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墨書 Inktalez
I didn't expect that my decision and the events that followed would lead to my mother-in-law's suicide. She threatened to take her life, but it wasn't because of me; it was because the police station refused to release Wang Xu. She wanted to exchange her life for his, but it bore no fruit and only became a joke.
This incident reached my father, who came to tell me with a sigh, "Zhuang Jun, you should go see her, out of both obligation and reason."
My father expressed concern that my mother-in-law might be mentally unstable after all the stress she had endured at her age. I smiled bitterly in response, saying that the likelihood of her having issues was low; after all, her emotional defenses had become impenetrable.
However, I agreed with my father's suggestion. Given the circumstances, I decided to go see her.
I brought some fruit to the hospital's emergency department. The nurse asked whom I was looking for, and when I mentioned my mother-in-law's name, she scrutinized me.
"Who are you to her?"
"I used to be her daughter-in-law, but I divorced her son."
"And where is her son?"
"In detention."
The nurse gave me a strange look before providing the room number and walking away in frustration. I knew this situation would be seen as a joke by anyone; it could be interpreted in many ways.
When I saw my mother-in-law, she lay on the hospital bed with a face ashen as death, eyes closed. I slowly approached and had just sat down when she suddenly opened her eyes and stared intensely at me.
"You've come?"
I smiled lightly. "I came to see you. You don't know anyone here, and I thought no one would take care of you. If you need a caregiver, I can help you find one; it would cost about two or three hundred a day. I see you have enough cash, so getting a caregiver would make things much easier."
My mother-in-law scoffed coldly, "You came here to watch my misfortune, didn't you?"
I shook my head. "Why would you think about committing suicide? The law is merciless; there's no need for you to do this."
At this point, a glimmer of determination appeared in the old woman's eyes. I raised an eyebrow. "Is it that you want to do this, or has someone told you to?"
She fell silent, which confirmed my suspicion. I was a bit shocked; what I had just guessed now seemed to be true.
"Who told you to do this? Who?"
She shot me a glare. "Isn't it you? You told me to go find someone named Deng. Are you satisfied now?"
Suddenly, her temper flared, and she began shouting at me. A patient in the nearby bed frowned and glanced over. I urged her, "Keep your voice down; don't disturb others' rest. Just tell me what you want to say. Even if you curse me now, what will it change?"
Her voice softened slightly but remained elevated. "If it weren't for you, none of this would have happened. If it weren't for you, my son wouldn't be in there. I advised him to divorce you from the start, but he insisted on saying he liked you. What kind of liking is that?"
My heart raced.
"Are you saying that Deng Xiaomei told you to commit suicide? What did she say to you?"
"Hmph, she said that I should make a big fuss about this. Once it gets big enough, the media will come to interview me, and then they will know my son was wronged and will release him."
The old woman's mumbling left me both amused and exasperated. Did Deng Xiaomei really think she could manipulate people like this? Such words were outrageous! But as I looked at the old woman lying in the hospital bed, I suddenly realized that while it might sound absurd, it could indeed resonate with some people—like her.
"You believe her just because she said that? Don't forget she came to ask for a house while pregnant with someone else's child! And yet you believed her? Let me tell you the truth: it's impossible for the media to come and understand the situation; your son still committed a violent act. When they uncover the reason behind this farce, how will you explain it? Will you say your son cheated and that's why things turned out this way?!"
"Of course not! My son's actions are because you're a liar! If the media comes to interview us, I will expose your sordid behavior! Then they will know my son is innocent."
I see that my mother-in-law truly won't listen to anything. After all, she has firmly convinced herself that all the reasons and responsibilities lie with me. Thinking about Wang Xu's behavior and mindset provides a reasonable explanation; if the upper beam is not straight, the lower beam will be crooked.
"Now that you're contemplating suicide, what will it achieve? What about the media? Where are those who come to condemn me? Has Wang Xu come out from inside? Why doesn't he come to see you?"
My mother-in-law's face turned pale with anger, her lips pressed tightly together in silence. She shot me a glare, perhaps considering her next words, but at this moment, I knew she was at a loss for words.
"Since that's the case, the one you hate isn't me but Deng Xiaomei. She led you to waste your efforts and take a detour. Now that you've attempted suicide and achieved nothing, instead spending so much time in the hospital, don't you feel like you've been played?"
I understood clearly that my mother-in-law had no real intention of dying; she had taken in Deng Xiaomei's words and wanted to create public pressure to release Wang Xu. It's truly baffling how someone can become so confused with age and believe such nonsense.
