Chapter 269: Just for This

"That is merely your own thought, not how it actually looked."

Duan Youting explained with a frown: "According to the description from our comrades at the scene, Weimin was blocking that young lady at the time, attempting to make indecent demands."

"Seeing Wei Guo and Weimin are biological brothers. When my colleagues stopped his criminal behavior, Weimin resisted both verbally and physically. This constitutes harassment of a woman and disturbing the order."

"You're talking nonsense!"

Duan Youting waved his hand to stop Madam Wei and continued: "After Weimin was subdued by my comrades, Seeing Wei Guo began threatening them with a weapon. Tell me, where did that firearm on Seeing Wei Guo come from?"

"That was..."

Madam Wei opened her mouth to find an excuse, but she didn't know how to explain it.

Just then, Li Xuewu's car entered the family compound, and the few people there looked toward the courtyard.

After getting out of the car, Li Xuewu waved at Yan Jiecheng to signal him to kill the engine and find a place to wait, then he walked toward the main hall.

As soon as he entered, he saw Old Song standing at the entrance leading to the case-handling area, Duan Youting standing at the entrance of the office area, and a middle-aged woman standing in the hall in a standoff.

Xiao Mi was standing in the inner part of the case-handling area; seeing Li Xuewu enter, he waved at him to signal him not to come in.

Li Xuewu did not respond to Xiao Mi, nor did he look at the woman staring at him, but walked straight toward the case-handling area.

"What are you doing here?"

Seeing Li Xuewu barging in so arrogantly, Madam Wei figured he must be someone of status; otherwise, why would no one in this station, from the chief down to the officers, dare to stop him?

Guessing he might be a cadre from the bureau, Madam Wei thought to herself that this was like having a pillow delivered just as she was getting sleepy.

But she couldn't figure out who Li Xuewu was. According to what she knew, there were no cadres this young in the bureau.

Li Xuewu tilted his head and looked at Madam Wei, who had asked him the question, and asked back in the same tone: "What are you doing here?"

"Huh?"

Madam Wei was stunned by the counter-question. She hadn't expected this young man to be so brazen; his official rank couldn't be that high, could it?

On second thought, it was possible; there were quite a few young officials these days.

"You must be a leader from the bureau, right? That's perfect. You should handle this; I was just looking for you people."

Li Xuewu tilted his head and asked with a smile: "How did you figure out I'm a bureau leader?"

Madam Wei said with certainty: "The station chief and these officers didn't dare stop you from entering, and you arrived by car. If you're not a bureau leader, what are you?"

"Hahaha," Li Xuewu said amusedly: "You've misunderstood. I'm just a maintenance worker, I know a bit of carpentry."

Madam Wei said disbelievingly: "No, you arrived by car."

Li Xuewu laughed: "Of course I have to take a car. They invited me to repair the tables and chairs inside; I wouldn't have come if they hadn't sent a car to pick me up."

"You're quite something."

Madam Wei started to believe Li Xuewu, but her hand still didn't let go of his clothes, and she asked: "Then why do they treat you like this..."

"Are you talking about being polite?"

Li Xuewu asked, then glanced around and said: "I'm not a maintenance worker for the station. They're begging me to do the work; if they weren't polite, would I still do it?"

Madam Wei looked at the expressions of Duan Youting and the others, and skeptically released Li Xuewu's clothes.

The reason she was skeptical was that while she couldn't see any expression on Duan Youting's face, she seemed to see shock and surprise on the faces of the two case-handling officers.

"Are you really a maintenance worker? How come I don't see you carrying any tools?"

"Aren't you meddling a bit too much? After asking for so long, I'd like to ask who you are too?"

Li Xuewu replied bluntly, then walked toward the case-handling area.

Walking beside Xiao Mi, Li Xuewu even put his arm around Xiao Mi's shoulder as they walked inside.

Just now, this kid's reaction was a bit too much; no wonder Duan Youting didn't let him carry out his own mission.

Walking past the corner, he heard the sound of the woman at the entrance tangling with Duan Youting. Li Xuewu didn't pay it any mind, but glared at Xiao Mi and asked: "What were you saying at the entrance?"

Xiao Mi also knew he had almost ruined Li Xuewu's plans, so he explained what had just happened to Li Xuewu with a dry laugh, especially Madam Wei's "discarding the pawn to save the chariot" argument.

Li Xuewu narrowed his eyes and asked: "Which room is Seeing Wei Guo in?"

