"Have you heard? Something happened to Yao Qian's family."
"No, what happened?"
"It seems that her father and brother were involved in embezzlement and bribery, involving a huge amount of money, and have already been placed under investigation."
"Is it true? No wonder she looks so haggard lately."
"She used to be so arrogant, but now that she's lost her backer, let's see how she can still be so cocky."
......
When Yao Qian returned to the film set, she heard the crew members gathered together, talking amongst themselves. She angrily shouted, "What are you all doing? Don't you have anything better to do?"
Caught red-handed, the group blushed and prepared to disperse.
"You better watch out! If I hear any more slanderous words from you, I'll teach you a lesson!"
Seeing that Yao Qian was practically a fallen phoenix, yet still so unrestrained, one of the more spirited girls wouldn't let it go: "Xie Yuyao slapped you, and you didn't even retaliate. Instead, we spoke a few truths, and you're already shouting for a beating. Do whatever you want to do, bring it on! You still think you're some high and mighty young lady? How laughable!"
"I'll tear your mouth apart!" Yao Qian lost her temper and lunged forward when she heard such humiliating words.
Other onlookers, with words of mediation in their mouths, held Yao Qian to prevent her from moving, while another girl was loosely pulled, but managed to break free with a struggle.
The grievances she had suffered in the past erupted at this moment. Yao Qian's scalp was throbbing with pain, her clothes were disheveled, and she had multiple pinches, scratches, and kicks all over her body, with pain in every part of her body.
"Stop it, all of you!" The assistant director of the film crew rushed over, and the situation was brought under control.
After learning the origin of the incident, the assistant director gave both of them a severe dressing-down. He no longer showed the patience and tolerance he once had for Yao Qian.
After leaving the office, Yao Qian staggered back to her dormitory, collapsed onto her bed, and cried silently.
She didn't understand why things had turned out this way.
These days she has been on leave, going around with her mother begging and pleading with everyone she can to pull strings, but the feedback she received was that the evidence was irrefutable and there was no room for negotiation. Even the direct descendants of the Yao family have made a clean break and are protecting themselves.
Just as she was racking her brains trying to figure it out, an uncle subtly inquired of the mother and daughter who their family had recently offended.
At that moment, Yao Qian instantly thought of Xie Yuyao. Could it be that the Ye family was behind it?
She rushed to the Ye family home and pleaded with Ye Sanshao to spare her family.
Ye Xingchang had no idea what was going on. After he learned the whole story, his face turned as black as burning coals, and he kicked her out.
When Yao Qian realized that Ye Sanshao was unaware of the situation, she finally connected it to Zhao Honghui. She never imagined that someone from a remote rural area could have such power to ruin her family, which had accumulated wealth over a hundred years.
When she finally found Zhao Honghui's courtyard house, it was already deserted. After much inquiry, she learned that they had left Beijing five days earlier.
She bought the nearest train ticket to catch up with them, but before she could even set off, her father and brother couldn't withstand the interrogation and confessed in hopes of leniency.
Now it's all over, there's truly no way to salvage the situation.
Even more serious is that most of her family's wealth was acquired through illegal means. Now that the authorities have raided her home, everything of value except for the ancestral house has been confiscated.
Her wealthy mother advised her to return to work on the film set, saying, "Go back and work hard. Don't give anyone any leverage over you. As long as you don't make any mistakes, they won't dare to fire you. Our family depends on you to earn money and support us now."
Yao Qian tried to mentally prepare herself again and again, but she broke down as soon as she heard the gossip and ridicule.
In the days that followed, she became mentally distracted and uncooperative, making frequent mistakes at work. Director Zhu, unable to tolerate it any longer, transferred her from her assistant position.
For the next few years, she sat on the sidelines in the water purification department of the film studio until she was laid off due to enterprise restructuring.
If you were to ask her what she regretted most in this life, it would undoubtedly be following Director Zhu to Qingshan Village and meeting that woman who was even more beautiful and charming than herself, which became the calamity of her life.
Xie Yuyao was completely unaware of Zhao Honghui's behind-the-scenes actions, nor did she know that Yao Qian had reached a turning point in her life.
At this moment, she and Zhao Honghui were on a moving train, embarking on their journey home.
She originally planned to furnish the house in the courtyard first, so she could move in directly when she came to Beijing next time. However, unable to resist someone's strong insistence on returning to Qingshantun to get married as soon as possible, she impulsively agreed.
Both of them had tickets for lower berths in sleeper cars, and Xie Yuyao bought several books of essays to pass the time on the train.
During the day, the two would sit or lie down, reading and chatting. Even if they didn't speak, just seeing each other by their side filled their hearts with indescribable joy.
Xie Yuyao recalled the train journey to Beijing a few months ago, and her feelings were completely different.
As the saying goes, no rainbow appears without rain.
When Zhao Honghui was in Qingshantun, he only felt that life was peaceful and quiet, but he didn't have such a strong sense of happiness. Now that she has regained what she lost, Xie Yuyao feels like a caterpillar that has transformed into a butterfly, fluttering its wings and dancing gracefully.
In the middle of the night, because Zhao Honghui was a meter away, she was able to fall into a deep sleep with peace of mind.
Suddenly, a scream rang in her ears, startling her so much that she sat up abruptly. "What happened?"
"We caught a thief."
In the dim light, Zhao Honghui's tall figure stood beside her bed. In front of him was a man clutching his wrist and screaming in agony.
Who was that man in the bunk above Xie Yuyao? His right wrist hung limply, clearly broken off.
"I didn't! You broke my hand! Everyone, call the train police to arrest him!" the man cried out in pain, still managing to refute loudly.
The commotion in the carriage was so loud that the train conductor quickly came over. "What happened?"
"Comrade, I went to relieve myself and just came back to climb back into my bunk when this guy suddenly jumped up, twisted my hand, and accused me of being a thief. My hand is ruined!" The man pointed at Zhao Honghui and mumbled a string of words to the train conductor.
"You said you wanted to go to bed, so why did you go to the middle of the aisle and bend down to reach for Yao Yao's small bag?" Zhao Honghui questioned coldly.
He could have waited until the man got the bag, stole the item, and hid it on his person before making his move, thus catching him red-handed.
However, he couldn't bear anyone doing anything harmful to Yao Yao. The moment he saw through the man's intentions, he couldn't control himself and launched a violent attack, ruthlessly subduing him.
At that moment, he was filled with rage and wanted nothing more than to throw the man off the train.
"I didn't, you're lying! I just put the shoes under the bed." The man argued without any guilt. "Besides, my dad is the director of the water resources bureau, why would I need to steal these few coins from you?"
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