The situation was quite different from last night. The habitual offender, who had been incredibly cowardly when the police took him away last night, suddenly became arrogant and self-righteous.

"I didn't steal anything!" These were the first words he shouted after being forced into a chair by the police, directed not only at Xu Moran but also at the police officers who were guarding and interrogating him.

The officer in charge of interrogating him was a young policeman who looked like he had just graduated from police academy. He probably already knew Xu Moran's identity, and when he spoke to her, he did so with the respect due to a senior colleague, "Sister Xu, look at how arrogant and conceited he is. He's clearly a repeat offender. When our captain brought him back last night, he was as guilty as a quail, and he kept saying he would change in the future. But today, he's saying that we framed him!"

"I'll talk to him." After saying this to the young policeman, Xu Moran looked at the man across the table. He was about forty years old, with shifty eyes and a suspicious appearance. Judging from his face alone, he didn't seem like a good person.

The saying "your appearance reflects your inner state" does have some scientific basis.

"You say we wronged you? Then tell me how we wronged you?" Xu Moran had spent three years in the Municipal Public Security Bureau and wasn't as sharp-tongued as the junior police officers at the local police station.

"Fine, since you've changed your story, we'll give you the chance." Xu Moran's eyes remained fixed on the man.

With the professional skills she honed at the police academy, she could have kept her eyes glued to the man's face for a long time, until she saw him become uncomfortable, guilty, and flustered.

She didn't know why, maybe because she had seen the pleasing face at home too much, but she couldn't bear to look at the lewd face in front of her for even a little while. She looked down at the two completely different statements that the young policeman had given her last night and this morning.

“Officer, I have a sleepwalking problem. Last night, I accidentally sleepwalked to your doorstep, and your boyfriend rushed at me without saying a word. He not only hit my nose, which I’m most proud of, but also tied my hands and feet together, and the thing he used to tie my hands was…”

"Shut up!" Just as the words "condom" were about to be uttered, Xu Moran slammed her hand on the table, interrupting him, and said sternly, "Stealing is a crime. You've committed a crime, and instead of admitting your mistake, you're here making excuses for your blatant lies. Don't you know that confessing leads to leniency and resisting to severe punishment?"

The man was stunned by Xu Moran's aura. After regaining his senses, he smacked his lips and mumbled softly, "What I said is the truth. My mom said that ever since I could crawl, I've been sleepwalking. The first time I sleepwalked, I stole Aunt Wang's underwear from Uncle Wang's house next door. Just because there was an unfamiliar pair of women's underwear in the house, the kind that had been washed but not dried, my mom misunderstood that my dad and Aunt Wang were having an affair, and she divorced my dad. I destroyed my happy family with my own hands. Sometimes, I hate myself. So, policewoman, you have to believe me. I really didn't mean to be in your house. You have to think of it this way: even if I really were a thief, even if I were the bravest person, I wouldn't dare to steal from a police officer's house."

At first glance, this statement makes some sense, and coupled with the poignant backstory of self-reproach in the first half, it does indeed evoke pity in the listener.

However, Xu Moran was not so easily fooled. Besides, she had personally heard the man admit to breaking into the house and stealing things last night. So, she slammed her hand on the table, stood up, and walked up to the man. "I'm warning you, don't be stubborn!"

The man was initially startled, but then, remembering what his accomplice had taught him, he began shouting, "Oh no! The police are going to beat me! I'm going to be tortured into confessing!"

Although Xu Moran had been a police officer for three years, it was still a very short time. She had heard about how her predecessors used to interrogate those stubborn or cunning suspects. It was simple, effective, and directly used violence to combat violence.

Things are different now. We talk about both civility and democracy. Even when dealing with suspects, there can be no violence whatsoever. His shouting about civility and democracy is just using them as a pretext to act with impunity.

Xu Moran was pondering how to handle the situation, at least to stop him from shouting, when the young policeman standing to the side grew impatient, raised his hand and slammed it on the table, shouting sternly, "Shut up!"

If intimidation worked, what would be the point of having police? The man was not intimidated at all; instead, he became even more arrogant than before.

Xu Moran found this a bit tricky, rubbing his forehead as he tried to think of a solution. It seems the chapter 23 of "Picking Up an Older Brother as My Husband" you're currently reading—"On Democracy and Civilization"—is only a small part. To read the full version, please search on Baidu: "香满路言情m.bookxml." Then search for "Picking Up an Older Brother as My Husband."