Xiao Mi jumped, thinking Li Xuewu was going to discipline him, but he hadn't expected him to ask which room Seeing Wei Guo was in.

"Over here. The two brothers aren't being held together; they're far apart."

Letting Xiao Mi lead the way, Li Xuewu muttered: "Not stupid, knows to keep them separated."

"Hehe."

Xiao Mi heard Li Xuewu's muttering but didn't dare say anything, just let out a "hehe."

After opening the door to the interrogation room, Xiao Mi entered first, and Li Xuewu followed to take a look.

At this moment, Seeing Wei Guo was being cuffed to the radiator pipe, hanging there. Seeing Li Xuewu enter, he struggled to stand up.

But his legs had long gone numb from squatting all night, and he stumbled and fell directly to the ground.

That wasn't all; because both hands were hanging from the radiator pipe, his butt hitting the ground made his hands very uncomfortable.

Seeing Wei Guo wasn't heavy, but he was at least over a hundred pounds.

How could his two hands withstand the pull of over a hundred pounds? The cuffs scraped the skin right off his wrists.

This feeling was not pleasant. If you called it an injury, such friction didn't draw blood; it just peeled a layer of skin off the surface.

But if you said he wasn't injured, the swollen skin was burning with pain.

He had originally intended to say a few harsh words to Li Xuewu, but now, being jerked by the cuffs and in such severe pain in his hands, the words in his mouth turned into hissing sounds.

If it hurt, why not just stand up?

He couldn't. Seeing Wei Guo's legs were numb, and even the action of squatting up from a sitting position on the floor was difficult.

Standing up was out of the question.

There's a trick to cuffing someone to a radiator pipe, and the key is the height.

With both hands cuffed to the radiator, you can't squat down, and you can't stand up.

If you want to squat, you have to half-squat, which is worse than standing.

But if you want to stand, you can't, you can only bend over.

These are tricks thought up by clever people. They might be useless against heinous criminals, but they are absolutely effective against petty thieves and stubborn troublemakers.

Needless to say, hanging like this for a night is definitely equivalent to four hours of interrogation.

Seeing Wei Guo was a tough guy; after hanging for a night, he still wanted to act tough with Li Xuewu.

Li Xuewu didn't make things difficult for Seeing Wei Guo, but walked to his side with a look of pity and pulled Seeing Wei Guo up by his collar.

Seeing Wei Guo didn't know what Li Xuewu meant. He had wanted to refuse "charity," but his hands were truly uncomfortable, so he had to submit to Li Xuewu.

But Li Xuewu pulled Seeing Wei Guo up without helping him unlock the handcuffs, and even started talking nonsense.

"How is it? Was last night very uncomfortable?"

Seeing Wei Guo leaned against the radiator pipe, bent over, shaking his numb feet, and said disdainfully: "It's alright, quite comfortable."

"Hahaha."

Li Xuewu chuckled for a while, then pulled out a cigarette and gestured toward Seeing Wei Guo.

Seeing Wei Guo looked at the cigarette in Li Xuewu's hand, thinking that since he had already submitted, smoking one of his cigarettes shouldn't be a big deal.

Li Xuewu stuffed the cigarette into Seeing Wei Guo's mouth and lit it with a lighter.

Seeing Wei Guo took a difficult puff, then brought his mouth to the radiator pipe, holding the cigarette with his cuffed hand.

"Fine, you're not bad. You count as a tough guy; you didn't try to act like a gentleman with me."

Although Seeing Wei Guo's impression of Li Xuewu hadn't changed, he had to admit that this person did things quite openly.

"Alright, the rules have been stated. Now, let's get to it."

Looking at Seeing Wei Guo, who was puffing on a cigarette with a heroic air, Li Xuewu asked amusedly: "Get to what?"

Seeing Wei Guo glanced at Li Xuewu and said: "I provoked you, aren't you going to retaliate against me?"

As he spoke, Seeing Wei Guo said disdainfully: "If you want to do something, you'd better be quick. Once my mother finds out we brothers are here, you won't be able to do anything, and then it'll be my turn."

At this point, Seeing Wei Guo looked at Li Xuewu with a wicked smile and said: "Don't hold back. Even if you hold back now, I won't remember your favor. When it's my turn, I won't go easy on you."

"Hahaha."

Li Xuewu pointed at Seeing Wei Guo, who was covered in grease, and said to Xiao Mi: "Look at this guy, has he been locked up until he's stupid?"

