「Jin City.」

Inside the nursing home.

"Good! Well said! It should have been like this all along! What’s there to fear about him?"

"If Hu Wenning had taken this stance earlier, the other side wouldn’t have dared to push their luck."

"In my opinion, these people are just spoiled. They think just because they’re old, everyone has to make way for them!"

"If I were the judge, I’d definitely add a few more years to their sentences."

"..."

Zhang Qingyuan and the others watched the scene on the screen, all showing looks of approval. With their years of experience, they knew it often took a villain to handle a villain. Zhao Dezhu and his cohorts were purely the type to bully the weak and fear the strong. The more one feared them, the more brazen they became. If they had been threatened the first time they stole melons, they would never have dared to do it a second time. This scene was very satisfying for them to watch.

"It looks like things are about to be wrapped up."

Among the crowd, Qin Mu withdrew his gaze and murmured to himself. As the trial had progressed to this point, Zhang Wei and Wang Dachui had nearly finished stating their defense arguments and claims. Unfortunately, Zhao Dezhu was uncooperative, which significantly diminished the effectiveness of their defense. From what Qin Mu had observed, Zhao Dezhu was one of those defendants who inherently disregarded the court.

BANG—

In the courtroom, after the free debate session had continued for an hour, the Judgment Chief spoke, "Both sides have completed presenting their views. Now, bring the remaining defendants to the stand."

Once he finished speaking, the large door on one side of the courtroom burst open, and bailiffs led a group of white-haired elderly people out from the waiting area. They filed forward, approaching the defendants’ dock and standing behind Zhao Dezhu.

"Zhao Wangquan, this is your statement. On the 12th of this month, did you go to the pumpkin patch outside Zhaojia Village?"

"Did you steal three pumpkins?"

"Were you..."

After exchanging glances with the other adjudicators, the Judgment Chief began to individually examine the criminal acts of each person. These questions, although already asked during the interrogation phase, were re-addressed because court trials emphasized fairness and justice. They needed to verify the accuracy of all evidence and testimony and give the defendants an opportunity to appeal.

The number of elderly individuals involved in this case reached 113. To expedite the process and improve efficiency, the Judgment Chief and the other adjudicators focused only on the key, core issues during their review.

"Xiao Qin, I have a feeling this trial might not finish today."

"I remember last time, with over three thousand defendants, the hearings took a full five days to complete."

"They’re probably going to be sentenced soon. I’m more interested in seeing those melon sellers now."

"I have a question. Didn’t they say that the policy of implicating three generations was abolished? But those melon sellers seem to be their sons or similar relatives. Wouldn’t their grandchildren still be affected?"

"..."

Inside the nursing home, Zhang Qingyuan and the others found the current trial proceedings tedious and started whispering amongst themselves, exchanging thoughts. Compared to the previous segments, this part—where the Judgment Chief reviewed and organized the case details—was lengthy and dry. The questions were repetitive: how many melons were stolen, why they were stolen, and so on. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

"Looks like we’ll have to wait until the afternoon," Qin Mu said with a shrug, looking at Old Zhang and the others, who were so engrossed in the screen they seemed to have forgotten about everything else. He gently reminded them, "We should probably go get lunch now. We can come back for the second half of the trial after eating."

The first half of the trial addressed the case of Zhao Dezhu and the other elderly individuals. The second half would focus on the case of the melon sellers. As Old Zhang and the others had discussed, criminal records typically only affected direct children; it had nothing to do with Zhao Dezhu’s generation of elderly people. But in this situation, they stole the melons, and their sons and nephews sold them; this directly passed on the criminal record. The impact would indeed be huge!

"I am actually a bit hungry. Is it almost one o’clock already?"

"Old Wang, grab me some food from the canteen, will you? I’ll just eat here; this trial is making my meal go down nicely."

"I’m not going to the canteen either. Can someone get food for me?"

"Xiao Qin, are you going to the canteen? Could you grab some food for me too?"

"..."

Zhang Qingyuan and the others rubbed their bellies, only then realizing their hunger and that it was mealtime. However, few were willing to leave the screen, afraid they might miss some exciting moment.