109: Chapter 109 Outstanding Youth

"Post it on the school forum and let everyone see just how 'outstanding' the son of a Rainbow Group employee is! So what if he gets good grades and wins scholarships every year? What's the use of that, hahahaha!"

Zhang Xiaobei's voice was filled with malice.

The video ended, and the courtroom fell into a deathly silence, where even the sound of breathing was clearly audible.

Prosecutor Zhao turned to the judge: "Your Honor, these videos fully prove that the three defendants subjected Chen Zhihao to long-term, repeated physical and mental abuse. More importantly, we discovered the complete video of the incident on the rooftop on Li Dong's phone."

The screen lit up again, this time from an angle that was clearly filmed from the side. On screen, Chen Zhihao had already been forced to the edge of the rooftop, his hands gripping the railing tightly, his face deathly pale.

Zhang Xiaobei pressed forward step by step: "Jump! If you've got the guts, then jump! If you don't jump, you're a coward!"

Li Dong tried to hold Zhang Xiaobei back: "That's enough, someone's going to die!"

Zhang Xiaobei shook him off: "What are you afraid of? A loser like this is just wasting air by staying alive! His family can't even afford the money for a school uniform, yet he has the nerve to study at Jinhe No. 1 Middle School? He won't dare to jump!"

Chen Zhihao's lips trembled, his eyes filled with fear and despair: "Please... let me go..."

"Like hell I will!"

Zhang Xiaobei raised his voice again, "Are you going to jump or not, you coward! If you don't jump, I'll release those videos! I'll count to three, and if you don't jump, I'll help you! One, two—"

Chen Zhihao looked down at the street below, tears streaming from his eyes. Before the word "three" could be uttered, he let go.

The final frame of the video froze on the sight of Chen Zhihao falling, and the look of shock that hadn't yet faded from Zhang Xiaobei's face.

Suppressed sobs erupted inside the courtroom. Xiao Bei's clenched fists trembled slightly, and Su Yun gently took hold of his wrist, finding his pulse to be alarmingly fast.

Prosecutor Zhao's voice trembled slightly with anger: "Your Honor, this video irrefutably proves that Chen Zhihao jumped from the building under the constant verbal provocation and threats of the defendant, Zhang Xiaobei. According to Article 232 of the Criminal Law, Zhang Xiaobei's actions constitute indirect intentional homicide!"

"Nonsense!" Zhang Xiaobei stood up abruptly but was pressed back into his seat by the bailiff. "He jumped on his own, it has nothing to do with me! Li Dong, you bastard, how dare you record a video!"

Li Dong, who had been silent all this time, suddenly broke down in tears: "It was us... it was our fault... Chen Zhihao, he..."

"Shut your damn mouth, Li Dong!" Zhang Xiaobei turned his head and roared, a fierce light flashing in his eyes, "If you dare to talk nonsense, see if I don't kill you when I get out!"

The judge struck the gavel heavily: "Defendant Zhang Xiaobei, threatening a co-defendant in open court is an egregious offense! Bailiff, take him into solitary custody!"

Two bailiffs immediately stepped forward and dragged the struggling Zhang Xiaobei out of the courtroom. At this moment, Zhang Xiaobei's father, Zhang Jinbao, was still trying to comfort him: "Son, don't be afraid, son. Be gentle with him!"

Zhu Qi huddled in his seat, trembling, while Li Dong covered his face and wept bitterly.

Prosecutor Zhao pressed his advantage: "Your Honor, we also discovered another important lead. After the incident, the surveillance video on the school server was manually deleted. Technical analysis shows that the deletion command originated from the computer in the principal's office, and the operation time was 11:37 PM on the night of the incident."

Principal Liu Jianjun, sitting in the gallery, stood up abruptly: "This is a frame-up! I wasn't even at school that day!"

"Quiet!" The judge looked sternly at Principal Liu Jianjun. "Principal Liu Jianjun, this court did not mention any names. Why did you voluntarily identify yourself?"

Principal Liu Jianjun's face turned deathly pale in an instant, and he slumped back into his seat.

Prosecutor Zhao continued: "Furthermore, our investigation revealed abnormal financial transactions between Jinhe No. 1 Middle School and the Rainbow Group. Over the past three years, the Rainbow Group has 'donated' a total of 3.8 million yuan to the school, while the school has forced students to purchase Rainbow Group uniforms at three times the market price of similar products."

Xiao Bei and Su Yun exchanged a look. This figure far exceeded their previous estimates.

"Your Honor!" Zhang Jinbao suddenly stood up. "My son is still a minor; these videos cannot be used as evidence! I request to have the illegal evidence excluded!"

Prosecutor Zhao responded calmly: "All electronic evidence was extracted in accordance with the law, with data recovery performed by professional institutions and appraisal reports issued. If the defendant's representative has any objections, they may apply for a re-appraisal."

The judge surveyed everyone in the courtroom, his gaze finally landing on Li Dong: "Defendant Li Dong, are you now willing to state the facts?"

Li Dong lifted his head, his face streaming with tears: "I... I'll tell everything. My family couldn't afford the school uniform fees either, so I stole two uniforms from my dad... and it turned out... it turned out that Chen Zhihao, who was there looking for his mom, saw me... The next day, the teacher talked to me and said my study habits had been poor lately... It must have been Chen Zhihao who snitched! So I... I wanted to find Zhang Xiaobei to help me teach Chen Zhihao a lesson, and that way, he wouldn't just be bullying me alone anymore..."

"You're lying!" Zhang Jinbao flew into a rage. "You little brat, what does this have to do with my son?"

The judge struck the gavel: "Zhang Jinbao, if you disrupt the order of the court again, this court will take coercive measures against you!"

The courtroom fell into a silence where even the sound of breathing was clearly audible. Li Dong's confession was like a boulder thrown into a calm lake, stirring up ripples.

Xiao Bei noticed that Chen Zhihao's mother, Wang Sufen, was trembling violently in the gallery, her calloused hands gripping her son's memorial portrait so tightly that her knuckles were white.

"Your Honor," Prosecutor Zhao's steady voice broke the silence, "we have more key evidence that needs to be presented."

The judge nodded, signaling him to continue.

Prosecutor Zhao took a notebook out of a document bag: "This is a diary found under Chen Zhihao's mattress in the dormitory. Handwriting analysis has confirmed it was written by him."

He opened it to a page: "I will read an entry from March 15, 2023: 'Today I did cleaning duty for Li Dong's group again. It's okay, I don't have much to do when I get back to the dorm anyway. Mom works very hard overtime at the factory, so I must study hard to ensure she can live a good life in the future.'"

Li Dong looked up abruptly, his face turning deathly pale in an instant.

Prosecutor Zhao flipped through a few more pages: "April 2: 'Li Dong has been looking at me with strange eyes lately. Did I do something wrong? I scored two points higher than him on the last physics exam, and he seemed very unhappy about it. Actually, I really want to be friends with him, but he is always with Zhang Xiaobei and the others.'"

"Impossible..." Li Dong muttered to himself, his voice trembling, "This is impossible..."

"There is something even more critical." Prosecutor Zhao took out another document: "We questioned Chen Zhihao's homeroom teacher and subject teachers, and everyone confirmed that Chen Zhihao never reported any bad behavior by any classmate to the teachers. On the contrary," he looked at Li Dong, "there were three times when Li Dong forgot to do cleaning duty, and Chen Zhihao completed it quietly every time. The homeroom teacher even specifically praised Chen Zhihao for being helpful."