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nTranslator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

nIt was May 26th on Wednesday in the fifth week of semester.

nAfter Lie Mengmeng’s follow-up last night, Father Wang could confirm that the old man’s dementia had been completely cured. At the moment, the old man was worried about his vegetable plot in the neighboring city suburb; before he had left to come here, he had entrusted it to Zhang San next door to make sure the vegetables didn’t die. Once they were ripe, Zhang San could harvest and sell them, and keep the earnings for himself.

nBut two hours before the old man had been about to leave on his tricycle, something big happened in the Wang family! — Mother Wang had been groped on the subway on her way home after doing her grocery shopping!

nShe hadn’t just been molested, the pervert had also pushed her so that her forehead had knocked into a subway pole and she had cracked her skull.

nThe worse thing was that when the pervert had hurried to get off the train, he had even kicked Mother Wang, pointed at her in the crowd of people around them and shouted loudly, “There are so many people watching, and a hussy like you is deliberately wearing so little! You think you can blame me? Dream on!”

nThere was a saying that a villain blames his victim. This pervert had a tattoo on his arm and seemed to belong to some triad. He also had a rough and threatening look. At that moment, there was no one who dared to stand up and speak for Mother Wang.

nMother Wang was a woman who would never stir up trouble herself. This was the first time that she had been pointed at and criticized for wearing revealing clothes in front of so many people; she felt so wronged that she almost shed tears.

nWhen she got home and Father Wang saw that she was bleeding, he was so angry that his black-rimmed glasses fell off! The old man straightaway called the police — if there was a problem, you should always call the police!

nWithin a radius of fifty li around East Huang Road, there was only one cultivation police station, which was idle most of the time. Since fewer people lived in the outskirts, they didn’t even have cases of petty theft, which had given rise to a very bad habit of “laziness” in the police department.

nIt was already two hours after Mother Wang had returned home and the old man had made a report so that the police could come to the house to take a statement…

nJust when Father Wang started to become a little impatient, the doorbell rang.

nA police officer in uniform was at the door with a small notebook in his hand.

nThe police officer looked at Father Wang. “Was it your family that called the police?”

nFather Wang: “Yes, but it was my father who made the call.”

nThe police officer looked at the old man next to Father Wang. “…So this is…?”

nThe old man nodded. “That’s right, I’m the one who called the police. I’m youruncle 1 .”

nPolice officer: “…”

nAs the three sat down, Mother Wang gave the police officer a glass of water. He looked at the injury on Mother Wang’s head. “Is this the victim?”

nThe old man got very emotional. “Yes! This is my daughter! She was felt up and even hit on the subway! When you find out who he is… I’ll definitely use zhan yi shi ba die 2 to ‘feel’ him to death!”

nFather Wang: “…”

nPolice officer: “…”

n“Don’t get excited, Grandfather Wang.” The policeman took out his police identification. “Look, my surname is also Wang, so we’re from the same clan. Please believe that I will properly handle the problem for you.”

nFather Wang and the old man looked at the police code on his identification paper: SB12138…

nOfficer Wang was a little embarrassed and explained, “East Huang Road is in the north of Songhai city. For short, it is… SB 3 .”

nThe old man and Father Wang nodded accommodatingly. “Well then, Officer Wang, ask whatever you want.”

nOfficer Wang straightened his collar. “I have a lot of experience in handling cases. We receive sixty police alerts a year in our area, and I handle half of them! Sirs can rest assured!”

nWith that, Officer Wang looked at Mother Wang. “I suggest that you get an injury assessment done first, or you can take a picture of the injury, as it will all be evidence later! But now, let’s take a statement first… Madam Victim, do you remember the specific time?”

nMother Wang answered truthfully, “It was between four and five o’clock in the afternoon when I was on my way back from grocery shopping. It happened on the subway.”

nOfficer Wang nodded, jotted down some notes in his little notebook and then looked up. “This is the afternoon rush hour, isn’t it normal for buttocks to be pressed together? Perhaps the other party didn’t mean to do it?”

nThe old man pulled out a black iron kitchen knife from under the sofa…

nOfficer Wang: “I see… let’s assume that wasn’t the case. Then, perhaps madam was wearing something a little too cool?”

nThe old man then took a whetstone out from under the coffee table…

nOfficer Wang: “Well… it’s almost summer in Songhai city, it’s humid and stifling during the rainy season; it’s very normal to wear short-sleeved shirts.”

nOfficer Wang broke out in a bit of a cold sweat. “Then, excuse me, Madam Victim, besides the bruise on your head, are you hurt anywhere else?”

nMother Wang: “That man kicked me in the arm before the subway doors opened.”

nThe old man added, “And this son of a bitch has a nasty mouth; my daughter was mentally traumatized.”

nOfficer Wang nodded and stared at the little notebook in his hand. “Let’s sort out the details of the incident. The victim, Mrs Wang, was on the subway between four and five o’clock on her way home after grocery shopping when she was molested by a tattooed, burly man who later shoved her and cause her to bump her head. As he was getting off, he kicked Mrs Wang’s left arm and verbally attacked and humiliated her. The attack was confined to the subway, and the whole crime took less than five minutes, until the other party got off. The situation is very clear…”

nGrandfather Wang: “What do you think, Officer Wang?”

nThe experienced Officer Wang cupped his chin and nodded gravely. “From my years of experience in handling cases, this looks like a nasty case of underground subway groping.”

nFather Wang, Mother Wang and the old man: “…”

nOfficer Wang: “If you are determined to find this wandering hand, you will have to go through the standard legal procedure.”

nFather Wang: “What do we need to do, specifically?”

nOfficer Wang: “According to standard procedure, Mrs Wang was attacked at the East Huang North Road stop. So first of all, we local police station will file a case and open an investigation. We will then work with the Department of Urban Construction to obtain subway surveillance footage. Out of the millions of people that take the subway every day, we’ll check possible suspects one by one. This is then followed by legal proceedings: the filing of a lawsuit, prosecution of the accused, the first hearing, a second hearing, the court trial… but from my many years of experience in handling cases, this is actually quite difficult to deal with; identifying the suspect is not easy as the subway is really too busy, unless someone directly recorded a video of the crime when it happened. And even if we do find a suspect, the entire process will take at least three years.”

nGrandfather Wang was very stubborn. “No matter how long the process takes, we must prosecute this person!”

nBut at this moment, the experienced Officer Wang shrugged his shoulders. “Regretfully, sirs, if you are determined to file a lawsuit, then I’m unable to take care of it… I don’t have the authority to open an investigation.”

nFather Wang: “Didn’t you say you’re very experienced?”

nThe experienced Officer Wang nodded his head solemnly. “Yes, experience as a part-timer is indeed enriching.”

nFather Wang: “…”

nNext to him, the old man was already sharpening his knife…

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