Chapter 63 Trial
Lin Qingxu stared at the video screen, Qiu Lan followed Wang Shu and moved slowly. When the elevator door closed, the content inside could no longer be seen.
A few seconds later, when she heard the sound of something heavy falling to the ground, she pressed the pause button.
really.
She looked at Kan Zhao.
The previous guess was correct.
But this is not enough as proof.
As Lin Qingxu expected, the camera in the elevator had lost a few days of content, which was exactly what she needed.
The air conditioner in the video room emitted a low hum. Lin Qingxu tapped his fingers lightly on the console.
The staff member next to him wiped the cold sweat off his forehead. The two people next to him looked young, but their behavior was like that of evil spirits. He felt inexplicably oppressed.
He stumbled, "The surveillance system was upgraded during those days, and some of the footage is gone."
Staff member Lao Zhang wiped his sweat. If only the residents of this complex weren't wealthy and privileged, he wouldn't be able to afford to offend them. Otherwise, he would have closed the door to visitors long ago. And yet, they allowed two little kids to act so impudently in front of him.
"System upgrade?" Kan Zhao sneered and turned to the staff member beside him. "What a coincidence that the crucial three days of footage are missing?"
"I've seen the upgrade notice, but the date doesn't match." Lin Qingxu also looked at him.
There was a moment of silence in the monitoring room.
Lao Zhang was thinking about how to answer when he heard the sound of his cell phone.
Kan Zhao lowered his head, his finger swiping across the home screen. He glanced at the text message. He smiled and glanced down at the staff member's badge. "Master Zhang, right? I heard your son is taking the college entrance exam this year?"
The person opposite raised his head.
Lin Qingxu saw that his hands trembled noticeably, a sign of guilt.
"Five hundred and twenty-one points isn't enough to get into a first-tier university, but with some connections, you can still get into the Urban Construction College, right?" Kan Zhao paused. "Especially if you have an 'uncle' who works in the municipal government to help you."
The staff member's face suddenly lost its color.
Seeing his current bewilderment, Lin Qingxu understood the situation and, following Kan Zhao's lead, said, "If this kind of cheating is discovered, your son will probably be deprived of his education. Are you sure you want to keep making mistakes like this?"
"I want the original footage from those three days. The system upgrade couldn't have completely deleted the backup. You know where it is."
Old Zhang's Adam's apple rolled up and down, and the atmosphere fell into the same silence as before, with only the ticking of the monitoring room's instruments remaining.
Old Zhang's eyes shifted between Lin Qingxu and Kan Zhao.
The blue light from the monitor cast irregular shadows on his face, and he was in a state of confusion.
"I...I'm going to lose my job..."
Kan Zhao was close to Lao Zhang, and his voice was low enough for the two of them to hear, with a strong sense of pressure: "I heard that you have a mistress outside? Does your wife know about this?"
Old Zhang's gaze suddenly shifted to Kan Zhao. Everyone knew his son's poor academic performance, but he had concealed his affair so well that even his friends didn't know. So how could this student, who looked only about twenty years old, know about it?
But now he didn't care whether he would lose this job or not. His shoulders slumped, he walked silently to the main computer and entered a series of complex instructions.
A prompt popped up on the screen asking for fingerprint verification, but his hands were shaking so badly that the first verification failed.
"Take a deep breath, Master Zhang." Lin Qingxu handed him the water cup that Old Zhang had placed on the console. "We just want the truth."
The second verification passed. The hidden folder expanded, revealing video files arranged by date. The staff clicked on the date-marked file...
He had been instructed to delete all of it, but just in case, or perhaps out of greed, thinking of blackmailing Wang Shu when he ran out of money, he hid it.
*
The heavy injury report, the psychologist's professional diagnosis, and the statements of Lin Qingxu and Kan Zhao as witnesses and protectors were carefully compiled into a book and submitted.
When the trial began, our lawyer presented the complaint in a clear and organized manner, displaying stacks of shocking evidence, especially the photos of scars taken by the hospital and the psychological diagnosis report.
A suppressed gasp was heard in the gallery. The judge looked at the documents submitted to him with a frown on his face.
However, the opposing lawyer began his counterattack.
With professional shrewdness and indifference, he did not deny the "fact" of domestic violence, but cleverly shifted the focus to the "nature", "degree" and "marital conflicts".
"Your Honor, my client admits that there were some physical altercations with my client when he was emotionally agitated, but this was by no means the long-term, severe domestic violence described by the plaintiff."
The opposing lawyer's voice was steady, but every word was piercing. "This should be viewed more as a violent argument between husband and wife that got out of control. The scars on the plaintiff's body, those old injuries and their origin are unknown, and there's no direct evidence that they were all caused by my client. As for the so-called 'PTSD'..."
He paused deliberately, his eyes sweeping over Qiu Lan, who was sitting in the plaintiff's seat, a barely perceptible smile curling his lips. "We question the objectivity and relevance of his diagnosis. The plaintiff is inherently sensitive and introverted, and mentally unstable. Whether his symptoms are truly caused by my client's behavior, or stem from other factors or personal issues, requires a more careful assessment. We can't rule out the plaintiff's exaggeration, or even...imagination."
