Chapter 892: Chapter 348: Zhang Wei: A Negative Example—Everyone Should Learn from It
"Mr. Li, weren’t all these fish bought by you at the market? How did you even end up buying a giant salamander?"
Zhang Qingyuan stared wide-eyed at Li Weiguo, looking a bit puzzled.
Li Weiguo was just as dumbfounded.
A little dazed, he said, "I don’t know, I remember... I only bought crucian carp and carp. Besides, even if there was a giant salamander, I wouldn’t have dared to buy it."
Ever since he started following Qin Mu.
He had picked up quite a bit of legal knowledge.
He knew very well...
there are some things you absolutely can’t even touch.
Previously, Song Tiancheng’s son had almost gotten more than ten years just for keeping a few parrots.
Fortunately, Qin Mu stepped in and finally secured a suspended sentence.
The giant salamander...
just from the name you can tell it’s precious; even buying or selling it will get you locked up.
He wouldn’t dare go near it.
"If it’s not yours... then could it be they caught it in the wild river?"
Song Tiancheng frowned and couldn’t help muttering.
If it wasn’t bought by Li Weiguo...
then it could only have been fished out of the Jin River.
It’s just...
this creature is said to be extremely rare. The luck of Qi Lianglei and the others was a bit too insane; they actually hit the jackpot.
"Xiao Qin, how... are they going to be sentenced?"
Li Weiguo swallowed and looked over at Qin Mu.
Right now his mood...
was extremely complicated.
He’d been fighting his lawsuit just fine, and suddenly the other side had a brand-new criminal fact added on.
It seemed...
the criminal liability they might have to bear was even more serious than this so‑called crime of embezzlement.
"That... depends on the specific circumstances."
Qin Mu, standing beside him, was also a bit surprised. After pondering a moment, he said, "If they only caught the giant salamander and then released it, there won’t be too big a problem."
"But if after catching it they killed it to eat the meat or sold it for profit, then it could amount to a serious circumstance."
Originally.
What Qi Lianglei and the others had violated was the crime of embezzlement, punishable by at most two years’ imprisonment, and in most cases control or a suspended sentence.
But now...
they had "luckily" got themselves tangled up in the crime of endangering precious and endangered wild animals.
This crime refers to acts such as illegally hunting or killing precious or endangered wild animals under key state protection, or illegally purchasing, transporting, or selling such animals and their products.
And the giant salamander...
in the World Conservation Union Red List of Endangered Species, is listed as a national second‑class protected animal.
If the hunting circumstances are ordinary, the punishment is up to five years’ imprisonment or criminal detention, plus a fine.
If the circumstances are serious, the punishment is between five and ten years’ imprisonment, plus a fine.
If the circumstances are especially serious, the punishment is over ten years’ imprisonment, plus a fine or confiscation of property.
For certain specific endangered species...
the law provides special protection; if you accidentally catch or kill these creatures, you may already be committing a crime.
As for the elements of the offense.
The motive must be for profit or for personal use, and the person must have engaged in illegal activities such as catching or killing rare and endangered wild flora and fauna.
Subjectively, the mental element must be intent.
That is, clearly knowing they are precious or endangered wild animals and still intentionally hunting, killing, etc.
If due to lack of necessary knowledge one catches or kills by mistake, the crime is not constituted.
At this moment...
if Qi Lianglei and the others understood the law, they would only need to argue that they didn’t recognize the giant salamander.
The law does recognize, to a certain extent, that those who truly do not know are not guilty.
As long as they genuinely did not know and did not recognize the giant salamander the whole time, then even if they stewed it, it wouldn’t constitute a crime.
What happens next...
depends on how the seven of them answer during the procuratorate’s interrogation.
If they answer well...
even if the act is technically criminal, they themselves may be fine.
If they answer poorly, they might pile crime upon crime!
After all...
even before this, they were already suspected of embezzlement.
If it can be established that among the fish they caught was a wild endangered species, then they will have committed the crime of endangering precious and endangered wild animals.
If the catch also included other ordinary aquatic organisms, they might additionally constitute the crime of illegal fishing of aquatic products.
In that case...
without a halfway decent lawyer, they might not be able to escape a single charge!
...
At the same time.
The nursing home.
In the courtyard.
The old folks stared at the screen, which had gradually gone black, and were equally stunned.
"What... just happened?"
It took them quite a while to react.
They’d been watching the trial just fine, and all of a sudden they heard something about newly discovered criminal facts.
Then the hearing was suspended.
"The Judgment Chief said it seemed a giant salamander was caught on camera in the video."
Everyone looked at each other.
They just felt this whole thing was weird from top to bottom.
The other side’s luck...
was unbelievably bad.
They actually managed to net a legendary giant salamander while fishing.
"Knew it would happen. Dare to go up against Xiao Qin in court—now they’ve learned their lesson, haven’t they?"
"You think they already ate the giant salamander? How’s that going to be sentenced now?"
"The giant salamander’s got a high economic value; I’ve heard a single one is worth over a thousand."
"This is an endangered species; anyway, they’re done for."
"..."
After the initial shock.
everyone suddenly felt their mood lift.
