Chapter 16: The People's Judgment
"In front of all the poor and lower-middle peasants, young and old men in Majiaji! Take out the shameful things in your pocket!
Whether it's a mule or a horse, take it out for a walk! Whether it's true or false, the public has sharp eyes! Do you dare to take it out? ! "
“I…I…”
Lin Sanquan's lips trembled violently, like a fish out of water, fluttering but making no clear sound.
Beads of sweat as big as beans, cold, rolled down from his gray forehead and temples.
It instantly soaked through the back of his greasy, sour-smelling, torn cotton-padded jacket, giving him a chill.
He looked at Shen Lingning, trying to pressure her with his biological father's identity, but after just one glance...
A great fear seized him!
He regretted it!
I regret it so much!
He just knew it!
The girl raised by the Shen family has the stinky and hard blood of that bitch Shen Qiao Nian flowing in her bones!
None of them are easy to mess with!
If he hadn't seen that Shen Qiaonian was inexperienced, he would have won her heart with sweet words and pretended to agree to marry into his family.
How could the wealthy Shen family let a small shopkeeper like him in?!
But during the six years he was in the Shen family, he seemed to be the son-in-law of the Shen family, but what about inside?
He lives such a miserable life in the Shen family!
Shen Qiaonian thinks of that bitch. She looks gentle on the surface, but she is actually aloof and pretentious. She guards against him like a thief!
That old man Shen Songxian never even looked at him straight in the eye!
Even a young boy like Shen Lingcheng dared to tease him and make fun of him.
The Shen family made their fortune in the tea industry, but he has rarely even had the Mingqian tea from West Lake Longjing every year!
How can he be considered the son-in-law of the Shen family?
Shen Qiaonian gave birth to a daughter, Shen Lingning, after eight months of pregnancy. He didn't bring her home to see his parents until she was five years old.
Even though she was just a girl, he didn't care about her.
But apart from daily food and drink, what benefit did Lin Sanquan get from the Shen family?
shop?
Business?
money?
He can't get involved at all!
He was just feeling aggrieved and drank a few times too much. He got so angry that he "disciplined" Shen Qiaonian a few times, but that bitch actually dared to ask for a divorce!
In the end, she relied on her mother's family's influence and kicked him out like a mangy dog!
Didn't give him a penny!
And at this moment, Shen Lingning was standing in front of him.
Those eyebrows, that straight spine, those icy cold eyes that seemed to want to cut him into pieces...
It was exactly like Shen Qiao Nian who was pinched by the neck and pressed by the lotus pond by him!
No! Even more fierce than Shen Qiaonian!
Even more cruel!
Even more fearless!
He seemed to see that cold night again, when Shen Qiao Nian was strangled by him.
When he was on the verge of death, a strange, cold, and hateful sneer appeared on the corner of his mouth!
That sneer, like a maggot on the tarsal bone, has been haunting him for more than ten years, and now it reappears on Shen Lingning's face!
“Heh…heh…”
Lin Sanquan's throat let out a desperate gasp like a broken bellows, and his vision went dark.
The diary that Shen Lingning held high seemed to turn into Shen Qiaonian's pale smiling face in his blurred vision, and then into the deep, cold mud at the bottom of the lotus pond!
The mud seemed to be coming from all directions, trying to swallow him and drown him!
He felt his neck being strangled by an invisible force, just like how he strangled Shen Qiao Nian back then!
Suffocating! Cold!
The shadow of death has never been so clear!
He wanted to escape! He wanted to immediately flee this trial ground surrounded by countless angry gazes!
He wanted to deny it! He wanted to scream!
She wanted to tear apart Shen Lingning's face that looked so much like her mother's!
But he couldn't move!
His legs felt like they were filled with lead, nailed to the spot.
His tongue seemed to be frozen, spinning around in his mouth, but he couldn't utter a word of rebuttal.
The extreme fear and the sin buried deep in his heart that was suddenly revealed completely destroyed his will.
He was like a puddle of mud, with only the trembling of a sieve and the despair of death left.
"Go ahead! Lin Sanquan! Aren't you quite capable?!"
"Feeling guilty? Don't dare to pay?!"
"If you have nothing to hide, what are you afraid of?!"
"Take it out now! Let everyone see what you've done!"
The villagers' angry voices grew louder and louder, like an angry tide, completely submerging his broken ship.
Every question hit him like a whip.
The old branch secretary Ma Zhenshan's eyes were as sharp as a hawk, capturing every subtle reaction of Lin Sanquan's collapse.
He took a step forward, slamming his jujube wood cane to the ground again, his voice like a final verdict: "Lin Sanquan! You don't dare to take it out? Good! That proves that you have something to hide!
Prove that what Comrade Shen Lingning said is true!
Prove that you are the murderer of Comrade Shen Mingqiu! Tiezhu!
"exist!"
Militia captain Li Tiezhu could no longer contain himself and his voice was as loud as a bell!
"Hold him down! Take the evidence of murder out of his pocket!"
"yes!"
Li Tiezhu's eyes were blazing with fire, and he rushed towards Lin Sanquan, who was shaking like a puddle of mud, with two equally furious militiamen!
Li Tiezhu was quick-witted and quick-handed. He grabbed Lin Sanquan's wrist and thrust his other hand into his left chest pocket!
"Sizzle!"
With a sound, a small hole was torn in the fabric of the inner bag!
A piece of paper that was folded to a yellow and brittle state and had worn edges was pulled out with Li Tiezhu's movements!
The paper smelled stale and musty...
A faint, disgusting smell of water!
Li Tiezhu unfolded it in public! The crooked, ghostly handwriting was visible in the sunlight:
"Mortgage Note"
Lin Sanquan, due to financial difficulties, voluntarily pledges a pair of jadeite bracelets from his home (characteristic: a clear emerald green, with the character "Autumn" engraved on the inner ring) to Brother Liu Laizi for eighty silver dollars. This is a pledge of payment and payment.
The property can only be redeemed when Lin Sanquan can raise one hundred dollars in cash. In case there is no proof later, this mortgage is hereby signed as evidence.
The person who made it: Lin Sanquan (a glaring black blood-red handprint with blurred edges!)
Witness: None
March 5, 1949
The date was exactly half a month before Shen Mingqiu fell into the water and died!
The location, the person (Liu Laizi), the characteristics of the collateral (the word "Autumn" engraved in the inner circle), the amount, and even the blurred bloody handprint, all matched perfectly with Shen Lingning's accusation just now!
"Buzz..."
After seeing the contents on the paper, the crowd once again erupted in huge, unbelievable gasps and even more intense anger!
"It's really him! Black and white! Red handprint!"
"In the 38th year of the Republic of China... the year before liberation! He sold his wife's life for 80 yuan!"
"He was trying to snatch it back just now! This is destroying evidence!"
"Killing my wife for money! Bastard! Beat him to death!"
"Kill someone and you'll pay with your life!"
"Send him to be shot!"
"Beat this bastard to death!"
The crowd was furious to the point that several young men could no longer hold back and were about to rush forward with clenched fists, but were held back by the people nearby. However, their angry saliva had already sprayed onto Lin Sanquan's face.
Shen Lingning walked quietly up to Lin Sanquan and slapped him in the face.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com