Now that the document was signed, the donation had to be made. Furthermore, even abroad, he couldn’t use the fact that Zhang Qingyuan and the others were elderly as a defense. This was because the laws here were completely different from those back home. For the elderly, there were well-established welfare institutions and similar support systems, but aside from that, their treatment was hardly different from that of an average person. There was no so-called preferential treatment. On public buses, one wasn’t required to give up their seat for an older person, nor was it ’elderly first’ in queues. The concept of a duty to support one’s parents didn’t even exist. That’s right—after children reached adulthood, they were no longer obligated to provide for their parents. Even abandoning one’s parents didn’t constitute a crime. In many foreign legal systems, the parent-child relationship wasn’t considered so sacrosanct. The prevailing view was that although children benefited from their parents’ upbringing, parents were free once their children reached adulthood. They no longer needed to pay for their children’s living expenses or marriages, nor did they have the right to demand their children support them. So, using their age as a defense was also a dead end.

Behind this shady tour group... there must be someone well-versed in the law, Qin Mu rubbed his forehead and let out a light sigh. The entire incident, if not perfectly seamless, was certainly thorough. When it comes to lawsuits... a regular lawyer would surely lose and have to pay.

「Midnight that night.」

「Ames City.」 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

Qin Mu stepped off the plane, setting foot on foreign soil. Observing the surrounding buildings and facilities, My first impression... is that it’s plain, just average. It’s large, but it can’t compare to the airports back home at all.

Afterward, he took out the address Zhang Qingyuan had given him and hailed a taxi, heading towards the hotel where Zhang Qingyuan and the others were staying.

Along the way, the taxi driver sized him up, attempting to converse in the local language. "Hey, buddy, you’re dressed pretty well. Why are you headed to a slum area?"

Qin Mu was momentarily taken aback by this. Before coming, he had specifically studied some of the local language to avoid communication barriers. Although not very familiar with it, he could barely understand what the driver was saying.

So, Old Zhang and the others are actually staying in a slum?

You really do get what you pay for, he thought, the corner of his mouth twitching; he was speechless at Old Zhang’s decision. The compensation from the previous lawsuit had started to come in. Zhang Qingyuan... was by no means short of money now. Perhaps his mindset hasn’t shifted yet, so he still chose such a cheap tour! After all, even a domestic tour of a few days cost nearly a thousand. Going abroad would naturally be even more expensive! The only reason it’s so cheap is that they cut corners. The accommodations, for instance... they’d never put Zhang Qingyuan and his group up in a high-end guesthouse or a five-star hotel.

「Forty minutes later.」

The taxi arrived at its destination, and he soon saw Zhang Qingyuan and Feng Cuihua. Behind them followed a large group of elderly people with graying hair, mostly in their sixties and seventies. All their eyes were focused on him, filled with curiosity.

When Zhang Qingyuan saw him, he hurried over, his expression somewhat excited. "Xiao Qin, you’re finally here!" He introduced Qin Mu to the group of elderly people: "Let me introduce you all. This is Xiao Qin, also known as Qin Mu. He’s quite famous back home."

Hearing this, the crowd looked at Qin Mu skeptically. They weren’t quite convinced by Zhang Qingyuan’s words.

"Alright, first tell me in detail what happened," Qin Mu said with a light chuckle, following Zhang Qingyuan into the cheap hotel.

The hotel’s exterior was shabby and dilapidated, and an unpleasant odor wafted from the surroundings. But for these elderly people who had signed up for the tour group, they seemed to be used to it.

The group entered the hotel and squeezed into the room Zhang Qingyuan and Feng Cuihua shared.

Zhang Qingyuan began with a heavy sigh, "It’s all because of what happened a couple of days ago. They’ve been pressuring me to pay up. They said if I don’t, I probably won’t be able to leave and might even die in this foreign country."

As soon as he finished speaking, the expressions of the other elderly people listening turned grim. His words had also struck a nerve with them. At sixty or seventy years old, they all had strong ties to their homeland and believed in the principle of ’fallen leaves returning to their roots.’ Indeed, they didn’t have many years left to live, but they certainly couldn’t die abroad. Their visit this time was for tourism. Whatever happened, they couldn’t bear being detained overseas. Therefore, they had all chosen to swallow their anger and pay, believing it was better to avoid further trouble.

"They’re just trying to scare you. It’s not that serious," Qin Mu said casually after hearing the story, offering some comfort. "Until a court hears the case and issues a judgment, this is just an ordinary civil dispute. It doesn’t involve criminal liability, let alone detention. Even if you lose the case in court, you’ll only have to pay compensation. You won’t go to jail."

Although the legal system here is based on case law, it also incorporates codified statutes. Actions that warrant criminal penalties are clearly detailed in the law. What the law does not prohibit is permitted. Their actions were not serious enough for imprisonment.

After Qin Mu’s explanation, everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief, though they also felt a twinge of regret. Their money had already been handed over, and now it was impossible to get it back.

Zhang Qingyuan looked at Qin Mu and couldn’t help but add, "Because of this, our tour group has been stuck here for the past two days, unable to do any sightseeing. A lot of people are planning to go home, but Xu Liming and his people refuse to book our flights, claiming the tour isn’t over yet."