Chapter 145: Trial Transcript (Part Two)

The crowd of spectators erupted into another wave of commotion, and the people in front of their televisions were dumbfounded. It had constantly been reported that Liu Yunfei was a gang member and even threatened the Evening News reporters—how on earth did he turn out to be the plaintiff against a gang? Who exactly was the gang here, or were they just bad guys fighting bad guys?

The crafty lawyer seemed completely confident, sporting a faint smile as if everything was under his control. Once the hearing area quieted down, he calmly pulled a piece of paper from his folder, adjusted the microphone, cleared his throat, and slicked back his shiny hair. He believed this was the most glorious moment in his legal career.

Clearly, the television cameramen noticed his actions and generously gave him a close-up shot. After successfully drawing everyone’s attention, the crafty lawyer suddenly spoke with apparent indignation, "The testimony from the Food Street Police Station is completely untrustworthy! It’s perjury, it’s fake! They are in cahoots with Liu Yunfei!"

Another uproar broke out. No one had ever dared to make such an assertion in a courtroom. If the testimony of an entire police station was false, then whose truth was society supposed to trust?

The presiding judge hastily banged her gavel again and said with displeasure, "Please watch your language! If you have no evidence to prove your statement just now, the collegiate bench has the right to expel you from the courtroom."

The crafty lawyer held the piece of paper high and proclaimed loudly, "Because this Liu Yunfei, this defendant, this wealthy young heir, is actually a police officer!"

As these words left his mouth, the spectator seating fell into chaos, the television audience fell into chaos, the courthouse entrance fell into chaos—everywhere was thrown into turmoil. The citizens began whispering anxiously: wasn't this just a high school senior? How did he suddenly become a police officer? A student serving as a cop? That was simply ridiculous.

Clearly, the crafty lawyer's performance was far from over. Excitedly rising to his feet, he sneered at Liu Yunfei and continued, "Perhaps everyone is wondering how a student could be a police officer. Let me tell you all: not only is he a police officer, but he holds the rank of a Second-Class Police Inspector, equivalent to a branch precinct section chief! This is a duplicate copy specially approved by the veteran former chief of the Huangjiang City Police Bureau. I ask the court to review it."

Liu Yunfei was stunned, Zhu Zhicheng was dumbfounded, and the elderly former police chief sitting nearby was equally stupefied. Yet someone was smiling: the crafty lawyer smiled, Zhou Jinbao smiled, and Yang Huiru smiled as well.

Yang Huiru had voluntarily worked overtime today, keeping the entire news department stationed on the 18th floor of the Evening News building to watch the live broadcast of the trial. Relying on her years of experience, she knew that more scandals would be exposed in court, which she could then embellish with her imagination.

"Who would have thought he'd also be connected to the former head of the municipal police bureau? An absolute scandal! Everyone, get to work!"

At Chief Editor Yang's command, the junior reporters scrambled into action to investigate the background of the veteran police chief. Meanwhile, the great Chief Editor Yang slumped over a desk piled high with manuscripts, conceptualizing how Liu Yunfei managed to get hooked up with the public security bureau. It must have been the police force backing him, which explained why he was so arrogant! No wonder their investigation into his parents turned up nothing—his real heavyweight backer was the police department all along! The headline would be: "Why Is This Wealthy Heir So Rampant? Backed by the Police Department, Birds of a Feather Flock Together." It would immediately become that day's front-page banner.

At this moment, victory and defeat had been decided. Everyone knew Liu Yunfei had lost, including himself. The teachers and classmates on the spectator tiers sat weakly on the ground. Sitting in a car parked right outside the courthouse, Jiao Kewei immediately pulled out her phone and punched in a string of digits: "Dad, he really is a good person. Please make an exception and help him this time."

With this massive scandal exposed, the police station's testimony was invalidated, leaving Liu Yunfei without any favorable evidence. His defense grew increasingly feeble, and closing arguments soon began. The crafty lawyer spoke with ringing, triumphant tones, leaving the defendant's statement as the final item on the agenda.

By now, Liu Yunfei felt somewhat disheartened. He stood up, bowed to the judges, saying, "Respected presiding judge and judges," then turned slightly to bow toward the spectators sitting behind him, and stated sincerely, "Friends from the media and friends who have come to attend the trial, please first allow me to express my apologies to everyone present for wasting your time on my personal matters during such a lovely morning."

