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The next morning, as Xiao Pi drove them to the Haishi Public Security Bureau, he said to Luo Mingjing, “Yesterday, I contacted Secretary Cao and got some information. He said you’ve been asking your family for money.”
Luo Mingjing’s expression changed. “When?”
“These past four years, continuously.” Xiao Pi sighed slightly. “You were too embarrassed to ask your dad directly, so Li Xiang’s mother helped you ask for it.”
Luo Mingjing pondered, “How much?”
Xiao Pi replied, “Secretary Cao said the money given just to you alone amounted to around 1.8 million.”
The word “just” was very telling.
Shi Min commented, “Astounding.”
Luo Mingjing thought for a moment, then called his father. The other end answered quickly: “Hello, who is this?”
“Me.” Luo Mingjing said, “Give me some money.”
There was a long silence on the other end before he was asked, “How much do you want?”
“Three to five hundred thousand.”
“Didn’t I just give it to you?”
“When? Who did you give it to? I didn’t get it.”
“I just gave it last week. I gave it to your Auntie Huifang and your aunt. As for your aunt, that’s for Qianqian and Shuaishuai, so it wouldn’t reach you. Your Auntie Huifang didn’t give it to you?”
“Why would you give money to outsiders? Do you think I’d ask you for money through a woman like that?!”
“You little bastard!” Luo Mingjing’s tone changed, and Luo Heqiang also became angry. “Spouting nonsense, what kind of woman is she? When you were being a bastard in jail, she was taking care of the family! Do you feel uncomfortable if you don’t anger me for a day?!”
“I never asked her to ask you for money, believe it or not.” Luo Mingjing suppressed his anger and asked, “How much did you give?”
“Who knows that! You just open your mouth and ask for two or three hundred thousand. Do you think your dad’s money grows on trees?!” Luo Heqiang’s voice trembled with rage. “You little brat, where did you go to mess up again? Are you not coming back? If it weren’t for your Auntie Huifang worrying about you, I think no one would even collect your body if you died out there! Just go mess around, if you don’t support your parents and aren’t filial, then when you’re old, no one will support you. Let’s see how long you can keep fooling around!”
Luo Mingjing automatically filtered out these words and asked him, “How many times did she ask you for money?”
Luo Heqiang wasn’t foolish. Although he still didn’t trust his son, he became suspicious: “You really didn’t get the money? Tell me the truth.”
“What did she tell you I was doing? Why did I need money?”
“Weren’t you doing business?” Luo Heqiang said, “Last year you were trading some German imported art supplies in Hohhot, called Xiruis. Didn’t you join that franchise?”
Luo Mingjing couldn’t help but curse, “You idiot,” then hung up the phone.
There was indeed a German art supply brand called Xiruis. Li Huifang might not have known about it, so Li Xiang likely participated in the extortion and fabricated a plausible lie.
“Are they all treating me as if I’m dead?!” Luo Mingjing was furious.
He recorded this entire phone call, then called Secretary Cao, asking him to provide the bank transfer records.
Secretary Cao was surprised by his call: “You’re back in Haishi? I’ll go to the bank later and send it to you. Why do you need these? Are you taking out a loan to buy a house? Do you need money? I can arrange a time for you and your father to have a good talk.”
Luo Mingjing said impatiently, “No need.”
Shi Min parked the car at a breakfast stall near the Haishi Procuratorate and turned around. “Come down and eat.”
Soy milk and fried dough sticks. Shi Min brought a bowl of soy milk and asked him, “Sugar?”
“Yes.”
When feeling down, a little sugar can be very healing.
Men with long hair were uncommon in Haishi, and customers eating at the breakfast stall kept staring at Luo Mingjing, but none recognized him.
Xiao Pi ate and sighed, “When I first came to Haishi, everyone seemed to know about your family’s affairs, as if they had seen it with their own eyes. They said you were a social degenerate, and your dad was a murderer who did all sorts of evil. Later, after hearing it so many times, I asked them, ‘Do you know the name of the bearing boss’s son?’ Few knew. They only knew that the big boss’s family had bad feng shui, his son was a tyrant who died in another place. Sigh...”
“Normal, mostly hearsay,” Luo Mingjing said. “When I was little, I’d go home on time after school to eat dinner and go to bed by nine. There was no student more well-behaved than me. You should go ask at my alma mater; the teachers who taught me had pretty good things to say. Shi Min, where are you going?”
