The Prosecutor Is Accustomed To Waiting For A Rabbit To Hit A Stump - Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The next day at work, Lin Fan parked her car and headed directly to the Civil Division III.

Wu Hai, the head of Civil Division III, walked in behind her. “I just happened to forget my access card in the office. Who are you looking for? Little Wang?”

The judges in Civil Division III were quite fixed—four older judges—but the judicial employees and assistant judges had high turnover. The only person of similar age to Lin Fan was a young woman who had passed the exam a few years ago, the “Little Wang” Wu Hai referred to.

Lin Fan shook her head. “Director Wu, I am indeed looking for a Wang, but I’m looking for the ‘Big Wang,’ Deputy Chief Judge Wang. She previously ruled on a case that I’m currently handling the enforcement for. I came to understand the situation.”

“Bad luck. Little Wang is here, but Big Wang is out, attending a seminar. What case is it? I might know,” Wu Hai said, opening his office door and inviting Lin Fan in.

Following the judicial system reforms started a few years ago, besides setting personnel hierarchies, the independent power of judgment was further granted to judges, and the “Three Rules” were issued, prohibiting arbitrary inquiry into cases. However, Wu Hai was the head of Civil Division III and had supervisory responsibility over certain cases.

Lin Fan could only try her luck. “Do you know Cheng Wennuan? Her grandmother, Fang Mei, was the plaintiff in the case—a traffic accident.”

“Coincidentally, I do know. I heard the old lady is still in the hospital and her recovery is slow?”

“Yes, I just received the enforcement funds last night and paid the medical fees, but I couldn’t find any adult relatives of the old lady. I also wanted to apply for judicial aid for her. From what I understand, the old lady is a low-income recipient, and the family situation isn’t good.”

“Well, since you looked into it, how is it that you don’t know the old lady’s husband passed away early, and she painstakingly raised her daughter, who is Cheng Wennuan’s mother?”

Lin Fan frowned. “I’ve been on this case for a while, and I’ve never seen the old lady’s daughter. Does that mean I should look for Cheng Wennuan’s father?”

Wu Hai sighed. “Xiao Lin, when you meet the old lady and the child later, absolutely do not mention that man. You haven’t done enough homework. You definitely won’t find the child’s mother; she’s currently locked up in Chaxi Prison, serving a life sentence.”

“Murder?” Life imprisonment was the first crime that popped into Lin Fan’s mind.

“Yes, she killed the child’s father. So, don’t mention that man.”

Lin Fan’s eyes widened. She suddenly remembered the wife-killing-husband case that had been widely publicized the year before last. “The year before last?”

Wu Hai nodded, clearly not wanting to discuss it further.

Lin Fan knew about the case. Back in her office, she looked up the judgment and saw that the prosecutor for that case was none other than Gu Ye.

It turned out that Gu Ye had sent Cheng Wennuan’s mother to prison.

And the judge at the time was the presiding judge of yesterday’s organized crime case—Fang Ming, the head of the Criminal Division.

The judgment detailed how Cheng Wennuan’s mother killed Cheng’s father. The murder process was straightforward: she bludgeoned him to death while he was asleep. He didn’t even struggle and never woke up.

After the murder, Cheng Wennuan’s mother did not dispose of the body or surrender herself. She fled directly to the old lady’s home, where her daughter, Cheng Wennuan, was.

Because Cheng Wennuan’s mother did not surrender, nor did she obtain the victim’s family’s forgiveness, and her claims of domestic violence were not supported by evidence—most crucially, the large hammer used to bludgeon the victim was purchased by her beforehand.

These factors, stacked together, resulted in a life sentence based on the principle of the unity of crime and punishment.

However, the reason the case caused such a huge stir at the time was the difference in opinions regarding whether the defendant was subjected to domestic violence.

In private, Lin Fan had heard colleagues talk about it.

“There’s no evidence, but generally speaking, a patriarchal man who favors sons over daughters is often rotten, and domestic violence wouldn’t be surprising.”

She also heard, “According to their neighbors, the defendant hadn’t been seen for a long time before the murder, so it might truly be as the defendant claimed—she was so abused she couldn’t get out of bed.”

At the time, Lin Fan also heard speculation that the numerous miscarriages Cheng Wennuan’s mother had during the marriage were caused by domestic violence.

The fact that Cheng Wennuan had always lived with her grandmother was also believed to be because the victim favored sons and was unwilling to live with his daughter.

But all of this—the widespread speculation—lacked evidence in the courtroom.

There were no injury photos, no witness testimonies, let alone police reports regarding domestic violence.

Aside from a very young child and an old mother who couldn’t remember things clearly, there was no evidence to prove the abuse, which is why she was sentenced to life imprisonment.

Lin Fan distinctly remembered the day of the sentencing. She was away on duty and didn’t participate in maintaining order during the trial.

However, colleagues who went said that as soon as the judge issued the verdict, even before striking the gavel, the victim’s siblings and other family members erupted.

They clamored, “This wicked woman should pay for murder with her life!”

This statement, even as relayed by colleagues, nearly made Lin Fan lose her temper right then and there.

Now, as Lin Fan reread the judgment from that year, she could still recall her anger.

And what were the thoughts of the prosecutor, Gu Ye, at the time?

The plea-bargaining system for leniency had not yet been fully implemented the year before last, and the Procuratorate did not provide plea agreements. Lin Fan could not gather from the case files what Gu Ye’s thinking was or the specific sentence she believed should be applied.

