Zhang Yi’ang brought Wang Ruijun to the interrogation room. The interrogation team members told them that Yang Wei was very slippery, repeatedly saying Lin Kai’s death had nothing to do with him and that it must have been Boss Fang who hired someone to do it. As for other matters, he either talked around them or refused to mention them at all, even denying that he had forced Boss Fang to drink urine.
Now the surveillance had traced Lin Kai’s death—eighty percent certainty it was those two robbers who did it, indeed unrelated to Yang Wei and Boss Fang. Zhang Yi’ang waved his hand to dismiss the interrogation team members, telling them to turn off all surveillance and recording equipment in the interrogation room. He only brought Wang Ruijun in with him, shut the door firmly, and sat down in front of Yang Wei with a gloomy expression.
Yang Wei stared wide-eyed at them. These two were obviously leaders. Sending people away, turning off surveillance—an idea instantly popped into his mind: they were going to use torture to extract a confession! Before the two could start questioning, Yang Wei cried out first: “Leaders, I’m really wronged. Lin Kai’s death has nothing to do with me. He and I were brothers. I couldn’t possibly kill him. It must have been that guy surnamed Fang who hired someone to do Lin Kai in.”
“Is that so?” Zhang Yi’ang was expressionless. Of course he wouldn’t tell him the investigation results. He only said coldly, “According to what we know, there was still some conflict between you and Lin Kai.”
“I… I did sleep with Lin Kai’s wife. Apart from that, in our usual business dealings we kept things crystal clear—there was no conflict.”
“What? You slept with Lin Kai’s wife?” Zhang Yi’ang had only wanted to use interrogation tactics to trick him, but who knew he’d trick out the fact that he slept with his brother’s wife.
“Lin Kai himself went looking for prostitutes everywhere. He didn’t touch his wife more than a few times a year, so we naturally… you know. But this… Lin Kai didn’t know about this! I couldn’t possibly have killed him. I’m really wronged!”
“Whether you’re wronged or not, we’ll naturally investigate. I’m not asking you about Lin Kai today—I’m asking you about some other matters. However, I heard that when they interrogated you earlier, you weren’t very cooperative.”
“I… I was very cooperative!” Yang Wei opened his innocent big eyes wide, deliberately trying to make himself look more sincere.
Zhang Yi’ang leaned his body backward and smiled breezily: “I’ve seen plenty of people like you. Generally, when they’re just arrested and brought into the Public Security Bureau, they always want to rely on their little bit of cleverness to beat around the bush with the police, deny everything in various ways, and tell lie after lie. However, after just a few days, they all can’t wait to pledge loyalty. Ask them about one thing, and they’ll answer you one through seven. Why are they so cooperative? Because we police have a hundred methods to make you tell the truth. Like you—if you refuse to tell the truth, in a bit I’ll have someone send you to the detention center, then have a word with the detention center to put you together with a rapist, and tell the rapist that you slept with your brother’s wife. Guess what happens? Ha ha ha ha… The next day I guarantee you’ll be so happy you won’t be able to get out of bed.”
Zhang Yi’ang let out a horrifying laugh. Even Wang Ruijun couldn’t help but shudder when he heard it, instinctively clamping his legs tightly together.
Yang Wei’s eyes widened as he slowly swallowed his saliva and laughed obsequiously in a low voice: “This… this won’t work. Police teacher… you police can’t do this. Law enforcement is very standardized now.”
“Don’t pretend to be naive with me!” Zhang Yi’ang slammed the table and shouted coldly, “If I feel even half a sentence of what you say today isn’t honest, you’ll see whether I’ll do this or not!”
Wang Ruijun was also inspired by his leader. He rolled up his sleeves and crudely played the role of a chef: “If you don’t cooperate, before going to the detention center I’ll first kick your bird eggs to pieces and make egg fried rice for your dinner today!”
Yang Wei swallowed his saliva. His scalp instantly exploded. Thinking of that image, all the hair on his body stood up. He wished he could pull out his character and place it on the table, guaranteeing with the utmost sincerity: “Leaders, whatever you want to ask, I’ll confess everything. I won’t dare to lie even half a word!”
This wave of ideological education was very effective, much more effective than the big characters saying “leniency for confession, severity for resistance.” Zhang Yi’ang nodded at Wang Ruijun, who immediately got to the point: “I’m asking you, did you force urine into Fang Guoqing’s mouth or not?”
Yang Wei hesitated for a few seconds. He was just about to deny it, but seeing the gazes the two men across from him were casting, he could only bow his head and admit: “I did force him to drink urine, but at that time I was really panicked and lost my head. I couldn’t control my emotions. I’m very regretful now. If there’s a chance, I must apologize to him properly.”
