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墨書 Inktalez
The chairs in the interrogation room were indeed uncomfortable after sitting for so long. I adjusted my posture slightly, even though every cell in my body screamed with fatigue and pain. I knew I couldn't afford to collapse just yet.
I handed the second voice recorder to Li Mingcheng. "Mingcheng, this recorder contains the testimonies of two individuals. They are both classmates of Lin Xiaoyu and were students of Chen Guoping twenty years ago. Both girls have been sexually assaulted by Chen Guoping, and not just once."
Li Mingcheng's eyes widened, and his pupils constricted. "What! What did you say?"
I gestured for him to calm down and continued, "I believe Lin Xiaoyu was also one of the victims, and there may be many more who suffered. However, with my current resources, I've only managed to verify these two. The rest is up to you and your team."
"Teacher Zhang, how did you find out about this?" Li Mingcheng asked, still shocked as he looked at the recorder in his hand.
I glanced at the time and took out some pills from my bag, swallowing them with the now lukewarm water. I sighed wearily; this deteriorating body of mine probably wouldn't hold up much longer.
"When I visited Liu Min," I began slowly, "she provided me with a few names of potential victims. I used my connections to find their contact information. Over the past month, I've been reaching out to these potential victims. Most of them were very resistant to my inquiries and avoided talking about it; I could understand why..."
I closed my eyes, recalling the terrified faces of those girls. "After countless visits, discussions, and attempts at persuasion, finally two of them were willing to speak up: Su Jiulan and Ma Xinxin. They were just sixteen or seventeen years old back then. Experiencing such a thing at the hands of their teacher left them terrified; they didn't dare tell anyone and had to endure it in silence."
I opened my eyes and looked directly at Li Mingcheng. "But Lin Xiaoyu was different; she was brave. She told Su Jiulan that they should report it to the police and catch that bastard. Then... Lin Xiaoyu died, right there on campus."
"Su Jiulan and Ma Xinxin suspected that Chen Guoping must have killed her to silence her. Later, when he assaulted Su Jiulan again, he threatened her by saying that if she dared to report him, she would meet the same fate as Lin Xiaoyu."
A sudden wave of dizziness hit me, forcing me to pause and catch my breath. My blurred vision and intense headache made it hard to focus. Taking a few deep breaths, I forced myself to continue speaking.
"Su Jiulan and Ma Xinxin also mentioned that Chen Guoping would take photos and videos after assaulting them. He used those to blackmail them into silence."
Before I could finish my sentence, Li Mingcheng suddenly looked up with a sharp glint in his eyes.
"Mingcheng..."
Before I could say more, he dashed out the door.
I shook my head inwardly; what an impatient child he was.
---
Leaving Su Jiulan's and Ma Xinxin's home, I walked alone down the summer street, feeling chills wash over me.
The sweet couples and happy families around me laughed and chatted, their noise ringing in my ears but failing to penetrate my heart. The testimonies of Su Jiulan and Ma Xinxin felt like a sharp knife that had brutally sliced through my beliefs accumulated over the years.
How much darkness lurked beneath the light? How many people remained crushed under an unbalanced scale? I had once firmly believed in the justice of the law, convinced that this world would become fairer through legal reforms. Yet now, all of that felt like shattered bubbles.
Zhao Jian's words echoed in my mind: "The murderer has already committed suicide... Chen Guoping's former students now hold all the power within the Politics and Law system. Reopening this case would be difficult and ultimately pointless... You should just give up..."
Give up? No, I cannot give up. My life only has a few months left, and since I cannot correct this wrongful conviction through official means, I will take it upon myself to set this unbalanced scale right!
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