“Next door,” Shi Min said. “Buying something. You eat.”
A moment later, a light pink, narrow-brimmed wool hat was placed on Luo Mingjing’s head. Shi Min said, “Saw it when parking, it’s quite nice.”
Xiao Pi chuckled at the color. Luo Mingjing didn’t even look, saying, “Mm, as long as you’re happy.”
After eating, they walked to the Procuratorate. Several uniquely styled young people stood at the entrance.
“Uniquely styled” referred to one girl among them who was wearing a Western-style dress, a square leather bag on her arm, exquisite small leather boots on her feet, and a crookedly worn ribbon hat.
The girl saw Luo Mingjing, raised her arm and waved. The young people at the entrance, as if by agreement, made a unified gesture and shouted in unison, “Teacher Luo, fighting!”
“Eh?” Luo Mingjing stopped in surprise, slowly moved over, and recognized a few people.
“Ah... my students.” These were all art studio students whom Luo Mingjing had taught, attending today’s investigative hearing as witnesses.
“They’ve all grown up,” Luo Mingjing looked at each one, sighing with emotion.
“Teacher looks younger and younger,” the girl in the Western dress said, “Much more handsome than before!”
“Are you all in Haishi?”
These students shook their heads. They had rushed from various places; except for the girl in the Western dress, the others were all fourth-year university students.
Luo Mingjing exclaimed, “Aren’t you supposed to be in class? You all came.”
“Teacher Luo is more important, you see,” a male student said, “We’re here to clear your name!”
“You came from so far... How many days will you stay in Haishi?”
“If we finish today, we’ll go back today.”
Luo Mingjing felt bad: “I’ll reimburse your plane tickets. I can’t let you pay...”
“No need, Teacher Luo,” the girl in the Western dress winked. “Just earn money diligently, and when you get rich, treat us to hotpot.”
“...” Luo Mingjing looked up in surprise at her.
The girl in the Western dress chuckled, not revealing her fan ID. Luo Mingjing thought for a moment and said, “Then... have you all eaten? There’s a breakfast place nearby, I didn’t see any of you there. I’ll buy some for you.”
“No, no, don’t bother,” one student said. “Just now, it looked like some reporters arrived. Be careful they don’t report you as bribing us to testify. Teacher Luo, reward us when you’re rich.”
“Right,” another joked, “Talk about it when you’re rich. Our demands aren’t high; just help us pack and mail some stuff whenever you go shopping. Postage paid, no cash on delivery!”
“Hahahaha... Forget the pink hat, but pink cash is welcome,” another said, then added, “Just kidding, Teacher Luo, good luck! We’ll testify for you.”
The investigation team interviewed witnesses individually. The focus of the morning’s questioning was whether there was torture during the three months of detention and how many people were involved.
These required Luo Mingjing to first provide his own account, recalling relevant details.
Before Luo Mingjing went in, Shi Min hugged him and said, “Don’t be nervous, think slowly, don’t avoid anything.”
Luo Mingjing said, “I’m much better, I won’t skip details anymore. I know these are important, don’t worry about me.”
Shi Min stood at the entrance, wearing the pink wool hat she bought for Luo Mingjing, leaning against the door with her arms crossed. Her expression was serious, contemplating something unknown. The accompanying lawyer comforted her: “The illegal detention by the police station without a court trial has been confirmed, and the involved police officers have admitted it. It’s a done deal. The three prison doctors just finished giving their testimonies, admitting there was torture against Luo Mingjing during his detention. The photos and injury examination reports we provided have also been collected. If things go smoothly, the police officers on duty back then could all face criminal charges. It’s also our luck; the Supreme People’s Court just issued a new ruling at the beginning of the year that public officials involved in torture will face severe penalties, in addition to extortion and false accusations, three years, at least three years.”
Shi Min let out a long breath and asked, “Do you know any places where one can relax? Both domestic and international.”
“Ah, you certainly should pick a good place to relax,” the lawyer said with a smile. “As for recommended places, I’m not very knowledgeable about that... it depends on what Chairman Shi personally likes.”
The time was almost up. Local Haishi media and some internet media reporters had set up their cameras at the entrance of the Procuratorate, powered on and waiting for interviews.
Shi Min slowly moved out of the camera’s view, pulled her scarf higher, and waited for Luo Mingjing in a corner.