“Who witnessed this?”
Yang Wei hesitated again. The police were asking about witnesses, but he didn’t dare hesitate too long. He could only vaguely say: “Everyone present saw it.”
“Who was present?”
“There was… Boss Fang’s family, and… and a few of my younger gang members. They’ve all been arrested by you.”
Wang Ruijun looked back at his leader. Zhang Yi’ang spoke: “You illegally detained Fang Guoqing’s family and forcibly made someone drink urine. This is definitely a criminal offense. However, fortunately you didn’t injure anyone—the injury assessment won’t show anything. Don’t worry, no matter how you’re sentenced, it won’t exceed ten years. However, you made high-interest loans, used violence to collect debts, and organized and led a criminal organization—”
Yang Wei hastily interrupted. He wasn’t stupid. The first few charges were manageable, but organizing and leading a criminal organization was a major crime in China that could carry the maximum penalty at most. He quickly said: “Leader, I just led a few younger gang members to make loans and collect debts. We… our scale isn’t enough to qualify as a criminal organization.”
Zhang Yi’ang sneered coldly: “Whether it is or not, I don’t have the final say. There’s a common saying, isn’t there: we in Public Security buy the vegetables, the Procuratorate cooks the vegetables, and the court eats the vegetables. We just submit your various circumstances to the Procuratorate. How the Procuratorate speaks and how the court judges is their business. However, as you know, how the dish ultimately turns out depends on what vegetables were bought. If there’s some ingredient mixed into the bought vegetables, well, in the end it’s hard to say. Speaking of which, whether this is a criminal organization or not, let’s set that aside for now. High-interest loans, violent debt collection—all of these will carry sentences, right? What’s more, you forced urine into Fang Guoqing’s mouth, causing his entire family to march through the streets. In this matter, the government leadership is extremely furious—the whole society is watching.”
“I… I’ll never dare again.” Yang Wei was intimidated into immobility. He also knew that originally this kind of matter might have just had the police station come forward to mediate. The reason it alarmed the Public Security Bureau and they directly arrested the whole group was entirely because the victims marched through the streets and completely blew things up.
Zhang Yi’ang continued: “Such a major matter—in the end when the court tries it, if they don’t severely sentence you to several more years, do you think all parties can account for it? However, everything has a turning point. If you’re willing to atone for your crimes through meritorious service, I think these matters can be handled internally within our Public Security system. There’s no need to proceed to the court stage.”
Yang Wei thought for a few seconds. His eyes rolled as he connected it to the series of actions the two leaders had just made—withdrawing the interrogation personnel and turning off surveillance. He suddenly understood. He rubbed his handcuffed fingers together, stretched his neck forward, and asked with a grin: “Leader, what’s the price?”
“Price your mother!” Wang Ruijun’s one sentence scared away his grin. “We want you to cooperate in handling a matter!”
“Uh… what matter?”
Wang Ruijun glanced at Zhang Yi’ang. Director Zhang nodded, so he said to Yang Wei: “First tell us about Fang Guoqing owing you money.”
“Boss Fang… because the factory was having operational difficulties, so… so half a year ago he borrowed a sum of money from us. This debt has his personal signature and seal—it’s real.”
“Operational difficulties? Bullshit! Tell the truth.”
“He… he lost money gambling and borrowed money from us to turn things around.”
“Did he borrow from you?”
“I…” He wanted to speak but stopped.
“Speak!” Wang Ruijun slammed the table hard.
Yang Wei immediately blurted out: “Fang Guoqing went to Macau to gamble. He lost all of one million, then borrowed five million from the casino in several installments to double up. Later he lost it all. The casino had us collect the debt from him.”
“Who runs the casino?”
“It’s… it’s a boss in Macau!”
“Your sworn eldest brother Mei Dong, right?”
Yang Wei was stunned. He frowned and could only nod.
“How do you and Mei Dong split the money?”
“After we collect the debt, we return the principal to him. The bulk of the interest goes to us. If it’s owed for a long time, we give him half of the interest portion.”
“After you collect the debt, how do you give the money to Mei Dong?”
“We find someone to take it to Macau.”
“Bullshit! Can millions in amounts just be carried like that?”
“This… other people have their own channels. I’m not too clear about it.”
“You’re still not telling the truth! How exactly is the money transferred out!”
“I… I really don’t know.”
Wang Ruijun was about to get angry when Zhang Yi’ang put out his hand to stop him and suddenly inexplicably asked: “Have you ever studied dance?”