Chapter 44 - 36: Where’s My Child?

Morning. 9:30 AM.

Inside the Lusen City Intermediate People’s Court.

First Criminal Division, deliberation room.

CREAK~

Judge Liu Jianguo pushed open the door to the deliberation room. Before him was a middle-aged man in a judge’s robe, sitting at a desk and holding several documents.

Seeing this, Liu Jianguo paused.

He walked to the man’s side, and his eyes caught the greasy residue of instant noodles in an unwashed bowl. He asked:

"You didn’t go home last night?"

Zhang Bingxin looked up.

Only after recognizing it was Liu Jianguo did he put the documents down. His eyes, rimmed with dark circles, squinted at the blinding daylight outside the window.

"What time is it?"

"9:30," Liu Jianguo replied.

"Tsk, I lost track of time." Zhang Bingxin shook his head.

After court adjourned yesterday, the defense’s words had struck him as odd. He’d puzzled over it all night, only to find that their entire argument boiled down to two words: ’legally sound.’

"Where’s Sun Dong?"

Zhang Bingxin gathered his thoughts and looked around, but he didn’t see the other judge.

"Shhh~"

Liu Jianguo put a finger to his lips, then led Zhang Bingxin toward the wall, gesturing for him to press his ear against it and listen.

Dubiously, Zhang Bingxin did as he was told.

The next second, a faint, angry voice echoed through the wall.

"What do you mean by that? So my son just died for nothing, is that it?!"

"Good heavens, is there no justice in this world?! My son was murdered, so how can you insist he started the fight..."

"You just wait! I’m going to the provincial authorities to report you all!"

"..."

Zhang Bingxin looked up at Liu Jianguo.

"Old Sun is suffering in the interrogation room. The plaintiffs, Li Youcai and Liu Cui, are in there with him." Liu Jianguo felt a pang of sympathy for Sun Dong.

Even though he couldn’t see Sun Dong through the wall.

It was obvious the man was probably in agony right now.

"Never mind Old Sun."

Liu Jianguo suddenly spoke again.

"Head over to the litigation service center. The defense lawyer is here."

’That Xu De?’

Zhang Bingxin froze, then frowned.

’A visit to the service center isn’t usually a problem...’

’After all, that’s where evidence is submitted.’

’The problem is, court just adjourned yesterday. He’s submitting new evidence now?’

’If he had this evidence, why didn’t he just use it during the trial?!’

’He couldn’t have just found it. It’s only been one night; that’s not realistic.’

He mulled it over.

"Let’s see what he’s up to," Zhang Bingxin said, getting to his feet.

The two of them left the deliberation room and headed for the litigation service center.

The litigation service center was located in the case filing hall.

Overall, it looked a lot like the counters at a bank where you’d handle business or withdraw money.

When the two of them arrived at the counter, they saw Xu De, who had clearly been waiting for some time.

Upon getting a clear look at him, Zhang Bingxin was slightly taken aback.

’This guy... why does he have dark circles, too?’

Zhang Bingxin’s brow furrowed slightly.

It was one thing for him to have dark circles; the defense’s arguments had kept him up all night.

But why did Xu De have them too?!

’Did he not sleep either? No, that can’t be right. If he wasn’t sleeping, what was he doing?’

Xu De didn’t overthink it. Seeing them arrive, he cut the chatter and passed the materials directly through the window.

"This is a witness statement being submitted by the defense. Please review it."

’Testimonial evidence?’

’Someone else is submitting a testimony? Whose?!’

Liu Jianguo was stunned. He skeptically flipped through a few pages, his suspicion growing with every word he read.

The documents... shockingly contained a collective denouncement of Li Youcai and Liu Cui by several villagers from Li Family Village. It seemed fine on the surface, but... if he remembered correctly...

The ’testimonial evidence’ that favored Li Youcai had come from these same people!

’Are these people retracting their statements?!’

"What is this..."

Liu Jianguo looked up, but unfortunately, Xu De appeared exhausted and didn’t offer any further explanation. He just left a single sentence and hurried away.

"These are the testimonies of eyewitnesses from Li Family Village. Please have the court verify them."

With that, the man was gone.

Liu Jianguo looked down at the multiple copies in his hand, his mouth hanging open. He was at a complete loss for words.

"Aren’t these two relatives of Li Youcai? Why did they suddenly retract their statements?"

Retracting a statement was no small matter.

If your false statements had a major impact on a case, the court could very well convict you of perjury!

Therefore, most people would never recant after giving a recorded testimony. But... Li Sheng and his wife had done just that.

And they were even relatives of Li Youcai and Liu Cui!

"The one who died was Li Erniu, who was one of their own younger generation. And they don’t usually have any dealings with Wang Mei or Xu De..."

"So how did that lawyer get them to recant?!"

Liu Jianguo simply couldn’t figure out the logic behind it.

"Forget it. Let’s find someone to verify this first,"

Zhang Bingxin said with a shake of his head and a sigh.

Great. He’d been investigating all night, and instead of decreasing, his workload had just increased.

Just as the two were about to head back...

"Judge Zhang? Judge Liu?"

A somewhat familiar voice called out.

The two stopped and turned to see a familiar face before them.

The newcomer was...

The prosecutor, Wang Wei!

Wang Wei, also sporting dark circles and a weary expression, stood before them holding several documents.

"What a coincidence."

Wang Wei pushed the evidence he was holding through the window. "This is the information the prosecution needs to submit."

Liu Jianguo asked, "What is it?"

A smile of relief spread across Wang Wei’s face as he said:

"Testimonies."

