"It was four years ago." He Xiaoyue seemed to sigh. Remembering is a very depressing thing.
"Four years ago, I think I just met you, along with Wang Shiyun and Wu Tong." That year was probably the busiest in my career. Bai Ying gave birth to her twins, and I was constantly on business trips. In December, Bai Ying and I took the children to Haojiagou to celebrate her birthday. That's when I got to know Wang Shiyun, He Xiaoyue, and Wu Tong.
"You did come to celebrate your wife's birthday, but that's not entirely true for Bai Ying." He Xiaoyue glanced at me, her voice a little deep, "I think you understand what I mean."
How could I not understand He Xiaoyue's hesitation? It couldn't be because of the little thing between Bai Ying and Hao Laogou. She used the excuse of delivering sex to Li Xuanshi on her birthday. This thoughtful service of having sex at her home showed that Bai Ying was really "filial" to her parents-in-law. Under her calm appearance, she was still a little cold inside.
This was He Xiaoyue's hidden meaning. It's just that I probably saw it more clearly than she did. Bai Ying's birth of two illegitimate children was truly a "birthday celebration" for the Hao family. The family was reunited, and Old Dog Hao was enjoying the happiness of three generations of family. So...
At that time, I was already a lonely person, and I was completely ignorant. It was really ridiculous and sad to think about it.
Funny, who is laughing at me?! Sad, who is feeling sorry for me?!
Unresolved hatred, indelible humiliation, the Hao and Zuo families, from gratitude to curse, are destined to end in destruction.
"Go on." I looked at He Xiaoyue and said calmly.
"Do you know who had a relationship with Hao Jianghua?" He Xiaoyue suddenly asked.
"Who else isn't?" I asked back calmly.
He Xiaoyue was startled. "That's true," she paused for a few seconds before adding, "The fact that you think this way shows you're mentally prepared."
I cannot verify who had sex with Hao Jianghua and how many times he had sex with her. Moreover, this is just a minor detail. If the trunk of a tree is destined to wither, what does it matter if there are a few leaf buds on its branches?
For more than three hundred days, I have been thinking and deducing from the affair between Hao Laogou and Bai Ying, constantly imagining, guessing, fantasizing, and even having wild thoughts... Gradually, I realized that wild thoughts are meaningless, but once I grasp the main points, I will suddenly understand.
What kind of person is Hao Jianghua? He's certainly not a human being, just an old dog who only knows how to mate. So I boldly assume that all the women around Hao are his sexual partners, not just in frequency. Besides Li Xuanshi and Bai Ying, Xu Lin, Cen Qingqing, Wang Shiyun, He Xiaoyue, Cen Xiaowei, Wu Tong... probably too. Given the tireless sexual hunger Hao Jianghua displays for women, the Hao family's nannies and maids are no exceptions; otherwise, they wouldn't be able to fit in with these women and wouldn't be allowed in or out of the Hao family.
"This incident didn't happen around Madam's birthday, but much earlier," He Xiaoyue said quietly. "A lot happened four years ago."
Indeed, this year, it wasn't just me who was busy; the Hao family was no exception. Li Xuanshi gave birth to twins, Hao Siyuan and Hao Sigao, for Hao Laogou. These two illegitimate children were considered the two illegitimate offspring of Bai Ying, and the Hao family suddenly had four more children. Hao Xinmin, the village party secretary of Haojiagou, had his leg broken by Hao Laogou for spying on Li Xuanshi, and because of this, he and I hated Hao Laogou. That year, Hao Laogou became deputy mayor of Longshan Town. Cen Qingqing also became pregnant with Hao Laogou's child, but she suffered a difficult labor and heavy bleeding. She died without Hao Laogou's last look. Between a career in government and women, Hao Laogou chose the former's stability. As for women? He certainly had plenty. That same year, Li Xuanshi used the Zuo family's vast inheritance to build a hot spring resort. The Hao family prospered, but Cen Qingqing gradually lost her popularity, even causing Cen Xiaowei, who had returned to China to look for her mother, to fall into disgrace...
"The relationship between Bai Ying and Hao Jianghua was originally very secretive. After Hao Jianghua got me, he sometimes inadvertently revealed some of his lustful fantasies about Bai Ying, but later it was proven that they were not fantasies..."
