Where Is My Child!

Morning, nine-thirty.

Inside the Greenwood City Intermediate People's Court.

In the conference room of Criminal Division One.

Creak.

Judge Liu Jianguo pushed open the conference room door. A middle-aged man in judicial robes sat at the desk before him, holding several documents.

Liu Jianguo paused.

He walked over and glanced at the greasy instant-noodle residue in a cup on the desk. "You didn't go home last night?"

Zhang Bingxin looked up.

Once he saw it was Liu Jianguo, he set the documents down and squinted at the harsh daylight outside the window, dark circles under his eyes.

"What time is it?"

"Nine-thirty," Liu Jianguo replied.

"Tch. Lost track of time." Zhang Bingxin shook his head.

After court adjourned yesterday, something about the defense's words had struck him as odd. He had spent the whole night turning them over, only to find that every part of their argument was [procedurally sound].

"Where's Sun Dong?"

Zhang Bingxin gathered his thoughts and looked around, but the other judge was nowhere to be seen.

"Shh."

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

Skeptical, Zhang Bingxin did as he was told.

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

"What the hell d'you mean? So my boy died for nothing, is that it?!"

"Good heavens, is there no justice left? My boy was the one who got killed, so why d'you keep saying he struck first..."

"Just you wait! I'm going to the provincial authorities to report you!"

"..."

Zhang Bingxin raised his head and looked at Liu Jianguo.

"Old Sun's suffering in the interview room. Li Youcai and Liu Cui are in there," Liu Jianguo said sympathetically.

He couldn't see Sun Dong through the wall.

But the man was clearly having a miserable time.

"Forget about Old Sun."

Liu Jianguo spoke again. "Come to the litigation service center. The defense lawyer's here."

Xu De?

Zhang Bingxin froze, then frowned.

A visit to the service center was usually nothing unusual.

After all, it was where evidence was submitted.

But court had only adjourned yesterday. He already had new evidence to submit?

If he had evidence, why hadn't he used it during the hearing?!

Surely he hadn't found it at the last minute. It had only been one night. That was unrealistic.

After thinking it over, Zhang Bingxin stood.

"Let's see what he's up to."

The two left the conference room and headed for the litigation service center.

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

It looked much like a bank counter where people handled transactions or withdrew money.

When they reached the counter, they found Xu De waiting there.

Zhang Bingxin paused when he saw him.

Why does he have dark circles too?

Zhang Bingxin's brow furrowed.

His own dark circles made sense. The man's arguments had kept him awake all night.

But why did Xu De have them too?!

He didn't sleep either? What was he doing all night?

Xu De paid it no mind. As soon as they arrived, he passed the materials through the window without wasting words.

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

Witness testimony?

Someone else submitted testimony? Whose?!

Liu Jianguo blinked and flipped through a few pages. The more he read, the more startled he became.

The materials contained statements from several Li Family Village residents, all denouncing Li Youcai and Liu Cui. Nothing seemed wrong with that, except... if he remembered correctly...

Weren't these same people among the witnesses whose statements favored Li Youcai?!

Were they changing their testimony?!

"What did you..."

Liu Jianguo looked up, but Xu De appeared exhausted. He offered no further explanation, leaving only a single sentence before hurrying away.

"These are statements from eyewitnesses in Li Family Village. Please have the court verify them."

With that, he was gone.

Liu Jianguo looked down at the multiple copies in his hands. He opened his mouth, thought better of speaking, then almost spoke again.

"Aren't these two Li Youcai's relatives? Why have they suddenly changed their testimony?"

Changing testimony was no small matter.

If a false statement had serious consequences, the court could even find you guilty of giving false testimony!

That was why most people didn't retract a statement once it was recorded. Yet Li Sheng and his wife had done exactly that.

And they were relatives of Li Youcai and Liu Cui!

"Li Erniu was the one who died. He was their junior, and they weren't close to Wang Mei or Xu De..."

"How did that lawyer get them to change their testimony?!"

Liu Jianguo couldn't make sense of it.

"Forget it. Let's have someone verify it first," Zhang Bingxin said with a sigh.

Wonderful. After a whole night of looking into the case, their workload had grown instead of shrunk.

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

"Judge Zhang? Judge Liu?"

A vaguely familiar voice called out.

They stopped and turned to find a familiar face before them.

It was...

Wang Wei, the prosecution's procurator!

Wang Wei stood before them with several documents in hand, dark circles under his eyes and exhaustion written across his face.

"What a coincidence."

Wang Wei pushed his evidence through the window. "This is what the prosecution is submitting."

"What is it?" Liu Jianguo asked.

A relieved smile appeared on Wang Wei's face. "Witness statements."

