"I don't know what the old lady's relationship is with Ling Yongde? Do you know what Ling Yongde did? You just think the police must have wronged him? You are obstructing official business, which is illegal, do you know that?" Xing Zhaozhao looked directly at the old lady and said.
The young woman next to the old lady was clearly frightened. She gently tugged at the old lady and whispered, "Alright, Auntie, we haven't figured things out yet. Why don't we go to the police station together and ask them for clarification? I'm sure they won't wrongly accuse the old man."
The old lady was also tempted, especially seeing so many people gathered around, which would indeed be a bad influence, so she nodded and agreed: "Alright then, we'll go to the police station together and find out the details."
“However,” the old lady looked at Xing Zhaozhao seriously, still unwilling to give up, “I believe Yongde is definitely innocent. We have known each other for decades. He grew up with my husband since he was a child. I know his character.”
After saying that, the old lady pulled the young woman beside her aside and prepared to go to the police station with her.
Xing Zhaozhao stared at the old lady in shock, her words, "He grew up with my husband since he was a child," echoing in her mind. Her heart skipped a beat, and she couldn't help but ask, "Your husband isn't Ling Xiao, is he?"
The old lady turned sharply to look at Xing Zhaozhao, her face filled with undisguised surprise: "How do you know Ling Xiao? He's been dead for so many years..."
Ling Yongde shuddered, but without turning his head, he only wanted to leave as soon as possible.
The policeman who was holding him slowed down and turned to look curiously at the old lady and Xing Zhaozhao. His years of experience as a policeman told him that there seemed to be something going on.
Seeing the old lady's reaction, Xing Zhaozhao knew that she was probably right, but she couldn't understand: "Wasn't Ling Xiao's wife already dead?"
The old lady's face darkened: "Who are you listening to? I've been living a perfectly fine life."
"Your son said it himself," Xing Zhaozhao thought to herself.
"Back then, I had no choice..." The old lady choked up, her eyes reddened, and she said with a sorrowful expression.
It turns out that the old lady's surname is Jing, and her name is Jing Sa. Her family used to be large landowners and had been friends with the Ling family for generations. From the moment she was born, she was betrothed to Ling Xiao. Although it was arranged by their parents, the two grew up together and had a very good relationship. However, when the wedding date was set, the Jing family became unhappy.
The Jing family was different from the Ling family. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Ling family donated all their assets, intending to stay rooted in this land and start anew. The Jing family was unhappy about this. They thought the Ling family was too foolish, especially since Ling Xiao, who had donated his assets and become a poor boy, was not worthy of their daughter. They also did not want their daughter to marry into the Ling family and suffer.
But Jing Sa insisted that she had to marry Ling Xiao.
The Jing family couldn't persuade their daughter otherwise, and in the end, they let her marry him.
The couple had a very sweet year at first and then had a baby.
However, as the situation grew increasingly tense, the astute Jing family sensed something was amiss and prepared to leave. Since the whole family was leaving, they couldn't bear to leave their daughter alone, so they decided to take her with them, and they wouldn't mind taking Ling Xiao along as well.
Ling Xiao was unwilling. At that time, his parents were still alive, and he couldn't abandon them. Taking his parents with him might alert other members of the clan, and might even prevent the Jing family from leaving as well.
Ling Xiao refused to leave, and Jing Sa was unwilling to leave either. In the end, she was forcibly taken away by the Jing family. At that time, Jing Sa had just given birth to Ling Ze and had just finished her postpartum confinement. Because she didn't have enough breast milk, Ling Xiao went out to find a way to get milk powder. When he came back, he found that there was only a baby crying for milk in the house.
“I didn’t want to either. My brother tricked me into going back with my mother and dragged me away.” Grandma Jing said, wiping away her tears. “I met Yongde on the way, and I even asked him to pass on a message to him, asking him to come and pick me up. I was going to wait for him there. As long as he came, I would come back with him. But I waited on the other side of the river year after year, and he never came. He must hate me to death, thinking that I abandoned him and the child…”
There was a chorus of sighs and groans around.
Xing Zhaozhao glanced at Ling Yongde, who hadn't dared to turn his head to look at her, and felt a heavy weight in her heart.
She looked at Old Madam Jing: "Are you sure Ling Xiao didn't want to go to you because he hated you, and not because the message you asked him to pass on might not have reached his ears at all?" She hadn't heard Ling Xiao mention this, and she wasn't sure if Ling Yongde really hadn't helped pass on the message, but judging from Ling Yongde's reaction, she was certain that her guess was probably correct.
Grandma Jing shook her head without thinking: "Impossible. If I asked Yongde to help pass it on, it's impossible that it didn't get through."
Xing Zhaozhao: "..." That old bastard Ling Yongde really doesn't deserve so much trust from you guys.
Xing Zhaozhao sighed helplessly, looked at Old Madam Jing, and said, "Do you know how Ling Xiao died?"
With tears glistening in her eyes, Grandma Jing nodded and said, "After Aze fell into the river and drowned, he went to the river to retrieve his son. He was so exhausted that he accidentally fell into the river and drowned."
Xing Zhaozhao shook her head: "You know, he was in charge of the black market in Qingxi Town back then. In those days, he lived a very good life. But after he died, everything fell into the hands of the person he trusted most."
Grandma Jing had always been well protected by her parents, brothers, and Ling Xiao. After hearing Xing Zhaozhao's words, she nodded in bewilderment: "That's right, after all, Yongde has always been the one she trusts the most."
Xing Zhaozhao: "..."
The surroundings were deathly silent.
Grandma Jing remained silent for a moment, then belatedly realized that something was wrong.
She glanced at Ling Yongde, then at Xing Zhaozhao, and realized something. A chill quickly ran from the soles of her feet to the top of her head: "You...you mean..."
Xing Zhaozhao nodded: "It's all his fault."
The single word "all" caused Old Mrs. Jing to instantly lose all her reason and the elegance she had maintained for so many years. She lunged at Ling Yongde and slapped him repeatedly across the face: "You beast, how dare you? How could you do this? He trusted you so much, he trusted you so much..."
Seeing that things were going badly, the police quickly pulled the people apart and took them all to the police station.
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