Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
Wei Lingyong perhaps knew that this question had no answer. He shook his head and finished the water in front of him.
"No one has a better solution," Old Shao said softly as he took a sip of his tea.
Jiang He observed Wei Lingyong closely; in a short span of time, he had already drunk three cups of water. Jiang He then looked out the window, where leaves were drifting in gently. He noticed a tall tree outside the courtyard, its yellowing leaves continuously falling into Wei Lingyong's home.
Autumn had indeed arrived.
Old Shao noticed Jiang He watching the falling leaves and felt a tinge of sadness. "Since ancient times, autumn has brought sorrow and solitude. It has always been a season of desolation. Look at the leaves in this courtyard; quite a few have already drifted in."
At this point, Old Shao urged Wei Lingyong, "What’s done is done; your health is what matters most. Take some time to tidy up your home, sweep the yard, and take care of yourself. Only when you feel better can you consider reconciling with your wife and living together as a family again, understand?"
"Sigh." Wei Lingyong responded with a sound of agreement, looking around as he said, "Yeah, look at my house and yard; I haven't cleaned them in weeks. I've gotten used to living alone, thinking that as long as I’m full, it doesn’t matter if the family is hungry. Life is like the four seasons. When all the leaves that belong to me have fallen, it will be time for me to extinguish the lamp."
It takes nothing to be despondent, but it requires courage to rise again. Clearly, Wei Lingyong had lost the courage and will to start anew.
Having exhausted his good advice, Old Shao felt it inappropriate to say more as an outsider. He returned to the main topic: "So, Wei Qian never mentioned anything about her relationship with Lu Zhengye to you? Your sister Wei Linghui also never did, right?"
Wei Lingyong nodded and picked up his cup again, gulping down the water as he said, "They never told anyone in the family until that incident happened; only then did they reveal the truth."
"What exactly happened?" Old Shao knew this was a sore spot for Wei Lingyong; each mention would prick at his heart. Yet he had to ask—he needed to understand what transpired ten years ago, who the murderer was, and who the victim was.
Upon hearing this question, Wei Lingyong rested his hand on his face and rubbed his eyes vigorously before coughing twice and finally speaking: "Ten years ago, Sisi was sixteen; she had just started high school. Her grades were good enough to get into Key High School, but our home was a bit far away. Sisi would ride her bike home for lunch and didn’t have time to rest."
"At that time, we had just bought a new house for Lu Zhengye and her aunt nearby," Wei Lingyong slammed his fist on the table. "How could I not see through that beast back then! So every noon, Sisi would go to Wei Linghui's house for lunch and could take a nap there before riding back home after school."
"Because of this reason, Sisi often went to Lu Zhengye's house. This gave that scoundrel an opportunity. At that time, Wei Linghui was working as a cashier at a supermarket; she couldn’t go home during lunch hours. Meanwhile, Lu Zhengye was working as a security guard with three hours of break time each noon—he usually cooked for Sisi."
"It was Saturday after school; their school also had classes on Saturday mornings with an afternoon break. So Sisi went to her aunt's house for lunch. It was then that Sisi was... She intended to go home after her afternoon rest, but Lu Zhengye’s aunt asked her to stay for a bit longer."
"Sisi was innocent; she didn’t think much of it and decided to take a nap. But when she dozed off, she felt someone lying on top of her. That’s when she realized her clothes had been torn off by Lu Zhengye. She was so frightened that she didn’t know what to do."
"Lu Zhengye did this to my daughter..." Wei Lingyong could no longer continue.
From Wei Lingyong's words, it was clear that this incident matched almost exactly with what Wei Qian had described; perhaps Wei Qian had informed Wei Lingyong about it first, who then recounted it to everyone else.
Old Shao nodded and asked, "I’ve read the files from back then. After the incident, it was a week later—specifically five days—before you reported it to the police, right?"
Wei Lingyong nodded but then shook his head. He said, "I didn’t know how to handle it. That night, I suddenly received a call from my sister. She found that one of the condoms at her place was missing and discovered a used one in the trash. The only person who had been there that afternoon was Sisi, and she suspected that something might have happened between Lu Zhengye and Sisi."
"Was it Wei Linghui who called you?" Old Shao asked.
Wei Lingyong nodded again and took a sip of water. "That's right, it was Wei Linghui who called me. At that time, Sisi had just returned home, her clothes were torn. She said it was from roughhousing with her classmates. But Wei Linghui's call immediately put me on alert. Sisi didn’t say much; in the end, it was her mother who took her to the hospital for an examination."
