Free Web NovelChapter 617: 587_1
That evening, after having dinner.
Mr. Zhao arrived early outside the small building. Xia Momo called him several times, but he wouldn’t come in, saying he’d just wait for Zhou Ning to finish eating and take a walk. Helpless, Xia Momo came back and reported the situation to Zhou Ning.
"Why don’t you take a walk with him? According to what you said today, although he stopped Mr. Qu, he’s still not over it. If you don’t talk with him, he probably won’t sleep well for the next few days," said Mr. Xia, removing his glasses, looking at Zhou Ning with some confusion.
"Is there a problem?"
Zhou Ning shook his head with a smile and quickly tried to reassure him.
"What kind of problems could we personally have? It’s just that he’s tied up over a case, that’s all. Grandpa, don’t worry. Who could I possibly have an issue with? Even with Momo, all I get is bullied, and none of you take my side. You all just help her bully me."
Xia Momo poked Zhou Ning’s arm, her face full of reproach. Zhou Ning quickly put his hands together in a praying gesture.
"I’m wrong. I’m willing to let you bully me; it’s something I’ve been looking forward to. Happy now?"
Xia Momo rolled her eyes at him, but the old man started to laugh.
"They say ’choose a wife, choose virtue,’ and Momo rightfully earns the title of virtuous. You, lad, just count yourself lucky. And hold on, don’t go out just yet. I have a question for you: I heard from Momo that you don’t want to hold a wedding banquet?"
Zhou Ning glanced at Xia Momo and replied with a smile:
"Look, you just praised your granddaughter-in-law, and now you start questioning. Since Momo’s father is in that sensitive position, and I’m involved in this line of work, it’s better to just have a small supper with family or friends. We don’t need a big banquet. We’re looking at travel routes; we plan to have a road trip, sort of a wedding journey."
The second aunt gathered close, clearly displeased.
"I won’t intervene in other matters, but when it comes to getting married, I think Qidong should go back and have a ceremony. Relatives have been asking me about it. If you marry quietly, it’s like you’ve done something shady. The wedding should be celebrated with fanfare. Momo should at least wear a wedding dress; otherwise, she might regret it."
Xia Momo laughed, holding Zhou Ning’s hand close to her.
"As long as I’m with Zhou Ning, I’m content with anything. My dad agrees with Zhou Ning’s decision too. We don’t want to draw attention. Besides, I don’t want Zhou Ning to be watched. What if some girl gets ideas about him? I’d be at a big loss."
The second aunt couldn’t hold back a laugh, and Mr. Xia assured her:
"See, as long as the young couple is happy, that’s what matters. Old two’s daughter-in-law, don’t get worked up about this. We’ve done what we should; let them decide on their wedding. I agree with Momo on not drawing attention to avoid envy.
As for the distant relatives in Qidong, I think it doesn’t really matter. I’m over eighty, and I’ve learned to let things go. Relatives, what are they? When you’re doing well, they want to soak up your success, and when you’re not, they mock you. Zhou Xiaozhou was most bullied by these people when he was little.
A surname, a bit of blood relation—you can’t just cut ties, but thinking about it, what are relatives worth? Life isn’t for showing off to others, and whether a couple is happy doesn’t need others’ validation. You just need to live well for yourselves. Anyway, discuss it amongst yourselves and go check on Mr. Zhao; he must be getting impatient."
Zhou Ning slapped his forehead, then remembered Zhao Xinli and dragged Xia Momo out the door.
Once outside, as expected, Zhao Xinli was loitering around the flower bed in front of the small building. A covered streetlamp had been installed there, brightly illuminating every corner. Not even a person could hide, let alone a bird flying through—while it lacked a bit of a secluded pathway’s charm, it was extremely safe.
Seeing Zhou Ning coming out, Mr. Zhao hurried over and glanced at the time on his phone. He was about to complain but smiled instead.
"What did you eat? I could have starved, waiting for another round. Aren’t you supposed to see Mr. Xia home? I’ll go with you."
