Dialogue with Zhang Youling, the promoter of the Zhang Yuhuan case:
I don’t care about Zhang Yuhuan, I care about the truth
Beijing News reporter Du Wenwen photo
The 65-year-old Zhang Youling caused herself "trouble" this summer.
Zhang Yuhuan, who was detained for 9778 days, was acquitted and returned home. In this village where acquaintances are intertwined, Zhang Youling used to be the benefactor in the eyes of the victim’s family, because “talking more” revealed the truth about the child’s killing; now, his role is reversed and he “eventfully” helps the recognized " "The murderer" regained his freedom.
Villagers from the same village that he had been acquainted with would call him for 70 minutes to argue about the case and express dissatisfaction. His wife was also anxious at him on the phone, "Oh, people are spreading it outside, saying you are for money, saying you got 1 million miles, what do you care about those things?"
Zhang Youling had lived in Wuhan for six years before she was "nosy". Few people know that this doctor who used to work in the Beiling Forest Farm in Jinxian County has a close relationship with Zhang Yuhuan.
In this city, he is just a doctor who diagnoses and treats male diseases and lives in an old community house with a monthly rent of 1,000 yuan. There is no elevator in the building, and gas tanks are used for cooking. After returning home at night, Zhang Youling had to turn on the flashlight on her phone to avoid falling in the dark.
But for Zhang Youling, the pressure on his heart has increased little by little over the years. At first, it was just a little doubt, "Why hasn't Zhang Yuhuan been shot?"
By chance, Zhang Youling went to Jiangxi Wenzhen Prison to visit her colleagues. She accidentally learned that Zhang Yuhuan, who was in the same cell, had been on a hunger strike and called for grievances. Until Zhang Youling's colleague was released from prison in 2012, Zhang Yuhuan was still complaining.
At the end of 2016, Zhang Youling saw in the newspaper that the injustice case of Leping, Jiangxi was rehabilitated. The four defendants were acquitted, which was quite shocked. In the years after that, he took the initiative to find reporters to present the case, and worked with Zhang family relatives and lawyers to promote the case.
He said that he had never regretted being involved in this high-profile case many times in his life. He only felt that he had done something in his life, "I helped him not because I care about Zhang Yuhuan, I care about the truth."
"I just played a leading role"
Beijing News: Some media have defined you as a key promoter of Zhang Yuhuan's case. What do you think of your role in the case?
Zhang Youling: The setting is too high. In fact, I only played a leading role in it. It is the reporter Cao Yinglan, lawyer Wang Fei, lawyer Shang Manqing, and Zhang Yuhuan's own relatives who were the first to help the case that worked hard. This is the truth.
Beijing News: What did you do?
Zhang Youling: I had a few doubts at the time. First, why hasn't Zhang Yuhuan been shot after so long?
Second, when I visited Wenzhen Prison, my colleague talked about Zhang Yuhuan, saying that he was injustice and committed suicide on a hunger strike.
During the Spring Festival of 2012, my colleague was released from prison early after commuting his sentence. This is the third time I am under pressure. Since he is called injustice, where is it?
There was another pressure, which came from a year before 2012, in the sixth month of the lunar calendar. When I came back from a clinic visit, the weather was very hot. The whole village couldn't rest at home. Only Zhang Yuhuan’s mother was plowing the fields under the sun. It hurts me.
I have the reporter's contact information on hand. In 2016, when I saw the redress of Jiangxi Leping’s unjust case in the newspaper, I was very happy and sent a message to the reporter, "I have a pimple in my heart. Let me tell you something."
In 2017, when the new year passed, everyone went to Zhangjiacun, and Song Xiaonv also went. I hadn't seen her for more than 20 years. She called me the big brother and said while crying. I told her, "Anyway, if Zhang Yuhuan did this thing, then he deserved it. If he didn't do it, I want to sort out this thing and give him a statement. This is my original intention."
Zhang Yuhuan is not the only one suspected
Beijing News: When the case happened, what parts of the case did you participate in?
