When Yang Zejin woke up, it was already past six o'clock in the morning, and a ray of sunlight shone on him from the half-open window. When I opened my eyes, I saw myself wearing only a pair of pants, lying on a wooden bed in this humble room, and there was some uncleaned vomit on the mat. He patted his heavy head, and couldn't remember how he got here from the Jiacang Hotel......

"Stolen? Kidnapped? Yang Zejin hurriedly got up, but how could he get out of the door with this bare appearance. He was about to speak when he found his purse and keys on the table, and his clothes and pants hanging on the branches outside the window. He shook his head full of mud, and couldn't tell what was going on.

Fu Shun washed his face in the toilet at the end of the corridor and poured another basin of water into the room. As soon as I pushed the door open, I saw Uncle Seven pouting his ass and leaning on the window to collect his clothes.

"Uncle Seven, are you awake?" Fu Shun put the basin on the ground, then wrung out a worn-out towel vigorously and handed it to Uncle Seven.

Yang Zejin looked at this familiar face in astonishment, and did not pick up the towel. He rubbed his eyes, and as he struggled to get his clothes, he asked, "Where is this, young man?" ”

"Uncle Seven, this is the guest house, the guest house in front of the station!"

"Guest house? Why am I here? Who are you? Do we know each other? ”

"Ah, Uncle Seven, I'm Liu Fushun, Yang Zegui's son!"

"Fushun!" Yang Zejin turned around and took a closer look, isn't this the son adopted by the fourth brother? "Why are you here? Aren't you in Jiangyun? The more Yang Zejin listened, the more confused he became, thinking that he was dreaming, and shook his drowsy head again.

"Uncle Seven, I came back by car last night and met you at the door of the hotel...... Fu Shun described the events of last night. Yang Zejin, who was still in a daze, continued the broken piece.

"By the way, your father is still in the dormitory, waiting to see your brother-in-law!" Yang Zejin put on his clothes that were still a little wet, picked up his bag and keys and prepared to go out.

Fu Shun picked up his luggage, lifted the heavy box of books, and followed behind Uncle Seven. Director Yang, who hadn't woken up yet, went to the toilet and vomited again, so he came over to help Fushun get his things and walked to the dormitory of the Water Conservancy Bureau.

Xie Jingfeng's father and son were pacing anxiously in the narrow living room, and Yang Zegui was sitting on the sofa, smoking leaf cigarettes one after another, and from time to time he was choked and coughed.

Yang Zejin led Fushun into the house and put the big bag of luggage and suitcases on the balcony. Several people didn't pay attention to this young man who was already about the same height as Yang Zejin, and they all looked at Director Yang with a glimmer of hope.

"Daddy!" Fu Shun had red eyes, looking at the cripple who was getting thinner and older, and the scars on his body that he had beaten over the years had long since disappeared with the baptism of the years. At this time, the child's eyes were full of gratitude, and his heart was full of guilt.

Yang Zegui, who was just about to get up, held his pipe, held the cigarette stick in his right hand, and held a cane in his left hand, seeing this adopted son who thought he would never see each other again. It's been more than a year, 400 days and nights, and I've been worrying all the time. He no longer wants to see each other in this life, and only hopes that this suffering child can be healthy and safe.

The leaf smoke has been extinguished, and tears are flowing from the crow's feet in the corners of his eyes. "Brother Liu, Yanhong, your children are back, back to this land where you have roots!" Yang Qizi thought silently in his heart, and then looked at this child who had grown up, his height had obviously jumped a lot higher, his body was getting stronger and stronger, and even his voice had become thicker.

"It's good to be back, it's good to be back!" Yang Zegui sat on the sofa again and wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes, "Come and sit!" ”

Fu Shun walked over to his adoptive father and sat down, this strong man, his back was almost crushed, and his originally straight waist became rickets. The sourness in his nose, along with the guilt in his heart, turned into hiding his face and crying.

This atmosphere mixed with sadness made Xie Jingfeng burst into tears again. He and his eldest son stayed up all night, and even retreated and wanted to go back to Shiqiao, because they really didn't want to hear the judge's verdict. That unsuccessful son, every qiē is self-inflicted!

"Fourth brother, Brother Xie, let's go, go out to eat something first, and then go to see Guoqiang, right?" Yang Ze entered the room to change his clothes, washed his face again, and came out to beckon the big guy to go out.

"Or ...... Still not going! The old stonemason was afraid to see his son in prison.

"Let's go, Dad, go see Guoqiang, maybe ......" Guomin wiped away his tears, he really didn't have the courage to continue.

"Brother, let's go, take a look, didn't you bring some clothes and food for Guoqiang?" Yang Zejin put the leftover leaf cigarettes and pipes in the tobacco pouch, and Fushun helped his adoptive father to get up.

The detention center is still on the mountain. Yang Ze went in and out and stopped two rickshaws, and it took half an hour to arrive.

The defense lawyer was already waiting at the door of the detention center. Yang Zejin explained a few words, and then went to find the person in charge of the detention center. The person in charge saw so many family members coming from a distance, and shook his head in embarrassment. According to the regulations, family members are not allowed to visit the detention center. Yang Zejin negotiated with him for a long time, and finally agreed that only the defense lawyer could bring one family member in, and the others were waiting outside.