Liu Yunfei bowed deeply once more, lifted his head, straightened his back, and slowly continued, "Today, I feel a profound sense of emotion, as well as deep sorrow. Personally, I have always believed myself to be a good person—kind and full of a sense of justice. Perhaps that is precisely why I am standing in the defendant's box."

"Even though my lawyer kept hinting to me: *Confess, repent, weep bitterly—that is the only way to win the favorable impression of the collegiate bench and get a lighter sentence.*"

"However, I have no regrets. Although I still do not admit to intentionally tearing off Zhou Jinbao's left arm, I do not regret it. If time could be reversed and everything could be done over, I would still make the exact same choice. While I have constantly wondered how a gentle pull could possibly have ripped off his arm, I am somewhat glad that I managed to accomplish this seemingly impossible feat."

"I think this way not because I enjoy violence, but because I thought of Zhou Jinbao's hand. That is not an ordinary hand; it is a hand stained with crimes, drenched in blood and tears, and defiled by filth."

"Which of the residents and merchants on Food Street does not know what kind of tyrant Zhou Jinbao is? Monopolizing markets, bullying the weak, oppressing men and women—how few of such deeds has he committed? What he has done far more often is extorting shopkeepers. Many people invest their entire life savings of hundreds of thousands or millions, only to be forced out of business and left with nothing simply because they refused to submit to Zhou Jinbao's repeated extortion. As long as Zhou Jinbao and his wicked family run rampant on Food Street, every single day threatens the tragedy of another ruined family and separated loved ones."

"Yet today, what we see instead is that these wicked people remain at large, continuing to perpetrate evil, while the person sitting in this defendant's box is a passionate youth who showed righteous courage. This is nothing short of a tragedy—a tragedy of the law."

At this point, Liu Yunfei, who had just been growing indignant, turned somber and continued, "The failure of this lawsuit is not merely my personal failure; it is the failure of justice and kindness, the failure of all the vulnerable people who have been bullied by the Zhou family."

"Many people are still alive, yet crucial tissues within their bodies have already undergone premature necrosis—such as their sense of justice, their sense of responsibility, and their passion. My friends, ask yourselves: how much of the living parts within you still remain? Dear friends, brothers, and sisters, how much longer must we endure? How much longer will we allow these villains to run rampant on Food Street? When will we and our families finally be able to live with ease and dignity?"

The residents and merchants of Food Street were all gathered in front of their home televisions. If outsiders didn't know the truth, how could they possibly not know about Skinflint Zhou's family? At this moment, everyone fell silent, questioning themselves: was the passion within their own bodies completely gone? If Skinflint Zhou's family became even more arrogant in the future, how much longer would they have to endure? Were they just going to apathetically stand by while a young man who had helped them was sentenced to prison?

Liu Yunfei had said everything he wanted to say, ending with a final plea for the collegiate bench to render a fair verdict. Yet deep down, he held no hope; under unjust facts, how could the judges possibly arrive at a fair verdict?

Just as the female presiding judge and her two associates exchanged whispers and prepared to announce a recess for deliberation, a voice suddenly shouted from a corner of the courtroom, "I want to testify!"

All gazes converged on the speaker. It was Ma Jun. Regardless of official duty or personal ties, he felt he had to step forward; win or lose, how could he prove his worth or live up to the journalist's title of the uncrowned king if he didn't show up?

Except for Liu Yunfei, everyone looked slightly puzzled. Wasn't this a television reporter? What business did he have meddling here?

In truth, presenting new evidence right in the middle of a trial like this required a temporary recess. For reasons unknown, the female presiding judge thought for a moment and agreed to play it immediately on the courtroom's large screen.

When everyone saw Liu Yunfei being violently struck and sent flying as he saved the female police officer, every person nervously covered their mouths, their hearts aching for Liu Yunfei at that moment. But when they watched Liu Yunfei get back to his feet unharmed, everyone couldn't help but relax and smile.

Ma Jun stood at the witness stand and declared, "I captured this by pure coincidence. Had it not been for this stroke of luck, who would ever have known that this wealthy heir whom everyone is condemning would disregard his own safety to save a stranger who happened to be a police officer? Therefore, I do not believe Liu Yunfei is the kind of person the plaintiff claims."

