Mr. Guo, you wouldn’t want to go to prison, would you...
As soon as the words were out,
Guo Tu was already drenched in sweat. His breath came in ragged gasps as he clenched his jaw.
’Ten years... He could get me ten years!?’
’I’m only 22. In ten years, I’ll be 32... What could I possibly do after I get out? It’s already hard enough for an art student to find a job, let alone one who’s been in prison for ten years and has forgotten all his skills!’
Meanwhile, to the side...
’So it was you!’
Officer Li Xiang, who had been about to light a cigarette, heard the voice and his brow twitched involuntarily. He glanced up at Xu De, his face a mask of surprise.
If he remembered correctly,
’Last year, when he came back from Li Family Village, hadn’t Wu Kang put him on an extortion case?’
’That’s right, the victim’s name was Zhang Hu.’
’A man who was in the middle of a divorce suddenly claimed he’d been extorted for a full two million!’
Li Xiang, for the life of him, couldn’t figure out what the man had been thinking.
Given the severity of the crime, the judge ended up sentencing the perpetrator to ten years, a verdict Li Xiang had never quite understood.
Until now...
’So you were behind it!?’
Looking at Xu De, Li Xiang opened his mouth to speak, then closed it. He swallowed the words that rose to his lips several times, but in the end, he said nothing.
’If he was the one involved... then it all made sense.’
’As for reopening the case?’
’Putting aside the fact that the case was already closed...’
’...the defendant had already confessed. It was confirmed extortion. No matter what, that established fact couldn’t be changed, so there was no need to reinvestigate.’
As for Guo Tu...
At that moment, Guo Tu’s breathing was shallow and quick, and he was swallowing repeatedly.
’He really hadn’t expected this. All he did was become someone’s lover to make a little money...’
’...and now he was mixed up in this mess!’
’Damn, a divorce case...’
’In a divorce case, a civil matter of morals, the other side got the other man sentenced to ten years!?’
Ordinarily, Guo Tu might have marveled at it, but now...
...he was the second "other man."
"I... I..." Guo Tu stammered, unsure of what to say.
Seeing his reaction,
Xu De’s tone suddenly softened, as if he were counseling him. "However," he said.
"Then again, if you’re willing to disclose the significant assets Yang Chunping spent on you as part of the divorce proceedings... my client can consider not pressing charges against you."
’Disclose the assets?’
Guo Tu fell silent for a long while—though, of course, not for *too* long.
"I’ll do it!"
"Yang Chunping spent a total of twenty thousand on me. She spent it all behind her husband’s back..."
’He sold her out that easily?’
Li Xiang, standing to the side, was surprised for a moment, but then he thought about it and understood.
’Putting aside the old saying ’every man for himself’...’
’...just look at the relationship between Yang Chunping and Guo Tu. They weren’t husband and wife, nor were they a couple.’
’He wasn’t after her for her looks, and she wasn’t after him for his money.’
’It was purely a matter of getting what they each wanted, basically a friends-with-benefits arrangement. Besides, the man was willing to be a homewrecker. How high could you expect his moral standards to be?’
"Oh, right, she also gave me a watch, but I have no idea how much it’s worth."
Guo Tu quickly added, racking his brain to spill every last detail.
Xu De, however, turned to Li Xiang.
"Officer Li."
"My client now suspects that the source of this money his wife, Yang Chunping, was spending is illegitimate. It might be connected to the trafficking case. We ask that the police conduct a thorough investigation."
Li Xiang: ?
’Seriously? Is everything somehow related to human trafficking now!?’
’Besides, Wang Yu isn’t even here! He doesn’t even know about this money yet, and you’re claiming he’s suspicious?’
’Is this even a trafficking case in the first place? You can’t just slap that label on it!’
Li Xiang stewed for a long moment before finally taking a deep breath. "Fine," he said.
He gave in.
When faced with something like this, Li Xiang had no choice but to concede.
Anything involving a child had to be treated with the utmost seriousness. When a concerned party raised an issue, the police were generally obligated to investigate the lead. What’s more, Guo Tu was the one who had directly harmed the child. As soon as the issue of the funds was raised, it had to be thoroughly investigated.
As for Xu De...
Xu De paused, then turned his head to look at Guo Tu.
"Mr. Guo, thank you for your cooperation."
"Rest assured, I will persuade my client not to press criminal charges against you."
"Of course, if any other issues come up... we’ll need your continued cooperation."
Hearing this, Guo Tu breathed an inward sigh of relief.
"Thank you... thank you!"
Xu De smiled and turned to leave. "You’re welcome."
Before leaving, Li Xiang looked at Guo Tu, not knowing what to say.
’Wang Yu could press charges in this case.’
’But just because he chooses not to doesn’t mean no one else will!’
’The prosecutor’s office, once they saw the child, would absolutely file public charges against Guo Tu. So even if Wang Yu didn’t do it... someone else would drag Guo Tu to court!’
Li Xiang thought about it, but in the end, he kept his mouth shut.
’It’s not like Xu De lied.’
’Why would he bring it up for no reason? Did he think the lawyer hadn’t made enough work for him already!?’
He walked out of the holding room.
「In the main hall.」
Wang Yu was in the middle of asking an officer about his child’s condition.
When he saw Xu De reappear,
he cut his question short and walked over to Xu De’s side. He asked, looking puzzled:
"Lawyer Xu, how did it go?"
"It went well. We have another piece of evidence."
Xu De smiled.
’Legally speaking, Yang Chunping had managed to hit every single red flag!’
’Abuse, infidelity, transferring joint assets during the marriage...’
"That’s good."
Wang Yu fell silent. It was clearly good news,
but the image of his child that surfaced in his mind kept him from smiling. His heart ached.
"Mr. Wang, you should go to the hospital and see your child now."
"We can start preparing for the lawsuit."
Xu De said.
As he finished speaking,
Wang Yu was silent for a moment, then nodded and hurried outside.
Watching him go, Xu De and Lin Yue couldn’t help but feel a little emotional.