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Chapter 75: Do You Remember Me?

Jiang Chaoyun stepped forward, set the bowl of red-braised pork over rice on the interrogation table, and handed Xu Ke a pair of chopsticks.

Xu Ke’s eyes cleared up; without a word, he picked up the chopsticks with trembling hands and lifted a mouthful of red-braised pork to his lips.

With a loud gulp, he swallowed.

Tears streamed down both cheeks; Xu Ke wiped his eyes with his arm and devoured the food ravenously.

“This serving is…?” Wang Hongtao watched Xu Ke’s ferocious eating and could not help asking.

Jiang Chaoyun nodded lightly and said, “Lu Li made it.”

Wang Hongtao suddenly understood and stopped worrying.

Smelling the aroma of meat in the air, Wang Hongtao swallowed involuntarily and even felt his empty stomach grow hungry.

Before long, Xu Ke licked the last grain of rice into his belly, and the ferocity on his face softened somewhat.

Wang Hongtao had someone take away the lunchbox and chopsticks, fixed his gaze on Xu Ke, and tapped the table gently as he said, “Xu Ke, you have eaten and drunk, we officers have treated you leniently enough, so can you now honestly tell us who your superior is?”

Xu Ke licked the corner of his mouth and stayed silent.

“Xu Ke, if you confess now, we can seek leniency for you; you don’t want to spend the rest of your life in prison and never taste food like this again, do you?”

Xu Ke remained silent.

Wang Hongtao glanced at Jiang Chaoyun and muttered softly, “Looks like we won’t get anything useful from Xu Ke; all our effort was wasted.”

Jiang Chaoyun let out a long sigh; she had not held much hope to begin with, and having Lu Li cook red-braised pork had merely been a last-ditch effort.

“Chief, I’ll take Lu Li back to school then,” Jiang Chaoyun said, giving Xu Ke a final look and shaking her head.

She did pity Xu Ke’s circumstances, yet with him so utterly closed off, she chose to give up on him.

“All right, go ahead, and thank that high-schooler properly for making the trip,” Wang Hongtao yawned, stretched his tired body, and felt utterly exhausted after staying up all night.

“About the higher-ups and the Mingyue Group…” Jiang Chaoyun began but trailed off.

Wang Hongtao rolled his eyes and said, “What else can I do? I’ll take the heat; at most I’ll get a few scoldings, I can handle that.”

Even so, at the thought of the pressure his superiors would soon dump on him, Wang Hongtao still felt a headache coming on.

Lu Li was sitting on the bench outside the interrogation room when Jiang Chaoyun came out; she nodded to him and said, “Let’s go, Student Lu, I’ll drive you back to school.”

Lu Li stood up, noticed her unhappy expression, and asked in confusion, “Xu Ke didn’t cooperate?”

Jiang Chaoyun forced a smile and said, “He has made up his mind to protect his contact; he ate the food but still hasn’t said a word, so we’ve decided to give up on him. But you really helped us a lot, and the chief asked me to thank you properly.”

“Since he didn’t say anything, how did I help that much?” Lu Li frowned and asked, “If Xu Ke keeps refusing to confess, what sentence will he face?”

Jiang Chaoyun knitted her brows and said, “We will certainly pursue the harshest punishment; merely carrying a bomb and endangering public safety is enough to put him away for good, and on top of that he tried to smuggle our technological secrets abroad, so it’s serious enough that he’ll never get out.”

Hearing this, Lu Li paused in mid-step.

“Student Lu?” Jiang Chaoyun looked at him curiously when he stopped walking.

Lu Li raised his head, stared at Jiang Chaoyun’s face, and said, “If… just if… I can get Xu Ke to name his superior, could we fight for leniency on his behalf?”

To be honest, Lu Li did not like Xu Ke and even felt a bit of disgust, and he did not think Xu Ke’s deeds deserved forgiveness.

Yet when he thought of Xu Ke’s mother and girlfriend, Lu Li could not bear to leave him unaided.

Helping Xu Ke felt a little like helping his past self.

“Student Lu, don’t joke around; we interrogated him all night and he never said a single word, you have no connection to him and no interrogation skills, so how could he possibly talk?”

Jiang Chaoyun shook her head with a wry smile and added, “We’re already grateful that you came.”

Lu Li answered solemnly, “Since you’ve already given up on him, letting me try costs you nothing; if I do get something, it will be a big help, just like that red-braised pork… he only ate what I cooked, didn’t he?”

Persuaded, Jiang Chaoyun mused aloud, “You’re not an officer, so it’s against protocol for you to join the interrogation… all right, I’ll ask the chief; if he refuses, I’ll still take you back to school.”

“Thank you, Officer Jiang.”

Jiang Chaoyun nodded, strode into the interrogation room, and came back out a moment later.

“Come on, the chief agreed.”

Lu Li stepped into the interrogation room and immediately saw the burly Wang Hongtao.

Wang Hongtao had a square face and rugged, resolute features; at first glance he looked fierce, yet his presence was not overbearing and instead felt friendly.

Inside the interrogation room was a small chamber whose central wall held a one-way mirror, so people outside could see in, but those inside could not see out.

Xu Ke was confined in that chamber, his hair a mess and his head lowered in silence.

“Student Lu, can you really make Xu Ke talk?” Wang Hongtao asked in puzzlement.

Lu Li glanced at Xu Ke through the mirror and shook his head, saying, “I just have an idea and want to give it a try; I’m not absolutely sure.”

Wang Hongtao frowned slightly; when Jiang Chaoyun had asked him earlier, he had thought Lu Li knew something, but it turned out to be only an idea.

Did this kid think an interrogation was a game and come here just to test a notion?

He figured it would probably be a wasted effort.

Although displeased, Wang Hongtao still reminded him, “Xu Ke is inside, chained to the chair with handcuffs, so he can’t threaten you, but try not to provoke him; people with bipolar disorder aren’t the same as ordinary suspects.”

“All right.” Lu Li nodded and added, “When I question Xu Ke, could everyone please stay out of sight, and no matter how agitated he gets, don’t come in?”

“Why is that?” Wang Hongtao asked curiously.

“If too many people are around, he’ll be on guard and refuse to speak.”

Wang Hongtao nodded lightly and agreed; after all, he did not believe Lu Li would really learn anything, so there was no need to fuss.

With permission granted, Lu Li opened the door and walked into the small chamber.

Xu Ke kept his head down the whole time, and even the sound of the door opening failed to stir him.

Lu Li closed the door, strode straight up to Xu Ke, and asked softly, “Do you still remember me?”

The familiar voice made Xu Ke pause; when he looked up and saw Lu Li, his eyes turned red and he ground his teeth, “It’s you!”

He remembered that Lu Li had tricked and then knocked him out, which was how he ended up captured.

Thinking of this, Xu Ke suddenly sprang to his feet, yanking at the handcuffs with a crash, wishing he could pounce on Lu Li and swallow him whole.

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