Emergence - Chapter 16

Chapter 16

I don't remember how I got back. My mind was a blank slate the entire way, all I knew was that I had to get back, get back, get back. It was around eleven at night when I appeared at the entrance of the police station, the cold wind bleak and desolate. The moment I stepped inside, I heard the shrill, harsh voice of a middle-aged woman and the helpless, placating voice of a man.

The police station wasn't large, and it wasn't my first time in one. Just inside the door was an outer hall. To the left were two desks and chairs for the officers on duty. To the right were several rows of chairs, occupied by a few people: a middle-aged couple, a young man, a beautiful young woman, and a disheveled woman who looked like a madwoman. They sat apart from each other. The middle-aged couple and the young man sat together, and a tall, thin police officer in a dark blue uniform was speaking to the middle-aged woman. They were the source of the noise; everyone else was quiet. The beautiful woman sat next to the madwoman, and the two of them were silent, seemingly treating the other three as if they were thin air.

As I stepped in, the other officer on duty saw me, stood up, and asked, "Who are you looking for?"

"I'm Gu Fan. I heard something happened to Lin Yi."

As soon as the words left my mouth, I felt every gaze in the room focus on me. Lin Yi seemed to react to my arrival. She stiffly raised a hand, pushing aside the stray hairs on her forehead, and her eyes turned toward me, heavy and dark. The blackness in those eyes terrified me.

My senior saw me and got up to greet me, but she was cut off by the voice of the other middle-aged woman.

"So you're that Gu Fan. I hear my daughter-in-law has been living at your place for a long time. Fine, whatever. But how did my granddaughter end up at your house too? Who do you think you are?"

The woman spoke in a mix of Shanghai dialect and Mandarin, her tone naturally harsh and affected. Her clothes and makeup were that of a typical, refined older Shanghainese woman—very particular, but unsettling at first glance.

I ignored the woman's obviously barbed questions and glanced at the young man beside her. He was impeccably dressed and handsome. He was also looking at me, and I could see the speculation in his eyes. I knew what he was thinking—speculating about my sexual orientation and my relationship with Lin Yi.

The officer who had first spoken to me shot the old woman a displeased look, then said to me, "Here's the situation. Lin Yi injured that gentleman. Although the injury isn't serious, it still constitutes assault, so we have to detain her temporarily. However, she has diminished criminal responsibility and has not committed a crime. We need a guardian's signature before we can release her."

I nodded and said, "I am Lin Yi's lawyer. Her parents have given me full power of attorney to act as her guardian. That woman is my senior, Du Ruzhen, who is also Lin Yi's psychologist. We are both her guardians."

With that, I took my lawyer's license from my pocket and showed it to the officer.

"Alright, wait a moment. I'll go get the form for you to fill out," the officer said with a nod.

"Wait, that crazy woman hurt my husband, and you're just going to let her go?" the old woman interjected.

The tall, thin officer who had been speaking with her frowned. "The old gentleman wasn't seriously hurt, it was just a sprained wrist. She has a mental illness. What can we do if you keep pressing the issue? She lacks criminal capacity."

I noticed the middle-aged man's wrist was bent at a strange angle.

"Hey, how can you be so biased? What do you mean, 'just a sprain'? Look, look at his hand! We're going to the hospital for an X-ray right now, it must be fractured. You saw how crazy that woman was, throwing a tantrum like that. You'd better watch what you say. Are you in cahoots with that lawyer, bullying us common folk? I'm going to report you to the disciplinary committee!"

The officer was nearly choked speechless by her. He said, exasperated, "How can you talk like that? Have you no sense? How am I colluding with a lawyer?"

The officer was young, probably a recent academy graduate, and couldn't keep his composure. He was no match for the old woman. I smiled, walked up to her, and said, "Ma'am, may I have your surname?"

"My surname is Wang," she said, shooting me a disdainful sideways glance.

"Ms. Wang, if you are dissatisfied with me taking Lin Yi, you are welcome to send a letter from your lawyer to me. This is my business card, complete with my phone number and address, so you don't have to worry about me deceiving you. I won't run. Additionally, I believe you and your family have committed marriage fraud against Lin Yi and must bear full responsibility for her mental illness. I will be pursuing this matter in the near future. Please be prepared."

I gave a slight smile, returning her disdainful look, then turned my back to her. I walked a few steps away and rubbed my nose, unable to stand the cloying perfume she was wearing.

The old woman's face paled, and she immediately shrieked, "What are you doing? Are you threatening me? You want to go to court? Fine, bring it on! Who's afraid of who?"

"Be quiet," the old man finally spoke, then said with a chuckle, "Young lady, you're a lawyer. We can't beat you when it comes to the law. But we're not pushovers to be bullied either. If you say you're going to pursue this, then we'll have no choice but to stake everything we have and see it through with you."

My contempt for him grew. This old man was clearly a sly old fox. Who was he trying to play the victim for? Feigning weakness while making veiled threats—who couldn't see through that? This family was insidiously malicious, and it probably all stemmed from this old man. The old woman, on the other hand, was nothing to fear.

Just then, the officer returned with the form for me to fill out. My mind was on Lin Yi, so I filled it out quickly with a few strokes of the pen, intending to take her home. But just as my senior and I were leading Lin Yi out of the station, before we could even get in the car, Zhang Yucheng called out from behind us.

"Wait, Lin Yi."

