By the time Lin Shuyue parked her car and walked over, the man had already left.

Hang Jiabai followed Lin Shuyue’s gaze and said casually, “Ran into a friend and chatted with him for a bit. Shall we go inside?”

Lin Shuyue nodded, and the two of them entered the cafe together. They found a corner seat. Hang Jiabai ordered a coffee, and Lin Shuyue ordered a cappuccino and a small cake.

After chatting for a couple of minutes, once their orders arrived, Lin Shuyue sipped her tea and asked Hang Jiabai about his findings after reading the case file.

According to unit regulations, Hang Jiabai couldn’t take the Public Security Bureau’s case files out of the unit. He could only tell Lin Shuyue what he had discovered. “When I was looking at the case file, I saw that in the earliest version of the record, Liang Haihui had engaged in sexual activity before her death. Also, a fingerprint and a footprint were extracted from Zheng’s house. Comparisons were made back then, and neither belonged to anyone in the Zheng family.”

“But strangely, these two important pieces of information were never mentioned in the subsequent interrogations.”

Hang Jiabai’s expression was very serious. Even if forensic technology wasn’t very advanced in 1994, these two points were something that not only the police but even an ordinary person would know could determine the nature of the entire case.

But they were never mentioned. No one would believe there wasn’t something fishy going on. Before meeting up with Lin Shuyue, he had already reviewed the personnel changes in the Public Security Bureau over the past ten years.

The director of the Taijiang Police Station, who was dispatched to the scene back then, had been promoted to the main bureau five years ago and was now the deputy director of the Pengcheng County Public Security Bureau.

Upon hearing this, Lin Shuyue already understood why Zhengjun’s sentence could have been changed from death to life imprisonment. But she still couldn’t figure out why neither the police nor the court back then had held anyone accountable for this.

Furthermore, in prison, Zhengjun had never mentioned that his wife’s clothes were disheveled. Lin Shuyue didn’t know if Zhengjun couldn’t bring himself to say it or if he genuinely didn’t know. She decided to go to the prison again.

Lin Shuyue said, “I went to see Zhengjun and then went to his home. His brother showed me two documents.”

Lin Shuyue took out her camera from her bag, opened the two documents, and handed them to Hang Jiabai to look at.

After Hang Jiabai finished reading them, his brows furrowed so tightly they could almost trap a fly.

“Our police station’s case file doesn’t include this witness’s testimony, nor does it have this medical record.”

The two sat opposite each other, and they both knew that this matter had become big.

Once this was exposed, it would be a major blow to the reputation of the police and the court. Especially the police officers who handled this case back then, without exception, they would all be held accountable.

Hang Jiabai was 26 years old this year. He had skipped two grades in elementary school, graduated from university, and worked his way up from a small criminal police officer to his current position. It looked like just one promotion, but this one step was something many criminal police officers couldn’t achieve in their entire careers.

He had seen wrongful convictions caused by police negligence before, but this was the first time he had encountered a case where both the police and the court seemed to have turned a blind eye.

Moreover, neither the culprit nor the victim had a powerful background. Both families were ordinary farmers! So what exactly was going on here? Hang Jiabai fell into deep thought.

The small cake in front of Lin Shuyue hadn’t been touched.

The two were silent for a long time. She looked at the hurried crowd outside the cafe’s glass door and asked Hang Jiabai, “Team Leader Hang, do you know Limin Real Estate Development Company?”

Hang Jiabai nodded. “How could I not know such a famous enterprise? The person you just saw when you arrived is the boss of Limin Real Estate Development.”

“You know him?”

“We grew up in the same compound.”

Once Hang Jiabai said this, Lin Shuyue understood. Generally, those who lived in “compounds” were either from government compounds or military compounds. She just didn’t know which one Hang Jiabai belonged to.

Lin Shuyue picked up her cappuccino and took a sip. She was very curious about the boss of this Limin Real Estate Company, especially the good boss who had continued to care for his subordinates for more than ten years.

“Team Leader Hang, what’s his family like? His marital relationship and such.”

Hang Jiabai didn’t expect Lin Shuyue to ask this, but he still answered honestly, “His parents passed away early, and he was raised by his grandparents. He has a very harmonious marriage and is a model couple in our compound. Hao’an-ge has been the ‘someone else’s child’ in our compound since we were little. Every time we were disobedient and got scolded by our parents, their first words were always, ‘Look at your Hao’an-ge.'”

“Sounds like a particularly good person. I went to the prison today, and the police there said that this Boss Yang has been visiting Zhengjun all these years.”

Hang Jiabai wasn’t too surprised by this. “His grandfather was a veteran of the Red Army and taught him from a young age to treat meritorious people well. If you calculate the time, his company had just started not long ago, around ten years ago. Zhengjun and his wife were both his employees, so it’s only natural that he would visit them.”

Lin Shuyue didn’t say anything more after hearing him say this. Then, the two chatted casually for a few minutes. They didn’t say another word about the case, but they both knew they wouldn’t give up.

Lin Shuyue’s father had told her since she was little that there were many dark sides to this world. That’s why he chose to become a police officer, wanting to bring some justice and light to this world.

Lin Shuyue wasn’t a police officer anymore, and she couldn’t be one in this lifetime. But reporters were also people who brought light to this world. Their role was the same as the police, both bringing justice and light to humanity.

Hang Jiabai felt the same way. For him, this was a belief that couldn’t be tarnished.

