Chapter 62: Requesting to Go into Battle! |
Two days later.
November 19, 12:17 PM.
"Sun Zhigang, your actions were clearly minor, the damage was slight, and the harm was not significant. Given that there was a valid reason, you lost control of your emotions, there was no premeditation, and you didn''t injure anyone..."
"The school has forgiven you and will not pursue the matter, and you have no prior criminal record."
"We will not file a criminal case. Instead, it will be handled as a public security offense, with a ten-day administrative detention."
"However, considering other factors, the administrative detention will be suspended."
Greenwood City, inside the Criminal Investigation Detachment.
Detachment Leader Wu Kang stood in the temporary detention room, looking at the expressionless middle-aged man inside.
Wu Kang spoke up:
Hearing this, Sun Zhigang, who had been detained for two days, stood up without a word. He grabbed his coat and walked out.
As he passed by Wu Kang, the detachment leader suddenly reached out and caught him by the shoulder.
"Old Sun..."
"The murderer in this case has already been caught. If you really want to vent your anger... go find a good lawyer and squeeze some compensation out for the family."
"Don''t make things too ugly for the brothers, putting us in a difficult position where we can''t back down."
Sun Zhigang gave a quiet grunt of acknowledgment, then brushed past him and walked outside.
Watching his receding figure, Wu Kang sighed.
Sun Zhigang had smashed the main gate to pieces.
That was right—he had even flattened the security room along with it.
Gathering a crowd to cause trouble—if they really wanted to escalate things and strictly apply the law, it could even rise to the level of a severe crime, potentially carrying a sentence of three to seven years in prison!
But fortunately, back in 2002, few people who ran construction sites were simple networkers.
Coupled with the fact that there was indeed a valid reason, and Feng Yi didn''t want to blow the matter up too much, they decided to minimize the issue and handled it with a ten-day administrative detention.
Ultimately, they even suspended the administrative detention, and he was released on the third day.
"Sigh."
Wu Kang recalled the case involving two lives. He silently pulled a cigarette from his chest pocket and took a deep drag.
With his decades of experience and from the perspective of a detachment leader, this case...
"It''s tragic."
After speaking, Wu Kang walked outside.
Being a criminal investigator was a high-risk, depressing profession, so he was quite used to it.
But... Sun Zhigang wasn''t used to it.
...
Outside the temporary detention room.
Seeing Sun Zhigang come out with his coat draped over his shoulders, Tang Xiaohu, the young worker sitting on the steps, quickly stood up to greet him.
"Foreman."
Sun Zhigang nodded. He stayed silent for a moment before speaking:
"How many from the site went in?"
Tang Xiaohu replied, "Not counting you, Foreman, there were nine. Two are detained for seven days, and the other seven are detained for three days."
Hearing this, Sun Zhigang said without hesitation:
"For those seven, pay them a full month''s wages based on a mechanic''s salary as compensation for poor site management."
Tang Xiaohu asked again, "What about the other two?"
"Pay them for three months."
Sun Zhigang stated, "For the rest who showed up, pay them seven days'' wages based on their own job position."
Tang Xiaohu nodded, inwardly clicking his tongue.
Most of the nine who went in were unskilled laborers. A mechanic''s monthly wage... was more than double theirs!
Those two locked up for seven days got to rest inside for a week without working, and when they came out, they could directly collect half a year''s worth of their regular wages...
They probably wouldn''t have a single complaint.
"What about those things I asked you to do?"
Sun Zhigang asked as he walked toward a black sedan in the parking lot.
Tang Xiaohu quickly caught up and replied:
"It''s all done. I''ve found out pretty much everything about the case files from the police."
"I''ve also memorized the law firms in Greenwood City."
With that, Sun Zhigang got into the car. Tang Xiaohu opened the driver''s side door, sat down, and buckled his seatbelt.
"Take me to a reliable one," Sun Zhigang said from the back seat.
Tang Xiaohu thought for a moment and said:
"There are quite a few famous law firms in Greenwood City."