All the happiness and misfortunes are buried in the past, but He Xiaoyue turned to a certain page in her memory.
"As you might imagine, every woman in the Hao family compound has had sex with Hao Jianghua. The first of us was Shiyun. She looks a lot like Bai Ying. Now that I think about it, the Madam paid her a high salary to recruit her. Besides Shiyun's ability, perhaps she sensed Hao Jianghua's lust for his daughter-in-law and wanted to use her to make up the numbers... As for Shiyun, she never mentioned it to me, so I don't know much."
He Xiaoyue paused for a moment. "Hao Jianghua has an insane sexual desire. Even with Shiyun, he wouldn't be satisfied. But he eventually succeeded in getting me. Perhaps my obedience turned him off. Occasionally, he'd find me alone, perhaps for something new. Most of the time, he'd find me and Shiyun together. He liked to watch us having sex, then have one of us pressed against him and fuck her, while the other nursed him or licked her... Anyway, he's a real pervert."
"Even if he enjoys watching you and Wang Shiyun having homosexual pleasure, it has nothing to do with Bai Ying, and even less so with Xu Lin."
"You'll find out as you listen." Lying in a warm bathtub, soaking in the warm water, who could truly experience warmth? He Xiaoyue sighed.
"Because of my relationship with Shiyun, we were closer than others. She once told me that before partnering with me, she and the wife had done it together... but the wife only agreed to perform in front of Hao Jianghua. If he really wanted to do it, then one of us would have to leave. Not long after I joined, the wife suggested that Shiyun and I partner up. At first, I thought she was angry that I had done it with Hao Jianghua behind her back, but over time, I figured it out."
"Bai Ying." I uttered these two words. Wang Shiyun's resemblance to Bai Ying greatly increased her "playability," and Hao Laogou's obsession and Li Xuanshi's reaction were also predictable.
"Yes, not only Madam, but even Hao Jianghua sees Shiyun as Bai Ying's stand-in. Besides Shiyun's own beauty, he can even imagine himself having sex with Bai Ying, even having her call him 'Daddy'. Madam and Shiyun started acting out, perhaps to alleviate Hao Jianghua's fantasies about Bai Ying, but Hao Jianghua is quite addicted to this kind of role-playing game, just like the increasing addiction to drugs, or the desire to quench thirst only growing. Perhaps it's the special nature of the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law relationship, even if it's just an allusion, but Madam still has some reservations, so I'm the one taking over."
"Shiyun and I are close, but I can feel that she is actually rejecting it. Maybe she compromised to please Hao Jianghua. In fact, I am also trying to please him." He Xiaoyue seemed to be mocking herself. "No matter how much we cater to him, the person Hao Jianghua really wants to possess besides his wife is Bai Ying. Bai Ying is the eldest daughter of an official family and the daughter-in-law of his wife. I thought he was just I had a lustful dream, but I never thought he would act on it. Hao Jianghua had someone procure a batch of rare snow frog supplements from Changbai Mountain, claiming they were extremely nourishing and beautifying for women after pregnancy. He hoped his wife would invite Bai Ying to Haojiagou to enjoy them. Thinking that Bai Ying's kidneys were weak and she needed nourishment after childbirth, his wife invited Bai Ying to Haojiagou. And that's how Bai Ying lost her virginity.
No, the timeline is wrong. The child's DNA test proves that Hao Laogou and Bai Ying had a relationship six years ago, not four years ago. But I didn't interrupt He Xiaoyue. Instead, I chose to listen to the story before saying anything. Was it He Xiaoyue who was making it up, or was she also covered by lies? Different narratives, even if they are for deception, must add some authenticity, and they are still worth referring to.
"In order to prevent Hao Jianghua from taking action against Bai Ying, Madam made some arrangements. She sent Hao Jianghua away and asked Shiyun to accompany him to Hengshan. According to Madam's idea, this would ensure Bai Ying's safety and satisfy Hao Jianghua's sexual desire. After all, Shiyun was very attractive. Madam also hinted that he could stay overnight with Shiyun, which was equivalent to promising him to accept Shiyun." He Xiaoyue sighed helplessly, "Madam Despite all my calculations, I still underestimated Hao Jianghua. He's a complete bastard. As soon as we arrived at Hengshan and checked into the hotel, he fucked Shiyun from afternoon to night. When she fell asleep from exhaustion, he secretly drove back to the Hao family's house. At the time, I was assigned to oversee the preparations for the villa. My wife relayed this to me privately, and later I hinted at it through Hao Jianghua. He, however, went on and on, gloating over it all.