Today was payday at the newspaper office. Lin Shuyue stood at the entrance of the cafe for a while, watching Hang Jiabai drive away before going upstairs.

Just as she entered the elevator, a woman in formal attire followed her in. She held a delicate and beautiful white phone in her hand. She rolled her eyes at Lin Shuyue and chose a spot furthest away from her, muttering on the phone in a language Lin Shuyue couldn’t identify even after listening for a while.

The elevator stopped on the 5th floor. Lin Shuyue and the woman walked out one after the other, going to two different companies.

The news department was particularly lively today. Reporters who were usually rarely seen all gathered at this moment. Unlike other departments where people sat quietly at their desks, they had pulled their chairs into a circle in the aisle to chat.

The noise wasn’t small, but no one complained.

As soon as Lin Shuyue arrived, she received widespread attention from the reporters.

“The younger generation is indeed surpassing the older one. Ah Qiang, your apprentice is much more capable than you are.” The middle-aged man who spoke was dressed similarly to Huang Qiang, and his hand was on Huang Qiang’s shoulder.

“She graduated from a professional university. How can she be compared to us self-taught folks? Your Weisheng is also good. He’s had quite a few reports these past two months, and the response has been good.” Huang Qiang wasn’t annoyed. His apprentice’s achievements brought him honor as well.

Moreover, Pengcheng Metropolis Daily was different from other newspapers. In other newspapers, interns didn’t get paid, and their articles had to be published under their mentor’s name. At Pengcheng Metropolis Daily, the basic salary for an intern reporter was half that of a regular employee, and their reports could be signed with their own name. However, a small portion of the bonus, about ten percent, had to be given to the mentor. After becoming a regular employee, the bonus didn’t need to be shared.

This had both advantages and disadvantages. The advantage was that there was a salary, so it wasn’t unpaid labor. The disadvantage was that older reporters who mentored newcomers didn’t get much benefit, so they wouldn’t teach with their whole heart, and everything needed to be explored on their own.

The original owner chose to intern at Pengcheng Metropolis Daily because, besides being close to home, the fact that there was a salary was a huge attraction for her.

Lin Shuyue had so many reports during this period, and the response to each report was very good. Huang Qiang had calculated that the bonus he would receive wouldn’t be small. Therefore, he had been walking on air these past few days. But in front of his colleagues, he still needed to be humble, and he could readily praise the other person’s apprentice.

After all, Li Weisheng had connections, and the person mentoring him was also very dedicated. Li Weisheng hadn’t let him down either. He had published many reports since joining the newspaper office. It could be said that the other person had been raking in the bonus commission.

After a round of mutual compliments, Huang Qiang asked the person who had been talking to him, “I heard you were following the news about the Jinsha Charity Gala. How did it go?”

“What suspense is there? Limin Real Estate stole the show again.”

“Isn’t that the result of every charity gala? Just get used to it. Limin Real Estate is good in every way, except they’re not very friendly to reporters. I don’t even know how to write the news.”

“That’s true. From his family to which new property his company acquired, and how much money they donated at the charity gala, it’s always these headlines. Everyone is tired of seeing them.”

Lin Shuyue felt that ever since she heard about Limin Real Estate Development Company from Zhengjun, she could hear its name everywhere she went.

“Mentor, is this Boss Yang really that amazing? I’ve read reports about him before. Is he really that good of a person?”

Huang Qiang didn’t speak, but Zhang Longfei, who had just exchanged compliments with Huang Qiang, couldn’t hold back his praise. “Boss Yang is indeed a good person. They were going to develop a new property over there before, and they invited us reporters over. Because it was hot, they put three large refrigerators on-site, filled with iced water, ice cream, and fruit. Other local real estate companies aren’t that generous.”

Lin Shuyue nodded. “What about his family? I heard you guys just said his family is also very good?”

“He and his wife were high school classmates. They’ve been together since school, got married right after graduation, and now their children are grown up. Didn’t you guys, Ah Qiang, even photograph him taking his wife and daughter shopping in M Country a while ago?”

“Yes, that happened. Other bosses go around having affairs once they have money, but this Boss Yang is different. He has always been very disciplined. As a man, I admire him.” As Huang Qiang spoke, he gave a thumbs-up. He cherished his wife, so he also had a very good impression of men who treated their wives well.

Both reporters, like the prison guard and Hang Jiabai, had positive and upward evaluations of Yang Hao’an. This couldn’t help but make one very curious: did such a good man really exist in this world?

Li Mingfang walked over and put the novel she had been reading recently in front of Lin Shuyue. “Hold this for me first. I’m going to get my salary. Ah Qi also wants to read this book. If I don’t get it now, she’ll snatch it later, and I won’t be able to get it! Just help me for a bit, I’ll be right back.”

Lin Shuyue looked down. This small, palm-sized book, which looked like a colored ancient romance novel from the other side of the passage, and was something Lin Shuyue hadn’t seen since she was old enough to read novels in her previous life. She marked the page Li Mingfang had been reading and then flipped through it from the beginning.

The novel wasn’t long. By the time Li Mingfang returned, Lin Shuyue had already read half of it. She took back her previous thoughts. Good men did exist in this world, just in novels.

Li Mingfang returned and immediately smiled when she saw Lin Shuyue reading. “I have a lot of comic books over there. I’ll bring you some later. Ah Yue, let me tell you, this batch of comic books I bought this time is really good!”

“Then I’ll have a good look, thank you, Ah Fang~~”