Chapter 19: A Hero? If You Say You're a Hero, Then You Are!

Excellent!

Except for Sun Tao, the other four all cheered inwardly at Qin Chuan’s words.

This interrogation was originally imposed by the county party committee.

Xin Hai Mining had entrenched itself in Zhulin County for over a decade; everyone present knew exactly what kind of background they were dealing with.

Dong Zhijun was nothing more than a scapegoat.

When he was arrested that day, although Dong Zhijun was beaten severely, the initial medical examination upon his hospital admission showed no serious injuries.

Yet, he died that very night.

Because of this, Zhou Xuexi was scolded for two hours by the county magistrate and Qian Guobin from the city criminal investigation team.

Dong Zhijun’s sudden death plunged the investigation into a dire predicament.

Today’s interrogation, led by the county party secretary’s office, was nothing but an appetizer.

Once Qin Chuan’s violent law enforcement, which allegedly led to Dong Zhijun’s death, was confirmed,

not only would Qin Chuan bear responsibility, but Wang Xuebing, Lin Hu, and even Zhou Xuexi would be implicated.

For Gao Qingshan, this was a chance to avenge the punishment he suffered due to Qin Chuan’s arrest of Zhao Junhao, and to stab the county magistrate in the back regarding personnel arrangements in the public security bureau.

On top of that, cracking the Xin Hai Mining case meant killing three birds with one stone!

A battle hero?

Sun Tao sneered. As the secretary to the county party secretary, he was far from naive.

On the contrary, though young, Sun Tao was meticulous and experienced.

It was he who masterminded the plan to have Dong Zhijun eliminated overnight, pinning all the blame on the dead man.

The reason Sun Tao took the lead in today’s interrogation was that the others from the public security bureau were aligned with the county magistrate.

He had no allies on his side, so he had to step up himself.

Sun Tao initially thought to cut through the mess swiftly, bluffing Qin Chuan to secure a quick victory.

But he never expected Qin Chuan to confront him head-on.

It seemed he needed to revise his strategy.

“Battle hero?”

Sun Tao lit a cigarette. “Comrade Qin Chuan, whether you’re a battle hero isn’t something you proclaim yourself.

It depends on what others say; if others call you a hero, then you are one.

If others say you’re not, then maybe you aren’t.”

“Sun Secretary, who are these ‘others’ you’re referring to? Yourself? Or some secretary?”

“You!” Sun Tao snapped.

“Enough.”

Sun Tao, poised to continue pressing, was interrupted by Zhou Xuexi.

“Secretary Sun, let’s stick to the interrogation and not waste time with useless talk.”

Zhou Xuexi was a new county magistrate in Zhulin County, strongly promoted by Chen Mingguang.

He was not of the same political faction as the county party secretary, so naturally, he didn’t feel obliged to show Sun Tao any courtesy.

Moreover, if Qin Chuan’s guilt was established today, Zhou Xuexi would be the one to suffer.

At best, he’d receive a disciplinary action; at worst, be removed from his post as public security bureau chief.

If that happened, Gao Qingshan could install his own man in that position.

Chen Mingguang’s loss of support from the public security bureau would leave him at a disadvantage in future political struggles.

Seeing Zhou Xuexi speak, Sun Tao immediately suppressed his feigned anger.

Qin Chuan hadn’t insulted his ancestors, so how much of Sun Tao’s anger was genuine or fabricated, only heaven knew.

“Fine, we’ll proceed as Director Zhou says.”

Sun Tao adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses.

“Qin Chuan, early this morning the county party secretary’s office received a report against you.”

“It alleges that you violently enforced the law at Xin Hai Coal Mine and caused the death of Dong Zhijun.”

“There is surveillance footage from the scene as evidence, and here we have the medical examiner’s report on Dong Zhijun’s death.”

“It clearly states that Dong Zhijun died from intracranial hemorrhage.”

“Combining the scene footage and the medical report, it can be concluded that Dong Zhijun was beaten to death by you.”

“Now… what do you have to say?”

Sun Tao spoke with a rhythmic cadence that easily drew others into his narrative.

His reasoning was logical.

Someone reported it; therefore, it must be investigated.

The surveillance shows you, Qin Chuan, striking Dong Zhijun’s head so hard his teeth were knocked out.

The medical examiner confirmed Dong Zhijun died from intracranial hemorrhage.

Zhou Xuexi’s brow furrowed deeper.

This was precisely why the interrogation couldn’t be halted.

Zhou Xuexi knew full well that Qin Chuan was innocent of Dong Zhijun’s death.

He knew it was a setup—Xin Hai Mining had killed Dong Zhijun to frame Qin Chuan and strike at him and others.

But police investigations relied on evidence!

At present, the evidence stated that Qin Chuan killed someone!

Qin Chuan was no fool; Zhou Xuexi’s words of support earlier showed he was on his side.

Zhang Guohao had also reminded him in the car that Sun Tao from the county party committee was the chief interrogator in this matter.

“Secretary Sun, I don’t quite understand what you mean.”

“Dong Zhijun harbored and protected serious criminals, ran a gambling operation at Xin Hai Coal Mine, harmed female university students, drove good families’ wives to despair!”

“After I found the clues, I lawfully arrested him! He even tried to help the serious criminals Cheng Feng and Li Hu escape, ordering unlawful elements at the mine to openly attack the people’s police!”

“Facing more than twenty violent criminals, I fought back and injured Dong Zhijun. What’s wrong with that?”

“Or… in your eyes, Secretary Sun, am I, a police officer attacked by criminals, the one who’s not human, while the criminal resisting lawful arrest, Dong Zhijun, is?”

“Since you’ve seen the footage… Secretary Sun…”

Qin Chuan sat upright, eyes fearless.

He spoke firmly and directly.

Damn!

Zhou Xuexi and the others exchanged surprised glances.

Qin Chuan’s eloquence was impressive.

Bang!

“Qin Chuan! Sharp-tongued!”

Sun Tao narrowed his eyes and slammed the table.

“We’re talking about Dong Zhijun’s cause of death!”

“Whether he was a criminal or not, that’s for the law to decide.”

“But as a police officer, you used excessive force, resulting in someone’s death!”

“No matter how you try to spin it, that can’t be denied!”

A cough came from Lin Hu nearby.

He looked toward Sun Tao.

“Secretary Sun, calm down.”

“What Qin Chuan just said is that Dong Zhijun ordered more than twenty people to surround and attack Qin Chuan. Under such circumstances, Qin Chuan had to defend himself fully.”

“This matter… at most, I think it’s a case of excessive self-defense.”

Excessive self-defense?

If it was classified that way, how could Secretary Gao take action against the public security bureau?

In fact, that classification was already agreed upon early by Zhou Xuexi and others.

Qin Chuan did kill a man, no doubt.

But in that situation, if he had held back, he would have lost his own life.

So, calling it excessive self-defense and giving him a major demerit was the most they could do.

No need to strip him of his uniform or send him to jail.

That was the limit Zhou Xuexi and his colleagues could achieve.

But Sun Tao clearly wouldn’t agree.

“Director Zhou, is this the attitude your bureau takes in cooperating with the county party committee’s investigation?”