"That night, he took a taxi to Haojiagou. While everyone was asleep, he used his own key to open the door of Bai Ying's room and raped her. He then took another taxi back to the hotel in Hengshan, while Shiyun was still unconscious. Everything seemed perfect, but Hao Jianghua made a mistake..."
"That night, Bai Ying slept soundly. According to Hao Jianghua, he stripped her completely naked, groped and kissed her inside and out, then lifted her long legs and fucked her for two hours straight... For two whole hours, his long-cherished wish was finally fulfilled. Even though they were secretly having sex, he couldn't contain his excitement. He hadn't originally intended to ejaculate inside her, but he'd intended to ejaculate on her face. However, he was so aroused that he couldn't help but ejaculate inside her, not just her vagina but also her uterus. He tried to clean it off afterwards, but the semen in her uterus was his incriminating evidence. The next day, Bai Ying still realized something was wrong, and it wasn't until he squeezed the semen out that Hao Jianghua returned the next day that Bai Ying slapped him in the face."
Listening to He Xiaoyue talk about Hao Jianghua toying with Bai Ying for two solid hours, even the brief narration was enough to evoke the scene in my mind. I personally witnessed Hao Laogou toying with my mother and Wang Shiyun, and from that perspective, I can already imagine the kind of treatment Bai Ying endured. Although her affair with Hao Laogou later took a different turn, if what He Xiaoyue said is true, then Bai Ying has her own pitiful side in this matter. However, compared to this slight pity, there is probably more hatred. The surging hatred surges, and one day, it will completely drown me...
I seemed to be regulating my breathing with a steady flow, my inner energy in my dantian steady. My rational mind wouldn't tolerate my emotions spiraling out of control. In the chariot of revenge, I must remain calm, hold the reins, and restrain myself; otherwise, it's very easy for the chariot to crash and for everyone to die. But I'm still human, and no matter how strong I am, I'm only a shell forced to wear and tear. I still have soft spots, a cowardly nature, and my emotions can be wounded. And I've indeed been wounded once again.
The bathtub's water level remained steady, but the physical pain from my fingertips digging into the flesh of my thigh kept me from losing my composure. Master Mao's teachings did help me control my emotions and desires, but they couldn't control my feelings, not even my calmest intellect. My emotions were wounded, the wounds kept opening, the blood kept flowing, and then Old Dog Hao and his women, holding jars of salt, kept pouring it on... The psychological pain will never numb. I am human, a living human, but as the Prisoner Project progresses, I will no longer be human. I am also ready to tear open their wounds, I also prepared jars of salt, and then I will pour it on...
"Bai Ying asked for a semen stain test, so Madam went there in person and got Hao Jianghua's ejaculation. Later, she took it to the hospital for identification. However, Hao Jianghua saw that he was exposed, so he ran away to hide in the mountains. Then he asked Hao Hu to bring back something, saying that if Bai Ying did not forgive him, he would never return to Haojiagou." He Xiaoyue fell silent.
Hao Jianghua is still doing well, so naturally Bai Ying has forgiven him. Forgive? Oh, how ironic! If Li Xuanshi had been fair, even if just neutral, if Bai Ying had been loyal to her husband, even if she had made mistakes, I wouldn't have been unable to bear it. But in my memory, for the past six years, they have always protected the Hao family, allowing old dog Hao to trample on the Zuo family. They were once the Zuo family's daughters-in-law, um, once...
"Inside the brown paper bag was a document and some photos. Bai Ying looked at the photos, then saw the torn documents and started cursing. She then tore them up. Madam wanted to see the documents, but Bai Ying refused. Then she burned them with a lighter until it nearly burned her fingers and reduced them to ash." He Xiaoyue stared at me. "I think you can probably guess what the photos are about. Madam doesn't know the contents of the documents, and Hao Jianghua wouldn't tell me too much. But after confirming that Bai Ying had seen the documents, Hao Jianghua returned to the Hao family as if nothing had happened. The only change was that after a while, their relationship blossomed."
