The Prosecutor Is Accustomed To Waiting For A Rabbit To Hit A Stump - Chapter 8

Chapter 8

The reason Grandmother Lin’s case was so difficult to handle also lay here.

The unfilial son was a farmer who only had a contracted piece of land in the suburbs. The place he lived was registered under his son’s name. They had searched for other savings and found nothing. They had arrested him once before and specifically targeted him during a major enforcement action to search his house, but still found no cash.

He was like an eel—slick and impossible to grab hold of.

But these things, Lin Fan was unwilling to explain to others.

The reality was that people could see that this unfilial son lived well and didn’t look poor, yet he refused to support his elderly mother. And the mighty court couldn’t seem to do anything about him.

What people saw was very direct: this matter couldn’t be explained away. It was Lin Fan’s duty, and no matter how much effort or work she put into it, if it wasn’t done well, it wasn’t done well. If the judgment wasn’t executed, it was deemed ineffective enforcement.

Lin Fan hung up the phone and exhaled deeply.

At the bank’s exclusive court window, she smiled at the lady behind the counter, her small canine tooth making her look soft and adorable. “I apologize for the trouble, Miss.”

Because it was an exclusive window, the bank employee processed the documents quickly and immediately handed them back, but with a look of hesitation that Lin Fan caught.

Lin Fan took the documents back and glanced at her. “Is there a problem?”

The bank employee smiled apologetically. “Hello, I see you’re also from the Anding Court Enforcement Bureau. Do you know Judge Chen Qian?”

Chen Qian?!

Lin Fan suddenly caught on, stifled a laugh, raised an eyebrow, and then lowered her voice. The “little white rabbit” also carried a hint of temptation. “Know him? Very well.”

The bank employee instantly blushed, her voice dropping a few decibels, stammering, “Then, then can you give me his WeChat?”

Seeing the visibly expectant young lady, Lin Fan naturally passed along Chen Qian’s WeChat, though she couldn’t help but sigh inwardly. The world is about to gain another tearful, broken-hearted woman.

Chen Qian’s looks were truly too seductive.

Leaving the bank, she had just gotten into the police car when she received a call from the beautiful street office worker.

She had already arrived at Grandmother Lin’s house, which was in a dark, narrow alley. The door was slightly ajar. She called out and heard a weak, elderly reply from inside. The office worker finally breathed a sigh of relief.

There were many elderly people in her jurisdiction, but few who lived alone, had no visiting relatives, and suffered from chronic illnesses like Grandmother Lin. Every time she came to find Grandmother Lin, she was afraid of not hearing that reply.

Thankfully, Grandmother Lin made it through another day.

She said to Lin Fan on the phone, “She’s here, she’s here. Hurry and come. If it’s convenient when you come, buy some rice. I’ll pay for it. I saw Grandmother Lin was eating foraged, rotten fruit this morning.”

This was humiliating. Lin Fan felt like the thick skin she had cultivated in front of judgment debtors was completely stripped away.

The person had won the lawsuit, yet couldn’t get a single penny and had to forage for food.

Lin Fan gritted her teeth, feeling both ashamed and furious.

Regardless of what it took, she had to secure this money for Grandmother Lin!

Arriving at Grandmother Lin’s house, Lin Fan discreetly handed over the judicial assistance funds. “Apo, quickly put this away.” This included a little money she had added herself.

In all her years of work, her savings were meager. Apart from buying that cute-looking car, most of her money went to good deeds.

The beautiful office worker stood guard outside. After Grandmother Lin tremblingly hid the judicial assistance money, she took out a few hundred Yuan from it, saying, “I’ll go buy groceries… You two stay here… and eat,” while starting to walk out with a wooden stick.

Lin Fan quickly reached out, putting her arm around Grandmother Lin’s shoulder. A common elderly scent wafted into her nostrils, but Lin Fan ignored it. “Don’t bother, dear elder! I’ll eat at the unit cafeteria. I bought you some good things; you wait here.”

Lin Fan circled around the alley to the police car. Lao Chen was still smoking. Lin Fan didn’t call him, instead lifting the rice, flour, oil, and fruit she had bought on the way, plus a functional cane that could be used for support or sitting, and walked toward Grandmother Lin’s house.

The beautiful office worker saw Lin Fan from afar with a sack of rice over her left shoulder, a large bag of fruit, a bottle of cooking oil, and a cane in her right hand, walking without stumbling.

But Lin Fan’s fair, tender “little white rabbit” face was alarming to see.

She hurried over, automatically reaching out to take the rice.

“You can’t carry it,” Lin Fan said, handing her the cane instead.

The beautiful office worker laughed. “You truly are a super-strong girl. Is this how you usually train?”

The bailiff team had plenty of training, but the enforcement officers had too many cases to handle. An average enforcement officer might handle three cases a day, 365 days a year, so they rarely participated in court training, only the annual provincial training session.

Speaking of which, that provincial training was coming up soon.

Inside, Lin Fan poured the rice into the rice jar, arranged the fruit on the table, and demonstrated how to use the new cane to Grandmother Lin.

Grandmother Lin’s eyes, ruined by hard work when she was young, were now covered with a thick film, making her entire eyeballs murky.

She couldn’t see very clearly, but she still squinted hard at the two young women in front of her, barely making out the star-like smiles on their young faces and the kindness emanating from every pore.

