A madman in France? How come he's always at crime scenes!

Chapter 50, The Case of the White Bones, is complete! Rewards are being distributed!

Two hours later, Cao Yang was transferred to a detention ward at a hospital designated by the Municipal Public Security Bureau.

After receiving basic treatment on his left shoulder, he sat on the bed without saying a word once he regained consciousness.

The interrogator went in for ten minutes and came out.

Meng Jiang asked, "How is it?"

The interrogator removed his mask.

"Close your eyes and play dead."

Well, that matches what Attorney Wu said.

Meng Jiang rubbed his temples.

This kid, we originally planned to have him cooperate with the interrogation, but before we even started the interrogation, we figured we wouldn't get anything out of him, so he ran back to Tongcheng on his own.

At least the direction is clear now, so it wasn't a wasted trip for him.

……

At the entrance of Tongcheng Detention Center, Zhang Jiajing was jumping around while holding her phone.

"Boss!!! I passed!"

Wu Lianggang had just gotten out of the taxi when she yelled at him, and he almost got killed.

"What are you shouting for? We're at the entrance of the detention center. Anyone who didn't know better would think you were going to storm the execution ground."

Zhang Jiajing shoved her phone in front of him; the screen was blindingly bright.

"I passed! I passed the objective questions! I passed!!!"

Wu Liang glanced at the score.

Well, 180 points is just enough to meet the requirement, not a single point wasted.

"good."

Zhang Jiajing waited for a long time, but received no further news.

"Not bad?"

"What else?"

Wu Liang walked inside with his hands in his pockets, leaving behind a casual remark.

"I really envy you. You don't waste a single point, unlike me who wasted more than fifty points back then."

"..."

Zhang Jiajing's smile froze on her face.

Ni Xiang stood behind them, carrying a transparent bag.

The bag contained a neatly folded old sweater and a box of pickled vegetables brought from the village.

She was dressed neatly today, her hair was tied up, and the stray hairs on her forehead were blown around by the wind.

Wu Liang glanced at her but didn't urge her.

Zhang Jiajing also quieted down, put her phone back in her pocket, and went over to straighten Ni Xiang's collar.

"Don't be afraid."

Ni Xiang nodded, her lips moved but she didn't say anything.

Wu Liang handed the meeting paperwork to the window.

The policewoman was clearly taken aback when she saw him.

"Attorney Wu, it's you again?"

"Judging from your tone, your detention center has been doing quite well lately?"

The policewoman couldn't help but roll her eyes and lowered her head to stamp the document.

"Stop talking nonsense. This is meeting room number two. Minors are allowed to visit; please keep the time limit manageable."

"Don't worry, I'm a very rule-abiding person."

Zhang Jiajing muttered quietly from behind, "Even the rules would make someone want to call the police."

Wu Liang turned around, and Zhang Jiajing immediately pretended to look at the ceiling.

The lighting in meeting room number two was fairly bright.

When Ni Dayong was brought in, his steps were noticeably slower than usual.

When he saw Ni Xiang, the flesh on his face twitched visibly, and finally he forced out an ugly smile.

"Xiangxiang".

Ni Xiang didn't sit down; she stood in front of the glass, holding the transparent bag in her arms.

The bag opening was soaked with sweat, and the plastic was crumpled into a ball.

Ni Dayong sat down and picked up the microphone.

"How's school these days?"

Ni Xiang held the microphone to her ear, her eyes fixed on the narrow slit below the glass.

"fine."

"Your mother, she..."

"Everything is fine."

After those three words were uttered, the meeting room fell silent.

The forced smile on Ni Dayong's lips froze.

He looked down at the scratches on the table. Those scratches, one after another, symbolized countless people swallowing their words here.

Ni Xiang slowly pushed the bag to the transfer port under the glass.

"sweater."

The guard came over to check, and after confirming that there were no problems, he handed it in.

Ni Dayong hugged the old sweater, sniffed it, and then quickly turned his face away.

"There's a metal box on the second shelf of the cabinet at home, with 3,700 yuan inside. Dad's not capable, you can keep it for yourself."

Ni Xiang didn't respond to that sentence; her eyes began to well up with tears.

She turned her head away, wiped her eyes hard, and tried hard not to let the tears fall.

Ni Dayong sat blankly across the glass, wanting to reach out and say something, but not knowing how to say it.

Ni Xiang suddenly spoke.

"Dad, I hate you."

Ni Dayong's shoulders trembled slightly, and his face turned deathly pale.

Ni Xiang continued:

"I hate that you keep things from me, I hate that you never say anything, I hate that you treat me like a child, I hate that you keep everything bottled up inside."

"But I'm not a child anymore!"

Ni Xiang raised her head, and finally couldn't hold back her tears.

"I'm not stupid."

"I know you never look me in the eye when you say you're okay!"

Ni Dayong was stunned.

He clutched the old sweater, his fingers clenching tighter and tighter, like a child who had done something wrong.

The guard, who had been standing by the door with a blank expression, shifted his gaze slightly away.

Ni Xiang raised her hand to wipe her face, but the more she wiped, the more messy it became.

