This director is vindictive.

Chapter 567 A Horror from the Mediator: The Trap of the Perfect Victim
After being visited out of prison, even the usually carefree Zhang Yuqi became unusually quiet.

She bit her lip, her fingers unconsciously twisting the hem of her clothes, and the sound of her high heels on the cement floor was softer than usual.

Chen Mo took out his cigarette case, and the metal lighter clicked three or four times before he lit it.

In the bluish-white smoke, the pale face behind the plexiglass of the observation room still flickered before his eyes—the woman named Tang had a relieved smile on her lips as she recounted the murder.

"Oh shit."

Chen Mo suddenly crushed the cigarette butt on the trash can.

The photos in the case file resurfaced in my mind: the medical term "old bone fracture" on the injury report, the victim's "living expenses record" accurate to the yuan on his mobile phone, and the mediator's handwritten nonsense opinion that "couples quarrel in bed and make up in bed."

The most ironic thing is that in the photos of the crime scene, a banner reading "Five-Good Family" was still hanging on the blood-stained wall.

Zhang Yuqi suddenly grabbed his arm: "Look at this—" Her phone screen showed an old news article she had just found: "Foreign company white-collar worker makes charitable donation to children in mountainous areas," with a picture of Tang distributing schoolbags to the children, her smile as gentle as in her wedding photo.

"That kind of scum."

Zhang Yuqi's voice trembled slightly: "They drove a perfectly good person to the point of stabbing him twelve times with a knife, and in the end, the last four stabs were still to avenge the cat and the onion."

She kicked a pebble on the side of the road and yelled, "Damn it! He should be stabbed 120 times!"

Chen Mo turned to the last page of the transcript. Tang said her husband died after the eighth stab, but the forensic report showed that the heart was not damaged until the twelfth stab.

Now he understood—the last four cuts were for the cat that was euthanized, the fish that was suffocated, and the scallions that were pulled up "without permission" from the balcony.

To be honest, Chen Mo knew that realistic themes were often very difficult for directors to tackle.

Even the most tragic movie is still just a movie, while real-life tragedies are real.

"I don't understand, why? Why didn't she divorce that devil sooner?" Zhang Yuqi asked, puzzled.

“When I asked her before, she didn’t say anything. Could it be that she still loves that bastard?” Zhang Yuqi was completely puzzled.

Chen Mo frowned slightly, recalling that they had asked this question when they visited Tang before.

However, the other party remained silent and refused to answer the question.

Chen Mo didn't understand why she was willing to answer questions about murder, but avoided talking about divorce.

“Brother Zhao, let’s not visit the next victim yet. Let’s go find the mediator in this case to get some information,” Chen Mo said, turning to Zhao Ming.

"Mediator?" Zhang Yuqi suddenly realized what Chen Mo meant.

"You mean the mediator played a role?" she asked.

Chen Mo shook his head and then nodded, saying, "I suspect there is a connection, but it's hard to say for sure, which is why I need to go and see them."

He also has information about the mediator in this case, but not much.

However, it is also known that this mediator is a senior mediator and a top-notch mediator.

They are particularly skilled at mediating marital relationships.

However, to Chen Mo's surprise, the process of visiting the mediator was more difficult than expected.

When Chen Mo found the street office at the address in the case file, the staff told him that mediator Lao Zhou had left the office six months ago. Zhang Yuqi, chewing bubble gum, leaned against the service counter: "Oh, could it be that the accomplice is feeling guilty?"

“It’s medical retirement.” Hearing Zhang Yuqi’s sarcastic remark, the staff member handed over a crumpled photocopy of a leave slip, on which the diagnosis of “severe depression” was scribbled. Chen Mo noticed the date on the slip—it was the third day after the verdict in Tang’s murder case.

He, Zhang Yuqi, and Zhao Ming all looked at each other in bewilderment.

"Did I guess right?" Zhang Yuqi asked, somewhat surprised.

"It's too early to talk about this now." Chen Mo didn't believe everything he heard.

Although the mediator seemed to play a negative role in this case, Chen Mo did not, like Zhang Yuqi, take the extreme view that the mediator was an accomplice.

"If you were in the mediator's position, what would you do?" Chen Mo asked rhetorically.

“Of course we should make them divorce!” Zhang Yuqi said matter-of-factly.

Chen Mo glanced at the tiger-woman speechlessly.

"Do you think that's possible?" Chen Mo said irritably.

“There’s a long-standing tradition in China of encouraging reconciliation rather than separation, and there’s also the idea that it’s better to tear down a temple than to destroy a marriage. No mediator would directly advise people to divorce, as you’ve described,” Zhao Ming explained.

They finally found Lao Zhou in a low-rent apartment on the outskirts of the city. The man who opened the door was hunched over like a shrimp, a far cry from the spirited figure in the mediation photos in the case file. A banner reading "Gold Medal Mediator" still hung on the living room wall, but the glass frame had a centipede-shaped crack.

"The Xu family's business?" Upon hearing the purpose of the visit, Old Zhou suddenly started rubbing his hands nervously, his fingernails filled with black dirt.

"Actually, I advised them to break up or divorce peacefully!" Old Zhou suddenly said.