This made her very curious. Cheng Wennuan, the little girl, was clearly close to and dependent on Gu Ye. Did she know that Gu Ye was the prosecutor in her mother’s case?

No one could answer this question for Lin Fan.

Just like the truth of the alleged domestic violence, it was all buried in the dust of time.

Lin Fan cleared her mind and involuntarily thought of Gu Ye.

The prosecutor’s appearance was so cold and stunning, like a thorny rose that didn’t flinch even against the wind, one sidelong glance from which made people tense up but also unable to look away.

Perhaps such a person was born to be so striking and so exceptional.

Before Lin Fan could fully savor the prosecutor’s image in her mind, she heard a commotion from the adjacent office.

An angry, not-so-young female voice shouted, startling the birds resting outside the window.

“What kind of judge are you! You can’t even get this little bit of money back! And you wear that uniform to bluff me! I told you that son of a bitch is already home! And you still can’t catch him! Are you of any use at all! You just eat our taxpayers’ money and don’t serve the public! I want to see your leader! If I don’t get my money back today, I’ll make sure you get disciplined!”

Lin Fan sighed. It started early.

Here we go.

Based on the direction of the voice, it must be her old partner Chen Qian’s office.

Lin Fan worried that his sharp tongue had gotten him into trouble again and quickly got up to check.

Chen Qian, a top student from Jingping University who entered the court with Lin Fan, was now facing the fury of the execution applicant (an older woman) and was nonchalantly digging his ear. He casually signaled to his assistant, Xiao Ning, to pour a cup of water for the woman.

“Alright, take a break. I truly wonder how your lungs are built to hold that much anger. You just want to catch that son of a bitch, don’t you? Fill out this form for a joint control application, and let the police uncles help you catch him. You’ll just need to pay a cooperation fee when he’s caught.”

He blew on his clean fingers and lazily glanced at the applicant. “You don’t trust our uniform, but surely you trust the police uniform. It’s early in the morning, stop being so noisy. You’re scaring all these young men and women—they’re the flowers of our country, you know. You don’t need to report me. I’m naturally unpopular and have already been demoted to handle your case. How much worse do you think I can get? Alright, alright. I’m giving you a way out, so hurry up and take it. Don’t wait until both of us wash our hands of this and truly ignore you.”

No matter how quickly Lin Fan got up, she couldn’t beat Chen Qian’s mouth.

Standing at the entrance of Chen Qian’s office, Lin Fan was amused by his solo comedy routine.

Sure enough, before the woman could recover, Chen Qian’s chatter had already launched into the next round.

“Besides, Madam, I am not employed by you. I eat the nation’s rice and uphold the authority of the law. I am not getting money for you; I am upholding your right to win the lawsuit. So, please, brush your teeth before you leave the house in the morning. The smell is so bad that the big sister walking in is about to faint.”

That last remark bordered on a personal attack. Lin Fan quickly put on a smile and pushed the door open, her voice soft and sweet like a freshly made marshmallow. “Good morning! Officer Fang. Oh dear, a party is here. You chat; I won’t interrupt. By the way, Xiao Ning, I just saw the supermarket next door has a buy-one-get-one-free offer on eggs. Do you want to join the rush?”

Xiao Ning paused, pointing to himself. “?”

But the eyes of the execution applicant woman lit up. “Buy one get one free?”

“I think so. I don’t know if they’ve been all snatched up yet, but there were a lot of people.”

Lin Fan smiled as she spoke, revealing her sweet dimples freely. Her big eyes blinked, looking especially sincere and earnest. She then looked at the woman with concern. “Auntie, hurry and go after you sign this. I think there should still be some left.”

No sooner had she finished speaking than the execution applicant snatched the pen from Xiao Ning’s hand, signed the document quickly, threw out a “I’ll be back later,” and rushed out.

The pen nearly hit Xiao Ning. The new young man muttered unhappily, “Hmph, they’ll definitely be sold out by the time she gets there!”

Lin Fan and Chen Qian exchanged glances and smiled.

“What are you two laughing at?” Xiao Ning touched his face. “Is there something on my face?”

“Yes,” Chen Qian stopped laughing, cleared his throat, and replied, “There is something on your face, very obvious. It’s called stupid.”

Good heavens, the indiscriminate, poisonous verbal attacks have started again.

Chen Qian’s verbal range extended to everyone he could see. After his assistant, Xiao Ning, it was Lin Fan’s turn.

“I just finished talking about a ‘Big Sister’ with that woman, and Big Sister arrives. I think Cao Cao would feel inferior when meeting you, Big Sister. Where is my breakfast?”

Lin Fan went back to her office to retrieve the breakfast, placing the buns she had packed from the cafeteria in front of Chen Qian. She also retorted without hesitation, “You truly are the champion of shamelessly eating soft rice. No judgment debtor I’ve ever met is as thick-skinned as you.”

“That just means you haven’t seen enough. How many cases have you closed this month? Don’t speak to your brother unless it’s 35.”

Lin Fan was surprised. “It’s only the 18th. Have you already closed 35?”

Chen Qian snorted. “You may withdraw.”

Goodness, he’s being proud now.

Lin Fan shrugged nonchalantly, organized the relevant materials, and went to report her work to her director, Bureau Chief Zhang. After the report, she still had to go to the bank to unfreeze the account and had an appointment with Cheng Wennuan.

She had too much to do. A busy day had begun. The little rabbit changed into her uniform and got to work.

Support The Prosecutor Is Accustomed To Waiting For A Rabbit To Hit A Stump