Zhang Lixing covered his face with his hands, and hot tears fell.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have, I shouldn't have betrayed my conscience for money. This is retribution, retribution!" He laughed through his tears at the end.
Having accidentally caused the death of his younger brother, Lin Jianguo didn't have the courage to silence him, so he planned to bribe him to keep quiet.
Zhang Lixing struggled and hesitated, but in the end he agreed.
At that time, his son was about to go to jail for stealing and fighting. A settlement would require a large sum of money, but he simply couldn't afford it.
His wife cried to him, saying that he was their only son, and if he went to jail at such a young age, his future would be ruined.
Zhang Lixing, against his conscience, accepted the money and prepared to leave G City and return to his hometown that very day. However, Lin Jianguo came to his senses and hired someone to try to silence him. Zhang Lixing barely escaped back to his hometown after nearly losing his life.
He was relieved that Lin Jianguo didn't know where his hometown was.
After paying the money, the son was released.
But his son was already rotten to the core.
He skipped classes, didn't study, got into fights, and idled away his time. Eventually, he got into gambling and lost all the family's money. When he couldn't come up with any more money, his tall, strong, and hot-tempered son thought he was hiding the money, so he beat and threatened his father, and that's how his own son broke his leg. Because he didn't have much money for treatment, he became severely lame.
After losing a large sum of money in his last gamble, his son ran away and never returned home. Zhang Lixing sold the land where the house was located to barely pay off the debt. His wife couldn't stand this kind of life and ran away as well.
The whole family is completely shattered.
Zhang Lixing thought, this is retribution.
Lin Jiandang treated him as a friend, providing him with food, clothing, and work when he was at his lowest point and homeless. Yet, for money, he helped a murderer. He is guilty.
Later, Zhang Lixing remembered that Lin Jiandang had a son, so he traveled all the way to G City to tell him the truth. By then, twelve years had passed since the incident.
Lin Zhibai had already gone to the countryside, and he couldn't find him.
Not long after, Lin Jianguo and his family also moved away from G City and disappeared without a trace.
In the years that followed, Zhang Lixing never gave up searching for Lin Zhibai, all for the sake of the truth.
Fortunately, finally he had been found.
-
The shop closed early today. Meng Xiangbei stayed by Lin Zhibai's side the whole time, afraid that his emotions would fluctuate too much.
Lin Zhibai sat on the table, flipping through a notebook. Beside him was a pen. His expression was serious and focused. The light from the oil lamp shone down, and his lips were tightly pursed. He exuded a cold and aloof aura.
He's been here for over an hour.
"Have a cup of hot water." Meng Xiangbei put down the hot water, took Lin Zhibai's hand, and sure enough, his hand was as cold as ice.
The temperature is low at night, and Lin Zhibai is prone to feeling cold. If he doesn't move around, his hands and feet will easily get cold.
Lifting the corner of his shirt, Meng Xiangbei placed his hand on his abdomen. The sudden warmth brought Lin Zhibai back to his senses. He turned his head and tried to pull his hand away, but Meng Xiangbei held it down, preventing him from breaking free.
"Brother Meng, you'll get cold."
"It's okay, it'll be fine in a bit."
Lin Zhibai stopped moving, his depressed mood from the day vanished, and his heart felt warm.
After warming his hands, Meng Xiangbei told him to drink water.
Lin Zhibai held the enamel cup in both hands, the warmth of the hot water transferring to his hands. He lowered his head, took a few small sips, and felt his body warm up, looking quite content.
"Brother Meng, I'm going to call the police." Putting down his enamel mug, Lin Zhibai looked up and told the person in front of him his decision. He clenched his fist, his eyes filled with determination. "Lin Jianguo must pay the price for the mistakes he made."
Meng Xiangbei pulled him into his arms: "Okay, Brother Meng will help you too." Lin Zhibai has a rather weak personality, and he has always hoped that Lin Zhibai could be more resilient. Now it seems that the boy has grown up without anyone noticing.
However, to frame Lin Jianguo, Zhang Lixing alone as a witness is not enough; he needs to help his young wife.
-
Lin Jianguo has been having a terrible time lately. It seems that everything has gone wrong since he learned about Lin Zhibai's existence from Lin Ya.
He sat in his office and pinched the bridge of his nose, his brows furrowed with weariness.
It seems that Qiao Chuchu is truly head over heels in love with Lin Wen. Despite the uproar between the two families, she still insists on marrying Lin Wen.
As for Lin Wen, according to him, marrying Qiao Chuchu would be worse than letting him die. If he didn't only have this one son, he would have strangled this good-for-nothing long ago. He does nothing and spends all his time looking for his so-called true love, Yang Hui. Apart from being pretty, she has no family background whatsoever.
Lin Jianguo is now in his fifties. Compared to Lin Wen, who is in his twenties, he has more experience and knowledge. He has only met Yang Hui once, but with his sharp eyes, how could he not see that the woman clearly does not love Lin Wen and is only after his money?
He scraped together so much money from his family and spent it all on that woman.
Lin Jianguo thought of Lin Zhibai again, his eyes gradually turning sinister. After not seeing him for so many years, he had actually been tricked by a mere young upstart, and his scheme had failed.
Just then, there was a knock on the door, and Lin Jianguo concealed the sinister look in his eyes.
The woman was about thirty years old, wearing a red dress that revealed her long, fair legs. She had exquisite makeup, long, wavy hair, and a curvaceous figure, exuding a mature charm.
"Section Chief Lin." The woman came in, casually closed and locked the door behind her, her movements practiced as if she had done it many times before.
Lin Jianguo was used to it; apart from his eyes brightening slightly, his expression didn't change much.
As the woman approached, he casually pulled her into his arms. The woman gasped in surprise and nestled softly against Lin Jianguo's chest.
She glanced at Lin Jianguo and noticed the heavy dark circles under his eyes and his tiredness, and paused for a moment.
"What's wrong with you lately? Is something bothering you? Look at those dark circles under your eyes. You're already getting old, and if you don't rest properly, you'll only age faster." The woman's voice was sweet and gentle, seemingly mocking, but upon closer listening, it revealed concern. She even reached out to massage Lin Jianguo's temples.
The woman massaged him very well, and Lin Jianguo gradually relaxed. He hummed in agreement and said, "I have been very busy lately. Once I'm done with this busy period, I'll come to see you and Xiaobao."
The woman, named Qin Qin, was divorced at the age of thirty. She met Lin Jianguo in G City. Later, when the Lin family moved, she followed them to the capital. With Lin Jianguo's help, she got a job in this unit, which was neither too big nor too small. The woman also gave birth to a son for Lin Jianguo, whose nickname was Xiao Bao.
Qin Qin was beautiful, and even though she was divorced, she could still remarry a good man. But she chose to be with Lin Jianguo, a man in his fifties who was about to enter old age, and she even willingly gave birth to a son for him.
Lin Jianguo could tell that Qin Qin was with him not for money, but for him as a person. Even though he didn't know why Qin Qin was so blind to fall for him, it didn't stop him from doting on Qin Qin and Xiao Bao.
He even proposed to divorce Sun Xuezhen, but Qin Qin did not agree.
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