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墨書 Inktalez
Having learned my lesson, my mother-in-law arrived at our doorstep early in the morning, not knowing what time it was. To avoid her, I deliberately left the house around six o'clock. As soon as I opened the door, I caught her gaze, a mix of triumph and anger, as if she were saying, "See? I knew you would do this."
I sighed, "I have to go to work today. Let's talk after I get off."
Upon hearing this, my mother-in-law immediately protested, "How can that be? You said this morning, and now you've changed your mind. Are you planning not to help my son? Tell me, is that true?"
I felt a headache coming on. She kept nagging me to admit something that was obviously true; how could I possibly want to help Wang Xu? I was the one who got him into this mess and the one who wanted him to stay there for life.
"Alright, alright, if you want to go, then go. But you have to wait until noon. If it works out, fine; if not, then don't go." My tone was quite firm. Seeing that I wasn't budging, she immediately frowned and put on a displeased expression.
"Don't come over at noon either. We'll meet directly at the entrance of the detention center. When we go in to talk to the police, whether it succeeds or fails, you'll have to accept it. Don't come looking for me again, understood?"
It wasn't about being nice or not; I simply didn't want to waste time on an old woman who had nothing to do with me anymore. She seemed quite unhappy with my attitude, but my insistence eventually made her nod in agreement.
"Come over early; don't be late."
After saying that, she walked down the stairs. Watching her hunched figure made me feel a twinge of sadness. If things hadn't escalated like this and if we hadn't had all those previous disputes, I might have felt pity for her actions.
Clearly, she intended to head straight there and wait. I took a deep breath and followed the path she had taken to leave home. A little later, I called my dad to ensure that Wang Xu's charge of intentional injury was solidified before finally feeling relieved. I wasn't so kind-hearted as to genuinely help Wang Xu.
After hanging up the phone, Gu Xiang approached me with a bright smile and handed me a cup of water. I took it and felt warmth radiating from the cup.
"Thank you."
"You seem really tired lately," Gu Xiang observed. "Lu Ming said he wants to go to the hot springs in Nanshan this weekend. He has a villa there where we could stay overnight. Do you want to join us?"
I shook my head. With Miao Miao gone, interacting with Lu Ming and Gu Xiang as friends felt quite awkward for me. I preferred Gu Xiang to just be an ordinary superior.
Gu Xiang nodded thoughtfully and sighed lightly, "If only we had gotten closer before Mu Miaomiao left; it wouldn't have caused you so much trouble."
I forced a smile at him and said, "Don't overthink it; I'm just dealing with some family matters right now. Once everything is sorted out and I have time, we can talk more."
Gu Xiang nodded in understanding, "Then make sure you take care of yourself."
Noon came quickly, even though I didn't want it to. I dragged my feet slowly toward the detention center, and during that time, my mother-in-law's calls came one after another. Every kilometer I walked, there was a call confirming my whereabouts.
In the end, I had no choice but to ignore the calls. By the time I arrived, there were several missed calls on my phone.
"Why didn't you answer your phone? Do you know how worried I was!?" As soon as my mother-in-law saw me, she started scolding me without hesitation.
I shook my head helplessly. "I'm sorry, I really didn't know. My phone ran out of battery, so I couldn't see the incoming calls. Aren't you here to see Wang Xu? Let's go."
She pouted, probably thinking that the matter at hand was more important, and followed me inside.
Standing in front of the police officer, my mother-in-law began to speak with a pained expression, saying how irresponsible Wang Xu was and that it was just a moment of carelessness without any other intentions. When the officer deliberately interrupted her loudly to ask what exactly was going on, she finally got to the point.
"It's just that my son and daughter-in-law were joking around and might have had a little conflict. My daughter-in-law is fine and not hurt at all; why is my son locked up? There must be some misunderstanding. This is my daughter-in-law; I brought her here to explain the situation."
My mother-in-law tightly gripped my arm and pulled me beside her. I had no choice but to stand there as the officer asked me, "Are you her daughter-in-law?"
I shook my head. "My husband and I are already divorced."
"What was the reason?"
"My husband cheated on me. The mistress got pregnant and moved into the apartment below us, which I discovered." I spoke lightly about it, but inside I felt like I was being torn apart.
The officer gave me a meaningful glance and then looked at my mother-in-law with clear disdain in his expression. "We already understand this situation. You can go back for now; we will notify you if there's any further information."
"Officer, look, we came all this way today. My daughter-in-law has explained that there's nothing between them. Can't you see she's fine here? Why not just release my son?"