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

"So I stayed up and reviewed every witness statement again."

"In the end, I selected the ones that were more complete and credible, particularly Li Sheng's."

Wang Wei had had a rough night.

One remark from Xu De yesterday had reduced the credibility of the witness testimony to practically zero. But the prosecution couldn't simply do without it, so he'd had to review it all, bit by bit.

More than forty people had been at the scene. It had taken him all night to go through the dozens of statements and come up with this much.

Wang Wei had hurried over to submit them, hoping he could finally go home and get some sleep.

Unfortunately...

"Li Sheng and Li Li's?"

The words caught in Liu Jianguo's throat. He looked at the documents in his hand, then at the ones Wang Wei had submitted.

"Is something wrong?" Wang Wei asked.

"Not exactly. It's just..."

Liu Jianguo hesitated, gestured slightly with the documents in his hand, and spoke after a pause.

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

"Li Sheng and Li Li have changed their testimony."

"That whole night you spent..."

Liu Jianguo hated to say it, but he did.

"...may have been for nothing."

Wang Wei: ?

Procurator Wang Wei's smile froze on his face.

Meanwhile.

Xu De was walking down the corridor on his way out.

A door beside him suddenly swung outward. He instinctively stepped aside, only to see two people he hadn't expected.

Li Youcai and Liu Cui emerged from the conference room, gaunt and scowling, still muttering curses.

Both sides froze when they came face-to-face. Then...

"You!"

Liu Cui let out a shrill scream, her eyes instantly turning venomous.

"You bastard!" Li Youcai started cursing too. "Heartless wretch! We've been treated terribly, and you're defending that ungrateful bitch..."

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

They were beside themselves with rage. It churned in their chests, and they glared at Xu De as if they wanted to devour him.

They couldn't help it.

Everything had been going so well.

They could have gotten Wang Qiang sentenced and made that ungrateful woman wait on them hand and foot for the rest of their lives.

Then this man had come along and nearly ruined it halfway through. How could they not hate him?!

Xu De rolled his eyes. He couldn't be bothered with them and walked straight past.

But then...

"Heh. Just you wait. You'll see!"

Liu Cui kept muttering, her vicious gaze fixed on his back like a jackal's.

"We've got the child... I don't believe that ungrateful woman's so cruel she'd abandon her own child!"

The two made up their minds.

Once they got back, they would use the child to threaten her. Surely that would get to Wang Mei!

Tap...

Xu De, who had been about to leave, suddenly stopped. He glanced back at the two old people, an amused smile on his face.

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

Beep, beep, beep...

The call connected.

"Hello? I'd like to speak with Wang Mei. Please put her on..."

Bzz... "Hello? Lawyer Xu, I'm here."

Liu Cui and Li Youcai watched him, not particularly interested in the call. They were about to leave, already calculating how to get the most out of their plan, when...

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

Xia... Xiaoyang?

Liu Cui stopped. Her hollow-cheeked face went blank as 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 did it sound familiar?

Liu Cui froze. When she came to her senses, she stood there in confusion.

Why did it sound like her grandson?

No, it didn't just sound like him. It was him!

They had lived together for six years and doted on him every day. There was no way she could mistake her grandson's voice.

But that raised another question...

Their grandson was in Li Family Village. Sure, the village shop had a phone, but Xu De hadn't called the shop. He'd called the place where Wang Mei was staying!

So why had they heard their precious grandson's voice on Wang Mei's end?

"Old man, did I just hear our grandson?"

For some reason, panic crept into Liu Cui's eyes.

"No... impossible."

Li Youcai had heard it too. Stunned, he tried to catch up with Xu De, but the man was already out of sight.

"Dahu's at Li Sheng's house. He's perfectly fine there!"

"We left him with Li Sheng ourselves yesterday morning, before we came to the city."

"So how could that lawyer..."

Li Youcai kept muttering, trying to convince himself.

But it was no use.

He grew more restless by the second, his anxiety burning hotter.

No matter how he tried to explain it, that voice had sounded exactly like his grandson's!

It couldn't be... The boy should still be safe and sound back home.

"Should we call the village and ask?"

Liu Cui's voice came out in a stammer.

"Yes... the phone. Let's make a call!" Li Youcai snapped back to himself.

They hurried to a public phone. Too worried to care about the cost, they dropped in a coin and dialed.

"Beep... beep... beep..."

"Hello?"

A familiar voice answered. It was Old Zhang from the village shop.

Desperate for an answer, Li Youcai blurted out:

"Old Zhang, could you go to Li Sheng's house and check on our Dahu?"

"See if he's still there in the village, asleep!"

"Hurry, please! Hurry!"