Chapter 10

Fang Xuewen was also extremely troubled by the current situation. In the past, even if Gong Dali was a tough nut to crack, Fang Xuewen had the confidence to pry open his mouth and get him to spill all his secrets, without even resorting to any special methods. All he needed to do was to use the fatigue bombing technique. By assigning several teams of police officers to take turns interrogating Gong Dali 24/7, not allowing him a single second of sleep, even if Gong Dali were made of iron and steel, he would completely break down within four to five days and confess everything he knew. Moreover, using the fatigue bombing technique would leave no physical marks on Gong Dali, thus avoiding any risk of being held responsible.

However, time was now of the essence. Li Yifeng required them to pry open Gong Dali's mouth before dawn, and such a short period of time made it impossible to use the most effective interrogation method, the fatigue bombing.

Mei Lifeng was also extremely annoyed at this moment. At the beginning of the interrogation, he was still full of confidence. As a police officer with rich interrogation experience, Mei Lifeng knew that the easiest subjects to interrogate were those involved in gambling and prostitution. These people had extremely fragile mental fortitude and often broke down in tears and confessed everything even before the interrogators had a chance to speak, their only request being not to notify their families or unit leaders.

At first, Gong Dali's behavior was no different from that of most people involved in prostitution. He repeatedly admitted his mistakes, saying that he had made a mistake that many men would make. He was willing to pay whatever fine the police department imposed, as long as his family was not notified. However, when Mei Lifeng asked him to recall what else he had done recently, Gong Dali immediately clammed up and refused to say another word. This was quite normal, as most criminals harbored侥幸心理 (侥幸心理 means侥幸 psychology, which can be translated as a侥幸 mentality or a侥幸 attitude) and would not confess their crimes unless they saw concrete evidence. However, as long as the interrogators applied targeted psychological pressure, their defenses would eventually be broken. Therefore, when Li Yifeng came over, Mei Lifeng was still very confident and believed that they could pry open Gong Dali's mouth before dawn.

However, as the interrogation continued, Mei Lifeng realized he had encountered a problem. No matter how much pressure they applied, Gong Dali remained silent.

Given the urgency of the situation, Mei Lifeng decided to temporarily stop the interrogation and let Gong Dali "sober up" in a model cell. A model cell referred to a cell where the inmates were very cooperative with the police. Inmates in such cells received some small privileges that ordinary inmates did not. In return, the inmates in the model cell had to cooperate with the police and help solve difficult cases.

The inmates in the model cell were indeed very cooperative. As soon as Gong Dali was placed in the cell, they showed "meticulous care" and used "practical actions" to help Gong Dali recall what he had done in the past. However, after more than two hours, Gong Dali was bruised and swollen, almost unconscious, but the inmates in the model cell had not helped him recall anything.

Mei Lifeng was worried that if they continued to "help" Gong Dali recall, it might result in a fatality, so he brought Gong Dali back to the interrogation room. When Mei Lifeng faced Gong Dali again in the interrogation room, he noticed that the fearful look in Gong Dali's eyes had disappeared, replaced by a look of disdain and even madness. This kind of look, Mei Lifeng had only seen in the eyes of extremely tough and desperate criminals.

At this point, Mei Lifeng also became determined. In the interrogation room, he hung up a dozen 500-watt light bulbs, all focused on Gong Dali. It was already summer, and the night temperature was over 30 degrees Celsius. With the dozen 500-watt light bulbs, the temperature in the interrogation room quickly rose to over 50 degrees, like a sauna. Not to mention Gong Dali, who was under the spotlight, even Mei Lifeng and the other interrogator were drenched in sweat, finding it extremely unbearable. After just a few minutes in the interrogation room, their clothes were completely soaked, as if they had just been fished out of water.

After an hour of this torture, the blood on Gong Dali's body had dried and wet again, his lips were cracked, and he was almost in a state of collapse, yet he still miraculously held on, not uttering a single word.

Fang Xuewen, watching from outside, realized that this approach was not working and had Mei Lifeng and the others withdraw, removing the dozen light bulbs. They needed to get Gong Dali's confession as soon as possible and could not let him collapse and fall into a coma.

After Fang Xuewen and Mei Lifeng briefed Bao Feiyang, his brows furrowed. His plan to bring down Lu Zhongcheng, save his parents and uncle, and change the fate of his family could not be blocked by a stubborn and obstinate person like Gong Dali!

Although Li Yifeng had returned early, his mind was still preoccupied with the situation. He did not go to bed but sat in his study, smoking continuously, waiting for news from Fang Xuewen.

This matter was of great importance, directly affecting whether the old leader Bao Guoqiang could make a comeback and the future of the pragmatic officials in Zhongtian City. If it was not handled well, not only would Bao Guoqiang not be able to make a comeback, but Li Yifeng would likely be reassigned to a trivial department to retire. If Li Yifeng were in his fifties, he might have been able to endure it, but he was only in his early forties, with a long time before retirement. In the next seventeen or eighteen years, he could still achieve many great things. The thought of being stuck in a trivial department, just eating and waiting to die, made Li Yifeng shudder. If not for his concerns, Li Yifeng would have stayed at the detention center to supervise the interrogation of Gong Dali.

