Gao Yong said, "It’s not quite a defeat, but helping Tang Xinran get any justice will be difficult. At most, Meng De Lake might get a transfer as punishment, or be temporarily removed from his position. Once the public interest dies down, Meng De Lake will just return."
Young Master Xue replied, "How is that any different from losing the case? If Gu Chen only has this one piece of evidence, the case is likely to end like this: just a mild penalty for Meng De Lake, which makes no real difference. It’s still tough for Gu Chen to win this lawsuit."
Gao Yong nodded, "Indeed."
Currently, the case has hit two major hurdles.
Meng De Lake insists that he deleted the video footage just to avoid amplifying the issue.
In reality, the footage only shows when the incident occurred and that no one called to report it immediately.
Meng De Lake clings to the excuse that he thought someone else would call 911, arguing it’s not his problem.
As for destroying evidence, Meng De Lake claims ignorance.
A comprehensive defensive strategy.
Even without a lawyer, he could find ways to distance himself from the situation.
Making him go to prison? Not going to happen.
Destroying evidence for what?
Tang Xinran committed suicide. What evidence would he need to destroy?
He didn’t push her, so Meng De Lake remains unfazed.
The most he’d face is a trivial penalty, which amounts to nothing.
Viewers of the livestream are infuriated by Meng De Lake’s attitude but can do nothing about it.
[Meng De Lake, this bastard deleted the video footage, and made that late call to the parents, clearly trying to erase evidence.]
[Exactly, Meng De Lake says it’s not his problem now? Tang Xinran jumped and you couldn’t call 911? It’s not that you can’t call 911; you just didn’t want to. It’s not like you forgot to call 911.]
[But how can Meng De Lake be charged now? The footage he deleted doesn’t contain substantial evidence to prove much, and while Tang Xinran could have been saved after her jump, it was indeed her own doing, so how can Meng De Lake be blamed?]
[I also don’t think Meng De Lake should be unfairly charged. I can’t stand him either, but at most, he’ll be transferred, and he’ll return when the attention subsides. How could this case possibly imprison Meng De Lake? It’s almost unthinkable.]
[Darn it, Nagelan, does this mean Meng De Lake might get away scot-free?]
[But indeed, there’s no evidence proving Meng De Lake intentionally didn’t call 911 or intentionally erased evidence. We don’t know if he was aware of the details, either. It’s tough to convict him.]
Several lawyers watching the live stream also find the situation quite tricky.
If no new evidence surfaces, this case might....
Gu Chen said, "Meng De Lake, did you really forget to call 911? Why was your first instinct to delete the surveillance footage instead of calling 911? This, in and of itself, is the school’s negligence."
Upon hearing Gu Chen, Meng De Lake became even less afraid. "I just forgot, alright? I was too shocked by Tang Xinran’s jump, I was utterly bewildered. Once I came to my senses, I made the call, didn’t I? No one else called 911 either. Why am I the one being singled out here? Lawyer Gu, can you provide evidence that I prevented others from calling 911? The fact is, no one called."
Gu Chen indeed could not produce evidence that Meng De Lake stopped others from calling 911; no evidence exists for that right now.
Even if the school had surveillance footage, it couldn’t capture what Meng De Lake said.
Meng De Lake shrugged, looking innocent. "Lawyer Gu, I admit the school erred. It was indeed negligent, but please don’t attribute Tang Xinran’s death to me. Understand this fact: Tang Xinran committed suicide, I didn’t push her, okay? The school has problems, you can let the court decide. Besides, the school has already compensated Tang Xinran’s family thirty thousand yuan."
Gu Chen continued, "So after the incident occurred, why wasn’t her family contacted first? Why was the funeral parlor called instead? When Tang Xinran’s parents arrived, they only saw her ashes."
Meng De Lake shook his head, "There’s nothing I could do. The school had to proceed with classes, and Tang Xinran could no longer be saved. I was just following procedures. If not to the funeral parlor, where would I take her? To your home?"
Meng De Lake increasingly felt confident in his defense. Those lawyers were unreliable; he had to rely on himself.
He was well aware of what he hadn’t done, and even if he had done something, he could easily deny it.
Meng De Lake sighed, "I deeply regret Tang Xinran’s fate, but I had no choice. I was genuinely startled at the time and forgot to call her parents. My priority was to minimize the impact, so I immediately called the funeral parlor to have her moved there. As for why she was cremated, that’s not my responsibility. Shouldn’t you ask the funeral parlor? Do you expect me to answer for the funeral parlor’s actions too?"
Yan Kailong and Kang Guizhong, upon seeing Meng De Lake’s adeptness, were straightening their backs.
There might still be hope for this case!
Even if Gu Chen initially seemed unbeatable, even producing video evidence, it was all in vain!
What good is having the footage?
You can’t hear anything in the surveillance; no one knows what exactly transpired.
Tang Xinran did indeed jump to her death.
And at that moment, nearby was Yan Kailong.
Yan Kailong was Tang Xinran’s homeroom teacher.
Gu Chen said, "Why did Tang Xinran take her life? Yan Kailong, can you explain? You were there beside her. What transpired? You kept speaking to her in the footage; what were you saying?"
Seeing Meng De Lake’s confidence, Yan Kailong also regained his composure.
Nothing can be heard in the footage, so he could say whatever he wanted.
Yan Kailong said, "Lawyer Gu is just eager to find fault, isn’t he? Tell me, Lawyer Gu, did I push Tang Xinran?"
Gu Chen remained silent, it was indeed not Yan Kailong who pushed her.
Yan Kailong continued, "After the incident, I was also deeply grieved. I never expected it to turn out like this. It was just that Tang Xinran hadn’t done well on an exam, not even passing one subject. So, I merely provided guidance on studying and offered her reasonable plans and suggestions."
"Who could have foreseen...that she would break down, and thus...."
"I truly regret it, and I feel guilty for not saving her."
"Alas....."