Zhou Ning didn’t bother with small talk; he walked home with Xia Momo. They didn’t go upstairs; they only turned around to walk towards Building 7 after seeing Xia Momo waving from the kitchen window.
Approaching the entrance to their building, Zhao Xinli suddenly grabbed Zhou Ning’s arm, his face twisted with frustration.
"Tell me, Zhou Xiaozhou, can’t you be more proactive? Inside the interrogation room, I only understood bits and pieces. Even though I stopped Mr. Qu, it was because Director Xu’s glare shook me. Tell me, what’s with this case? How can it be over without a clear conclusion?"
Zhou Ning stopped walking and looked earnestly at Mr. Zhao.
"From which perspective are you asking me this question? As forensic doctor Zhao Xin, as Zhao Xinli personally, or as my friend, wanting to discuss hypotheticals?"
Mr. Zhao blinked his eyes and thought for a moment. He was adept at interpersonal relationships and went straight to the point.
"I get it now. From a professional standpoint, the issue with the case investigation is led by the criminal police brigade; we’re just supporting, and we can’t mix personal emotions. From a personal angle, I can’t disclose secrets. What’s there to choose from? Let’s just go with the last one. How about we just discuss a hypothetical scenario?"
Zhou Ning nodded and smiled directly.
"Let me give you an example. This story is a bit long, but it’s a true case.
"In the early 1980s, on the eve of the Spring Festival, Yingzi’s family in a small town in the north was tortured and killed. A neighbor passing by their courtyard saw the door ajar and went in to check, finding the parents, brother, and the family dog all dead.
"The scene of death was extremely gruesome, the eye sockets of the three people were empty, all their clothing ripped to shreds, and their bodies appeared as though they’d been mincemeal, with dozens of cuts on each, deep to the bone. There were bloody footprints on the ground, a complex array of sizes, and the dog had even been thrown into a pot and boiled.
"The neighbor was so frightened that they immediately reported it to the police. An hour later, the police arrived, and after investigation and the forensic doctor’s judgment, concluded that the three had been administered veterinary anesthesia drugs, so they bore no defensive wounds. After a detailed inspection, they found intestines frozen hard on the clothesline in the yard, also belonging to the three deceased.
"The neighbors said that Yingzi’s dad was a skilled worker at the town’s middle-plate factory, the woman was the factory’s accountant; both were competent in their professional skills and modest and amiable in character, never having argued with anyone. The family had two children, the elder daughter Yingzi, twelve years old, and the younger son Huzi, six—the latter being one of the deceased—all of whom were well-behaved.
"The police began an investigation and search, but the missing Yingzi was nowhere to be found. The more silence there was, the more the police felt that Yingzi was in grave danger. However, the details of the case were eventually cleared up. Half a month before the crime, Yingzi’s dad had criticized a young man during a skill competition he was guiding at the factory. That man was the factory manager’s brother-in-law.
"This brother-in-law was a good-for-nothing. He’d been arrested and detained for hooliganism for half a year before, claiming to have mental health issues and was released. He started to accost Yingzi after school, and in one instance had even snatched away her cotton trousers.
"Yingzi’s dad could not stand for this and went to argue with the factory manager, causing a scene inside the open door of the manager’s office. The factory manager apologized to Yingzi’s dad and promised to fire the brother-in-law. Three days later, the tragedy occurred at Yingzi’s home. Everyone said the brother-in-law was the murderer, but he had an alibi and a psychiatric evaluation to prove his innocence.
"In the end, the matter came to nothing, but Yingzi disappeared just like that. Yingzi’s house was also taken over by the factory manager, claiming it was a haunted house that no one would want to inhabit. Laughably, the house was eventually given to the brother-in-law. He took his ten-year-old son and married the mayor’s daughter, ascending to the position of an assistant manager at the factory.