Seeing Xiao Mi smiling but not really smiling, completely failing to cooperate with the point he wanted to act out, he simply gave up on grooming this silly kid.

"What do you think I am? Do you still not understand the significance of you being here? Still talking to me about underworld loyalty? Are you stupid?"

Li Xuewu pointed at Seeing Wei Guo and said with a frown: "Do you think just anyone can enter this room? Including you, including me."

Seeing Wei Guo didn't care much about Li Xuewu's words, because he still had a trump card he hadn't played.

"I don't know what significance you're talking about. From childhood to adulthood, I've been in this room at least eighty times, if not a hundred. Do you think I'm scared?"

Li Xuewu put his hands in his pockets, looked at Seeing Wei Guo, and asked with narrowed eyes: "Your lawlessness from childhood to adulthood is all dependent on that mother of yours, right? Is she the one with the ear-length short hair, a gaunt face, and somewhat prominent cheekbones?"

"My mom is here?"

Seeing Wei Guo was shocked, and the cigarette in his hand slipped, falling directly into his palm, burning him and making him shake his hand continuously.

Because his hands were cuffed, he struggled for a while before shaking the cigarette butt off.

Li Xuewu watched Seeing Wei Guo busy himself and said with a smile: "She came last night and has been here ever since, but she hasn't even been able to enter the door of the detention room. Do you think you'll be able to get out this time?"

"You're lying!"

Seeing Wei Guo shouted hysterically at Li Xuewu, but then turned his gaze toward Xiao Mi.

He had long ago seen that this young policeman was a fool; otherwise, he wouldn't have failed to notice that he had arrived by car, and even given him a big back-throw.

He looked like a greenhorn who had just started the job, the type with no guile, so Seeing Wei Guo was now more willing to believe Xiao Mi's words.

Never mind that it was Xiao Mi who had arrested him.

Xiao Mi looked at Li Xuewu, hesitating whether to tell Seeing Wei Guo the truth.

Li Xuewu waved his hand to signal Xiao Mi to speak directly.

"Say whatever there is to say. With that brain of yours, don't think about what you can or can't say. At this point, what else is there to hide from him?"

As he spoke, Li Xuewu opened the door and walked out, because when Li Xuewu arrived, he had already seen that it was Zuo Jie being held opposite.

"Big Brother?"

As Li Xuewu entered the room, Zuo Jie was quite surprised.

"Hahaha."

Li Xuewu smiled, walked to the front of the interrogation table, and placed the cigarette pack and lighter by Zuo Jie's hand.

Because Zuo Jie was only cuffed by one hand, smoking was not a problem.

Moreover, Zuo Jie hadn't struggled with the radiator pipe; he had just been cuffed to the chair for the whole night.

This kid was also very quick to get familiar; last night, he had moved his chair to the front of the interrogation table and slept on the table all night.

Seeing the cigarettes now, he found them dearer than his own parents, and with trembling hands, he pulled one out and hurriedly lit it for himself.

Lighting the cigarette wasn't enough; he was about to slip the cigarette pack and lighter into his own pocket.

Do smokers all over the world have this habit?

Why does everyone want to swipe other people's matches and lighters?

"If you dare to put that in your pocket, I'll cuff your other hand too."

"Hehehe."

Zuo Jie put the cigarette and lighter back on the table and laughed: "I didn't mean to, it's just a habit."

Looking at his expression, there was no sign of apology; perhaps he had been swiped by others so often that he no longer felt any shame about it.

Li Xuewu put the lighter away and stuffed the remaining half-pack of Da Qianmen into Zuo Jie's jacket pocket.

"You're still young, you should smoke less."

Regarding Li Xuewu's concern, Zuo Jie didn't take it to heart, because at this time, "Smoking is harmful to health" wasn't printed on cigarette packs.

However, the fact that Li Xuewu was "mentally ill" made Zuo Jie afraid to go against him.

"Got it, Big Brother."

If he were to throw a temper tantrum at Li Xuewu, Zuo Jie was afraid he would be killed by Li Xuewu in this room.

This kid was stubborn with his parents, but very obedient with Li Xuewu.

It was just that he kept avoiding Li Xuewu, and not daring to breathe in the same spot as Li Xuewu was a bit of a giveaway of his intelligence.

Li Xuewu looked at this kid amusedly and asked: "What does your father do for a living?"

