Mu Mian opened her eyes wide and looked at Fang Rui, "Fang Rui, you didn't let me hire a hacker earlier. Are you teaching me to do bad things now?"
Chen Xue was also surprised. How could the usually upright Captain Fang be instigating Mu Mian to break the law?
Fang Rui patted Mu Mian's head and corrected her: "Mu Mian, computer viruses are very common. This is common knowledge. It's Mr. Yu's computer that got a virus, what does that have to do with us?"
Mu Mian nodded, "I see. Getting a virus isn't illegal!"
You don't understand at all! Chen Xue just realized that Fang Rui could be a bit slyly mischievous.
"Mian Mian, ask your friend to add some creepy music," Chen Xue said. "It will help set the mood."
"No problem." Mu Mian looked at them again, "Do you have any other requests? Tell me all at once, otherwise if you add requirements later, it'll cost more money."
Mu Mian immediately contacted her hacker friend using her encrypted email and told him her requirements.
The hacker said he could do it, but it would cost double.
Mu Mian sent him the money right away.
The hacker replied that he would strike when Yu Haibo was working late at night on his PowerPoint, as that would have the best effect.
Chen Xue exclaimed in surprise: "Mu Mian, you're so impressive, you even know a hacker friend?"
"We met in an online mental health support group. He became my friend because I was the only one willing to play air chess with him."
"What's air chess?"
"There's no chessboard or pieces, you have to remember the positions of your moves and your opponent's moves in your head. It's really fun. Want me to play with you? But with you, we might only be able to play tic-tac-toe."
"No thanks!"
Chen Xue was speechless. Mu Mian's friends were just as strange as her. She asked again: "How much did you pay to hire him?"
Mu Mian held up five fingers.
"Fifty thousand?"
Mu Mian shook her head.
"Five hundred thousand?"
Mu Mian continued shaking her head, "Fifty US dollars. He said Mr. Yu's computer didn't even have a firewall, so he got in easily. It wasn't technically challenging at all. But he still charged me because he was afraid if he didn't, I'd ask him for favors all the time!"
"Do you often ask him to hack computers for you?"
"Of course not. Including this time, it's only been twice."
"Whose computer did you hack last time?" Chen Xue glanced at Fang Rui, who had returned to his seat, and whispered, "It wasn't Captain Fang's, was it?"
Mu Mian nodded guiltily, "Yes. I wanted to know what Fang Rui likes." She added: "But he doesn't have any hobbies. His computer only has work files. His inner world is quite barren."
"..." Who still uses computers for entertainment these days? Doesn't everyone play on their phones now? But Chen Xue didn't dare remind Mu Mian, afraid she might hack Fang Rui's phone next.
Late that night, Yu Haibo opened his computer, intending to play a game to relax. Suddenly his computer froze, and eerie music began to play.
Just as he was about to shut it down, his screen suddenly split into many small frames, each playing the video of Lu Tian being raped. Accompanied by fancy special effects, these frames started rotating in a mesmerizing way.
He tried to turn off the computer, but couldn't. He was sweating profusely from anxiety.
Ten minutes later, his computer finally returned to normal. The video file he had deleted now reappeared prominently on the desktop. The file kept flashing, impossible to ignore.
He successfully lost sleep that night.
The next morning, when he turned on his computer, the same thing happened again.
He didn't hesitate any longer. He sent the video to Nie Yan, indicating that he would testify in court if needed.
On the day of the trial, the sky was clear and the sun shone brightly.
Fang Rui, Mu Mian, Zhang, Chen Xue, and others also went to the courthouse. Rape cases are usually not open to the public, but they were the investigating officers who handled the case, so they could attend.
They had learned from Mu Mian's hacker friend that Yu Haibo had sent the surveillance video to Nie Yan. So they all came to see Lin Qianjie go to jail.
"Fang Rui, thank you all for coming to support us," Nie Yan greeted them when she saw Fang Rui and the others.
