Return of the King, Dominating the City

Chapter 1229 - 1214: Can’t Prevent It in Advance?

"Are you throwing baseless accusations again?" Song Yun’s eyes blazed with anger as he said, "You kidnapped someone’s child and still think you’re in the right."

"You... you... show me the evidence then!"

The young man was on the verge of passing out, his face turning a purplish-red from Song Yun’s grip.

"I’m the evidence!" Song Yun shouted.

"Hey, you, what are you doing?"

Just then, a man, looking to be around twenty, spoke up from the side.

"What am I doing? This guy kidnapped a child, tried to stab me, and is now falsely accusing me. I’m holding onto him until the police arrive," Song Yun said while picking up his phone and dialing 110.

The man in his twenties frowned and said, "He asked for evidence, didn’t he? Don’t kill the guy!"

Song Yun was on the phone with 110 and ignored the man.

Seeing he was being ignored, the man’s face showed a hint of anger, "Let him go first. If there’s an issue, wait until the police arrive to talk about it. You’re holding him and not letting him speak; are you guilty or something?"

"Screw you," Song Yun shot back, having just finished his call with 110. His mood was already sour, and the man’s words only fueled his anger.

The man frowned and said, "How can you insult people like that? Hmm, so uncivilized."

With that, the man glanced at his watch, glared at Song Yun, then turned and walked away.

At this moment, Song Yun had one hand firmly holding the child-snatcher, while the other was in his pocket. A crowd had gathered around him.

Not long after, a police car slowly drove up. Two officers got out, pushed through the crowd, and walked up to Song Yun.

"What’s going on here? What’s everyone gathered for? Who called this in?" one of the officers asked as he dispersed the crowd.

"I did!"

Song Yun dragged the child-snatcher to the officer who had spoken, saying, "I’m the one who reported it."

"You said someone abducted a child, is it this guy?" the officer asked, pointing at the man Song Yun held.

"Yes, it was him. I saw him snatch a child just now, so I grabbed him," Song Yun replied.

"You’re making things up!"

The young man shouted, "Officer, I was just walking down the street when suddenly a child grabbed me asking for money. I’m not that rich, so I refused. Then this guy attacked me, accusing me of kidnapping, saying if I didn’t pay him, he’d call the police. Officer, he’s the real criminal!"

"This..." The officer furrowed his brow, looked at the crowd, and asked, "Did anyone see what happened clearly?"

Among the crowd were people who had watched from start to finish, but without exception, they remained silent. Partly out of fear of retaliation, partly because the kidnapper spoke with a local accent.

Generally speaking, locals tend to side a bit with their own wherever you go.

But mostly, people were afraid of retaliation afterward.

The officer looked around again, seeing no one intending to testify, he said, "Since both sides claim they’re right and it’s so hot out, why not just disperse? Standing here won’t do any good."

"Hey, how can you say that?"

This made Song Yun unhappy, "I helped you catch the criminal, and now you want to let him go. Is this how you do things?"

Song Yun was already upset and became more so after hearing this. In all of Guangdong Province, there were fewer than a handful of people Song Yun felt deserved his respect.

Song Yun’s dissatisfaction made the officer unhappy too. Being called out for a thankless case in the heat without any real evidence—how could he just take someone to the station? In the end, without solid proof, they’d have to release the person, wasting his time.

"What else can I do without evidence? You say he abducted a child, but unless you bring out the child to confirm it, we can’t just take him in based on no evidence. Young man, some actions are meaningless if you don’t have proof," the officer advised, sounding almost earnest.

Song Yun got even angrier.

If this guy’s released and kidnaps another child next time and there isn’t someone like Song Yun around, that family would be destroyed, wouldn’t they?

"I can testify for him."

Liu Ruoxi, who was standing next to Song Yun, hadn’t initially planned to speak up. Being the mayor, it was normal for citizens not to recognize her, but policemen might. If she were recognized, gossip would surely spread by the next day.

What Liu Ruoxi didn’t know was that rumors about her and Song Yun had already been widely spread in the lower levels of Guangzhou City’s bureaucracy by Officer Old Zhou’s mouth.

"You?"

The officer looked up and down at Liu Ruoxi, an action that was quite disrespectful.

Of course, this refers to only a few officers. Ninety-nine percent of officers diligently keep their regions safe.

"Yes, I saw everything from start to finish. This man took the child, and my friend caught him. Perhaps out of fear, the child’s family left with the child first," Liu Ruoxi said.

Her tone was calm, but Liu Ruoxi was very annoyed. Such an incident happening in her jurisdiction was unacceptable. If it was just about the child snatching, that was one thing. But for the saved party to leave without saying anything and now the police are not investigating and want to release the culprit—it reflects poorly on her administration.

A systemic reform was necessary!

Liu Ruoxi couldn’t help thinking.

"You being friends with him makes this a conflict of interest, and people with such conflicts aren’t allowed to testify. You folks, causing a fuss in the heat—what are you doing? If there’s no evidence, we’ll detain him later. He won’t get away!" the officer said.

"Hey, do we have to wait for him to kidnap another child to catch him? And what if we don’t catch him then?" Song Yun asked.

"Well, young man, you have to trust that justice prevails. If he tries again, he’ll definitely be caught. You also have to believe in our police’s capabilities!" the officer tried to reassure Song Yun with a placating tone.

"In the future, should we always wait for things to happen before solving them? Can’t we prevent them beforehand?" Song Yun, now quite angry, retorted with a mocking smile.

"In fact, that’s how it is!" the officer replied, "Only if we catch them in the act can we convict. Alright, young man, let him go. At most, I’ll take him to register a report. I feel for you; if you really did save someone and they just ran off, that’s tragic!"