Though a bit dejected about only being assigned such a simple case, Cheng Yao still read through the materials for Dong Shan’s divorce case carefully and thoroughly, and then called the client, Dong Shan.

Dong Shan happened to be free, so she arranged to meet him at the café downstairs from Junheng.

Family law cases were different from other cases — they involved a lot of the client’s privacy and personal life. Meeting for the first time in a conference room felt too businesslike and could actually heighten the other party’s guardedness, which wasn’t conducive to open communication.

Qian Heng, of course, had no time to advise her on this point. But since Cheng Yao was someone who liked to observe and learn, after having arranged several first meetings with clients for Qian Heng, she’d noticed he always chose cafés close to the office, with a quiet atmosphere that felt private yet relaxed. She’d taken note of this.

Dong Shan arrived right on time, dressed as plainly as ever, almost excessively so, with none of the oily shrewdness typical of middle-aged businessmen. On the contrary, he looked honest and unassuming to the point of seeming almost simple.

If Qian Heng hadn’t told her, Cheng Yao would never have guessed that a man like this could have had an affair and filed for divorce against the wife who’d built the business with him from the ground up.

As Cheng Yao was still mentally working out how to open the conversation, Dong Shan spoke first.

He looked at Cheng Yao with a faint smile, his eyes kind. “You’re about the same age as my daughter.”

“Dong Min?”

“Mm.” Dong Shan sighed. “I don’t even know what that child’s doing right now. This divorce has hit her pretty hard, and I do worry about her. Her whole life’s gone smoothly — her mother and I really struggled to have her, and we treated her like she’d shatter if we held her too tight. As a result, she’s used to having everything go her way. Whenever something’s beyond her control, she just can’t handle it at all.” As he spoke, Dong Shan shook his head, a mix of helplessness and doting affection.

It was clear he adored his daughter deeply. And yet, even with his daughter suffering and falling apart, it hadn’t changed his resolve to go through with the divorce. Most women would endure a marriage for their children’s sake rather than divorce — but Cheng Yao rarely saw a man do the same.

“Attorney Qian had me set up this meeting to discuss the litigation approach with you.” Cheng Yao pushed the thoughts out of her head and switched into work mode, pulling out a checklist. “This is a summary of your and your wife’s current joint marital assets.”

“And this is, based on the current Marriage Law, the possible division ratio for these joint assets, including your equity stake in Zhenwei Catering. We’ve also put together an analysis of how the property division might affect your business.” Cheng Yao laid out her carefully prepared charts and documents one by one, explaining as she went. “We’d like to know what your thoughts are on this.”

But Dong Shan barely glanced at the materials Cheng Yao had worked so hard to compile before setting them back on the table. “I don’t really have thoughts on this.” He lowered his head. “It’s me who’s wronged Wenxiu.”

Though Qian Heng had said Dong Shan was willing to compromise on property division for the sake of the divorce, everyone had needs, so Cheng Yao tried to gently coax him along. “You don’t need to feel awkward about this — I’m your representing attorney, here to protect your interests. Even if you were at fault in the marriage, you also put in considerable effort toward Zhenwei Catering’s success, and it’s entirely reasonable to make claims regarding the joint marital assets.”

“Attorney Cheng, I know what you’re getting at. You want to know my actual bottom line on the property division ratio in this divorce, don’t you?” Despite his simple appearance, Dong Shan was, after all, a seasoned businessman, and he saw through Cheng Yao’s intent immediately. He shifted his sitting position. “I genuinely have no strong feelings on this. Even giving Wenxiu a larger share, I’d be willing. I just want to get divorced as quickly as possible.” Dong Shan paused, then added, “The sooner, the better.”

Although a hint of loss and guilt had shown on Dong Shan’s face when talking about Dong Min, the moment the topic turned to divorce, that same happiness and anticipation was practically leaking out of him, impossible to hide even if he tried.

Willing to pay any price to get divorced as quickly as possible…

A suspicion suddenly flashed through Cheng Yao’s mind. “Is your — is she pregnant?”

