Chapter 22 Despair

She would exchange feelings with Qin Wu at night, and he would go to work during the day, leaving Lin Jianyan alone to daydream, read books, read the news, and stroll around the villa.

A week passed like this, and just when Lin Jianyan couldn't wait any longer, Zhang Huafeng finally brought his people to her house again.

However, the news was not good.

Uncle Zhao led them in, and Zhao Huafeng was followed by two young police officers, a man and a woman. They seemed to be personnel involved in this investigation.

When they first met Lin Jianyan, their expressions froze for a moment, but they soon regained their composure. They sat facing each other, and before Lin Jianyan could ask anything, Zhao Huafeng got straight to the point and spoke in advance.

Zhao Huafeng came here for business this time, and his expression was much more serious than the last time. He handed Lin Jinyan some documents and said, "Actually, we came here today because we encountered some trouble. Mr. Lin, please take a look first."

Lin Jianyan opened the cover and was stunned at first glance, "What is this?"

The female police officer said, "This is the information of a victim, Zhou Wanwan, female..." The female police officer paused and continued in a harsh voice, "Seventeen years old. Her mother is a tailor and her father is a porter at the dock."

"A year ago, Zhou Wanwan was walking home from school with her classmates when she was spotted by the criminal Wang Biao, who wanted to commit adultery with her. Fortunately, she escaped with the help of her classmates. Later..."

She took a deep breath, as if trying to calm her surging emotions, but her eyes felt hot and gradually turned red. Even though she already knew what the little girl had experienced, she still felt a little sad when she spoke about it again.

"Later, Wang Biao did not give up and led people to find her address directly, in front of her mother..." Her voice trembled and she was choked up and couldn't continue. The male police officer gently patted her shoulder, giving her silent comfort.

The male police officer took over and continued, "Mr. Lin should know what happened without going into details. His father wanted to seek revenge on those people, but Wang Biao broke his leg."

The male police officer's voice was filled with suppressed anger, and his eyes were full of sympathy for the victim. The atmosphere in the room became heavier, as if the air had become sticky.

"They have been reporting cases to the police for a year, but the local police station refused to accept their cases. They want to appeal, but they have no power and cannot reach higher authorities. So they don't trust us very much now."

The female police officer calmed down and said, "Yes, they have suffered too much and have not received the help they deserve, so they don't trust us, and you can even say they hate us."

Lin Jianyan's eyes darkened and he pursed his lips. He knew Zhou Wanwan. They lived on the same floor, and he even gave her extra lessons.

Later, because Zhou Wanwan was admitted to a good high school, they moved away. Unexpectedly,...

He still remembered the way her eyes curved when she smiled. She was a pretty and lively little girl. She was polite and filial. He saw her more than once helping her mother sew buttons after school.

He couldn't imagine how the once lively and cheerful girl could endure all this pain and suffering. Lin Jianyan clenched his hands into fists, his nails digging deep into his palms.

"You came to me to ask me to persuade her?"

Zhao Huafeng nodded heavily. "In fact, the evidence of Wang Biao's other crimes has been found out, but this one is the most serious. We found out that you should know someone in their family, and you are also a victim, so we want to ask you to persuade her."

"If she hadn't come forward to identify him, the evidence on Wang Biao would not have been enough to warrant the maximum sentence, which would have been 20 years in prison at most."

Lin Jianyan suddenly asked: "If he identifies him, can he be sentenced to death?"

Zhao Huafeng knew what he meant by asking this question, but he was going to disappoint him. "No, there is no immediate execution of the death penalty now. The most you can get is life imprisonment or life imprisonment. But..."

Zhao Huafeng suddenly stared at Lin Jianyan seriously, his eyes full of deep meaning, and said pointedly: "If something uncontrollable happens to the prisoners in the prison, then we will have no way to deal with it."

Lin Jianyan narrowed his eyes slightly and looked at Zhao Huafeng. Time seemed to stop at this moment, and there was an elusive meaning in the eyes of both of them.

