Chapter 26#

Phoenix Man (12)#

Wang Cheng began to make moves on the family’s assets. Although the Qiao family didn’t appear to have much money on the surface, Qiao Yi’s parents had given him a very generous start-up fund.

Beyond that, there were also the Qiao family’s current house and car. These real estate assets could all be used as collateral for certain projects.

If he were to divorce Qiao Yi, this money would become joint debts of the couple, to be borne by both of them.

Transferring assets wasn’t that easy; it required the help of at least a few close people.

Wang Cheng thought of two people: Yu Zhao and his own father, Old Wang.

As for Yu Zhao, he didn’t dare tell him directly—knowing Yu Zhao’s temperament, he would never agree to such a thing. Old Wang was different; he was Wang Cheng’s biological father, and would keep his mouth shut about anything.

At first, Wang Cheng was a bit anxious doing this, but after succeeding once and tasting the benefits, his courage grew.

Transferring assets wasn’t quick, but once he found the right people, it wasn’t slow either.

After finding a suitable path, Wang Cheng took only half a month to “transfer” all their existing assets into his parents’ names.

If Qiao Yi’s parents wanted to give their son anything else, as long as it passed through Wang Cheng’s hands, he followed the same procedure. And so, by the first month after Qiao Yi returned, Wang Cheng finally saw Qiao Yi make his move.

It wasn’t a dramatic scene of heartbreak or an emotional plea, nor was it a face-to-face negotiation with threats and bribes. Qiao Yi didn’t even show up in person—because court staff came knocking, delivering a subpoena.

Qiao Yi had taken the initiative to file a lawsuit, citing a breakdown of marital affection, seeking a divorce.

When he saw the subpoena, Wang Cheng even felt a sense of relief.

He thought about it, then tried calling Qiao Yi. The call didn’t go through—couldn’t reach him.

Staring at the darkened phone screen, Wang Cheng’s face darkened as well. Over the past few days, the Qiao family had treated him poorly. If it had been before, he might have continued to endure it.

But now, there was no need for him to stay with these people who looked down on him. After all, everything the Qiao family was willing to offer had been taken away by him. Qiao Yi was such a big spender, and his measly salary wasn’t worth mentioning.

Without the subsidies from Qiao Yi’s parents, being with Qiao Yi was definitely a loss. He might as well be ruthless now. The Qiao family had money; even if Qiao Yi racked up tens of millions in debt, they could still pay it off.

Soon the court date arrived. During that time, Qiao Yi had blocked all of Wang Cheng’s contact methods and sent his parents on a trip to completely avoid Wang Cheng.

On the day of the hearing, both men arrived at court with their hired lawyers. The couple had been married less than half a year, and hadn’t seen each other for nearly a month. Now, meeting again in court for divorce—it was truly a sad situation.

Qiao Yi and Wang Cheng entered the courtroom at about the same time. When Wang Cheng saw him, he greeted him first: “Qiao Yi, it’s been so many days. You look thinner. Why put yourself through this? How have you been these days?”

Qiao Yi returned the greeting politely but distantly: “I’m fine, much better than you, Mr. Wang.”

He was telling the truth. Over these days, though the work was hard, not having to stay in that house and pretend in front of someone he disliked had been quite good.

Wang Cheng, stung by his words, retorted: “Qiao Yi, you still have that bad temper. If you divorce me, can you find someone better than me?”

After all, there had been some feelings. The thought of Qiao Yi quickly marrying someone else and having children still bothered him.

This time, Qiao Yi ignored him. He had prepared thoroughly for today, treating Wang Cheng as a formidable opponent. After planning for so many days, he wasn’t about to waste precious time acting out an evening soap opera with him.

Both sides took their seats. Since Qiao Yi was the one filing for divorce, the burden of proof was on him. He presented several pieces of evidence to prove that his marital relationship with Wang Cheng had indeed broken down.

Although Wang Cheng had engaged in an extramarital affair, Qiao Yi had not obtained concrete evidence like hotel records, so he decided not to use adultery as a reason.

His main argument was that the two had lacked mutual understanding before marriage, married hastily, and had not established a marital bond, making it impossible to live together.