This incident had given me some satisfaction as my mother-in-law stumbled, but I couldn't help but wonder if Deng Xiaomei would feel any repercussions for her shameless actions. Just recently, hadn't Qin Yi already put pressure on Deng Xiaomei? How could such things happen?
It seems I need to pay Qin Yi a visit; I can't let Deng Xiaomei get away with this.
"Stop talking nonsense; my son will eventually come out. You should leave now; you're just an eyesore here."
My mother-in-law began to shoo me away. Of course, I had no intention of staying. I was eager to leave the hospital. I called Qin Yi, knowing she was sharp-witted, so I got straight to the point and asked about Deng Xiaomei's situation.
Qin Yi sounded particularly surprised: "You're still thinking about her? She's married now."
Her words carried significant weight. After hanging up, she sent me an address, telling me to go see for myself. Following the address on my phone, I arrived at a self-built house in a rural area on the outskirts. The driver said, "We're here."
I paid him and got out, asking him to wait for me with double the fare.
Standing on the roadside, I scrutinized the house before me—a two-story building with a cement exterior, quite ordinary for a rural setting. Before I could take two steps inside, I heard the cries of a child and the scolding voice of an elder.
"Crying again! All you do is cry! If you keep crying, I'll throw you out! Are you still crying? I'll beat you to death!"
Upon entering, I saw a small child lying on a little bed, while an old woman was yelling at the child.
The old woman clearly noticed me and scrutinized me suspiciously. "Who are you looking for?"
"I'm looking for Deng Xiaomei. Is she here?"
I wondered if Qin Yi had given me the wrong address or something; the atmosphere of this place felt completely out of sync with Deng Xiaomei.
The old woman sized me up again for a moment and then pointed inside the house. "She's in there, working. I'll go call her."
With that, she reluctantly went inside. The wait wasn't long, just a few minutes at most, but every second I spent lost in thought made me question whether Deng Xiaomei was really here or if it was just a case of sharing the same name.
Finally, Deng Xiaomei came out from inside. Upon seeing me, she fell silent and suddenly sneered. The old woman nudged Deng Xiaomei's shoulder. "Go on, what are you standing there for? Do you want to waste time instead of working? Hurry up, this little brat is crying again and it's driving me crazy! I really want to strangle him!"
Deng Xiaomei walked toward me reluctantly while the old woman continued to scold the crying child. During this time, Deng Xiaomei remained motionless, but I had a strong feeling that this child was hers.
"What are you doing here? Are you here to see me make a fool of myself?" Deng Xiaomei faced me with a contemptuous expression, completely different from her earlier demeanor. The tattered clothes she wore were in stark contrast to her usual fashionable appearance.
"I wanted to ask you, don't you feel any guilt for deceiving an old woman into doing something like that? You told her to commit suicide; what if something really happened to her?"
Deng Xiaomei shrugged indifferently. "If something happens, then it happens. She's so old; what's the point of her living anymore? She said herself that if Wang Xu doesn't come out, she'd rather be dead. So she might as well just die; what does it matter?"
Hearing her say that made me furious. "It's not an exaggeration to call you cruel. At least she took good care of you before; how can you treat her like this now? Don't you feel any remorse?!"
"I have nothing to feel guilty about. She is here to serve me? She is here to serve her grandson, okay? As soon as she realizes the grandson isn't hers, her expression changes immediately. I'm the unreasonable one? You all aren't unreasonable? You haven't seen what kind of life I'm living here. You really are a moral benchmark, coming here to teach me how to be a person."
I looked behind her and pointed in the direction of the child. "Is this your child? The one you had with Huang Zhang?"
Deng Xiaomei pursed her lips and said nothing. Suddenly, I understood and pressed her, "Is this child a boy or a girl?"
She still didn't answer, but I realized it was a girl.
If it were a boy, Huang Zhang wouldn't have left him behind; he could have done a paternity test. But the key point is that the child is a girl, so Huang Zhang didn't want her. The old woman inside treats her this way because the child isn't part of their family. Putting all this together, I think I can understand.
But why is Deng Xiaomei here? As I pondered, a figure popped into my mind—Qin Yi, who gave me the address.
"Have you seen enough? If you've seen enough, then leave. Don't think you can be proud now. Let me tell you, fortunes change; don't think others are helping you. You won't know when you'll be dealt with. Get lost."
Deng Xiaomei's angry voice caught the old woman's attention. The old woman cursed a couple of times, telling Deng Xiaomei to hurry back to work or she wouldn't get any food. I roughly understood what Qin Yi meant by calling me here.
There was no point in staying any longer. As I walked out of the yard, I felt as if I had crossed into another world; this is what retribution looks like.
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