When Old He walked out of that interrogation room, he was almost completely drained.
His legs had no strength; they were weak and soft, seeming unable to carry him to the next room. He walked a few steps, then plopped down on the floor, leaning against the wall. Tilting his head back and closing his eyes, only when his back touched the cold wall did he realize his clothes were completely soaked through.
"Master! You were amazing!" Xiao Wu trotted over, trying to pull him up. Seeing he couldn't be moved, Xiao Wu quickly turned back, bringing a cup of hot tea.
"I brewed this for you earlier! I poured out half and added hot water, so it's just right to drink now!" Xiao Wu said, also simply plopping down to sit.
"Master, Master! Your performance today was truly incredible! I tell you, we were all so nervous! We didn't have permission to watch, so I kept finding excuses to come out and circle around. Team Leader Qi was just as nervous as us. I saw him biting his fist the whole time! And the Deputy Bureau Chief! He stood by the window the entire time without moving! When I passed by, he didn't even turn his head!"
Xiao Wu's eyes shone with excitement. "Master, when you first planned to do this, we had no confidence at all. After all, Qin Guan's psychological resilience is incredibly strong. We never expected you'd break him in one go! You succeeded, Master!"
Succeeded.
Old He held the teacup. The aroma of green tea, mixed with a hint of bitterness, drifted into his nostrils in wisps.
He lifted the cup and took a sip. The warm, refreshing tea soothed his agitated chest inch by inch. His overly alert mind slowly returned to normal—his hands were actually trembling slightly.
Old He took a long, deep breath. Just then, Qi Zhifei walked towards him quickly, his face beaming with a smile.
He knew. He had truly done it.
Qin Guan had gone from initial calm and rationality, to later confusion and doubt, then to wavering and terror. Finally, upon seeing the wheelchair, all his will had completely crumbled.
He had confessed.
"I was the one who personally damaged the brake mechanism! How could I not remember? This is forged! This is fake!"
Those words Qin Guan had roared, each one crystal clear, had reached everyone's ears. To Old He, that sentence was more pleasing than any music in the world.
He had dragged it out for so long, starting with Qin Guan's parents, talking until his mouth was dry and his tongue parched—all just waiting for that one sentence.
All that "casual talk," dredging up old grudges, the fierce arguments—it was all deliberately orchestrated by Old He.
"I'm going to put on a show, just him and me, one-on-one. I'm going to shatter his psychological defenses in one go,"
Old He had told Qi Zhifei this during the day. Qi Zhifei had stared at him wide-eyed, looking incredulous, while Xiao Wu and the others had gaped, unable to close their mouths for a long time.
Yes, even Old He himself hadn't been sure.
Apart from a few photos, he had no truly useful evidence in his hands. Just one wheelchair.
Of course, it wasn't Xu's father's actual wheelchair from that day—Qin Guan had cleaned up very thoroughly. The original parts had all been thrown away; Old He had searched everywhere and only recovered two panels.
But he knew the wheelchair was the most crucial piece of evidence.
So, he created one—the same brand and model.
Once he realized Xu Ruyi was very likely involved in this case because of her father's death, he contacted the manufacturer and managed to obtain this old wheelchair, which had been sitting unused in a local household for over a year. He had it disassembled, smashed, and then repaired.
"That's my plan. I prepared this thing early too. I've been brewing it in my mind. Trust me, let me follow my own rhythm. I will get him to confess!"
Old He had been resolute in front of Qi Zhifei.
But he truly couldn't guarantee it—make Qin Guan confess?
This man, from the very beginning of the investigation, being brought in for questioning, including all the subsequent interrogations—no one had been able to get to him. A criminal defense lawyer with meticulous thinking and deep cunning was truly hard to deal with.
"I'm clumsy. After the first few rounds, he already knew that. He wouldn't be on guard against a clumsy person; he'd underestimate me. That actually increases my chance of winning. Just let me try! How will we know if we don't try?"
Qi Zhifei had paced and agonized for over ten minutes before finally going to persuade the higher-ups.
"Master is the master! What you did today… was too good!" Qi Zhifei patted Old He's sweat-soaked back, his nose tingling slightly.
Old He had given his all.
