Chapter 70: Do You Take The Law As Child’s Play? Do You Think I, Lin Fan, Am Lawless?
He really wants to give me face?
At this moment, Chen Xingzhi was uneasy.
“Chen Ban Tou, get up first.”
Lin Fan’s voice remained calm, showing no emotion, “Don’t let people come in and see you kneeling here, thinking that I, Lin Fan, did something to you, and then rush to kill me with knives and guns. With my frail appearance, I might not be able to withstand a second time.”
What Lin Fan said seemed mild, but in his ears, it carried another meaning.
Song Qing, sitting there, scratched his head.
These words made him want to laugh.
Frail and weak?
Whoever believes that is truly a fool.
When Chen Xingzhi arrived at the Public Security Bureau and stayed in the office waiting overnight, he had already cast aside all dignity. As a loser, there is no dignity, and even escaping unscathed would be a rare stroke of luck throughout history.
Chen Xingzhi slowly stood up.
But his waist was slightly hunched, his head hung low, his gaze fixed on the small patch of ground in front of his boot tips.
He didn’t even have the courage to look at Lin Fan once.
Heavy footsteps sounded from outside the door, along with the clanking of an iron chain dragging on the ground.
“Squad Leader, the man is brought.” Outside, Yang Ming reported.
“Bring him in.”
The door was opened.
Yang Ming barked: “Go in.”
When Wang Hai was brought in, seeing his appearance, Lin Fan couldn’t help but look a few more times. How miserable—this was the result of brutal torture.
To say bruised and swollen was mild; his face was completely unrecognizable, a patchwork of blue, purple, and black, eyes reduced to thin slits, lips everted, blood crusted at the corners of his mouth and on his chin.
It was unclear whether Xu Ming or Yang Ming had done it.
But in Lin Fan’s mind, he thought it was probably Xu Ming; Yang Ming didn’t seem that ruthless.
If Yang Ming knew what his own squad leader was thinking, he would definitely complain. The bias in people’s hearts is a great mountain—how could I, Yang Ming, not be ruthless?
Wang Hai painfully pried open his swollen eyelids, and through the blurry slits, he saw that familiar figure, mumbling indistinctly:
“Squa… Squad Leader.”
Chen Xingzhi pursed his lips, took a deep breath, strode forward, raised his hand high, and slapped Wang Hai across the face.
“Bastard, you’ve disappointed me too much. Who gave you the guts to do such a thing? Have you forgotten my teachings to you?”
Chen Xingzhi cursed angrily and kicked Wang Hai several times, kicking him until he didn’t dare make a sound.
Lin Fan picked up the teacup, watching like it was a play.
This reminded him of the scene in the film where Zhao Gang kicked Duan Peng—seemingly reprimanding, but actually trying to save him.
“Lin Ban Tou, it was my failure in guidance; I didn’t keep him in check.” Chen Xingzhi lowered his head and admitted fault.
Lin Fan smiled faintly, set down the teacup, and looked at Yang Ming, “Take him away.”
“Yes.”
Yang Ming dragged Wang Hai out of the office.
The door was closed, and the office fell into suffocating silence once more.
At this moment, Chen Xingzhi’s heart was extremely anxious; he had many words he wanted to say, but at this time, he didn’t know how to speak.
Lin Fan stood up, hands behind his back, and walked to a wall, where a calligraphy piece hung with eight bold, angular characters.
“Law stands like a mountain, orders issued like a blade.”
Lin Fan looked at the calligraphy, nodding in approval, then slowly said: “Chen Ban Tou, as a squad leader in the Public Security Bureau, you must be quite knowledgeable about the law. You should know what grave crime Wang Hai has committed.”
After speaking, he turned around and looked at Chen Xingzhi, “Tell me, what article in the law has he violated?”
Chen Xingzhi braced himself and said: “Law · Criminal Law · Homicide: Murder of superior officer.”
“Hm, not bad. It seems Chen Ban Tou still remembers these after all these years. Then tell me, if truly sentenced, how should it be judged?” Lin Fan asked.
Chen Xingzhi lowered his head, his lips twitching a few times, momentarily speechless, and the office fell quiet.
Lin Fan sighed lightly: “It seems Chen Ban Tou only knows which article he violated but not the specific punishment. No matter, let me explain it to you.”