I could feel Lin Yi's body begin to tremble slightly, her breathing growing ragged. It was a precursor to a breakdown. My senior reacted quickly, giving me a look before wrapping an arm around Lin Yi's shoulders and beginning to soothe her in a low voice.

I understood. I quickly stepped forward, blocking Zhang Yucheng several feet away from Lin Yi, preventing him from getting any closer.

"Please don't come any closer. My client has a mental illness. I ask that you not agitate her," I said coldly.

"Get out of my way," he said, reaching out to push me.

I used a bit of subtle force, so when he pushed me, he was the one who stumbled back a few steps. He looked embarrassed, grinding his back teeth. He was over 180 centimeters tall, while I was only 174. He was a good half-head taller than me, yet I had easily pushed him away. It must have wounded his male pride. He said hatefully, "I need to talk to my wife. Why do you keep getting in my way?"

"I have been entrusted by Lin Yi and her parents to represent her in all matters. If you have something to say, you can say it to me," I continued to speak professionally, though I felt sick to my stomach. Things had already reached this point, yet this man could still say the words "my wife." His shamelessness was unbelievable.

"Fine, fine, I'll talk to you," he said, seeming to grit his teeth in hatred. "The child is with me now. We'll be filing for divorce soon, and I'm determined to win custody. You'd better remember that. I'll hire the best lawyer for the case. Since you people don't care about saving face, why should I? I wanted to resolve this privately, but since you don't want to talk things over, I'll consider it you automatically forfeiting your chance. As for alimony, don't even think about getting a single cent."

I sneered. "Didn't you say you didn't want the child? Why are you so eager to fight for her now? Is it because you and your 'wife' can't have one, so you're getting desperate and remembered you have this seed? You've planned this well. What do you think Lin Yi is, a machine for producing your children?"

I seemed to have hit a nerve. He flew into a rage, raising his fist to hit me. I figured a man like him probably didn't care about the gentlemanly code of not hitting women. That was even better. My hands had been itching for a fight for a long time, and I was just waiting for him to make the first move.

He threw a punch. I dodged it easily, lifted my knee, and drove it into his abdomen. He bent over in pain, and I stepped aside. I didn't press the attack, but instead pulled out my phone as quickly as possible and started recording. Just as I expected, the next moment, he was even more furious. His face ashen, he straightened up and aimed a kick right at me. I sneered again, calmly holding my phone to clearly capture the scene. The moment he lifted his leg, I struck first, kicking him in the knee and cutting his attack short. The kick sent him to his knees, unable to get back up. I estimated that leg would be hurting for a good half a month.

All his suave composure vanished. He started cursing me, spewing all sorts of filth.

"…Fuck, you lesbian, you think you're so high and mighty? Don't think I don't know. You're just lusting after Lin Yi. Stop pretending, it's disgusting! Hmph, yeah, I'm gay, so what? And what are you? Don't be a whore acting like a saint! None of you women are any good. Fucking you disgusts me."

I turned a deaf ear to his words. When he finally finished his tirade, panting for breath, I slowly held up my phone, waving the recording screen in front of his face. "Mr. Zhang," I said calmly, "I've recorded all your insults. Your unprovoked attack on me was also witnessed by that police officer." I gestured for him to look behind him to his right. Sure enough, the tall officer had come out at some point and was now striding toward us. It was clear the police had seen him attack me and me defend myself. I continued, "All of this will be presented as evidence in court. I suspect you have violent tendencies and have been abusive toward Lin Yi in the past. This will serve as powerful proof. I will recommend to the court that you undergo a psychological evaluation. I imagine a gay man with violent tendencies is probably very unsuitable to raise a child. Well, that's all. We'll see each other in court."

With that, I turned and walked away. Zhang Yucheng couldn't utter another foul word. But I felt no sense of victory, only endless anger and heartache. Lin Yi had lost control again. More than two months of my hard work had gone down the drain. The appearance of this family had effortlessly shattered the defenses I had so painstakingly built. It seemed I would need to completely cut off their influence on Lin Yi at the root to get everything back on track.

---

By now, my senior had already gotten Lin Yi into the car. I said nothing, just opened the driver's side door, got in, and started the car, heading for my home. It was past eleven-thirty, and after the long journey, exhaustion finally washed over me.

Lin Yi was huddled in the back seat. In the darkness, I couldn't make out her expression in the rearview mirror. My senior was also silent, only reaching out to pat the back of Lin Yi's hand comfortingly. Perhaps it was my senior's naturally approachable aura, but Lin Yi didn't reject her. What worried me, however, was that I could no longer hide the fact that I was caring for her as a psychologist. I didn't know if she would start rejecting me again. Everything was steeped in anxiety.

After a long, difficult silence, I finally pulled my senior's car up to my house. My senior and I got out and walked around to the door where Lin Yi was sitting. My senior, ever considerate, let me open the door. I opened it and held out my hand to Lin Yi.

"Let's get out."

She didn't move for a long moment, leaving me hanging. My heart clenched, and I quickly called out, "Lin Yi?"

But she suddenly pushed my hand away, got out of the car, and said softly but coldly, "Lawyer Gu, no, Dr. Gu. Perhaps it's no longer appropriate for me to live with you. I'll trouble you for one more night, then I'll pack my things and go home tomorrow."

I froze as if struck by lightning. Her eyes were hidden in the darkness, her whole body tense, on guard against my touch. My hand, suspended in mid-air, fell to my side. In the dark silence, the three of us stood motionless in the garage.

To my anguish, I realized that everything was back to square one.

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