A white BMW slowly drove up and parked not far away. Li Xiang and Liu Rong got out of the car. Liu Rong saw the reporters at the entrance, pulled up her hoodie, lowered her head, and quickly walked towards the Procuratorate, trying to slip in along the side.
As direct parties to the incident back then, they also needed to be investigated and provide evidence.
Luo Mingjing came out just then and ran into Li Xiang and his wife.
Reporters surrounded them.
The two former friends looked at each other in silence. Liu Rong kept her head down, not daring to look at Luo Mingjing, and quietly urged Li Xiang to go in quickly.
Luo Mingjing said, “Li Xiang, tell your mom not to ask my dad for money in my name anymore. Doing such a thing is shameful. Are you really that short on money?”
The surrounding reporters were all shocked and turned their cameras towards Li Xiang.
Li Xiang frowned and slapped away the cameras: “No recording! Did you get our permission?”
He turned back and shouted, “Don’t spread malicious rumors in front of the media! If you want to mess with me, come at me alone! Why drag my mom and my daughter into this?!”
Luo Mingjing said calmly, “Li Xiang, did I mention your daughter?”
“Wasn’t that you hitting someone on Haigang Bridge yesterday? You brushed against my car. If my wife hadn’t reacted quickly, would you have tried to crash into me and kill me? My daughter was still in the car, a month-old infant! It doesn’t matter who you want to get revenge on. Countless families lost their livelihoods because of you and couldn’t make ends meet. Okay, all that is understandable. You’re angry, you want to defend your rights, you can’t stand me, okay, that’s fine, but you’re destroying my family! My life! What does it have to do with my daughter? What does it have to do with my mom?”
Luo Mingjing took out his phone and said, “Do you want to hear the recording, Li Xiang? Do you want to see the bank transfer records? In these four years, you and your mom asked my dad for 2.76 million in my name. I ask you, where did that money go? My dad still thinks I failed at business in Hohhot. Li Xiang, you’d better have some conscience. If you truly care about your daughter, you should accumulate some good karma for her. A child wouldn’t want a father who is an extortionist with questionable character. I’m not forcing you, but it’s best to return the money to my dad, every last cent. I reserve the right to sue, otherwise, we’ll see each other in court.”
A reporter whispered, “That amount could lead to criminal charges.”
Li Xiang’s face turned pale with fright.
“Drive carefully. If you have a daughter, obey traffic rules. That’s what being responsible for your daughter means,” Luo Mingjing said. “Don’t use her as a shield.”
Li Xiang’s eyes reddened, and he said, “Mingjing, what more do you want? I don’t understand what you want... Do you want to see my whole family ruined before you’re happy? What’s the point, what’s the meaning! These past few days, I haven’t slept a wink. I came here early this morning. You’re not even letting my dad go; you’re accusing him of extortion? How much money did he end up taking? I’m telling you, Luo Mingjing, thirty thousand! Are you even decent?!”
Not just Luo Mingjing, the surrounding reporters shook their heads. Onlookers whispered, “What kind of rotten logic is this...”
Luo Mingjing said, “My demand has never been to ruin anyone’s livelihood or family. I just want fairness. I just want justice for myself. If that justice means your family is ruined, you lose your livelihoods, and you can’t live...”
He took a deep breath and said, “That is the price you should pay, and it has nothing to do with me. Li Xiang, that’s it. You and I, we’re done forever.”
After Luo Mingjing finished speaking, he no longer looked at Li Xiang. After stepping out of the crowd, he found Shi Min in the corner and took her hand to leave.
Shi Min put the hat from her head back onto Luo Mingjing’s head and said, “What do you want for lunch?”
Luo Mingjing smiled, “There’s a nice private kitchen in the West District, especially delicious, but it’s quite spicy. Do you like spicy food?”
“Let’s go, you lead the way.” Shi Min held his arm tightly and quietly asked, “Are we going back? How about I ask Xiao Pi to book tickets for tomorrow?”
“We’ll go home to organize things this afternoon,” Luo Mingjing said. “I’ve listed the house online.”
Shi Min looked at him. Luo Mingjing reached up to adjust the pink wool hat on his head, his eyes curved, and he smiled, “Shi Min, I’m going to be rich.”
At least, he would have enough money to buy the art studio and make a home for himself.
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