Zhang Youling: I was a doctor at Beiling Forest Farm at that time. The forest farm was only five to six hundred meters away from my home. On the afternoon of the accident, several family members of the children came to me and asked, Dr. Zhang, did you see the two children here? play? I remember very clearly that when it was dark at night, the grandfather of the 6-year-old child came to ask me again, did the child come to play with you?
The next morning, the person who came to see me said that the child drowned in the Xiamatang Reservoir. The first question was in my mind. This reservoir is far away from our village, and the villagers’ land is not there. To go to the reservoir from the village, you have to go through the small intestine path. Children have to walk for at least 20 to 30 minutes, and most children don’t. Go in that direction.
Because my hometown is Zhangjiacun, I know the village very well. And it was the autumn harvest at that time, the second crop of rice was cut, the ponds were all dry, and there were big cracks. Where did the water come from? The slope of the pond is not a steep slope, and it is impossible for a child to fall suddenly while walking.
I've been thinking about it, so I just took a bike to see it, and I just met them and was about to bury the child. The two children were placed on the grass, covered with bamboo mats.
Beijing News: What did you see at the scene?
Zhang Youling: I came here with suspicion, so I looked carefully. I opened it and found something was wrong. The older 6-year-old child had very obvious bruises from the mouth to the cheeks, from the mouth to the cheeks, the upward strangulation, and there were many thumbs and fingernails on the chest and abdomen. Purple petechia. Looking at the 4-year-old child again, there is a mark of the right hand on his neck, four fingers plus one finger, it is very clear.
There were many family members around at the time, I said why are you so stupid? You can't see such obvious traces, this is a murder. I graduated from Jiangxi College of Traditional Chinese Medicine. I am very familiar with the adult self-examination, anatomy and physiology books. From the knowledge I have learned, I can tell how to judge the scars on a corpse and how long the scars have formed. .
Beijing News: How did the police communicate with you when they arrived at the scene?
Zhang Youling: The forensic doctor took the child's body away after seeing the scene.
The next morning, a policeman came to me to work and asked me for more than ten minutes. I asked if I knew the situation. Who did this thing? Do you know who is against whom? I don’t know, but I just said, “There is nothing in the world for no reason. Just like when we see a doctor, we need to find out the cause.”
Later, the police came several times and asked me with the names of several suspects. Zhang Yuhuan was just one of them. A few days later, Zhang Yuhuan was taken away, and a few days later, the police went to the village to say that the case was solved and the murderer was Zhang Yuhuan.
Beijing News: After the case was solved, what happened in the village?
Zhang Youling: At that time, I felt that the murderer had been caught and the grievances were upheld. We all felt relieved. This incident is now over. There is a small episode behind. After a few months, the family members of the deceased child went to the Public Security Bureau. They saw that Zhang Yuhuan had not been shot, so they ran to question. At that time, they went several times to no avail. My family found me and asked what to do with this situation. If you say otherwise, Dr. Zhang, you will help write a "testimony" and ask why you haven't shot him? Did someone keep him?
After that, there was basically nothing. I only heard that Song Xiaonv and Zhang Yuhuan were divorced and married.
At that time, I also heard that Zhang Yuhuan’s son was bullied in the village, but the people living in the countryside were stubborn and narrow-minded. The villagers felt that Zhang Yuhuan killed someone and everyone hated him. Even if the child was bullied or something, he didn’t care.
"I didn't have any selfishness"
Beijing News: In the past two years since the lawyer intervened in the case, what else did you do?
Zhang Youling: We have established a group to share information related to the case in time. I dictated all the facts of the case that I knew to the lawyer and signed it. Later, reporters from different places gradually increased in the group. I also typed the facts of the case from beginning to end in the form of text. It was very long, divided into many paragraphs and posted in the group. I will tell everyone about it.
In addition, Zhang Yuhuan’s brother Zhang Minqiang and I also had a lot of phone calls, mainly for mutual encouragement and support. Zhang Minqiang had similar ideas to me at the beginning. He asked his brother many times in person, "Did you do it?" During the complaint, although we had hope, we didn't have much hope. I don't know that the year of the monkey will only take turns. To this case.