Dong Shan’s eyes lit up. “That obvious?” Apparently seeing that Cheng Yao had already figured it out, he dropped the pretense entirely, letting out a hearty laugh, all trace of gloom sweeping away, his whole demeanor practically glowing. “Two more months to go — it’s a boy!”

Talking about this son, Dong Shan grew visibly excited. “So you see, I need to give him a proper name and status before he’s born, or else he won’t even be able to get registered — living without proper standing, an incomplete family, I’m afraid it’ll leave the child with psychological scars.” Speaking of this illegitimate son, Dong Shan’s tone carried excitement mixed with tenderness. “I’ve been waiting for this son for decades — finally, at long last, I can face my ancestors of the Dong family with a clear conscience, knowing our line won’t die out! My father’s eighty-nine now, and his health isn’t good. I want this child to be born so I can give him some good news and finally give him closure…”

Worried about leaving psychological scars on an unborn illegitimate child, and yet apparently giving no thought to whether the daughter who’d been by his side for over twenty years might end up scarred by all this herself.

Perhaps sensing his own loss of composure, Dong Shan reined in his expression, returning to his simple, honest demeanor, and explained to Cheng Yao rather earnestly, “You know, I’ve got this huge company, Zhenwei Catering, plus all sorts of other investments across various fields. I need a son to take over eventually.”

Watching Dong Shan, practically wanting to share his joy of having a late-life son with the whole world, Cheng Yao found the whole thing almost darkly comical.

Not forgetting the poverty of one’s youth, not forgetting the wife who’d built the business alongside him as childhood sweethearts, not even his own daughter in the bloom of her youth — none of it weighed as much as a male reproductive organ.

Dong Min had once tearfully demanded of Qian Heng why her father was getting divorced. She probably never imagined that the very moment she was born, simply for being a girl, her own father had already, silently, placed her in the category of things that could be discarded.

But even valuing sons over daughters so extremely — that still wasn’t a reason to have an affair and father a child out of wedlock!

Cheng Yao held back, but in the end couldn’t quite stop herself. “Did you never consider having another child with Ms. Jiang? I know there was family planning policy back then, but running a business like you do, surely the fines wouldn’t have been beyond your means.”

“It’s not that I never thought about having another son with Wenxiu — I could’ve afforded the fines too. But we couldn’t conceive.” Dong Shan sighed. “Wenxiu has health issues that make it very difficult to have children. Even Minmin was hard-won for us — trying for another was basically impossible. I really couldn’t bear to put her through that kind of suffering again just to try for another child…” He seemed genuinely pained. “My father’s not going to be around much longer, and it’s always been his dream to have a grandson. I had no other choice. You know how it is with us businessmen — always some social obligations, some playing along at events. One time I’d had too much to drink, and mistook her for Wenxiu. Who knew that afterward there’d be a child — and a son, no less. I just couldn’t bear to let it go… It felt like a gift heaven had sent me, and besides, it’s a life — I couldn’t bring myself to end it with my own hands…”

The full picture became clear after a few exchanges. The old Cheng Yao would have simply smiled and taken her leave from Dong Shan at this point. But after the experience with Bai Xingmeng’s case, Cheng Yao had grown much more cautious.

More often than not, it wasn’t the big things that tripped you up — it was the details you never even noticed during the process of handling a case.

“Mr. Dong, may I ask one more thing? If Ms. Jiang were willing to accept this child and raise him herself, but didn’t want a divorce, would you be able to accept that?”

Dong Shan froze for a moment, then said, somewhat awkwardly, “If that were the case, that would obviously be better — then of course I wouldn’t get divorced.”

Cheng Yao nodded, confirmed a few other details with Dong Shan, and then saw him off.

For any divorce case, the first thing to understand was the client’s underlying mindset — the actual reason behind the divorce, and whether there was still any possibility of reconciliation. Only then could a lawyer be fully prepared for all scenarios when preparing to file or respond to a suit.

