Chapter Thirty-Three: Killing someone is like destroying their spirit.
Lin Tang saw Chen Mo off.
"This place is not suitable for you to stay long, and you should not show your face in public for the time being." Her eyes were filled with sadness, her tone was indifferent, and her face was expressionless.
Chen Mo nodded and put on his hat.
"I'm leaving now, Miss Lin, take care of yourself."
He walked away quickly, his figure disappearing into the morning mist at the alley entrance.
A gust of wind swept over, carrying the morning mist, and Lin Tang couldn't help but shiver.
...
She had just returned from the hospital last night and had just settled down in her bedroom when she suddenly saw a dark shadow under the curtains.
Lin Tang shuddered.
"who?"
"Miss Lin, it's me." Chen Mo slowly stepped out from under the curtains.
“You…” Lin Tang looked at him in confusion.
"Ms. Lin, I know about what happened at your factory."
Lin Tang remained silent, her expression somewhat awkward.
"Miss Lin, I also brought some things with me. You should take a look."
Lin Tang looked at his stern face and her heart skipped a beat.
Chen Mo handed him a brown paper bag.
Lin Tang's hands trembled as she realized that the paper bag must contain something she didn't want to see.
"I……"
Chen Mo stared into her eyes and said, "Miss Lin, what you saw at the factory was not an accident, but a fuse lit by Qiao Yuan himself."
Lin Tang's fingers traced the faces of the disfigured workers in the photograph, her fingertips trembling like leaves shivering in the wind. Tears fell onto the photograph, leaving a small wet patch.
"I...I..." Lin Tang's last bit of faith wavered.
Chen Mo sneered, "His life is built on yen, supported by the title of 'President of Jiangcheng Chamber of Commerce' given to him by Sato! Look at the lives of these workers, in Qiao Yuan's eyes, their lives are not even worth a Japanese summons! Miss Lin, you are a kind-hearted person, are you going to just stand by and watch Qiao Yuan turn the entire Jiangcheng into a Japanese powder keg?"
Lin Tang hugged her shoulders, tears welling up in her eyes.
“Qiao Yuan is always followed by gang members whenever he comes and goes. Recently, he has been in close contact with the Japanese, and the Japanese have also increased their protection of him… Miss Lin, we need your help to lure him here.”
Lin Tang's face instantly turned as white as a sheet of paper.
Chen Mo's voice, however, pierced her ears like needles: "Miss Lin, I know you and Qiao Yuan were once husband and wife. You might feel reluctant to lure him here and kill him. If Miss Lin is willing, I will take you somewhere. You need to see for yourself what kind of person he really is."
Lin Tang looked up at Chen Mo, whose hand was silently resting on the gun beside him. She knew that if she didn't agree to his request, she might also become a victim of his gun.
She bit her lip and said, "Let's go."
Chen Mo glanced at the bandage on her foot, reached out and picked her up, saying, "Excuse me!"
Chen Mo carried her on his back and jumped off the balcony, landing steadily on the ground.
There were rickshaws waiting for them downstairs.
...
The alleyway was shrouded in mist and smelled of coal smoke. Lin Tang followed Chen Mo around seven or eight bends before finally stopping in front of the wooden door of "Fuxingli Tailor Shop".
Chen Mo knocked three times, and a deep reply came from inside the door: "Too late, no work."
"It's me, I brought guests."
The door creaked open a crack, and a man in a gray cloth shirt poked his head out. His gaze swept over Lin Tang, and he nodded to step aside: "Come in."
Lin Tang was filled with trepidation and could only let Chen Mo carry her into the house.
The man pushed aside the water tank, revealing a rather spacious basement.
The basement was dimly lit, with faded slogans hanging on the walls and a half-worn copy of the Xinhua Daily piled on the corner of the table.
Chen Mo put Lin Tang down.
The man at the head of the group stood up and extended his hand: "Miss Lin, I am Lao Zhou from the anti-traitor squad."
Lin Tang could only reach out and shake his hand.
Old Zhou opened the folder on the table and pulled out a stack of photocopies. All of them turned out to be agreements signed between Qiao Yuan and the Japanese side.
“Miss Lin,” Old Zhou’s voice was like a knife piercing her heart, “Qiao Yuan was originally a local thug, committing murder and robbery in Jiangcheng, a cancer to the city. Now he’s even siding with the Japanese! Becoming their dog. Chen Mo said you are a conscientious entrepreneur, and I believe even more that you are a conscientious Chinese! I hope you can distinguish right from wrong and make the right choice!”
Lin Tang silently looked around. In this narrow space, seven or eight people were surrounding her. She could even feel that she was prey caught in a pack of wolves, and if she answered carelessly, she would be torn to pieces.
She looked at the evidence that Lao Zhou had given her...
After a long silence, she sighed and said, "Okay, I promise you."
Old Zhou breathed a sigh of relief and patted her on the shoulder. "Miss Lin, you made the right decision."
A hint of relief appeared on Chen Mo's face. "Miss Lin, don't worry, we will ensure your safety."
Old Zhou said, "Tomorrow morning, call Qiao Yuan and tell him that you are waiting for him at the old house in Hongkou, and that you have something important to say." He paused, "Remember, make sure he comes alone."
