112: Chapter 112 Chen Ling's Helplessness

(Too busy eating melons, update is late, here is a bonus chapter.)

He recounted all the things Chen Dong had done in Changyuan County over the years, including but not limited to running gambling dens, loan sharking, and forcing women into prostitution...

He also talked about how Deputy Director Chen Ling tipped off Chen Dong within the Public Security Bureau, saying that Chen Dong always received news in advance before every crackdown on pornography and illegal activities, and how much money Deputy Director Chen Ling had taken from Chen Dong over the years.

Director Li Zhongmin recorded it sentence by sentence, the tip of his pen rustling against the paper.

It was rare for Director Li Zhongmin to encounter such a cooperative mortal.

Xu Weidong was eating breakfast when he received this transcript. He put down his chopsticks, read it from beginning to end, and then placed the paper on the table.

"Send this to the County Commission for Discipline Inspection."

He picked up his porridge bowl, took a sip, and said, "There's no need to keep Chen Dong anymore. Transfer all relevant evidence as well."

"Not keeping him?"

"Not keeping him."

"That line involving Chen Dong has been mined for everything it's worth."

Xu Weidong put down the bowl and glanced at Director Li Zhongmin.

"Let the people from the Discipline Inspection Commission handle it; they are the professionals."

Director Li Zhongmin nodded and turned to leave.

Xu Weidong sat at the table and slowly finished the remaining half bowl of porridge.

Inside this Public Security Bureau, things had been cleaned up just about enough.

On the day Deputy Director Chen Ling finished his training in the city, he was in a pretty good mood.

Half a month of training, room and board provided; apart from not being able to run around, life was more comfortable than at the bureau.

He even felt a bit reluctant to go back. After all, what was there to go back to? Watching Xu Weidong's young face looming in front of him? Looking at Yu Liping's face, which still retained its charm but was restless?

The car stopped at the villa entrance. He carried his bag and pushed the door open. The scene in the living room made him frown.

Yu Liping was sitting on the sofa, wearing a wrinkled old bathrobe, her hair a mess, her eyes staring straight at a teacup on the coffee table, as if staring at something terrifying.

Scattered on the coffee table was a pile of torn fabric, like ripped-up clothes, with no one to clean it up.

The curtains were drawn tightly, the room was dim, and there was an indescribable sour, musty smell in the air.

"Are you crazy? Why are you drawing the curtains in broad daylight?"

Deputy Director Chen Ling threw his bag on the floor, walked over, and pulled open the curtains. Sunlight rushed in violently, startling Yu Liping so much she hid behind the sofa.

Deputy Director Chen Ling looked back at her, noticing several bruises on her neck, and snorted coldly, "Still thinking about your cousin?"

"Yu Liping, let me tell you, Chen Dong is doomed this time. No one can save him."

"You'd better give up that idea."

Yu Liping's lips moved, but no sound came out.

Deputy Director Chen Ling couldn't be bothered to look at her again. He went upstairs to change his clothes and tied his tie in front of the mirror.

The man in the mirror had a lot of white hair, his eye bags were drooping, and his nasolabial folds were as deep as if carved by a knife.

He tugged at his tie knot and turned to go downstairs.

Passing through the living room, Yu Liping was still sitting on the sofa, in the same posture, motionless.

"Cheap goods."

He snorted through his nose and slammed the door shut as he left.

Yu Liping heard the sound of the door closing and her body shuddered.

She slowly turned her head, staring at the closed door, and suddenly a strange curve appeared at the corner of her mouth.

During this period, she hadn't left the house, hadn't answered any calls, and hadn't spoken to anyone.

The events of that night were like a red-hot iron rod branded into her mind. Chen Xi's hands, Chen Xi's panting—everything made her feel sick.

She dared not tell Deputy Director Chen Ling, dared not call the police, and dared not mention it to anyone.

She could only sit here, looking at that pile of torn fabric, washing herself over and over again.

She had washed countless times, scrubbing until her skin turned red and peeled, scrubbing until those marks on her body turned into scars.