The next second, she burst into tears.

Lin Fan was fiddling with the multi-functional cane, and the beautiful office worker was watching curiously. The two finally figured out the cane. When they looked up, they found Grandmother Lin wiping her tears with her sleeve.

“Oh no! Apo, don’t cry.” Lin Fan immediately pulled out a tissue from her pocket and leaned in to wipe Grandmother Lin’s tears. She couldn’t bear to see the tears of the vulnerable; it made her feel utterly helpless.

“Apo! Today is so happy! You can’t cry. Crying Apo is not pretty anymore!” After wiping Grandmother Lin’s tears, Lin Fan cheerfully put the newly bought cane into her hands. “Try it quickly! See if it’s easy to use. With this cane, you can go for walks later.”

Feigned lightness, like feigned love, has situational limits.

After saying goodbye to Grandmother Lin, the smile on Lin Fan’s face vanished the moment she turned around. She hung her head and remained silent.

The two women walked through the long, narrow alley. At the fly-ridden alley entrance, the beautiful office worker tried to give Lin Fan money for the groceries.

Lin Fan refused to take it.

The beautiful office worker sighed and suddenly patted Lin Fan’s shoulder. “I’m a straightforward person, so please don’t take offense, but your money for Grandmother Lin’s living expenses is useless. It’s an act of charity, not a fundamental right. Please put more effort into this case. After all, you and I both know that Grandmother Lin doesn’t think her life is hard; she’s only heartbroken that her son won’t support her.”

The beautiful office worker’s words were both fair and sharp.

Lin Fan watched her leave, then sighed. A trace of sadness abruptly appeared on her fair, cute face.

When she saw Grandmother Lin’s tears just now, she was actually very panicked. She didn’t even have time to distinguish the emotions contained in those tears, just as she didn’t know how to truly fulfill Grandmother Lin’s wish.

She could arrest the judgment debtor, send him to the detention center, and find ways to make him cough up the alimony ruled by the judge. But she couldn’t make the judgment debtor sincerely and wholeheartedly support the old mother, allowing her to enjoy her later years, not be lonely, not be isolated, live in the sunlight, and be filialized.

She couldn’t do any of the things Grandmother Lin truly needed.

Sometimes, she really wished she had a superpower: just a flick of her finger, and judgment debtors who broke their promises would immediately abide by them; those who were unfilial to their parents or failed to raise their children would immediately feel guilty; the stubborn and prejudiced would know how to let go; the violent and noisy would learn shame and humility…

But enough cases, and enough different types of people, have made her increasingly silent. Since she started working in enforcement at the Anding District Court, she has come to understand the weakness of language and realized that there are distant cries of sorrow in the world, which, combined with the cries right in front of her, make her uneasy.

This world can be better, she thought many times.

But many more times, she was defeated by human baseness.

This world seems to be quite broken already.

Another long sigh. Lin Fan was jolted back to reality by the strong smell of smoke. While she was talking to the beautiful office worker, the driver Lao Chen was leaning against a utility pole next to the police car, frowning and chain-smoking.

Reminded by the smoke, she finally noticed Lao Chen’s abnormal state.

She waved her hand to dispel the smoke drifting towards her—the smell she hated most in the world.

Lin Fan actually couldn’t stand the smell of smoke. When she first joined the Enforcement Bureau and worked under Section Chief Zhang, everything was fine except for his smoking. But Section Chief Zhang was addicted; when a case was annoying, when he was tired, or when he was sleepy, he needed a cigarette, or he was like an off-road vehicle without a wheel it wouldn’t move.

Lin Fan thought about just enduring it, but Chen Qian directly suggested to Section Chief Zhang that he wanted to form a CP (partnership) with Lin Fan. She didn’t know what he whispered to Zhang, but Zhang immediately moved Lin Fan’s office. It wasn’t until later, when Lin Fan began handling cases independently, that they separated into different offices, each with an assistant.

During that time, Lin Fan still couldn’t understand. She and Chen Qian were both rookies; was Section Chief Zhang out of his mind? Pairing two rookies together, wasn’t he afraid of mistakes in the cases that would get caught by the higher court?

But Chen Qian just wouldn’t tell her what he whispered to Zhang. After a while, Lin Fan, breathing the fresh air in her office, decided to let it go. Whatever he whispered, she was comfortable, and that was all that mattered.

But Lao Chen’s brows were too tightly furrowed. Lin Fan endured the smoke and stepped forward to ask, “What’s wrong, Lao Chen? Did you encounter some difficulty?”

Lao Chen snapped out of his thoughts. “Nothing. Shall we head back to the Enforcement Bureau?”

Lin Fan nodded, but then suddenly thought of something. “Is this about the quota? I heard Chen Qian say that your temporary staff positions are also undergoing reform, and they will be recruiting according to a ratio.”

“Sigh…” Lao Chen sighed, shaking his head helplessly. “That’s exactly it, Lin Fan. Look at how old I am. How could I compete with the young people? I only have one salary to support my family.”

“What about your children?” Lin Fan asked, still not completely understanding.

Lao Chen’s expression darkened. He trembled his upper lip but didn’t reveal anything. After a moment, he finished his cigarette, wearing a look that clearly showed he didn’t want to discuss it further. “Let’s go.”

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