Chapter 312: I've Waited Five Years For This Day (2)

Whispers rippled through the gallery, the associate judges murmured among themselves, and the plaintiffs' expressions flickered with uncertainty. Even Gou Changzheng, who had been the calmest of them all, now sat with an ashen face, at a loss for how to refute his opponent.

Receipts could be dismissed as forgeries, and videos denied as digital fabrications, but with living, breathing witnesses standing right there, Gou Changzheng could no longer maintain his composure. Beneath the desk, his hands gripped his neatly pressed suit pants until the fabric wrinkled.

After the injured policeman finished speaking, a somewhat shy girl stepped forward. "That uncle's behavior was completely different from what they said on TV."

The moment those words left her mouth, Gou Changzheng's ominous premonition deepened. "Uncle? You're calling a wanted criminal who charged into your store late at night with malicious intent 'uncle'? Little girl, isn't your upbringing a bit too polite?"

The girl recounted everything that had unfolded in the store that night. "At first, we thought he was a vicious wanted criminal too. My mom and I were terrified. But once we calmed down, we realized he had no intention of hurting us. He didn't try to rob us, either. He just said he wanted to borrow a phone to make a call."

"My mom handed him the phone, but the police arrived before the call even went through."

"I thought we were finally saved, but who could have known the two police officers would be even more brutal than a robber? They just started shooting from a distance, completely disregarding whether anyone else lived or died."

Even now, the girl felt a lingering terror as she recalled the scene. Her shoulders trembled slightly as she leaned against her mother. "The gunshots were so loud—louder than I ever imagined. I was scared out of my wits. I covered my head and lost all the strength in my body."

"Bullets shattered the display window, and I saw glass flying everywhere. I was so scared. I really thought I was going to die right there. But to my surprise, in that dangerous moment, someone pulled me into his arms from behind and shielded me with his own body."

"I shrank into his arms and watched a bullet graze his shoulder and shatter a liquor bottle inside the counter."

"Then he pushed me behind the counter and gently pressed my head down. I could tell he had no ill intent—he just wanted to protect me."

The girl's words were simple and unadorned, and her voice wasn't particularly loud, yet they reached everyone's ears with absolute clarity. While she spoke, the entire courtroom fell silent, their gazes shifting between the girl and me.

The injured policeman provided the testimony of an arresting officer, while the girl provided the testimony of a victim. It was hard to imagine the two of them stepping forward to defend a wanted criminal. Courtroom trials didn't usually play out like this, did they?

Afterward, the girl's mother added a few details and pleaded with the presiding judge to catch those two police officers and bring them to justice as soon as possible.

With the three witnesses finished with their statements, Chen Haiyi was at a loss for words. The tables had turned in an instant. He had never seen a trial like this before.

"Does the prosecution have any objections to the testimony provided by the defense's witnesses?"

At the presiding judge's question, Gou Changzheng stood up out of sheer reflex. "The contents of this testimony require further verification."

He thought for a moment and glanced over his shoulder. He seemed to spot someone, and an idea came to mind. "I cannot be certain whether the defense's witnesses were coerced or bribed into testifying."

"We only testified to keep a clear conscience, and everything we said is the truth. Where is the coercion or bribery in that?" the injured policeman and the girl retorted. But Gou Changzheng carried on as if he hadn't heard them. "The opposing witnesses' testimony is entirely biased toward the defendant. I believe it lacks credibility. Among the plaintiffs, there are also individuals who came into contact with the defendant that night. I would now like to hear a differing perspective."

Gou Changzheng gestured behind him, yielding the floor to the other plaintiffs.

The first to stand up was a taxi driver. Before encountering the Balding Uncle on the way to the Bridge No. 3 Crematorium, I had hijacked a cab. At the time, the driver had a passenger and had hurled insults at me, only to be 'invited' out by my Fate Ghost.