Zuo Jie watched Li Xuewu sit on the table in front of him without any decorum, as if he were just chatting with him.

"Hey, what kind of work? Just a ditch digger."

"Hehe."

Li Xuewu chuckled for a while, then said: "Speak like a human."

Zuo Jie looked at Li Xuewu and said: "Really, a ditch digger. My dad was originally in the construction industry, and in '56, he was assigned to an engineering project."

"In '58, my dad and the others were the first batch to organize construction-related engineering. By '61, they started running all over the country, repairing all sorts of things. Isn't that just ditch digging?"

"If your dad is a ditch digger, then what are we?"

Li Xuewu kicked Zuo Jie with his foot, then narrowed his eyes and asked: "Why are you hanging out with those two brothers? Their parents have already come to pick them up, and you're still here blowing smoke with me."

"What?"

Zuo Jie was surprised, then asked: "Weimin and his brother got out?"

"Sit down, sit down. What are you surprised about?"

Li Xuewu pressed Zuo Jie down and said: "They're just preparing the paperwork. There's no sufficient evidence; what can we do if we don't release them?"

"But..."

Zuo Jie looked at Li Xuewu with a frown, cursing inwardly.

Where was that tough attitude of yours yesterday? Weren't you going to handle those two brothers?

Why did you retreat as soon as I became a witness? How am I supposed to hang out in the future? Won't Seeing Wei Guo beat me to death when he gets out?

Li Xuewu patted Zuo Jie's shoulder and said: "Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."

Zuo Jie looked at Li Xuewu and asked incredulously: "You mean those two don't know about me testifying? Then thank you, Big Brother!"

As he spoke, Zuo Jie was about to stand up, but was pressed back down by Li Xuewu.

"What's the rush? Let me finish."

Li Xuewu emphasized, then sighed: "It's a pity, when you said you wanted to testify, Seeing Wei Guo was already awake. It's just that this kid was cunning and didn't make a sound."

"Ah?!!!"

Zuo Jie let out a howl, then grabbed Li Xuewu's clothes and asked: "Then what did you mean by 'don't worry'?"

Li Xuewu patted Zuo Jie's shoulder and said: "Don't worry, I'll release you half an hour late, so your times of leaving the station will be staggered."

"That's not it, Big Brother. What's the use of staggering the time? What about later? Are you just going to abandon me?"

Seeing Zuo Jie getting anxious, Li Xuewu said helplessly: "We've tried our best, but neither of them will confess. What can we do? We have to release them. As for your testifying, we'll keep it in mind. If anything happens, come back to us to report the case."

Zuo Jie's tears were about to fall, and he said with a crying voice: "It'll be too late to report it then."

He looked at Li Xuewu helplessly and said: "Big Brother, you're so close with Sister Xiao Ning, can you ask Sister Xiao Ning to protect me?"

Li Xuewu shook his head with a bitter smile and said: "I'm not close with Dr. Gu at all. We've met less than five times in total. To tell you the truth, I don't even know where her house is. I didn't even enter the family compound when I dropped her off that day."

Zuo Jie nodded in resignation: "That's right, you wouldn't be able to enter our compound."

Li Xuewu comforted him: "Don't be afraid. Isn't your dad part of the engineering team? That's why I asked what your dad does. If he were any smaller, I really wouldn't dare release you."

"What's the use of that?"

Zuo Jie said with a mournful face: "I have two older brothers and one younger brother, all good students. I'm the only one who's unreliable. Don't you see I've been here all night and no one has come to pick me up?"

"Tsk tsk tsk."

Li Xuewu clicked his tongue and said with some regret: "That's troublesome. After all, we can't follow you for a lifetime, can we?"

"Big Brother."

Zuo Jie called out to Li Xuewu, then said with full hope: "How about I go hide at your place?"

"Hahaha."

Li Xuewu gave a bitter laugh and said helplessly: "You want to hide with me? I don't even know where to hide myself. Don't you know how formidable his father is?"

"How could I not know? That pair in the Wei family is the most protective of their own."

Zuo Jie was also anxious, pacing around the room with the stool, restless.

"What should I do?"

Li Xuewu also looked like he was trying to think of a solution with Zuo Jie.

"Hey?"

Zuo Jie called out, then stood in the room with the stool and looked at Li Xuewu, asking: "Big Brother, you just said those two brothers haven't gone out yet?"

"Yeah, they're just preparing the paperwork. Didn't I come to see you?"

