Chapter 96: Two groups of witnesses testify, each sticking to their own story!

"Sigh…" Ning Hai wore a vexed look, "My niece may seem obedient, but she'll do anything."

Shangguan Ying smiled without saying a word.

Ning Hai asked, "You don't believe me?"

"No." Shangguan Ying shook her head.

Ning Hai then said, "If you don't believe it, just wait and see—with so many reporters here, the police will definitely have to give the public an explanation."

Shangguan Ying still wore an unfathomable light smile.

Though she said nothing, in Ning Hai's view she still didn't believe him.

Ning Hai felt his abilities were being questioned.

Especially in front of a woman he had feelings for.

Unable to accept it, after thinking he said, "How about this—let's make a bet?"

Shangguan Ying asked, "Oh? What are we betting on?"

Ning Hai said confidently, "Let's bet on whether my niece Ning Jinli is really the killer—if the police say she is, I win and you lose."

"And if I win, then what?"

"Then you'll do me the favor of having a meal with me—my treat."

"What if I win?"

"You win?" Ning Hai blinked, laughed and shook his head, "That's impossible."

Shangguan Ying replied lightly, "Even if there's no chance, a bet still needs conditions from both sides."

Ning Hai said directly, "Fine, fine, fine—if you win, I'll give you my car today, that Rolls-Royce you've seen, which is even more expensive than your supercar."

Shangguan Ying didn't think much of a mere Rolls-Royce, nodded absentmindedly and said offhand, "All right then."

Ning Hai's face lit up with joy; it seemed he had finally secured a chance to eat with her, and from now on he could continue developing their relationship.

The yellow-faced woman at home really gets on my nerves, and I don't care for any other women either.

Today I met someone just right.

This time I can not only crush Ning Jinli's factory in one swoop and buy it cheap soon after, but I also happened to meet the woman who makes my heart flutter, giving me a chance to further develop things.

Double blessings!

Right now, police officers are busy taking statements from everyone brought out of the accident workshop.

The corpse is just lying there nearby.

Ning Jinli is also being held by two officers, standing left and right at the factory gate.

A crowd of reporters surrounds the front, snapping photos and recording video.

Ning Jinli is still dazed, really unable to figure out what's going on.

Although everything feels off, since she caused a fatal accident she has to obey police orders and stand there honestly while the reporters film.

Among the officers, a pot‑bellied middle‑aged man walked out.

He had a slicked‑back oily hairstyle, wore a suit and leather shoes that shone.

The reporters saw that, although he wasn't in uniform, even senior officers treated him politely, realizing he must be the highest‑ranking leader present.

They quickly surrounded him, wanting to interview him and learn the full story.

The oily‑haired man, clearly used to such scenes, calmly told the reporters the investigation is still ongoing but concrete results will come soon, and he'll announce them here when they do.

Afterwards the oily‑haired man had two assistants deal with the reporters.

He prepared to return to his dedicated car to rest a bit.

"That person is the head of this police precinct and an old acquaintance of mine," Ning Hai said to Shangguan Ying at the right moment, "Would you like to go over and say hello?"

"Sure." Shangguan Ying agreed readily.

Ning Hai, beaming with spring‑like pride, took her along and walked over.

"Chief Zhang, you've worked hard." Ning Hai approached the oily‑haired man and extended his right hand.

"No trouble, no trouble, it's just my duty." The oily‑haired man laughed, shook hands with him, then his eyes lit up as they fell on Shangguan Ying, "Who is this…"

"Just a friend I met." Ning Hai replied.

"Oh… pleased to meet you." Chief Zhang extended his hand to Shangguan Ying again.

Shangguan Ying crossed her arms, glanced at him, and said, "Is this a major case? Even the precinct chief has come in person."

Chief Zhang somewhat displeased withdrew his hand, "It's not a big case, but there are too many reporters and the factory staff are numerous; I'm worried the lower ranks can't handle it."

"What kind of case is it exactly?" Shangguan Ying showed a keen interest.

Chief Zhang exchanged a glance with Ning Hai.

Ning Hai smiled, took out a cigar, handed it over and lit it, "My friend is quite curious; could you give us a little hint, Chief?"

Chief Zhang, belly protruding, drawled slowly, "Preliminarily, the victim is this factory's security guard; his bashed‑in skull caused instant death. The murder suspect… is the factory's owner."

Shangguan Ying continued, "So you've already deemed her the murderer? There's no chance it was an accident?"

