Chapter 9: Showdown in Court
On the day of the hearing, I sat in the plaintiff's seat.
Across from me sat my mother.
She was wearing a clean gray coat, her hair neatly combed, as if she had simply come to visit relatives.
My father sat beside her, leaning on his crutch, staring down at the table.
My eldest brother, Chen Qiang, sat next to my father. His face was pale, and his fingers kept picking at the corner of the table.
My second brother, Chen Hui, sat the farthest away, his legs crossed, his black cashmere coat draped over the back of his chair.
He looked as if he had come to negotiate a business deal.
The judge struck the gavel.
My heart began to race, but my hands didn't tremble.
Li Zheng spoke first.
He submitted my 370,000-yuan transfer record, the chat records from before and after the house purchase, and the recording of my mother saying, “Put your eldest brother's name on it. It'll make the loan easier.”
One piece at a time.
The judge asked my eldest brother:
“Defendant Chen Qiang, the plaintiff claims that he was the actual person who paid for the property. Do you acknowledge this?”
Chen Qiang stood up.
His fingers were still picking at the corner of the table.
He looked at my mother.
Then at Chen Hui.
Then he said,
“The house… was something my parents told me to buy.”
“The money was transferred by my little brother, but that was money he gave to the family, not money for buying the house.”
Money he gave to the family.
370,000 yuan.
Money he gave to the family.
Li Zheng remained calm.
He enlarged the transfer record on the screen.
The three Chinese characters in the remark field were crystal clear:
House Payment.
“Defendant, you say this was money given to the family.”
“Then why does the transfer remark say ‘House Payment’?”
“Why was the recipient you personally, rather than your parents?”
“And why does the transfer date exactly match the time of the house purchase?”
Chen Qiang had no answer.
He stood there like a student called on by a teacher to recite a passage from memory.
His lips moved for a long time before he finally said,
“I… I don't know. Mom told me to receive it this way.”
My mother suddenly raised her head from the gallery.
The judge asked:
“Defendant Liu Guilan, your son Chen Qiang says the money was given to the family. Do you agree?”
My mother stood up, clutching the hem of her clothes.
She looked at me.
There was hatred in that look.
Resentment.
And something else I couldn't quite understand.
“Your Honor, I raised him for fourteen years.”
“Wasn't it only right for him to spend some money on the family?”
The courtroom was silent for a second.
“Defendant, please answer the question relevant to this case.”
“Was the 370,000 yuan transferred by the plaintiff to Chen Qiang for the purchase of the house, or was it family expenditure?”
“It was…”
Her voice lowered.
“It was for the house.”
“But whose name it's registered under is our family's own business.”
“Plaintiff Chen Mo, did you agree at the time to have the property registered under Chen Qiang's name?”
I stood up.
“Your Honor, I agreed to put my eldest brother's name on it.”
“But the condition was that the house belonged to the family. My parents would live in the master bedroom, and I would live in the second bedroom.”
“I have a recording proving that my eldest brother personally said, ‘Little Brother, we'll all live in this house together. Mom and Dad will use the master bedroom, and you'll use the second bedroom.’”
Li Zheng played the recording in court.
Chen Qiang's voice came through the speakers.
Young.
Casual.
As though what he was saying was completely natural.
Everyone in the courtroom heard it.
“Little Brother, we'll all live in this house together. Mom and Dad will use the master bedroom, and you'll use the second bedroom. You paid for it, so we have to keep a room for you.”
Chen Qiang's face went pale.
His wife covered her mouth in the gallery.
Li Zheng said,
“Your Honor, this recording proves that the plaintiff's payment toward the house was made on the understanding that he would have the right to reside there.”
“After obtaining registration of the property, defendant Chen Qiang failed to list the plaintiff as a co-owner and never permitted the plaintiff to live there.”
“This constitutes a breach of the agreement.”
Chen Hui let out a cold laugh beside him.
The judge glanced at him.
He didn't stop.
Next came the loan case.
Li Zheng played the recorded phone call in which Chen Hui borrowed the money.
His voice came clearly through the speakers:
“Little Brother, don't worry. Count it as a loan. I'll pay you back double.”
“Once I make it big, you'll be the first person I repay.”
After the recording ended, Li Zheng asked,
“Defendant Chen Hui, do you acknowledge the authenticity of this recording?”
Chen Hui stood up and straightened the collar of his coat.
“Your Honor, I admit that I borrowed money from him.”
“But my little brother gave it to me voluntarily.”
“It wasn't a loan.”
“Between biological brothers, saying ‘Count it as a loan’ is just a courtesy. Who would actually take that seriously?”
Just a courtesy.
Li Zheng said,
“Defendant, in the recording you explicitly said, ‘I'll pay you back double,’ and afterward you repeatedly promised to repay the money.”
“The plaintiff also has witness testimony from Old Zhou proving that 100,000 yuan of this amount was money the plaintiff borrowed from him and then lent to you.”