After a while, Lin Jianyan suddenly smiled, and there was some deep meaning in that smile, "Sir Zhao is worthy of being the second in command beside the "number one". He is very considerate."

Zhao Huafeng smiled kindly, "Nowhere, no where. In that case, Mr. Lin, do you have time now? It's better to go today than to wait for a day."

"Okay, let's go." Lin Jianyan stood up and said to Uncle Zhao, "Uncle Zhao, are the two bodyguards who went out with me last time here? If they are, let them go out with me."

Uncle Zhao nodded, "You are talking about Ajun and Aliang, they are here, I will go and call them for you, you just wait." Knowing that the matter was urgent, Uncle Zhao did not dare to delay and ran to the backyard to call for help.

After a while, Uncle Zhao came back with two bodyguards. Lin Jianyan glanced at them and nodded slightly, "Let's go."

Several people got in the car, and as the car started, the engine roared. The car drove slowly out, and the scenery outside the window kept receding.

The car drove along, gradually moving away from the bustling city and heading towards increasingly remote places. The road became narrow and rugged.

Finally, the car stopped at a dilapidated building. It was very remote, even to the point of being in the middle of nowhere. The nearest town was ten kilometers away.

Perhaps they heard the sound of the car, and the people living inside were startled. Many of them secretly observed them through the windows.

The crowd ignored their observations. Zhao Huafeng led them up the stairs. The wooden planks of the stairs creaked under their footsteps. He stopped in front of a shabby door and said, "This is it."

Zhao Huafeng looked at the female police officer, who nodded in understanding and knocked on the door. "Hello, is anyone there? Do you remember me? I'm Ali, I was here last time."

After knocking for a long time, there was no movement inside, but everyone knew that there was someone inside. The female police officer did not get discouraged and continued to knock on the door.

Perhaps he was really impressed by her perseverance or was extremely annoyed, because suddenly the door opened a little.

The room was too dark, and the people could not see his face clearly with the light behind them. They could only see his gloomy and dark eyes. Those eyes seemed to contain endless pain and despair.

His voice was hoarse and tired, with deep resistance: "Why are you here again? I told you that you are not welcome, and we have come here to hide, why don't you let us go?"

"We won't fight or force anything anymore. We just want to live our own lives. We really can't afford to suffer any more."

His words were full of powerlessness and helplessness. Everyone was speechless for a moment, not knowing how to respond. When the female police officer heard his words, her eyes became hot and she almost choked up with tears as she covered her mouth.

Lin Jianyan patted her shoulder, and the female police officer stepped aside to make room for him. Lin Jianyan looked at the pair of eyes in the door and smiled warmly and kindly.

"Uncle Zhou, do you still remember me? I'm Zhenyan." His voice was gentle and steady, as if it carried a kind of reassuring power.

The gloomy and dark eyes moved slightly, as if they had found a memory in the brain that had stopped moving. His tone finally had a hint of surprise, "Jianyan? Yanzi? Why are you here?"

Lin Jianyan's eyes moved slightly: "It's me, Uncle Zhou, I'm Yanzi."

Perhaps he met someone familiar or he trusted Yu Lin's words, he finally opened the door slowly.

Only then did everyone see his appearance. He was wearing a coarse cloth shirt full of patches, wrinkled from washing, and his face was thin beyond recognition, with prominent cheekbones, deep eye sockets, and wrinkles on his face that crisscrossed like gullies, telling of endless suffering.

He was leaning on a stick in his hand, which seemed to be his support, supporting his frail body. He stood there, hunched over.

Lin Jianyan simply didn't dare to compare him with the tall and strong Uncle Zhou back then.

Zhou Shuqiang forced a smile, but it seemed so stiff because he hadn't laughed in a long time.

"It's been two years since we last met, Yanzi, you've grown up and become more handsome. You're almost taller than me..." He slapped his lips and said, "Look at me, I look like this now, anyone is taller than me."