Family law cases weren’t like commercial cases, where black is black and white is white. Someone filing for divorce might start out utterly determined to end the marriage, and yet after the judge’s mediation, be reminded of shared memories from the past and end up sobbing in court, embracing each other and vowing never to separate again. So a lawyer needed contingency plans for every possible scenario.

Cheng Yao had just gotten back to Junheng when Qian Heng called her into his office.

“Finished talking with Dong Shan?” He sat in his chair with his arms crossed, looking down at her.

“Mm, all done, went well!”

“Any issues come up?” There was a slight awkwardness in Qian Heng’s voice. He cleared his throat. “I happen to have some time right now, and I’m in a decent mood. If you ran into any difficulties, I could, reluctantly, help clarify things for you — wouldn’t want you making the same kind of mistake as with the Bai Xingmeng case again, having people find out my team’s lawyers are this bad at their jobs. That would be embarrassing for me too.”

…

Even though his attitude was as insufferable as ever, the fact that Qian Heng was actually proactively checking in on such a routine case, even offering to answer questions — Cheng Yao thought, he must have won the lottery or something. His mood really did seem exceptionally good…

But regarding this case, Cheng Yao felt confident she’d handled it carefully. She shook her head. “No issues.”

“This case will most likely go to pre-trial mediation. Did you discuss the possibility of mediation with the client?”

Cheng Yao nodded.

Was Qian Heng’s mood really that good today? This was practically hand-holding, patient mentorship — something almost unheard of from a partner at any law firm!

“Alright, you can go.”

But just as Cheng Yao turned to leave, Qian Heng’s desk phone rang. He picked up, listened for a moment, and frowned. “Dong Min? Why’s she here again? Tell the front desk not to let her into the firm. If she keeps causing a scene, call the police directly.”

Cheng Yao suddenly felt a pang of reluctance. “Let me go talk to her.”

Qian Heng frowned. “Be careful you don’t…”

Cheng Yao smiled. “I know, boss. I’ll learn from last time — I won’t let my emotions get involved in the case, and I won’t reveal anything about the case or my conversations with Dong Shan to her just because I sympathize with her.”

Hearing her assurance, Qian Heng finally wore an expression like a father who could rest easy in his grave.

But just as Cheng Yao was about to turn and leave, Qian Heng called her back. “This case is much simpler than Bai Xingmeng’s, but don’t let your guard down. Every case is different, so every detail needs to be handled with obsessive thoroughness, to make sure there are no issues at all.”

With that, he waved his hand, dismissing her.

Sure enough, Dong Min once again looked haggard and dazed. Seeing her, Cheng Yao pulled out a tissue first.

“Coming to find us lawyers won’t help. We’re only acting under your father’s instructions, and we have a confidentiality agreement with our client — professional ethics mean there’s a lot we can’t disclose.” Cheng Yao’s manner was gentle. She waited patiently for Dong Min’s emotions to settle, then began comforting her. “Lawyers aren’t parties to the marriage. Whatever the issue is, you need to talk to your father directly — coming to us won’t help.”

Dong Min’s eyes were red. “I know coming to you lawyers won’t help, that I need to find my dad, but I can’t even reach him! My mom’s been so upset she’s hospitalized over this, and I just wanted him to go see her! But he won’t even acknowledge me! I don’t know what he’s been so busy with lately. I went to catch him at the company, but he’s never there — I have no idea where he keeps disappearing to!”

…

After venting for a while longer, Dong Min finally calmed down completely and left.

But while Dong Min had calmed down, Cheng Yao herself had not.

Hadn’t Dong Shan said he still had feelings for Jiang Wenxiu, that the divorce was simply because of one moment of confusion turned into a one-night affair, all for the sake of the son his own aging father wanted so badly? That he was even willing to make concessions on property division out of guilt? Then why, now that Jiang Wenxiu was lying in a hospital bed, wouldn’t he even go see her?

Something clicked sharply into place in Cheng Yao’s mind, triggered by Dong Min’s offhand complaint.

Dong Shan had lied.

Her client, just like Bai Xingmeng, had not told her the truth.