Zuo Jie asked with hope: "Then if those two brothers can't get out, but are kept inside forever, wouldn't I be safe?"

Li Xuewu had a contemplative expression, but in his heart, he was thinking: You idiot, you finally thought of this question. If you hadn't asked, I would have had to take the initiative to give you the suggestion.

But the effect of the trick would have been much worse, and it wouldn't have shown Li Xuewu's level, would it?

"That's what they say. When the time comes, they'll be detained, and you'll be released. We'll just say you weren't the main culprit and were released after being educated."

Zuo Jie smiled at Li Xuewu's words, but Li Xuewu's next words made Zuo Jie feel troubled again.

"But the problem now is, how can we make sure those two brothers can't get out?"

"This..."

On one side is underworld loyalty and brotherly righteousness; he can't afford the reputation of a traitor.

On the other side is the burden of righteousness; if he goes out, he'll be stabbed in the back by his brothers.

How to choose?

Is there even a choice?

"Big Brother, I know something about Weimin that will definitely finish him."

Li Xuewu looked at the determined Zuo Jie and asked with some hesitation: "This... won't this make things difficult for you?"

"Not difficult, not difficult. Helping the police fight crime is the duty of every citizen, right?"

Zuo Jie also knew he had broken his code, but now he could only find excuses for himself.

Li Xuewu nodded and said: "Tell me about it. If the facts are clear, their case will continue to be investigated."

"Big Brother, you don't know. Three years ago, Weimin almost went somewhere else, but then he ran away overnight to the south. That's how he got his current glory."

Li Xuewu nodded to signal Zuo Jie to continue. Although Li Xuewu had heard this from Dong Wenxue, it wasn't a good time to interrupt Zuo Jie.

Zuo Jie sat at the table with the chair and moved closer to Li Xuewu before whispering: "But I know he didn't run away because he was afraid of going there; it was because of a woman."

"Oh?"

Li Xuewu was surprised and instantly became energized.

He jumped off the table, placed the chair from behind the table next to Zuo Jie, and gestured to him: "Sit properly and tell me slowly. We have time, tell me in detail."

"Hehe, I just happened to run into it by chance."

Zuo Jie smiled embarrassedly, then said seriously: "That day I went to find Seeing Wei Guo. As soon as I reached their door, I heard them arguing inside, and a woman was crying her heart out."

"I was afraid of running into trouble, so I went up another floor and stood on the stairs looking down. I didn't expect to see..."

"My mom really said that? If you dare to lie to me!"

Seeing Wei Guo's eyes were red now, and the look he gave Xiao Mi was like he wanted to eat him.

Xiao Mi felt uncomfortable being looked at by Seeing Wei Guo, who seemed ready to devour him. Why did everyone think he was someone with no guile?

Now it was clear Seeing Wei Guo believed what he said, especially after hearing the implication of his mother's words.

"Believe it or not, if it weren't for Station Chief Li telling me to tell you, I really wouldn't want to tell you this, because it's a mistake."

Seeing Wei Guo nodded, then closed his eyes and let out a deep breath, tears streaming down the corners of his eyes.

"Although this Li kid isn't a good thing, he does things quite properly. I know what you've said. Let him come at me; I'll take it all."

Xiao Mi looked at Seeing Wei Guo's ashen face and said with a frown: "Don't be ungrateful. Station Chief Li is a good person. Do you know the nature of this? It's already good enough that he hasn't cleaned you up by force."

Seeing Wei Guo looked at the rookie in front of him, knowing that this person didn't know the conflict between him and Li Xuewu, so he still thought Li Xuewu was just performing his official duties.

"You don't understand. Just call your Station Chief Li here and tell him that I'll take responsibility for everything."

"Click!"

The door to the interrogation room was pushed open from the outside, and Li Xuewu stood at the door and asked: "You'll take responsibility for what?"

He asked Seeing Wei Guo with a frown, then said to Xiao Mi: "Come here, I have something for you."

Xiao Mi felt his aura in this room was suppressed by Seeing Wei Guo, so he pointed at Seeing Wei Guo, meaning for him to reflect honestly.

Once outside, he saw Li Xuewu close the door to the interrogation room, then pull him to a corner.

"I'm giving you a task. Go out now and find my driver, then go to the Jiaodaokou Station and hand this note to Station Chief Shen Fang. Remember, don't bring the person back here; take them directly to the Jiaodaokou Station."