"After court adjourned yesterday, I figured the recess wouldn’t last more than a few days, so time was tight."

"So I didn’t sleep either. I re-examined all the testimonies."

"Finally, I managed to filter them down to the most complete and credible ones, represented by Li Sheng’s statement."

Wang Wei was miserable.

Yesterday, a single sentence from Xu De had reduced the credibility of the testimonies to nearly zero. But the prosecution couldn’t proceed without them, so his only option was to re-examine everything, bit by bit.

There were over forty people at the crime scene, resulting in dozens of statements. It took him all night to achieve this small result.

Wang Wei thought he’d just submit this, go back, and get some proper sleep.

Unfortunately...

"Li Sheng and Li Li’s?"

Liu Jianguo suddenly felt a lump in his throat. He glanced at the documents in his hand, then back at the ones Wang Wei was submitting.

Wang Wei asked, "Is something wrong?"

"Not wrong, exactly. It’s just..."

Liu Jianguo paused, gesturing slightly with the files in his hand before speaking quietly.

"The defense lawyer was just here. This is the new evidence he submitted..."

"Li Sheng and Li Li retracted their statements."

"Your whole night’s work..."

Liu Jianguo didn’t have the heart to say it, but he forced the words out:

"...was probably for nothing."

Wang Wei: ?

The smile on prosecutor Wang Wei’s face froze.

...

...

「At the same time.」

Xu De was walking down the hallway, on his way out.

A door beside him was suddenly pushed open from the inside. He instinctively moved to avoid it, but two unexpected people emerged.

It was Li Youcai and Liu Cui, both thin as rails, with foul expressions, muttering curses as they stormed out of the deliberation room.

Both sides froze for a moment upon seeing each other, and then...

"It’s you!"

Liu Cui let out a sharp shriek, her eyes instantly filling with venom.

"You son of a bitch!" Li Youcai also started cursing. "You heartless bastard! We’re being treated so horribly, and you’re still defending that ungrateful wretch..."

"I get it... Did she sleep with you?!"

The two of them were seething with uncontrollable rage, the fury churning in their chests. The look in their eyes made it seem like they wanted to eat Xu De alive.

It couldn’t be helped.

Everything had been going so well.

They could have gotten Wang Qiang sentenced, and they could have made that ungrateful wretch serve them hand and foot for the rest of their lives.

But halfway through, this man had come along and nearly ruined everything. How could they not hate him!

Xu De rolled his eyes, not bothering with the two of them. He walked right past them and headed for the exit.

But...

"Heh heh, just you wait! You just wait!"

Liu Cui muttered, her venomous gaze fixed on his back like a jackal’s.

"The child is in our hands... I don’t believe that ungrateful wretch is so cruel she’d abandon her own child!"

The two had made up their minds.

They would go back and use the child as leverage. They refused to believe that wouldn’t be enough to threaten Wang Mei!

TAP...

Xu De, who had been about to leave, suddenly stopped. He glanced back at the two old fools, a playful smile on his face.

Then, he leaned against the wall, his back to them, and made a phone call.

BEEP BEEP BEEP~

The call connected.

"Hello? I’m looking for Wang Mei, could you please put her on..."

"BZZ... Hello? Lawyer Xu, I’m here."

Liu Cui and Li Youcai stared at him, not particularly interested in the phone call. Just as they were about to leave, calculating how to maximize their gains...

"Ms. Wang, is Xiao Yang there with you?" Xu De asked as he walked away.

Xiao... Xiao Yang?

Liu Cui stopped short. Her gaunt, hollow-cheeked face went blank, and she instinctively looked up at his retreating back.

The next second, a faint voice reached her ears...

"Hello~, I’m here."

It was a child’s voice.

That voice...

’Why does it sound so familiar?’

Liu Cui froze, and when she came to her senses, she stood there stunned and utterly bewildered.

’How can that sound so much like her grandson’s voice?’

’No, it doesn’t just sound like him. It IS him!’

They had lived with him for six years and doted on him endlessly. It was impossible for her not to recognize her own grandson’s voice.

But that raised a question...

Their grandson was in Li Family Village! And while the general store had a phone, Xu De hadn’t called the store—he’d called where Wang Mei was staying!!!

Why was the voice of their precious grandson coming from Wang Mei’s end of the line?!

"Old man, did I just hear our grandson’s voice?"

For some reason, a look of panic began to spread across Liu Cui’s eyes.

"N-No... Impossible."

Li Youcai had heard it too, a look of sheer bewilderment on his face. He wanted to run after Xu De, but the man was long gone.

"Dahu is at Li Sheng’s house, he’s just fine!"

"We handed him over to Li Sheng ourselves yesterday morning before coming to the city."

"How could that lawyer possibly..."

Li Youcai muttered incessantly, trying to brainwash himself.

But it was no use.

He grew more agitated, more anxious, a burning anxiety setting in his heart.

No matter how he spun it, that voice was identical to his grandson’s!

’It can’t be... The boy should be safe back home.’

"Should... should we call the village and ask?"

Liu Cui stammered.

"Right... a phone call, make a phone call!" Li Youcai snapped out of it.

The two of them scrambled toward a public phone. Not even caring about the cost, they dropped in a coin and started dialing.

BEEP BEEP BEEP~

"Hello?"

A familiar voice answered. It was Zhang from the village general store.

Li Youcai, his heart burning with anxiety, said hurriedly:

"Zhang, can you go to Li Sheng’s house and check on our Dahu?"

"Go see if our Dahu is still there sleeping in the village!"

"Hurry, hurry, please hurry!!!"