"The laxative he bought for you — that's the poison you slipped into the cafeteria food?" Liu Wangli nodded and pressed on.

"Yes, but he never said it was poison. He said it was a kind of laxative..." Zhong Yongliang said. "He told me it was made from seven different herbs and had few side effects, but that if the whole school came down with diarrhea, it would cause too much of a stir. He said you only got the runs if you ate a few of those seven herbs, and that depending on which ones you ate, the effect differed, so no one would grow suspicious..."

Liu Wangli nodded. If what Zhong Yongliang said was true, then he had most likely been used by his own relative. After all, both the idea and the laxatives used to carry it out had come from that relative. Zhong Yongliang was nothing more than a duped man who had executed someone else's plan.

The very fact that the relative had given Zhong Yongliang seven kinds of herbs showed it could not possibly have been a case of mistaking some other medicine for a laxative — a mixture like that could only have been put together deliberately, with painstaking calculation. And Zhong Yongliang, the fool, had done exactly as he was told, never once doubting any of it.

"What's your relative's name?" Liu Wangli asked.

"Jin Maoxing. A distant relative of my uncle Jin Gubang," Zhong Yongliang said.

Liu Wangli nodded and was about to say something when his phone rang. He took it out and saw that it was the squad calling, so he answered at once. "Liu Wangli speaking. Go ahead."

"Captain Liu, a man named Jin Maoxing has come to the station to turn himself in. He claims he's the mastermind behind the poisoning at First High's cafeteria..." The call was from one of Liu Wangli's subordinates.

"Oh? All right, I'm on my way back!" Liu Wangli thought it a remarkable coincidence — he had only just learned the suspect's name here, and over there the man was already surrendering himself. Still, it put an end to any doubt he had about Zhong Yongliang's story.

He hung up and said to Zhong Yongliang, "Zhong Yongliang, though you can be counted a victim in this matter, you do bear responsibility all the same. Until the case is closed, please don't leave Songshan City."

"All right..." Zhong Yongliang nodded. "I'll be in the hospital for a while anyway. I won't go wandering off..."

"And there's no need to be afraid anymore. Our police have wiped out the kidney-harvesting syndicate, so you needn't carry any psychological burden!" Liu Wangli said. "We hope you'll serve as a witness for the police, and when the time comes, testify against that criminal gang."

"What? The kidney-harvesting syndicate has been wiped out?" Zhong Yongliang was stunned. He'd had his kidney swapped there at noon — how could they have been destroyed so quickly? That was far too fast.

"That's right. The syndicate's headquarters have been pulled up by the roots. Of course, if you're afraid they'll take revenge on you, we can assign officers to protect you around the clock while you're in the hospital," Liu Wangli said.

All that talk from Zhong Yongliang about not wanting to testify for fear of losing face and being retaliated against had been pure nonsense, meant only to throw Liu Wangli off. But now, hearing that the kidney syndicate had been smashed, his mind began to work. He wondered whether An Jianwen had been caught.

In his heart, Zhong Yongliang still hated An Jianwen bitterly — he was the one who had cut out his kidney, after all. As for Wei Zhao, Zhong Yongliang had long since stopped hating him. The man's kidney was inside his own body now; what was there left to hate? Pity, if anything.

A fine expert of Lin University, and he'd lost a kidney — it was laughable just to say it aloud. Brother Black Panther had said Wei Zhao was a Yellow Rank expert himself, so now that he had a Yellow Rank expert's kidney inside him, did that mean he, too, had Yellow Rank strength? Not all of it — half would do! Zhong Yongliang fantasized about a glorious life commanding the wind and the rain, and decided that once he was well, he would test his own strength...

So when he heard the kidney syndicate had been destroyed, his shock quickly gave way to satisfaction. He could do nothing to An Jianwen himself, but the police could. He had his kidney now, and no further use for An Jianwen. Let it be smashed.

"So then, if I testify, could what I did before — the poisoning — count as atonement for my crime?" Zhong Yongliang asked, feigning hesitation.

"Naturally. After all, we have to weigh everything when determining your final punishment," Liu Wangli said.

"Good, then I'll testify!" Zhong Yongliang nodded. "But you have to protect me — I don't want the remnants of the kidney syndicate coming after me..."

"You can set your mind at ease on that score. We will certainly take our witness's safety into account," Liu Wangli nodded.

Zhong Yongliang was delighted. He had poisoned people and come out of it not only unscathed but with police protection into the bargain. He was simply too brilliant. If Wei Zhao could see this, he'd probably die of rage. Wahaha!

After Liu Wangli left, Zhong Fabai hurried into Zhong Yongliang's room. "Yongliang, how did it go? Any problems?"

"Not a one. My acting was first-rate!" Zhong Yongliang said smugly. "Liu Wangli seems to sympathize with me a great deal. He told me I was deceived, and that I'm now redeeming myself through meritorious service, so it ought to blow over."

"Good, good!" Zhong Fabai nodded. "That relative of your uncle Jin Gubang's has been taken care of. Young Master Bing gave his family three million as a settlement. His wife died young and he has two sons — he was worrying himself sick over where the money for their marriages would come from. Now he has everything at once. He's beside himself with joy, says he could die a happy man."

"By the way, Dad, I heard from Liu Wangli that the police wiped out the kidney syndicate?" Zhong Yongliang lowered his voice. "I had my kidney swapped at noon — how did the police manage to destroy them so soon? Was it An Jianwen's headquarters they smashed?"

"Surely not? That fast? Then An Jianwen's out of luck!" Zhong Fabai said, and an indescribable pleasure rose in his heart. Cutting out his son's kidney — did they think giving one back would settle the account? Now that his headquarters had been destroyed, that could serve as punishment. "Still, Heaven favors the Zhong family. It happened right after your transplant. You're a lucky one."

"Of course! I'd say our family's fortunes have turned. Not only did I get one over on Wei Zhao, you've got Young Master Bing behind you too! From now on, there'll be no stopping the Zhong family!" Zhong Yongliang said happily.

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