Although it sounds like an excuse, it is a common tactic.
"My client, Mr. Wang Shu, has deeply reflected on his impulsive behavior after this incident and deeply regrets it. This one mistake does not mean Ms. Qiu Lan will suffer long-term consequences from domestic violence. Moreover, Mr. Wang Shu has repeatedly expressed his willingness to correct his mistakes, return to his family, and assume his responsibilities as a husband. He deeply cherishes his marriage to the plaintiff and is willing to sign a letter of guarantee in court, promising never to do so again."
He turned to Wang Shu and asked, "Mr. Wang Shu, are you willing?"
Wang Shu stood up immediately. Having not seen him for a few days, his once refined and neat appearance had become unshaven and looked quite disheveled. He looked at Qiu Lan, his voice choked with sobs, and sincerely apologized, promising that he would not do it again.
Apparently, after a long period of disguise, his performance looked very real, and even the judge's eyes seemed to be a little shaken.
Qiu Lan suddenly shrank back, whimpering in pain. Her PTSD symptoms were completely triggered in this high-pressure environment with Wang Shu's presence.
I could only murmur to myself, "Don't hit me," and immerse myself in my own world.
Lin Qingxu's lawyer immediately emphasized that Qiu Lan's mental condition was caused by long-term violence suffered by the defendant, and asked the judge to consider her special condition.
But the opposing lawyer immediately seized the opportunity: "Your Honor, the plaintiff's current mental state is clearly unfit to make a major decision regarding the continuation of the marriage. She is even unable to express her wishes normally. We request that the court grant both parties a cooling-off period, or... dismiss the divorce petition and order the defendant to make genuine corrections."
Both sides insisted on their own opinions. The judge asked them to be quiet and Lin Qingxu was summoned to appear in court as a key witness.
She described clearly and calmly that night in the hallway and the violence she had witnessed earlier.
Lin Qingxu's description was objective, professional, and detailed, with a strong visual and impactful quality. She concluded: "This was by no means an ordinary marital dispute, but rather an act of deliberate injury of a serious nature."
"Teacher Qiu was in extreme danger and fear at the time. Without timely intervention, the consequences would have been disastrous. Her current psychological trauma is directly and clearly causally related to the defendant's long-term and repeated violent behavior."
Lin Qingxu's testimony was like a huge rock thrown into stagnant water, stabilizing the situation that was almost tilting. The judge's expression became serious again.
The opposing lawyer took his time, saying, "We must point out that among all the evidence presented by the prosecution, there is no video footage from any time period that directly proves that Wang Shu committed domestic violence against Qiu Lan. These so-called 'scar photos' could have been inflicted on other occasions. The prosecution's claim lacks sufficient, direct evidence to support it."
"Who said there's no video footage?"
Our lawyer smiled and explained that the information had been submitted long before.
The other lawyer's tone paused.
The projection screen in the courtroom lit up, and the picture was a little shaky, but Wang Shu's figure could be clearly seen.
He walked into the elevator with a sullen look on his face, and Qiu Lan followed closely behind him. Wang then said something, but it wasn't clear from the video.
Qiu Lan's face suddenly turned pale. As the elevator doors closed, Wang Shu suddenly grabbed Qiu Lan's hair and slammed her face against the mirrored wall. Qiu Lan huddled in a corner, shielding her head with her arms. When the elevator stopped on the sixth floor, Wang Shu dragged her out by the collar. The last thing the surveillance camera captured was the long drag marks left by her shoes on the elevator threshold.
The video was only a few seconds long, but the courtroom was silent.
Wang Shu's expression finally changed. His faked haggardness, coupled with his scarlet eyes, made him look even more ferocious. His lawyer also stood up suddenly: "Your Honor, the legality of the source of this video is questionable! The act of secretly filming itself..."
"The video is automatically backed up by Wang Shu's apartment's smart security system." We replied to him.
The judge's gaze shifted from the evidence to Wang Shu: "Defendant, do you have anything else to say?"
Wang Shu's Adam's apple rolled, and his originally confident expression gradually became gloomy.
The outcome of this trial has been reversed at this moment.
The long trial finally drew to a close, and the judge finally struck the gavel.
"This court believes that the facts and evidence are clear and conclusive that the defendant, Wang Shu, has long perpetrated domestic violence against the plaintiff, Qiu Lan. His actions constitute the crime of abuse as stipulated in the Anti-Domestic Violence Law of the People's Republic of China and Article 260 of the Criminal Law. Furthermore, the defendant provided false testimony during the trial in an attempt to cover up his crimes, which is a serious offense."
"The judgment is as follows: The marriage between plaintiff Qiu Lan and defendant Wang Shu is hereby dissolved. 70% of the couple's joint property shall be given to the plaintiff to compensate her for her physical and mental damages."
The court was in an uproar.
Wang Shu's face turned pale. He stood up suddenly, but was quickly restrained by the bailiff. His lawyer wanted to argue, but the judge had already closed the case file and said coldly, "Adjourn the court."
Qiu Lan stood there, her fingers trembling slightly and tears rolling down her face silently.
"it's over."
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