Lin Tang frowned slightly. "I understand."
When Chen Mo saw her off, the fog in the alley was even thicker.
Old Zhou said, "Miss Lin, please be careful on the road."
...
As luck would have it, Cheng Qing showed up when Lin Tang returned home.
She burst in like a fawn being chased by a hunting rifle, her sobs trembling with a cracking tone: "Sister, Master Qiao... he wants to kill me! He says I leaked his affair with the Japanese, and he's going to tie me up and throw me into the Huangpu River!"
Her hair was disheveled, stray strands clung to her tear-streaked face, the hem of her pale cheongsam was torn in a large tear, and blood seeped from her knees; she looked utterly wretched.
Lin Tang could only help her to her room and let her wash up. She listened to her recount those events, the details of which were different, but all of them told her that Qiao Yuan was a traitor and a scoundrel.
Her heart sank.
She thought she might really be wrong. She had been deceived and hurt by him all along. With those benefits in front of him, he couldn't tolerate her. He clearly wanted to kill her, so why was she so easily fooled by his sweet words?
Lin Tang heard Ah Xiu's footsteps in the corridor and quickly wiped her face.
"Ah Xiu, call Ah Chen."
Ah Xiu hesitated for a moment, then walked over and picked up the phone.
The call connected, and Ah Xiu's voice came through: "Brother Ah Chen, Miss is looking for you..." She glanced at Lin Tang, "Miss Cheng is here with us..."
After hanging up the phone, Ah Xiu said to Lin Tang, "Ah Chen will talk to Master Qiao. But Miss, what are you going to do?"
Lin Tang remained silent, gazing at the fog outside the window.
"What I need to do... is something I should have done a long time ago."
Cheng Qing cried for a while, then fell asleep.
Ah Xiu also fell asleep.
Lin Tang stood by the window, watching the fog outside gradually dissipate in the east, revealing the first light of dawn.
No one knows what she was thinking that night as she stood there.
...
After leaving the old house in Hongkou, Chen Mo did not go to the tailor shop. He looked around and, seeing that no one was following him, went to the Chen residence.
Chen Kan was fast asleep when he was disturbed, and he looked annoyed. But when someone announced that it was Chen Mo, he sprang out in his pajamas like a fish out of water. Looking at Chen Mo, his face was twisted with anticipation. "Did you succeed?"
Chen Mo nodded.
Chen Kan then asked, "Where is the body?"
Chen Mo frowned, and after a long while said, "He was taken away by his driver."
"Ah Chen?" Chen Kan grabbed his clothes and roared, "You just let him take him away like that? What are you doing here without even seeing him die?!"
“I’m a sharpshooter, I can shoot an arrow through a willow tree from a hundred meters away! I was less than ten meters away from him at the time, and I still killed him with one shot, didn’t I? Later, Lin Tang stood between us. If you want me to kill him too, I have no objection!” He slapped Chen Kan’s hand away unhappily.
Chen Kan reluctantly released his grip, but still frowned and asked suspiciously, "Did you really see him die?"
Chen Mo said coldly, "If you didn't trust me, you shouldn't have asked me to take action in the first place."
Chen Kan remained silent.
Uncle Zhong came out at this moment after hearing the noise. He said, "If Qiao Yuan is dead, that's big news, it can't be kept secret! I'll go and find out!"
Uncle Zhong went out wearing a hat.
Chen Mo extended his hand to Chen Kan, "Young Master Chen, what about the payment you promised me? Shouldn't you pay me now?"
Chen Kan gave a cold laugh, squeezing out a hint of disdain from his throat. He turned and went to the room to retrieve a large silver coin, which he shoved into the man's hand. "Isn't it said that people like you have strong beliefs? I didn't expect that money is more important to you."
Chen Kan stared at the silver coin in Chen Mo's hand and suddenly laughed out loud. His laughter was like that of a choked owl, with a twisted sense of smugness: "So what? Anyway, the anti-traitor squad was going to kill him anyway. I'm just taking advantage of the situation to make some more money off Young Master Chen."
Chen Kan's lips curled up, and he said, "You are quite a smart person."
Chen Mo cupped his hands in greeting, "Young Master Chen, we'll meet again someday. Don't worry, I won't reveal this secret to your Miss Lin, and I wish you and Miss Lin a long and happy marriage."
Chen Mo weighed the pros and cons of the marriage, then laughed and left.
Chen Kan leaned against the cabinet, his face showing disdain, but thinking that the person he had painstakingly wanted to kill was now probably beyond saving, his mood improved.
"Qiao Yuan, Qiao Yuan, you've finally met your match!" Chen Kan walked to the liquor cabinet, unscrewed a bottle of whiskey, and took a swig. He wasn't a slouch, and the spicy liquor burned his throat.
Six years ago, Qiao Yuan killed him and stole Lin Jintang away; six years later, he is still deceiving her with lies, making her miss him even more than herself... He has held onto these grudges for more than two thousand days and nights, and now he can finally vent them.
For this reason, he wore a polite human skin mask, but only he knew that the face beneath the mask had long since rotted from hatred and jealousy!
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