"After the examination, we learned that Sisi had recently been sexually active and there were some tears down there," Wei Lingyong sighed. "With the hospital's certificate in hand, Sisi finally told us what happened—she had been raped by her uncle. Her mother kept the hospital proof and took pictures of her school uniform as evidence to report to the police."
Wei Lingyong recounted what happened during that week: "I didn’t know what to do. In the middle of the night, Wei Linghui came to my house with that condom. It was then that I found out Sisi had been in a relationship with Lu Zhengye. Wei Linghui suspected they were having an affair, so we finally told her the truth."
"Coincidentally, Wei Linghui brought that condom, which still had Lu Zhengye’s... Sisi’s mother decided to keep it as evidence for reporting to the police. Sisi was crying all along and wouldn’t say anything except that Lu Zhengye had raped her."
"We thought about reporting it to the police, but he was also Wei Linghui’s husband. I didn’t know how my sister would feel about that. Besides, if word got out about a girl being raped, it would be bad for her reputation. Lu Zhengye didn’t have any money; we even bought him his house, so settling this privately wasn’t an option."
"I was furious and wanted him to pay for what he did. I planned to confront him and either castrate him or break his legs, thinking he wouldn’t dare report me. But my sister and wife stopped me; even if Lu Zhengye didn’t report it, if others found out, it would still be a crime."
"Wei Linghui initially thought it was an affair between Sisi and Lu Zhengye but never imagined he would go so far as to do this. She insisted we must report it; she urged us to preserve all evidence and be ready to go to the police at any moment. However, she begged us for some time—she knelt down and pleaded for this opportunity."
"My wife didn’t agree at first; she wanted to report it that night. But she is my sister; I couldn’t bear to see her like that and had no choice but to plead with my wife. My wife agreed to give her some time but insisted that afterward I must sever ties with my sister completely, which I also agreed to. So we gave her some time to be with her husband."
"By the fifth day, my wife grew increasingly uneasy and suspected they might run away. Just then, my sister called; she had gone out shopping for groceries and suddenly couldn’t find Lu Zhengye anymore. We immediately reported it to the police and went to my sister’s house only to find she was alone."
"Later I learned that my sister was naive; after returning home, she told Lu Zhengye we were going to report him. She quit her job wanting to spend one last week with him. But Lu Zhengye wasn’t going to let himself get caught easily; he secretly sold off their assets while my sister was out buying groceries and fled with the money on the fifth day."
"After we reported it, the police began searching for Lu Zhengye. They set up surveillance at places like Bus Station and train stations. Unexpectedly, Lu Zhengye showed up at the train station just when they were there, so he was arrested immediately. It was fortunate because due to heavy rains in the south, his train got delayed unexpectedly. He should have left on that train when the police arrived; perhaps fate intervened as he got caught while waiting for another train."
"Since we preserved all evidence, Lu Zhengye was quickly sentenced to thirteen years."
"Afterward, my wife wanted us to leave this city or move further away to Dragon City so no one would know what happened to Sisi and avoid any rumors. She insisted I fulfill my promise and cut ties with Wei Linghui completely from then on."
"But after Lu Zhengye went to prison, Wei Linghui cried every day; she couldn’t eat or sleep properly. How could I just abandon my sister? If I ignored her, who knows what might happen? She could end up taking her own life at any moment. I couldn’t leave; I had to stay behind to take care of her and persuade her to divorce Lu Zhengye."
"That's exactly why my wife was extremely disappointed in me and divorced me. My daughter was given to her. But what could I do? Could I just watch my sister die?"
As he spoke, Wei Lingyong clenched his fists. "They moved to the neighboring city, Yuzhou City. My wife never told me where they lived; she only occasionally sent me photos of my daughter. I tried to find them, but I couldn't. It wasn't until my daughter turned eighteen that I finally got a way to contact her. Recently, Sisi just graduated from college and is looking for a job."
"It's all Lu Zhengye's fault, that bastard ruined my life, destroyed my family, harmed my sister, and affected my daughter! He spent ten years in prison while I suffered outside for ten years. He ruined everything! I hate him, I hate him!"
Wei Lingyong was somewhat hysterical.
Everyone understood why it took them a week to report it to the police and why the court found Lu Zhengye guilty of rape. It was based on an obvious fact: if Lu Zhengye felt wronged, why did he run away?
It also explained why Lu Zhengye sought revenge on his wife; because she agreed to report him. The person closest to him wanted to put him behind bars.
"What’s Wei Qian's contact information?" Old Shao asked.
"I'll call her right now," Wei Lingyong replied.
He dialed Wei Qian's phone number, but there was no answer on the other end.
Comment 0 Comment Count