Chapter 265: with translation of chapter title

Around six in the evening, Lin Dongfan finished interrogating Zhao Lianyue.

This interrogation involved three cases.

The first case was the homicide in White Family Ditch; Zhao Lianyue confessed that Bai Yuqin was strangled to death by her elder brother Bai Jianping, then her body was dumped into a latrine pit.

The second case was the Nanzhou corruption case.

Zhao Lianyue admitted to having a power-for-money deal with Zheng Bin, Chairman of Jianglan Natural, accepting a ten million yuan kickback from him.

The third case was the warehouse explosion case.

Zhao Lianyue said that the ethylene warehouse of Qiangsheng Petrochemical was blown up by Shi XiongJie, who was a lackey under Gao Lu.

These three leads are tangled together, giving a feeling of great confusion.

In fact, once sorted out it becomes clear that the origin of all three cases traces back to Gao Lu, resulting from her ruthless scheme to swallow Qiangsheng Petrochemical.

If Gao Lu had not ordered Zheng Bin to bribe Zhao Lianyue, Zhao Lianyue would not have brought two bags of cash to White Family Ditch.

If Zhao Lianyue had not brought those two bags of cash to White Family Ditch, it would not have aroused Bai Jianping's greed; without that greed, Bai Yuqin would not have met an untimely death.

As for the ethylene warehouse explosion, there's no need to elaborate—it was entirely orchestrated by Gao Lu behind the scenes.

Lin Dongfan walked out of the temporary interrogation room with a heavy heart, stood at the village committee gate, lit a cigarette, and as far as his eyes could see, the sky had already turned dusk; tonight was destined to be a sleepless night.

At that moment, Zhang Yong was still interrogating Bai Jianping.

The result surprised Zhang Yong somewhat.

"You say Bai Yuqin was killed by Zhao Lianyue?"

Zhang Yong looked dubiously at Bai Jianping opposite him; in his view, this was preposterous, after all Zhao Lianyue is a deputy bureau-level official—even if one wanted to kill someone, Zhao Lianyue would hardly do it personally.

Bai Jianping replied righteously: "Everything I said is true. That day Zhao Lianyue, lusting after her, wanted to sleep with my sister. My sister is also a person who cares about face; she resisted rather fiercely. Zhao Lianyue shoved her onto the bed and choked her neck. After she stopped breathing, that beast Zhao Lianyue didn't let up, continuing just the same."

"Did you see it yourself?" Zhang Yong questioned doubtfully.

Bai Jianping pondered and explained: "At the time I was outside; hearing the commotion, I rushed in. When I entered, Zhao Lianyue was in the act."

"Then what?" Zhang Yong pressed.

Bai Jianping said: "I immediately dragged Zhao Lianyue off the bed and punched him. When I turned back to look at my sister, she was already dead. There were strangulation marks on her neck, so I'm certain she was strangled by Zhao Lianyue."

"Continue." Zhang Yong stared fixedly at Bai Jianping's eyes.

Bai Jianping sniffed twice, then added: "I originally wanted to report it to the police, but Zhao Lianyue told me that if I didn't expose the matter, he would give me 100,000 yuan each month. I regret it; in this matter I truly let my sister down—for the money I abandoned my principles."

"Who threw your sister's corpse into the latrine pit?" Zhang Yong pressed further.

Bai Jianping replied without hesitation: "This really has nothing to do with me; it was all Zhao Lianyue's doing. At first I wanted to stop him, but if I had stopped him, he wouldn't have paid me."

"You're lying!"

Zhang Yong coldly stared at Bai Jianping, as if he could see straight into Bai Jianping's inner world at a glance.

Bai Jianping's face twitched slightly in surprise: "I'm stating the facts!"

Zhang Yong calmly analyzed: "If Zhao Lianyue really killed your sister, then such a huge leverage would be in your hands—surely Zhao Lianyue would have to obey you for life; would he dare say no? You could easily stop him from sinking your sister's body into the latrine pit; would he dare refuse to pay you? That makes no sense."

