55 points
◎Song Qinggui, you've finally agreed to give me a proper title.◎
The matter between Li Jinghe and Zhao Lin was too serious. According to Wang Yueling's guess, Zhao Lin might have already been silenced by Li Jinghe. Xue Lu and Song Qinggui didn't dare mention it to Xue Qielu, fearing it would affect the old man's health.
The two of them went to find Xue Tan, whose face darkened as soon as he heard the news.
“When I dealt with those corrupt executives at the Xue family, some of them had dealings with the third branch of the family. It’s not hard to figure out what was going on.” Xue Tan looked at Xue Lu. “However, the third aunt was relatively restrained. Although the amount of Xue family assets she took was not small, it wasn’t enough to affect the foundation of the Xue family. She bore children for the Xue family, and Father has been wary of her all these years, only giving her face, not substance. It’s only natural that she would make plans for Xue Rao and Xue Can. I originally planned to talk to her after I had dealt with these uncles and aunts, and I thought I could settle this matter with her privately. But I didn’t expect that she would actually try to harm you.”
Attorney Xue wasn't surprised: "Back then, Xue Can gambled and smuggled in the United States and even assaulted a local policeman, offending both the legitimate and criminal worlds. But getting him out of trouble wasn't too difficult. If Li Jinghe hadn't taken advantage of Ms. Wen's long-term widowhood at Cihangzhai and her lack of support, and hadn't harbored any intention of seizing her shares and kicking her out, I wouldn't have insisted on putting Xue Can in jail. It's normal that she's held a grudge against me since then."
Song Qinggui's expression was solemn: "I'm afraid I'm also involved, after all, my father gave me shares."
“This can’t be kept from the old man.” Xue concluded: “In his life, he’s not without his mistakes, but he always took them standing up. He’s very concerned about his reputation. The police came to the old house to investigate, and all the neighbors on Danshan Road saw it. This is like slapping the old man’s face in the ground. We can’t not inform him in advance.”
...
As Xue Tan had expected, the old man was so frustrated after hearing about this that he couldn't utter a single word for ten minutes.
After a long pause, he spoke first, asking Song Qinggui, "What are your plans for this public relations effort?"
Song Qinggui lowered his head and thought for a moment before answering honestly, "Dad, as I've said before, the Xue family is a prestigious family, and prestigious families should have the responsibility and integrity of a prestigious family. Third Aunt and you are in a common-law marriage, so she is naturally a member of the Xue family. Whether she has done something wrong, broken the law, or set a bad example for the public, the Xue family must share the responsibility with her. The Xue family can only accept the legal punishment and the criticism from society; there is no room for argument or evasion. After the investigation results for Third Aunt and Zhao Lin are released, I will hold a press conference to formally apologize to the public. In addition, the Xue family must allocate more funds to social charity in the future as compensation for the negative public opinion caused. And Seventh Brother..."
Song Qinggui looked at Xue Tan: "You need to be prepared, this matter may have some impact on the stock market."
"It's just a minor incident," Xue Tan said confidently. "If I can't even handle something this simple, I'm not worthy of taking over from my father."
Xue Qielu sighed deeply, then said self-deprecatingly, "They say all merchants are cunning. Although I, Xue, am a merchant, I consider myself benevolent and righteous. My greatest shame in life is that I was lustful in my youth and didn't know how to educate my children. As a result, I couldn't see the women around me clearly, and my sons and daughters mostly squandered my money. Now, I guess this is retribution. I'm old, so you can decide what to do with me..."
Even the once arrogant Xue Qielu now acknowledges that the once mighty hero is past his prime.
...
But things still turned out differently than anyone expected.
On the day the police arrived at the Xue family's old house, Li Jinghe was indeed very flustered, but she did not kill Zhao Lin.
Zhao Lin was arrested on the spot by the police. The arrest location was inside Li Jinghe's house, in the storage room under the stairs.
For more than a month since Zhao Lin went missing, he has been hiding with Li Jinghe.
From the moment he learned that Yang Ailin had jumped off the building, he knew that what he had done could no longer be hidden. So he took advantage of the blind spots in the surveillance cameras and hid in the Xue family's house, next to Li Jinghe. It was a dangerous place, but it was also the safest place he could think of.