As soon as my mother-in-law heard the officer say we could leave, she immediately persisted in persuading him. I understood her intention: she wanted to take Wang Xu away today.
The officer sneered contemptuously. "Do you think this is your home? You can come and go as you please? We will investigate the reasons and outcomes thoroughly; what are you worrying about here? Now you feel sorry for him; why didn't you manage things better back then? How old are you?"
"Yes, yes, you're right, Officer, but my son didn't mean to do this."
"Your son didn't do it on purpose? He came in with the intent to harm, and who would accidentally throw sulfuric acid on someone's face? You should be grateful that the girl is okay; if her face had been ruined, he would have to serve time in prison!"
The police officer's rude attitude made the old woman tear up. She looked at me with watery eyes, as if hoping I would speak up for her, but I silently pinched the arm she had just hurt and remained quiet. Seeing that I wasn't saying anything, she started to negotiate with the officer again.
Then, suddenly, the old woman seemed to remember something. In a panic, she pulled out something from the floral bag she was holding and handed it to the police officer.
"Here, Officer," she said cautiously, but her smile couldn't be hidden; it was as if she finally had a solution.
The officer and I both looked down at her hand at the same time, revealing a thick stack of cash. It was almost laughably ironic.
In the end, it was clear what would happen: the officer kicked us both out.
He threatened the old woman that if she continued to linger here stubbornly, he would charge her with obstructing justice and take her in as well. The old woman left reluctantly, but once outside, she was furious and began to shout at the empty space in front of her.
"What kind of attitude is this? They call themselves public servants! I'm going to find a place to file a complaint against him! This is outrageous; my son didn't do anything wrong—this is slander!"
As she continued to mutter angrily, I started waving for a taxi. I hadn't eaten lunch since arriving here, and it was too late to go home for a meal, so I planned to head back to the office.
But then the old woman grabbed my arm fiercely and said angrily, "Where do you think you're going? The matter isn't resolved yet! Where are you off to?!"
The driver had already stopped the car in front of us. I helplessly tried to explain politely, "I told you before that I don't care about the outcome; I've accompanied you here already, and this will be my last time. So please step aside; I need to eat and get back to work."
"What does it matter if you're in a hurry for work? Right now Wang Xu is locked up and can't get out! Think of a way; ask your dad for help! Find someone here who can make things easier. Money might not work, but your dad has connections!"
She spoke as if there was definitely a way to resolve this. I laughed lightly and said, "Grandma, I think you haven't considered one thing: in this world, law prevails; it's not something we can just decide on whims."
"Okay, okay, I know you're upset. Do you want me to apologize? Fine. Everything that happened before was my fault. Let's not dwell on this incident with my son anymore; let's just get him out first."
I couldn't help but roll my eyes; how could this person be so stubborn? I had seen her obstinacy before, and now it was truly frustrating.
"Are you leaving or not? If you're not going, don't waste my time." The taxi driver was clearly getting impatient with me taking up his earning time.
"Master, if you're leaving, I'll pay you double. Please wait for me for a few more minutes." I was really afraid that once this vehicle left, my mother-in-law would hold onto me and I wouldn't get another chance to leave.
"We had already agreed before. No matter what, I did my best. Wang Xu's actions were not my intention. Think about it, I didn't instruct him to do anything, so of course, I shouldn't be responsible for the consequences of his actions."
My mother-in-law seemed distracted as she listened to me, but she showed no signs of letting go. She kept muttering about what to do.
Suddenly, I had a clever idea and sneered lightly, saying casually, "Why don't you ask Deng Xiaomei? After all, Deng Xiaomei's child's father is quite powerful. What if he manages to bring Wang Xu out?"
I was just joking, but upon hearing this, my mother-in-law froze for a moment and then showed a hopeful expression. She nodded vigorously, "Okay, I'll go right now!"
It was as if she had grasped the last straw of hope; her joy made it seem like salvation was right in front of her. I thought that no matter what I said now, she wouldn't listen. She wouldn't want to believe that no one could save Wang Xu.
Everything that happened to Wang Xu was his own doing; my pity was the same.
My mother-in-law left this place ahead of me. I reluctantly opened the car door and got into the taxi, apologizing to the driver. He waved his hand dismissively without saying anything, but I felt very uncomfortable.
I thought I was armored against any harm, but at times like this, I still felt pain for my tragic situation.
Wang Xu's incident indeed had no direct relation to me; he hurt me—should I still feel pity for him?
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