"In the blink of an eye, it was the 1990s. The factory was downsizing, and the old factory manager retired. This brother-in-law took over, converting some of the factory land as his personal property to clear debts. After a few transactions, he transformed into a business owner of a leather factory and a steel plant, thriving in the foreign trade business.
"That’s when a girl named Yunis appeared—chic, beautiful, with impressive speech and abilities—captivating both the brother-in-law and his son Dazhuang. Yunis moved between the two men as if interested in both, but not becoming overly close to either.
"In pursuit of Yunis, the brother-in-law wanted to kick Dazhuang out of the company. Dazhuang, however, had won over a group of people to sideline his own father. The relationship between the two became increasingly strained. The brother-in-law nearly died in a car accident, and Dazhuang was cut while drunk. It was at this time that the local provincial public security bureau received an anonymous letter.
"The letter contained photos, documents, accounts, recordings—all sorts of things, all the crimes of the brother-in-law and Dazhuang, including collusion with various local departments. The task force came to investigate quickly because the evidence was unequivocal. freewebnovёl.ƈom
"However, through fingerprints, an old forensic doctor in the local city discovered after reviewing the files of the time that Yunis was actually the same person as the missing Yingzi. Although her face and fingerprint sizes had changed, the features were consistent. However, this was just his judgment, and he wrote a comparison opinion letter which he stored in the evidence room. freewebnσvel.cøm
"Later, through interrogation, the brother-in-law confessed to illegally occupying state assets, selling state assets, bribery and accepting bribes, murder, among a total of twelve crimes. As for his son Dazhuang, he also admitted to gambling, involvement in organized crime, murder, and causing injury, among eight crimes.
"Of course, when confessing to crimes, the brother-in-law also confessed to killing Yingzi’s family that year—the drugging, the violence, the murder—he confessed all the details. Of course, the task force also found Yunis, since father and son had given her assets worth millions.
"Yunis didn’t keep anything, but the task force suspected her involvement in the two men’s car accident and injury, launching an investigation. The forensic doctor reached out to Yunis and talked to her for quite some time. That night, someone went to retrieve the files of that year and realized that Yingzi’s fingerprints were not among the collected ones. Only then was Yunis cleared of suspicion.
"Many people in the town said that Yunis was Yingzi, returned to seek revenge, causing one member of that family to receive an immediate death sentence and another life imprisonment. As for the retired old factory manager, his past bribery was discovered, landing him in prison for his remaining years.
"Moreover, leaders from various departments in the town, including local police station personnel, over a hundred were dealt with. Townspeople were saying that Yunis single-handedly enabled the quickest cleanup of criminal activity and punishment of corrupt officials.
"Of course, there were dissenting opinions within the task force; some thought Yunis was behind the car accident and injury case and wanted to prosecute her as well. However, when the files were transferred to the prosecutor’s office, they were rejected and sent back for additional evidence.
"After two such cycles, failing to find new effective evidence due to serious insufficiency, the public security agency decided not to transfer the case for prosecution."
Mr. Zhao listened carefully, forgetting to keep walking, his expression going from puzzled to enlightened to excited, trying to grab Zhou Ning’s hand but Zhou Ning evaded.
"I understand now. You’ll never tell if I don’t ask, right?"
Zhou Ning shook his head.
"Every case I’ve been involved with, I am clear in my conscience, without concealment, bias, or judgment based on my personal beliefs and value system. So a story is just a story, it’s only for the entertainment."
Mr. Zhao stopped Zhou Ning, pressing further,
"Just one last question, how long does it take for two rejections? They can’t detain a person indefinitely, right?"
"You manage to pass your criminal law exams, and I don’t even know how you did it. For a case returned for additional investigation, it should be completed within one month and limited to two supplements.
If the prosecutor still deems the evidence insufficient after the supplement, they can make a no-charge decision. So, the maximum ought not to exceed four months."
Mr. Zhao sighed with relief.
"So, it means everything could have been settled by 2013. That eases my mind. Alright, I’m going home to sleep."
