Chapter 606 Qiao Hong Jumped Off the Building
"..."
Qiao Xing lay silently in bed, too afraid to get up again.
Even if it's not dangerous anymore, as he said, Lin Xi is sleeping next door, so she has no mind to do anything about it.
Qin Ce was just trying to scare her.
Qin Ce left early the next morning, and Qiao Xing slept late, not getting up until noon.
With the matter unresolved, Lin Xi couldn't go to school yet. When Qiao Xing got up, Lin Xi was chatting with the old man in the living room.
The old man asked her about school and kindly comforted her.
He said kindly to Lin Xi, "Girl, don't be afraid, it's nothing serious. If someone bullies you, you have to fight back and make sure they never dare to bully you again."
"Don't be afraid. You have so many people behind you: your mother, your sister, and your brother-in-law. With him here, everything can be resolved."
Lin Xi had been keeping her head down, but upon hearing this, she finally looked up at the old man.
Her tense expression relaxed a bit when she saw the old man's kind smile, and she nodded hesitantly.
She didn't know how powerful her brother-in-law was, but when she saw Qiao Xing and the old man mention this matter, they didn't act as fearfully as Wang Qin, as if the sky had fallen.
But in their eyes, it seemed like a trivial matter, which affected her and made her feel that it wasn't a big deal.
Just as Qiao Xing was about to go over, he suddenly received a call from an unfamiliar number.
She answered the phone, "Hello."
"Miss Qiao, it's me."
It was Cao Yun's voice. Qiao Xing was stunned for a moment, then turned around and went back into the room, closing the door behind her. "Why did you call me?"
Qiao Hong has already been arrested, hasn't she? Cao Yun has so much money in his hands now, there's absolutely no need for him to come looking for her, unless something else has happened to Qiao Hong.
Cao Yun said in a very serious tone, "Qiao Hong, he..."
"What's wrong?"
"She jumped off a building."
Upon receiving this unexpected news, Qiao Xing was shocked. Her first reaction was to picture Qiao Hong in her mind, followed by disbelief.
Are you kidding me?
"Why would I joke with you like this? It's true, Boss Qian sued him, and so many debt collection agencies are after him. He also angered Grandpa Qiao to death, and the whole family dislikes him..."
Qiao Hong's pressure didn't stop there. His daughter and son disowned him, and Qiao Ying even called to verbally abuse him. To make matters worse, he nearly hit Qiao Xing with his car.
Having lived to such an old age, he has no way out in this life and can only spend his time in prison. Even if he is lucky enough to get out in the future, he will still have a mountain of debt. His life is almost a foregone conclusion, with no hope left.
So while waiting for the trial to begin, unable to understand his situation, he found a rooftop and jumped off, ending his unbearable life.
Qiao Xing couldn't describe her current feelings. She had no feelings for Qiao Hong and had even once disliked him intensely.
But now that he has jumped off a building and disappeared from this world, it is still quite a shock to Qiao Xing.
She remained silent for a while before speaking, "You really didn't need to tell me this."
“He is, after all, your father, so I think I should tell you.”
When did this happen?
“Just last night. I hadn’t seen him for a while and thought he was still in detention. But when I asked today, I found out that he had been released a long time ago and was just hiding from us.”
Qiao Hong was only involved in economic crimes, and they were quite complicated. Sufficient evidence needed to convict him, so he was serving his sentence outside of prison during this period.
Qiao Xing remained silent for a long time, unsure of what to say. She sighed and said, "I understand."
"Okay, I'll hang up now."
Cao Yun's feelings were also complicated at this moment. Qiao Hong clearly had the opportunity to drag her down with him, and could even have threatened her to make her hand over the money, but he chose to end his own life.
She hasn't used any of the backup plans she had prepared yet, and the money isn't in her account right now, so even if there's a liquidation later, the money won't be traced.
But all of this money was owed by Qiao Hong in his own name; it was his personal debt. With Qiao Hong's death, the debt should be considered wiped out.
Perhaps he wasn't entirely without conscience, or perhaps when he finally had nowhere to turn, he regretted it and came to a realization.
Regardless, he is now dead.
His body is still at the funeral home awaiting investigation. It will only be retrieved once it is determined that he jumped to his death.
Cao Yun decided that once Qiao Hong's matter was settled, she would take her children and leave Yucheng to live elsewhere.
Qiao Ying knew her father was dead, but she didn't come back; she even cursed that he was dead.
She hasn't even gone to school anymore, afraid of being laughed at by her classmates. Now everyone knows she has a promiscuous father who played those obscene videos at her grandfather's birthday banquet, which angered her father to death.
This kind of thing will haunt Qiao Ying for the rest of her life.
Qiao Xi was the same, except that he had a much better mental fortitude than Qiao Ying, and he was still able to go to school as usual.
Because of Qiao Hong's momentary greed, his entire family was ruined, and the futures of his daughter and son were also destroyed by him.
I wonder if he regretted it before he died. If he hadn't gone to find Qiao Xing and had instead resigned, at least his family would still be intact.
Qiao Xing sat in her bedroom, looking out at the neighborhood, and suddenly felt a little sentimental.
It wasn't entirely because of Qiao Hong's death, but more so because hearing about the passing of familiar people around her made her realize the cruelty of time.
I also thought about the day when I would grow old and watch the people around me leave one by one, until finally it was my turn.
Looking back on this time then, I certainly won't feel that life is as long as I do now.
She didn't know how long she had been sitting in the room until Lin Xilai knocked on the door, which brought her back to her senses.
Qiao Xing walked out of the bedroom and saw Lin Xi standing at the door. "What's wrong?"
Lin Xi said, "Dinner's ready."
Qiao Xing glanced at the time; it was already 12:30 PM. She smiled and said, "Let's go."
Although Lin Xi is almost seventeen years old, she is short and half a head shorter than Qiao Xing.
It's probably due to malnutrition; she's only about 1.5 meters tall. Girls her age don't grow much taller, and she probably won't grow any taller in the future.
The old man was already waiting in the restaurant. The nanny Qin Ce had hired hadn't arrived yet, and today's lunch was prepared by a professional chef that Qin Ce had called from outside.
Qiao Xing walked to the dining table and sat down. The old man said, "You got up so late today and didn't even have breakfast."
Qiao Xing was taken aback for a moment, then explained, "I overslept, sorry."
"What's there to be embarrassed about? You can't go hungry now. Next time you want to sleep in, get up and have breakfast before you go back to sleep."
Qiao Xing nodded, then subconsciously glanced at the elderly man with graying temples across from her. She picked up her chopsticks and placed a shrimp ball on his plate.
"Grandpa, please eat more."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
