And the court also ruled that custody of the three children would go to Li Ranran. Gao Jiantong had to pay Li Ranran twenty thousand yuan a month in child support for the three kids, and on top of that, he had to give Li Ranran ten thousand yuan a month... because Li Ranran said she couldn’t lower her pre‑marital standard of living just because she got divorced.

This meant that every month Gao Jiantong had to pay Li Ranran thirty thousand in total... and he’d have to keep paying for at least ten‑plus years, until the three kids all became adults.

As for the details of the rape case, Lawyer Gu also read them carefully.

There were surveillance cameras in Gao Jiantong’s home, but only in the living room and the second bedroom; there were no cameras in the master bedroom or the bathroom.

According to the court files...

Gu Chen learned that the reason they convicted Gao Jiantong of rape was based on the following points:

First, there were injuries on Li Ranran’s body—man‑made injuries.

Second, that day, Li Ranran ran out of the master bedroom looking emotionally broken, then was carried back into the bedroom by Gao Jiantong, and during that time she was struggling.

Third, there was Gao Jiantong’s DNA under Li Ranran’s fingernails.

Other than these, there was nothing else.

Relying on this evidence, plus Li Ranran’s own testimony, they directly convicted him.

In addition to this evidence, there was also the testimony of the eldest son.

The eldest son of Gao Jiantong and Li Ranran was named Gundam.

Gundam, as a witness, gave testimony in court...

He said he saw with his own eyes his dad raping his mom.

In the surveillance footage, there was indeed a scene of Gundam going into the master bedroom.

At the time, Gao Jiantong’s second son and daughter were both asleep...

Only the eldest son heard a noise at three in the morning and went into the master bedroom...

Gundam was eight years old this year. Li Ranran got pregnant before the wedding and married with a big belly, so after eight years of marriage, Gundam was also about eight.

It had never occurred to Gao Jiantong that his eldest son would come out and give false testimony...

With his heart like dead ash, Gao Jiantong was unable to defend himself in court, utterly at a loss. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

This even made Gao Jiantong start to doubt whether Gundam was really his biological son...

In the end, the court convicted him at first instance... handed down a sentence, and the whole set of procedures was completed.

Gu Chen knew that if he wanted to prove that Gao Jiantong was innocent, the first step was to prove that what happened was not rape.

What exactly happened between the two of them that night?

There was no camera in the master bedroom. Aside from Li Ranran, Gundam, and Gao Jiantong, no one knew what happened in the master bedroom that night.

The court didn’t have any direct evidence to show that Li Ranran was raped by Gao Jiantong.

They could only make a determination based on the injuries on Li Ranran’s body, plus Gundam’s testimony and the surveillance footage.

Even with the system turned on, it would be very hard to directly prove Gao Jiantong’s innocence.

These days, as long as a man and a woman are alone in a room and the woman calls the police...

The man will definitely be taken away for questioning; what the investigation finds is another matter.

There was no one else in the room, and there was no surveillance video. That was the sticking point.

If this sticking point couldn’t be resolved, there’d be no way to directly clear Gao Jiantong’s name.

So was it rape or not?

Gu Chen hadn’t checked the system and, for now, he didn’t know what the truth was.

If Gao Jiantong went to prison and got a three‑year sentence, he really wouldn’t be able to compete for custody.

How can an inmate raise children?

Even with money, fighting for custody would be extremely difficult.

And if Li Ranran were to give up custody of the three kids, she wanted ten million in cash from Gao Jiantong’s family.

....

"This case isn’t as easy as it looks." After getting the file, Gu Chen spoke up.

"Yeah, boss, this case is really hard to fight. Otherwise, the first trial wouldn’t have been lost so fast. The key thing is, if Gao Jiantong really broke the law, he’s at a huge disadvantage in the property division." Xue Qingqing said.

"And everyone suspects that Li Ranran might be cheating. If she didn’t have someone on the side, she wouldn’t be so determined to get a divorce." Xue Qingqing said.

Gu Chen smiled, rubbed Xue Qingqing’s head. "You’ve gotten a lot smarter."

