SDT 74

Chapter 74 Why

Yu Xiaowen thought it would be unbearable here, but it wasn’t. He didn’t feel it was that hard, and he didn’t feel time slow down from hardship. His head stayed filled with one huge question.

Why

Only that one word. He sat like a quiet patient in a mental hospital. Thoughts in his head grew like mushrooms after rain. The mushrooms looked the same, only with slight differences between them.

Why.

Why……

Why?

Why!

Why^^

Why= =

……

He didn’t know how many days passed like that before he suddenly got notified that he would be sent back to the Ministry of National Security for questioning.

That was strange. First, it was called questioning, not interrogation. Second, since the case had already been handed to the court, it should mean waiting for public trial, so why would the Ministry of National Security question him again?

He didn’t know if that was good or bad.

Yu Xiaowen seemed to come back to himself, finally returning to his current situation. He felt something bad might happen, so he was nervous.

He was escorted to the Intelligence Department of the Ministry of National Security.

They didn’t take him straight into the interrogation room, but arranged him in a simple temporary detention room. He dragged his rattling chains and sat in a corner. The long iron bench welded to the wall wasn’t wide and met the wall at a right angle, which was uncomfortable for humans. It wasn’t as stable as a corner supported by a triangle.

These days Yu Xiaowen had become a lover of corners. He curled up there naturally until the door opened and many colleagues from the city bureau walked in.

Their faces were all serious.

He stood up at once, happy but puzzled. “Chief Li, Team Leader… why are you all here?”

This time Xu Jie didn’t interrupt. Chief Li came first, and he hugged Yu Xiaowen tightly like a bear, patting his back so hard it made a sound.

“Ah, cough cough!… Huh? Director Li. What’s going on?” He felt he couldn’t breathe and pushed, but didn’t move him.

Everyone’s eyes were red. They looked at him solemnly, as if they were at a funeral.

“Did something change in the case?” Yu Xiaowen guessed, then said, “Could my case involve the military, so it’s being transferred to a military court?”

Chen Zihan shook his head. He opened his mouth but couldn’t speak.

Yu Xiaowen felt like he’d already been tried and executed. He was confused and also restless. After breaking free from Chief Li’s arms, he forced a laugh. “What’s going on? Do I need to lie down on the ground and cooperate with you or something?”

…

After leaving the Intelligence Department’s conference room, Lu Kongyun went to the bathroom and washed his face with cold water for a long time.

He looked at himself in the mirror. His face didn’t look normal, and his hands were shaking. He raised the temperature on his wristband a little higher.

Ye Yisan’s storage device had been repaired. The physical drive was being sent back to Manjing, but the data had already been sent through the network as case evidence. It was a video recording what happened when Yu Xiaowen dealt with Ex and the people from the transnational illegal drug organization in the workshop, and also his confrontation with Ding Qi and his group.

The video was long. It clearly showed how Yu Xiaowen saw through the disguised leader Ex, how he lured him away to message his colleagues, how he got caught and assaulted, and the part described in Ding Qi’s soldiers’ testimonies, the injection scene that even they couldn’t bear to watch.

Until he stopped moving, lifeless, limp, and was dragged out of the room.

Even though they had already imagined the process many times based on testimonies, actually seeing it confirmed that everything really happened. It was impossible to control their emotions.

Lu Kongyun held onto the sink and stared at his own eyes in the mirror. He didn’t know what he was thinking.

Ding Kai entered the bathroom too. His face also looked bad, but unlike the surge of emotion, he looked more afraid. When he saw Lu Kongyun, he froze. He thought about turning around to leave, but Lu Kongyun called out, “Ding Kai.”

Ding Kai had no choice but to stop.

Lu Kongyun walked over, looked at him, and said, “Why are you hiding?”

Ding Kai held himself for a while before saying, “What do you want? Ding Qi isn’t the same as the Ding family. I didn’t know anything.”

“So you’re already trying to distance yourself.” Lu Kongyun lowered his head and wiped his fingers dry with a paper towel. “Then I want to dig Ding Qi out of the Ding family’s grave and throw him into Shijia Valley. Is that fine?”

Ding Kai’s face turned red. His facial muscles twitched for a while, then he said, “He’s already dead, is that still necessary? Even though… even though Ding Qi isn’t the same as the Ding family, I can apologize to that policeman for him.”

Lu Kongyun didn’t speak.

Ding Kai glanced outside. It was quiet. He lowered his voice and said, “You should know this isn’t only the Ding family’s issue. It concerns military honor. The military doesn’t want to make it a big deal. And Ding Qi’s actions were his own fault, not related to the Ding family. If that policeman needs compensation, we can discuss it.”