He had deliberately shown his clumsiness in front of Qin Guan, chipping away at Qin Guan's will bit by bit. He had deliberately switched off the microphone in front of Qin Guan, making him believe those outside could only see the images, not hear the sound.
He had finally forced Qin Guan to reveal his true form.
That cunning, highly skilled yet tight-lipped murderer had finally taken the bait—his voice and image had been recorded the entire time.
Of course, by now, Qin Guan knew this too.
Inside the interrogation room, Qin Guan was still roaring: "He Zhisheng! You tricked me! You were bluffing! You set a trap for me! I'm not finished with you! He Zhisheng!"
He pounded the table in fury, his face twisted with rage and agitation—in fact, immediately after roaring out that sentence, Qin Guan had swiftly realized his slip of the tongue.
But it was too late.
Words spoken couldn't be taken back.
"Qin Guan, you have already confessed," two young officers stood before him sternly. "Just now, you personally admitted that you sabotaged your father-in-law Xu Qian's wheelchair, that you killed him! Cooperate and we'll be lenient. Please explain everything truthfully from the beginning."
Yes, he had admitted it personally.
Qin Guan finally quieted down. His face turned ashen, his whole body seeming emptied as he slumped into the chair.
He was a lawyer. He knew exactly what that shouted admission meant. So, he had no more excuses, no more room for prevarication.
There was only one path left: confess.
That word slammed hard into Qin Guan's head.
Confess?
What the consequences would be of confessing to this crime just as the Qi Min murder case was about to be retried—Qin Guan understood better than anyone.
But he was powerless to push it away now.
The earlier argument and howling seemed to have drained him of all his energy and fighting spirit, as if his spine had been pulled out. He slumped in the chair. Enormous defeat and helplessness surged towards him from all sides like a tidal wave.
Only now did he see clearly—tonight's interrogation, from start to finish, had not been about "the Qi Min murder case." It had been about Xu Qian's fatal accident case.
Which meant that case had already been officially filed—only a filed case warrants interrogation.
Naturally, it was Xu Ruyi who had reported it to the police, provided evidence, leading to the case being filed.
But in such a short time—filing, interrogation—all accomplished in one go. The timing was really too short, so short Qin Guan had never anticipated it.
He Zhisheng must have streamlined the process.
He was helping that bitch! A case investigator, letting personal feelings interfere, biased in his stance, helping that bitch deal with him—probably he had taken a fancy to her? An old bachelor seeing a wealthy single woman, how could he not pounce?
Otherwise, why would he risk punishment, even jail time, fabricating evidence to help Xu Ruyi?
Yes, Qin Guan also saw clearly now—that wheelchair must have been fake.
A forged wheelchair had shattered all his efforts.
Why?
Why didn't anyone understand his suffering?
Qin Guan hung his head low, utterly devoid of the will to live.
"Speak, Qin Guan," the officer prepared to take notes. "On the day of the incident, did you premeditate damaging your father-in-law Xu Qian's wheelchair? Or was it an idea after the argument? Your father-in-law Xu Qian held nothing back from you. Why were you determined to kill him?"
"Held nothing back?"
Qin Guan lifted his head. The last faint, desperate glimmer of hope in his heart snapped with a crack under that word. A bellyful of suppressed grievances and anger surged out like floodwaters breaching a dam.
"If they truly held nothing back from me, why would I do this?"
His handcuffed hands slapped the table furiously and violently. Qin Guan unleashed a final, ragged roar. "They guarded against me everywhere! She—she urged her daughter to guard against me even before the marriage! She even found a lawyer to try and reclaim the property rights to the house! Just one house, and she couldn't bear to give it to me. How can you say they held nothing back?"
"She was the one who went back on her word first! If Min Huifen hadn't gone looking for a lawyer, how would she have run into me at the hotel? I never even had the chance to provoke her! She brought it upon herself!"
"And him! He made a will, didn't you see? He kept saying he treated me like his own son without any selfish motives. But the facts? He made a will! He was going to leave all his property to his daughter! What kind of bullshit 'no selfish motives, held nothing back' is that?"
Qin Guan's voice was hoarse and strained, his suppressed heart almost tearing itself out from his chest with the force of his roar. "I did it! I did all of it! So what? This is what he deserved! What they deserved! They broke their promises! They were too selfish! Since they gave me this life, why did they have to take it all away?"