Chapter Thirty-Six: The Interrogation

After Lei Zhijun left, Zhang Xingping stood in place for a long while, only snapping back to reality after Zhang Wenhao called him repeatedly. The family of three returned home and sat on the sofa, full of emotions.

Just days before, Zhang Wenhao’s sudden arrest had struck the family like a bolt from the blue. In those days, Zhang Xingping and Song Huafang endured their greatest despair. But now, the nightmare that haunted them had been dispelled, and the family had finally regained its former peace.

As they reflected, the parents recounted to Zhang Wenhao all that had happened outside the detention center in recent days. After offending Chen Ru, they had witnessed the coldness of the world firsthand. Most people avoided Zhang Xingping and his wife, let alone offered any help. Zhang Wenhao had anticipated this, but what moved him was that his uncle—who always liked to use Zhang Wenhao as a foil for his own daughter—had done everything he could to help once trouble struck. This was something Zhang Wenhao had never expected.

He was also deeply touched by the concern shown by his homeroom teacher, Song Yanni, and his close friend, Li Nan.

Zhang Xingping took Zhang Wenhao’s phone from his pocket and handed it to him, saying, “Li Nan gave this to me. It’s late now, but tomorrow you should call him and your homeroom teacher, let them know you’re safe. She’s been quite worried about you.”

Zhang Wenhao nodded, thinking he would call Li Nan and Song Yanni first thing in the morning.

That night, Zhang Wenhao slept soundly. The ordeal he had gone through had made him more mature, and it gave him a deeper understanding of how the world works. Many times, having reason alone isn’t enough to stand your ground. What you need most is strength.

When he woke up, it was already half past nine. The first thing Zhang Wenhao did was call Li Nan.

It was break time at school, and Li Nan was in a corner of the playground, smoking and discussing with a few classmates how to spread the recording of Zhang Wenhao from that night throughout the school.

The classmates were all very concerned about Zhang Wenhao and were trying to find ways to help him. Li Nan had a copy of the recording and wanted to release it to let the whole school know the truth. However, this approach was akin to burning bridges, and Li Nan worried that once the recording was made public, there would be no room for reversal.

Since Su Ruoran had already promised to help, Li Nan decided to wait for her to confirm the result. If she couldn’t help Zhang Wenhao, then he would release the recording and make one last stand for his friend. But these past few days, there had been no word from Su Ruoran, and Li Nan was growing restless.

As Li Nan and his classmates discussed, his phone suddenly rang. He glanced at the screen and saw it was Zhang Wenhao’s number. He thought it might be Zhang Wenhao’s father using the phone, so he answered.

As soon as the call connected, Li Nan asked, “Uncle Zhang, is there something I can do?”

“Uncle? It’s me, Zhang Wenhao!”

“What?” Li Nan was shocked, but the voice was unmistakably Zhang Wenhao’s.

“Wenhao, you’re out?”

“I’m out!”

“When did you get released?”

“Last night.”

Li Nan was overjoyed and blurted out, “How did you suddenly get out? That’s incredible!”

Zhang Wenhao replied honestly, “My dad’s old comrade helped. He came to the detention center yesterday and got me out.”

Li Nan couldn’t believe it. “What kind of comrade? That powerful? Can even handle Chen Ru, that bastard?”

Zhang Wenhao explained simply, “He’s from the military district. Chen Ru can’t touch him.”

“That’s fantastic!” Li Nan said excitedly. “Now that you’re out, I’ll tell Teacher Song right away. She’s been worried sick these days. I’ll come to your house after school!”

Wenhao laughed. “No need to tell Teacher Song—I’ll call her myself.”

“Alright!” Li Nan replied quickly. “Don’t go anywhere after school, wait for me at home!”

After hanging up, Zhang Wenhao called Song Yanni. Meanwhile, Li Nan excitedly spread the news of Zhang Wenhao’s release to the other classmates. Suddenly, he remembered that he had previously asked Su Ruoran to help, hoping she would ask Chen Chong to let Zhang Wenhao off. Now that Wenhao had been rescued by his father’s comrade, Li Nan needed to find Su Ruoran and let her know, so she wouldn’t plead with Chen Chong, that wretched turtle, and fall into his trap.

Li Nan ran all the way to Class Three, where Su Ruoran was sitting at her desk, listening to music with her headphones on. He rushed in, tapped her desk, and gestured for her to step outside.

When Su Ruoran saw Li Nan, she immediately knew he had come because of Zhang Wenhao, so she hurriedly took off her headphones and followed him out of the classroom.

Outside, Li Nan asked, “Su Ruoran, did you go to ask Chen Chong for help?”

“What’s the matter?” Su Ruoran frowned. “Li Nan, don’t worry. I’ll do whatever I can to make sure Zhang Wenhao gets out safely, but I would never beg Chen Chong, that petty man.”

“That’s good, that’s good,” Li Nan said with a chuckle. “Wenhao was released last night. I just didn’t want you to ask Chen Chong, so I came over to tell you.”

Su Ruoran was surprised. “Wenhao was released last night? How did it happen so quickly?”

She couldn’t figure it out. She had just called her mother the day before, and her mother had made it clear that she would ensure Zhang Wenhao’s safety, but she wasn’t planning to get him released so soon. It seemed she wanted to wait a few more days. Had her mother finally learned to consider things from her perspective?

At that moment, Li Nan explained, “Wenhao said his father’s comrade in the military district helped, and apparently even Chen Chong’s father can’t mess with him. So you don’t need to worry about Wenhao anymore—he should be back at school next Monday.”

Su Ruoran’s mood, which had been excited and grateful to her mother, plummeted when she heard this.

“How could you be so unreasonable!” Su Ruoran ran to a secluded corner of the school and called her mother, immediately demanding an explanation.

On the other end of the line, the elegant woman was stunned, unable to grasp what had happened. Su Ruoran berated her, “Others managed to do it easily. Why have you dragged this out for so many days without taking any real action?”

The woman finally understood and replied with a cool smile, “Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing. In a few days, I’ll have him released.”

“No need!” Su Ruoran said angrily. “Zhang Wenhao was released last night!”

As her mother stood speechless, Su Ruoran added, “You’ve really disappointed me, Mom!”

With that, she hung up.

The woman listened to the busy tone, stunned for a long time before finally reacting. Her first instinct was to call Qingwu and ask, “Qingwu, what’s going on? Was Zhang Wenhao released?”

Qingwu was even more surprised. “That shouldn’t be possible. I haven’t gotten any word from Chen Feng, and I never told him to release Wenhao.”

The woman replied coldly, “Contact him. Find out exactly what happened!”

Meanwhile, inside the third detention center of Jiangcheng City, Chen Feng was in a furious rage, pointing at the guard at the door and cursing, “Damn you, if you don’t get Wang Liqing, that bastard, in here right now, I’ll rip that uniform off your back!”

“Bastard, do you want to die?” The guard was shocked that a prisoner dared to challenge him like that. He angrily called over four or five guards, all with batons in hand, and as the cell door opened, they rushed in, swinging their batons.

––––––––––

Comrades, please vote! We still need to climb higher on the Newcomer Chart!