Chapter 209: 117, you are always in the softest part of my heart defense.
"Lawyer Xiang, Lawyer Xiang? You’re distracted."
The room was quiet, with a gentle piano piece playing. Xiang Yuan and Mark sat on two opposing sofas, separated by a large square coffee table, its side measuring over one and a half meters.
Xiang Yuan had a notebook on his lap; he was supposed to be carefully noting down Mark’s statements. But whether it was today’s soft sunlight, or the large coffee table creating too much distance, or the piano piece easing his thoughts, in any case, Xiang Yuan got distracted.
Xiang Yuan quickly gathered his thoughts and apologized, "Sorry about that. Mark, please continue. Where were we?"
Mark crossed one leg, rested his elbows on the sofa’s armrests, and pressed his ten fingers together against his chin.
"Lawyer Xiang, I’m asking if you’ve ever had thoughts like mine—have you ever wished to become another person?"
Xiang Yuan tried to relax and shrugged: "Sure, Spider-Man. I even seriously considered buying a poisonous spider from the pet market to get bitten by it."
"Ha." Mark laughed briefly, but the laughter was short, clearly tinged with disappointment.
Xiang Yuan looked at him: "I guess every man has had such thoughts, right? During adolescence, idolizing heroes, wanting to become one. This feeling could be called a ’hero complex.’"
Mark looked up at the ceiling indifferently: "We’re not talking about the same thing."
Xiang Yuan squinted: "Okay, let’s return to your story. You said you wanted to become Zhou Guanghan, so you loved the girl he liked, and hated the people he disliked, which led you to kill Sean and harm the girl named Nana."
The lavishly decorated room exuded an atmosphere reminiscent of medieval Europe, and Mark sat pale and slender on the ancient sofa, his pale cheeks and hollow eyes accentuated by the intricate floral patterns.
"That’s right. What I did was what I was supposed to do. I really don’t understand why you consider this a crime."
Once again, the issue circled back: Mark always easily admitted what he did, yet he insisted he was innocent.
If such a Mark went to court, once he confessed to murder in front of the jury, it would lead to a conviction, leaving no chance for him to claim innocence. Xiang Yuan had already spent a whole morning coaching him on how to face the jury, handle the prosecutor’s interrogation, and use emotions in court...
But obviously, it was all in vain.
Xiang Yuan had no choice but to bid farewell and walk outside. Mark’s mother approached nervously, rubbing her hands together: "Lawyer Xiang, how is Mark?"
Xiang Yuan could only shake his head: "But that doesn’t mean there’s no way. Since his current state is like this, we can take him for a psychology test, and have a psychology expert testify in court to help us prove to the judge and jury that Mark’s mental state was unstable at the time."
"Just like he said himself, he wanted to become another person. So at that time, it wasn’t Mark committing murder and harm, but another person in his psychological delusion."
Mark’s mother immediately brightened up, "That’s great! But we still need Lawyer Xiang to help us carefully select this expert."
.
Xiang Yuan hurriedly bid farewell and left the Mark family, got into his car, and yanked off his tie, raking his hair with both hands.
Mark’s words kept echoing in his ears: "Lawyer Xiang, have you ever thought about wishing to become another person? Lawyer Xiang, have you thought about becoming another person?..."
He was lost in thought at that moment, influenced by those words.
He pressed his hands against his head, struggling as he lay against the steering wheel.
Once again, there was endless darkness in front of him; he couldn’t see or hear anything. He tried shouting, his voice loud, even to the point of tearing his throat.
But there was no response outside.
He reached out to touch the wall, the feel of soft padding gave him the answer: it turned out he was confined in a soundproofed room. So no matter how loudly he shouted, it was useless.
He didn’t know how much time had passed, just as he was about to fall into despair and madness, someone brought him a mini TV. But it wasn’t for him to watch TV to kill time; the black-and-white screen showed only vague and blurry images, like footage captured with an infrared camera.
From the images, he saw two people, a man and a woman.
But the filming angle was specially arranged, so the faces of the two were not visible in the footage, not even the upper bodies for identification. Sometimes, only their feet were shown, sometimes just their indistinct waists...
The fragmented scenes had no clear logical connection, and there was no dialogue to hear, but he could understand—the man was continuously harming the girl!
He touched her.
She kissed her.
He even went further...!
He watched for a long time, straining to suppress the confusion in his mind, carefully identifying any distinguishing features of the girl processed through infrared.
He recognized it; it was indeed Teacher Shi’s daughter!
