CH 125

“Don’t just leave us hanging. I’m going to have a heart attack,”

Wang Chao paused for a long time, so Xing Conglian urged him impatiently.

“No, Captain, this, I—but the perpetrator of this crime wasn’t Li Jingtian. The case has been closed, and the criminal was sentenced to ten years in jail,” Wang Chao said, then paused again. “I… Are you really sure Li Jingtian is the bad guy?”

As if he had seen something that couldn’t be explained in words, Wang Chao spoke intermittently.

“What stupid thing are you talking about?” Xing Conglian glanced at Wang Chao.

“I—I seem to have discovered another terrible case. Oh god, I’m going crazy!”

“What kind of case?” Lin Chen couldn’t help asking, seeing that Wang Chao was as impatient as if his butt was on fire.

The young man’s ass writhed restlessly in the seat. “Fuck!” He was grabbing his hair with one hand as he was desperately checking something with the other.

In the end, Wang Chao seemed to have determined something. Seeing Lin Chen staring at him blankly, Wang Chao turned his head and said, “A’Chen, I seem to have discovered a shocking injustice!”

Lin Chen thought that, although he didn’t know what Wang Chao had experienced, it was clear that he had met many people in the world. Then, in that young man’s heart, what would the story be like for him to consider it a shocking injustice?

Without leaving them hanging further, Wang Chao sorted out his thoughts and asked, “A’Chen, do you know Song Shengsheng?”

Lin Chen was stunned.

He didn’t expect Wang Chao would mention Song Shengsheng, because that was such a resounding name.

In fact, he didn’t know much about the entertainment industry because that world was too far away from him. For example, when he heard Li Jingtian’s name for the first time, he tried his best but couldn’t match the name to the face. However, probably no one who came from his era would not know who Song Shengsheng was.

After all, nine years ago, as Wang Chao said, while Li Jingtian was still a rookie, the news was filled with Song Shengsheng on the entertainment page.

Compared with a reputable star like Li Jingtian, Song Shengsheng was completely opposite, filled with negative stories.

He smoked, drank, got into fights, went clubbing, and wore earring studs and nose rings on his face. He was the kind of person one’s typical grandmother would say to their teenage grandson, “Good child, you must not be like this person.”

But at the same time, he was indeed talented, with a good voice that could span several octaves. He had written many good songs that were passed around through word of mouth. At the same time, boys and girls loved his rebellious nature.

The reason why Lin Chen knew so much about Song Shengsheng was because Song Shengsheng himself was really good at causing trouble. One day he would quarrel with a certain female celebrity or a certain rich second-generation, the next, he would dress up as a beggar and sing on the street. Truly a strange performer.

The media liked such restless stars the most, so news about Song Shengsheng appeared weekly.

But suddenly one day, an explosive, earth-shattering piece of news caused an uproar across the country.

A newly debuted male singer accused Song Shengsheng of sodomizing him for more than 20 hours.

Lin Chen’s memory of this incident ended here.

Whether it was the specific investigation process or the trial process, too much time had passed for him to recall it. He only remembered that during that time, piece after piece of heavy evidence was exposed, crucifying Song Shengsheng to the pillar of shame.

Ten years ago, society’s acceptance of homosexuality was very low, not to mention Song Shengsheng’s reputation was quite bad. After this incident, Song Shengsheng went to jail, like a stone thrown into the sea, and no news about him had surfaced since. Even his former singles were banned nationwide.

As time progressed, no one knew who Song Shengsheng was anymore.

Today’s darling would become tomorrow’s trash. A person like Song Shengsheng wasn’t even considered trash. Unless he died, he would never be mentioned again.

As he could see, the public was like this, Lin Chen thought. Even he, who was an ordinary person, after so many years, despite Song Shengsheng being a star who once swept across the country and would occupy the front page every time; he no longer had any impression of him.

“Oh, so where is the injustice?”

Xing Conglian seemed to have never heard of Song Shengsheng. After listening to Wang Chao’s story, he commented like so.

And Wang Chao, although he had been excited before, was now also beginning to regain his emotions, saying in his usual relaxed and lively tone, “Captain, guess who was the person that accused Song Shengsheng?”

Whenever this happened, Lin Chen felt that he wasn’t living in the same world as them, as their past had nothing to do with him.

Xing Conglian said, “It can’t be Li Jingtian. It seems that no one online has mentioned anything like this.”

“Of course it’s not Li Jingtian, but… Oh, guess who it is. Aren’t my hints obvious, huh?”

“The one who was in the same group as Li Jingtian?” Xing Conglian guessed.

Wang Chao snapped his fingers. “Bingo. It’s another member of Illi—Mu Zhuo.” Wang Chao said excitedly, “Could it be that the person who sexually assaulted Mu Zhuo wasn’t Song Shengsheng, but Li Jingtian, and he made a mistake and accused Song Shengsheng? There has to be such a possibility, right?”

Lin Chen didn’t know what to say for a moment.

There was nothing wrong with Wang Chao’s reasoning. In fact, it was entirely his idea that Wang Chao could track down this case nine years ago, but now, with a case that was nine years old resurfacing, Lin Chen felt there was a deeper problem.

But if, as Wang Chao inferred, Song Shengsheng was wrongfully imprisoned, then this must be a shocking injustice that could once again stir the entire country.

