Chapter 301 No Waves
Qiao Wanyin didn't bother to knock, and pounded on the door, her voice urgent: "Is anyone home? Is Aunt Wang home? We need to talk to her urgently!"
After a moment, the door opened, and it was the Li family's nanny who opened it.
When she saw the three of them looking like this, she was taken aback for a moment, and quickly said, "Aunt Wang? She went to the provincial capital for a meeting early yesterday morning. She said there was an important political study class that she would be in for at least three days. She's not home at all. If you had come a couple of days earlier, you might have run into her, but she's really not here now."
This last clue went cold.
Hope, like a candle flickering in the wind, was eventually extinguished.
Qiao Xuezhi squatted on the ground, clutching his head tightly with both hands, his knuckles turning white from the force. His body trembled slightly, and his voice was hoarse, as if squeezed from the depths of his throat: "Hongmei...where did you go? Why did you leave without a word? Even if you were in trouble, why didn't you tell me? Why did you have to bear it all alone?"
Looking at her second brother's appearance, Qiao Wanyin felt as if a dull knife was slowly stabbing at her heart, causing her both pain and a feeling of suffocation, making it almost impossible for her to breathe.
She stood there, her fingertips icy cold, her mind a jumble of thoughts, yet she clearly realized that the disappearance of her second sister-in-law was not as simple as it seemed on the surface.
She knelt down, her knees slamming heavily onto the cold, hard ground, as if all the strength in her body had been drained away in that instant.
She held him tightly with all her might, her knuckles turning white from the force, as if afraid that if she let go, she would lose something important forever: "Second brother, it was my fault... It's all my fault."
If she hadn't doubted her second sister-in-law out of momentary suspicion, if she had trusted her more and pressured her less, things might not have escalated to this point...
If she could turn back time, she would rather endure all the misunderstandings than see things turn out like this.
Just then, hurried footsteps came from afar.
Two guards in crisp military uniforms jogged over, their foreheads glistening with sweat, their expressions tense and serious.
"What's going on?"
Fu Li'an slowly raised his head, his voice so low it was almost touching the ground, carrying an undeniable pressure.
"Reporting to Commander Fu!"
One of the guards stood at attention and saluted, his breathing still a little unsteady. "At the old cotton mill on the outskirts of the city, someone is going to jump off a building! People at the scene have already called the police, and we rushed here as soon as we received the news!"
Qiao Wanyin, who had been looking down, suddenly raised her head, her face turning deathly pale.
Her legs buckled, and she almost couldn't stand. She blurted out, "Second Sister-in-law!"
The dilapidated factory gate stood alone in the wind, its mottled rust like dried blood, peeling off piece by piece and leaving dark brown debris on the ground.
The door hinges creaked and groaned, as if lamenting the weight of time.
She stumbled in, her feet sinking into gravel and rotten wood, each step unsteady.
All I could hear was the howling wind and my own rapid heartbeat. My vision was both blurry and clear. In the distance, I could see a large crowd gathered in the second-floor corridor, heads bobbing and chattering.
"Second Sister-in-law—!"
She screamed with all her might, her voice tearing through the air, filled with sobs and fear, her throat feeling as if it had been slashed by a knife.
Upon hearing the shouts, the crowd hastily parted to both sides, creating a narrow gap, like a tide being cleaved apart by an invisible force.
She finally saw Li Hongmei.
Li Hongmei sat on the old windowsill, her feet dangling in the air, the tips of her shoes wobbling slightly, with the concrete ground several meters below.
Her eyes were red as if they were soaked in blood, the corners of her eyes were cracked, and tear streaks hung on her face, not yet completely dry.
The blue cloth shirt he was wearing was so dirty that its original color was no longer visible, and the cuffs were worn out and covered with mud and oil.
Her hair was disheveled, like straw blown by the wind, with a few strands clinging to her damp cheeks.
"Don't come any closer!"
Li Hongmei turned around abruptly, and upon seeing them, she trembled violently. Instinctively, she scooted half an inch towards the window, her heels barely touching the windowsill. "Didn't you say I set the fire? Didn't you think I deserved to die? Then I'll die right there in front of you! Let you watch me jump and see if I'm really that ruthless!"
Qiao Xuezhi staggered and fell to his knees with a thud, his knees sinking into the mud and splashing up murky water.
His tears fell uncontrollably onto the muddy ground, quickly spreading into dark dots. His voice was choked with sobs, barely forming coherent sentences: "Hongmei! Are you stupid? Miaomiao is still waiting for you to eat at home! She keeps looking out the door, calling, 'Why isn't Mommy back yet?'... What will she do if you leave?"
The moment her daughter was mentioned, Li Hongmei's stubborn gaze crumbled instantly, and her taut nerves snapped completely.
She trembled violently, tears streaming down her face like a burst dam, soaking the front of her clothes: "Miaomiao... my Miaomiao... Mommy doesn't want you... Mommy really... really isn't a bad person..."
Qiao Wanyin moved forward step by step, her steps as heavy as if she were dragging a thousand-pound iron chain.
Her voice trembled, choked with sobs, yet she desperately suppressed her emotions, afraid of upsetting her sister-in-law: "Second sister-in-law, please come down first, okay? It's not dark yet, and the wind is chilly. You must be so cold sitting there... We're family, can't we sit down and talk things over? Please... I beg you..."
Li Hongmei shook her head frantically, her movements so violent it was as if she wanted to throw away all her grievances and injustices: "It's too late... It's all too late... You won't believe me, you never will... From the moment you doubted me, I was already dead..."
She sobbed uncontrollably, her chest heaving, her fingers gripping the windowsill so tightly they turned white: "I admit... I admit I went to the kindergarten... but I didn't set the fire! I really didn't! I just... I just wanted to check the accounts! I wanted to know what really happened that day, I wanted to find out the truth for everyone... but nobody believes me, they just call me the arsonist..."
"Look at the ledgers?"
Fu Lian stared at her, his voice still calm and without any fluctuation, like a stone sunk into a deep pool, without ripples, yet it made it hard to breathe.
"right!"
She suddenly covered her face, her red-rimmed eyes peeking through her fingers, her shoulders trembling violently as if she were about to collapse to the ground. "I really want to help you, not for myself, I genuinely want to prove that I can do things! I want... I want to stay by your side, I want to live with you all, I don't want to be treated as an outsider anymore!"
A buzzing sound went through Qiao Wanyin's mind, as if a string had suddenly snapped, causing her to experience tinnitus and a racing heart.
So, this is the truth of the matter?
So what she had been desperately trying to hide wasn't sin, but desire?
"I really didn't start the fire!"
Li Hongmei cried so hard she could barely breathe. She curled up on the ground, hugging her knees, her whole body trembling like a withered leaf in the autumn wind. "But I... I saw that person sneaking towards the woodshed behind the kitchen that day, clutching a tinderbox in his hand... My heart skipped a beat, but I didn't ask anything or stop him..."
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