Sent to the countryside, I turned the health center into a top-tier hospital.

The color drained from Cao's mother's face, her fingers trembling as she pointed at the recording pen: "Where did this come from? You're secretly recording! Do you know that's illegal?!"

"Whether it was secretly recorded or not, we'll discuss that in court."

Lin Xiaoran put the recorder away. "Don't rush to shout, there's more to come."

Cao's father, being an experienced man, forced himself to sit up straight, though his throat was visibly dry: "A recording doesn't prove anything."

"My son was tricked into telling information by you, and then he started bragging. Does bragging count as evidence?"

It's obvious that the other party doesn't acknowledge the recording at all, and they don't dare to acknowledge it.

This is attempted rape, not a fight or brawl where you can just sit in jail for a few days or months and get out.

"That's right, one recording is definitely not enough."

Lin Xiaoran nodded and actually went along with him.

Just as Cao's father was about to breathe a sigh of relief, he saw Lin Xiaoran pick up her phone, open a video, and turn the screen around.

"So I also checked this. The surveillance footage at the entrance of a barbecue restaurant in the alley outside the east gate of the hospital, from 11:08 pm to 11:14 pm last night, six minutes, not a second less."

The video was dimly lit, yet the image was clearly visible.

A little girl was blocked by a tall man against a wall. The man leaned in and started pulling and tugging at her. The little girl tried to shrink back, but he blocked her completely.

The man reached out his hand, but the little girl suddenly broke free and cried out for help.

Before he could shout twice, a young man rushed out from the other end of the alley and knocked the tall man down.

It was Zhou Jie, Cao Yu, and Wang Tao.

Officer Gao leaned over to look at it, his face darkened completely, and he stared at Cao's parents for a long time without saying a word.

"Did you see that?"

Lin Xiaoran gently placed the phone back on the table. "Was your son beaten? Or did someone witness something good?"

Cao's father immediately broke out in a sweat, which trickled down his temples.

Cao's mother was still not giving up, and shouted in a shrill voice, "What can a surveillance video prove? Maybe that girl seduced my son first! These days, people will make up anything to get away with something!"

"Whether it's made up or not, just ask the person involved."

Chen Ping stood up, walked to the door, and called out, "Zhou Jie, come in for a moment."

When Zhou Jie entered the room, her face was deathly pale, and she was almost unsteady on her feet.

Liu Wei tried to come in, but Officer Gao stopped him at the door.

"Don't be afraid."

Officer Gao pulled up a chair for her to sit down and said in a gentle tone, "I'm the police officer handling the case. I'll take your statement about what happened last night."

"Just tell the truth. We will keep every word you say confidential and take responsibility for it."

Zhou Jie sat down, placing her hands on her knees, clenching and unclenching them repeatedly.

She looked up, glanced at Chen Ping first, and then at Lin Xiaoran.

Chen Ping nodded to her: "Don't be afraid, just tell the truth. Wang Tao's future depends on your mouth."

Zhou Jie took a deep breath and spoke.

"Last night after dinner, Liu Wei went home first after drinking too much. The rest of us walked back to the dormitory. When we got to the alley behind the hospital, the streetlights were dim..."

She recounted the events of last night from beginning to end.

How did Cao Yu get close to her? What nonsense did he say? How did he block her against the wall? How did he put his hand inside her clothes? How did she scream? How did Wang Tao rush over?

When she spoke of the embarrassing parts, tears welled up in her eyes, and her voice trembled uncontrollably, but she didn't utter a single word unclearly.

Cao's mother tried to interrupt several times, but Officer Gao stopped her each time, saying, "Let her finish speaking."

"I know it's embarrassing to talk about this."

Zhou Jie wiped away her tears. "Brother Wang Tao won't say anything because he's afraid people will talk behind my back. But the more he does that, the less I can let him take the blame for me."

"Every word I say today is true. I dare to sign and I dare to take legal responsibility."

The room was quiet for a long time.

Lin Xiaoran then spoke, laying out the evidence on the table one by one: "Officer Gao, now we have all three: witness testimony, physical evidence, and the victim's statement."

"First, Cao Yu himself admitted in the recording that he invited Zhou Jie to dinner in order to find an opportunity to take advantage of her, and he had a clear intention to rape her."

"Secondly, the surveillance footage shows him stopping people, physically assaulting them, and forcibly hugging and touching their bodies, indicating that he had already begun to commit a crime."

"Third, because the victim resisted fiercely and shouted for help, Wang Tao arrived in time to stop her, which prevented him from succeeding."

"If the act is attempted but fails due to reasons beyond the perpetrator's control, this constitutes attempted rape under criminal law."

"Furthermore, Wang Tao's intervention to stop others from being illegally harmed constitutes legitimate self-defense, and he is not only without fault but also meritorious."

She paused, then looked at the couple opposite her: "You were just saying you wanted to handle the case according to the law, but now the law is right here. What are you going to do? You tell me."

Cao Yu's parents were completely dumbfounded.

Cao's mother stood with her mouth agape, the pearl necklace around her neck bobbing up and down with her breathing, unable to utter a single word for a long time.

Cao's father's hands trembled as he held the thermos, the lid tapping against the rim with a loud clatter.

The air of officialdom had vanished from his face; all that remained was panic.

Parents know their son's character to some extent.

But they never expected that their son would get into a criminal case over a meal, and that the evidence would be so solid.

"There must be some misunderstanding here..."

Mr. Cao's voice dropped eight octaves immediately, and he bent over, "The kids had too much to drink and were just playing around... Dr. Chen, Attorney Lin, let's talk this out. We're all in the medical system; we'll run into each other again soon..."

"We're willing to mediate! Compensation is negotiable!"

Cao's mother also realized what was happening. Her sharp words vanished instantly, and she forced a smile. "We don't want the 500,000 anymore, not a single penny. We won't pursue this further. Can we settle this privately?"

Chen Ping looked at the couple and slowly stood up.

"Who just said that there would be no settlement, that the case would be handled according to the law, and that not a single procedure could be omitted?"

"I agree."

"Officer Gao," Chen Ping turned to Officer Gao, "we insist on handling the case according to the law, please open a case and investigate."

Officer Gao nodded, his expression serious: "This case is no longer a matter of public order mediation."

"We will report this immediately and open an investigation. Cao Yu will be summoned to the station today."

Cao's mother's legs went weak, and she fell back into her chair, this time truly bursting into tears.

Mr. Cao took out his phone, his fingers trembling so much he couldn't press the numbers accurately, and he didn't even know who he wanted to call.

Officer Gao gave a wink to the young policeman next to him, who then got up and went into the inner room.

A short while later, the door to the interrogation room opened.

Wang Tao stood at the door, looking at this and that, completely bewildered.

Zhou Jie turned around and met his gaze.

She couldn't hold back any longer and burst into tears.