Evil people are always brought down by other evil people.
The fact that Qi Lianglei and the others specialized in catching fish that had been released for merit was just too vicious.
And before this, no one had been able to deal with them.
Luckily this time they ran into Qin Mu.
They turned around and hit them with an extra sentence.
"I just don’t know how many years they’ll get. I hope they give them a longer sentence, let them see what it’s like to steal other people’s merit!"
"Don’t you think that giant salamander showed up way too weirdly? Could it be retribution triggered after they stole that merit?"
"That’s actually quite possible. This retribution came right on time, landing exactly at this moment."
"Hope they’ll be a bit more careful in their next life and never do this kind of heartless thing again!"
"..."
Everyone hummed little tunes and cracked melon seeds.
They discussed the matter at their ease.
In a corner of the crowd.
Wan Zhongyuan’s eyes flickered slightly, and he also felt a bit emotional.
He was actually quite satisfied with this outcome.
At least...
these disgusting actions could finally be punished.
From now on, when people doing animal releases run into this kind of situation...
they can also make use of the weapon of law, learn from Qin Mu’s methods to lawfully defend their rights, and give people like Qi Lianglei a lesson!
...
Jin City.
With the abrupt halt of the trial, the citizens of Jin City were also a bit stunned.
People from all walks of life...
had actually been secretly following this trial, wanting to see the final sentencing of Qi Lianglei and the other six.
The result...
before they could wait for the sentencing of the seven, they instead got the news that the trial had been suspended.
The media in Jin City were even quicker to catch the hot topic and rushed to report on it.
"Shocking! The trial is suddenly halted halfway through, and the reason turns out to be the discovery of IT!!"
"Men fall silent, women burst into tears— for everyone’s safety, you must never catch this kind of fish!"
"The seven warriors’ first time in court, their survival instinct explodes as they rack their brains to defend themselves, yet still fail to turn the tide!"
"What kind of ending could possibly match the ups and downs of the seven’s journey so far? Rumor has it they’re very likely to be convicted of three charges!"
...
One local news item after another kept flooding people’s screens.
And as it turned out—
this hot topic the media grabbed...
hit the Jin City public’s taste perfectly.
People in all trades were actively following this matter.
For a time.
The reputation of Qi Lianglei and the other six...
spread throughout the whole city.
Almost everyone knew that there was this seven-person mini-gang in Jin City that specialized in scooping up fish other people had released.
What people in Jin City talked about most over tea and meals...
was when the case of Qi Lianglei and the others would be tried again.
"Sigh, look how this turned out, it’s even more exciting than chasing a drama. I thought the verdict should’ve been out by now, but who knew they’d add so many extra episodes."
"No idea how many years’ imprisonment they’ll end up with. Anyway, I’ve heard that now nobody dares to stroll around the downstream section of the Jin River release site."
"Releasing fish upstream and catching fish downstream—only they could come up with something like that."
"So shameless. If you ask me, this is exactly what you call retribution."
"Where there’s cause there’s effect; their retribution is... Qin Mu?"
"..."
No one talked about this more than the fishing guys.
The fishing circle in Jin City...
was no stranger to Qin Mu; he had once caused a huge sensation in their circle.
This time.
Even though Qin Mu hadn’t targeted them, as long as it involved fish, it concerned them.
They put in so much effort to fish.
One person, one rod.
And they still often came back empty-handed.
After learning about what Qi Lianglei and the other six had done, they were really furious.
Catching fish was one thing, but they specifically went after other people’s merit fish from animal releases.
They really weren’t afraid of shaving years off their lives.
...
Jin City.
Legal Pioneer Law Firm.
"Have you heard? That bunch who were in court against Qin Mu, there’s been another development."
After the trial was suspended.
The most talked-about case in the firm was also this one.
As a member of the firm, Hu Xingzhi...
broke out in a cold sweat after he learned how the trial had gone.
Fortunately, he hadn’t rashly taken on representation in this case.
Otherwise he’d be so pissed off right now he’d practically be in the hospital.
Who could have imagined that among the fish scooped up by Zhang Chunhua, Qi Lianglei and the others there would actually be a giant salamander!
"This case... everyone should pay close attention to it and treat it as a negative example. We must be extremely cautious in future."
After learning about this matter, Zhang Wei immediately convened a meeting of all the firm’s lawyers.
He focused on explaining this case.
So that everyone...
would take it as a warning.
Never let a bit of petty profit drag you under.
As lawyers, sometimes we must not only pick our cases, but also pick our clients.
Some clients...
are walking time bombs, liable to hurt others and themselves.
Besides.
The profit margin on this case was really too small.
Even if the firm had taken it, they wouldn’t have made much money.
Rather than take the risk, they might as well pass this case on.
"Also, in the next few days everyone can put aside what you’re working on and head over to Zizhou to help Wang Dachui develop some new business. The market here in Jin City is pretty much saturated."
After the study session ended.
Zhang Wei began arranging for others in the firm to go over to the neighboring city to help out.
There were too few cases in Jin City.
By contrast.
The market in Zizhou still had plenty of room to be developed.
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