"For example, Jinmao, Maosheng, Zhenghe, Yang Teng, Rude..."
"Which one is the most formidable?" Sun Zhigang asked.
Tang Xiaohu thought it over and replied:
"''Jinmao''. It''s the only boutique law firm in Greenwood City. They have seven golden lawyers internally, but for the past two days, they''ve publicly claimed to be undergoing internal restructuring."
"Next is ''Rude''. Their law firm has four golden lawyers... Although it''s fewer, all four specialize exclusively in criminal cases."
"Then let''s go to Rude."
"Alright."
With that, Tang Xiaohu turned the car key.
The engine roared to life.
...
...
At 1:30 PM, Greenwood City.
A black sedan parked at Rude Law Firm.
The brakes squeaked.
"Hello, how may I help you?"
Inside Rude Law Firm, seeing Sun Zhigang and Tang Xiaohu walk in, an intern lawyer immediately stood up to greet them.
"We want to file a lawsuit," Sun Zhigang said with a dark expression.
"Do you have an appointment?" the intern lawyer asked again.
"No," Sun Zhigang replied.
Hearing this, the intern lawyer''s eyes lit up.
A case without an appointment... Could it be his turn to make a name for himself?!
"Come, please follow me this way."
He warmly led them toward the guest reception area. After arranging for them to sit down, he poured two cups of hot tea.
"May I ask... what kind of case do you want to file?"
Tang Xiaohu took the opportunity to say bluntly:
"A homicide case."
The intern lawyer was slightly stunned, feeling a bit out of his depth.
A criminal homicide case... This was a major case, and even senior lawyers wouldn''t dare take it on rashly. He thought for a moment, suppressing his inner thoughts, and asked again:
"Could you be a bit more specific?"
"It''s a lawsuit involving two lives. One victim is a middle-aged woman, and the other isn''t even 18 yet."
Tang Xiaohu said, "We are the plaintiffs."
"The defendant''s name is Liu Jingqi, and there are two others named Jiang Yu and Qiao Wang. They are all girls, aged 16, 17, and 17."
Hearing the first part, the intern lawyer was already somewhat hesitant. And the second half... made him unable to hold back from speaking.
"This... It will be very difficult to fight for a huge amount of compensation."
With three parties committing the crime, the responsibility would be pushed back and forth. During this period, it was highly likely that each party''s share would be calculated using the minimum amount of compensation. After all, being under 18 meant they would receive a lighter or mitigated sentence.
But...
"I don''t fucking want compensation."
Sun Zhigang suddenly spoke out in anger. He took a deep breath and said in a low voice,
"I want that animal Liu Jingqi to pay with her life!"
Pay with her life...
That meant trading a life?
The intern lawyer''s smile froze, and he instinctively denied it:
"That''s impossible, absolutely impossible!"
Sun Zhigang frowned, his voice rising,
"I''ll pay two hundred thousand! As long as you can make that animal die, I''ll give your law firm two hundred thousand!"
The intern lawyer shook his head.
"This isn''t a question of money..."
"Three hundred thousand!" Sun Zhigang offered again.
In 2002, three hundred thousand was truly a fortune, enough to make one instantly rich. If taken to Haicheng, it could even buy a nearly one-hundred-square-meter apartment in the central district.
But the problem was...
"This really isn''t about the money."
The intern lawyer felt somewhat helpless.
Not far away, a senior lawyer noticed this, frowned, and strode over.
"What''s going on?"
The intern lawyer hurriedly stood up and said, "It''s a criminal homicide case, two lives. They want to buy one of the defendants'' lives..."
The plaintiffs in a double homicide case?
The senior lawyer''s eyes lit up. This was a massive advantage!
The intern lawyer added, "The three defendants... none of them are 18."
Suddenly, the senior lawyer paused.
"I apologize, but our Rude Law Firm cannot handle this case."
This... It was impossible for them to pay with their lives.
It wasn''t that the probability was low. It was that paying with their lives was a demand that absolutely could not be met!
