Chapter 42: How Much Is Your Son Worth?

In the morning, before the Zha'nan District Police Department officially started work, a taxi stopped in front of the Criminal Cases office building.

Wu's father pushed open the car door and got out with his wife, cursing: "Damn it, I said he'd get into trouble sooner or later. How about now? It's just like I said, this idiot could be sold without even knowing it."

"What exactly happened? How did our son get involved in a homicide?" Wu's mother followed behind, saying with some worry.

"Who the fuck knows," Wu's father said, his eyes red with anger, as he walked into the office building with his hands behind his back.

In the lobby, two duty officers had just changed clothes and were preparing to go home.

"I'm looking for that police officer surnamed Yang. Which floor is he on?" Wu's father asked the two in an extremely loud voice.

As soon as he finished speaking, Old Yang, who was chatting with someone on the first floor, immediately walked over with a smile: "You must be Wu Shixiong's father?"

"Yes," Wu's father saw the other man extend his hand and shook it. "What happened to my child?!"

"He... he's fine," Old Yang paused, pulling the man aside. "It's like this, we need to take him back to the Police Bureau in a while. Come, come, brother, let's talk outside."

The suggestion to talk outside surprised Wu's father. He looked at the other man and asked: "Where are we going to talk?"

"Just come outside first," Old Yang smiled and beckoned to him.

Although Wu's parents were puzzled, they still followed him out of the building.

"It's like this, there's another person involved in this case," Old Yang offered Wu's father a cigarette and said softly. "The parents of the person involved want to talk to you."

"What do I have to talk about with them? Did my son commit a crime?" Wu's father asked cautiously.

"You're all involved in the same case. It's beneficial to talk first," Old Yang replied vaguely, waving his hand towards a car not far away. "Brother, talk to them first. After you're done, come find me."

"But..." Wu's father was confused and wanted to ask more.

Old Yang patted his shoulder with a smile: "I'm right here, what could happen? Listen to me, talk to them first, then we'll discuss the case. Don't worry, your son doesn't have any major problems."

As they were talking, Tang's father's car had already driven over and stopped by the roadside with the door open.

Wu's father hesitated for a moment but could only follow the case handler's words. He got into Tang's father's car with his wife.

At this time, only Tang's father and his driver were in the car; everyone else had already left.

"Drive a bit further away, I want to chat with this old brother," Tang's father, sitting in the middle row of seats, instructed.

"Alright," the driver responded and drove the car away.

......

Five minutes later, the car stopped in a large supermarket parking lot. The driver knowingly got out to smoke.

"What do you want to talk about?" Wu's father asked the other man directly.

Tang's father turned to look at him: "Your family has three children, living on Tufang Street?"

Wu's father was taken aback: "What about it?"

"My son is in the Maritime Police, just over thirty this year. If nothing goes wrong, he could become a squadron leader before thirty-five, and reach the level of deputy director before forty, which shouldn't be a problem," Tang's father said with a grave expression as he took out his cigarette case and offered one to Wu's father.

"What do you mean by this?" Wu's father didn't take it.

"The woman who died was only hit once, and she had been injecting drugs before her death, not in her right mind," Tang's father held the cigarette, his eyes fixed on Wu Shixiong's parents. "This case can be steered towards self-defense or accidental death. As you've seen, I have some friends in the Police Bureau, so no matter who takes the consequences, they won't be sentenced too heavily - somewhere between three and ten years. If the suspect has intellectual disabilities and mental illness, the sentence would be even shorter."

Hearing this, Wu's father had roughly understood the other man's intention: "What the fuck are you trying to do, sell my son?"

"Can we negotiate?" Tang's father asked.

"Negotiate my ass!" Wu's father reached for the car door.

"Fifty thousand for one year in prison!" Tang's father shouted.

Wu's father's hand was just on the door handle. Hearing the other man's words, he coldly replied: "I'll give you fifty thousand, can you sell your son?"

"I don't need fifty thousand, but you do!" Tang's father lit his cigarette.

Wu's father didn't respond and directly pulled open the car door.

"Slap!"

Tang's father grabbed his arm.

"Let go of me, damn it!" Wu's father was getting agitated.

Tang's father held him with his right hand, his eyes fixed on his face, cigarette in his mouth, and turned to lift a white cloth covering something in the aisle of the back seats with his left hand.

"Whoosh!"

As the white cloth was pulled away, a black plastic bag full of money appeared clearly in front of Wu Shixiong's father.

It was raining outside, and the light inside the car was very dim, but the money in the bag seemed to be emitting some kind of glow.

"One hundred thousand for one year in prison! You get the benefit, I protect my son's future. How about it?" Tang's father asked.

Wu Shixiong's father, holding the car door handle, twitched his mouth slightly.

"Old brother, your son has intellectual disabilities. Even if he helped people receive goods at sea 24 hours a day for half his life, he might not be able to earn a hundred thousand," Tang's father said in a hoarse voice. "Exchanging it for some money, wouldn't that be more practical?"

About ten minutes later, the car returned to the front of the case handling building. Wu's parents got out of the car with extremely complex expressions.

Old Yang smiled and asked: "Finished talking?"

Wu's father looked at him, motionless.

In the lobby of the office building, Su Tianyu bent down and asked a police officer: "Can we see Wu Shixiong now?"

"You can't."

"...He doesn't have much to do with the case, right?" Su Tianyu asked, somewhat puzzled.

"You still can't see him. Go out and wait," the other replied impatiently.

Su Tianyu glanced at him but didn't ask further. He turned to Bai Hongbo and said: "Let's go, we'll wait outside first."

"This is really fucking strange. What's the big deal about seeing a witness?" Bai Hongbo also cursed in annoyance. "Damn, this is how the grassroots level operates, wielding their little bit of authority like an imperial edict."

Everyone was indeed very puzzled, but it wasn't worth pulling strings just to meet someone, so Su Tianyu and the others returned to wait in the car outside.

......

On the third floor, in the interrogation room.

Daxiong was yawning, boredly picking his nose.

"Bang!"

The door opened, and Old Yang walked in with Wu's parents.

"You talk," Old Yang said, turning to leave.

In the monitoring room, a police officer casually turned off all the cameras in the interrogation rooms and wrote in the log book: Morning shift, surveillance maintenance.

In the interrogation room, Daxiong stared at his parents in disbelief: "Why... why did you come?"

Wu's father looked at him, his eyes somewhat blank, unable to respond for a moment.

Wu's mother's eyes were red, and she directly turned her head away.

"...Son!" Wu's father bent down to sit in the chair, rubbing his face hard, and said in a trembling voice: "...Can... can you take the blame for this case for someone else?"

Since he could remember, this was the first time Wu Shixiong had heard his father call him "son." Before, it had always been "idiot" or "youngest" and such names.