“The court will handle compensation. I don’t have time.” Lu Kongyun said, “Also, Lu Qifeng should represent the Ministry of National Security to apologize. You don’t have the right. The Ding family will be investigated next. You’re only a pending suspect.”

He looked at the clenched fist under Ding Kai’s sleeve and said, “There’s no camera here.”

Ding Kai looked at this madman from the Lu family. His face showed more expectation than provocation.

He pressed his lips tight. After a long time, he only gritted his teeth and said, “Colonel Lu. I sincerely hope you’ll think about my advice. That way both the Lu family and the Ding family can…”

“I won’t think about it.” Lu Kongyun said.

…

After the solemn viewing ceremony, everyone told Yu Xiaowen the reason. It turned out that experts from an information technology company in C Country had successfully restored the data. His colleagues from the city bureau were called to the Intelligence Department to watch the evidence together, and they were also briefly questioned about Yu Xiaowen’s past.

They told Yu Xiaowen what the video showed. A moment later, the mood in the detention room became lively.

Chief Li and Team Leader Chen sat on the bench. Xu Jie, Old Wang, and the other members of the former Third Squad sat in a row on the iron bench like petty criminals they used to arrest.

Officer Lu Renjia from the Intelligence Department even brought a bag of sunflower seeds and a trash bin and told soldiers to pour everyone water. Everyone first suspected the Intelligence Department wanted to make them look bad, but Yu Xiaowen stammered, saying this was Colonel Lu’s friend.

Lu Renjia leaned against the doorway, smiled, and nodded. After gesturing for them to relax, he left.

Everyone relaxed, grabbed some sunflower seeds, and started chatting while cracking them.

Old Wang said, “Captain Yu, you’re a real hero. Not just us, even the soldiers in the conference room couldn’t hold back after watching that video.”

He choked up. “Captain Yu, after you fell into that valley two years ago, I felt like I had a rock pressing on my heart every day. You went instead of me, so how could I get married? Even now I still haven’t gotten married. Today I can finally let go. I can go on blind dates again.”

Yu Xiaowen laughed. “What? You old bachelor still haven’t gotten married? What a waste of feelings. If I’d known, I wouldn’t have gone instead of you.”

“Speaking of marriage,” Yu Xiaowen looked at Director Li, “I still owe you a hundred seventy-eight thousand. I’ll earn money and pay you back when I get out.”

Old Wang said, “You, if you’re still a cop, saving a hundred seventy-eight thousand won’t be easy. I’ll help you out! I’ve been single for years. I’ve savings if nothing else.”

Xu Jie said, “I’m single too! I’ve got money and nowhere to spend it.”

Director Li waved his hand. “Forget about repayment. It’s enough that you’re back.”

Yu Xiaowen stayed quiet for a while. “…Can I still be a police officer?”

Team Leader Chen Zihan looked at Chief Li, then said to Yu Xiaowen. “The people from the military are in a meeting now. We don’t know what’s going on. We don’t know if you can return to duty.”

Chief Li said, “We need to wait for the official notice. From the current situation, some charges may be dropped. The rest will wait for the court’s judgment. As long as the result is good and Xiaowen gets released first, everything else will be minor.”

Xu Jie said excitedly, “Then can I be in the same team with Master again?”

Chen Zihan said, “Why do you insist on dragging others into your hole?”

Everyone talked cheerfully, but Yu Xiaowen’s mind drifted away.

Director Li meant that if he was declared innocent, he could still be a police officer.

Then if he bought a new wristband of the same model, he could still pair it with the name ‘Officer Xiao Yu.’

Soon, Lu Renjia appeared at the door. “I’m taking him.”

Yu Xiaowen stood up right away and walked toward the door. The chains on him made noise again.

As an officer who didn’t blackmail anyone, Yu Xiaowen.

Could he still eat crabs in the rain together?

…

After some time, Yu Xiaowen received notice that the charges of murder and treason would be dropped, but the charge of dereliction of duty as a police officer would soon go to public prosecution and trial.

A few days later, a guard friend at the detention center told Yu Xiaowen that a lawyer had scheduled a meeting with him that afternoon. The friend said this lawyer was a top-tier figure from the Hongquan Law Firm in Manjing, not someone who could be hired with money. It must have been the second young master of the Lu family who contacted her for him. Yu Xiaowen felt secure now.

Yu Xiaowen felt a bit embarrassed.

In his memory, those top-tier lawyers didn’t really protect the weak. They helped the powerful exploit loopholes in the law. Back in the city bureau, after they risked their lives to send a major crime lord to court, that man hired a defense lawyer with real skill. That kind of scum still got a suspended death sentence, and on appeal it turned to life imprisonment. He might walk free in a little over ten years. After that, Yu Xiaowen always stayed away from such lawyers.

