Chapter 194

Seeing this, Bai Jing continued, “You say this is a neighborhood dispute, but I can’t agree with that. He sneaked into my house first, so that’s trespassing. Then he covered my son’s mouth, trying to stop him from speaking, and ran away when my son cried—that’s an attempted crime. And I think if my son hadn’t bitten his hand at that moment, he would have definitely used something to seal my son’s mouth. By then, I, who was washing clothes in the bathroom, could have been harmed too. So this is an attempted crime, not some neighborhood dispute.”

“I actually know that, but it’s been half a year since this happened. If he doesn’t admit it, we can’t do anything about it.”

“Why can’t what my son said be used as evidence?”

“He’s too young, so it can only serve as supplementary evidence,” the officer said. “So the only way is to visit your neighbors and see if anyone saw that man entering or leaving your house.”

“What if no one saw it?”

“Then we’ll try to work on his mindset and see if we can get him to tell the truth.”

“Staying silent means freedom, but speaking up could mean jail time. Which do you think he’ll choose?”

“Ms. Bai, we follow the rules and regulations,” the officer said. “For example, we might roughly know who committed a crime, but without concrete evidence, we can only let them go. This is an era that values the law, so many things have to proceed according to legal steps.”

Hearing the officer’s words, Bai Jing fell silent.

As for Han An, he wasn’t going to the bathroom—he was calling Jin Ju, a colleague of his cousin.

With his cousin already working undercover, Jin Ju was the only one who could help with this.

Once the call connected, Han An asked, “Sister Jin, can you help me with something?”

“What is it?”

“Half a year ago, my son was threatened by someone who broke into our house, and since then, he’s refused to speak,” Han An said. “Over these six months, my wife and I have taken him to see many doctors. The test results show he’s capable of speaking, but due to the psychological trauma, he won’t talk. Then yesterday, when I picked my son up from kindergarten, he saw the person who threatened him in our neighborhood. That shock finally made him start speaking. But because I didn’t notice that person at the time, I don’t know who he is. Tonight, I ran into him and brought him to the police station, but he just won’t admit it. The officers here say that without evidence, they can only let him go. I know this is an era that values evidence, so I just want to know who that person really is, but the officers still won’t tell me. Sister Jin, if it’s convenient, could you talk to the person in charge here and have them give me that person’s information?”

“Just call me Xiao Jin,” Jin Ju said after a pause on the other end of the line. “According to the rules, he really can’t disclose the other person’s personal information to you.”

“I know, but I just don’t want him to get away with it like this.”

“I can’t help with this, sorry.”

“Thank you.”

After saying those two words and realizing Jin Ju had nothing more to say, Han An had no choice but to hang up.

Since Jin Ju wasn’t willing to help, he’d have to rely on himself.

After standing in place for a moment, Han An turned and walked back.

He sat inside for a while before leaving with his wife.

Once out of the police station, Bai Jing took the initiative to link her arm with her husband’s.

The station was only a few hundred meters from their neighborhood, so they chose to walk.

Seeing her husband silent, Bai Jing asked, “Honey, what do we do?”

“If the police station can’t find evidence and he won’t confess, then he’ll definitely go free.”

“That’s not what I want to see.”

“The main issue is that too much time has passed.”

“I know that too.”

“Back then, I thought someone might have broken into the house, but you said no.”

“Because I never imagined he’d sneak in while I was taking out the trash in the evening. The door was closed at all other times.”

“He looks like a thug, so it really might have been targeted at you,” Han An said, glancing at his fair-skinned, beautiful wife. “If our son’s scream hadn’t alerted you, he might have actually gone into the bathroom to attack you, and the consequences would have been unthinkable.”

“That’s why I said our son saved me.”

“Yeah.”

“Honey, are we just going to let him go?”

“He probably lives in Jingli Garden,” Han An said. “So I’ll have the three shop assistants keep watching and follow him. That way, we can figure out exactly which building and apartment he lives in, and then I can go confront him.”

“Beat him up?”

“Maybe.”

“That’s pointless, because what I want is for him to face legal punishment.”

“Without evidence, he can’t possibly face legal punishment,” Han An said. “Actually, if we’d been smarter back then and called the police right away, they might have found his fingerprints in our house. But it’s been half a year now—there’s no way his fingerprints are still there. I can forgive a lot of people, but someone like him who hurt our son is someone I absolutely cannot forgive.”

“Honey, please don’t do anything foolish. Our son can’t lose his father.”

“Why are you saying such unlucky things?”

“I’m just afraid you’ll do something illegal.”

“I won’t,” Han An said, then after a pause, asked, “Why did you go out earlier?”

“I was worried because you’d been gone so long, so I went downstairs to look for you. I didn’t expect to run into him.”

“Luckily, you showed up, or that creep might have gotten away.”

“Too bad he’ll probably be released.”

“Since the law can’t judge him, then I’ll judge him myself!”

Hearing her husband say this, Bai Jing was naturally filled with worry.

The next morning, Bai Jing went to work as usual.

As for Han An, he made a trip to the police station.

When he found out the station had already released the man, Han An was furious.

But without evidence, it was normal for the station to let him go.

So after leaving the station, Han An sent the man’s photo to the WeChat group he shared with the three shop assistants and told them to follow him as soon as they spotted him.

Whoever could confirm which building and apartment the man lived in would get a two-thousand-yuan bonus right away.

After that, Han An drove to Han’s Place.

At Han’s Place, he saw Bai Qin chatting with a colleague.

“Brother-in-law,” Bai Qin said, looking a bit delighted, “why are you here so early today?”

“I didn’t have much to do this morning, so I came over.”

“Sorry, I misjudged you.”

“What do you mean?”

“Because Sister Yina does have a boyfriend, so the voice I heard back then—the man who was with Sister Yina—definitely wasn’t you,” Bai Qin said, narrowing her eyes. “And today, when Sister Yina and I came to Han’s Place together, she even said her boyfriend kept her up all night and her bones felt like they were about to fall apart.”

“Did you hear any noise?”