Chapter 384: The Old Man's Persistence—Who Pays the Price?

The video playback reached nightfall and then stopped, and once everyone learned the moment the old man passed away, they seemed to feel a pang of heartache for him.

The old man had persisted in something his whole life, and perhaps in the end he was still persisting—for his own child; the person really wasn't bad.

But upon learning the outcome, the old man's spirit and vigor were gone.

He buried the child, laid his own child to rest, and then ended his own life.

In the simplest, most plain way, he repaid the last bit of kindness he could still carry out.

The letter of forgiveness was useful.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Chen Fan and Old Liu looked at the corpse, the two of them silent for a long while.

In fact, next to the letter of forgiveness there was also one other thing—a certificate regarding this old man's donation of his body, specifically donated to Chen Fan's side, to be supplied here for research.

It was just that Old Liu and Chen Fan didn't speak of it.

The two sat quietly by the dissection table; Chen Fan picked up a scalpel and said, "Do we need to do the autopsy?"

"Do the autopsy. I think this old man is actually frozen."

Chen Fan nodded silently, then slowly cut open the old man's body; when he opened the old man's internal organs, Chen Fan was actually shocked for a long while.

This might just be a miracle.

The internal organs have already been severely damaged, and this illness had persisted for many years.

But the old man had kept on persisting, forcing himself to hold on to a single breath, and then going to search for the killer.

Chen Fan silently set down the scalpel and gave a salute.

'I apologize for what I said before. I even thought you were obstructing the case, but you weren't. I apologize for my petty-mindedness.'

Chen Fan's words came from the heart.

Old Liu said, "It really is worth studying. The old man's persistence, all these years, deserves a set of medical data."

Chen Fan slowly dealt with the damage to the body's internal organs, gradually removing the organs, and then together with the teacher here, he stored the organs away.

After that came the rest of the body.

Step by step, bit by bit, recording everything.

Data, every kind of response, and an interesting balance achieved within the body.

When it was over, it was already past twelve midnight.

Chen Fan set down the knife, looked at the old man who had already been hollowed out, and said, "Freeze him."

Old Liu said, "Mm, alright."

The two of them froze the old man here, then left behind a name on the file—a cold name, but one that couldn't conceal the old man's own warmth.

"There is one piece of good news, though."

Chen Fan was tidying up the table as Old Liu spoke to him.

"What?"

Old Liu said, "The boss's child sent over a letter of forgiveness—the son sent the letter of forgiveness, and he forgave that pair of siblings."

Chen Fan said, "I didn't expect that, or this. But then, I suppose the family of that girl's best friend won't forgive, right?"

"They will forgive."

Chen Fan's eyes went wide. "Are you serious?"

"Yes, they forgave. Two letters of forgiveness, both sent over by the parents on that side. Of course there's a reluctant element to it—after all, it was livestreamed. But tell me, do you think this forgiveness is right, or wrong?"

The letter of forgiveness can let those two survive; the letter of forgiveness can also spare those two from the death penalty, and might even allow them to walk free in their old age.

But in the end, is this letter of forgiveness right or wrong?

"I don't know."

Old Liu said, "That's just human nature—no one can say for certain. You don't need to fuss over it too much. Right or wrong, we can't judge; in fact, the audience can't judge either. After all, they killed someone, but the forgiveness in the end also saved two lives."

Chen Fan tidied up the table and said, "Then what if this younger sister being raped was actually something she went into on her own initiative?"

Old Liu fell silent. "What do you mean?"

"Wanting to go to a certain occasion, just talking with her best friend isn't enough—she had to want to go herself. She went on her own, and she knew the danger in advance. So, does knowing the danger in advance count as already consenting?"

Old Liu was silenced by Chen Fan's question.

"This man who killed could have chosen simply to kill—why the torture? The nature of torture is different. Torture represents cruelty. If it were simply killing, forgiveness could be understood. But torture?"

"And also, did this younger sister have a relationship with that boss? Do you really think this brother can work steadily at the factory?"

Old Liu had nothing to say.

"What did you see?"

Chen Fan said, "The sister's secret is that, for her brother's job and livelihood, she sold her own body."

This secret was cold, and cruel.

At this moment, even Old Liu, who had seen more than his share of the warmth and cold of the world, fell silent.

"Will you speak of it?"

"No. Speaking of it doesn't mean much. Even if I said it, what would it represent? Would people sympathize, or would they curse?"

"This doesn't sound like you. If it were you, you'd choose to judge with your own morality."

Chen Fan shook his head. "No, I wouldn't. The judgment doesn't mean much either. Is the brother really kind? Is he really protecting his own sister? Or do you think the two of them are really siblings?"

Old Liu looked at the piece of evidence Chen Fan produced.

The brother and sister shared no blood relation at all.

"Was the sister adopted, or was the brother adopted, or was one of them trafficked here? Do these need to be investigated?"

Old Liu said, "They need to be investigated."

"Alright then, I'll call Li Tian."

The call went through. Li Tian, upon learning, was also shocked for a long while, and then looked at the woman.

The woman's evasive gaze told Li Tian that his guess was right.

He said, "Just wait. I'll go find your parents later and we'll talk. That era is easy to trace — abandonment is no small charge, and it's easy to investigate on this side."

Chen Fan said, "Just ask the girl and you'll know. The girl herself knows who her parents are — they were all over the streets and alleys, very easy to investigate."

"I won't ask. Now that I know, what's the point of asking? No one's pressing charges, so I won't bother. I'm a policeman, not an envoy of justice."

The premise of being a policeman is to solve people's troubles, not to create them, not to go looking for them.

Chen Fan chuckled and said with a smile, "You're quite cold, aren't you."

"Chen Fan, of everyone in the whole world calling someone else cold, you're the one with the least right to do so."

Early in the morning, the trending searches were dominated by the issue of this pair of siblings, and at the start of the show that morning, Teacher Luo explained the components of the letter of understanding.