Chief Zhang exhaled a puff of thick smoke, "The officers I brought are all professionals; we have a set procedure for distinguishing and judging. Explaining it to laypeople would be complex, but the likelihood she acted intentionally is very high. Of course we'll keep gathering evidence—aren't we already interviewing the workshop staff?"

Shangguan Ying said nothing more, turned and walked toward the factory gate.

Seeing that, Ning Hai hurried after her.

The two stood behind a crowd of reporters, their eyes fixed on Ning Jinli.

Seeing Ning Jinli's pale little face, Ning Hai felt a series of cold sneers rise in his heart.

Thinking back to how he had offered a high price to buy the factory, only to be rejected by this ignorant yellow‑haired girl, a feeling of vindication welled up in him.

"Ning Jinli, Ning Jinli," Ning Hai muttered to himself, "This is what you get for bringing trouble on yourself. If you'd agreed to my offer at the start, you could have walked away with some money. Now… I originally just wanted to bankrupt your factory so I could snap it up for a song, but look—your fate is worse than I imagined, saddled with a murder charge that will ruin your life forever. Hahaha."

Ning Hai replayed his series of brilliant moves in his mind.

The more he thought about it, the more impressive it seemed, and the corners of his mouth twitched upward uncontrollably.

Shangguan Ying saw his expression clearly and casually said, "The factory boss has run into such a big problem—what will happen to the factory from now on?"

Ning Hai laughed and said, "What else can we do? Go bankrupt."

"Surely not?" Shangguan Ying said deliberately.

"How could it not be?" Ning Hai said confidently, "That yellow-haired girl doesn't understand management at all; the factory already has serious financial problems, and with this happening, it's hard not to go bankrupt."

Shangguan Ying then asked, "How do you know so much?"

Ning Hai's eyes gleamed with pride, "Put it this way, I know the factory's situation better than she does."

"Impressive, impressive," Shangguan Ying praised, then continued probing, "Such a big factory—it's a shame if it goes bankrupt."

Ning Hai said airily, "Nothing to regret—when the time comes, I'll carry out a bankruptcy acquisition."

"I see," Shangguan Ying said, a cold smile flickering in her eyes.

By now, although she didn't know the details of what happened, she had a rough idea in her mind.

If I'm not mistaken, Ning Jinli has been set up, with the intention of seizing the factory.

The person who set it up is none other than Ning Hai, who is already full of himself and can't wait to start celebrating, and the superior officer in charge of these police officers is also colluding with Ning Hai.

"Everyone, we are now announcing the investigation results!" a police representative shouted loudly.

Everyone's attention was drawn, and the reporters hurried over.

Nearby, Zheng Houcheng and the other factory executives instantly broke into a sweat from nervousness, while the onlooking employees all craned their necks and pricked up their ears.

"According to our investigation," the representative said, his expression somewhat complex as he glanced far off at the leader in the crowd who held absolute control, gritting his teeth, "We have confirmed that this case stems from a conflict between the factory boss, Ning Jinli, and the factory security guard, which led to the guard's serious injury and death, and the suspect harbored subjective intent."

"Ah! So it's intentional homicide?!" the reporters exclaimed in an uproar.

The onlooking employees were all stunned.

Zheng Houcheng's head buzzed, his face full of shock, "How… how… how is this possible?!"

Ning Jinli instantly felt as if struck by lightning, her body going rigid.

Clearly it was an accident, so how did it become intentional homicide on my part?

"I didn't!" she could no longer stay calm, shouting at the police and reporters, "I have absolutely no subjective intent! I've already made it clear—it was an accident! An accident!"

At the same time, inside the factory where the incident occurred, some workers who had originally said they would testify for Ning Jinli, after a brief moment of bewilderment, began explaining to the surrounding police officers.

"Didn't we just say what the situation was like?"

"The security guard didn't stand firm, tripped, and his own head hit the assembly line equipment!"

"It's really not that our boss intentionally killed him!"

"We've never even met the boss before; she and that guard had no grudge—how could she possibly want to kill him?"

"..."

For a moment, various voices rose and fell in a clamor.

Shangguan Ying's eyes grew dark, but she remained calm, wanting to see how the police would respond next.

Even some workers at the scene were giving testimony in front of the reporters—could they still be brushed off?

The faces of all the police officers present were not looking good.

They could actually see that this matter was utterly absurd.

