Hearing the chief's words, Leng Chuanjin's face instantly turned cold.
"If I'm not allowed to take someone away at will," he said, "then are you guys free to arrest people at will?"
The chief walked up to the two of them, took out a handkerchief, and wiped the sweat oozing from his forehead.
Xia Sanghuan looked up. By the dim light coming in from the window, she recognized the chief's face.
If she remembered correctly, this was the same chief who had handled the case when she came to the police station last time.
He looked to be in his early fifties. Despite his age, he stood straight with an imposing manner, looking like he had served in the military.
Back then, he had been respectful and professional towards them. But now, in such a short time, his attitude had done a complete 180 - degree turn.
"Sir Leng, we're just following orders from above," the chief said with a look of helplessness on his face, but his tone brooked no argument. "Even if you insist on taking someone away, you need to follow the proper procedures."
"Who is your 'above'?" Leng Chuanjin asked. "The provincial authorities or someone else?"
As soon as he said this, the chief's face changed.
"Sir Leng, you know the ins and outs as well as I do. It's better not to get too involved in some things."
Leng Chuanjin curled his lips, a sneering smile on his face.
"I really shouldn't get too involved. But unfortunately, you've laid your hands on someone who belongs to me."
As he spoke, he put his arm around the girl's shoulder.
"I'm sure she's innocent. And right now, you don't have sufficient evidence to keep detaining her. All you want is the bail, right? I'll pay whatever the amount is."
He took out a card from the inner lining of his suit and placed it in Yun Ye's hand.
Then, with one hand protecting the girl, he strode past the chief.
Before leaving, he turned back and said to the chief, "Although the 'bail' isn't a huge sum, I still advise Chief Lin not to take too much. After all, the grass on the grave of the previous chief who was brought down by money hasn't even grown tall yet."
After saying this, he didn't care about Chief Lin's expression and just turned around and left.
He took her to the chief's office first. Then, as if he knew the place like the back of his hand, he rummaged through the drawer and found a bail document.
He handed the girl a pen and pointed at the document.
"Sign here."
She quickly scanned the content and signed her name in the designated place.
The man picked up the signed document. After walking out of the door, he gave it to his subordinate who had been waiting outside for a long time.
"Get that old man to sign it later. If he refuses, dig out what he did in the past and settle the score with him."
The subordinate took the document, responded, and then turned around to do as he was told.
It wasn't until the subordinate's back disappeared at the end of the corridor that the frown on his face gradually relaxed.
"Let's go," he said, turning to the girl.
She stepped forward and looked up at his face.
"Is it really okay now?"
Although she had just confirmed the authenticity and validity of the document, there was no guarantee that the other side wouldn't go back on their word. After all, they weren't official personnel, and there were many internal matters they couldn't be aware of.
"Don't worry. I've taken care of everything," the man said, patting her head reassuringly, thinking she was still scared. "Let's go home."
Just as he was about to hold her hand, the girl took two steps back.
"We can't leave yet," she said, suddenly remembering the tape recorder in the interrogation room. "There's something very important I need to check."
Seeing her serious expression, the man's face also became solemn.
He followed her to the door of the interrogation room where she had been held.
She reached out and tried to push the door. It wasn't locked and opened smoothly.
She rushed in quickly.
She looked around the room but didn't find what she was looking for.
"What's wrong?" the man asked, following closely behind.
"Second brother, help me look for a black box - shaped tape recorder in this room," she said, squatting down and starting to search carefully.
Seeing the girl's actions, he realized the seriousness of the situation and also started to look for it.
However, in the end, they had almost felt every inch of the floor, but still couldn't find the tape recorder.
The girl stood up, patted the dust off her pants, and thought dejectedly.
It had been so long since her interrogation. It was only natural that the other side would have taken it away as soon as they became alert.
"Is that tape recorder really that important?" the man asked.
She nodded and then shook her head.
"It recorded what I said. But during the conversation just now, I didn't say a single word that would be disadvantageous to me. Even if the other side gets it, they probably won't be able to stir up much trouble."
As she spoke, she walked towards the door.
"Let's go and check the room opposite. The computer in there should have recorded the whole interrogation."
They walked to the door of the opposite room, but found they couldn't open it.
Moreover, this door had an additional alarm device. If they tried to force it open like before, the lock would just lock itself.
Xia Sanghuan rubbed her forehead and suddenly felt weak.
She wasn't sure if it was because of the hit from the policewoman just now, but her head was feeling dizzy. And she had been in a highly tense state until now. Now that she had relaxed, she felt a burning pain on her face.
"I'll go find someone to open the door. You rest here for a while," the man said, reaching out to support her and making her lean against the wall.
She opened her mouth, wanting to say that she would go too, but she was really too weak, so she had to give up.
Not long after, Leng Chuanjin brought Chief Lin over. He and his subordinates kept a close eye on the chief all the way. For a moment, it was hard to tell who was the police officer.
Chief Lin didn't struggle much. He raised his hands in a gesture of surrender, indicating that he would go get the key.
But after opening the door, what awaited them was a computer that had been completely initialized. There was nothing left.
Xia Sanghuan pounded the wall in frustration.
"Don't look at me, Sir Leng. I only came here after I received the news that you were coming to the police station. I have no idea what happened before," Chief Lin said, smiling. The wrinkles on his face looked somehow ironic. "Now that the bail document has been signed, Sir Leng, you can take this young lady home."
As he spoke, he stepped aside to make way for them.
Just now, they had tried to stop them from leaving, but now they were practically kicking them out. This made Leng Chuanjin suspect that they had already achieved their goal.
His face darkened. For a moment, he didn't know whether to leave or stay.
It wasn't until Xia Sanghuan beside him couldn't take it anymore and squatted down on the ground. Her body was almost at its limit.