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墨書 Inktalez
The events that are about to be recounted are well known to the three people on the boat; it was nothing more than a night of indiscretion between him and Lin Ye, which Xu Wenmo caught them in the act. The subsequent story, until Lin Ye's death, is one we heard from Lin Ye last night, and it doesn't deviate from that version—only this time, it is seen from Xu Zhou's perspective.
However, just because I have heard it once does not make the story uninteresting to me. I want to know Xu Zhou's attitude and his feelings towards Xu Wenmo, Lin Ye, and even Liu Ya—what weight they hold in his heart.
As for why I care about this, perhaps it is because of a woman's sensitivity; I tend to believe that emotions are more important than material things.
Unexpectedly, the woman who had been silent suddenly snapped, "Stop talking!"
Both Xu Zhou and I were startled and looked at the woman hiding in the darkness with confusion.
Perhaps she was a married woman whose family was destroyed by a young girl like Lin Ye, leading her to harbor a strong disdain for roles like "the mistress." It is also possible that she came to the river out of despair due to family troubles; I couldn't help but speculate.
"Ma'am, you—" Xu Zhou was at a loss for her intentions and glanced at me for help. I shrugged, indicating that I was just as confused as he was.
"That little wretch died yesterday!" the woman said coldly.
Wow! The term "little wretch" only reinforced my suspicions; in her eyes, all homewreckers were irredeemable villains deserving of death.
"What!" Xu Zhou stood there in shock, his pale face showing both surprise and sadness. This made me feel uncomfortable; he stared intently at the woman and asked, "How do you know?"
"Ask the old man," she said, nodding towards the elder.
Xu Zhou turned to look at the elder. The elder held onto the oar and did not respond immediately; instead, he glanced at me before saying, "The one who jumped into the river last night was a young woman named Lin Ye."
"This..." Xu Zhou's expression grew darker. He lowered his head to look at the boat's hull and remained silent for a long time. Eventually, tears began to roll down his cheeks.
"Do you care about her that much?" I asked instinctively.
After asking, I felt it was absurd; it had nothing to do with me. Yet, my heart felt heavy, as if I had lost something important.
"She..." Xu Zhou choked on his words, "I can't explain it. We've lived together for six years, and she has been with me as a lover for three more. I'm not a cold-blooded animal; saying I don't care would be a lie. Although there are many women around me, the only one who has truly given me comfort from love is Lin Ye. I've been married to Liu Ya for over ten years, yet we are not even as close as strangers. My parents passed away early, and in my forty-seven years of life, the only place I can truly call 'home,' the only place where I can rest and feel at ease, is the house where Lin Ye and I live."
"Ridiculous!" The woman scoffed coldly. "To abandon your wife and daughter and treat your mistress like family—only a heartless man like you could do such a thing!"
A strange thought suddenly popped into my mind: could this woman be Liu Ya? No wonder she was so indignant.
I looked at Xu Zhou, then at the woman, mustering my courage to ask her, "May I ask your surname?"
The woman paused for a moment before spitting out a single word, "Liu."
I couldn't help but twitch at the corners of my mouth. What a family drama! It seemed that husband, wife, and mistress had all come together to jump into the river. The only one missing was Xu Wenmo, who had unfortunately jumped off a building first. Otherwise, if these four gathered at the river bottom with their bodies intact, they would probably be entangled for the next life.
I stood up and picked up a stool to sit beside the old man. While observing the situation, I said to him, "Let's keep our distance; if they start fighting later, we don't want to get caught in the crossfire."
The old man chuckled softly. "Do you want them to fight?"
"Of course not! We're just here to mediate; who would encourage them to fight? That would be too unethical," I muttered. "Hey, do you think that once Xu Zhou got on the boat, they recognized each other right away?"
The old man shook his head. "No."
"Really?" I looked at Xu Zhou and Liu Ya. Xu Zhou had one arm resting on his knee, staring dejectedly at the deck of the boat, while Liu Ya deliberately turned her head away, refusing to look at Xu Zhou like a sulking child.
The atmosphere on the ship was momentarily awkward.
"Because you don't want them to recognize each other," the old man whispered in my ear.
I shivered, "You're joking, what does that have to do with me!"
"Hehe..." The old man's laugh was very strange, so strange that it made me uneasy. I dared not look at him anymore and quickly shifted my focus, asking Xu Zhou, "Are you going to continue?"
"Since Lin Ye came last night, I still..."
"But you didn't say why you wanted to commit suicide."
"Why? Because I realized that the goals I had fought for all these years were completely meaningless," Xu Zhou murmured, then asked me, "Where did Lin Ye leave off last night?"
"Um—" I roughly recounted Lin Ye's story to Xu Zhou, "She was afraid you would abandon her, and also afraid of others' criticism and the severe punishment of the law, so she chose to jump into the river. What happened next? What happened after that?"
"It really was her!" Xu Zhou clenched his fists. "That night, I received a call from the school saying Xiao Mo had an accident. When I rushed to the hospital, Xiao Mo had already been taken into surgery. I waited for three long hours, only to receive Xiao Mo's body. She lay quietly on the cold operating table, covered in blood, her bones deformed, her organs shattered. Looking at her flattened head and misaligned features, I felt as if what lay silently on that operating table was just a pile of broken flesh, certainly not my daughter Xiao Mo..." His face turned pale; even now, recalling that scene still caused him immense pain.
"After burying Xiao Mo, I began investigating the cause of her death. At first, the school was evasive and unwilling to reveal the truth for fear of taking responsibility. But after much inquiry on my part, I finally learned the reason. In the school's forum, among all the teachers and students in that city, across the pervasive internet, the rumors about what Xiao Mo suffered when she was twelve spread like wildfire. There were even multiple versions for those with malicious intent to indulge in and mentally violate. I can hardly imagine what kind of slander Xiao Mo faced while she was alive; she was such a reclusive and sensitive person that it seemed she had no other choice but suicide..." As Xu Zhou spoke, his shoulders trembled uncontrollably.
"Next, I hired professionals to track down the originator of those posts. That person was very cunning and used a newly registered ID. But so-called professionals have unusual methods; they quickly traced the geographical location from where that person sent the posts... The location you all know well—it was in the study of the villa where Lin Ye and I lived... It was then that I realized Lin Ye was missing. I thought she might have run away out of fear. If she really did this, then those responsible for Xiao Mo's death were not just Liu Junliang and all those who spread rumors; Lin Ye also bore some guilt, as did I. I've lived to this age without parents, my wife estranged from me, my mistress betraying me; yet I personally caused my daughter's death. You tell me, what good is it for me to have built such a large fortune?"
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