Film and Television: My Cheat Code is AI

Ji Jie kicked Tian Rui under the table.

Tian Rui was speaking in the middle of something, her mouth still open, when she felt a kick to her ankle, and her words stopped in her throat. She turned her head to look at Ji Jie, but Ji Jie didn't look at her and her face was expressionless. Tian Rui closed her mouth and lowered her head to flip through the notebook in her hand.

Just then, the door was pushed open, and Ding Jian poked half his body in. "Sister Ji, come out for a moment."

Ji Jie stood up, the chair making a short, sharp sound as it was pushed back. "What is it?"

Ding Jian closed the door and stood in the corridor, lowering his voice, "The aunties from the neighborhood committee over there are here. They say they want to report something."

"What situation are they reporting? How did they know we brought Jiang Dali back?"

"They said," Ding Jian paused, "that Tian Rui told him he was a murderer."

Ji Jie took a deep breath, a slow one, and exhaled with a slight headache. "Remember, from now on, you can't act without my orders."

Ding Jian nodded. "I understand what you mean. I originally wanted to avoid his son before making the arrest, but Tian Rui had already rushed out."

Ji Jie didn't say anything more, pushed open the door and entered the office. Lao He was carrying several glasses of water in. When he saw Ji Jie come in, he placed the glasses on the coffee table one by one. "Come, come, have some water first."

Zhang Yang sat on the sofa, his back against the cushions, his hands crossed over his stomach. His expression was somewhere between utter despair and resignation. Several middle-aged women sat opposite him. One of them, Aunt A, was still talking, her voice high-pitched and rapid, like a handful of soybeans popping out of the ground. When Zhang Yang saw Ji Jie come in, his eyes lit up for a moment, but the light quickly faded because he knew that Ji Jie hadn't come to save him.

"Comrade, you've finally arrived." Aunt A stood up, crossed her hands over her stomach, and looked as serious as if she had just finished a branch meeting. "You took Jiang Dali away, and we immediately held an emergency meeting."

Ji Jie sat down opposite Zhang Yang at the coffee table, and Zhang Yang moved aside to make room for her. "Auntie, we're not arresting Jiang Dali, we're questioning him." She looked at the women's faces; they all had the same expression—confusion. "We just want to ask him about some things."

Aunt B waved her hand, "It's all the same, all the same. Once you're in the police station, there are no good people. This is because our neighborhood committee hasn't done a good job, which is why we have such bad people."

"Auntie, you're overthinking it. It's not time for you to apologize yet."

Aunt A moved forward, her bottom barely touching the edge of the sofa. "Jiang Dali is usually very disobedient, so after a few of us discussed it, we decided to cooperate fully with the police investigation and not let the murderer get away with it."

Zhang Yang straightened up from the sofa. He had been half-lying down, but now he straightened his back and placed his feet flat on the ground. "Auntie, we haven't confirmed that Jiang Dali is the murderer yet. We just brought him back to understand the situation."

Aunt B turned to look at Zhang Yang, sizing him up and down. "You're still too young. This Jiang Dali, he never seemed like a good person. If he gets into your police station, he'll definitely be a murderer."

Ji Jie placed her hands on her knees, her voice low but each word clearly enunciated, "Officer Zhang is right. No one is a criminal without a court verdict. I thank you for your kindness on behalf of the investigation team, but no one can be presumed guilty before the matter is fully investigated."

"He's guilty, he's definitely guilty!" Aunt A exclaimed anxiously, turning around and tugging at the sleeve of an old man behind her. "If you don't believe me, ask Grandpa Zhang."

Grandpa Zhang had been sitting at the very edge, clutching an old cloth hat, the brim crumpled and deformed. He was suddenly pulled forward, his lips moved, he looked at Aunt A and then at Ji Jie, unsure whether to speak. Finally, he nodded. "That's right. I saw him last night."

Ji Jie leaned forward slightly. "Where did you see him?"

"At the construction site where that woman was killed."

Ji Jie opened the file folder beside her, took out a photo, and instead of handing it directly to Grandpa Zhang, she placed it on the coffee table for him to look at. "What do you see?"

Grandpa Zhang looked down at the photo, his lips moved but he didn't say anything. Grandma A, standing beside him, was so anxious she kept slapping her thigh. "Say it! Say it! Just like you said earlier!"

Zhang Yang reached out and stopped the older woman A, then turned to Grandpa Zhang, "Grandpa, if you really saw him, just tell me. How did you see him? What did you see? Tell me slowly."

Grandpa Zhang placed his hat on his lap, rubbing the brim back and forth between his hands. "Around nine o'clock last night, I went out to walk my dog. As soon as I stepped out of the yard, I saw Jiang Dali talking to a woman downstairs at the construction site. They seemed to be arguing." He paused, then added, "Oh, right, it seems Jiang Dali also hit her."

Ji Jie asked, "Did you hear what I said?"

Grandpa Zhang shook his head, "I didn't hear you clearly."

Zhang Yang then asked, "Think again, how far are you from them?"

Grandpa Zhang looked up, squinted at the ceiling, and thought for a moment, "It's probably over a hundred meters high. My eyesight isn't good, so I can't see it very clearly."

Ji Jie pushed the photo on the coffee table forward half an inch. It was a woman's ID photo, her facial features clearly recognizable. "Take a look, is this the woman?"

Grandpa Zhang picked up the photo, stretched out his arm, squinted at it for a long time, and then nodded vigorously. "Yes. It's her, it's definitely her."

After the neighborhood committee members left, the corridor was quiet for a while before returning to normal. Old He carried a tray into the office, collecting the used water cups one by one, the enamel mugs clinking together. Zhang Yang leaned back on the sofa, wiping his face with both hands, from his forehead to his chin, muttering, "These aunties are really not to be trifled with."

Ji Jie stood up and straightened her collar. "Alright, let's go to the interrogation room."

The interrogation room was dimly lit. Jiang Dali sat on an iron chair, his hands cuffed, his shoulders slumped, looking as if his bones had been removed. Tian Rui sat opposite him, with a written record in front of her, the pen cap removed. When Zhang Yang and Ji Jie pushed the door open and came in, Tian Rui turned her head and glanced at Ji Jie, her expression carrying a hint of barely perceptible guilt.

Ji Jie pulled up a chair and sat down. She didn't look at Tian Rui or say anything, but just slightly raised her chin in Jiang Dali's direction. Tian Rui put the pen in her hand on the table and said, "Say what you just said again."

Jiang Dali raised his head, his face covered in tears, and a new batch of tears was still flowing out, running down his mouth and chin, dripping onto his clothes on his chest, soaking a patch of his clothes, the color darker than the rest.

His lips were trembling, not from fear, but from some uncontrollable physiological reaction after being overwhelmed. His voice was muffled, but every word seemed to be forced out of his throat.

He said, "I killed her, I killed her, shoot me." After saying this last sentence, his body slumped to the side, he slid off the chair, his handcuffs hanging on the armrest, and he collapsed to the ground with his eyes closed.

Ji Jie stood up and looked at him. He was still breathing and had a pulse, but he was unconscious. She said to Ding Jian, "Take him to the infirmary." Ding Jian lifted Jiang Dali up and half-carried, half-dragged him out. Zhang Yang watched Jiang Dali's back disappear through the door and felt something was wrong. This guy confessed way too quickly.