Gu Qili densely covered the wall with words, rubbing them off with her sleeve before continuing to write. Soon, her piece of chalk was worn down, and she was too tired to keep her eyes open.
Just then, the police came to take her for interrogation, and once again she was led into the interrogation room.
This time, six or seven people were sitting opposite her, two of whom looked like police leaders, sitting at the back with serious expressions, just listening.
The content of the interrogation was the same old story, starting with her name and age. She had to repeatedly answer them until the police mentioned the details of the case again, at which point she shut her mouth and stopped responding.
Those two leader-like figures were clearly dissatisfied, which made the interrogators restless, and their tone became harsher.
Gu Qili kept reciting words in her mind, almost ignoring those paranoid questions. For original chapters go to novelꞁire.net
The murmuring voices around her kept repeating, the patience of the police seemed never to exhaust. The room had no air conditioning, and she was sweating profusely, yet they wouldn’t even give her a cup of water.
The interrogation continued until midnight. She was hungry, thirsty, and sleepy; the faces in front of her began to blur and split into double images.
"Gu Qili, you held a grudge against Guan Zhe because you couldn’t agree on a price, so you took advantage of his unguarded moment and seriously injured him, didn’t you?"
"No." She shook her head, feeble and drained. All she wanted was to sleep, but they simply wouldn’t let her, "I didn’t."
The room grew hotter, and her head spun, feeling almost like a heatstroke. They repeated the same questions over and over, and someone even placed a document in front of her with a pen on top of it.
"Sign it, and you can eat and sleep, you will feel better." The tempting voice echoed tirelessly in her ears, luring her like a siren’s song.
Under such immense pressure and adverse conditions, she had been sitting for a full twelve hours.
Gu Qili’s face was pale, her eyes unresponsive, her lips chapped and peeling.
Under the table, she clenched her fists tightly, digging her nails into her flesh. She knew she must not confess, for if she did, she’d be doomed to spend the next several years or decades in a cold prison cell.
But she was at her limit; she was extremely thirsty, every cell in her body screaming for water, and she desperately wanted to sleep. She hadn’t closed her eyes since she entered the room, a day and a night ago.
What time was it now? Early morning or the next day...
Looking at the pen and paper in front of her, her mind began to blur, her resolve wavered, and the fist she was clenching finally loosened, her curled fingers lifting, seemingly reaching for the pen.
The interrogating officers exchanged smiles, knowing that although torture was not permissible, their psychological tactics were extremely effective, especially against such an inexperienced young woman.
Gu Qili’s hand almost reached the pen, but then she abruptly pulled back, biting her lip so hard that she drew blood.
Raising her eyes, she looked coldly at the astonished expressions of the two policemen and repeated for the Nth time: "I acted in self-defense."
"You’re really choosing the hard way," one of the leader-looking figures behind her finally lost patience, standing up indignantly regardless of his stature.
Gu Qili did not look at him, nor did she have the energy to, her head drooping as if to lie down on the table, but the policeman standing behind her immediately straightened her head, forcing her to stay awake.
At that moment, a police officer came in from outside, glanced at Gu Qili, then leaned over to whisper something in the leader’s ear.
Within moments, the expression on the leader’s face changed.