Xiao Mi looked at the note Li Xuewu had placed in his hand and replied: "Station Chief Li, don't worry, I will definitely deliver the note."

As he spoke, Xiao Mi had already tucked the note into his jacket pocket, patted it solemnly, saluted, and ran out.

Seeing Xiao Mi's actions, Li Xuewu's expression froze. He looked at Xiao Mi's back and muttered: "The kid is a good kid, but he's a bit of a 'chuunibyou'."

After sending Xiao Mi off, Li Xuewu turned around and returned to the interrogation room where Zuo Jie was, handed the paper in his hand to Zuo Jie, and said: "Write down what you just said."

After giving the instructions, he was about to walk out.

"Big Brother!"

Li Xuewu turned around and glanced at Zuo Jie, who was looking at him with some unease, and revealed a confident smile: "Write it. I've already unlocked your cuffs, don't you understand what that means?"

"I know."

Zuo Jie said with some hesitation, but still held the fountain pen in his hand and frowned.

Li Xuewu withdrew his smile and said: "Once the bow is drawn, there's no turning back."

Seeing Li Xuewu's cold expression, Zuo Jie said "I know" again, then lay on the table and started writing.

Li Xuewu looked at Zuo Jie, opened the door, and was about to walk out, but after taking one step, he turned back and asked Zuo Jie: "Do you know Gu Yan?"

"I know him. Big Brother, you know Gu Yan?"

Zuo Jie was surprised, then slapped his forehead and said: "You know Sister Xiao Ning, how could you not know Gu Yan?"

He blamed himself with annoyance, then looked up at Li Xuewu and said: "Gu Yan is a tough guy. He studies well and fights hard, but he's not in our group. He never plays with us; he always plays with those people in the K-compound who have power."

Actually, by the mid-50s, the term "family compound" already existed, including the Textile Factory family compound, the Farm Tool Factory family compound, the Milk Factory family compound, and so on.

After all, by that time, the children of the pioneers had already started elementary and middle school.

By now, these children, having grown up together, had good relationships and liked to hang out together.

Almost all those children grew up listening to their fathers' stories of hard struggle, and it could be said they had an innate sense of the era and honor.

Within these children's groups, there were also complex social rules.

After all, the more you get, the more you have to bear; some of these rules were beyond the imagination of ordinary people.

This was also why Zuo Jie hung out behind Weimin and Seeing Wei Guo; because Weimin's dad was more powerful than Zuo Jie's dad.

And Zuo Jie's dad was still a "ditch digger."

The children who grew up in the Textile family compound grew up together and knew each other's roots. From a young age, they knew whose father was more powerful and whose family had a car.

Although everyone played together, within this small group, there was also a hierarchy.

As the saying goes, the powerful speak. If your dad is powerful, we all listen to you; if your dad isn't powerful, you don't even get a say.

This was almost an unwritten rule for all children who grew up in family compounds.

There is a story like this:

Two children are arguing, and another child comes to mediate.

"What does your dad do?"

"What about you?"

The mediating child decisively says, "I listen to whoever's dad is more powerful."

It sounds interesting, but it's a very realistic hidden rule.

Li Xuewu refused Gu Ning in the beginning because he wasn't used to these circles and hidden rules.

There was also another hidden rule Zuo Jie just mentioned, which was that children played in their own separate groups.

The children had their own order, each with their own playmates.

For example, identity markers: some children wore blue socks, others wore green, and then wore rubber shoes. Other families' children wore one style on top and another on the bottom, and would occasionally wear flight jackets.

In this way, you could tell what a family did just by looking at their clothes, and sometimes even by their socks. It could be said that the "little partners" represented by these identity markers were very obvious.

Because of his older brother, Gu Yan always played with the children from the K-compound.

The K-compound had higher status than the H-compound and L-compound, so the children also appeared arrogant.

This was also the reason Zuo Jie envied Gu Yan, which was why he said what he just said.

Li Xuewu pointed at Zuo Jie and said: "Write quickly. Once the case is handled tonight, I'll take you to dinner with him."

"Really?"

Zuo Jie jumped three feet high, but looked at Li Xuewu and asked skeptically: "Didn't you just say you weren't close with Sister Xiao Ning? How could you know Gu Yan?"

Li Xuewu smiled at Zuo Jie and said: "I'm not familiar with Gu Ning, but we are familiar with her father."

After saying this, Li Xuewu closed the door and went to the interrogation room opposite.

