Chapter 572

The interrogation room in the detention center had icy, glaring light.

Qiao Lianzhou sat in the specially made interrogation chair, wearing an orange vest, with icy cold handcuffs on his wrists.

In just a few days, he seemed to have aged ten or more years; his former dignity and bearing were gone, leaving only a weary face and a lingering shade of despair.

Lin Dongfan and Peng Tianhua sat opposite him.

Without lengthy preamble, Lin Dongfan shoved the photocopy of the sloppy, loophole‑ridden "Organ Donation Consent Form" across the table to Qiao Lianzhou.

On the consent form lay two photos meant to stir his conscience.

One showed Huang Xiju's tearful, desperate face; the other, Zhu Siming's youthful smile before death. In the face of power, that mother‑son pair had been as lowly as ants, at anyone's mercy.

"Qiao Lianzhou."

Lin Dongfan's voice was steady yet carried immense weight: "Look closely at these—a life, a shattered family. While you sit in the Yuezhou City Procuratorate, you daily proclaim fairness, justice, and serving the people—is this how you serve the people?"

Qiao Lianzhou's gaze lingered on the photos a moment, then he quickly lowered his head.

A silence lingered.

He slowly raised his head again, his tone low and sombre as he explained to Lin Dongfan: "At first, I never thought of arresting Huang Xiju."

"What made you change your mind?" Lin Dongfan assumed he was telling the truth and listened attentively.

Qiao Lianzhou recalled carefully:

"That night Huang Xiju was arrested, when I got home my wife told me to approve her arrest and demanded I completely shut down her protest space."

At the time I was bewildered, not understanding why she wanted to involve herself.

I had a big argument with her, and only later did I learn that the lung used for my son's transplant came from Huang Xiju's son.

Upon learning that truth, I was completely dazed at the time…

Saying this, Qiao Lianzhou lowered his head again, inadvertently revealing a hint of helplessness that surprised Lin Dongfan.

Lin Dongfan, surprised, pressed: "According to you, the illegal organ transplant wasn't something you personally masterminded behind the scenes?"

Qiao Lianzhou shook his head.

He replied in a heavy voice: "I only found out afterward. Later I ordered Huang Xiju's arrest, purely because I was backed into a corner. I was also afraid she would make a big scene…"

"So you just went along with the mistake?" Lin Dongfan asked.

Qiao Lianzhou gave a bitter smile, helplessly replying: "What could I do? They'd already taken the person's organs; the one was dead, beyond recall. I was angry then and slapped Jiang Lin. But after venting, I also felt fear. To keep my official hat, I momentarily lost my judgment, followed Jiang Lin's advice, and believed that if I kept Huang Xiju locked up, the matter would blow over."

"That moment of confusion of yours nearly got Huang Xiju killed." Lin Dongfan stared at Qiao Lianzhou sternly.

Qiao Lianzhou lowered his head in shame: "I regret it, I admit my fault, and I am willing to bear the consequences of everything I've done."

"Your character doesn't add up." Lin Dongfan wondered: "If you dare to take responsibility, why did you try to kill yourself before?"

When suicide was mentioned, Qiao Lianzhou fell silent again.

He would never admit that the first time he went to the rooftop to attempt suicide, he was truly driven to desperation, pressure coming from two sides: one, the anti‑corruption bureau led by Lin Dongfan hounding him relentlessly; two, his mentor Lv Yizhi, who had helped him advance, urging him to end his own life.

At that moment he felt unwilling, so he stood at the edge of the rooftop, hesitating.

As for the second suicide attempt…

Thinking of this, Qiao Lianzhou gave a bitter, anguished smile: "When I was young I liked beautiful women; I married the wrong wife, and my whole life has been ruined by Jiang Lin. If it weren't for her lawlessness and illegal organ harvesting, I wouldn't have been driven to desperation and onto the rooftop. The so‑called second suicide attempt wasn't me wanting to die—it was Jiang Lin wanting me dead."

Finally he got to the point.

Lin Dongfan gave Peng Tianhua a look, signalling him to record the testimony in detail.

He then continued: "You said the second suicide attempt was Jiang Lin wanting you dead—what exactly happened? Lay out the full story."

Qiao Lianzhou recalled:

"Peng Tianhua told me she was cheating with a fitness trainer; I believed him, went home and had a big fight with her, and also proposed divorce."

Later I drank a cup of water.

I don't know what happened, but soon my head felt heavy and dizzy, I fell asleep, and after that I have no idea what occurred.

When I regained consciousness, I found myself lying in a hospital.

I learned I had been diagnosed as a vegetative state.

I went along with it, continuing to feign being vegetative, waiting to see what would happen. I can be certain of one thing: Jiang Lin put drugs in my drinking water, trying to kill me.

Looking at Qiao Lianzhou, he didn't seem to be lying.

Based on the existing evidence, the issue of Qiao Lianzhou's second suicide attempt is indeed doubtful; he had first taken sleeping pills, then someone poisoned him with gas.

Lin Dongfan asked again: "Why would Jiang Lin want to kill you? Is it merely because you forced her to divorce?"

"It's probably not that simple." Qiao Lianzhou shook his head thoughtfully: "If it were just about divorce, she wouldn't go after my life. I also want to know the truth, which is why I kept pretending to be vegetative."

It seems the only way to uncover the murder truth is to ask Jiang Lin herself.

Fortunately, Jiang Lin has already been arrested.

This matter is not urgent.

Lin Dongfan paused this line of questioning and turned to another doubt: "You just said the hospital helped your son get an illegal organ transplant, and you claimed you knew nothing beforehand. If you truly didn't know, could Jiang Lin alone pull this off? Would the director of Renmin Yiyuan, He Zhiqiang, risk everything for her?"

"I once asked her about that." Qiao Lianzhou replied.

Lin Dongfan pressed: "How did she answer?"

Qiao Lianzhou answered embarrassedly: "That night, because I questioned her affair with the fitness trainer—I wasn't the one who slapped her? In her anger she said she had slept with He Zhiqiang, which is why he helped her. But I find it implausible; He Zhiqiang is older, also a deputy bureau chief, his rank not higher than mine. In terms of authority or appearance, he's inferior to me; she would never look at someone like him."

Hearing that, Lin Dongfan was momentarily speechless, then suddenly felt Qiao Lianzhou was both hateful and pitiable.

Lin Dongfan laughed and scolded:

"Damn it!

A deputy bureau chief like you doesn't even know the truth of your own attempted murder—three questions, three blanks! And you also don't know the truth about your son's organ transplant—again three blanks!

What the hell have you been doing all day?

A deputy bureau chief like you, being played round and round by the woman in your bed.

In this embarrassing situation, shouldn't you rack your brain and wonder whose interests your wife is actually protecting?

After all, Comrade Sima Qian already said: The world bustles, all come for profit; the world rushes, all go for profit!

Humanity!

It is a creature that pursues profit.

"Since she chose to sacrifice you, her deputy division‑level pillow‑person, does that mean there is someone more valuable than you behind her?"

Those words were like a blow to the head, leaving Qiao Lianzhou dazed and confused.

Who am I?

Where am I?

Who on earth is putting a green hat on me?

The terrifying trilogy of philosophical questions turned Qiao Lianzhou's mind into a muddled paste; recalling that besides the poisonous wife Jiang Lin hoping for his death, there was also someone who had hinted at him self‑annihilating.

That person was none other than his old superior—Lv Yizhi!

Qiao Lianzhou was completely distraught, his heart aching as if stabbed by a knife; he collapsed, lowering his head: "Go investigate my old superior, Lv Yizhi…"