Chapter 36: Where is My Child! |
9:30 AM.
Inside the Greenwood City Intermediate People''s Court.
In the deliberation room of the Criminal First Division.
"Creak."
Judge Liu Jianguo pushed open the door to the deliberation room. Before him sat a middle-aged man in a judicial robe, holding several documents at his desk.
Seeing this, Liu Jianguo paused.
He walked over to the man''s side, catching sight of the unwashed, greasy instant noodle bowl out of the corner of his eye, and remarked, "You didn''t leave last night?"
Zhang Bingxin looked up.
Upon recognizing Liu Jianguo, he set the documents down. His eyes, framed by dark circles, narrowed against the glaring daylight streaming through the window.
"Half past nine," Liu Jianguo replied.
"Tsk, I lost track of time." Zhang Bingxin shook his head.
After court adjourned yesterday, the defense''s arguments had left him with an unsettling feeling. He had agonized over it all night, only to realize that their entire approach was completely compliant with regulations.
"Where is Sun Dong?"
Gathering his thoughts, Zhang Bingxin glanced around but failed to spot the other judge.
"Shh."
Liu Jianguo made a gesture for silence, then led Zhang Bingxin toward the wall, motioning for him to press his ear against it and listen.
Zhang Bingxin doubtfully complied.
A moment later, through the wall, a faint, furious voice echoed in his ear.
"What do you mean? So my son just died for nothing?!"
"Good heavens, is there no justice left in this world? It was clearly my son who was murdered, yet you insist he threw the first punch!"
"Just you wait, I''m going to the provincial capital to sue you all!"
"..."
Zhang Bingxin looked up at Liu Jianguo.
"Old Sun is suffering in the inquiry room right now. The plaintiffs, Li Youcai and Liu Cui, are in there." Liu Jianguo expressed a degree of sympathy for Sun Dong.
Although he could not see Sun Dong through the wall, it was glaringly obvious that the man was currently enduring sheer agony.
"Let''s leave Old Sun be," Liu Jianguo suddenly added. "Let''s head over to the Litigation Service Center. The defense lawyer has arrived."
That Xu De?
Zhang Bingxin froze for a second, then frowned.
Usually, a visit to the service center meant nothing out of the ordinary. After all, it was the place to submit evidence.
But the problem was, court had just adjourned yesterday, and he was already submitting new evidence?
If he had evidence, why didn''t he just use it during the trial earlier?
It couldn''t possibly be something he found at the last minute; finding evidence overnight was simply unrealistic.
He pondered the matter.
"Let''s go see what he is trying to pull." Zhang Bingxin stood up.
The two men exited the deliberation room and headed straight for the Litigation Service Center.
The Litigation Service Center was located within the case filing hall. Its overall appearance was not much different from a bank teller''s counter where people handled transactions or withdrew cash.
When the two arrived at the counter, they happened to see Xu De, who had been waiting for quite some time.
Upon getting a clear look at him, Zhang Bingxin stared in mild surprise.
''Why does this guy also have dark circles under his eyes?''
Zhang Bingxin furrowed his brow.
It was one thing for himself to have dark circles, considering he had been kept awake all night by the opposing counsel''s arguments. But why did Xu De have them too?
''Did he not sleep either? That is not right. If he wasn''t sleeping, what was he doing?''
Xu De did not overthink it. Seeing the staff arrive, he wasted no words and directly passed the documents through the service window.
"This is a testimony submitted by the defense. Please review it."
Verbal evidence? Someone was actually submitting testimony? Whose testimony?
Liu Jianguo was taken aback. He skeptically flipped through a few pages, only to grow increasingly astounded with every word.
The document clearly showed several villagers from Lijia Village collectively condemning Li Youcai and Liu Cui. It looked fine at a glance, but if his memory served him correctly...
The testimonies favoring Li Youcai had been given by these exact same people!
This group was changing their statements?
"You..."
Liu Jianguo looked up, but unfortunately, Xu De appeared mentally exhausted. Instead of explaining further, the lawyer left a single sentence and hurriedly departed.
"This is the testimony of the eyewitnesses at the scene in Lijia Village. Please have the court verify it."
With those words, the man vanished.
Liu Jianguo looked down at the multiple copies of the document in his hands, opening his mouth to speak, hesitating, and then stopping himself again.
"Aren''t these two relatives of Li Youcai? Why did they suddenly recant their testimonies?"
Changing a statement was no minor issue. If someone spoke recklessly and caused significant consequences, the court could easily sentence them for perjury!
Therefore, most people rarely overturned their testimonies once recorded, yet Li Sheng and his wife had done exactly that. Even more shocking, they were Li Youcai and Liu Cui''s relatives!
"The victim is Li Erniu, who could be considered their junior, and they never had any ties with Wang Mei or Xu De anyway..."
"How on earth did that lawyer get them to change their tune?"
Liu Jianguo simply could not wrap his head around the logic behind it.
"Forget it, let''s just find someone to verify this first." Zhang Bingxin shook his head and sighed deeply.
Great. After staying up all night investigating, their workload hadn''t decreased; instead, it had piled up even higher.
Just as the two were about to head back...
"Judge Zhang? Judge Liu?"
A somewhat familiar voice rang out.
The two halted their steps and turned to see a recognizable face standing before them.
The newcomer was none other than the public prosecutor, Wang Wei!
Sporting prominent dark circles under his eyes, Wang Wei stood there clutching several documents, looking utterly exhausted.
"What a coincidence." Wang Wei slid his evidence through the window. "This is the information the prosecution wishes to submit."
Liu Jianguo inquired, "What is it?"
A relieved smile graced Wang Wei''s face as he replied, "Testimonies."
