Financial disputes in love have always been a headache. The lawsuit of a pair of lovers in Hangzhou throws us an interesting proposition: Is the economic expenditure during the relationship considered a "bride price"?
In 2018, Mr. Yu and Ms. Xu met in Hangzhou and quickly fell in love. During the relationship, Mr. Yu paid a huge amount of millions of dollars for Ms. Xu, including luxury bags, watches, luxury cars, and overseas vacations. However, just as Mr. Yu was about to propose, Ms. Xu suddenly chose to break up.
After that, Mr. Yu asked Ms. Xu to return the "bride price" fee of 960,000 yuan, but Ms. Xu refused, she believed that these were all voluntarily given by Mr. Yu during the relationship, and the two parties did not talk about marriage, and there was no bride price, and she also paid her youth and chastity in the past two years......
In this case, the other party sued Ms. Xu in court, so how will the court finally decide this matter?
An unstoppable money offensive
Ms. Xu is 26 years old this year, 170 cm tall, with a beautiful face and excellent figure, and Ms. Xu's boyfriend, Mr. Yu, is 165 cm tall, a full 11 years older than Ms. Xu, and he is not very handsome, but he has strong economic strength and several companies.
Mr. Yu pursued the beautiful Miss Xu, but Miss Xu did not agree, she felt that Mr. Yu was not worthy of her at all.
In order to chase down the beautiful Ms. Xu, Mr. Yu not only sent Ms. Xu a bouquet of flowers every day, but also bought various luxury goods for Ms. Xu, and the daily red envelopes and transfers could not be counted on two hands.
Ms. Xu was finally moved by Mr. Yu in the face of daily surprises and various romantic rituals, and Mr. Yu was much more generous than the boyfriend of the same age she had before, so she agreed to Mr. Yu's pursuit and was with Mr. Yu.
After falling in love, Mr. Yu still greeted Ms. Xu with warmth and warmth, gave her meticulous care, sent large red envelopes to Ms. Xu every day, and every one of his gifts was meticulous and luxurious, from brand-name bags to precious jewelry, to luxury travel at home and abroad.
Ms. Xu sometimes complained to Mr. Yu that she was too tired to go to work every day and that she couldn't make any money. Mr. Yu distressed Ms. Xu to quit her job, saying that he would always support Ms. Xu in the future.
The reporter found that every transfer record Mr. Yu gave to Ms. Xu was full of loving words, and even said "I miss you so much" with a red envelope of 5,200 yuan.
Mr. Yu explained that if she quit her job, she would have no source of income, and I wrote these words to find some reason to protect her self-esteem and not make Ms. Xu feel that she was being adopted.
The reporter also found a huge transfer of 110,000 yuan in the transfer record, and Ms. Xu explained that this transfer was Mr. Yu's way of expressing his single-mindedness to Ms. Xu.
In order to make it convenient for Ms. Xu to go out, Mr. Yu also bought a BMW worth more than 400,000 yuan for Ms. Xu as a New Year's Eve gift for Ms. Xu, and also registered the car in Ms. Xu's name.
The two broke up and both lost
After the breakup, Mr. Yu wanted to take back the BMW from Ms. Xu, but Ms. Xu did not agree. Her friends all know that she has this BMW, if she takes it back, she will be very shameless, and this is still given to herself as a New Year's Eve gift, how can she go back?
Mr. Yu saw that Ms. Xu did not want to return it, so he came to the small county where Ms. Xu was located to sue Ms. Xu, and used the money he transferred to Ms. Xu as the bride price for the marriage of the two people, and asked Ms. Xu to return the 960,000 yuan spent to herself.
In court, Mr. Yu presented a series of transfer records and shopping vouchers as evidence of what he called the "bride price", while Xu insisted that the money was given voluntarily by Mr. Yu during the relationship and should not be pursued after the breakup.
Mr. Yu thinks that he fell in love with Ms. Xu for the purpose of getting married, and no one's money is blown by the wind, if he didn't want to marry Ms. Xu, how could he use so much money to talk about a relationship that only lasted for two years.
Mr. Yu also called Ms. Xu's mother "mother-in-law", but Ms. Xu only cared that Mr. Yu did not have a gift from his mother, so she did not approve of this relationship.
Mr. Yu also mentioned to Ms. Xu what he should prepare if he went to Ms. Xu's house, and Ms. Xu said that it was most appropriate to bring red envelopes.
Mr. Yu also asked Ms. Xu what preparations she should make for the marriage proposal in the future.
Because of these chat records, the court said that from Ms. Xu's attitude and acceptance of Mr. Yu's intention and gifts, it can be seen that Ms. Xu knew that Mr. Yu wanted to marry her and had the idea of agreeing to marry.
Therefore, the previous transfer and BMW car can be used as a bride price, and Ms. Xu should return these bride price to Mr. Yu, and the court will require Ms. Xu to return the remaining 860,000 yuan to Mr. Yu after deducting part of the holiday gift.
But Ms. Xu did not agree with this result, she and Mr. Yu were only in a relationship, not engaged yet, and had not even met each other's parents, why did the money spent during the relationship become the bride price money that needs to be returned?
I have been with Mr. Yu for two years, how can the youth and chastity of these two years be measured by money?
And Ms. Xu spent money lavishly under Mr. Yu's various money offensives, did not save any funds, and resigned from her job when she was dating Mr. Yu before, and had no source of income, and it was very difficult for Ms. Xu to return the 860,000 yuan.
So Ms. Xu appealed, she said that she had also given money to Mr. Yu, and she would also prepare red envelopes for Mr. Yu, and had also bought him a LV wallet.
Mr. Yu retorted that he had never received a wallet, and that the money he spent on Ms. Xu was about 2 million, and he asked Ms. Xu to repay 860,000 yuan, and angrily said that Ms. Xu had only invited him for one meal since she realized it.
After the trial, the court upheld the original verdict in the second instance.
Ms. Xu thinks that the only thing she did wrong was to accept too many red envelope transfers from the man, and now she doesn't even dare to talk about love. But Mr. Nie is 11 years older than Ms. Xu, and his losses are estimated to be even more severe than Ms. Xu's.
What was once a romantic story has now turned into an open legal feud, and the relationship between the two men has become strained, with the warmth of the past replaced by cold legal terms. The public has different interpretations of this relationship, with some accusing Mr. Yu of being too materialistic, some sympathizing with Xu's emotional traps, and others questioning where the boundary between love and money lies in modern society.
epilogue
Public opinion on the event was polarized. Some people sided with Mr. Yu, accusing Xu of placing too much emphasis on material things, believing that she should be held responsible for her actions, and now the result is that she is to blame. Others oppose such money collection, fearing that it could encourage those who try to profit from the emotional game while hurting the party who is genuinely giving their affection.
This case illustrates the complexities of romantic relationships in modern society, especially when money and affection are intertwined, and how to define and manage such relationships becomes a tricky one. It reminds us to be sensible in our emotional investment, and it also proposes new ideas about how the law can balance individual rights and fairness
Article source
Shaanxi Legal Network 2022.01.15 "A man in Hangzhou spent 960,000 yuan in love for two years, and sued the woman to repay the money after breaking up, woman: You are wonderful"