Lu Tian had put on makeup today and was wearing a white chiffon maxi dress. She looked spirited and didn't seem nervous at all. She appeared relaxed, as if certain of her victory.
"Mr. Yu sent me the surveillance video and agreed to testify," Nie Yan said, holding up a USB drive, her face full of confidence. "We're sure to win this case!"
The video had been sent just two hours before the trial. Nie Yan hurried to submit it as new evidence. This normally wouldn't follow proper procedure, but luckily the court clerk knew her and bent the rules a bit to allow her to submit it successfully. Otherwise, she would have had to wait until the next hearing to submit it.
After everyone had arrived in court, the presiding judge declared the trial open, and Lin Qianjie was brought to the defendant's seat. His expression was casual and nonchalant, as if he were at a bar rather than in court.
After the judge went through the routine questioning of Lin Qianjie, prosecutor Nie Yan read out the indictment.
Lin Qianjie's defense lawyer, Wang Li, immediately began his defense: "The charges in the indictment are unfounded. My client and the plaintiff were in a romantic relationship. Prior to this, they had already been intimate multiple times.
On the night in question, my client and the plaintiff were alone together, and overcome by passion, they engaged in consensual relations.
Because my client did not promise to marry the plaintiff, she is falsely accusing my client of forcing her. This is a malicious accusation by the plaintiff.
I have already submitted the relevant evidence to the court."
The judge had already reviewed the evidence provided by Wang Li. He turned to Nie Yan: "Prosecutor, do you have any objections to these photographs?"
"Yes!" Nie Yan held up one of the photos, showing Lu Tian and Lin Qianjie wearing matching outfits. "Don't the two people in this photo appear to be wearing couple outfits?"
Nie Yan then produced a group photo, "But this clothing was actually a T-shirt for a certain event. Everyone in this photo is wearing the same shirt."
"The angles of these photos are all very strange. For example, in this one, neither the plaintiff nor the defendant is facing the camera directly, which doesn't match our usual photo-taking habits. It's reasonable to assume that this was originally a group photo, but to capture just these two people alone, they had to shoot from this awkward angle." Nie Yan went on to explain the other photos.
She concluded by saying: "The defense lawyer is attempting to mislead everyone with these photos, creating a false impression that the victim and the defendant were dating."
Wang Li then called other witnesses to the stand.
The first to testify was Lin Qianjie's female secretary.
"Our boss was definitely dating Miss Lu. That day, Miss Lu went into our boss's office. Our boss came out midway to give me some tasks, and I saw lipstick marks on the corner of his mouth. They must have been kissing, otherwise how would our boss have lipstick on his face?"
"When did this happen?"
"July 15th."
Nie Yan smiled, "The victim had lip inflammation in early July, so she hadn't been using lipstick for most of that month. So how could the lipstick marks on your boss's face have anything to do with the victim?"
"I..."
"Objection! This is leading the witness," Wang Li interrupted Nie Yan's questioning.
"Objection sustained. Prosecutor, please present relevant evidence," the judge said.
"The victim mentioned having lip inflammation in her livestream video. She livestreams every day, and she hasn't been wearing lipstick in her recent videos."
The next to testify was the janitor from Lu Tian's apartment complex: "I saw Mr. Lin leaving Miss Lu's apartment."
Nie Yan asked, "How many times did you see this?"
"Two or three times?"
"You usually clean the hallways between 5 and 7 in the morning. So you saw Mr. Lin in the morning each time?" Nie Yan inquired.
"Yes."
"If the defendant and the victim were in a relationship, why would he leave my client's home so early in the morning?" Nie Yan looked at the judge, "The victim once lost a key. I suspect this key was picked up by the defendant. He used the key to sneak into the victim's home and create the false impression that he was living with the victim."
Nie Yan systematically refuted each piece of evidence presented by the defense lawyer.
However, these rebuttals weren't strong enough, causing the case to fall into a "Rashomon" situation where neither side could definitively prove the truth or falsehood of the events.
"Your Honor, I have submitted a new piece of evidence, a surveillance video," Nie Yan said.