First, he produced travel records for business trips and footage from the security camera at the door, proving that for more than half of the time since marriage, he had not shared a room with Wang Cheng.

Moreover, from the day of the wedding to the present, they had had no sexual relations—a valid reason for a party being unable to engage in marital relations, which also supported the claim of marital breakdown.

Additionally, Qiao Yi’s lawyer listed instances of Wang Cheng’s premarital deception, demonstrating that the defendant, Wang Cheng, had acted with subjective intent to deceive, obscuring and concealing his family situation to trick Qiao Yi into obtaining a marriage certificate.

None of these points involved the extramarital affair, but the barrage of reasons left Wang Cheng stunned.

He whispered to his lawyer: “In this situation, what’s the probability that the court will rule the marital relationship has not broken down?”

The lawyer replied tactfully: “The other side is well-prepared. But if mediation succeeds, the judge tends to prefer mediation.”

To avoid a high divorce rate, unless a true marital breakdown is established, courts generally lean toward mediation. Only in cases like marriage fraud would a marriage be declared invalid directly; otherwise, divorce is not easily granted.

But the other side was clearly well-prepared. If Qiao Yi remained firm and the evidence was valid, the court would very likely grant the divorce.

Since Qiao Yi had brought the divorce to court rather than opting for a calm negotiation, it meant he was determined.

Wang Cheng felt no need to waste time waiting for the court to suggest mediation. He signaled his lawyer: “Tell them I agree to the divorce.”

After confirming the opinions of both parties multiple times, the judge banged the gavel, declaring that the marital relationship between plaintiff Qiao Yi and the defendant had broken down, and the marriage was nullified as of the same day.

After the divorce came the division of property. Wang Cheng was well-prepared for this; he wouldn’t give up anything he was entitled to.

When the property division was discussed, his earlier casual attitude vanished. Even though his lawyer had reassured him and he was fully confident, he remained intensely focused.

In contrast to his seriousness, Qiao Yi’s side seemed relaxed, waiting for the court to divide the listed assets.

As for Qiao Yi’s premarital property, it went without saying—as long as he could produce proof, Wang Cheng wouldn’t get a penny.

Wang Cheng knew this. After all, once Qiao Yi took it, he’d have to fill the pit Wang Cheng had dug. He maintained a calm and indifferent demeanor throughout.

After the property division was read out, the judge asked both parties if they had any objections.

On the surface, the proposal seemed quite fair—neither side was taking advantage of the other.

“What premarital property? That was the betrothal gift from his parents, brought into the small family—it’s money for both of them!” Old Wang stood up from the gallery, very agitated.

He had come all the way by train, knowing his son was getting divorced, just to see Qiao Yi’s miserable expression.

To be honest, he still thought Qiao Yi was foolish. Divorcing his son—with Qiao Yi’s attitude, what good could he possibly find after leaving him?

But Qiao Yi’s lawyer had seemed very formidable earlier, presenting one piece of evidence after another, some of which involved him. It had made his blood boil, and he’d wanted to stand up several times but had been held back.

After being pulled down, he calmed down a bit. His son had said before that divorce was likely today, and that Qiao Yi would definitely lose out. With that thought, he sat back down.

But hearing this, he couldn’t stay seated any longer. That was a house—a fully paid house. Houses in D City were so expensive. That one house could build over a dozen small villas in their countryside. His son must have been kicked in the head to just give it up like that.

“Order in the court!” The judge struck the gavel heavily.

Old Wang was agitated, his spittle flying: “The one standing there is my son; the one sitting there is my son-in-law. I’m my son’s biological father—how can I not have the right to speak?!”

Wang Cheng’s face turned ugly as he glanced at his father, regretting having agreed to let him come. He emphasized loudly: “I have no objection. If you want more, Qiao Yi, I don’t mind.”

To salvage the goodwill his father had squandered, he put on a show of magnanimity.

Qiao Yi watched the father-son duo playing good cop, bad cop, completely unmoved. He didn’t bother with Wang Cheng’s performance but turned to his lawyer and whispered a few words.

Qiao Yi’s lawyer stood up and said in a firm voice: “My client objects to the division of marital property, on the grounds that the defendant, Wang, has maliciously transferred my client’s premarital property and the couple’s marital property.”