But that smell couldn't be washed away, that feeling couldn't be washed away.

Yu Liping stood up, walked barefoot to the coffee table, squatted down, picked up the pieces of torn fabric one by one, folded them, held them in her arms, and turned to walk toward the bathroom.

When Deputy Director Chen Ling walked into the Public Security Bureau building, everything was as usual.

The security guard on duty greeted him, he nodded, and entered the elevator.

The moment the elevator door closed, he saw his own face in the mirror wall.

Getting old, aren't I...

The elevator door opened, and the corridor was quiet.

As he approached his office, he saw two people standing at the door, both wearing dark jackets, carrying briefcases, standing straight.

His footsteps paused. Oh no!

"Comrade Deputy Director Chen Ling?"

One of them came up and showed his work ID.

"We are from the County Commission for Discipline Inspection. There are some matters that require your cooperation in an investigation. Please come with us."

Deputy Director Chen Ling stood on the spot. The fluorescent lights in the corridor were buzzing, making his face look pale.

He opened his mouth to say something, but his throat felt like it was being choked, and he couldn't squeeze out a single word.

"Let's go."

The three of them turned to walk toward the elevator. When they passed the Political Commissar's office, the door was open. Political Commissar Hu Ke was sitting inside. Seeing this scene, the teacup in his hand stopped in mid-air, and he didn't even feel it when the water spilled out and scalded his hand.

Damn, Xu Weidong made a move against Deputy Director Chen Ling!

Won't he be liquidated next?

When passing the office of the Executive Deputy Director, Director Li Zhongmin stood at the door with his arms crossed, watching him pass by with an expressionless face.

The elevator door opened. Deputy Director Chen Ling walked in, taking one last look at this corridor he had walked for more than a decade.

The fluorescent lights were blindingly white, the floor was polished so clean it reflected figures, and red slogans about loyalty to the Party and serving the people hung on the walls.

The elevator door closed, as if completely proclaiming Deputy Director Chen Ling's doom.

The lights in the detention center never turned off, so Deputy Director Chen Ling didn't know how many days it had been.

The clock on the wall had been removed, the windows were covered by thick curtains, and there was no difference between day and night here.

He couldn't tell if he was dreaming or awake; he only felt that the incandescent lamp was always on above his head, so bright that his eyelids felt heavy.

He was very calm when he first came in; after all, he had worked in the Public Security Bureau for twenty years, and he knew the Discipline Inspection Commission's routines better than anyone.

First, they leave you hanging, then they wear you down, and finally, they interrogate you.

Deputy Director Chen Ling wasn't afraid. He had plenty of experience and plenty of psychological resilience.

How many criminals had he interrogated over the years? How many stubborn ones had he seen, and didn't they all open their mouths in the end?

He, Deputy Director Chen Ling, was not one of those people...

Therefore, for the first three days, he didn't say anything. Whatever they asked, he said he didn't know, wasn't clear, or couldn't remember.

The case handlers were not in a hurry. They brought him water, brought him food, asked him if he was cold or hot, and if he needed an extra quilt. Their attitude was as good as if they were serving a leader.

Deputy Director Chen Ling knew this was a soft tactic, and soft tactics are scarier than hard ones.

Hard tactics make people develop a fighting spirit, while soft tactics are like water, seeping into your bones little by little. By the time you realize it, you are already rotten through.

On the fourth day, the case handlers placed a document in front of him.

It was Chen Xi's statement. He glanced at it, and his hands began to tremble.

It recorded how much money he had received from Chen Dong over the years. Every transaction was there—time, place, amount—figures so precise he couldn't even remember them, but Chen Xi remembered them clearly.

He thought of that good-for-nothing cousin, thought of his fawning face every time he came to deliver money. He never expected that money to turn into lines of lead type, black and white on paper, like inscriptions on a tombstone.

"Comrade Deputy Director Chen Ling, did you receive this money?"

Deputy Director Chen Ling didn't speak, and the case handlers didn't urge him either. They collected the materials, poured him a glass of water, and left, but the light remained on.