Zuo Jie stood in the interrogation room, stunned. What kind of bragging was this?

Li Xuewu entered Seeing Wei Guo's room, didn't look at Seeing Wei Guo, who was glaring at him, but lit a cigarette for himself and sat behind the interrogation table.

Seeing Wei Guo watched Li Xuewu ignore him, frowned, wondering what Li Xuewu meant, moved his numb hands, and changed his posture to continue squatting.

Just like that, Li Xuewu sat in the chair without speaking, thinking about his own affairs.

Seeing Wei Guo squatted by the radiator, occasionally moving his hands and feet, wondering what Li Xuewu was thinking about.

The two remained in a stalemate for over an hour. The determination and ruthlessness on Seeing Wei Guo's face slowly disappeared, leaving only endless exhaustion.

Li Xuewu had actually been observing Seeing Wei Guo's emotions the whole time. Although he wasn't staring at him, every move Seeing Wei Guo made was within Li Xuewu's line of sight.

To put it bluntly, this was a type of interrogation technique. Li Xuewu hadn't undergone professional training or schooling.

But Li Xuewu understood the human heart, and with a little bit of acting skill and the information gap relative to this era, this was Li Xuewu's ability to win at interrogation.

Seeing Wei Guo had now entered a state of self-denial.

After the initial surprise, shock, grief, and determination, and following a period of reflection and Li Xuewu's psychological suggestions, these emotions were all negated by him.

Seeing Wei Guo was also constantly thinking about whether the decision he had made was truly worth it.

Now that he had reached this state, Li Xuewu would certainly not give him too much time to think.

Because once the momentum of self-negation passed, he might enter a state of self-abandonment, and that would make the interrogation troublesome.

"Sigh~"

Li Xuewu let out a sigh, then looked at the blankly staring Seeing Wei Guo and said, "Even a tiger won't eat its own cubs; I also didn't expect this case to involve matters of natural justice and human ethics."

Seeing Wei Guo frowned at Li Xuewu and said, "If you have something to say, just say it directly. No need to beat around the bush. I, Seeing Wei Guo, am a dignified man; if I were to even furrow my brow, I wouldn't be my parents' child."

"Yes, yes, yes."

Li Xuewu nodded and said, "I know you are a man of integrity. I could tell from the fact that you didn't come with your brother to intercept us that you value righteousness, but now... sigh."

Seeing Wei Guo was about to die of anxiety. What was wrong with this man surnamed Li? Why did he always say only half of what he meant? It was enough to drive a person crazy.

"Can you please speak clearly? Even if you intend to deal with me, at least let me be a ghost who understands why."

Li Xuewu frowned at Seeing Wei Guo and sighed, "It's truly too much to bear; you're better off not knowing."

Seeing that Seeing Wei Guo was about to jump with impatience, Li Xuewu finally said, "But I am the investigator, and I have to ask you this question."

"Ask!" Seeing Wei Guo glared with wide eyes and hissed.

Li Xuewu looked Seeing Wei Guo straight in the eye and asked, "It was you who pushed Zheng Minhua down the stairs three years ago, wasn't it?"

"Bullshit..."

Seeing Wei Guo cursed with bloodshot eyes, but then it was as if his throat had been blocked, and he couldn't speak another word.

Li Xuewu looked at Seeing Wei Guo with a gaze of pity, speculation, and contempt.

Seeing Wei Guo, however, glared at Li Xuewu, showing not the slightest intention of remorse for his wrongdoing.

After staring at each other for a long while, Seeing Wei Guo asked with tears streaming from his bloodshot eyes, "How did you find out about this?"

"Do you still need to ask me?"

Li Xuewu walked up to Seeing Wei Guo, slowly squatted down, and pulled a pack of unopened Da Qianmen cigarettes from his pocket.

He tore it open, pulled out the first cigarette, lit it in his mouth, and then placed it into Seeing Wei Guo's mouth.

"You already have the answer in your heart, don't you?"

Li Xuewu generally does not smoke during interrogations, as it might affect the criminal's focus and cause him to miss important clues.

Conversely, during an interrogation, every action Li Xuewu takes, including smoking or handing a cigarette to the criminal, is calculated.

Seeing Wei Guo puffed on the cigarette deeply, as if trying to squeeze all the depression in his heart out through the smoke.

But the more he smoked, the more painful he felt inside.

