Chapter 118

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In the evening, when Yang Youming came out of the bathroom freshly showered, Xia Xingcheng was lying on his side, reading his script.

His script was spread out on the bed. Propping up his head with one hand, he flipped through the script with the other.

When Yang Youming came and lay down beside him, he only raised an eye to look at him, scrutinizing him with a calm gaze.

“Prosecutor,” Yang Youming lay down on the bed with his hands pillowed under his head. He adopted Sun Yao’s tone and lowered his voice, saying, “I truly didn’t do it on purpose.”

Xia Xingcheng sat up at once, cross-legged on the bed, his arms folded over his chest. Mimicking an interrogation, he questioned, “You still want to argue even now?”

Yang Youming’s expression didn’t change, but his timbre was low and deep, even a little hoarse. He reached out and put his hand on Xia Xingcheng’s leg and lightly rubbed it through his thin pajama pants. “You look too good in a uniform, I can’t keep myself from looking.”

Xia Xingcheng bent at the waist, leaning in to look Yang Youming in the eye. “You’re content with just looking?”

Yang Youming hardly flinched from the stare down. With a level tone, he said, “You’re right, I also want to tear your uniform off. I’ll rip off both your jacket and shirt at once and leave them to hang on your elbows, then pull off your belt, take your pants off, and force you down on that work desk and…”

Xia Xingcheng went scarlet. He moved to lie on his stomach and buried his face in Yang Youming’s chest, shaking his head and rubbing at it haphazardly.

Yang Youming stroked his hair. “What’s wrong, prosecutor?”

Xia Xingcheng said, “Stop talking.”

Yang Youming laughed.

Refusing to lift his face from where it stuck to Yang Youming’s chest, Xia Xingcheng asked, “You watched me act in a whole day’s worth of scenes and that’s the only thing that crossed your mind?”

Yang Youming’s fingers gently caressed him. “There’s something else, wanna hear?”

Hugging his waist, Xia Xingcheng nodded.

Yang Youming moved closer to his ear, and softly said, “I want to hide you away. You wouldn’t be able to leave, and no one would be able to see you. Keep you locked up in a big room, make it so that you can only depend on me, so that you’ll never leave me.”

This time, Xia Xingcheng looked up at him. Seeing Yang Youming’s expression, he momentarily couldn’t tell whether Yang Youming was serious or only joking.

Then, he saw Yang Youming smile, as gentle a smile as before. He then kissed Xia Xingcheng’s forehead, and said, “But I’d also hate to do that. You’re so amazing—I want the entire world to see your brilliant shine.”

Xia Xingcheng looked at him with a burning gaze, then pounced into Yang Youming’s embrace rather ferociously and kissed him.

Yang Youming found his sudden bout of passion odd. Drawing his waist in, he asked, “What’s the matter?”

Xia Xingcheng kissed him lengthily. Panting in his arms, he said, “You said you want to lock me up in a big room and not allow me to leave.” He paused there. His voice then softened, and his cheeks were flushed, yet he looked Yang Youming right in the eye. His eyelashes faintly trembled, and with both shame and earnestness, he said, “I’m willing.”

Han Bohan went to visit the crime scene. As it happens, there was no longer anything to see—every item involved in the case had already been seized, and there were no distinct signs of a fight left on the scene, nor were there any bloodstains.

The trip left him a most deep impression of the impoverished lives of the father and daughter pair. The buildings in the community were extremely shabby. The exterior walls were a dull cigarette ash, and viewed from the bottom, the wooden window lattices were falling apart. From having been exposed to the elements, one could no longer quite tell the colour of its original paint job. Furthermore, apart from the first floor, none of the other floors had guardrails installed. It seemed that those who lived here hadn’t the slightest care for these matters. If a thief truly wanted to steal, all that hard work breaking in would only turn up nothing of value to steal.

Moreover, there were no CCTVs in the neighbourhood. The nearest CCTV was at an intersection further ahead. From the footage the police had collected, at approximately 10:30 that night, the victim, Cao Yuxiang, had crossed the intersection alone.

The hour couldn’t be considered ‘late’. There were a good deal of restaurants at a neighbouring street that opened till very late, so people came and went; there was always someone passing through. Cao Yuxiang had walked past the intersection very quickly, and there were no sightings of any suspicious individuals with him.

From the wide open window in the corridor, the signs of a climb were no longer all that visible. However, when Han Bohan peered out of the window to take a look, he saw that it was relatively easy to climb into a room on the second floor—which was precisely Sun Xunyan’s room.

