Chapter 162

Chapter 162 - 162 155 Xie Shangs Behind-the-Scenes Scheming Chapter 162: 155: Xie Shang’s Behind-the-Scenes Scheming, Shielding Changling from Disaster (Second Update) Chapter 162:

155: Xie Shang’s Behind-the-Scenes Scheming, Shielding Changling from Disaster (Second Update) KE Law Firm.

Mr. Xie Liangjiang’s office was on the top floor of the building.

The assistant’s intercom call came through, “Director, Mr. Pang has arrived.

“Let him in.”

The assistant led the visitor to the office door.

As soon as Mr. Pang Shifang entered, he adopted an accusatory tone, “Lawyer Xie, do you have any idea what your son has done?”

Wearing half-framed silver glasses and dressed in a sharp suit, Xie Liangjiang carried an air of scholarly elegance, “What has he done?”

Mr. Pang Shifang settled onto the sofa. Had it been his father coming today, he might have chosen to stand as he spoke. The young, after all, are hotheaded and thoughtless, “Tong Taishi, Zheng Lvhong, Zhou Sheng, they were all sent in by him.”

It seemed that Xie Shang had indeed done something, such as giving some incorrect guidance, pushing himself out of the limelight, and hiding Wen Changling very tightly.

“This perfume incident, he was targeting me,” Mr. Pang Shifang fumed with righteous indignation due to his career setbacks.

“Lawyer Xie, you helped out in the past. We’re on the same boat. Now your son is trying to destroy me, and you’re not going to do anything about it?”

Fu Ying had been to Ruyi Pawnshop, Cui Ying had been there too, as well as the eyes of Zheng Lvhong. All the information and evidence pointed towards Xie Shang.

“So you’re saying,” Xie Liangjiang suddenly paused, capped his fountain pen, and pinned a black and gold brooch on the left side of his suit. He put the pen down, “The injury to Xie Shang was your doing?”

Mr. Pang Shifang was momentarily lost for words, denying, “It wasn’t me.”

Xie Liangjiang understood a bit about microexpressions.

The Pang Family patriarch really didn’t know how to educate people, letting the younger generation turn out like this.

“You’ve done a very foolish thing today,” Xie Liangjiang said as he looked at the younger man, finding his foolishness unbelievable. “No matter how estranged I am from Xie Shang, he is still my only son. And you dare come to me and snitch on my son.”

To even dare to target Xie Shang.

Xie Liangjiang laughed.

Mr. Pang Shifang felt a chilling fear under the gaze of those warm, smiling eyes behind the lenses, “I, I...”

“I have cases to attend to, so I won’t see you out.”

The assistant arrived to escort the “guest” out.

Xie Liangjiang made a call to a judge he knew.

That very evening, as Mr. Pang Shifang arrived home, three detectives were already waiting for him.

“Mr. Pang Shifang,” Lin Yaoping showed his police identification, “We’re detectives from Jingfeng Sub-bureau. You’re suspected of hit and run leading to death. Please come with us.”

Mr. Pang Shifang had just been to see the old man, begging for his life. He hadn’t expected things to happen so quickly.

“That case has already been finalized.”

“Mr. Gan Lishu has submitted an application for a retrial.”

Normally, an application for a retrial wouldn’t be processed this quickly. He didn’t know who had put the pressure on from above.

Panic flickered in Mr. Pang Shifang’s eyes, but he quickly regained his composure, “I need to say a few words to my wife. Just one minute will suffice.”

Gan Xiaoping was sitting in the living room.

On the coffee table were the cups of tea she had brewed for the detectives. She didn’t seem surprised at all, having sent the nanny and child out earlier.

Mr. Pang Shifang approached Gan Xiaoping and bent down to whisper in her ear, “I’ve treated you well over the years. Even when my mother disapproved, I married you. You and your father are just two ungrateful wolves I could never tame.”

Gan Xiaoping had married Mr. Pang Shifang because her father Gan Lishu had taken the blame for Pang Shifang. His family actually owed her family, but Pang Shifang never seemed to understand his place throughout the years.

Mr. Pang Shifang warned her in a low voice, “Don’t be too naïve. I’ve already consulted with lawyers. The testimony of one person is solitary evidence, which cannot determine guilt. Just wait, I’ll settle scores with you when I get back.” Dong Wanlong was already dead; he wasn’t at all concerned about his father-in-law turning against him.

After Mr. Pang Shifang was taken away, Gan Xiaoping cleaned the living room. She liked to do housework when she was in a good mood.

The night before, a one-armed man had visited the police station.

“May I help you? Are you here to file a report?”

The man removed his hat and mask, “I am Dong Wanlong.”

Single testimony cannot convict, but if there is another witness whose testimony corroborates with Gan Lishu’s and there are transfer records to create a complete chain of evidence, then it’s a different story.