I looked at He Xiaoyue, the woman in front of me. Perhaps I underestimated her. As someone trusted by both Hao Jianghua and Li Xuanshi, and not suspected by those women, she seemed far away from the core of the women's struggle. But a bystander can see clearly. Who can say that she can't see through it all? But is she really just a bystander?
"Let's talk about Xu Lin. Do you suspect she knows the contents of the document?" I frowned slightly. It's not impossible. The only one who doesn't need to rely on Li Xuanshi or even balance the leverage between her and Hao Jianghua is Xu Lin. What Hao Jianghua doesn't tell others, he may tell Xu Lin. Even if he doesn't tell it, with Xu Lin's shrewdness, it would be difficult for her to hide the so-called secret.
"That's possible, but what I want to talk about is what happened next," He Xiaoyue said. "You should know the source of Shiyun's allure to Hao Jianghua. Through her, he can enjoy the fantasy of a father-in-law and daughter-in-law sharing a husband. But after getting Bai Ying, Bai Ying's attitude towards him has indeed become more and more intimate. How should I put it? This young lady is like a little lady. She is falling into depravity faster than any of us. I don't know what methods he used, but his ideas are getting bolder and bolder. He even hopes that Bai Ying and Shiyun will accompany him in a threesome. He is not satisfied with Bai Ying alone. He wants to play with two at once."
"Bai Ying was very repulsive. At that time, she and Hao Jianghua were already very close... You know what I mean by close. They did everything they should have done, except for a group scene. Perhaps because of her pride as the eldest daughter of an official family, she didn't want to act too wanton. Even though she had been toyed with by Hao Jianghua, she still refused to do it in front of outsiders. Even Hao Jianghua complained about it. Until Xu Lin came from Changsha, everything changed." He Xiaoyue said, "According to Hao Jianghua, it seems Xu Lin used provocation and even promised a condition. I don't know how Xu Lin manipulated it, but she did get Bai Ying to agree to a threesome. After this trial, Bai Ying no longer resisted. Her relationship with Shiyun has become increasingly close. Sometimes, she even adds the wife, making it a foursome of one king and three queens. This freed me up to focus on the affairs of the villa."
Xu Lin. This name was once again engraved in my mind. I probably guessed what the terms of the exchange were, and I thought she was going to sell out Yao Mei and her sister-in-law. It turned out that she had already sold out Bai Ying a few years ago. Even if Bai Ying abandoned me first, she was still my wife, and the relationship between husband and wife was still there. I could tolerate knowing the truth but I couldn't accept her instigating it. That would be a humiliation to me. After more than a decade of care from the elders, I was just like them, a piece of scum who was conquered by Hao Laogou's cock. Perhaps that physical comfort in Hangzhou over a year ago was also a kind of compensation, and some of the friendship had completely changed.
At this point, He Xiaoyue mentioned something seemingly unrelated to the pain: "At the last dance, you gave Shiyun a diamond necklace. Actually, you didn't know that Hao Jianghua also gave her a diamond necklace."
I didn't respond and just listened silently. Of course I couldn't tell her that I had spied on Hao Jianghua and Wang Shiyun having sex. Even if she was reluctant to throw away the platinum necklace that Huang Junru gave her, she didn't value him.
"You don't even know that Hao Jianghua had three necklaces custom-made, one for Madam and one for Bai Ying. This has a special purpose, it's Hao Jianghua's signature," He Xiaoyue said meaningfully. "This way, when he's having sex with Bai Ying, whether it's with Madam or Shi Yun, it can give him a special sexual pleasure, which I can't give him."
Li Xuanshi and Bai Ying also have such necklaces. I really didn't know about it. Bai Ying does have a diamond necklace, but it was given to her by me.
"I've never seen Bai Ying wear another necklace. The one she's wearing is a gift from me. It has special meaning. Even if Hao Jianghua had given it to her, she might have refused it."
"No, she accepted it and wore it. I saw it with my own eyes." He Xiaoyue hesitated for a moment before finally speaking. "She accepted the necklace and gave it to the lady for safekeeping. Of course, you didn't know about it. They didn't tell me, but every time I saw them wearing it at the villa, I knew what Hao Jianghua was up to."
In vain, a sense of loss welled up within me. It wasn't anger, it wasn't pain, but rather, I looked up and saw a gust of wind, and the leaves fluttered from the branches. I knew withering was inevitable, but seeing them fall, I couldn't help but sigh. I once felt sorry for Huang Junru, but who felt sorry for me?