“He, Wang Hai, violated page five, article three: the unrighteous act among the ten heinous crimes—murder of superior officer, committing the assault in public, with severe impact, as a Public Security Bureau member knowingly breaking the law, an aggravating circumstance, highest level trial, warranting hanging.”
In terms of criminal law, he had it memorized perfectly.
“Lin Ban Tou, please show mercy.” Chen Xingzhi begged for Wang Hai.
“Mercy?” Lin Fan’s tone suddenly sharpened, and he angrily said: “Do you take the law as a joke? Mercy because you say so? Did I, Lin, establish this law?”
After speaking, he slammed the table hard, making the teacup clatter loudly.
He continued.
“Don’t talk about me—even Li Dian Shi or Zhou County Magistrate must act in accordance with the law.”
“Yes, yes, Lin Ban Tou is right, but the law is merciless while people have compassion. Please show mercy, Lin Ban Tou.” Chen Xingzhi was so oppressed he could barely breathe, but he knew that unless Lin Fan relented, Wang Hai was doomed.
No chance of survival.
Lin Fan snorted coldly, “Mercy? How? Today he tried to assassinate me and failed, but if he had succeeded, who would mourn me? Chen Ban Tou, you’re no spring chicken, an old hand in the Public Security Bureau—you shouldn’t fail to understand this, right?”
“I understand, I do.” Chen Xingzhi quickly replied.
At this point, Song Qing, who had been silent, spoke up: “Chen Ban Tou, I think now is not the time to beg for mercy, but to think about how to atone with merit. There are two matters weighing on Lin Ban Tou’s mind right now.”
“First, Loyalty Hall.”
“Second, Fierce Tiger Gang.”
“Though we’ve caught some people from these gangs, the evidence provided by the common people is still too little to take action.”
“Lin Ban Tou, right?”
At this moment, Song Qing’s meaning was clear: if you really want to save Wang Hai, you need to step up and expose these two gangs completely.
Hearing this.
Chen Xingzhi’s heart skipped a beat; he understood the situation—they wanted him to be the whistleblower and reveal all the misdeeds of the two gangs.
But he was deeply involved himself; if he revealed everything, escaping unscathed would be impossible.
“Lin Ban Tou, do you need evidence to arrest them?” Chen Xingzhi said.
Sure enough, Li Dian Shi’s initial thought that Chen Xingzhi wouldn’t talk, that his head must have been squeezed, was correct.
“Heh.” Lin Fan was amused, “Chen Ban Tou, what do you mean by that? Without evidence, how can I arrest people? Do you really think I, Lin Fan, can cover the sky with one hand in Yong’an, act tyrannically, do as I please, and arrest whoever I want?”
Hearing this, Chen Xingzhi thought to himself, isn’t that the case?
But he didn’t dare say it, nor could he.
Lin Fan’s voice came again in his ears.
“As a squad leader in the Public Security Bureau, I uphold the law and do only what the law permits—catching thieves red-handed, arrests require evidence.”
“If Chen Ban Tou is truly willing to step forward and expose them, that would indeed be atoning with merit.”
“As for Wang Hai’s matter, the law explicitly states it can be major or minor, light or heavy sentence, varying punishments, but how light or heavy is not up to others—it’s up to me. Do you understand?”
Lin Fan stared intently at Chen Xingzhi.
The words had reached this point.
If Chen Xingzhi still didn’t cooperate.
Then there was no deal.
To Lin Fan, he just wanted to say: Teacher, I want to make progress so badly.
Taking down Loyalty Hall and Fierce Tiger Gang would be a great achievement; even if the higher-ups weren’t saints, people naturally know how to act.
Under the spotlight, they would speak righteously, for country and people.
In a twist, they would say, I have let down the common people, I have let down…
His goal was not the Yong’an Public Security Bureau, but the greater stars and sea.
Masters, true masters, I, Lin Fan, will definitely find you.
Chen Xingzhi’s heart was torn; the weather wasn’t hot, yet he was sweating profusely. He knew that to save Wang Hai, he had to jump into the pit himself.
Giving up the prefect’s only chance for him to escape unscathed.
Silence.
The suffocating silence lasted a long time.
Finally, Chen Xingzhi seemed drained of all strength, his shoulders completely slumping, as if he had accepted his fate.
“I understand.”
“Lin Ban Tou, I am willing… to report.”
Even Lin Fan was somewhat surprised by this answer.
“Chen Ban Tou, can I ask you something?”
“Huh?”
“Wang Hai isn’t your illegitimate son, is he?”
