As Lü Qingqing had said, Li Yang had almost lost his ability to judge rationally.
For a week, he had barely slept. Whenever he managed to doze off, he'd be woken up within two minutes.
Last night, as he was drifting off, the police started a new round of interrogations.
Li Yang could even recite the questions and answers by heart.
He kept telling himself to hold on. Finally, after a grueling hour-long interrogation, the police brought him a statement to sign.
Li Yang was very familiar with this process; he signed his name on the statements after each questioning, and this time was no exception.
But to his immense surprise, after signing this time, the police stopped the next round of questioning.
Finally, he could get some sleep.
What he didn't know was that this statement had been tampered with.
It had been turned into a confession.
Yes, this was Tong Hua's scheme. Taking advantage of Li Yang's mental exhaustion, he had altered some testimonies and, amongst a pile of documents, had inserted a confession.
Li Yang had signed hundreds of statements before. The first dozen or so he had examined carefully, but later, due to the mental torment, he no longer had the energy to check the statements.
He would just sign the papers.
As a result, with this signature, his name was directly on the confession.
...
Li Yang had slept for a full day and night. During this time, Luo Wenwu had wanted to wake him up several times, but he was stopped by Lü Qingqing and Hu Jia.
Lü Qingqing said, "Let him sleep. Let him sleep soundly. We failed to protect him in the past few days, so letting him sleep now is acceptable."
Lü Qingqing said this, and she acted accordingly.
From the morning, Yao Jieyan had urged them multiple times to leave. During this period, two or three groups of people had come, intending to take Li Yang away.
But Lü Qingqing had fended them all off.
"You want to take him, so you take him? You say he confessed, so he confessed? We didn't see it with our own eyes, and he didn't admit it himself. We don't believe it."
Lü Qingqing adamantly refused to budge. She wouldn't let anyone pass. "If you want to take him, you'll have to fight Luo Wenwu first."
Enraged, Tong Hua cursed, "Scoundrel!"
Lü Qingqing ignored him and called to Luo Wenwu, "Go, call Yu Yue in."
Yu Yue was preparing Li Yang's review documents. Hearing that she was needed in the cell, she thought Li Yang had woken up and eagerly ran over, so anxious that she forgot her usual flirtatious walk.
"What's going on?" Yu Yue realized something was amiss as soon as she entered the cell.
"Stand up straight. If they dare to take a step forward, you shout 'Indecent assault!' I'll see who can bear the accusation of insulting a female officer," Lü Qingqing said, pointing at the group of men before them.
Yu Yue: ...
"What are you looking at me for? He's your little tough guy, and you're his little Yue Yue. Doing something for him isn't too much, is it?" Lü Qingqing said righteously.
Yu Yue: ...
"Oh, fine. I admit I can't say those words." Lü Qingqing backed down.
Yu Yue: ...
You're truly amazing!
Now, with one civil and one military guarding the cell, Li Yang would surely be safe.
Lü Qingqing did this because she wanted to buy time for Hu Jia and Ouyang Wen.
At this moment, Ouyang Wen and Hu Jia were heading directly to the municipal bureau's judicial department to apply for a case review.
Unfortunately, Director Ren of the judicial department was on a business trip.
This made Ouyang extremely anxious. If Li Yang's case was reported to the municipal bureau, it would be much more difficult to apply for a review.
"In that case, you go back and stall Yao Jieyan. Whatever you do, don't let him submit the documents for review. I'll go find Uncle Qiao," Hu Jia decided instantly. Since the normal procedure wouldn't work, he would go through the back door.
Hu Jia intended to seek out Qiao Huali, who was a deputy director. A word from him would be more effective than Hu Jia running himself ragged.
The two parted ways. Hu Jia ran all the way and pushed open Qiao Huali's office door.
"What's all this rushing? Such an unseemly manner," Qiao Huali said sternly. Before Hu Jia could speak, he began to reprimand him.
"Uncle Qiao, please help Li Yang. He's been implicated in a murder case, and I need to apply for a review of the case," Hu Jia explained rapidly.
Seeing how flustered Hu Jia was, Qiao Huali calmly lit a cigarette. "What did I tell you before? Don't panic when facing a problem. As long as you don't panic, your opponent can't exploit your weakness."
"But..."
"No buts. Speak when you've calmed down."
After speaking, Qiao Huali began to read the documents in his hand, as if Hu Jia wasn't even in the office.
Hu Jia took two deep breaths. He understood Uncle Qiao's meaning. As a criminal investigator, calmness and composure were paramount.
Once you lose your composure, your mind becomes chaotic.
Especially when loved ones are threatened, you must remain impassive. This was a lesson Uncle Qiao had taught him, and also a lesson learned after his father's death.
"Uncle Qiao," Hu Jia believed he had calmed down.
"Not yet," Qiao Huali replied without looking up.
Hu Jia was stunned. He immediately realized he had made another mistake. According to Uncle Qiao's rules, if you were discussing official business, you addressed him as Deputy Director Qiao; only for private matters could you call him Uncle Qiao.
It seemed he still wasn't calm enough, as he had forgotten this rule.
"Director Qiao," Hu Jia corrected himself.
"Speak, what happened to Li Yang?" Qiao Huali stubbed out his cigarette butt.
"He was framed," Hu Jia simplified the situation and recounted Li Yang's imprisonment.
After listening, Qiao Huali frowned. "Since he has signed the confession and put his mark on his own statement, then this charge is considered established."
"But he's innocent."
"Evidence?"
Hu Jia lowered his head. He truly had no evidence.
"All witness and physical evidence point to him as the suspect, and now he himself has signed and admitted his guilt. If you want to overturn this case, you need evidence. Otherwise, if everyone acted like you, how could we do our jobs? How could we solve cases?"
Hu Jia had always known that Qiao Huali was a meticulous person. In his eyes, everything required evidence. Anyone could speak empty words, but did police work rely on empty words?
"But I really can't produce evidence right now, but I promise, I promise I will find evidence to prove Li Yang's innocence as soon as possible." Hu Jia was anxious. He knew his request was a bit excessive, but Qiao Huali was his only hope now.
Seeing Hu Jia like that, Qiao Huali finally relented. "Without evidence, I cannot break the rules and send the case back for retrial."
Seeing Hu Jia about to speak again, he raised his hand to interrupt him. "But I will give you three days. During these three days, I will ensure the case is not transferred to the municipal bureau, and Li Yang will remain at Tongyuanmen."
Hu Jia was overjoyed. "Thank you, Uncle Qiao."
Three days. Three days should be enough.
As long as they found a single flaw, they could apply for a case review.
...
Although the good news Hu Jia brought back eased everyone's tension slightly, the pressure on each of them did not lessen.
Three days. It wasn't easy to find evidence in favor of Li Yang within three days.
Seeing everyone's grim expressions, Hu Jia decided to boost their morale. "Is finding one piece of evidence in three days harder than solving a case in seven days? You all don't have much faith in me."
"Hahaha, Hu Jia is right. Yu Yue, you can put your mind at ease. Three days is definitely enough," Lü Qingqing was the first to jump out in support of Hu Jia. She not only wanted to encourage Hu Jia but, more importantly, to prevent this atmosphere from lingering.
Hu Jia felt greatly comforted.
It truly was good to have someone's support, especially a woman's support!
"Yes, that's right. The boss is on the case, so it'll definitely be fine," Yu Yue also reignited her fighting spirit. "Boss, you can focus on investigating the case these few days. I'll guard the cell. Let's see which bastards dare to mess with me."
Hu Jia: ...
What was she saying now?