I thought about all the times Bai Ying was sexually assaulted by Hao Laogou, both actively and passively. I also thought about Li Xuanshi, who disregarded the mother-son bond and covered up the scandal for Hao and Bai. After all, she married into the Hao family and was no longer a woman of the Zuo family. Even though I hated her defending the Hao family, from the perspective of marriage, she simply chose a husband and abandoned a son. She still had four children. But Bai Ying betrayed her marriage and her husband, and even shattered my hope for the Zuo family's continuation. Such hurt has already made my heart ache, and in He Xiaoyue's words, Li Xuanshi and Bai Ying have become a team of playthings for Hao Laogou's pleasure. No, I should say that all the women in the Hao family compound, and maybe some in the villa, are a den of lust controlled by Li Xuanshi. Many things in my past, familiar, and cherished life are trapped in it. I have indeed imagined it, but it is still different when confirmed or discussed by others.
The hot water turned into lukewarm water, and the lukewarm water turned into cool water, but my heart was burning with a burning sensation, scorching the tears in my bones.
After taking a shower, He Xiaoyue asked her if she wanted to stay with me. I shook my head and said I needed to think about it carefully.
He Xiaoyue said a lot, some of which were unlike the He Xiaoyue I had imagined, which made me look at her differently. She might have been telling the truth, but I'm sure she only told part of it, or even concealed part of it. What was it that she didn't tell me?
She said that Bai Ying was killed by Hao Jianghua more than four years ago. This is inconsistent in terms of time logic, but this is the version she told. How much of its truthfulness there is needs to be compared. Perhaps in the future it can be confirmed by Li Xuanshi, Bai Ying, Hao Laogou and others. She also mentioned that Xu Lin had a necklace, which further deepened my judgment of Xu Lin. But the same is true for He Xiaoyue. She also concealed some things. After all, people are selfish. What were the documents that Bai Ying destroyed? The so-called photos are most likely nude photos. Could the documents be the DNA identification results of those two bastards? If so, it means that Bai Ying knew about it, which is naturally a huge handle. Holding the Bai family's scandal is a huge amulet, so Bai Ying had to surrender to Hao Jianghua and sink step by step into this situation?
This hypothesis won't have an answer for now, and it's just one of several hypothetical scenarios. There are other possibilities. But the truth will eventually come out. Perhaps on the day of the trial, I'll have them confess everything in person, putting an end to the Prisoner Project. If, if I were still around...
Perhaps, when I was a babbling baby, someone comforted me, but she disappeared, and in time, I was a waste.
I thought of Huang Junru and Duoduo, and was glad that he was able to get over it, and glad that they still had a father-daughter relationship.
I thought of Yaomei and Xunxun, and was glad that even though they were hurt, they still had their friendship.
I thought of Bai Ying and I, sad, silent tears that didn't fall from the corners of my eyes but flowed in my heart.
This night was silent. I seemed to have had a long dream, so long that I could not remember the content of the dream. I vaguely saw the image of a woman. In that nightmarish dream, the only light I could catch was a ray of light, the starlight in the despair. I tried hard to see her face clearly, the moment she turned her head.
I woke up, it was daybreak, the bright sunlight shone through the curtains, and a tear welled up in the corner of my eye.
I know why I am crying, that soft voice is begging me, but my mind is still cold and cruel.
After a night of silence, a single tear condensed in the morning. It was my last vestige of human warmth, and with a flick of my finger, it wiped away all traces.
This was a morning of decision. I received a call from Yaomei. She only said a few words on the phone. She is a witch, not a little white rabbit. Even a rabbit will bite when it is angry. How could she forgive it easily? Even if it didn't happen, the damage had already happened. After a few days of silence, she still had her attitude.
"I understand what you mean. Let me make the arrangements." I thought about it and decided to agree. I couldn't bear to hurt this girl. If she made her decision, whoever made the plan didn't matter.
