She was with me!

I seriously can't with these people.

Does this whole bucket of blame have to land on my head?

I admit I was using Lu Li to put pressure on you, but that was a warning not to try anything underhanded.

Kneeling to me, seriously? What would I want with your son's miserable life?

Do you think I'm breathing too freely?

Think I haven't spent enough on those 648-yuan top-ups?

Can you have a little faith in the pillars of our nation?

This world has laws, okay?

If I went around murdering people and setting fires, Lu Li would be the first to cuff me and throw me in prison, okay?

Why don't you look up Lu Li on Baidu?

I brought up someone that incorruptible, and you still think I'm lying.

Auntie Liu kept pressing her. "Are you not answering because you're trying to think up an answer?"

Yao Tao said, "Someone was with me, but that's my private business."

Yao Tao was already swearing up a storm in her head.

You should have called the police ages ago instead of wasting time on this!

You're not a cop. What gives you the right to interrogate me?

The only reason I'm still speaking politely is out of respect for Zhong Shengtai's father.

Doesn't your family know exactly what kind of trash Zhong Shengtai is?

He's offended more people than I've eaten grains of salt!

When He Zhen hurried over out of concern, the voices inside were growing louder, and the hostility between Yao Tao's inner voice and the other woman's voice behind the door was steadily escalating.

He Zhen could hear Yao Tao being provoked, little by little.

He hadn't thought Yao Tao was someone whose emotions were easily stirred up, but the facts proved that they really were.

Auntie Liu said, "Is this question so hard to answer?"

Yao Tao said, "Are you a police officer? Show me your credentials, and I'll answer all your questions."

What a joke. I'm just not telling you.

Auntie Liu said, "Are we waiting for the police to intervene, or for your uncle?"

Yao Tao said, "I said I didn't do it, and I didn't. I'm willing to call the police and ask my uncle to help. What more do you want?"

Are you interrogating a criminal?

Why does this feel just as infuriating as my last life?

Auntie Liu said, "You're so young, yet so vicious. How am I supposed to know whether you're telling the truth?"

Yao Tao said, "The police will find out whether it's the truth!"

Auntie Liu said, "Will they find the truth, or just what you want us to see?"

Yao Tao said, "Zhong Shengtai has offended so many people. Why are you so dead set on blaming me?"

I seriously can't!

Where are your brains?!

Is this just how this novel's world works?

What's the point of arguing with me?

Qiao Lang watched them speak faster and faster. Auntie Liu was clearly provoking Yao Tao, while Zhong Wen just listened, sniffling and sobbing.

"Ma'am." Qiao Lang couldn't get a word in.

"So it's such a simple question. Who were you with that day, and who can prove it? Is that really so hard to answer?" Auntie Liu's gaze grew increasingly dangerous. "Or are you thinking about who to get to back up your lie?"

You fucking old hag!

He Zhen suddenly pushed the door open. "She was with me, right up until I took her back to her dorm at nine that evening."

"From the moment she sent her location and I found her, I was with her the entire time."

He Zhen stepped forward and took hold of Yao Tao's tightly clenched fists.

Yao Tao froze, and even her inner voice skipped a beat.

Why did he suddenly barge in?

Listening to Yao Tao's anger burn hotter and hotter, He Zhen had worried she would cross a line and give them something to use against her.

For example, why was she angry?

If she hadn't done it, why wouldn't she even say who she'd been with?

He Zhen could hear Yao Tao's thoughts and knew she simply didn't want to be forced into answering, but no one else could hear them!

Wouldn't that look full of holes to everyone else?

It was the first time he had realized how easily Yao Tao's defiant streak could be stirred up.

She seemed to particularly hate this kind of relentless questioning.

He Zhen had facts and evidence: the location shared on WeChat and the time he had found Yao Tao.

Her roommates, along with the others who had been around the women's dorm at roughly the same time that day, had all seen He Zhen take Yao Tao back and could corroborate it.

Zhong Shengtai and the others had still been fine when they left after blocking Yao Tao's way. Whatever happened afterward had nothing to do with her.

He Zhen was very calm. No matter how Auntie Liu pressed him, his account stayed orderly and his reasoning clear.

Through Auntie Liu's rapid-fire questions and repeated inquiries, He Zhen was completely different from Yao Tao.

The more Yao Tao was pressed, the more defiant she became, the less willing she was to speak, and the hotter her anger burned.

He Zhen, on the other hand, simply stated the facts no matter how hard he was pressed, never impatient or agitated.

For the first time, I've realized how important it is to have an emotionally stable friend.

I admit I got a little carried away just now.

My baby is so cool!

Such a cool, handsome baby.

Too bad he won't be mine forever.

He Zhen rubbed her head. "Just tell them straight. We have nothing to fear even if the police come."

Yao Tao blinked up at He Zhen.

Boohoo, how can he be such an absolute sweetheart?

I want to kiss him!!!

He Zhen: ...

He didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

"Really?" Zhong Wen looked a little deflated.

"Mr. Zhong." He Zhen met his gaze without flinching. "We're both in favor of calling the police. What are you afraid of?"

Oh, He Zhen doesn't know that several of my uncles are in the military.

Everyone at school only knows I'm an orphan, too.

If they bothered to look into it at all, they'd know I'm the child of fallen heroes.

When it comes down to it, aren't they just afraid I really did it and it'll get covered up?

Have a little faith in our country's laws, okay?

Even if this is a novel.

This world is real now!

If even the military shields murderers, the world might as well be destroyed!

"..." He Zhen was a little stunned, but he figured it shouldn't be too much of a problem.

He Zhen tried hard to recall the earlier shouting, finally picking out a name Yao Tao had mentioned: Lu Li.

Was that the Lu Li he was thinking of???

Just as He Zhen was at a loss for what to say next, Qiao Lang smoothly took over.

"Excuse me, Mr. Zhong." Qiao Lang looked serious. "Your belief that Colonel Lu would shield Yao Tao rests on the assumption that she did it. In that case, isn't He Zhen's testimony the best possible evidence to the contrary?"

"Yao Tao simply had no time to commit the crime."

"I sincerely recommend that you and your wife call the police."

Qiao Lang had understood everything clearly, and the chain of evidence was clear as well.

"We aren't married," Auntie Liu replied.

"My apologies. I misread the situation." Qiao Lang had thought Auntie Liu was Zhong Shengtai's mother.

Qiao Lang returned to his train of thought. He Zhen could clearly state where they had gone, what they had eaten, and when they had returned to school. A simple investigation would establish whether he was lying.

"As for what happened before that..." Qiao Lang trailed off.

Zhong Wen finally wiped away his tears and snot. "I'm sorry, young Miss Yao. We'll definitely get to the bottom of this!"

That's all it took???

You were practically ready to fight me just now!

That's it???

Where were your brains a minute ago???

He Zhen thought, Wasn't that because she had such a fiery temper and flat-out refused to explain even when she could?

He Zhen wondered whether she had picked that up from some novel.