Wang Qiang

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Wang Qiang (王强)
Gender	Male
Date of Birth	April 17, 1950 24 41
Age	52 in 2002 24 41
Height	Barely five-foot-three 24
Family	Sun Hong, his wife; Wang Mei, his daughter; Li Yang, his grandson 5 8 32
Role	Defendant in the Li Family Village killing case; represented by Xu De 23 24
Status	Alive; acquitted and released from custody 50
First Appearance	Chapter 5, “Legal Aid!” 5

Background / History

In 1992, Wang Qiang took his fourteen-year-old daughter, Wang Mei, to a convenience store in Yang City. While he turned away to buy a lightbulb, abductors forced her into a car. He chased the vehicle but could not catch it—a memory he still recounts painfully ten years later 5 8.

Wang Qiang and his wife, Sun Hong, searched for their daughter for a decade. A breakthrough came when Greenwood City police arrested a trafficking ringleader who had retained a list of victims. The information led the family to Wang Mei, who had been sold to Li Erniu’s family in a remote mountain village approximately 1,200 kilometers from Yang City 5.

By then, Wang Mei was twenty-four and had a six-year-old son. The years of searching had also transformed Wang Qiang: his formerly strong body had wasted away, and his hair had turned white 5 10.

Appearance

• Emaciated build: Described as “thin as a skeleton,” with bony hands and withered wrists 6 50.
• Weathered face: Rough skin and deep wrinkles; his daughter recognizes him only after studying his face 6.
• White hair: His hair changes from black to white during the ten-year search 10.
• Courtroom appearance: Gaunt and hunched, with cloudy, lifeless eyes; his prison uniform hangs loosely from his small frame 23 24.
• Injuries from the confrontation: A medical report records extensive bruising and trauma, including a blunt-force wound to the back of his head that nearly killed him 44.

Personality

Wang Qiang is intensely devoted to his family. He recognizes Wang Mei despite the drastic changes caused by captivity, embraces her while sobbing, and carries her out of the woodshed. When Li Erniu tries to seize her again, Wang Qiang intervenes faster than the nearby officers, despite his frailty 6 7.

After Li Erniu’s death, he initially assumes that taking a life means forfeiting his own. His despair gives way to grim acceptance once he learns that Wang Mei and Sun Hong are safe together. Nevertheless, he does not abandon hope entirely: he specifically asks for Xu De to defend him 8.

The trial leaves him frightened and overwhelmed. During the prosecution’s argument, he imagines himself as an ant surrounded by towering courtroom figures. His eventual release is so unexpected that he remains dazed through the paperwork and struggles to believe his handcuffs are truly gone 43 50.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Rescue from Li Family Village

Wang Qiang accompanies the police and Xu De into Li Family Village. Inside a locked woodshed, he finds Wang Mei chained to the ground. He embraces her, then carries her away after Li Xiang frees the chain’s anchor. The rescuers leave her child behind because the gathering villagers threaten to trap the entire team 6.

Their minibus is surrounded by villagers demanding Wang Mei’s return. Xu De temporarily eases the confrontation with a fabricated household-registration explanation, but Li Erniu arrives and attempts to drag her off the vehicle. Wang Qiang bites his hand to make him release her, then shoulders him out of the bus 7.

Outside, Li Erniu seizes a villager’s sickle and attacks. Wang Qiang catches his weapon hand, but a cudgel strikes him from behind and the crowd engulfs both men. After Li Xiang fires a warning shot, Li Erniu is found fatally wounded. Xu De gets the stunned Wang Qiang aboard the departing minibus 7 8.