Sun Xunyan’s room was small. There was only a single bed inside. Even the wardrobe was a simple cloth wardrobe. The blanket and bed sheets on the bed were in complete disarray—it should’ve been from when Sun Xunyan was hurriedly brought away. Nobody had stepped in to tidy up.

The young policeman who accompanied Han Bohan to the crime scene was the case manager; his name was Zheng Xujiang. He was sitting on the wooden living room seats, smoking. Seeing Han Bohan coming out of Sun Xunyan’s room, he said, “It seems that this house was rented after Sun Yao’s daughter had that accident.”

Han Bohan nodded. He entered the next bedroom and saw that it was a little bigger. It had a wooden wardrobe and a television set, but apart from that, it was similarly simple and crude.

The room was tidy, except for the blanket on the bed, which ought to have remained the same since the night Sun Yao got up when he heard signs of movement next door. The blanket and bed sheets were a set, pale pink plaid on a light blue base.

Zheng Xujiang said, “The rest are his personal belongings.”

Han Bohan saw a small photo frame on the bedside table, and thus went over to pick it up and take a look. The photograph framed within was of Sun Yao and his daughter Sun Xunyan, who looked like she was only fourteen or fifteen at the time. She was standing behind Sun Yao—who was squatting on the ground—and was bent over his shoulders with a specially bright smile on her face. Sun Yao’s face also contained a trace of a smile.

Han Bohan and Zheng Xujiang exited Sun Yao’s rented apartment together. As they descended the stairs, Han Bohan said to Zheng Xujiang, “Has the materials pertaining to Sun Xunyan’s falling incident that I asked you for been supplemented?”

The staircase was narrow. On their way down, Zheng Xujiang had no option but to slightly tilt his body sideways. He said, “Only part of it. Sun Xunyan’s fall back then was determined to be an accident. A case wasn’t filed, so there’s only a case registration form and a few transcripts.”

Han Bohan said, “So why was it determined as an accident back then?”

Zheng Xujiang said, “There was more than one student who confirmed that Sun Xunyan and Cao Yuxian were dating. Sun Xunyan’s homeroom teacher said they saw them leave school together after evening self-study. When Sun Xunyan fell from the building, her clothes were intact, and there were no traces of sexual assault. Moreover, Cao Yuxiang had called the ambulance at that time.”

The moment he finished speaking, the two of them came out of the staircase.

The afternoon sun was slightly scorching. Han Bohan halted in his tracks, tilted his head and looked towards the building, and asked Zheng Xujiang, “Sun Xunyan fell from the third floor?”

Zheng Xujiang replied, “Yes.”

Han Bohan looked at Zheng Xujiang. “How likely is it for a fifteen-sixteen year old highschool girl with excellent grades to jump from the third floor because of relationship problems?”

Zheng Xujiang shrugged his shoulders. “If she jumped, then it’s a hundred percent probable. Who can say?”

Han Bohan then thought of another question. “Has Sun Yao met Cao Yuxiang before?”

Zheng Xujiang was silent for a moment. “He ought to have met him.”

Han Bohan asked, “How many times?”

Zheng Xujiang shook his head, indicating that he didn’t know.

Han Bohan said, “Sun Yao told me that he’s only met Cao Yuxiang once. After Sun Xunyan fell, he tried to seek Cao Yuxiang out, but he couldn’t find him—because Cao Yuxiang was well protected by his family. He transferred to another school and even moved houses despite the upcoming university entrance exams. Sun Yao only saw Cao Yuxiang’s side profile from a distance at the hospital. At the time, he wasn’t even aware of what had happened. And when he found out, he could no longer find Cao Yuxiang.”

Han Bohan recalled their dialogue at the detention centre.

Back then, Sun Yao had said, “I didn’t recognize who he was. It was too dark at the time. I couldn’t see his face clearly—I wasn’t sure what Cao Yuxiang really looked like in the first place.”

Zheng Xujiang exhaled at length. It sounded like a sigh. He didn’t speak, only sticking a hand in his pocket and shaking his head.

Han Bohan said, “If Cao Yuxiang and Sun Xunyan were boyfriend and girlfriend, and Sun Xunyan jumped because Cao Yuxiang proposed a break up, and Cao Yuxiang also took the initiative to call an ambulance for her, then after so long, why would Cao Yuxiang climb into Sun Xunyan’s room through a window with the intention of raping Sun Xunyan, who’s already in a vegetative state?”

Zheng Xujiang shook his head as before. “Cao Yuxiang is dead. Sun Xunyan is still in a coma. In the end, who can clearly tell what happened?”

Han Bohan said to him, “Please reinvestigate the circumstances back then.”