Teacher Shi once spoke with him quite wistfully, saying that when Shi Nian was young, he didn’t fulfill his responsibilities as a father. He mentioned that on Children’s Day over the years, he only once managed to take a day off to try and take his daughter to the park. That day, he rode his bicycle with his daughter, who was sitting on the crossbar. He was so absorbed in thinking about a case that he didn’t notice when her foot got caught in the bicycle wheel.
Later, Shi Nian’s left ankle bore a scar that couldn’t be removed. He said fortunately the shape of the scar was still quite nice, resembling a pair of tiny wings...
After he recognized her as Teacher Shi’s daughter, he became even more anxious. He kept staring at the screen incessantly, until his eyes were so tired that tears rolled down, and his already confused mind became even more muddled.
In front of him, Mark sat straight on the ancient and luxurious sofa, his voice gentle, slightly arrogant as he asked, "Lawyer Xiang, have you ever thought about becoming another person?"
Damn, he had thought about it, he really had!
He wanted to be the one who saved Shi Nian, he had thought about protecting her well so she wouldn’t get hurt again... He imagined going into her cell, wanting to accompany her, protect her!
Yet inexplicably, he didn’t know when it started, but he had also thought about becoming the man who hurt her... wanting to treat her in that way.
No, he couldn’t continue thinking that way. He slammed the steering wheel forcefully. The blaring of the horn brought him back to reality.
He disheveledly looked at the street ahead, took a deep breath, and told himself, "It’s all past now, it’s past. She’s now by your side, you can fully protect her, you don’t need to regret anymore."
He hurriedly started the car, which sped away in near-embarrassment.
Unbeknownst to him, just when he embarrassingly sounded the car horn, Mark was already standing by the third-floor window, smiling as he watched his every move in the car.
The well-dressed lawyer, at that moment, appeared like a trapped beast.
Xiang Yuan’s car drove away, and as it vanished from sight, Mark raised his glass lightly toward the rising dust.
"Cheers."
.
Feeling agitated, Xiang Yuan didn’t want to go back to the empty home without Shi Nian, so he drove back to his parents’ house.
Guo Zhengmei was naturally pleased and ordered Third Granny to prepare a few more dishes.
It was rare that Xiang Jingsheng returned home on time from work, and the three of them sat together for a meal.
Xiang Jingsheng and Guo Zhengmei both noticed that their son seemed preoccupied, Xiang Jingsheng didn’t speak, but Guo Zhengmei couldn’t help but ask, "What’s wrong, is it Shi Nian again making you unhappy?"
Xiang Yuan frowned, "Mom, please stop saying such things about Shi Nian in front of me."
Xiang Yuan glanced at his father and had no choice but to say, "It’s just that there’s a slightly tricky case at hand."
Xiang Jingsheng then spoke, "What case, is it so difficult to handle?"
"The case itself isn’t much, I’ve already designed a strategy. It’s just that the prosecutor is An Cheng. Dad, you know, she’s ultimately Du Songlin’s daughter, she understands psychology well and is tough to deal with in court."
Both Xiang Jingsheng and Du Songlin have served the Tang Family for many years and thus are old friends outside of work. Upon hearing his son would face Du Songlin’s daughter in court, Xiang Jingsheng frowned, "That girl is very competitive, if you beat her, she might not let go."
Xiang Yuan nodded, "Yes, that’s why I’m a bit stressed. Moreover, considering Du Songlin’s friendship with you, I’m afraid if I go too hard, it will harm your relationship."
Xiang Jingsheng asked, "Tell me how you plan to handle it?"
Xiang Yuan then mentioned the idea of hiring a psychologist.
Guo Zhengmei’s eyes lit up, "Why don’t you just go directly to Du Songlin? An Cheng would be embarrassed to question her own father in court, we’ll win this case naturally."
Xiang Jingsheng gave Guo Zhengmei a look, "Do you think Du Songlin is an idiot? He definitely won’t take the case."
Xiang Yuan quickly soothed, "Mom meant well, but Dad is right. It’s my fault for worrying you. Let’s eat, I’ll figure out another way on my own."
Xiang Jingsheng took a couple more bites, then suddenly said, "Go find Huo Danru, whom I recommended to you last time."
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[See you tomorrow.]
Thanks to Cai for the 1888 red envelope + monthly ticket, jianghua for the 1888 red envelope + monthly ticket, rlm680 for the flash diamond + flowers, Breeze for the red envelope
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ticket: Reader A + flowers, jinqiurong, Seems but Not, lu_chang, moganqiuzi, cljtszy2012, wangjuefang,