When the police made the arrest, Zhao Lin did not resist at first. However, when Li Jinghe was also handcuffed, Zhao Lin suddenly went berserk. He began to struggle and shout, "I did it all! It has nothing to do with her! I did everything! It has nothing to do with her!"
Li Jinghe shed tears, but calmly and obediently walked into the police car.
By the time the initial investigation was completed, spring in Lancheng had passed and early summer had arrived.
Wang Yueling said that Zhao Lin confessed to all his crimes.
For the past five years, he has had private dealings with several senior executives of the Xue Group, revealing many of the Xue family's business secrets to them, guiding and helping them to seize Xue's assets, from which he took a cut; he instigated Zhuang Zhong and his daughter to poison Xue Lu at his birthday party, and contacted entertainment reporters to gather at the hotel, attempting to film indecent videos of Xue Lu to influence public opinion; after the Jingtian blood type incident, when Jingtian could use genetic testing to reverse public opinion, Zhao Lin found Song Jian, gave him a sum of money, and asked him to refuse Jingtian Hospital's testing request, and helped him register many social media accounts to continuously release news unfavorable to Jingtian Hospital. After the blood type incident, all the medical disputes that occurred in Jingtian were supported by Zhao Lin.
Wang Yueling: "Anyone with eyes can see that these things couldn't have been done without Li Jinghe, but for some reason, he just insists that he did everything by himself."
"What did Li Jinghe say?" Xue Lu asked.
“Li Jinghe is also smart. She knows she can’t be completely clean, but she really didn’t participate in the actual operation. She insists that Zhao Lin is her driver, that she trusts him, and that she has chatted with him a lot. There must have been some inside information about the Xue family in those conversations. She was used by Zhao Lin.”
Attorney Xue: "So, Li Jinghe will be acquitted?"
Wang Yueling shook her head: "In other cases, it is true that the presumption of innocence applies, but when we investigated her accounts at home and abroad, we found that she had done a lot of illegal money laundering over the years, and she can't escape that."
Song Qinggui listened from the side. During the months that the investigation had been going on, Xue's stock price had plummeted. It was time for her to hold a press conference.
"Captain Wang," Song Qinggui said, "Can I see Li Jinghe?"
"It's possible during visiting hours."
...
The next morning, Song Qinggui, dressed in a well-fitting trench coat, went to the detention center to see Li Jinghe.
Li Jinghe is already in her early sixties, but after years of cosmetic procedures, she looks only in her fifties.
Months of detention had taken a toll on her appearance. Her gray hair was cut short, no longer styled in an elegant updo; makeup was forbidden in the detention center, and the wrinkles on her face had become more pronounced.
Upon seeing Song Qinggui, she lost her previous sharpness, but still stood up straight, adopting a confrontational posture.
"I thought it would be Xue Tan coming to see me." Li Jinghe picked up the microphone: "I didn't expect it to be you."
“You’ve turned the company and the family upside down, and Seventh Brother can’t get away from it.” Song Qinggui said calmly.
"You've seen my joke, you must be enjoying it," Li Jinghe sneered.
"It's the law that's punishing you, not me, so why should I feel good about it?"
Li Jinghe's smile faded: "If you didn't come here to see me make a fool of myself, then why are you here?"
Song Qinggui: "I don't understand."
"What don't you understand?"
"I don't understand why you would choose to throw away a good life and land yourself in prison." Song Qinggui's emotions fluctuated. "I know you and Lawyer Xue don't get along, but do you know that if Lawyer Xue had actually drunk that bottle of 'obedience potion,' he would have been crippled if not dead? Do you hate him that much?"
"I don't hate him, I hate you!" Li Jinghe's eyes also turned fierce.
Song Qinggui: "Hate me?"
"It's not just me who hates you; many people in this industry hate you. As long as you're unhappy, everyone else is happy!"
Song Qinggui asked, puzzled, "Why?"
"Why? Ha! You don't even know why?" Li Jinghe laughed out loud: "We're both sacrificing our bodies to serve men, we're both dogs for these rich families for money, so why do you get to live so comfortably? Why do you have love, companionship, and dignity?!"