Xue Qingqing giggled. "Yeah."

Gu Chen asked, "Why would she be so dead set on divorcing?"

Xue Qingqing said, "Because it doesn’t make sense. Li Ranran gets a hundred thousand a month in hand, doesn’t have to work, doesn’t have to do housework, lives a great life, her daily hobbies are playing games—Peacekeeper Elite and Honor of Kings—just enjoying life every day. Why would she suddenly report her husband and have him thrown in? Then also divorce and split the property? That only happens if she’s got someone outside."

"Once there’s someone outside, she’ll start thinking about divorce, she’ll start thinking about splitting assets." Xue Qingqing said.

Gu Chen smiled. "Exactly. So what you mean is, Li Ranran staged a rape case, then racked her brains to set up a Hongmen Banquet for Gao Jiantong. Once he went to prison, she could easily get divorced."

"Because in outsiders’ eyes, their relationship looked great, so it’d be hard to get divorced. If Li Ranran just filed for divorce, it’d probably be hard for her to get this much property. She wanted more, so she used this method."

Gu Chen said, "But that’s just our theory. We still have to investigate the specifics."

Soon, Gu Chen went to the detention center and met with Gao Jiantong.

When he saw Gu Chen, Gao Jiantong remained silent and didn’t say a word from beginning to end.

Gu Chen said, "Hello, I’m your lawyer, Gu Chen."

Gao Jiantong said, "Hello, Lawyer Gu."

There was something off about Gao Jiantong’s complexion; it was hard to tell what he was thinking.

Gu Chen said, "I’ve gone through the details of the case. Right now there’s no one else here, and there’s no camera. I want to ask you a few questions."

Gao Jiantong said, "Go ahead and ask, Lawyer Gu."

Gu Chen asked, "Did Li Ranran cheat on you?"

Gao Jiantong had thought Gu Chen would ask him whether he had raped Li Ranran or not...

But what Lawyer Gu asked right off the bat was about Li Ranran.

Gao Jiantong said, "I don’t know. I’ve always been busy with work. I don’t go home a lot. But there are cameras in the house. She doesn’t go out much either. Most of the time she’s at home. She does go out sometimes, says she’s going out with her girlfriends, with friends, but she’s never stayed out overnight. She comes home every day to see the kids."

"Our relationship has always been very good, really good. Right up until the moment she called the police and accused me of rape, I still thought our relationship was great."

Gao Jiantong shook his head and sighed.

Gu Chen wrote it down.

Gao Jiantong asked, "Lawyer Gu, why don’t you ask me whether I really raped Li Ranran or not?"

Gu Chen said, "Would it help if I did?"

Gao Jiantong fell silent.

Gu Chen said, "If I ask and you answer, will the judge believe you? Will they acquit you? If you did it, then even if I take the case, there’s no way you walk out innocent; at best I can try to get your sentence reduced. If you didn’t do it, then I’ll definitely fight to get you acquitted. So asking that is meaningless."

After hearing this, Gao Jiantong said, "Lawyer Gu, I’ll fully cooperate with you."

Gu Chen said, "Tell me everything that happened that night. Every detail, clearly. And think carefully if there was anything unusual about Li Ranran during that period."

Gao Jiantong said, "I really didn’t rape her. Strictly speaking, nothing happened between us that night."

"Our relationship was very good."

"But that night, it was pouring outside. I came home and saw her; she was still in bed waiting for me."

"I did want to have sex, but she refused. After she turned me down, I didn’t feel in the mood anymore."

"Then she started discussing with me that she wanted to buy her younger brother a place, a fully paid apartment for six million. I told her I didn’t have that much cash on hand, the company still needed capital, and that I could help her brother with the down payment."

"But she said her brother only gets married once, and the bride’s family wanted a full‑payment apartment. We ended up arguing over this. After all, six million isn’t six hundred; I really didn’t have that kind of cash lying around."

"Then she said she was going to run away from home and rushed out. I saw it was pouring outside, so I hurried out to stop her and carried her back. She started struggling like crazy..."