I sent another message to Xunxun. She was going to the Hengshan County government today. I was also going to Hengshan County, but our destinations were different and the time was different. I was going to Hengshan in the afternoon. My father still had a house in Hengshan County. I lived there until I was eight years old. After moving to Changsha, he didn't sell the house, saying he wanted to keep it as a memory. The neighbors were all old acquaintances of my father's generation, and over the years he'd hired a neighbor's mother to help with the house cleaning regularly. Li Xuanshi never went back. She got most of the assets of the Zuo family, but left this old house to me. That year she remarried Hao Jiagou, and Changsha was in an uproar. Many people cursed the old house, and a group of retired old men and women pointed fingers at it. Even when Hao Laogou became the deputy county magistrate of Hengshan County, everyone in the area knew how he started his career.
Before returning to the old house, I went to the First Prison first. This time, I personally met He Kun. Last time, Wang Tian went on my behalf, but he refused. Now, he didn't refuse. The fact that he was willing to add my name to the visitor list made it clear what he meant. Prisons require background checks for non-relatives requesting a visit, but as the son-in-law of the Bai family, I was granted special permission. It wasn't a problem at all.
Looking through the glass window, I saw the old man in front of me. He was a gentleman scholar with a graceful demeanor in my impression. Now he has a high hairline, is mostly bald, wears glasses, and is very gentle. Who would have thought that he would be so bold as to hire a murderer? Although his deeds were exposed, his courage really makes him my predecessor.
"Uncle He..." I took the phone off the hook and put it to my ear.
"Didn't I say goodbye? Why are you here?" He Kun said, seemingly complaining, but his eyes still shone with a long-lost warmth. He was my father's best friend, and once an uncle I respected. He was definitely not the vicious person the verdict described him as.
"I need something that might be useful to me. If you could help me, it would save me time."
"What do you need that list for?" He Kun stared at me. "I can't find that many people to introduce to you."
"It doesn't have to be that many, just a rough number will do." I thought for a moment, "If things get serious, I'll still need them to speak up."
"Making a big fuss?" He Kun narrowed his eyes and stared at me. "Hao Jiagou?!"
I nodded slightly. He is indeed a university professor. How can a mere Hao family be compared to him? What my Zuo family has lost must be taken back.
"You're young and full of energy, after all." He Kun sighed. "I heard you stabbed that bastard three times and spent a year in jail. I thought you'd calm down."
"I haven't finished what I need to do yet, and I can't let go. Uncle He, please help me."
"Help you? If I really gave you the list, I'd be harming you," He Kun said gravely. "You need the participation of so many scholars. Whatever your plan is, you must stop."
"Uncle He, why didn't you stop when you hired someone to kill someone?" I met his gaze, refusing to back down.
"You're just like your father, with a bad temper and stubbornness." He Kun stared at me, confirming that I was serious, and then sighed, "I didn't stop because of you and your son. You really shouldn't have let the wolf into the house!"
"Uncle He, you said I let a wolf into the house. Is this wolf Hao Jianghua?" When I heard him say this, my face changed immediately. It seems that he did have a hidden agenda when he hired a killer to kill someone.
"Who else could it be if not him? Impoverished mountains and filthy waters breed unruly people. The Haojiagou bred this vicious wolf, who devoured your Zuo family completely." He Kun sighed bitterly. "It's also my fault for being too impatient back then. I didn't plan well, and now you've been bullied by this ungrateful wolf. I said I couldn't see you last time because I was too embarrassed. Your father told me long ago that if anything happened, I was to help take care of you and your son. In the end, I couldn't protect either of you. I'm so ashamed..."
There was indeed an inside story behind the murder-for-hire case. It's not that Ho Kun was uninvolved; he did hire someone to kill Hao Jianghua. Legally, there's nothing to argue with. The only difference is that his motive was out of love and hate, so he hired someone to kill and then steal his wife. It's absurd. Ho Kun was my father's best friend. They studied and worked together, and they both pursued my mother passionately. After his unsuccessful pursuit of my mother, Ho Kun remained unmarried, fulfilling his promise to her: "I will never marry anyone but you." My father mentioned all this to me before he died.
Li Xuanshi has been married to my father for twenty years, and He Kun has never made any inappropriate moves. If his courtship had failed and he wanted to kill someone out of love, he would have done it long ago. My father and I would probably not live long. Why would he wait for twenty years in vain? People in their twenties and thirties are prone to impulsive killing. How could a university professor in his fifties do such a stupid thing?
"Uncle He, can you tell me what is going on?" I was indeed curious.
