Chapter 73: Chapter 66 Bursting Through the Door Chapter 73: Chapter 66 Bursting Through the Door Thinking about the human trafficker case, Jiang Ning casually asked, “Have He Hui, Liu Guobin, and Kuang Tun been tried yet?”
“Not yet,” Zhang Lang explained in detail to Jiang Ning, “Even though the team in Fuhua and other colleagues have captured all those traffickers in one fell swoop, there are just too many cases involved and they date back too many years. Just organizing and investigating is going to take a lot of time. But don’t worry, with the number of cases they’re involved in, and the exceptionally brutal nature of their crimes in trafficking children, the death penalty is definitely inescapable.”
Epilogue:
Zhang Lang’s words proved prophetic. Two years later, He Hui, Kuang Tun, and Liu Guobin each stood trial and were immediately sentenced to death, with all their properties confiscated.
After the three were apprehended, their identities as traffickers were exposed, and in this age of advanced information, their families and relatives were all affected. Adults became the subject of ridicule and ostracism in society, and even their children at school suffered bullying and verbal abuse from other students.
Their families wanted nothing to do with them, and their relatives loathed them to the bone.
During the two years awaiting trial, not a single person visited He Hui, Kuang Tun, and Liu Guobin in prison.
Other inmates in the prison, once they knew these three were incarcerated for human trafficking, also held them in contempt.
Although they were all convicts, there is a hierarchy of contempt among criminals! Such acts that break families and traffic young girls, completely devoid of conscience! Absolutely inhuman! They would never commit such conscienceless acts!
In prison, the three were bullied by other inmates daily, beatings and hunger were common, and they lived a life of utter despair.
It was only after two years, when the judge pronounced their sentences, that their sinful lives came to an end with a death penalty.
…
Talking with Zhang Lang had given Jiang Ning a clearer understanding of Qin Taoran’s desire for a divorce, and suing through the court seemed to be the safest approach for the time being. Because with every lawsuit, having prior records increased the likelihood of the court granting the divorce.
But there was one thing, each petition to the court had to be spaced six months apart.
To wait half a year for an uncertain outcome?
Jiang Ning immediately discarded the idea of obtaining a court-ordered divorce.
It was no issue that Ruan Jiahua didn’t want to get a divorce at the moment, she had ways to make him agree to it.
Jiang Ning pulled up the contact information for a private investigator on her phone and then asked him to send over the recent findings about Ruan Jiahua.
This private detective had been hired by Jiang Ning some time ago specifically to investigate Ruan Jiahua.
As Qin Taoran hadn’t contacted Jiang Ning these days, she hadn’t reached out to the private detective either.
The private detective, having taken ten thousand yuan from Jiang Ning in advance, worked diligently and, upon receiving her message, immediately sent over all the information he had gathered on Ruan Jiahua during these days.
Ruan Jiahua, a native of Capital City, worked at a state-owned enterprise and was 35 years old, holding a senior management position at the company. His mother had died in an accident years earlier and his father had passed away from illness.
Ruan Jiahua had excellent grades since he was young, and after growing up, he was admitted to a prestigious undergraduate university and smoothly continued onto graduate research. After completing his master’s degree, he joined the workforce at a state-owned enterprise and his life sailed smoothly, always being “the child of someone else” in everyone’s mouth.
In the eyes of his colleagues, Ruan Jiahua had outstanding work abilities, a good personality, high emotional intelligence, and a clean private life, making him an exceptional good man.
Yet such a man with a seemingly spotless resume had the vile habit of beating his wife behind closed doors.
The private detective had trailed Ruan Jiahua over and over again these days, finding no unsavory private matters. After sending the information to Jiang Ning, he asked, “Should I continue the surveillance?”
Jiang Ning’s reply was succinct: “Keep on following him for now.”
To continue meant more money.
Hearing this, the private detective laughed, “Will do!”
Ruan Jiahua’s daily commute was very predictable, and Jiang Ning had run into him twice while out.
The man was of the age where many others were becoming portly, yet he still maintained his physique very well. Towering and imposing, carrying a briefcase, dressed in a suit and shiny leather shoes free from even a speck of dust.
Seeing Jiang Ning leave, Ruan Jiahua even took the initiative to nod at her in a friendly manner, his face calm, the very image of a friendly neighbor.
But his superficial disguise couldn’t fool Jiang Ning. Through the surveillance, she had seen how he treated his own three-year-old daughter after returning home. The same face revealed entirely different expressions, ones of disgust and indifference, which made one highly suspicious that he might commit violence the next second.
As the time for the variety show to start filming drew nearer, it also meant that the days for Jiang Ning to join the crew were getting closer.
Jiang Ning didn’t want to drag this matter out for too long, monitoring the Little Bear surveillance device and the updates from the private detective every day.
All was silent, when suddenly, Jiang Ning woke up with a start from her sleep—the room was quiet and pitch-dark.
She felt an inexplicable restlessness and turned her head, only to discover that her phone screen had lit up.
With her phone on Do Not Disturb mode, the screen lit up quietly, displaying an unfamiliar number calling.
Jiang Ning picked up the phone and subconsciously answered the call.
It was very quiet on the other end of the phone. No one spoke for a long while, but if one listened carefully, one could hear faint, chaotic noises.
Jiang Ning was startled and suddenly flipped herself over and leaped out of bed like a carp.
“Sister Qin?”
Jiang Ning called out, but the person on the other side didn’t respond and quickly hung up the call.
Jiang Ning had previously exchanged WeChat details with Qin Taoran, and she had told her own phone number to Qin Taoran, but Jiang Ning didn’t know Qin Taoran’s number, because she had said that Ruan Jiahua sometimes checked her phone. If there was an emergency, she would contact Jiang Ning proactively.
Jiang Ning strongly suspected that this call had been from Qin Taoran.
Jiang Ning turned on the room’s light and walked all the way to the balcony.
She peered out and saw that it was already half past midnight, yet the lights were still on in Qin Taoran’s home.
With that ominous premonition growing stronger, Jiang Ning walked towards the living room while calling the private detective.
The phone connected, and the private detective answered in a half-asleep, half-awake state, “Hello?”
Jiang Ning had already made it to the entryway and was putting on her shoes. “What time did Ruan Jiahua get home today?”
“Alright, it seems like it was around one thirty… He went to a dinner party with his superiors after work and then went to KTV with his colleagues, afterward, they had late-night snacks, and he seemed to drink quite a lot…” the private detective’s voice sounded groggy.
After hearing this, Jiang Ning hesitated no longer, headed straight out the door, and knocked on Qin Taoran’s front door.
Jiang Ning knocked hard, and after a few minutes, an impatient voice from inside came, “Who is it?”
Jiang Ning ignored it and continued knocking.
The persistent knocking, which would usually make Ruan Jiahua extremely vigilant and careful about his public image, went on unceasingly. But tonight, he was drunk, and his act of violence had been interrupted mid-way by the knocking outside. Full of aggression and impatiently wearing his slippers, Ruan Jiahua went to open the door.
He was determined to see which “bastard” kept knocking, ready to break the person’s hands!
Ruan Jiahua squinted his eyes, and while opening the door, he shouted furiously, “Who the hell are you?!”
Standing outside the door, Jiang Ning could tell from Ruan Jiahua’s aggression-filled demeanor that her suspicions were absolutely correct.
Without a word, Jiang Ning looked down at the door gap of about twenty to thirty centimeters and kicked it with full force!
With a loud “bang,” Ruan Jiahua, who was behind the door, was struck in the head and sent stumbling back several steps by the massive force!
As the door gap opened wide, removing any excess cover, Jiang Ning stepped in.