The driver was short and looked like a Skinny Monkey, giving off a shrewd vibe. "I was also one of the victims that night. The defendant's behavior wasn't at all like what they described. He was a domineering lunatic. I had a passenger in my car at the time. To steal my taxi, the defendant didn't just beat me up; he threatened both me and my passenger, saying he'd kill us if we didn't do exactly as he said!"

The driver shot me a fearful look. "Later, it was only under his duress that my passenger and I put on raincoats and risked being accidentally shot by the police to help him draw away their pursuit."

The previously one-sided court of public opinion shifted. The crowd looked at me in confusion. How could the same person have such drastically different images in the eyes of different witnesses? Who was lying?

Gou Changzheng subtly gave the driver a thumbs-up. Having a witness on his side offer contradictory testimony gave him a glimmer of hope.

Coughing once, he turned to the judge. "As everyone has just heard, the defendant's image in the eyes of the broader public is far from the perfect picture painted by the defense's witnesses. Even if he lent a hand at a critical moment and distinguished right from wrong, that does not absolve him of his crimes! That was merely an accident. It might even have been an act deliberately put on by the suspect to leave himself an out."

Gou Changzheng straightened his suit, recovering his calm, sagacious demeanor. "I can find many similar witnesses among the plaintiffs."

He spoke with absolute certainty, and the crowd began to believe him.

Chen Haiyi nodded. For the sake of the court's fairness, he questioned the plaintiffs, "Who else among the plaintiffs is willing to step forward and elaborate on the defendant's various misdeeds from that night?"

After the presiding judge finished speaking, not a single person among the plaintiffs stepped forward. Gou Changzheng awkwardly wiped sweat from his brow. Glancing back, he pointed to a random person to break the deadlock. "This elderly gentleman runs a convenience store at Xinhu High School. He was the first eyewitness to see the defendant. I will now have him testify."

The old man was pushed forward before he even understood what testifying meant. Looking at me standing all alone in the defendant's dock, he let out a soft sigh. "That young lad didn't give me a bad impression. He didn't rob my store, and he spoke quite politely. He even helped me fix a broken shelf. He didn't seem like a truly detestable person."

After the old man finished, Gou Changzheng's face grew even more awkward. He waved his hand, signaling the people nearby to pull the old man back, then pointed at someone else. "Let's change witnesses. Him. He is also a taxi driver who was coerced by the suspect."

Gou Changzheng's finger landed on the Balding Uncle. The uncle seemed to have been itching to speak for a while. "I believe the Streamer—no, wait, the suspect—isn't as terrible as our lawyer claims. Back then, he did beg me to save his life, saying that people were trying to kill him and he had nowhere else to turn. Throughout it all, he never got violent with me, nor was he as domineering as a certain gentleman just claimed. Finally, I have one more thing to add."

The Balding Uncle dug ten thousand yuan out of his fanny pack and slapped it onto the witness stand. "Before I appeared in court, a mysterious person gave me this money. They wanted me to be a good little boy and do exactly what our lawyer said. But how could I do something so unconscionable? This money might buy the complicity of a corrupt official, but it can't buy the dignity of a cabbie! I'm done speaking. Thank you, everyone!"

"Holy shit, openly bribing a plaintiff's witness."

"Who is this mysterious person he's talking about?"

"Even though this guy sounds ridiculous, why can't I help but applaud?"

A smile crept onto my face as I listened to the Balding Uncle. "Uncle, you've helped me out once again."

Gou Changzheng had ended up lifting a stone to drop it on his own foot, and the impact had resulted in a comminuted fracture. "Even the plaintiffs' witnesses are willing to testify for the defendant? There's an enemy mole hiding in our ranks? Are you kidding me? Was this a trap set by the opposition from the very beginning?"

Gou Changzheng looked at Du Yu in confusion. What met his eyes was that unchanging, forever warm and genial smile. Despite the warm sunlight shining upon him, Gou Changzheng shuddered.

"The farce presented by the plaintiffs was quite entertaining. Now, let us return to the trial." Du Yu's speaking pace remained unchanged, his eyes gleaming. "It's about time to wrap this up. Next, I will show everyone my final piece of evidence!"