Criminal Proceedings

Event	Date / Chapter	Significance
Arrest	October 2, 2002 24	Arrested on suspicion of intentional homicide following Li Erniu’s death.
Request for representation	8	Personally asks Li Xiang to arrange for Xu De to take his case.
Transfer to detention center	October 9 10	Police complete their investigation; Wang Qiang is transferred to await trial.
Legal-aid appointment	Application completed October 17 10	Xu De subsequently receives the appointment as his requested defense lawyer.
First hearing	November 10 23 24	Faces intentional-homicide charges and a civil compensation demand of 218,343 yuan.
Hearing adjourned	29 34	Xu De challenges the reliability of eyewitness testimony and the proof of a deliberate killing; the evidence is sent for reinvestigation.
Forgiveness and settlement secured	39 40	Li Youcai and Liu Cui sign a forgiveness letter and settlement agreement. The settlement specifies 9,000 yuan over ten years.
Second hearing	November 15 40 41	Prosecution replaces the homicide charge with intentional injury and excessive self-defense resulting in death by negligence.
Acquittal and release	49 50	The court rejects the charges; his handcuffs are removed, and he leaves after completing release paperwork.

Defense Strategy

Xu De pursues acquittal while preparing the forgiveness letter and settlement as a fallback for reducing any sentence 42.

• Continuing danger to Wang Mei: Xu argues that Li Erniu’s attempt to pull her from the police vehicle continued the unlawful confinement, rather than beginning an unrelated dispute 26 27.
• Protection of others: He initially characterizes Wang Qiang as protecting seven police officers. This argument draws the opposing side into acknowledging the connection between the village confrontation and Wang Mei’s captivity 24 25 26.
• Uncertain eyewitness evidence: No officer witnessed a deliberate killing during the crowded struggle. Xu argues that another participant could have altered the balance of force over the weapon 28 29.
• Weapon ownership: The sickle belonged to villager Li Chunhua and bore the fingerprints of Li Chunhua, Li Erniu, and Wang Qiang. Xu uses this evidence to argue that Li Erniu introduced the weapon 42.
• The disputed thirty seconds: Prosecutors argue that Wang Qiang could have retreated before Li Erniu seized the sickle. Xu counters that the defense was continuous and that Wang Qiang’s injuries undermine the claim of a safe escape route 43 44.
• Voluntary surrender: Xu argues that Wang Qiang turned himself in before the scene was brought under control, challenging the prosecution’s claim that the nearby officers made surrender impossible 44 47.

Verdict

The court finds that Li Erniu initiated an immediate, urgent, ongoing unlawful attack and that Wang Qiang remained the person under attack. It finds no intent to provoke, retaliate, or engage in a fight, and rules that his defensive means and force did not exceed necessary limits 49.

Wang Qiang is declared not guilty. Xu De stays beside him through the release process; outside the courthouse, Wang Qiang is overwhelmed by sunlight, traffic, and the breeze after having expected a long prison sentence 50.

Relationships

• Wang Mei — Daughter. He searches for her for ten years, helps rescue her, and confronts Li Erniu when he attempts to recapture her. Wang Mei later fears she must surrender custody of her son to save her father 5 7 10.
• Sun Hong — Wife and Wang Mei’s mother. They search together; knowing that mother and daughter are safely reunited helps Wang Qiang endure detention 5 8.
• Li Yang — Six-year-old grandson. His custody becomes leverage in Wang Qiang’s criminal case; Xu De reunites him with Wang Mei before securing the grandparents’ forgiveness letter 32 39.
• Xu De — Chosen defense lawyer. Wang Qiang requests him personally and later regards him as his “savior” after the acquittal 8 50.
• Li Xiang — Police officer involved in the rescue and subsequent questioning. He reassures Wang Qiang about his family and encourages him to seek legal help rather than accept a severe sentence 6 8.
• Li Erniu — Wang Mei’s buyer and abuser. His attempt to reclaim Wang Mei and subsequent sickle attack lead to the fatal struggle with Wang Qiang 5 7.
• Li Youcai and Liu Cui — Li Erniu’s parents. They seek punishment and compensation while using Wang Qiang’s prosecution to pressure Wang Mei over custody and their future support 10 16 24.
• Chen Wei — Lawyer representing Li Erniu’s parents. He presses the civil compensation claim and opposes Xu De’s defense 12 24 47.

Notable Quotes

“More than a thousand kilometers... It took me ten years to catch up, and his little car got there in two days. How's a man supposed to take that...?”
— Recalling his daughter’s abduction 8

“But you found her... That's what matters. Her mother cried herself hoarse, but at least you found her...”
— After learning that Wang Mei and Sun Hong are safe 8