The lawyer, also surnamed Yang, has met with other family members before, except for Fushun. According to Yang Zejin, the defense lawyer is a master invited from the provincial capital, that is to say, whether Xie Guoqiang is dead or alive, whether he is indefinite or indefinite, in the eyes of these rural people, it is all in the hands of this Yang lawyer.

Entering with Lawyer Yang is Xie Guomin, who is a "paralegal". Everyone else waited outside with gloomy faces, looking forward to this last negotiation before the trial to save Guoqiang's life.

Several people didn't close their eyes all night, and their heads drooped on the stone benches in the courtyard of the detention center. Fu Shun almost fell asleep leaning on Yang Shuzi. Yang Zejin took the things that Lao Xie brought to the child, followed the head here, and went to the office to drink tea.

It took more than an hour for Lawyer Yang and the people to come out. The old stonemason could not wait to ask this and that, and the people nodded and told the others about his brother's presence inside.

A few people who didn't eat breakfast returned to the downtown and casually ate something on the street, and Yang Zejin sued them that the court was in front of them, and then said goodbye and went back to work.

Yang Zejin thought that everything was under control. For the sake of the fourth brother, he did everything he could.

The case was heard as scheduled, and the courtroom had a solemn and majestic atmosphere, and everyone held their breath and waited for the arrival of the presiding judge.

The working group for the trial of the case is composed of the regional intermediate people's courts. Such serious criminal cases should be tried by courts at the level of the Intermediate People's Court or above, and the reason why they are chosen in the county courts is for the convenience of arraignment. As for the people Yang Zejin greeted with good wine and food last night, none of them were in court.

Fu Shun swept all the uniformed staff, and there were almost no kind faces that came out of the hotel last night, and all the people in the court became "black bags......

Guoqiang, who had shaved his head, was brought up in prison uniforms, his hands and feet were handcuffed, and after identifying whether the relevant personnel had any interests, he returned to the "defendant's seat" and buried his head deeply, all the remorse written on his face. When the old stonemason saw his haggard son, he couldn't help but stand up, and was pulled down by the people again.

As soon as the presiding judge was ready, the presiding judge announced the opening of a court investigation, and the defendant Xie Guoqiang re-confessed the circumstances of the day of the crime:

"I have been addicted to gambling since April this year, and I have been involved in gambling organized by Yang Guiyong for a long time, and I was coerced and lured by him to borrow a lot of loan sharks. On the afternoon of September 13, I was in a room at Xiejiaba Primary School to cheat Jinhua, and my father and my brother suddenly rushed in and had a conflict with Yang Guiyong, who immediately took out a stack of IOUs, all of which were gambling debts I owed from gambling with him before, and there were seven or eight hundred yuan. Because I didn't know the interest on it, he went back and forth, and I owed him more than three thousand four hundred dollars. I really couldn't do it, so he called a few people, along with my father and my eldest brother, and beat them up severely. And threatened me that I had to pay back the money within three days, or else I would come to my house and catch the cows and pigs. When my father saw that I was so unsuccessful, he came home and had a big fight with me.

"I felt so bad that I drank more than a pound of wine at night. I'm not drunk when I drink, but I get drunk the next day. Because I was addicted to gambling, my mother-in-law went back to her parents' house before. The next day, I went to my father-in-law's house to take my mother-in-law back. When I arrived, just in time for them to go threshing the grain, I took the mixing bucket and went to the rice field. It didn't take long for the shade to break, and the millet was scattered everywhere, so I was going to go back and cut some bamboo to make up for it, so I first picked a handful of millet and went back to my father-in-law's house. I went back and hugged the child, and then put a knife under the basket, I was going to go to my second uncle's bamboo forest to cut bamboo, who knew that I was groggy that day, it must have been the first night of drinking too much, the wine came up, and ran to the bamboo forest next to Yang Guiyong's house.

"I just cut a bamboo, I saw Yang Guiyong swinging a kitchen knife at me, scolding me for stealing bamboo shamelessly, and saying that I was going to frame him, saying that I was 'turtle son looking for death', and came to me with a knife.

"I don't know when I fell in the vegetable patch by the bamboo forest. When I woke up, I still had blood on my hands. I saw Yang Guiyong, who was not far away, sharpening his knife, and I thought he was going to kill me, so I picked up the knife on the side and went over there. I didn't know what he was doing, and when I turned my face around, I saw that his hands were covered in blood, and I threw the knife over, and I didn't know how accurate it would be, and plunged it into his skull.

"I saw him fall with blood coming out of his skull, and he was more than half awake from the wine, only to realize that he was killing chickens. I rushed over and found him dead, and I collapsed beside him in fright. At this time, his mother-in-law Xiulian came out with the child in her arms. I didn't know what to do, but it ended up full of people......

"I know I'm guilty, I'm sorry for Yang Guiyong, I'm sorry for his old mother, his wife, and his mother-in-law and the baby just born, I'm not human......"

Xie Guoqiang's narrative shocked everyone, and the logic in it contained too many coincidences that were unbelievable, including his family. Because no one can prove this qiē that he said.

Subsequently, the forensic doctor presented the results of the examination. Because no witnesses appeared in court, the prosecutor then presented important evidence, including the knife that pierced Yang Guiyong's head, Xie Guoqiang's clothes at the time of the crime, as well as the testimony of witnesses who did not appear in court to testify and Xie Guoqiang's interrogation statement......