Chapter 35.3: Adulterous husband and adulterous wife???

In the meeting room, the pregnant woman finally calmed down.

“Lawyer Qian, my name is Chen Qingmei. I heard about you from my fiancé.”

Qian Heng glanced up, showing no trace of gentleness despite Chen Qingmei’s frail, delicate demeanor. His tone remained indifferent. “Who is your fiancé?”

“Dong Shan.” Chen Qingmei lowered her head. “He had an accident… and has passed away.”

Cheng Yao froze for a moment before realizing—this was the “little Mei” that Dong Shan had once called the light of his life and the angel of his love.

A mistress.

And yet, despite her pitifully fragile appearance, she showed no guilt about her status. Instead, she openly referred to Dong Shan as her fiancé—never mind the fact that right up until his death, he was still married to Jiang Wenxiu.

Just for that, Cheng Yao couldn’t help but take a closer look at her.

The following parts of the text will be scrambled to prevent theft from aggregators and unauthorized epub making. Please support our translators by reading on secondlifetranslations (dot) com. If you are currently on the site and and you are seeing this, please clear your cache.

Ohld vbswtb pbl oyp raltdydv yde ds zsdtla pzkx, kv oyp schkswp vbyv pbl bye sdnl clld y elzknyvl clywvu. Fbl bye y eszz-zkjl qynl, okvb zyatl, caktbv lulp vbyv tyhl bla yd kddsnldv, rwal zssj—lprlnkyzzu okvb vbyv dyvwayz yka sq qaytkzkvu vbyv svblap nswzed’v qyjl.

Fbl oyp vbl nsxrzlvl srrspkvl sq Kkydt Eldmkw, obspl elxlydsa oyp rasqlppksdyz, nakpr, yde lzltydv.

G clywvkqwz, qaytkzl osxyd nyaaukdt vbl nbkze sq y elnlyple xyd—kv oyp vbl rlaqlnv plvwr vs pvka y xyd’p rasvlnvkhl kdpvkdnvp.

Fwal ldswtb, Jys Swk, obs bye ds raksa jdsozletl sq Psdt Fbyd’p nypl, oyp yzalyeu cakxxkdt okvb puxryvbu yde rkvu qsa Ubld Ckdtxlk.

“R’e zkjl vs bkal usw vs alralpldv xl yde qktbv qsa xu nbkze’p aktbvqwz kdblakvydnl,” pbl pyke.

Ckyd Tldt tyhl bla y nssz tzydnl. “R eswcv usw byhl ydu oyu vs rashl vbyv vbl nbkze usw’al nyaaukdt kp Psdt Fbyd’p.”

Mbyv nzlyazu bkv y psal prsv. Ubld Ckdtxlk’p lulp vwadle ale ytykd. “Ls sdl lhld kdqsaxle xl ycswv Psdt Fbyd’p ynnkeldv! Ju vbl vkxl R qswde swv, vbl qwdlayz oyp yzalyeu shla—R eked’v lhld tlv vs pll bkx sdl zypv vkxl. Ebld R oldv vs nsdqasdv bla, pbl eked’v nyal yv yzz vbyv R oyp raltdydv! Fbl bye vbl plnwakvu twyaep pbshl xl swv yde lhld pxlyale xl yp y pnyxxla yde y pbyxlzlpp osxyd…”

Ohld vbswtb Ubld Ckdtxlk zssjle lhlau ckv vbl blzrzlpp hknvkx, Ubldt Zys qlzv glas puxryvbu. Fs clkdt olyj ywvsxyvknyzzu xyel usw aktbv? Kwpv clnywpl pbl oyp raltdydv, Kkydt Eldmkw oyp pwrrsple vs ynnsxxseyvl bla yde bla wdcsad nbkze—lhld vbswtb pbl oyp y bsxloalnjla? Ebyv jkde sq zstkn oyp vbyv? Eyp vbl obszl osaze pwrrsple vs cl bla cycu’p qyvbla?

Honestly, Cheng Yao thought Jiang Wenxiu had already been polite by simply having her escorted out. If it had been her, she would’ve let Chen Qingmei experience firsthand what she could do with her own two hands.

Chen Qingmei wiped her tears. “She did it on purpose. She deliberately stopped me from seeing Dong Shan one last time, and she cremated his body so quickly on purpose too. She must’ve known I was already pregnant—pregnant with a boy. She only gave birth to a daughter, so she knew she couldn’t compete with me. That’s why she destroyed Dong Shan’s DNA samples, to stop my child from claiming his rightful place in the family.”

If Bao Rui had been confused before, he wasn’t anymore. The look in his eyes shifted—his sympathy vanished.

No matter who you were or what excuse you used, destroying someone else’s marriage and family was despicable.

Yet Chen Qingmei showed no remorse whatsoever. On the contrary, she was utterly self-righteous. “Dong Shan hadn’t loved her for a long time. They were both career-oriented, always flying around, barely spending time together—it was basically like they were separated already. Staying with her was like being a walking corpse. If Dong Shan knew that even after his death, I wasn’t allowed to say goodbye, he wouldn’t let her get away with it!”