Tears dripped down his cheeks onto the cigarette, causing the smoke Seeing Wei Guo inhaled into his lungs to turn bitter.

"Cough, cough~ cough, cough!!!"

Seeing Wei Guo coughed for a while, spat out the cigarette butt, crushed it with his foot, and then asked Li Xuewu, "My brother told you this, right? Did he see my mother? Or did my father come?"

Li Xuewu leaned silently against the front of the interrogation table, frowning and staring at the floor, his peripheral vision fixed on Seeing Wei Guo.

"Heh, heh, heh, heh."

Seeing Wei Guo chuckled for a while, then said, "My brother is more promising than I am; of course they would want to protect my brother."

Li Xuewu knew Seeing Wei Guo was unwilling to accept this, otherwise he wouldn't have needed to say so much.

"I know what kind of person you are; you couldn't have done such a thing, but now..."

Li Xuewu hesitated for a moment, then said, "I'm not trying to scare you. Your situation is already quite serious. You have no right to possess a firearm, and the most serious part is that you used a firearm to hold and threaten police personnel."

"I know what you want to say; it's just that I'm going to face the firing squad, right?"

Seeing Wei Guo lifted his head to reply to Li Xuewu, then glanced at the sun outside and said, "I opposed my brother dating Gu Ning from the start. She is a top-tier figure in the courtyard; how could he possibly be a match for her? Besides, Zheng Minhua was already pregnant at the time."

"Cough, cough~"

Seeing Wei Guo coughed twice, then continued, "Gu Ning always brought guards when she went out. My brother was noticed the moment he approached her. How could the Gu family not investigate my brother?"

Seeing that Seeing Wei Guo was about to settle old scores, Li Xuewu knew he was unwilling to take the fall for his brother, so he didn't interrupt Seeing Wei Guo and let him continue.

"At the time, my brother was supposed to go to the frontier with Mr. Wang, but Zheng Minhua came to our house with her belly showing. My mother wouldn't accept her and wanted to push her out, not letting her enter the house."

"Sigh~"

Having said this, Seeing Wei Guo couldn't go on; the remaining words turned into a single sigh.

"So you pushed her down the stairs?"

Seeing Li Xuewu looking at him with contempt, Seeing Wei Guo chuckled twice and said, "I have never laid a hand on a woman in my life; how could I ever touch a pregnant woman?"

Li Xuewu shook his head and said, "But your brother said Zheng Minhua was your girlfriend, that you got her pregnant. He said he even tried to persuade you, but you wouldn't listen, and it was you who, in a fit of rage, took care of the situation."

"Heh, heh, heh, heh, heh. Whatever he says, let it be."

Seeing Seeing Wei Guo ready to give up on himself, Li Xuewu also sighed and said, "Intercepting and harassing women on the street is already a bad look. Now, with this reputation hanging over you, if you face the firing squad, you'll just leave behind a reputation of being cursed after death, while your brother continues to live freely."

Seeing Seeing Wei Guo lower his head, Li Xuewu continued, "But what if you don't face the firing squad?"

Seeing Wei Guo's body stiffened, clearly having thought of the consequences of such a situation.

"How will you live after you get out? Can your brother compensate you for all these years of youth? Watching your brother surrounded by children and grandchildren while you are all alone and miserable—can you still count on your father and mother?"

"Heh."

Li Xuewu sneered for a moment, then said, "You can't count on them now. By the time you get out, those two will be in their seventies or eighties. You count on your brother? Heh, heh, heh."

Seeing Wei Guo's tears fell onto the ground, shattering into eight pieces, each piece a tear of heartbreak.

Li Xuewu stood up straight, walked around the interrogation room, and said, "You know who Gu Ning is, and you know who I want to deal with. Why bother?"

"If it weren't for your brother, our meeting at the bookstore yesterday would have been a perfectly normal encounter. Where would all this trouble come from?"

Seeing Wei Guo raised his head, ignoring the tears on his face, and asked Li Xuewu, "Did the Gu family ask you to deal with us?"

Li Xuewu chuckled and said, "Who do you think I am? Who do you think the Gu family is? Heh."

"You overestimated me and underestimated the Gu family."

Walking up to Seeing Wei Guo and standing still, Li Xuewu continued, "Even someone as outstanding as your brother couldn't reach that high branch; could I?"

"Then why?"

Li Xuewu pointed to the badge on his uniform and said, "For this."

Seeing Wei Guo asked in disbelief, "Just for this?"