"!!!"

Faced with Zhang Yong's questioning, Bai Jianping grew so nervous his spine went cold.

Bai Jianping stammered in his defense: "Back then I was just afraid I wouldn't get the money, so I went along with him; my thinking was that simple. Who says it's illogical? You weren't there to see the situation."

"Who have you, Bai Jianping, ever feared in your life?" Zhang Yong snorted angrily: "Ask around the village—you're no small fry; you're the village tyrant in everyone's eyes! At twelve you dared to kill, and you killed your own younger sister, a baby not even a year old! If Zhao Lianyue truly had leverage over you, given your nature, you'd have already shaken him down to nothing; a monthly hundred thousand would barely satisfy your appetite."

"You damn well favor the Zhao side everywhere, playing protect-your-own with me, right? Bullshit!"

Enraged and embarrassed, Bai Jianping suddenly slammed both fists on the table and jumped up.

If his hands weren't handcuffed, he would have likely picked up a chair and smashed it into Zhang Yong's head.

He glared at Zhang Yong sitting opposite: "Just because I was clueless as a kid doesn't mean I'm now a heartless bastard! You have no evidence—on what basis do you suspect I killed my sister?"

Zhang Yong was about to further dismantle Bai Jianping's logical loopholes.

Lin Dongfan suddenly strode in with a cigarette in his mouth and, out of the blue, blurted: "Damn, this beast's got guts—daring to assault an officer!"

"Assaulting an officer?"

As a huge question mark popped up in his mind, Zhang Yong's brain suddenly lit up, instantly grasping Brother Fan's grand principle!

The next second, Zhang Yong rose and kicked the chair beside him aside.

Rolling up his sleeves while cursing: "Bai Jianping, you damn well dare to kick me—do you really think being a beast lets you run amok?"

Seeing Zhang Yong's posture, it was clear he wasn't just messing around.

Bai Jianping stared wide-eyed in shock: "Who assaulted an officer?! Don't just blame me for no reason—when did I ever kick you..."

"Damn! Still daring to strike!"

Before Bai Jianping could finish his shout, Zhang Yong's fist was already swinging at his face, startling the nearby brother who hurriedly rose to shut the door—yeah, when beating a dog you close the door.

In the following three minutes.

Shrieks echoed continuously inside the room.

It was like slaughtering a pig during New Year; when the screaming finally ceased, Bai Jianping lay on the ground panting heavily, his chest rising and falling sharply.

He was beaten up, his nose swollen and face bruised.

Both wrists bore clear blood marks from the handcuffs, the result of his overly vigorous struggle just moments before.

Bai Jianping lay on the floor, gritting his teeth in hatred: "When have I ever assaulted an officer? Bullshit! This is way too much—if I don't sue you, I swear I'll never be a person!"

"As for those four words 'I swear I'll never be human,' you already achieved that at age twelve; among beasts, you've always walked sideways."

Saying that, Zhang Yong crouched down and pulled off Bai Jianping's shoes.

Then he stamped a clear, large shoeprint onto his own belly.

Then he helped Bai Jianping put his shoes back on.

Finally.

Zhang Yong pointed at the shoeprint on his own belly and told Bai Jianping: "With the beast's footprint as proof, this is your evidence of assaulting an officer! Now, even if I shot you dead, it would be completely justified!"

"!!!"

Facing this terrifying obscene operation, Bai Jianping was so stifled he felt like a grandson who dares not speak out in anger; he could only grit his teeth in fury, considering himself unlucky.

Lin Dongfan kicked him again: "You're worse than a beast! At twelve you killed a sister, at forty-five you killed another sister! If I weren't a civil servant, today would be your death day!"

This is not just Lin Dongfan's inner voice.

Present were Zhang Yong and another interrogator, their hearts filled with suppressed anger! If they could act on their hot-blooded nature, today they would surely exterminate this beast.