Lin Chen felt his hands tremble a little involuntarily as he said, “Even if it’s Li Jingtian, without any evidence, we can’t speculate what he did and didn’t do.” He paused, then continued, “I need to see Song Shengsheng’s file, and… If I can find My Zhuo or Song Shengsheng, it would be better to talk to them in person.”

When he said this, Wang Chao’s eyes lit up. “Guess what, A’Chen? What a coincidence. Mu Zhuo is holding a concert in Fengchun today. They’re currently celebrating the afterparty. The paparazzi have photographed it. They’re celebrating it at Fengchun Royal One… Are you familiar with the name Royal One?”

Lin Chen thought this was unbelievable. “Is it where Xu Ran changed her confession to?”

“This is such a coincidence. Does this count as God giving us a chance to nail Li Jingtian?!”

……

Sometimes, the harder one tried to track something down, the more coincidental the moments became to the point where you would believe in ghosts.

Whether it was a divine blessing or not, they appeared to have discovered some new clues and restored some hope in Li Jingtian’s case.

At some point, Lin Chen had fallen asleep.

When Xing Conglian was about to get off the highway, he looked at the rearview mirror and saw his consultant leaning against the car window, fast asleep.

A thick stack of files was placed on the seat next to Lin Chen, and a tablet was on his knee. It seemed Lin Chen had accidentally fallen asleep while reading the files in Song Shengsheng’s case that Wang Chao had just sorted out.

Generally speaking, the only one who would fall asleep while reading files was Wang Chao, but today, it was Lin Chen. From this, it could be seen that Lin Chen was truly exhausted.

Wang Chao also seemed to sense something and quickly looked back. “Captain, A’Chen Gege* is asleep!”

*Brother (哥哥) Address towards men who are older than you and are close to you or your actual older relatives.

Xing Conglian rolled down the window and asked rhetorically, “So, only you’re allowed to sleep in the car normally, but not your A’Chen Gege?”

“No, no. I don’t think A’Chen Gege usually sleeps while you’re driving. He must have suffered a heavy blow to his heart today and is so exhausted that he fell asleep. You have to comfort him. Do you hear me…”

Wang Chao kept babbling words like “comfort” and “talk more”. After a few absent-minded “Nn”, Wang Chao suddenly stopped talking. After a while, he heard the chattering teenager let out a long sigh and said to him, “I really feel that A’Chen Gege seems to be holding onto something all the time, living a very, very tired life.”

Hearing what Wang Chao said, Xing Conglian felt a little funny. “Mr. Xiao Wang, why did you suddenly express this?”

Wang Chao lowered his voice and whispered, “Don’t you think so? We used to be regarded as people who did great things, right? But the things A’Chen Gege did seems to be completely different from us. The people and things he encounters always make it feel so easy to fall into despair. A’Chen Gege was crying today. God, my A’Chen Gege actually cries!”

Sure enough, Wang Chao was prevaricated when he asked Lin Chen why, so now that Lin Chen couldn’t hear him, he made a lot of guesses, but actually, he just wanted to gossip and find out why Lin Chen was crying.

Xing Conglian didn’t know why this child was like this now.

“People will cry. When they’re sad, feel pain, or hopelessness. It’s normal,” he said.

“Captain, that’s a bit cold-blooded of you to say that.”

“After all, it’s enough that he’s a psychologist who can interpret people’s minds. We don’t need to be like him.”

“What?”

Wang Chao opened his mouth wide, as if he couldn’t understand what Xing Conglian was saying.

“We don’t need to be sympathetic forever, and he doesn’t need us to sympathize with him, so rather than spending your time sympathizing with him and the world, think about how to protect them and share the responsibility for them.”

It was late at night, so there wasn’t a single car on the ramp.

This was purely a conversation between men, so Xing Conglian didn’t expect Wang Chao to grasp it quickly.

Sure enough, Wang Chao said, “Huh?” in confusion.

“Your IQ is really terrible.” Xing Conglian knocked on Wang Chao’s forehead.

“Then how can we assume the responsibility of protecting this world? For example, if we can’t bring Li Jingtian to justice, should we kill him secretly?”

“What are you saying? Can’t you be more civilized? This is a society ruled by laws.”

“Have you given a few similar orders?”

“Do you want to have a proper chat? What’s with all your quips? I’m obviously teaching you how to be a man.” Xing Conglian almost wanted to beat the brat next to him.

“Seriously, Captain, don’t get off topic. As far as Li Jingtian’s background is concerned, if we really find empirical evidence, most likely we’ll go head-to-head with Lao Li. You haven’t seen the fake files that his family and Lao Li have made for him. If this kind of thing can be done, Lao Li won’t hesitate to cause a real diplomatic dispute to protect his grandson. What are you going to do then?”

“Wang Chao,” Xing Conglian said heavily. “Didn’t you say that the prince committed a crime towards the common people when he broke the law?”

“I did.”

“Then you know what should be done.”

“Captain, ah, I mean, if a short-sighted madman like Lao Li knows you’re messing with his grandson, won’t it become troublesome to deal with protecting your current identity?”

“Hey…” Xing Conglian gave a long sigh.

“What?”

“Mr. Xiao Wang… Li Jingtian isn’t the only prince in the world.”

“Ah?”

“I have more experience as a prince than him.”