Chapter 115 - 109: An Extremely Vigilant Murderer

Files. The word is simple, but it carries immense weight.

First, let’s look at it from a macro perspective. From ancient times to the present, anything related to records—like the Ministry of Revenue in ancient times or household registration today—has never been simple.

They are all a matter of high position and great power.

This stuff is connected to so, so many things!

Although the file at hand can’t compare, it’s not that far off.

"Laws, files, household registrations... these are all just black words written on a blank sheet of paper."

"And only a select group of people has the right to hold the brush and rewrite them at will."

Xu Huo spoke slowly, looking at the few people around him.

"And this so-called blank sheet of paper is..."

"People."

The blank sheets are people. In other words, when you can write on those blank sheets, it means something else...

Right and wrong, good and evil, innocent or guilty, life or death—it’s all in your hands!

Sentencing?

Criminal law—that doesn’t exist as some fundamental force. It’s just a set of rules created based on human morality and the concept of harm.

In other words, it’s not some cosmic law. The heavens won’t strike you down with a bolt of lightning after you kill someone. Instead, you have to go through a court’s judgment.

And what does the court look at?

It looks at the file!

The court has no ability to turn back time, nor can it travel faster than light to a certain distance from Blue Star and look back through a telescope to see what happened in the past.

It can only see the official file.

And you? You’re the one who can scribble and paint all over that file!

What the court sees isn’t the past, but the result of your scribbling and painting.

If you write that there’s no problem, then there’s no problem. And if there’s no problem with the person, what is there to sentence?!

The people who can hold this brush... are few and far between.

"Cheng Yu’s father!?"

Li Jianye’s brow furrowed. He subconsciously thought of someone who fit the description.

"If she did something at the private high school, her father’s power and influence would be more than enough to forcibly cover it up!"

Cheng Yu’s father is on the board of directors for the private academy.

You can think of a board member as an owner. A private academy might have five or six owners, and he’s one of them.

He has the power to appoint or dismiss the headmaster.

His power is immense. No major school matter can bypass him. If Cheng Yu had gotten into trouble at school, he could probably make it go away just by saying the word.

"Perhaps. But if something like that really did happen, her father would have to be involved."

Xu Huo looked at the file and mused for a moment before pointing to a line of information.

"Cheng Yu only attended the private academy for a year and a half. The other year and a half was at a regular school."

Cheng Yu wasn’t a good student. Her grades at the public school were relatively poor, partly due to her own issues and partly due to the school’s teaching staff.

"Later, a year and a half ago, Cheng Yu’s father became a member of the private academy’s board and had her transferred over."

"But even so, her grades didn’t improve much."

"Something could have happened at either place. But regardless of where it happened, assuming it did, the only person she could rely on was her father."

"Ultimately, it all comes back to him."

Xu Huo came to a conclusion, his finger pressing firmly on the name of Cheng Yu’s father. ’Cheng Yang!’

As for why she could still get into a university despite her poor grades...

Having poor grades doesn’t mean you can’t go to college!

These days, the regulations on admissions and scores weren’t that strict. There were many cases of students with excellent grades who could only end up driving excavators.

Cheng Yang didn’t bother with any of that, simply finding a random school for her.

Xu Huo guessed that he was most likely planning the "gilded sea turtle" routine—in other words, sending her to study abroad.

Most of the schools over there would let you in as long as you paid.

On top of that, most people back then didn’t know much about the situation in other countries, so the mere mention of a foreign university would inspire awe.

And that awe led to respect. Even a degree from a garbage university, once wrapped in the "overseas" veneer, seemed impressive. In some people’s eyes, being able to chat fluently with a foreigner was more impressive than a degree from a 211 university.

Cheng Yang focused on her development, but not on her grades. He cultivated things that ordinary people had never even heard of.

"Bring him in."

Xu Huo looked up at Li Jianye, who was standing to the side in the office.

"Let’s move now, while we have the element of surprise. They won’t have time to react or do anything..."

"Bring him in."

Li Jianye paused for a second. He picked up the list, thought for a moment, and nodded.

’Who to bring in?’

’The school’s director!’

Even if Cheng Yang was really involved, he wouldn’t have hidden it himself. Just as Xu Huo had said, it was something he could accomplish just by saying the word.

If someone gives the order, someone else has to do the work.

’So who did the work?’

’The school administration!’

...

...

Private schools and public schools are different in many ways.

The biggest difference is the internal environment.

The atmosphere is different. At a regular school, the headmaster would love nothing more than for every student, boy or girl, to shave their head and wear bulky, heavy clothing.

But it’s different here.

The rules here aren’t as strict. Students dress fashionably, and many schools even have skirts as part of the girls’ uniform.

By the same token, since the rules aren’t strict...

The teachers naturally aren’t civil servants, but are hired by the school’s ’owners’.

It’s equivalent to a private training center, like a martial arts school, but with a legitimate path for academic advancement.

Correspondingly, making an arrest was also a bit easier.

「On the 27th.」

Forty-seven minutes after Xu Huo gave the order.

At one in the afternoon, a new face appeared at the Zhaozhou Criminal Investigation Division.

「Criminal Investigation Division, Interrogation Room.」

Xu Huo sat in his chair, looking at the man across the table. "Start talking," he said, his expression impassive. "What exactly did Cheng Yu do?"

The interrogation room was unlit, save for a dim desk lamp. The other people in the room stood in the darkness, transformed into silent shadows.