This was indeed somewhat unexpected for Chen Mo and Zhang Yuqi.

"Aren't you mediators supposed to encourage reconciliation rather than separation? Why is that?" Zhang Yuqi asked curiously.

"Besides, it doesn't seem to be mentioned in the case file," she asked again.

Old Zhou chuckled softly and said, "How could that be!"

"As a mediator, I handled 369 divorce cases. Of these, less than 100 were resolved through reconciliation, while the remaining 200-plus couples parted ways peacefully. Only 19 cases were transferred to the court for judgment, resulting in a mediation success rate of 88.76%."

Old Zhou spoke of this with no small amount of pride.

This situation was indeed unexpected by Chen Mo and Zhang Yuqi.

"In fact, during the mediation process, I found that in more than 80% of these couples, it was the woman who filed for divorce, which shows that women are becoming more and more independent and have more and more control over their lives," Lao Zhou said.

"Among the reasons for divorce, living apart and the relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law are the two main causes. In dual-income families, the elderly often need to take care of the children. If the elderly interfere too much in the couple's family affairs, it can easily affect the couple's relationship."

There was once a couple where the wife appealed twice to the Intermediate People's Court, determined to divorce. After a detailed investigation, I discovered that the husband hadn't committed any major offenses such as infidelity or domestic violence; the main issue was his mother's sharp tongue. These accumulated, trivial conflicts were all reconcilable.

“I contacted their children and asked them to persuade the woman to stay, and I also talked to the man and his mother. Last year during the Dragon Boat Festival, the man came back from working away from home. At that time, I suggested that he take the initiative to try to repair his relationship with his wife, and I also reminded his mother to pay attention to the way they get along. In the end, the family reconciled.” At this point, he pointed to a banner on the wall.

"They gave this to me!"

“Let’s talk about the case of Tang and Xu,” Chen Mo interjected.

Old Zhou fell silent.

After a long silence, he finally spoke: "Actually, we usually don't advise childless couples to separate from the start!"

"In particular, when we visited the couple's neighbors, they all spoke very highly of them."

"Xu was very sincere. During the mediation, he kept apologizing to Tang and repeatedly said that he would definitely change."

"What am I supposed to do?" Old Zhou suddenly scratched his head in frustration.

Chen Mo and Zhang Yuqi looked at each other in bewilderment.

"But I heard from Tang that you advised them, saying that quarrels in bed should be resolved before they get out of bed?" Zhang Yuqi questioned.

"Yes! Because of their outward appearance—the man hasn't cheated or committed domestic violence, he's just quite controlling."

Zhang Yuqi's eyes widened as she pointed to the "old fracture" section on the medical report, her voice rising several decibels: "Are you kidding me? No domestic violence? What the hell is this blatant medical report?"

Old Zhou gave a wry smile and pointed to the name on the report: "You've made a mistake, this report is for the man."

"How is this possible?!" Chen Mo and Zhang Yuqi were both stunned, because they had subconsciously assumed that the report was from the woman, Tang, so this result was truly unbelievable.

Zhang Yuqi snatched the documents, quickly flipped through them, and after confirming them, her expression was one of utter disbelief: "This...this doesn't make sense!"

Chen Mo frowned and asked, "You mean, Xu is the victim?"

Old Zhou shook his head, his tone complex: "On the surface, yes. Tang did indeed hit Xu on the head with a bowl during an argument, causing a minor fracture. But the truly terrifying thing is that Xu did it on purpose."

"Intentionally?" Zhang Yuqi's eyes widened. "You mean, he deliberately provoked her to attack?"

“That’s right.” Old Zhou sighed, a hint of lingering fear flashing in his eyes: “After the incident, I consulted a psychologist, who analyzed the case and concluded that Xu was using this ‘passive victim’ to manipulate Tang.”

“He first created conflict to provoke her, making her impulsively take action, and then ‘forgive’ her, making her feel guilty. At the same time, he pretended to be the victim in front of outsiders. Over time, Tang’s image in other people’s eyes became that of a ‘shrew with a bad temper and violent tendencies,’ while Xu was ‘a gentle and refined but unfortunate husband who married a paranoid woman.’”

Zhang Yuqi felt a chill run down her spine and couldn't help rubbing her arms: "Isn't this just a form of mind control?"

Old Zhou nodded, his tone heavy: "What's even more terrifying is that these records will become 'evidence.' If Tang eventually breaks down and really does something extreme, everyone will subconsciously believe—'She must be crazy; she's had violent tendencies before.' And Xu will be seen as an 'innocent victim' forced into this situation."

Chen Mo was silent for a moment, then said in a low voice, "So, he's using this method to gradually strip her of her ability to resist, making her completely lose trust and support?"

Old Zhou smiled bitterly: "Yes. He not only controls her behavior, but also how others perceive her. By the time she really can't take it anymore, no one will believe her anymore."

Zhang Yuqi gritted her teeth and couldn't help but curse, "Damn! This man is a complete pervert!"

Old Zhou nodded slowly, his voice hoarse: "Yes. Later I realized that true evil is often the most deeply hidden."

"Because of this, I unconsciously become biased and tend to side with the man during mediation."

(End of this chapter)