But the leadership had already issued a dead order: it must be classified as intentional homicide, and they even wanted to make sure the reporters got it all on film.

As for why the leadership wanted to do this, they had no right to question it, nor could they defy it, otherwise they couldn't bear the consequences.

"Quiet!" the Zhang-surnamed leader walked over at this moment, "Taking advantage of so many reporters being here, I might as well lay out the situation for everyone."

Everyone immediately fell silent.

He walked to the center with his hands behind his back, swaying slightly, and gave his subordinates a glance.

Then, the police officers brought out two groups of people from the over two hundred who had been at the scene, each group numbering about a dozen.

"You all think it was an accident, right?" the Zhang leader looked at the first group.

These were precisely the workers who had just tried to speak up for Ning Jinli.

They spoke in a jumble, anxious and hurried:

"It's not that we think so—we saw it ourselves! It was an accident!"

"Exactly! When we gave our statements earlier, we said that, and we still say that now!"

"If it wasn't an accident, I… I'd take your surname!"

"..."

The Zhang leader waved his hand, "All right, all right, then I'll ask you: does anyone here really saw the whole process?"

Everyone in unison said, "We all saw it!"

"Really?" the Zhang leader stared at them and asked, "Listen carefully—I mean the whole process. That is, from the moment the suspect made contact with the victim to the moment the victim died, this complete sequence—who among you actually saw it?"

Everyone was stunned.

Someone wanted to speak, but after thinking it over seriously, they held their tongue.

"Huh? Why isn't anyone answering me?" the Zhang leader glanced around, pointed at one person, "You seemed to be the loudest just now—tell me, did you see the whole process?"

The person's face flushed red, "I… I didn't… it was too chaotic then, I… I only seemed to see the boss kick a leg, and then the guard stumbled backward… fell… and then… just… fell dead."

The Zhang leader asked the others, "Did you see the same thing?"

The rest nodded one after another.

Based on their own judgment, they all wanted to help Ning Jinli, but faced with so many police officers and reporters present, they dared not say a single false word.

They could only describe what they actually saw.

"All right," the Zhang leader continued, "Since you didn't see the whole process, how can you conclude that the suspect had no subjective intent? And you all only said, 'it seemed like the suspect kicked the victim.' Note the wording—'seemed'—those two words show you can't be completely certain!"

"What if, before that, the suspect had already inflicted a fatal injury on the victim? And then, by coincidence, the victim fell and the wound struck a hard object?"

"Or perhaps your description is entirely subjective speculation. Maybe the actual situation was that the suspect took advantage of the victim's lack of preparation and deliberately slammed the victim's head into the equipment, causing death?"

When they heard these words, the reporters present were a bit stunned.

Ning Jinli seemed to be struck by another bolt of lightning, this time searing her inside and out.

No…

In front of a large crowd, with so many eyes on him, and after the police had surveyed the scene and questioned witnesses, how could he remain unfazed and say something so outrageous?

The people being questioned all got furious, some of them even started swearing outright, "What's wrong with you! Do you have to spout such nonsense? Do you think we're idiots?!"

Leader Zhang remained unusually calm, a smile on his face, and said, "I'm not spouting nonsense, nor do I consider you idiots. However, your testimonies have serious problems, and they differ greatly from the findings our team derived from on‑site testing and analysis. I can understand that you may have feelings for the suspect, or fear her because she's the boss, and for various reasons you gave her unrealistic statements to help her… But we only deal with solid evidence!"

The employees who wanted to testify for Ning Jinli were left gaping, both angry and agitated, unable to utter a word.

"Don't rush, don't rush," Leader Zhang pretended to be sympathetic, "I understand how you feel; stay calm. Now let everyone hear what the other dozen‑plus witnesses have to say."

The other dozen‑plus witnesses he referred to are not strangers.

They are precisely the people who colluded with the security guard to cause the incident.

Led by the fat guy who first started the commotion in the cafeteria, the dozen‑plus accomplices all stepped forward.

Then they each claimed that, unlike those unreliable witnesses just now, they had seen the entire process from start to finish and could recount it in vivid detail.

In their mouths, the story was completely altered.

They said—Ning Jinli, while the security guard was mediating a dispute for others, struck the guard's head with an iron rod; the guard lost his balance, and Ning Jinli seized the chance to push him toward the assembly‑line machine. After he fell, she grabbed his head and slammed the back of his skull onto the machine with force, a clear case of premeditated murder.