Desperate people, accept the seed of my soul!

Another punch.

Song Chao gritted his teeth, drawing blood from his gums, which trickled down the corners of his mouth.

"Can you handle it? Hmm? How long can you hold out?"

Liu Lei threw away the phone book, pulled out a baton from behind his waist, and poked Song Chao in the waist with the baton.

"I heard you have a bad back, a herniated disc, right? It's an old problem from working on construction sites."

He pressed the baton against Song Chao's lumbar spine, gradually increasing the pressure until Song Chao's spine creaked.

"If I hit you with this stick, you'll never be able to stand up again. Your wife will remarry, your daughter will call someone else 'Dad,' and you'll be lying in your rented room unable to even turn over—do you think it's worth it?"

Song Chao was in so much pain that his whole body convulsed, cold sweat rolled down his forehead, his lips were bitten until they bled, and blood dripped down his chin onto his chest.

But he just wouldn't budge.

His mind was filled with images of Yuan Qiao and Niu Niu.

Yuan Qiao smiled with her head down, wearing the new scarf he had bought for her.

Niu Niu rushed into his arms and called him "Daddy" in her sweet, childish voice.

If he admits it, he will truly become a criminal.

When his daughter takes college entrance exams, looks for a partner, or finds a job, her background check will show that "her father was imprisoned for theft."

The stain on his life will be carried by Niu Niu for the rest of her life.

He cannot admit it.

I absolutely refuse to admit it, no matter what.

"I didn't do it."

Song Chao's voice was so hoarse that it was almost inaudible, but every word seemed to be uttered with all his might.

Even if you beat me to death... I will never admit it.

Liu Lei's patience had completely run out.

He threw the baton on the ground and shouted towards the door.

"Come in!"

When the two interrogators pushed the door open and saw Song Chao covered in blood, one of them grinned.

"Captain Liu, why haven't you finished yet? This guy's got some nerve."

"Enough with the nonsense, hold him down."

Liu Lei stepped aside, lit a cigarette, and leaned against the wall, puffing away.

Two interrogators rushed up and started punching and kicking Song Chao.

Fists slammed into ribs, feet kicked into legs, and batons swung across backs; the resounding blows echoed through the interrogation room.

Song Chao huddled in the chair, his teeth grinding together, every inch of his body aching.

He remembered that night when he was beaten half to death with a sack over his head on his way home.

He didn't know who hit him that time, he only knew that those people specifically kicked him in the groin.

He spent half a month in the hospital that time.

This time it's even worse than the last.

So what?

I persevered.

He wants to live.

He must get out of here alive.

"Sign or not?" An interrogator grabbed his hair, forcing him to look up.

Song Chao spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva, which landed right in the man's face.

The interrogator was stunned for a moment, wiped his face, and then slapped Song Chao across the face, making his head hit the back of the chair with a loud thud.

"Damn it, you won't listen to reason, so you'll have to suffer the consequences!"

Another round of frenzied beatings ensued.

Punches and kicks rained down on Song Chao, and the two interrogators, their hands aching from the blows, retreated, panting heavily.

Song Chao leaned back in his chair, his eyes swollen shut, and a crack in his mouth from which blood continued to flow.

But he was still shaking his head.

It was difficult for him to shake his head, like a rusty machine, but he kept shaking it.

"I didn't do it."

Liu Lei threw the cigarette butt on the ground and stubbed it out with his leather shoe.

He walked over, squatted down in front of Song Chao, stared at his blood-stained face, and remained silent for a long time.

The interrogation room was silent for a few seconds, with only Song Chao's heavy breathing remaining.

Liu Lei suddenly smiled.

That smile was different from the previous ones; it carried an inexplicable and sinister quality.

"Song Dynasty, do you think that just because you've held out, we can't do anything to you?"

Song Chao didn't speak, her swollen eyes fixed on him.

Liu Lei took out his phone from his pocket, swiped the screen a few times, and held a photo up to Song Chao's eyes.

The photo shows the gate of a kindergarten with a cartoon giraffe sign hanging on it. Several children, all wearing red vests, are standing in line to enter the kindergarten.

The Song Dynasty recognized that brand.

That's the kindergarten Niu Niu attends.

His pupils suddenly contracted, and his eyes, which had swollen into slits, widened.

"you--"

"Your daughter is three and a half years old, her name is Niu Niu, right?"

Liu Lei's voice was very low, so low that only Song Chao could hear it, and every word sounded like it had been pulled out of ice water.

"She's in the middle class at 'Sunshine Baby' kindergarten, and her teacher's surname is Wu, right? Your wife takes her to school at 8:00 every morning and picks her up at 4:30 in the afternoon. You live on the fifth floor of an old residential compound, the one on the left. Your daughter likes to play in the mud downstairs and likes to hug a pink Barbie doll."

Song Chao began to tremble all over, not from pain, but from fear.

It was a fear that seeped into his very bones, more frightening than all the punches and kicks he had just received combined.

"You, you..."

Liu Lei put his phone back in his pocket, reached out and patted Song Chao's face lightly, but Song Chao felt that hand was like an ice dagger pressed against his face.

"When we're handling a case, investigating the suspect's family is standard procedure. Your wife let it slip, so we'll verify with her a few more times, check with her workplace, and interview your neighbors. As for your daughter, if the kindergarten teachers and other children knew her father was a steel bar thief, do you think she could stay at that kindergarten?"

Liu Lei stood up, looked down at Song Chao, and the smile on his face returned to that of a cat playing with a mouse.

"If you cooperate, these procedures won't need to be followed. Your wife and children can live a peaceful life, and the family can reunite when you're released. If you continue to resist—"

He paused, deliberately leaving his words unfinished, letting Song Chao fill in the rest in his imagination.

Song Dynasty closed his eyes.

Tears squeezed out from between his swollen eyelids and streamed down his face, mingling with the blood.

He can handle it.

He is not afraid of anything.

But he couldn't gamble with Yuan Qiao and Niu Niu.

He didn't know if Liu Lei was just trying to scare him or if he was really going to do something drastic.

He dared not gamble.

He lived for twenty-seven years and never dared to gamble.

The biggest weakness of an honest person is that they dare not gamble their life with evil people.

Song Chao lowered his head, his whole body was still trembling, his shoulders were shaking, and tears mixed with blood dripped onto the handcuffs on his legs.

The interrogation room remained quiet for a long time.

Liu Lei didn't rush him. He lit a new cigarette, leaned against the wall, and waited for him to break down.

Song Chao opened his mouth, but his voice was so hoarse that it was almost inaudible.

"I……"

Liu Lei exhaled a smoke ring and turned his head to look at him.

"What? You've figured it out?"

Song Chao's lips trembled, and his throat felt like it was stuffed with cotton, unable to make a sound.

He remembered the hand that Yuan Qiao waved when she saw him off to the car.

He remembered Niu Niu hugging his leg and crying, "Daddy, don't go."

He remembered that he had promised Niu Niu that he would buy her a pink scooter next time he went back.

He did what he said he would do.

He would never lie to Niu Niu.