Song Qinggui hadn't expected that the woman before her, thirty years her senior, more than halfway through her life, having weathered countless storms, was still desperately questioning about love, companionship, and dignity. These were lifelong questions for women, and thirty years of trials and tribulations hadn't diminished their difficulty in the slightest.
Song Qinggui did not deny "using her looks to serve men" or "being a dog for the wealthy." If it weren't for Xue Lu, she would most likely have done the same.
She asked another question: "You and Zhao Lin, is it love?"
Song Qinggui was present on the day Zhao Lin and Li Jinghe were arrested.
When Zhao Lin anxiously took his blame, the way he looked at Li Jinghe wasn't that of a driver to his boss, nor a junior to an elder, but a man to a woman. Even though they were far apart in age, even though their love was sensational, the eyes of lovers don't lie.
Song Qinggui suddenly asked a question, catching Li Jinghe off guard: "You..."
"So you still don't understand?" Song Qinggui looked into Li Jinghe's tearful eyes: "Love, companionship, and dignity all stem from love. You entered the Xue family with only material desires from the beginning, so you won't get the love and dignity you want. This is the price, it was set from the start. Now that things have come to this, it's your business if you regret it and don't want to admit it, you can't blame me."
Li Jinghe's tears were icy cold, streaming down her face, and she suddenly fell silent.
She thought of Zhao Lin.
Yang Ailin's suicide was unexpected. She never imagined that Song Jian was such a scoundrel who could drive Yang Ailin to take her own life while holding her child.
After Zhao Lin hid in the Xue family's house, she was in a panic every day, but Zhao Lin remained calm.
"Sister, what are you afraid of?" Zhao Lin lay in her arms: "If we really get caught, I'll just say that I did it all. Don't worry, I will never betray you."
How could Li Jinghe believe it? She had always thought Zhao Lin was joking.
Thirty-five years old, the prime of a man's life. He willingly followed her; how could he possibly have any genuine feelings for her? It must be for her money.
Just like when she followed Xue Qielu back then.
However, Li Jinghe never expected that Zhao Lin would actually do it.
During the month he hid in the Xue family's house, although she was filled with anxiety, it was also the happiest time of her life.
Xue Qielu recuperated in his own courtyard. Apart from occasionally having a meal with him, she didn't have to take care of him or flatter him all the time.
She was in her room, making love with Zhao Lin, as if she had returned to the prime of her thirties.
She sometimes felt it was absurd that she was menopausal yet still entangled with a young man and experiencing unprecedented pleasure from it.
And so, before their impending doom arrived, they recklessly indulged in their immoral and illicit revelry.
"How long will Zhao Lin be sentenced to?" Li Jinghe asked blankly at the end.
"I don't know. But with multiple offenses combined, the sentence should be no less than ten years."
Li Jinghe closed her eyes in despair. When they met again, she really was an old woman...
Will Zhao Lin still be willing to stay with her...?
After leaving the detention center, Song Qinggui got into Xue Lu's car.
"So?" Xue Lu asked, "Did you get the answer you wanted?"
Song Qinggui didn't rush to fasten her seatbelt, but looked at him seriously and said, "Lawyer Xue, let's get married after the press conference."
"Huh?" Xue Lu was suddenly taken aback and looked back at Song Qinggui.
"I mean, taking wedding photos, having the wedding, and going on the honeymoon."
Xue Lu didn't speak for a moment, only rubbing the steering wheel back and forth with his right hand, showing his excitement and nervousness.
Seeing that he didn't speak, Song Qinggui asked, "You...have concerns?"
Xue Lu's Adam's apple bobbed, and his voice trembled slightly: "I know the editor-in-chief of Men's Fashion, and I asked him to help us find a wedding photographer."
"There's no need to be like that..."
How about we have the wedding at the end of this month?
"Let's take it easy. The group has just gone through a tough time, let Seventh Brother and the others catch their breath. Besides, we should wait until Xiaotian finishes his college entrance exams, around the end of June or the beginning of July. The weather in Lancheng won't be too hot then, which will be just right."
Xue Lu nodded: "Where would you like to go for your honeymoon?"
"Either is fine." Song Qinggui then fastened his seatbelt: "Domestic or foreign is fine, I like places with mountains and water."
Xue Lu started the car engine.
As the car started moving, Xue Lu whispered:
"Song Qinggui, you're finally willing to give me a proper status."
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