Two more days passed. In these two days, the case handlers didn't mention Chen Dong's affairs again, but instead chatted with him about daily life.

How is Yu Liping's health? Who else is in the family? Having worked in the Public Security Bureau for so many years, are there any difficulties?

At first, he tried to cope, but later he found that the other party wouldn't pick up his conversational cues at all. You could say anything, and when you finished, the other party would just smile and continue chatting about something else.

This "boiling a frog in warm water" rhythm made him increasingly irritable, more uncomfortable than getting beaten.

Being beaten at least has a result. What is this?

Leaving him soaking here, neither up nor down, neither dead nor alive.

On the sixth day, the case handlers brought a new document.

It was Yu Liping's bank statements. They clearly listed every sum of money he had transferred to her over the years.

Monthly living expenses, red envelopes for holidays, down payments for houses.

The figures weren't large, but every single one was documented.

He looked at those figures and suddenly felt it was ridiculous.

He had scraped so much on the outside, yet in the end, this was all that was left in the account.

What about the rest?

"Comrade Deputy Director Chen Ling, this money..."

"Was it transferred to you by Chen Dong through Chen Xi?"

He closed his eyes and didn't answer.

"Let me think."

The case handlers nodded and left again.

The light was on, buzzing, like a fly buzzing by his ear.

He sat under this light, feeling like a butterfly pinned to a specimen board, its wings pierced by pins, unable to move.

On the night of the eighth day, the case handlers came again.

This time they brought two people, one sat down, one stood at the door.

The one who sat down flipped through the notebook, stopped at a certain page, and looked up at him.

"Comrade Deputy Director Chen Ling, Chen Xi confessed to another matter. It's about your wife, Yu Liping."

"Chen Xi said that on the night of the incident, he went to your house, and your wife was home alone at the time."

Deputy Director Chen Ling's breathing quickened.

"Chen Xi confessed that he forced your wife to have sexual relations with him."

He suddenly looked up, his eyes bloodshot, his lips trembling, and his Adam's apple rolled up and down several times.

"That beast!"

"Comrade Deputy Director Chen Ling, did you know about this?"

Of course, Deputy Director Chen Ling didn't know. He only knew that the day he returned home, Yu Liping was sitting on the sofa like a madwoman.

Deputy Director Chen Ling thought she was still thinking about Chen Dong, thought she was heartbroken over Chen Dong's affairs.

He didn't know what that beast had done to her, and even less did he know how she had carried it alone.

Deputy Director Chen Ling's shoulders slumped, like a house with its foundation hollowed out, collapsing from the inside out.

He remembered what Yu Liping looked like when she was young, wearing a ponytail, a white shirt, and having two dimples when she smiled.

How pretty she was back then, how clean.

It was he who turned her into what she is today!

It was he who found women outside, it was she who guarded that empty house alone, it was Chen Dong who took advantage of the void, and it was Chen Xi... He buried his face in his hands.

"I'll tell."

"I'll tell everything."

"Don't make things difficult for my family."

Deputy Director Chen Ling spoke until his throat was hoarse, until his lips were cracked and bleeding, until in the end, he didn't even know what he was saying.

The events of those years mixed together like a pot of overcooked porridge; he couldn't distinguish which year was which, or which incident was which.

Finally, he talked about Yu Liping, where she was from, what year they got married, and what year she discovered he had someone else.

He said that she had changed since then, becoming fond of dressing up, having a bad temper, and associating with Chen Dong.

He said that he actually knew about the affair between Yu Liping and Chen Dong long ago. Once, he returned from a business trip early, saw Chen Dong's car parked at the door, but he didn't go in; he sat in his car for the whole night.

He said he didn't divorce because it was shameful—a Deputy Director of the Public Security Bureau, his wife sleeping with his cousin—if it got out, how could he continue to live in Changyuan County?

"I hate her."

"But I hate myself even more."

The case handler closed the notebook, stood up, and looked at him.

"Sign it."

Deputy Director Chen Ling picked up the pen, his hand still trembling.