"I don't hate it when you sit here."

"It's not that I hate that you didn't tell me those things."

She sniffed, tears streaming down her face, and finally couldn't hold back her sobs.

"I'm just scared, scared that you all think I can't handle anything."

"I'm afraid you'll suddenly disappear one day and think it's for my own good."

Ni Dayong's lips moved, and he held the microphone to his ear, but he couldn't utter a single word.

"So Dad, can you please stop shouldering everything alone?"

"Can you trust me just this once?"

"I can study, I can take care of Mom, and I can wait for you to come back."

After saying the last sentence, Ni Xiang seemed to finally break down, her shoulders slumping little by little.

She squatted in front of the glass, crying silently.

Zhang Jiajing, standing at the back, felt a lump in her throat and instinctively wanted to walk forward, but Wu Liang reached out and stopped her.

Wu Liang shook his head.

At times like these, no one can speak up for them.

On the other side of the glass, Ni Dayong finally slowly raised his hand.

His palm was pressed against the cold glass.

His hands were large, his palms were covered in calluses, and there were old marks between his fingers that he couldn't wash off.

"Xiangxiang, Dad was wrong."

Upon hearing these three words, Ni Xiang's crying stopped abruptly.

She looked up, staring blankly at the person on the other side of the glass.

Ni Dayong grinned, wanting to laugh, but tears fell first.

"Dad always thinks you're still too young."

"Your mother is sick, and the house is in this state. Dad thought that as long as I can still stand, I can't let you know these dirty things."

"Dad thinks that as long as you study hard and grow up clean and tidy, everything will be fine after you leave Shiqiao Village."

He looked at Ni Xiang, the light in his eyes dimming little by little, then brightening again.

"But Dad forgot."

"My daughter has grown up a long time ago."

Ni Xiang's lips trembled slightly.

Ni Dayong moved his hand down on the glass, just like when he used to pat her head as a child, and stopped there through the glass.

"Dad shouldn't have kept it from you."

"I shouldn't let you be afraid alone."

"From now on... from now on, Dad will talk to you properly about anything."

Ni Xiang stared at him for a long time.

Then she slowly stood up and placed her hand on the glass.

Two hands, one large and one small, overlapped through the glass.

The glass was cold.

But Ni Xiang suddenly felt that the anxiety that had been hanging over her for the past few days had finally settled back into her body.

"Hey, that's enough."

Wu Liang's voice suddenly rang out from behind.

Ni Xiang and Ni Dayong both froze at the same time.

Zhang Jiajing's eyes were still red, and she almost kicked him when she heard these words.

"Boss! Is this the right time to break the ice?"

Wu Liang stood at the back of the meeting room with his hands in his pockets, looking on with an expression of disapproval.

"No, I mean, do you and your daughter have some misunderstanding about legal procedures?"

Ni Dayong looked up blankly.

Ni Xiang also sniffed, tears still clinging to her face.

Wu Liang pointed to Ni Dayong on the other side of the glass.

"A three-year suspended sentence, don't you understand?"

Ni Dayong opened his mouth.

"I……"

"What do you mean, 'what do you mean'?" Wu Liang said irritably. "The court sentenced you to three years in prison, suspended for five years. To put it simply, as long as you behave yourself during the probation period and don't try to reason with people with a kitchen knife, you basically won't have to go to jail."

Ni Xiang was stunned.

"what?"

Wu Liang looked at her again.

"You too?"

Ni Xiang raised her hand to wipe away her tears, her expression instantly changing from sadness to bewilderment.

"Attorney Wu, you seem to have... mentioned this to me before."

"It's not just a feeling," Wu Liang said expressionlessly. "I've said it three times."

Zhang Jiajing added in a low voice, "I said it too."

A hint of embarrassment slowly crept onto Ni Xiang's face.

She reached up and scratched her head.

"I was a little excited just now and forgot."

Across the glass, Ni Dayong was also holding the old sweater in a daze, and it took him a long time to finally react.

"So... I don't have to go to jail?"

"Theoretically, no."

Wu Liang corrected, "The premise is that you subsequently cooperate with community corrections as required by the judgment, and at the same time receive treatment and evaluation from a mental health institution. Once the doctor deems your condition stable and there is no longer a risk of harming society, you can go home."

Ni Dayong's lips trembled.

The tears he had managed to hold back almost fell again this time.

Wu Liang quickly raised his hand.

"Stop."

"I just finished persuading one person; don't let another one come along."

Ni Xiang stood in front of the glass, her face alternating between crying and laughing, completely at a loss for what to do.

She asked in a low voice:

"When will my dad be able to get out?"

"The process is complete, and the hospital will observe you for a period of time," Wu Liang said. "The specific time will depend on the evaluation results."

Ni Xiang nodded.

"Can I go see him?"

"able."

"Can my mom go too?"

"It depends on her physical condition."

Ni Xiang finally nodded vigorously.

"good!"

The warden glanced at the time and gently knocked on the door.

"It's time for the meeting."

Ni Xiang looked at Ni Dayong and said seriously:

"Dad, I'm waiting for you to come home."

Ni Dayong nodded vigorously.