Chapter 19

Part One: Turbulent Waters of Officialdom. Chapter 19: Tell me what is in your heart

They planned to begin preliminary interrogation of Jiang Mingcheng and Xu Si that afternoon. They could not touch Ye Xinming for the time being. The case looked extremely complicated and might even involve a murder-Zeng Jianhua's disappearance-so the Special Investigation Team anticipated considerable difficulties with the preliminary interrogation. Over lunch, Zhang Ke brought up wanting to meet Xu Si alone first.

The members of the Special Investigation Team all stopped and looked at Zhang Ke strangely. In the brief day they had spent with him, this sixteen-year-old boy had shown considerable maturity and a seasoned grasp of the case, like a boy genius found only in comics and novels. Besides, the case had only progressed this far thanks to him. But surely he also knew that investigators were forbidden to meet suspects alone.

Seeing everyone looking at him strangely, and his father signaling from across the table for him not to talk nonsense, Zhang Ke smiled. "I'm only sixteen, and I'm not an investigator. I just think I might have a way to persuade Xu Si to come forward and tell the truth..."

"Do you really have a way to persuade her to come forward?" Jin Guohai asked.

"We have to try," Zhang Ke said. "As far as Haizhou is concerned, Jiang Mingcheng voluntarily came to make a statement to the inspection team. If things drag on here too long, won't Ding Xiangshan get suspicious?"

Jin Guohai thought, This kid actually noticed how much pressure I'm under. Time was pressing. If they held Jiang Mingcheng too long, Ding Xiangshan would become suspicious. Besides, clearing Tang Xueqian of the bribery allegations and remedying the procuratorate's earlier mistakes as quickly as possible would at least give the provincial Party committee a preliminary answer. "All right. We might as well try."

After lunch, Zhang Ke pushed open the door to the temporary detention room. Xu Si sat staring blankly by the windowsill, her hair hanging down over half her face, leaving her softly rounded chin exposed. She wore a thin knit top that revealed arms as fair as pale lotus roots, and her figure had soft, graceful curves.

"Xu Si..." Zhang Ke called softly.

Xu Si turned, disbelief showing on her face. "What are you doing here?"

Two rosewood corner chairs and a coffee table stood by the windowsill. Zhang Ke walked over and sat down. "Surprised to see me, Xu Si?"

"Yes." This boy had left a deep impression on her, and Xu Si made no attempt to hide the surprise and pleasure in her eyes. "What are you doing here?"

"When I saw you crying, I thought you must have had some unavoidable reason for doing this. You didn't want to do it, and that was why you couldn't help breaking down..."

"What? What are you talking about? You little know-it-all, why do you always talk like a grown-up? I don't even understand what you're saying." Xu Si tilted her head to look at Zhang Ke, genuine surprise showing in her eyes.

"Xu Si, do you know Zeng Jianhua, the head of finance at Xinfeng Group?"

"Yes. Why are you asking about him?"

Seeing that Xu Si did not avert her eyes in panic, Zhang Ke felt his greatest worry ease. It seemed she was not deeply involved.

"Half a month ago, Jiang Mingcheng reported to the Haizhou City Public Security Bureau that Zeng Jianhua had disappeared after making off with more than four million from Xinfeng Group's accounts. The Haizhou City Public Security Bureau has been investigating it in secret. Did you know about this?"

"Everyone in Xinfeng Group's management knows about that. Wait, you still haven't told me why you're here. Why are you suddenly asking all these strange questions?"

"You wanted to know about my family before, but I didn't tell you, because I couldn't let you know then that my father used to be Deputy Mayor Tang Xueqian's secretary, and is now Zhang Zhixing, Deputy Secretary-General of the Haizhou City Government. I couldn't let you know that I recognized the man who came looking for you that day as Ye Xinming, Deputy Mayor Tang Xueqian's current secretary..." Watching the pleasure on Xu Si's face gradually freeze and crumble, Zhang Ke felt awful. "Before I met you at Xiangshan Forest Park, I already knew you had no connection with Deputy Mayor Tang Xueqian. The person you were involved with was Ding Xiangshan, the Haizhou City Party Committee Secretary. Do you remember the camera I was holding? Before that, I'd been standing outside the Red-Brick Villa on the back of the hill. I watched Ding Xiangshan's car go in, and later watched you and Ding Xiangshan drive out one after the other. Also, I took a photograph of you with Deputy Mayor Tang Xueqian from your place. Did you notice one was missing and find it strange? You never thought I'd taken it, did you? I also know that your younger sister's heart operation cost a great deal of money. Jiang Mingcheng gave you that money on Ding Xiangshan's behalf. It wasn't a bribe Tang Xueqian demanded from Jiang Mingcheng, as you told the inspection team..."

Listening to Zhang Ke, Xu Si felt the nerves that had been on the verge of collapse these past few days buzzing.

"Xu Si, I know you're suffering, but you don't have to be Ding Xiangshan's tool. Deputy Mayor Tang Xueqian is innocent. You were transferred to the Provincial Capital this time not because the Tang Xueqian case was entering its next stage, but because an investigation is being opened into Jiang Mingcheng and Ding Xiangshan's joint embezzlement of state-owned assets. The Province set up a Special Investigation Team specifically for this. My father and I are both involved. That's why you're seeing me here..."

"..." Xu Si opened her mouth but could not utter a sound.

"Xu Si, I hope you'll voluntarily tell the Special Investigation Team everything. Your involvement isn't serious..."

Xu Si buried her head between her knees and burst into tears. Zhang Ke stood and cradled her head against his chest, saying softly, "Xu Si, I told you I wouldn't let anyone hurt you. You have to trust me." Xu Si reached around his waist and held him tightly. Her tears quickly soaked his shirt.

Only after Xu Si's sobs slowly subsided did Zhang Ke release her and walk out through the door. His father, Jin Guohai, Chen Xiaosong, and the others were all standing in the corridor.

Zhang Ke said, "Could you give her some time? There's something I haven't told you. When I met Xu Si in the square outside the south gate of Xiangshan Forest Park, I didn't get the photograph of her and Uncle Tang right away. She accidentally spilled her drink on me and felt so bad that she took me back to her place to wash my clothes. Ding Xiangshan coerced her into framing Uncle Tang. It wasn't something she wanted to do. She was under enormous pressure and was miserable. At her place, she treated me as a stranger she'd happened to meet and told me bits and pieces of what had happened. Even when I took a photograph of her with Uncle Tang, she pretended not to notice. She didn't have the courage to resist Ding Xiangshan's coercion, but she desperately hoped someone would expose his plot. It was this chance encounter that let me piece together the whole case so quickly... When she's prosecuted, I hope all these circumstances will be fully taken into account. I understand her state of mind very well, which is why I was confident I could persuade her to come forward. If necessary, once she has given a full account, I can give a statement for the record too." Zhang Ke rearranged the account of his encounter with Xu Si, nine parts truth to one part falsehood, and told them.

Zhang Zhixing still found it hard to take in that his own son was discussing this matter in such a mature tone.

Jin Guohai thought for a while and did not doubt Zhang Ke's words. There was indeed nothing to doubt, and Zhang Ke's account made it seem more reasonable to him. Jin Guohai said, "If Xu Si comes forward and helps us solve the case sooner, we'll give full consideration to what you've told us. After all, objectively speaking, she helped prevent this miscarriage of justice before it happened."