Zheng Xujian looked over at him. “Prosecutor Han, to be honest, it’s been so long since that incident occurred. The students have already graduated from senior high school and moved on to a higher education. There are still some who remember clearly what had happened back then, but don’t mention an unclear investigation, even with a thorough investigation, it won’t change the fact that Sun Yao strangled Cao Yuxiang to death. I personally think that there’s little significance.”

Cao Yuxiang was certainly strangled by Sun Yao to death. There was no need for a further reinvestigation. As for what really happened back then, if there were no additional new evidence, then Han Bohan could only accept Sun Yao’s confession. In that case, they now returned to their original question—in the end, were Sun Yao’s actions legitimate defence?

That night, Han Bohan went home and had a meal with his parents.

His parents’ house was a two-storey villa. He was an only son, and since buying his own place and moving out, the only ones at home were normally his mother and father, and a housekeeper who took care of the cooking and cleaning.

He was already twenty-nine years old this year. Every time he returned home, the question most often raised by Mama Han was whether he was dating or not, and when he would bring his girlfriend home.

Han Bohan twitched inwardly. On the surface, though, he maintained a calm facade towards his mother, told her he hadn’t met the right one, and if he did, he’d bring her back home to meet them at once.

Mama Han wore a pair of glasses. She had a gentle, intellectual appearance that was also slightly stern. She looked Han Bohan up and down from behind the lenses, and said, “You say this every time, and every time, you still come back alone.”

At this time, Papa Han became impatient. “With the way he is, it’s not like he won’t be able to find someone, so what’s the rush? It’s his career that should be worked on.”

Papa Han’s name was Han Zhang. He was the chief of the Chongfeng Public Security Bureau. He had a tall, large stature, and he’d put on the weight of middle-aged men. Perhaps it was because he was used to it, but he always appeared solemn and calm at home, and his speech had a slow cadence.

Han Zhang asked Han Bohan, “I heard that you’re handling a recent intentional homicide case. The victim was a nineteen year old university student?”

Han Bohan glanced at him, and only gave an indifferent ‘Mm’ before he lowered his head to continue eating.

Han Zhang continued with his customary slow speech to quickly say, “The university student who was murdered—was his surname Cao?”

Han Bohan felt that the rice in his mouth was somewhat dry. He forced himself to swallow, then asked Han Zhang, “What?”

Han Zhang said, “His father is Cao Yuan.”

Han Bohan put his bowl down. “I’m not familiar with him.”

Han Zhang also put his chopsticks down, and said, “He’s a famous entrepreneur in this city, and a representative of the municipal people’s congress.”

Han Bohan’s complexion gradually sank. He gazed at Han Zheng. “So?”

Han Zhang lit himself a cigarette, took a neither rushed nor slow drag, then sandwiched the cigarette between his fingers, and pointed at Han Bohan, saying “You think handling a case is simply handling a case? If you don’t place yourself a little higher and have a stronger concept of the big picture, you’ll be a small-time prosecutor forever.”

Han Bohan said, “I think being a small-time prosecutor is great.”

“‘Great’,” Han Zhang laughed. “You think it’s fine, because you’re not capable. When you climb higher one day and look back, it’s then that you’ll know what’s good and what’s not.”

Han Bohan felt that he could no longer continue on with the conversation. He reached for a napkin and wiped his mouth, then balled up the napkin and placed it on the table. He got up, and said, “That day may never come.” With that, he turned to make his way out.

“Han Bohan!” Mama Han stood up, chiding him loudly, “What do you think you’re doing? Is that how you talk with your father?”

Han Bohan’s footsteps halted for a second before he continued walking out.

Once he walked out of the shot, He Zheng called “cut”.

Xia Xingcheng stopped in his tracks, took a deep breath, and smiled as he walked over to two veteran actors who played his parents.

The two actors were a very famous married couple in the entertainment industry. Because they got acquainted during filming when they were young, they rarely came out to film in the last decade. Their guest appearance as two characters this time was purely due to their relationship with He Zheng.

He Zheng also left his monitor to come over and speak to them, telling them that they’d be changing the angle and taking close-up shots in a while.

The two veteran actors were very kind. The old gentleman smiled as he said, “After we finish shooting, ask Youming to come out and have a meal with us, I haven’t seen him in years.”

He Zheng promptly said, “No problem, tonight’s on me. We’ll have a few drinks.”

☆ ☆ ☆

Thank you to Bolshv for the kofi!

t/n – very kinky :_)

⟵ Chapter 117 | TOC | Chapter 119 ⟶

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