Chapter 41: The July 27th Shooting Incident

Zhou Yi had never seen the files for the July 27th shooting case, as cases handled by special task forces are subject to a unified, restricted classification system that requires special authorization to access. Therefore, he did not know the exact reasons behind Du Qingming’s eventual confession. He could not speculate, nor did he dare to.

His connection to the July 27th case began in 2007, when he arrested a suspect while working a knife-point robbery case. During the interrogation, the suspect, hoping to earn a reduced sentence, voluntarily confessed to having seen someone in possession of a firearm. Initially, Zhou Yi, who was leading the interrogation, was not particularly surprised, as they had confiscated many homemade hunting guns in the past. It was only when the suspect specified that it was a handgun that they realized the gravity of the situation. Homemade guns were common, but a handgun was a different matter entirely.

They immediately reported it to their superiors. After a massive expenditure of manpower and resources, they apprehended the man, nicknamed "Six," in another province hundreds of kilometers away. To their astonishment, they actually found a Type 77 pistol at his residence. The discovery of this weapon caused a massive uproar within the Baicheng police department and the provincial system at large. Naturally, Six was no longer a case for Zhou Yi and his team to handle; he was sent directly to the provincial capital. However, the news spread throughout the internal ranks like wildfire, and that was how Zhou Yi learned of the July 27th shooting case from twenty years prior.

It was said that during his interrogation, Six quickly confessed. On July 27, 1987, he and an accomplice known as "Old Hei" had been planning a robbery and had targeted a car parked in a field of tall grass. They had only intended to rob the occupants, but upon seeing Wang Hai and Zheng Xianglan engaged in an affair, they were struck by the urge to commit rape. Wang Hai shouted at them, claiming to be a police officer, and moved to reach for his weapon. Six and Old Hei initially thought he was bluffing, but during the ensuing struggle, they discovered both his credentials and a handgun. In a fit of impulse, Six used Wang Hai’s own gun to shoot and kill both of them. Afterward, Six and Old Hei fled to different provinces. Fearing capture, Six had kept the gun on his person at all times until his eventual arrest. Not long after, his accomplice, Old Hei, was captured in another city.

The truth of the July 27th shooting was revealed. Du Qingming, who had died a wrongful death, was posthumously declared innocent, and his adult son received compensation.

However, no amount of compensation could ever mend a shattered family or restore the miserable, drifting first half of a child’s life. It was then that Zhou Yi truly realized that the famous saying, "Justice may be late, but it will never be absent," was actually a distorted rumor. The original quote, attributed to American Supreme Court Justice Stewart, was "Justice is never absent, it is only delayed," and it was intended as a satire of the inefficiency of the American court system. For anyone in need of justice, delayed justice is simply not justice at all.

Because of this, the names "July 27th shooting" and "Du Qingming" were seared into Zhou Yi’s memory, even though he had never had the chance to see the case files and never knew what the man he had helped vindicate actually looked like.

Jin Lei looked at Zhou Yi with surprise. "Although this matter caused quite a stir ten years ago, I doubt many people still remember it. You actually remember? How old were you ten years ago?"

"Thirteen," Zhou Yi answered honestly. "But my elders used to talk about it. You know how it is—the steel mill has a lot of people, and news travels fast."

Jin Lei nodded, harboring no suspicions.

"Chief, were you very close with Du Qingming?"

"Yes, we worked together. I knew his character well."

"So you believe he was innocent?"

Jin Lei nodded firmly, his expression heavy. "He once saved my life; he used his own body to block a knife for me. I visited him, and he told me he was innocent and that he wanted to appeal. I helped him pull strings on the outside to file the appeal, but before it could even be heard... he was gone." Chief Jin’s eyes welled with tears.

Zhou Yi patted him on the shoulder in comfort. "Chief, I will help you with this."

"What?" Jin Lei looked up, startled. "Are you serious?"

"Yes, but not right now."

The man was taken aback by this.

"Without new leads, reopening the case is impossible. Even if Chief Xie agreed, the judicial system wouldn't allow for it. I understand how you feel, but we are police officers, and this is a disciplined force."

Jin Lei let out a long sigh. Of course he knew—how could he not? Otherwise, he wouldn't have been haunted by the same nightmare for ten years.

"Therefore, this matter requires the right time and the right opportunity to move forward. Trust me."

Chief Jin was momentarily stunned. There was an exceptionally calm aura about this young officer, one that provided a sense of reliability and security.

For Zhou Yi, it wasn't that he didn't want to find Six; if he could find that man, Du Qingming could rest in peace ahead of schedule. But the problem was that he had never had access to the files on Six, and his information was extremely limited. Even if he joined the Criminal Investigation Detachment of the BC Municipal Bureau, finding a criminal who drifted from place to place would be like looking for a needle in a haystack. Furthermore, he remembered the person who had originally informed on Six clearly, but according to the original confession, that person only met Six in 1999—two years later. Even if he found that informant now, it wouldn't lead him to Six, and he might even inadvertently alter the informant's life trajectory, causing him to miss Six entirely.

So, for now, there was truly nothing he could do. Moreover, he had another worry: the captain of the Third Detachment who had been in charge of the original investigation, Xie Guoqiang, was now the Chief of the Municipal Public Security Bureau. What role had he played in that miscarriage of justice? Would crying out for justice to him be walking straight into the lion's den? Simply looking at the fact that Du Qingming had been sentenced to death despite the critical missing weapon, it was clear that something deeply abnormal was at play.

In his life before his rebirth, Zhou Yi had lacked the power to challenge these things. In his current life, he still lacked them. He understood Chief Jin’s feelings deeply; in fact, his own internal anxiety was even greater than the Chief’s. Chief Jin had held onto the belief of Du Qingming’s innocence for a decade based on his absolute trust in a comrade, but he—Zhou Yi—was someone who knew the truth.

Yet he could not act rashly. As he had told Jin Lei, this matter required the right timing.

"Zhou Yi, you and Du Qingming never met. May I ask why you believe he was innocent?" Jin Lei suddenly asked.