“That was the plaintiff's personal debt and had nothing to do with you.”
“If, as you claim, those words were merely ‘a courtesy,’ then why did the plaintiff have to borrow money from his coworkers to give to you?”
The smile on Chen Hui's face froze.
Old Zhou took the witness stand.
He wore that work uniform of his, washed so many times that it had turned pale.
His hands were covered in calluses.
His voice was steady.
“Your Honor, that 100,000 yuan was money I lent to Chen Mo.”
“He told me his second brother urgently needed it for his startup and would repay me within a year.”
“It's been five years now. I haven't gotten a single cent back.”
“Every time I asked, Chen Mo would say, ‘Brother Zhou, please wait a little longer. My second brother says it'll be soon.’”
“When Chen Mo broke his leg and didn't even have money for his medical treatment, he never once asked me to give him that money back.”
The courtroom was silent.
I saw my mother lower her head.
My father's hands were trembling.
Chen Hui's lawyer stood up and argued that the recording might have been edited and requested an expert examination.
Li Zheng played the complete recording in court.
From:
“Little Brother, your big brother is about to make a fortune.”
all the way to:
“Count it as a loan. I'll pay you back double.”
Two minutes and fifty-one seconds.
Continuous from beginning to end.
There was no sign of editing.
The judge asked Chen Hui:
“Defendant, do you admit that this recording has not been edited?”
Chen Hui said nothing.
His lawyer answered for him:
“Further examination is required.”
Li Zheng said,
“Your Honor, we have another piece of evidence.”
“The company under defendant Chen Hui's name, ‘Huiteng Building Materials,’ has engaged in substantial tax evasion over the past three years.”
“The relevant evidence has already been submitted to the tax investigation authorities.”
“Witness Zhao is present in court today and can testify.”
Chen Hui's expression changed.
He abruptly turned toward the gallery.
Mr. Zhao was sitting in the last row, looking at him without expression.
Chen Hui's lawyer leaned over and whispered something to him.
His fists tightened.
The judge announced a fifteen-minute recess.
During the recess, I remained seated in the plaintiff's seat.
My mother walked over and stood in front of me.
She had lost a lot of weight.
Her eye sockets were sunken, and the skin on her hands was loose like dried orange peel.
“Chen Mo.”
I looked up at her.
“Your second brother's company…”
“Are you really going to destroy it?”
“Mom, I'm not destroying it.”
“It's the one that committed tax evasion.”
“Where did you get the evidence from Mr. Zhao?”
“Mr. Zhao found me himself.”
“He said Chen Hui cheated him.”
My mother's lips trembled.
She turned and looked at Chen Hui, then turned back toward me.
“Your father's blood pressure is high.”
“He had to take three pills this morning before he could come here.”
“I know.”
“Your eldest brother's child is only three years old.”
“I know.”
“You…”
“Mom.”
I interrupted her.
“When my leg was broken, did any of you ask whether I was in pain?”
She fell silent.
She stood there looking at me, tears running down from the corners of her eyes.
She reached out as though she wanted to touch my head.
I shifted slightly and moved away.
Her hand remained suspended in the air.
Then she slowly pulled it back.
“Mom, you raised me for fourteen years.”
“Every word I say in this courtroom is the truth.”
“I know it wasn't easy for you to raise me.”
“But I supported you for ten years.”
“Nine hundred thousand yuan.”
“I don't owe you anything anymore.”
She covered her face and walked back to the gallery.
My father raised his head and looked at me.
There was anger in his eyes.
Shame.
And something he had never been willing to admit—
Perhaps he knew, deep down, that he had done something wrong.
But he would never say it.
When the hearing resumed, the judge asked both sides whether they were willing to accept mediation.
Li Zheng looked at me.
I looked across the courtroom.
My mother was crying.
My father was looking down.
My eldest brother Chen Qiang's hands were trembling.
My second brother Chen Hui was no longer sitting with his legs crossed.
“I do not accept mediation,” I said.
Chen Hui suddenly stood up.
“Chen Mo!”
“Don't push your luck!”
The judge struck the gavel.
“Defendant, order!”
Chen Hui was forced back down by his lawyer.
He sat there, his chest rising and falling heavily, his eyes fixed fiercely on me.
I looked straight back at him.
I didn't avert my eyes for even a second.
At that moment, I suddenly remembered something from when I was a child.
He had once borrowed five yuan from me to buy cigarettes.
“Little Brother, I'll pay you back tomorrow,” he had said.
He didn't repay me the next day.
Or the day after that.
Eventually, he never mentioned it again.
Five yuan.
I remembered it for twenty years.
Because that five yuan was what I had earned by carrying bricks all day.
“Your Honor.”
I stood up.
“I request that the court issue a judgment in accordance with the law.”
“I also request that the adoption relationship between Chen Dayong, Liu Guilan, and me be dissolved.”
My mother's heartbreaking cries came from the gallery.
I didn't turn around.
ns216.73.216.62da2
and then Add to home screen.