He didn’t want any big-shot lawyer. If he was innocent, why would he need people who distorted truth and falsehood? It would make him feel like he wasn’t really clean, like he was one of those rich criminals who used loopholes to escape punishment.

In the afternoon, Yu Xiaowen met the top-tier lawyer in the visiting room. She was a capable and composed female Alpha.

The Alpha introduced herself. “My surname is Xia. You can call me Lawyer Xia.”

Lawyer Xia placed her handbag on the table and opened it. “Normally I prefer to speak cautiously to my clients, but in this case, I can say with confidence that once we go to court and present the chain of evidence, your situation will not be serious. Now I need to confirm a few matters with you and have you sign the authorization and several documents.”

Lawyer Xia looked at her client, but Yu Xiaowen seemed hesitant.

After a moment, he said, “If the evidence is that solid, can’t I just use a public defender? As long as there’s factual evidence, the trial should be fine. There’s no need to hire such a high-level lawyer. I don’t have… much money.”

Lawyer Xia observed his concealed resistance and said, “I’m the lawyer who knows your case best. For two years, Mr. Lu has been giving me evidence, waiting for the day your case could be overturned. That day has come. We need to make the safest plan. Changing lawyers now would not be wise.”

Yu Xiaowen looked surprised. “Lu Kongyun hired you two years ago to help me…”

“Yes.” Lawyer Xia nodded. “So you don’t need to worry about the money.”

She leaned forward and spoke sincerely. “In truth, even so-called solid evidence isn’t flawless. Trials are full of variables. You don’t know whether the Ding family might do something for their own interests, right? If your lawyer isn’t fully prepared and quick to respond, the atmosphere in court can shift instantly and cause unfavorable results.”

Yu Xiaowen understood. He had seen trials before. Even when evidence was clear, if the defense lawyer pointed out key issues that the prosecutor failed to follow up on, the situation changed, and the criminals gained advantage, which affected the verdict.

He pressed his lips together. Thinking about it made him uncomfortable, but he had to admit she was right. People like Ding Qi’s family could do anything for the sake of reputation.

Lawyer Xia said, “Mr. Lu said that if you really want to change lawyers, you can. It’s your decision. But I advise you not to. Once the trial begins, every piece of evidence, every opponent, every judge, every juror can change. Only your lawyer will absolutely stand by you. Your case involves a powerful family. It’s best not to hand it to someone unknown.”

Yu Xiaowen thought for a moment. His chained hands under the table made faint rattling sounds. He said, “I understand. You’ve done so much for me over the past two years, and I’m still saying things like that. I’m sorry.”

Lawyer Xia said immediately, “I understand your stance as a police officer and your habits. But the judicial system has clear divisions of duty. There’s no moral difference between us. If there weren’t traitors in the police, your undercover colleague wouldn’t have died. Many prosecutors have sent good people to prison for the sake of fame or interest, right? And there are also many examples where capable lawyers overturned cases for innocent people who were already condemned.”

After a moment, Yu Xiaowen said, “Yes, that’s true.”

Lawyer Xia quietly breathed out. After all, when the second young master Lu had said, “If he wants to change lawyers, let him,” his expression had not looked pleasant.

She pushed the documents and a pen to Yu Xiaowen. “You can rest assured. I only use favorable evidence to maximize my client’s benefit. I’ll never twist facts or disgrace my profession. You can trust my ethics.”

Yu Xiaowen lifted his head. “Sorry, I was being stubborn. I’ll cooperate properly. Thank you, Lawyer Xia. I can already tell you’re a very capable lawyer.”

Yu Xiaowen signed, and the guard escorted him out of the visiting room.

At the door, he stood stiffly for a while, then turned around. “Lawyer Xia, is Lu Kongyun outside, he’s not coming in?”

Lawyer Xia froze, surprised he could guess it, and after a moment she answered, “Yes. Do you want me to tell him something?”

Yu Xiaowen said, “Oh. Nothing, I just wanted to say thanks. But he said he’s tired of hearing that and doesn’t want to. Then don’t tell him.”

After he finished, he left the room awkwardly.

Lawyer Xia exited the visiting room through another door.

The second young master Lu stood quietly against the corridor wall. His eyes were already on her as soon as she stepped out, as if he had been waiting for that door to open.

He asked, “How did it go?”

Lawyer Xia made an OK gesture. “He accepted.”

Lu Kongyun exhaled, he stepped away from the wall, and stood upright.

“Let’s go.”