Beijing News: Do you understand that the villagers cannot accept Zhang Yuhuan's return?
Zhang Youling: It was announced that Zhang Yuhuan was the murderer. If it were not for me to participate in this matter, if it were not for the lawyer to tell me something wrong after reading the papers, I would always believe that Zhang Yuhuan was the murderer. I helped Zhang Yuhuan complain about this. At first, his wife and villagers didn't know about it, and they kept it from the family. Later, until the case began to be a bit eye-catching, I knew that this matter could not be kept secret.
Beijing News: Many villagers said that you helped Zhang Yuhuan appeal for money?
Zhang Youling: I didn't think about money at all. I don't have general knowledge with them. I never expected Zhang Yuhuan to come out, unexpectedly. A reporter asked me, Zhang Yuhuan came out, are you very excited? I'm not at all excited, I'm still holding this matter in my heart. This person was not killed by him, then who killed it? I care about this. What I want is the truth.
People in the village have so far recognized Zhang Yuhuan as a murderer. They called me and talked about a lot of cases. I told him that as long as you have evidence, the police are there and the court is there. You can report the case. As long as it proves that he did it, he can still be arrested. Go in.
Beijing News: Are you afraid of being retaliated against when you go back to the village?
Zhang Youling: I don't care, it's really real. My family also advised me not to accept interviews and not to show the limelight. I am not afraid, I am sitting steadily, I am not afraid of anything, I am not selfish. How much compensation Zhang Yuhuan can get is his business, and I am not involved. The main reason for my stress is the worry of my family. My child also works in the public security system, just because he is afraid of putting pressure on him.
Beijing News: After Zhang Yuhuan returned home, has your life been affected?
Zhang Youling: Zhang Yuhuan hasn't changed at all if he comes back. The only change may be that more reporters come to me. I work in a private hospital. The contract is signed once a year, and my monthly salary is about 10,000 yuan. In the past few years, I paid 20,000 yuan at most. I don’t know how much credit I have paid to the patient, even when I am seeing a doctor. I have a good life, so they say I am a bit ridiculous for money.
Beijing News: In the past, the family members of the victims thought you were a "beneficiary". Now the role has been changed. You helped Zhang Yuhuan to appeal, but the family members did not understand. Are you under pressure?
Zhang Youling: Do you think I can let go of the pressure? Even if I can't let it go in my life, but if I can't let it go, I must let it go. Some people talk and talk, I understand their thoughts, but what is the role of these words? I have a clear conscience.
Beijing News: How important is the truth of Zhang Yuhuan's case to you?
Zhang Youling: It must be important. I am a very honest person. I always thought that since this case has been solved, why didn't Zhang Yuhuan have the law? Where is the truth? The reporter I looked for with this wish, the lawyer I looked for.
For my whole life, I have to see what the truth is? In this lifetime, since this happened to the present, why can't I let down the heart that has been hanging? When I do this, I don’t care about Zhang Yuhuan, I care about the truth.
Beijing News: Regarding this case, what are your next plans?
Zhang Youling: After Zhang Yuhuan came home, the only contact I had with him was the video call I made a few days ago. I mainly said two things. One is that Zhang Yuhuan has come out now, but how can I get rid of the villagers treating him? This is what I worry about in my heart. I hope the government and the media will give more consideration in this regard and help him integrate into society. I also think that this case should also be accountable to the victim’s family.
Some media reporters wrote that I am still searching for the truth. How can I have any power? What can I find out as a commoner? It's just that my inner thoughts are like this. There must be a murderer who killed someone, so where is this person?
Beijing News: What does this case mean to you?
Zhang Youling: This case has had a great impact on my life. I did get involved in this case accidentally.
I feel that I have tried my best, and I am worthy of my own heart. The most important thing is that I do not regret doing this, because I feel it is a just thing. No matter what they say I have gained, I have no such idea. I just think that I have done one thing clearly in my life, and this is what I think.
Beijing News reporter Du Wenwen