"They need to be responsible for their own actions. If they willingly signed, they should not deny the donation," the judge’s somewhat aged voice declared. Though not loud, it was full of force, showing no sign of retreat.

"What did he say? What did he say?" Zhang Qingyuan craned his neck from the defendant’s dock, hurriedly looking to Chen Tiankuo. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

Chen Tiankuo was speechless. He had intended to ponder how to respond to the judge’s remarks but was suddenly interrupted by Zhang Qingyuan. With no other choice, he could only continue playing the role of translator for the two of them and translated the judge’s words once more. In fact, the judge’s words were not unreasonable. This was also the basis for the court’s reasoning. Abroad, religious consciousness is strong. And this particular donation... was made to the local church! That’s why the judge considered such an act sacred and great. Donating to the church is considered an act of serving God. Many judges are steadfast believers, so Qin Mu’s comments naturally provoked their anger. Chen Tiankuo even felt that this particular judge’s temper was rather good, considering.

However, Qin Mu was indifferent to the judge’s words. He retorted sharply, "Your Honor, I’d like you to clarify a concept: what exactly is ’voluntary’?"

"Voluntary refers to an act initiated by the concerned party, proceeding from their own will. And as everyone knows, my clients came to your country as tourists."

"Moreover, my clients are farmers. They have tilled the land their entire lives and have very little savings. The tour group they joined cost only 1,000 yuan. How could they possibly donate 20,000 yuan to the church?"

"People from your country often say we are a nation without faith. But I want to assert that we do have faith—our faith has always been in ourselves!"

"Since ancient times, we have believed that human determination can overcome destiny, and that we must rely on ourselves for all things. Whenever we encounter a problem, we strive to solve it ourselves rather than praying to gods or buddhas!"

At this point, Qin Mu took a deep breath and paused. He had thoroughly investigated this donation agreement; it was initiated by the local church, which was calling on the faithful to donate, claiming the funds were for constructing a larger church. Many countries had remarked that his was a nation and a people without faith. Other nations might believe in God or Jesus. But his people, while possessing myths like Pangu creating the world and Nüwa creating humans, regarded these merely as legends, not as the basis of a formal religion. Even Buddhism, a later adopted faith, was introduced from abroad, not indigenous. Their only native philosophies, Taoism and Confucianism, both advocated that humanity could overcome nature and emphasized human agency.

"Therefore," Qin Mu continued, "Zhang Qingyuan and Feng Cuihua have never subscribed to any foreign church’s beliefs, let alone been its devout followers. The two of them were merely tourists passing through, yet somehow ended up signing this document. This inherently defies logic."

"Are you saying... they are not believers?" In the courtroom, the judge with graying temples, after hearing this, didn’t rush to refute but instead earnestly sought confirmation.

"That’s right." Qin Mu nodded. "In our own country, they do not practice any religion, so they certainly wouldn’t adopt one while traveling abroad."

"The donation agreement was signed at an old local church, which is also a famous tourist attraction. The church scenery was indeed beautiful. While the elderly members of the tour group were relaxing, Xu Liming and his associates presented the agreement, deceiving them by claiming it was merely for a commemorative signature. No one suspected anything, and so they signed it, confused and unaware of its true nature."

"That, Your Honor, is the situation. The other party clearly used the guise of church donations to deceive the elderly members of our group. The agreement was not signed willingly."

Having stated these facts, Qin Mu sat back down in his chair. The judge, meanwhile, had his head lowered, seemingly pondering something.

At the same time, over at the plaintiff’s bench, Xu Liming’s expression changed dramatically, and he hurriedly looked at George.

Seeing this, George nodded gravely, then stood up and said, "Your Honor, what the opposing counsel just stated is entirely one-sided."

"Our donation agreement is in black and white, perfectly clear and explicit. Even if they don’t understand our country’s language, they are people in their seventies; how could they not understand the principle that agreements shouldn’t be signed carelessly? How could they possibly just accept whatever we told them?"

"This is clearly a case of these people colluding to retrieve their donation to the church!"

Compared to Qin Mu’s directness, George’s words were more euphemistic, yet firm. Indirectly, he sought to overturn what Qin Mu had just said. He even dismissed the testimonies of the other elderly members from the tour group in one fell swoop, claiming they were all colluding to get the donation money back.

"Your Honor," George continued calmly, "in Ames City, it’s not uncommon in recent years to see incidents where people regret signing donation agreements."

"Some people aren’t even church members; they donate simply because they want to accumulate good karma and hope to go to heaven someday."

"Furthermore, no one stipulated that this particular fundraising was exclusively for church members. Perhaps the two elderly individuals on the opposing side... were once cruel villains, ruthless killers even."

"Perhaps they had a crisis of conscience, realizing the multitude of their past sins, and decided to donate to the church to alleviate their guilt and seek redemption..."

His words were eloquent, his rhetoric persuasive. Once again, he refuted Qin Mu’s earlier points, this time from the perspective of who qualifies as a donor or believer.

After hearing this, the judge nodded repeatedly, appearing to quite agree with George’s argument.