Desperate people, accept the seed of my soul!

"impossible!"

Song Chao struggled desperately, dragging the iron chair on the ground with a clanging sound, and the handcuffs were worn down to the point that the bones were almost exposed.

"She wouldn't say that! You're lying to me! I want to see her! I want to ask her face to face! She couldn't possibly say something like that!"

Liu Lei reached out and pressed down on his shoulder, pinching hard with his five fingers, his nails digging into his flesh through his clothes.

"See her? You can see her after you sign the confession."

He released his grip, stood up, and looked down at Song Chao, his smile fading and replaced by a cold, businesslike expression.

"Song Chao, I advise you to be sensible. The evidence is conclusive, with witnesses, physical evidence, and testimonies all at your disposal. You have to admit it whether you want to or not. Let me be blunt—a lowly worker like you, with no family connections or background, no one will stand up for you."

He bent down and leaned close to Song Chao's ear, his voice so low that only the two of them could hear it.

"Even if you don't confess, this evidence will still be sent to court, and you'll still be convicted. If you confess and have a good attitude, I'll write a 'good attitude towards confessing' evaluation for you, and you'll get a three-year sentence. If you behave well, you can get out in two and a half years. When you get out, you can go home and reunite with your wife and children. Isn't that great?"

He patted Song Chao's face, the force neither too light nor too heavy, each pat carrying an insulting tone.

"If you don't admit it, you'll drive us crazy. We have plenty of ways to make you suffer. You have a wife and kids at home, right? If you keep pushing this to the end, and the case drags on, your wife will be called in for questioning every few days, and your daughter will be pointed at and gossiped about at kindergarten—do you want them to suffer like that?"

Song Dynasty's eyes were so red they were almost bleeding.

Liu Lei's words were like knives stabbing him in his most vulnerable spot.

He is not afraid of anything.

He wasn't afraid even when his shoulders bled from carrying cement bags on the construction site.

He was not afraid to squat in the cold wind in winter, tying steel bars until his fingers cracked from the cold.

He wasn't afraid of being framed by Zhang Jinshan and called a thief by his coworkers.

But he was afraid that Yuan Qiao and Niu Niu would suffer.

He was afraid that Niu Niu would be pointed at by other children at kindergarten and told, "Your dad is a thief who steals steel bars."

He was afraid that Yuan Qiao would be interrogated by the security team every few days and wouldn't be able to endure it.

He was afraid that the family would fall apart.

Song Chao gritted his teeth, making a grinding sound, and his whole body was trembling.

But a thought suddenly flashed through his mind.

wrong.

If Yuan Qiao really said those things to Liu Lei, why didn't Liu Lei let Yuan Qiao identify him?

Based on just a photo and a transcript, without even a signature or video, you claim it was Yuan Qiao's confession?

The record of Lao Zhou's statement also asks: Where is Lao Zhou? Why are they afraid to let him confront Lao Zhou?

They kept trying to scare him with pieces of paper the whole time; no one dared to confront him face to face.

Because they are lying.

Because Yuan Qiao never said those words.

Because Lao Zhou's testimony was a lie that even he himself dared not verify.

Song Chao suddenly raised his head, stared at Liu Lei, and spoke in a hoarse voice, like sandpaper scraping iron.

"You bunch of bastards, you're in cahoots with Zhang Jinshan, you've conspired to swindle me."

Liu Lei's face darkened.

"What did you say?"

"I said you colluded with Zhang Jinshan to frame me!"

The voice of the Song Dynasty grew louder and louder, like the low growl of a wild beast cornered against a wall.

"That batch of steel bars was bought entirely by Zhang Jinshan's purchasing department. It was the purchasing department that took kickbacks and bought substandard steel bars. What does that have to do with me! Instead of investigating the purchasing department and Zhang Jinshan, you come here to arrest a lowly worker like me. Are you investigating a case or helping Zhang Jinshan silence someone?"

Liu Lei's lips twitched, and the smile on his face vanished completely.

"Song Dynasty, don't push your luck."

"I would rather die than admit to something I didn't do!"

Song Chao gritted his teeth, each word squeezed out from between his teeth, dripping with blood and saliva.

"If you're so capable, go investigate the purchasing department, check Zhang Jinshan's ledgers, find out who actually bought that batch of steel bars! You don't dare to investigate because you're in cahoots with Zhang Jinshan! You're not here to interrogate me, you're here to clean up his mess!"

Liu Lei's expression changed completely.

The mockery and contempt in those eyes were gone, replaced by a gloomy anger.

He walked to the interrogation table, picked up the half-finished cup of strong tea, slowly turned it around twice, and suddenly raised his hand and smashed the teacup against the wall.

The teacup shattered with a crash, shards flying everywhere, and tea dripped down the wall, leaving a dark brown stain.

Liu Lei turned around and made a gesture to the two interrogators next to him.

"You all go out first."

The two interrogators exchanged a glance, immediately stood up, and left.

The interrogation room door closed behind them with a click and was locked from the inside.

Liu Lei walked to the corner and unplugged the surveillance camera.

The red indicator light on the camera flashed twice and then went out.

Song Chao's heart leaped into his throat.

Liu Lei walked up to him, slowly unbuttoned the cuffs of his uniform, rolled up the sleeves twice, revealing the strong muscles on his arms.

He rolled up his sleeves and laughed, but the laugh was completely different from before. Before, it had a hint of mockery, but now it was pure malice.

"Song Dynasty, do you think you're so tough?"

He flexed his wrist, and his knuckles cracked.

"Do you think that as long as you don't admit it, there's nothing we can do about it? Are you still thinking that once you get out, you can go home and live with your wife and kids?"

He suddenly punched Song Chao in the stomach.

Song Chao groaned, his whole body curled up like a shrimp, his stomach churning and acid reflux rising from his throat.

Liu Lei used all his strength in that punch, which landed squarely on his stomach, making his internal organs churn.

"Who do you think you are? Huh?"

Liu Lei grabbed his hair, pulled his head back, and forced him to tilt his face up.

Song Chao's face was contorted in agony, his forehead was covered in cold sweat, and his lips were pale, but the stubbornness in his eyes remained undiminished.

"Let me tell you, I've seen plenty of people like you. Your family is dirt poor, you have no power, no connections, and you're just pushed out as a scapegoat by some big boss, and you're still stubbornly holding on here."

Liu Lei loosened his hair, walked around the interrogation room again, picked up a phone book from the table, weighed it in his hand, and nodded in satisfaction.

He placed the phone book on Song Chao's chest, then swung his fist and slammed it down hard through the phone book.

Song Chao's body jerked violently, and the iron chair crashed to the ground with a piercing sound.

The phone book didn't leave any external injuries, but the force penetrated deep into his internal organs, causing him to experience waves of blacking out in pain, and his ribs felt like they were being broken one by one.

"You lowly people, your lives are just for stepping stones for others. Zhang Jinshan is doing you a favor by making you take the blame. You can take the blame for three years, and then you can keep being his dog with the money he gives you. But you insist on being ungrateful and stubbornly sticking your neck out with me."