My online dating circle has millions of followers, why would she put a collar on me?

When the van turned around and drove back to the Zhongshan branch compound, Zhao Jianmin was already waiting at the entrance of the office building.

He was wearing yesterday's clothes, his dark gray jacket was wrinkled, two buttons on his shirt collar were undone, his hair was even messier than yesterday, and the dark circles under his eyes looked like he had been punched twice.

He held an unlit cigarette between his fingers, the filter twisted and deformed from being bitten.

The bread truck came to a stop, and the young policeman jumped out first. His face was as white as paper, and the handprint on his mouth was still red.

He opened his mouth as if to say something, but Zhao Jianmin didn't even look at him; his gaze passed over him and landed on the back of the bread cart.

Su Xiaoyue had already stood up, her knees covered in a mixture of dust and blood, and her skirt was torn in several places.

Gu Qinghan held her arm, and the two of them stood in the dim light of the sky, like a broken painting.

Zhao Jianmin crumpled up the unlit cigarette and threw it into the trash can. He walked over and stood in front of Su Xiaoyue and Gu Qinghan. His lips moved several times, but in the end, he only managed to utter one sentence:

"Miss Gu, Miss Su, let's go inside first and talk."

Gu Qinghan looked at him, her eyes filled with anger and contempt.

She didn't say anything, but helped Su Xiaoyue walk inside.

As Su Xiaoyue passed by Zhao Jianmin, she suddenly stopped and turned her head to look at him.

Those eyes were still red and swollen, but there was a fire deep in the pupils that made Zhao Jianmin's back feel cold.

"He didn't do those things."

Su Xiaoyue's voice wasn't loud, but every word seemed to be squeezed out of her throat.

"You hit him? You forced him? How did he get the blood from his mouth?"

Zhao Jianmin's face paled for a moment. "Ms. Su, the interrogation process was conducted according to procedure—"

"Standardized?" Su Xiaoyue's lips twitched slightly.

"Could the proper procedures really make him have blood at the corner of his mouth? Could the proper procedures really make him say in the car, 'I'll sign, I'll accept anything'?"

Zhao Jianmin opened his mouth, wanting to explain, but swallowed the words back.

He had no way to defend himself, because every word Su Xiaoyue said was true.

Gu Qinghan tugged at Su Xiaoyue's sleeve and said softly, "Xiaoyue, see him first, we can talk about the rest later."

Su Xiaoyue glanced at her, her eyes filled with gratitude.

She closed her eyes to suppress the surging emotions, and then followed Gu Qinghan into the gate of the Zhongshan branch.

After Jiang Yi was brought back, he was taken to the infirmary. Zhao Jianmin, along with Su Xiaoyue and Gu Qinghan, rushed over as soon as possible.

When the three arrived.

Jiang Yi was placed on a bed in the infirmary.

He lay there, his whole body like a withered, yellowed leaf blown away by the wind, so light that it seemed he could be blown away by a gust of wind at any moment.

A middle-aged man in a white coat stood by the bed, holding a blood pressure monitor in his hand.

His movements were very skilled; he tied the sleeve, inflated the air, and deflated it all in one smooth motion.

His brows were furrowed, a deep frown forming between them, his gaze shifting back and forth between the mercury in the sphygmomanometer and Jiang Yi's ashen face.

"How is it?" Zhao Jianmin stood at the door, his voice filled with barely suppressed anxiety.

The doctor did not answer immediately.

He took off his stethoscope, hung it around his neck, lifted Jiang Yi's eyelids to look at his pupils, and then touched his forehead. His hand paused on Jiang Yi's forehead for a moment, and his brows furrowed even more.

"Fever, 39.4 degrees Celsius."

His voice wasn't loud, but every word was clear: "Dehydration, low blood pressure, and multiple subcutaneous bruises."

He paused, glanced at Zhao Jianmin, and didn't finish his sentence.

Zhao Jianmin's expression darkened further. He knew, of course, where those "subcutaneous bruises" came from.

There were no surveillance cameras in the interrogation room, no one hit him, no one used any extreme methods on him, and the bruises were from his own bumps, falls, and falls at some unknown time.

This is the standard, rehearsed answer.

Gu Qinghan stood by the bed, looking down at Jiang Yi's face.

That face looked even worse than when she saw it in the interrogation room yesterday.

Yesterday, at least he was conscious and could talk to her.

At this moment, his eyes were closed, his eyelashes were trembling slightly, his lips were dry and cracked, and the trace of blood at the corner of his mouth had dried and formed a thin layer of dark red scab.

His breathing was heavy, each inhale seemed to be using all his strength, and his chest heaved abnormally.

Su Xiaoyue sat on the chair by the bed, very close to him, close enough that she could see the small mole on the bridge of his nose and the shape of each of his eyelashes.

She reached out and touched the back of his hand with her fingertips.

His hands were ice cold, as cold as a block of ice just taken out of the refrigerator.

Her fingers paused on the back of his hand for a moment, then slowly and carefully took his hand in hers.

He did not respond.

Her fingers didn't clench, or even move; they lay quietly in her palm, like a lifeless, delicate, heartbreaking piece of porcelain.

"Director Zhao." Gu Qinghan turned around, looking at the man in the doorway who was almost curled up in a ball. "What do we do now?"

Director Zhao gestured for Gu Qinghan to come out.

Gu Qinghan comforted Su Xiaoyue and then went outside.

"Zhao Jianmin, you'd better have another plan, otherwise!"

Upon meeting Zhao Jianmin for the first time, Gu Qinghan coldly questioned him.

Zhao Jianmin bent over and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"Miss Gu, please don't worry, there's still a chance."

"Then tell me, you've already signed the confession, what other options are there?"

Gu Qinghan sneered.

Zhao Jianmin quickly replied, "I consulted a lawyer beforehand."

"The lawyer has another explanation."

"Um?"

Gu Qinghan looked at Zhao Jianmin.

Zhao Jianmin continued, "That's right. Although they have confessed, this case ultimately involves both the brother and sister."

"So all we need to do is get Jiang Miaomiao to sign a confession and admit that she was the mastermind."

"When the two confessions are sent to the prosecutor's office, they will contradict each other during the prosecutor's office's inspection."

"According to regulations, at this point, the higher-level authorities, namely the Public Security Bureau, will send someone to intervene again."

"As long as the investigation finds that Jiang Miaomiao did it, and Jiang Yi insists that he signed the confession to help his sister get out of trouble."

"In the end, everyone will live in peace, and big problems will be turned into small ones, and small problems will be resolved."

Zhao Jianmin finished speaking in one breath, then lowered his head, not daring to look Gu Qinghan in the eye.

After hearing this, Gu Qinghan's eyes lit up. She grabbed Zhao Jianmin's hand and asked anxiously, "Are you sure this method will work?"

Although she didn't like Jiang Yi, both of her best friends were devoted to him.

Moreover, Jiang Yi is not a criminal after all.

Zhao Jianmin nodded.

"Yes, that's feasible. Besides, I'll be convicted of dereliction of duty and punished, which will appease the person inside and the Xia family, won't it?"

Zhao Jianmin said obsequiously.

Gu Qinghan nodded with great satisfaction.

Seeing that Gu Qinghan was satisfied, Zhao Jianmin actually breathed a sigh of relief. He even felt a little smug.

Although I was punished for this incident, in the end, I had managed to get involved with the Gu family.

Ultimately, this was Miss Gu's intention; I simply misunderstood, and I was also taking the blame for Miss Gu.

I believe Miss Gu will see my loyalty.