"After court adjourned yesterday, I figured the recess would only last a few days, so time is tight. So I skipped sleeping and completely re-examined all the testimonies. Ultimately, I filtered out the more complete and credible ones, represented by Li Sheng."
Wang Wei was suffering.
Yesterday, a single sentence from Xu De had slashed the credibility of the testimonies to near zero. But since the prosecution could not just abandon the witness statements entirely, he had no choice but to meticulously re-examine every single detail.
With over forty people at the crime scene and dozens of statements to parse, a whole night of scrutiny had only yielded this tiny sliver of progress.
Wang Wei thought to himself that he would submit this quickly and then go home to get a good night''s sleep.
Unfortunately...
"Li Sheng and Li Li''s testimonies?" Liu Jianguo suddenly felt a lump in his throat. He glanced at the documents in his own hand, then looked at the ones the prosecutor had just handed over.
Wang Wei asked, "Is something wrong?"
"Well, there isn''t exactly anything wrong, it is just..." Liu Jianguo paused, subtly gesturing toward his own paperwork before speaking in a hushed tone. "The defense lawyer was just here. This is the new evidence he submitted... Li Sheng and Li Li have changed their statements. Your all-nighter..."
Liu Jianguo could barely bring himself to say it, but he managed to finish, "...might have been completely for nothing."
Wang Wei stared blankly.
The smile froze entirely on the prosecutor''s face.
...
...
Meanwhile.
Xu De was striding down the hallway toward the exit.
Suddenly, a door beside him was pushed open from the inside. He instinctively sidestepped, only to see two completely unexpected people stumble out.
Emaciated, wearing hostile expressions, and muttering curses under their breath, Li Youcai and Liu Cui shoved their way out of the deliberation room.
Both sides froze for a split second upon meeting, and then...
"It''s you!" Liu Cui let out a shrill shriek, her eyes instantly clouding over with malice.
"You son of a bitch!" Li Youcai began cursing alongside her. "You heartless piece of trash! We''ve been bullied so terribly, yet you''re out here defending that ungrateful wretch..."
"I get it now... Did she sleep with you?!"
The two of them were consumed by absolute fury, wrath boiling fiercely in their chests. Their glares suggested they wanted nothing more than to eat Xu De alive.
It couldn''t be helped. Everything was supposed to go perfectly. They could have gotten Wang Qiang sent to prison and forced that ungrateful wretch to serve them hand and foot for the rest of their lives.
But halfway through, this man had single-handedly ruined everything. How could they not despise him!
Xu De rolled his eyes, utterly unbothered by the two fools. He walked straight past them toward the exit.
However...
"Heh, just you wait! You just wait!" Liu Cui chattered viciously, staring daggers into his retreating back like a ravenous wolf. "We have the child in our hands... I refuse to believe that ungrateful wretch is cruel enough to abandon her own flesh and blood!"
The two had already made up their minds. As soon as they got back, they would use the child to blackmail her. They refused to believe that wouldn''t force Wang Mei''s hand!
"Tap..."
Xu De, who had been on his way out, suddenly stopped in his tracks. He glanced back at the two old coots, a mocking, playful smirk spreading across his face.
Then, leaning against the wall with his back to them, he pulled out his phone and made a call.
"Ring, ring, ring."
The call connected.
"Hello? I am looking for Wang Mei, please put her on the line..."
"Buzz... Hello? Lawyer Xu, I am here."
Liu Cui and Li Youcai stared at him, largely uninterested in his phone call. Just as they were about to leave, calculating how to maximize their profits...
"Ms. Wang, is little Yang with you right now?" Xu De asked as he began walking away.
Little... Little Yang?
Liu Cui froze, her hollow-cheeked face going slack. She instinctively looked up at the lawyer''s retreating back.
A second later, a faint voice drifted into her ears.
"Hello, I am here."
It was a child''s voice.
This voice... why did it sound so familiar?
Liu Cui stopped dead in her tracks, completely dumbfounded and riddled with confusion.
Why did that sound exactly like her grandson? No, not just sounded like him, it was him!
They had lived together for six years and doted on the boy like he was their most precious treasure. There was absolutely no way they wouldn''t recognize their own grandson''s voice.
But that raised a glaring question...
Their grandson was back in Lijia Village! Even if the village convenience store had a phone, Xu De hadn''t called the store; he had called wherever Wang Mei was staying!!!
Why on earth was their precious grandson''s voice coming from Wang Mei''s end of the line?
"Old man, did I just hear our grandson''s voice?" For some inexplicable reason, panic began to set into Liu Cui''s eyes.
"Im... Impossible." Li Youcai had heard it too, utter bewilderment written all over his face. He wanted to rush forward and chase down Xu De, but the man had long since vanished from sight.
"Dahu is at Li Sheng''s house, staying there perfectly fine! We handed him over to Li Sheng with our own hands before coming to the city yesterday morning. How could that lawyer possibly..."
Li Youcai kept muttering to himself, desperately trying to convince his own mind.
But it was utterly useless. He grew increasingly restless, his anxiety mounting, a burning sensation of panic searing through his chest.
No matter how you sliced it, that voice was identical to his grandson''s!
It couldn''t be... The child should be safely tucked away back in their hometown.
"How about we call the village and ask?" Liu Cui asked, her voice trembling.
"Right... the phone, make a phone call!" Li Youcai snapped out of his daze.
The two frantically scrambled toward a public payphone, completely ignoring the cost. They shoved a coin into the slot and began dialing.
"Ring, ring, ring."
"Hello?"
A familiar voice answered; it was Old Zhang from the village convenience store.
Burning with unbearable anxiety, Li Youcai practically screamed into the receiver:
"Old Zhang, go check on my Dahu at Li Sheng''s house! Go see if my Dahu is still sleeping in the village! Hurry, hurry! Move faster!!!"
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