*****

Let’s rewind to three days before the “dismemberment case” occurred, on September 15th.

That day, Dong Wanlong met with Mr. Pang Shifang and after agreeing on a price, he was in a good mood, so he drank a little, staggering on his way home. It seemed like there was someone at the door, and thinking that he was just seeing things from too much drink, he shook his head, but the person was still there.

“Who’s there?”

Dong Wanlong shone his cell phone light.

It was a man, with good looks and eyes that differed in color from ordinary people.

“Hello, Mr. Dong.”

Dong Wanlong, emboldened by alcohol, asked arrogantly, “Who are you, and how do you know me?”

The person seemed to have been waiting for him. His black coat was smeared with a touch of white wall dust, but it didn’t affect his noble air at all. With a refined appearance and scholarly family background, his distinctly cultured temperament was evident, and Dong Wanlong could tell at a glance that they were not from the same world.

Without introducing himself, he asked, “Has Mr. Pang Shifang approached you?”

Upon mention of Mr. Pang, Dong’s buzz wore off by half and he immediately denied, “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t know Mr. Pang.”

“Let me tell you a story then,” he said nonchalantly, leaning against the wall, utterly unfazed by the dirty surface, and began narrating, “Four years ago, Mr. Pang Shifang went on a joyride while drunk and hit a newly married couple. Knowing there were no surveillance cameras on that road, he just drove away, leaving the two victims to bleed to death because they missed the critical rescue time. At the time, Mr. Pang’s driver, Gan Lishu, was also in the car. Two days later, Gan went to the police station and confessed, claiming he was the one who hit them.”

As the story began, Dong Wanlong’s expression changed.

“A week before the first trial, an anonymous witness reported that they saw the person driving the car, but in the end, the witness didn’t appear in court.” The storyteller was Xie Shang, “Is there anything else you’d like to add, Mr. Dong?”

Dong Wanlong shifted his gaze away guiltily, “I don’t understand, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Four years ago, Dong Wanlong had witnessed Mr. Pang driving drunk and hitting someone, and he knew that Gan Lishu was taking the fall. But a week before the court hearing, he had accepted hush money from Mr. Pang. He preferred to believe in Mr.

Pang, who had promised him more money, over the suddenly appearing Xie Shang. If he kept holding onto Mr. Pang’s secret, Mr. Pang would be his cash cow in the future.

“Mr. Dong, be cautious. Don’t end up with money in hand but no life to spend it,” Xie Shang stood straight, dusted off his sleeve, and placed a business card on the doorknob, “If you need help, you can contact me. My surname is Xie.”

The card had a black background with gold lettering, featuring four characters: Ruyi Pawnshop.

On the back of the card was a string of numbers.

*****

Dong Wanlong and Mr. Pang agreed to exchange the money three days later, on the evening of September 18th, at a deserted construction site. Dong decided to be cautious this time, arriving two hours early and hiding behind a red brick wall to wait and see.

About twenty minutes passed before Mr. Pang’s driver, Xu Zhonghan, arrived, carrying a toolbox. He squatted beside an elevator that wasn’t fully installed yet and started working on something with a wrench.

Xu Zhonghan took a phone call halfway through.

“Everything’s ready.”

“The 33rd floor, they’ll splatter.”

Hearing this, Dong Wanlong panicked and stepped on a brick.

Xu Zhonghan turned around, standing up with the wrench in his hand.

“Come out.”

Xu Zhonghan walked towards the red brick wall calmly, tapping his palm with the wrench, producing a rhythmic sound.

Dong Wanlong, frightened out of his wits, scrambled backwards until his back hit the wall. He looked back. The building was unfinished, with the 33rd-floor balcony unsealed, and a tower crane outside.

Dong Wanlong worked on construction sites and was familiar with tower cranes. As Xu grew closer, Dong’s only thought was of escape. He leapt onto the crane with desperation and began to climb down bare-handed, risking his life.

That night was windy, and from the height of the 33rd floor, Dong Wanlong was near exhaustion, but his will to survive was strong. Only after wiping the sweat from his palms numerous times did he manage to descend slowly. The site was deserted at night, shrouded in darkness. Xu’s flashlight beamed in his direction, its light scanning up and down. In a rush, Dong stepped into empty air and fell sideways onto a vertical steel plate, nearly severing his entire left hand.

He nearly passed out from pain, but managed to wrap his hand with his clothing and some plastic bags found on the ground, and escaped by stumbling through the darkness and taking shortcuts.

Fearing the hospital, he found the black card with gold lettering and dialed the number on it just before passing out.

“Mr. Xie, help me.”

Dong Wanlong didn’t save his left hand.

Thus, the dismemberment case took place.