"Objection! The new evidence has no direct bearing on this case," shouted the crafty lawyer hurriedly.

"Objection sustained," said the female presiding judge. She actually wanted to help Liu Yunfei as well, but she had to operate within the limits of her authority and the flexibility permitted by law; she still had to act with strict impartiality.

Nevertheless, the female presiding judge felt she should ask one more question. For reasons she couldn't explain, she still wanted to believe the defendant wasn't quite that bad. She asked again, "If neither the plaintiff nor the defendant has any further new evidence, we shall temporarily recess and await the verdict of the collegiate bench."

Down below, the room was pin-drop quiet. The presiding judge shook her head and raised her wooden gavel, just about to strike it down, when the courtroom doors suddenly burst open with a loud bang, and the harsh midday sunlight immediately streamed inside.

Every gaze and camera turned toward the entrance. A massive crowd of men and women, young and old, was pushing and shoving their way past the courthouse bailiffs, flooding directly into the courtroom.

Everyone's first instinct was that trouble was brewing—that someone was storming the courthouse to rescue a prisoner. Yang Huiru couldn't help but leap back in front of her television set; the drama was getting more and more fascinating. The bigger the chaos, the richer the material the Evening News would have today.

Among the surging crowd, some faces were familiar while others were unknown—people of all ages, many dressed casually, some even in pajamas and slippers, clearly having rushed over in a hurry. They were all shouting at the top of their lungs, "Liu Yunfei is a good person! We are here to testify!"

Half an hour after the court announced a recess, the trial resumed. This time, the tables had completely turned. Among those who came forward to testify were diners who had been at the scene that day, shopkeepers who had been bullied by the Zhou family, the elderly woman who lived next door to Zhang Xiaoli's family, and even people who produced on-site photographs taken with their mobile phones.

By the end, it no longer felt like a court testimony; it felt more like an exposé convention detailing the atrocities committed by Skinflint Zhou's family. Every single tyrannical act of the Zhou family on Food Street was laid bare, right down to Zhou Jinbao urinating in public.

Faced with such an overwhelming mountain of facts, Zhou Jinbao had no defense left. His face flushed crimson, he hurriedly fled the scene, leaving only the crafty lawyer behind to put up a token, symbolic resistance.

The facts were crystal clear, and naturally, the verdict would be just. When the presiding judge finally read out that the charges against the defendant Liu Yunfei were dismissed and he was acquitted on the spot, cheers of victory erupted both inside and outside the courtroom. Even the people watching television at home felt a surge of excitement, despite having been firmly convinced just an hour prior that Liu Yunfei was a criminal.

Far away, thousands of miles away in Beijing, a middle-aged man was also sitting in a spacious room watching television. With his hair cropped short and a stern, intimidating gaze that naturally struck fear into others, he carried the fierce aura unique to a professional military man. Looking closer, his shoulders bore four shining stars; at his age, attaining the rank of general marked him as an absolute rising star in the military, reflecting the nation's strategic defense priorities.

At that moment, he was on the phone: "Wei'er, see? I told you justice would ultimately prevail. This young fellow isn't bad; bring him home for your dad to see sometime—though it's a pity he's a cop. Tell him that if he wants to marry my daughter, he has to become a soldier."

Meanwhile, Yang Huiru sat expressionless, pressed the remote control to turn off the television, and waved her hand dismissively. "Get off work."

No matter what, she refused to believe that this wealthy heir was a righteous hero who risked his life to save others. She was simply plotting how to expose Liu Yunfei's lies. Was that video of him saving someone a special effect made by Hollywood at a huge expense? Exactly how much hush money had Liu Yunfei paid to those witnesses who popped up at the very end?

Of course, not all media outlets were as stubborn as the Huangjiang Evening News. Most media organizations immediately switched sides, investigating why the Zhou family had been allowed to run rampant for so long and why nobody had ever stepped in to stop them. At the same time, some media outlets began digging deeply into the urban phenomenon of preferring sons over daughters, launching campaigns to "Find the Next Zhang Xiaoli." Additionally, numerous media outlets began reflecting on why the Huangjiang Evening News had rushed to publish reckless reports without verifying facts or conducting proper investigations.

For a time, the media landscape in Huangjiang and across the entire province was turned upside down. The circulation of major newspapers rose steadily, driving Yang Huiru to distraction while the advertising department laughed all the way to the bank.