In the agonizing wait, time passed minute by minute. Li Yifeng sat in his study for three hours, smoking three packs of cigarettes, but still did not receive the good news he was waiting for. His wife, Guo Xiaoyan, came to the study twice, urging him to go to bed, which only made Li Yifeng angry.

Seeing Li Yifeng's temper flare, Guo Xiaoyan did not dare to provoke him further. She quietly emptied the ashtray filled with cigarette butts, turned off the window air conditioner that had been running all night, opened the window, and placed a fan to blow out the smoke-filled air.

Even though he was extremely anxious, Li Yifeng suppressed his urge to call and urge for the progress of the interrogation. He knew that Fang Xuewen and Chief Zhang, who were on the front lines, were even more anxious and would do everything in their power to complete the interrogation. Calling to urge them would only add more pressure to Fang Xuewen and have no effect. If Fang Xuewen made progress, he would report it to Li Yifeng immediately...

After several more hours of anxious waiting, seeing that it was already 6 a.m. and still no news from Fang Xuewen, Li Yifeng could no longer sit still. He called the detention center.

"Old Fang, what's the situation now?"

"Director Li, I'm sorry, I haven't completed the task. Gong Dali has extremely strong mental fortitude. We've tried many methods, but he still resists and refuses to speak. I hope you can give us a little more time."

After waiting all night for this result, Li Yifeng wanted to curse but held back. Fang Xuewen had been his loyal subordinate for over a decade, and he knew him well. Fang Xuewen was not someone who easily mentioned difficulties. If he said Gong Dali had "extremely strong mental fortitude," then Gong Dali was definitely not an ordinary troublemaker, and this bone would be very hard to crack!

Li Yifeng took a deep breath and softened his tone. "How much more time do you need?"

"If we have two to three days, I estimate I can pry open Gong Dali's mouth!"

"No way!" Li Yifeng immediately rejected Fang Xuewen. "Two to three days is too long! I can give you a maximum of twelve more hours. That's my limit. No matter what method you use, Fang Xuewen, you must pry open Gong Dali's mouth by 6 p.m. today!"

Hearing Li Yifeng call him by his name, Fang Xuewen knew there was no room for negotiation. If he could not get the information he needed from Gong Dali by 6 p.m., the consequences would be severe.

"Old Fang, why don't we hold a meeting and gather the experienced interrogators from the criminal investigation team and the detention center to brainstorm and see if we can come up with a good method?"

Seeing Fang Xuewen's furrowed brows, Chief Zhang suggested this idea. This was a common practice when dealing with difficult cases. Many cases seemed to be dead ends, but when everyone gathered together and chatted, they often sparked new ideas and found new solutions.

Fang Xuewen shook his head. "No. This case is very special, and we can't let too many people know about it. Besides, we have very little time. Director Li only gave us twelve more hours, and we don't have the luxury of holding a meeting to discuss and study..."

"Twelve hours is enough!"

After listening to the situation, Bao Feiyang had been sitting quietly, deep in thought. Suddenly, he opened his eyes, glanced at Gong Dali, who was handcuffed to a chair, looking exhausted but defiant, and said with a cold smile, "He's just a tough nut to crack. Does he think that being fearless and unafraid of death is enough? There are many things in this world that are more terrifying than pain and death!"

"Do you have a method?"

Fang Xuewen and Chief Zhang looked at Bao Feiyang simultaneously.

"Yes, I want to try it," Bao Feiyang nodded. "But I need to understand a few things first."

Then, Fang Xuewen saw Bao Feiy stand up, pull Mei Lifeng aside, and whisper to him. Mei Lifeng's face initially showed confusion, then surprise, as he nodded repeatedly and whispered back to Bao Feiyang.

This made Fang Xuewen extremely anxious. What was Bao Feiyang saying to Mei Lifeng? From Mei Lifeng's surprised look, it seemed he thought Bao Feiyang's idea was good.

After a few minutes, Bao Feiyang and Mei Lifeng returned together.

"Captain Fang, I've already discussed the situation with Captain Mei, and he can create the conditions to implement my method," Bao Feiyang said. "If you agree, we can start setting it up immediately. No matter how strong Gong Dali's mental fortitude is, he won't last twelve hours."

"What method? Tell us quickly!" Fang Xuewen and Chief Zhang were already impatient.

Bao Feiyang then explained his method in detail.

"Haha, no wonder Director Li said you are devious. Only you could come up with such a despicable method!" Fang Xuewen and Chief Zhang burst out laughing.

"Indeed!" Mei Lifeng also chuckled, glancing at Gong Dali in the interrogation room. "If Gong Dali can really hold out, I'll call him 'Grandpa'!"

In the interrogation room, Gong Dali was dozing off with his head on the back of the chair when he suddenly shivered and woke up...