Let alone immediate execution, even a death sentence with a reprieve—which these days might mean they could get out after twenty years—could not be handed down.
"We can add more money," Tang Xiaohu stood up and said.
"This isn''t a question of money, but rather that the demand truly cannot be fulfilled. Not to mention that you can only entrust a lawyer to act as a civil agent to assist the public prosecution at most," the lawyer stated.
"If you do not plan to change your demand... then it''s not just Rude, there isn''t a single law firm in the whole country that can take your case."
Hearing this, the two fell silent.
A long while passed.
"Sorry to bother you."
Sun Zhigang walked out, leaving only his back visible. After exiting the law firm, he got straight into the car.
He closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead, feeling mentally exhausted.
Tang Xiaohu also remained silent.
It was so quiet inside the car that they could hear each other breathing.
A long while passed.
The sound of a phone vibrating rang out.
Sun Zhigang opened his eyes, glanced at the lit screen, and answered.
"Hello?"
From the speaker came a voice: "You''re out?"
"I''m out," Sun Zhigang said with his eyes closed.
"Where are you?"
"Outside Rude Law Firm."
"Okay."
The call disconnected.
Sun Zhigang showed no intention of leaving.
A long while passed.
A person pulled open the back door of the car and sat down heavily. It was none other than the boss of the food company, Zhang Hu.
Zhang Hu, who had rushed over, looked at his childhood friend beside him, smacked his lips, and said with some emotion:
"Be more level-headed when doing things from now on."
Sun Zhigang didn''t reply, silently leaning back against the seat.
Zhang Hu paused, then looked at Tang Xiaohu. "Xiaohu, what''s going on?"
Tang Xiaohu replied, "No lawyer is willing to take the case..."
Sun Zhigang was unwilling to accept this.
Zhao Li had followed him for so long, from the countryside to the city, and died just like that, without any warning.
Yang Jiale was gone too. This child, whom he had watched grow up for nearly ten years, just died in two seconds. It felt so sudden, so incredibly unreal.
Moreover... the police actually told him that if the other party found a good lawyer, it was highly likely they would get a light sentence of seven years. If they behaved well, they might even get out in less than five years!
Two lives, for just five years... Motherfucker, he could potentially be sentenced to seven years just for smashing a gate!
Sun Zhigang felt like it was a fucking joke!
"Because of the lawyer?"
Zhang Hu paused, sort of understanding why. He then fell silent as well; there really was nothing that could be done about this kind of thing.
Until...
"What if I recommend someone to you?" Zhang Hu suddenly spoke up.
"Someone?" Sun Zhigang paused, opened his eyes, and looked at him with a frown. "Who?"
"A lawyer," Zhang Hu said. "A... very formidable lawyer."
...
...
At 3:00 PM.
Greenwood City, Shangzhu Courtyard Teahouse.
Sun Zhigang, Tang Xiaohu, and Zhang Hu were sitting in a room with warm yellow lighting and simple decor.
The door to the room creaked open.
A sharply dressed young man in a suit walked in.
Sun Zhigang looked up at him. Upon seeing his appearance, he paused slightly and frowned, but still stood up and reached out his hand.
"Hello, I am the client for this case. You can just call me Sun Zhigang."
The young man nodded and reached out to shake his hand.
"Hello."
"I am the lawyer introduced by Mr. Zhang. It will be another ten days before the law firm''s practicing certificate is issued, but that won''t affect the entrustment."
"Oh, let me introduce myself."
He paused, then added:
"My name is Xu De. Xu with the double-person radical, and De as in morality and the rule of law."
A faint, professional, and extremely subtle smile appeared on Xu De''s face as he looked at the other party and said:
"It seems..."
"You might need some rather uncommon help."
Sun Zhigang said, "Do you know what I want?"
Xu De nodded, showing no extreme expression as he replied:
"I know. The death penalty."
Sun Zhigang froze. He looked at the young face in front of him, his frown deepening.
Could this guy... really do it?
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