The whole “our love was true, so our affair wasn’t immoral” excuse was bad enough. But to go as far as cursing the legal wife? That was just vicious.

For the first time, Cheng Yao felt completely in sync with Jiang Wenxiu’s decision to cremate Dong Shan immediately.

Serves her right! She deserves to get nothing!

“It happened too suddenly, so Dong Shan never had the chance to make a will. But if he had, he would have left his money to our son. Lawyer Qian, you’re my only hope. Dong Shan said that if other lawyers couldn’t do something, you could.”

Reject her! Reject her!

Cheng Yao screamed internally. This was the kind of client that made her skin crawl.

“How much is the disputed inheritance worth?”

“My preliminary estimate is that we should be entitled to at least 200 million yuan.”

“Bao Rui.”

Qian Heng smiled. “Prepare the representation contract.”

“…”

***

After Chen Qingmei left, Qian Heng briefly assigned tasks for the case in the meeting room.

“Cheng Yao, you and Bao Rui will go over the details of Dong Shan’s previous divorce case. The claim amount in this case isn’t particularly large, but it’s a good one for practice. Bao Rui will take the lead in the early stages, with Cheng Yao assisting. I’ll oversee and guide the process, and for the trial, Bao Rui and I will handle it together.”

Two hundred million yuan… not a large claim???

Of course, more than the amount, Cheng Yao was still unclear about the approach they should take. “Dong Shan’s body has already been cremated. Even if we find some of his fallen hair at home, without a direct sample from him, it’s difficult to prove that the hair or any other biological tissue truly belongs to him. Using DNA testing to establish paternity is basically a dead end.”

Bao Rui nodded. “DNA testing isn’t limited to paternity tests; there’s also kinship testing. A paternity test establishes a direct blood relationship between parent and child and requires a sample from the parent. But kinship testing can be conducted with other relatives.”

“You mean Dong Min?” Cheng Yao suddenly understood. She recalled the legal cases she had idly read about before and thought carefully. “But from what I’ve read, even if Chen Qingmei sues, the court can’t force Dong Min to undergo kinship testing. Besides, if Chen Qingmei is carrying a son, then even if Dong Min agrees, it won’t be useful—because half-siblings of different genders can’t undergo this type of kinship testing.”

Qian Heng raised an eyebrow. “Exactly. And didn’t you just say that Chen Qingmei is carrying a son? That means we actually can conduct a kinship test.” He smiled slightly. “Don’t forget, Dong Shan’s father is still alive. His health isn’t great, but as long as he’s around, we can proceed. We’ll have the child undergo a kinship test with Dong Shan’s father. By comparing Y chromosomes, we can determine whether they belong to the same paternal lineage.”

Bao Rui caught on as well. “But isn’t this type of test considered less reliable than a direct paternity test?”

Following Bao Rui’s realization, Cheng Yao also remembered something. “This kind of kinship test can at most prove that the child shares the same paternal lineage as Dong Shan, but it doesn’t definitively rule out other possible fathers within that lineage.”

Qian Heng had obviously anticipated their concerns. “Yes, kinship testing is weaker than a direct paternity test, and it’s only circumstantial evidence. If it were the only piece of evidence, we might not win the case. However, if we build a complete and logically sound chain of evidence, the court will likely infer that the child is indeed Dong Shan’s.”

He glanced at Cheng Yao. “As for your concern, we just need to prove that no one else within Dong Shan’s paternal lineage could be the father. Dong Shan has no brothers, so all we need to do is rule out his father as a possibility. That’s not easy, but it’s not impossible either. Dong Shan’s father is almost ninety, living in a nursing home, and relies on a wheelchair. Given his condition, the chances of him still having viable sperm, let alone an opportunity to father a child with Chen Qingmei, are incredibly slim. So, we do have a way to prove that he couldn’t have been the father.”

“As for the rest of the evidence chain…”

Cheng Yao raised her hand eagerly. “I know! We can check the hospital where Chen Qingmei had her prenatal exams. Those records usually include information on the child’s parents, and there’s a good chance Dong Shan provided his details and even signed documents. If the hospital has security footage showing Dong Shan accompanying Chen Qingmei to multiple checkups, that would be even better. Also, we can retrieve surveillance footage from the apartment where Chen Qingmei lives to prove that Dong Shan frequently visited…”

Qian Heng was momentarily stunned before giving her a rare, affectionate look—like a proud father. “Our little Cheng Yao is growing up.”

“…”

Qian Heng! Would it kill you to give me a proper compliment?!

Despite her internal complaints, Cheng Yao couldn’t help but feel a rush of joy and accomplishment from finally earning Qian Heng’s approval. It bubbled up inside her like the fizz in a freshly opened soda.

She felt inflated. Overconfident, even.

“Alright,” Qian Heng concluded, “then you two will be responsible for communicating with the client, gathering evidence, and persuading Dong Shan’s father to agree to the kinship test.”