the young couple with various loans, exhausting them completely. This had also led to more and more people preferring to stay single. One person fed meant the whole family wasn't hungry.

"Is that even possible?"

Upon hearing Qin Mu's advice, Wan Zhongyuan was suddenly perplexed. He had transferred the agreed-upon bride price. Could it really be determined not to be bride price money?

"Of course. Generally, for a payment to be recognized as a bride price, it must meet four conditions: local customs, a significant sum, the identities of the paying and receiving parties, and the timing of the payment," Qin Mu nodded and explained briefly.

Local customs referred to the existence of the bride price custom in the area. And in some regions, there actually wasn't a custom of providing a bride price. Instead, when their daughters married, the bride's family would provide a substantial dowry, either a car or a house. The amount of the bride price also had specific requirements, generally over thirty thousand yuan. A few thousand yuan wouldn't be classified as a bride price. The paying and receiving parties must also be the families negotiating the marriage. Finally, there's the timing of the payment, which must occur before the marriage certificate is obtained.

"Your marriage registration actually occurred before the bride price was paid. You can use this as grounds to file a lawsuit, seeking to have the 1.08 million declared unjust enrichment and demanding its return from the other party. If the other side doesn't return it, you can sue them for embezzlement."

Qin Mu then briefly explained what constitutes embezzlement and the corresponding penalties.

"Can it really be done like this?!" Wan Zhongyuan couldn't help but get excited after hearing this plan.

He had almost given up, thinking of it only as a desperate gamble, but Qin Mu had pointed out a path he'd never conceived of.

"This is just the first plan. If this doesn't work, there's a second one," Qin Mu smiled.

He then outlined the second plan: "Since the other party has already disappeared, this case likely also involves marriage fraud."

Legally, the definition of marriage fraud was somewhat vague. As the saying goes, even an honest official struggles to settle family disputes. Marriage fraud involved emotional entanglements between men and women. However, in this instance, the other party obtaining the marriage certificate and then vanishing was far too abnormal. From a legal standpoint, if the perpetrator, after receiving money, disappeared citing other reasons—for instance, threatening not to meet unless the bride price was paid—this already suggested fraudulent intent to illegally possess property.

"From this perspective, you can sue the other party for fraud. If the amount involved is substantial, the sentence can be more than ten years in prison."

Wan Zhongyuan swallowed hard. After hearing the second plan, he was somewhat stunned. In such a short time, Qin Mu had transformed a civil dispute over a bride price into a criminal case, with a potential sentence escalating to over ten years!

"Impossible!" Wan Feizhang immediately retorted, "Lele would never deceive me! We love each other. She messaged me saying her parents were keeping her at home and that we could meet as soon as the bride price was paid..."

SMACK!

Wan Zhongyuan, his face dark, smacked him hard on the back of the head, giving him a taste of tough fatherly love. After the smack, Wan Zhongyuan said in exasperation, "It's come to this, and you're still speaking up for her!"

Seeing this, Qin Mu quietly reminded him, "If she is indeed being confined at home by her parents, that could also involve the crime of false imprisonment."

False imprisonment refers to the act of illegally depriving someone of their personal liberty through detention, confinement, or other coercive methods. Such an act unlawfully deprives a person of their freedom of movement. No adult should be illegally deprived of this right by others. Of course, a child, lacking full legal capacity, still requires a guardian, who can manage this right on their behalf.

"So it can be done this way..." Wan Zhongyuan had an epiphany and quickly understood the countermeasures.

The approach Qin Mu provided was different from the standard way of handling civil disputes. If they followed the normal civil dispute process, recovering the entire bride price would be nearly impossible. They would have to sue for divorce first. And after the divorce, this bride price would very likely be treated as joint marital property and be divided, or they might only recover a portion of it. After all, he gave the bride price after they obtained their marriage certificate—that is, after the marital relationship was legally established. This made the dispute difficult to clarify. But if they used criminal charges as a breakthrough, once it was determined that the other party had committed a crime, the bride price could undoubtedly be recovered!

"I'll transfer the consultation fee to you via a red packet."

Wan Zhongyuan then pulled out his phone and transferred the consultation fee. For this consultation, Qin Mu had provided two plans. He'd heard that lawyers detested the "just asking a quick question" approach, and now he was dealing with Qin Mu himself...

Qin Mu didn't feign refusal and accepted it directly.

After experiencing so much, he was actually somewhat inclined to get a lawyer's license. Having one would be very convenient for handling lawsuits.

"'I should find some time to ask Wang Dachui how to get a lawyer's license,' Qin Mu muttered to himself as he walked out of the Vice Dean's office.

「In the days that followed.」

Life at the nursing home returned to its usual calm.

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