In the taxi, Tang Fangjing was carefully thinking about how to phrase things when meeting with those family members shortly.
From what Old Liu had told him earlier, he knew that the family members were currently very emotionally unstable and needed to be approached in a suitable manner for communication.
The case did indeed have many doubts, and further communication was necessary to understand the issues.
But before he even reached the hospital entrance, Old Liu's call came through.
"Hello, Old Liu, what? Your wife went to the hospital? No, I've already told you, I will handle everything, and you shouldn't make any contact with the other party before this!"
"What's she doing at the hospital for goodness' sake?"
Old Liu's voice resonated from the phone, "I don't know either, after leaving the law firm we went home, she said she was going back to continue working, but then she went to the hospital."
Day by day, there's nothing but trouble, but fortunately, Old Tang had seen plenty of such situations in his former life.
In many criminal cases, the suspects' families are a bundle of contradictions. They hire a lawyer, but at the same time, they don't fully trust the lawyer, turning instead to relatives, friends, and even searching online…
Resulting in all sorts of trouble.
"Well, what's done is done, what else can we do? Has she come out of the hospital by now?" Tang Fangjing asked.
On the other end of the line, Old Liu hesitated before speaking, "She's already out, and I've met her."
"Old Liu, find out what she was doing up there, then tell me. Also, make it clear to your wife, if she doesn't trust me, then we might as well terminate the contract now. If she does trust me, then leave everything to me, got it?"
If it weren't for the sake of the mission, Old Tang, with his old temperament, would have thrown in the towel long ago.
"Master, don't go to the hospital, head to Yuefu Residential Complex instead."
Going to the hospital now was meaningless.
After a while, Old Liu sent a bunch of messages on WeChat. His wife had looked things up online after their conversation, and the lawyers online said that they should actively communicate with the victim's family, proactively offer compensation, and seek forgiveness, etc.…
Being naturally gullible, she found the online advice plausible and hurriedly withdrew money to go to the hospital.
As expected, she ended up being scolded harshly, the kind where both the child and the parents curse you out, very unpleasant. Old Liu's wife couldn't help but retort a few words, which led to a complete mess.
Most importantly, the family members also said something like, don't think that bringing money over will settle the matter, that they want to see "that bitch" executed by firing squad…
Old Tang had nothing to say; he decided to wait for the meeting.
The regulation was forty-eight hours, but on the morning of the third day, Tang Fangjing received a call from the detention center, telling him that his visitation was approved and inviting him to the detention center.
With that, he packed his things and gathered his documents, heading towards the detention center.
Meanwhile, inside the detention center's cell, Liu Yan was curled up in a corner, like a kitten that had just left its mother, occasionally looking up with tear stains on her face, and fear in her eyes.
Of course, Liu Yan was being held in solitary confinement inside the detention center; she was a minor and a girl, certainly not suited to share a cell with others.
However, the experience of stabbing someone with a knife, being taken away and detained by the police, added to the interrogations, had already caused the child to have some mental issues.
After all, even adults going through such an ordeal would be dazed for a while, let alone the timid Liu Yan.
Fortunately, the correctional officers were very caring towards her.
Yet Liu Yan was still very scared; she didn't know what her future would hold.
At this moment, a correctional officer notified from outside, "Liu Yan, a lawyer will be coming to see you shortly, prepare yourself."
Hearing this, Liu Yan slowly raised her head. She didn't quite understand what a lawyer consultation meant, but she knew she had to follow the guard's instructions.
She obediently stood up and followed the police officer down the corridor to the consultation area.
The consultation area in the Bright District detention center was on the first floor. Suspects waiting for consultations were lined up in the hallway, and an auxiliary police officer would tell you your number. You just had to follow the number to the corresponding room for your consultation.
Usually, suspects were brought in group by group from each detention area, but Liu Yan's case was special. Being held in solitary confinement meant that her consultation followed a special procedure.
The consultation room had tables and chairs, separated by iron bars in the middle, much like a bank teller's counter—after all, it was a rather old detention center.
Liu Yan sat there waiting when suddenly she heard someone calling her name. The voice was very familiar.
When she looked up, she saw a man standing on the opposite side, his face beaming with a smile.
"Tang... Uncle Tang?" Liu Yan's face was full of surprise; she had never expected to see this "Uncle Tang" here.
"It's me. I didn't expect you to remember me. I was worried you'd forgotten. Don't worry about anything with your Uncle Tang here," Tang Fangjing said as he sat down.
For some reason, seeing Uncle Tang's smiling face made Liu Yan suddenly feel less afraid, as if with him around, nothing was a problem.
Old Tang made small talk initially, which served to ease the other party's nerves. When the time was right, he quickly said, "Alright, Xiao Yan, our consultation time is very limited. We need to be quick."
"I have to make it clear to you, you must tell me everything honestly, without leaving anything out. Do you hear me? Don't worry about the police finding out; our communication cannot be used as evidence in making a case, so be at ease."
Liu Yan nodded and began to speak.
"That day, during physical education, they cornered me next to the bathroom... First, they demanded money from me. When I said I had none, they started hitting me, slapping my face, kicking me..."
Tang Fangjing remained silent, listening intently. Sometimes, the bullying that occurs in schools can indeed be frightening—the malice of some minors can at times be greater than that of adults.
The reason Liu Yan was bullied was simple: the young girl was fair and pretty, but she was introverted and quiet, which drew the attention of a few girls who reportedly didn't like the look of her.
That's just how it was. If they didn't like the look of someone, they would bully them. There was no other reason.
"And then, as they were hitting me, they told me to take off my clothes. When I refused, they hit me harder, and two boys started to rip at my clothes..."
"While they were hitting me and tearing at my clothes, they kept threatening me to cooperate. I was really scared..."
As she spoke, the young girl began to cry again. It was clear the incident had left her with serious psychological trauma.
Tang Fangjing's expression did not change; never think that junior high students are naive—kids these days are aware of everything.
There have been quite a few cases of junior high students involved in rape and murder in recent years...
And it goes without saying that some of these little brutes are not afraid, thinking they won't get punished because they are minors... They are very aware of this fact now.
Tang Fangjing spoke up, "What about the switchblade? Where did that come from?"
This was a crucial question.
"It belonged to one of them, named Li Zixin. I couldn't take it anymore and tried to run, but they stopped me. Li Zixin's switchblade fell on the ground, and I picked it up..."
With the knife in her hand, she waved it around as she ran, likely causing the serious injury to one girl and minor injuries to the other two during this time.
But Liu Yan didn't know that at the time.
The one called Li Zixin, not noticing that someone was already hurt and seeing Liu Yan trying to escape, went after her. In a moment of panic, Liu Yan turned around and stabbed him directly.
Aiming for the chest, just like the knife wound Old Tang had received back then. Original content can be found at novel⁂fire.net