Seeing Meng Xueyun's reaction, Ye Linchen added, "'Ignorance' has a time limit. From the moment I told you about this today, you are already 'in the know'. Meng Zihan is currently living in your house. If she mentions it to you even once, or if you already realize there's something wrong with the money, then you are no longer 'ignorant'. In this situation, if you still hold onto the money and refuse to return it, that's 'knowingly committing a crime,' and the nature of the offense completely changes!"
The preceding words were nine-tenths true, but in the last sentence, Ye Linchen mixed in one part of falsehood, deliberately exaggerating the severity of the consequences.
She wanted to completely shatter Meng Xueyun's illusions, to make her dare not have any more crooked thoughts, and to make her, like a frightened bird, hurry back to find Meng Zihan, the source of the trouble.
Sure enough, the words "knowingly committing a crime" almost scared Meng Xueyun out of her wits!
"No! I can't go to jail! I absolutely can't go to jail!"
She shook off Ye Linchen's arm, muttering, "I didn't know anything about it, I'll go back and refund the money right now! I'll refund it immediately!"
She turned to run, but after taking two steps, she stopped and looked back at Ye Linchen, her face full of struggle and resentment.
"But...but if I return the money, what about the severance pay she took? That's our hard-earned money!"
Even at this point, all she cares about is her own money.
Ye Linchen was not surprised at all and replied coldly, "Of course, Meng Zihan still has to pay you back that money. However, she has to pay it back with clean money. If she can successfully turn herself in this time and avoid going to jail, then she can pay you back slowly after she starts working and earns her salary. If she insists on being stubborn and ends up going to jail, then you'll have to wait until she finishes her sentence and comes out to work and earn money to pay you back."
She stared at Meng Xueyun and urged, "So instead of wasting your time here, you should hurry back and persuade your precious niece to turn herself in. The sooner she gets lenient treatment, the sooner you can get your clean money back. Most importantly, you won't be implicated by her. Don't you think that makes sense?"
Although Meng Xueyun was not very educated, she could still understand the implications of this situation.
Ye Linchen's words struck a chord deep within her.
Yes! The most urgent thing is to get Meng Zihan to turn herself in! That way, she won't be implicated!
She felt that Ye Linchen's words made perfect sense, and without thinking about anything else, she turned around and ran towards home.
Ye Linchen stopped her again and warned, "If you want a refund, don't be silly and give it to Meng Zihan right now! Wait until she turns herself in and the uniformed law enforcement officers come to your door before you give it to them! Otherwise, you might get scammed out of your money again and end up losing both your money and your reputation!"
Based on her understanding of Meng Zihan, that selfish and self-serving woman would never voluntarily turn herself in.
If Meng Xueyun gives her the money now, Meng Zihan could run away with it and disappear without a trace in the next second.
Meng Xueyun was in a state of confusion. She nodded haphazardly and quickly disappeared around the corner of the alley.
When Meng Xueyun came out of Ye Linchen's apartment complex, she was in a daze and didn't even hear the neighbors greeting her. Her mind was a mess, filled with Ye Linchen's words: "stolen money," "confiscate," "go to jail."
Each word was like a small hammer, relentlessly pounding on her temples.
She lost interest in going to work.
Although working at a small restaurant is tiring, at least it's a stable source of income.
But now that Meng Zihan is such a troublemaker, she doesn't care about being safe or not!
Meng Xueyun didn't go straight home. Instead, she went to a small restaurant first, intending to take a few days off to deal with Meng Zihan.
As soon as you enter, you see the proprietress sitting behind the counter doing accounts.
Seeing Meng Xueyun arrive, she asked in surprise, "Sister Xueyun, why are you here so early today?"
Meng Xueyun forced a smile and began to make up lies.
"Boss, I... I'd like to ask for leave. My child is sick and has a high fever; I need to take him to the hospital right away."
"Oh dear, that's terrible!" Upon hearing this, the landlady immediately put down the calculator and urged her to go home. "A child's illness is a serious matter. You should go home now. Don't worry about work. If you're still not better by tomorrow, just give me a call and I'll arrange someone else."
"Oh, thank you, boss! Thank you, boss!"
Meng Xueyun thanked him profusely and left. As soon as she stepped out of the shop, the warm sunshine shone on her, but she felt a chill all over her body.
The face that had been barely holding on just moments before instantly collapsed, turning so gloomy it seemed to drip water.
Now, she must go home and get rid of Meng Zihan, this plague!
As she walked, she cursed Meng Zihan a thousand times in her mind.
How come I never noticed before that this little brat is such a scoundrel?
They swindled their family out of their severance pay, claiming they were going to do big business, but what happened?
Instead of running her business properly, she went and became a mistress!
They're trying to fool them with that shady money! Isn't that just harming people?
That was the money she and Ye Zhenghua had saved up for their coffins through a lifetime of hard work!
If she had known it would turn out like this, she would never have given the money to Meng Zihan!
At least Ye Zhenghua is still in good health, and they have long since moved into the cotton mill's houses and are living a peaceful life.
No!
She shouldn't have taken in Meng Zihan in the first place out of kindness!
Meng Xuejun should have sent her to an orphanage to fend for herself!
If she had put that same effort into Ye Linchen, nurtured her properly, and supported her studies to go to university, how happy their family would have been.
At her age, she shouldn't have to go out to wait tables and wash dishes, worrying about money every day.
Now they even have to worry about being implicated and going to jail!
The more Meng Xueyun thought about it, the more her heart sank, as if weighed down by a piece of lead.
As for Ye Linchen, she was completely heartbroken and knew that there was no way to make amends in this lifetime.
But she also has two sons, Ye Linbei and Ye Linnan!
They had just finished their college entrance exams, a crucial time in their lives. They couldn't let Meng Zihan, that jinx, ruin their two sons' futures!
As soon as the thought popped into her head, Meng Xueyun quickened her pace considerably, almost running as she hurried home.
Her hurried footsteps echoed through the old stairwell.
When she arrived at her front door, she took out her key, but her hand trembled so much that she couldn't quite get it into the lock. Okay.
It wasn't easy to open the door with a "click," and the scene inside made her anger flare up instantly.
Meng Zihan was sitting casually at the dining table, with a bowl of clear soup noodles bought from a small shop downstairs in front of her, and she was slurping them down with relish.
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