"Actually, after Xuanyu died, I should have returned from Shanghai to Changsha to protect your mother and prevent that jackal from gaining access. Unfortunately, things unfolded so quickly, far beyond my expectations. I tried to persuade your mother, but she wouldn't listen. I thought she couldn't stand the loneliness. Thinking of Xuanyu's request, I confessed my feelings to her, but she refused." He Kun sighed helplessly. "Actually, by then, it was too late. She had already been taken advantage of by that jackal, but I was slow to react. Later, Xuanshi became pregnant and engaged to him. I learned the news, and in my anger, I fell seriously ill and was bedridden for six months. By the time I recovered, the matter was already settled, and there was no way to abort the child."
Since the news of my mother's engagement to Uncle Hao was confirmed, and He Kun was seriously ill and bedridden, I have heard about it. But at that time, I thought he could not bear the blow of unrequited love, and I even despised his obsession with his friend's wife. Although his love was real, the real reason was that he was sick with anger. It was probably the sadness of "grieving for their misfortune and being angry at their lack of fighting spirit", the guilt towards his friend, and the disappointment in his love, which intertwined into despair.
"I advised her to divorce, but I was scolded instead. From then on, I knew she couldn't turn back. The only solution to make her wake up is to kill this jackal so that it can't hurt anyone. Not only for your Zuo family, but also for my own selfish reasons. I can't sit idly by and watch the person I love being ruined like this." He Kun smiled bitterly, "I admit that I like her. This is no secret. Your father won the beauty through strength and sincerity, and I lost with conviction. But what kind of bastard is Hao Jianghua? Having just recovered from a long illness, I was too eager. I gathered seven or eight people to deal with Hao Jianghua, but they turned out to be just small-time thugs who were trying to fool people. They took the money and couldn't get anything done. Actually, I should have planned better. Even if I really wanted to kill someone, I would at least have prepared a gun."
"Uncle He, I have a question. How did you judge that Hao Jianghua was a jackal?" Before marrying my mother, Hao Laogou was ugly but had no obvious bad behavior, except for his excessive sexual desire and the fact that he had sex with Li Xuanshi in front of my father's grave. But at that time, they were already in a relationship, so I can't blame him. Moreover, my cowardly abnormal love and twisted and perverted desires are a secret matter, but how did He Kun judge it? He wouldn't be hiding nearby and peeping.
"Perhaps you could ask Xuanshi, if she's willing to tell you." He Kun wasn't willing to answer me on this topic. "Jingzi, if you're planning on saving her, I advise you to give up. You can't save her anymore. Don't get yourself involved. It's not worth it... You're the only one left in the Zuo family. I really can't give you the list. It would involve too many people."
"Let's leave the list for another time." This visit was still fruitful. I'd described Hao Jianghua as a dog, while He Kun called him a jackal. That conclusion wasn't wrong, but where did he draw that conclusion? And then there were the seven thugs hired back then, who didn't even have a murder weapon? While there was talk of murder, it wasn't necessarily an attempted murder. Was Hao Laogou genuinely trying to trick He Kun? What about Li Xuanshi? What role did she play? He Kun was, after all, my father's good friend. Did she have any consideration for her feelings? He Kun advised me not to save Li Xuanshi. I didn't share that sentiment, but for a longtime admirer like him to say that, what did he know? He Kun remained reserved, and I could only hope for answers in the future.
"Since you're here, I need your help with something." He Kun looked a little dejected. "I have a message for my daughter. If there's a suitable boy, she should get married as soon as possible. I still have a few years to serve in prison. When I get out, there won't be many men willing to marry her. I can't attend this wedding."
I was surprised: "Uncle He, when did you have a daughter?"
"I'm just not married, not that no one wants me." He Kun rolled his eyes at me.
That's true. University professors are considered high-quality stocks. Even though they don't look good now, they must have been pretty good a few decades ago.
"Okay, I'll tell you. What's your daughter's name and where does she work?"
"Her nickname is Nannan, and her full name, if she doesn't change it, is He Hui. If she takes her mother's surname, it's Xu Hui. She works in the obstetrics and gynecology department of a hospital."
"He Hui?!" I thought to myself, "Your daughter works in the obstetrics and gynecology department of Beijing People's Hospital?"
"You know him?!" He Kun was also stunned.
The world is big, but fate can be cruel. Six years ago, the person who performed the physical examination on Bai Ying and me was He Hui. She was also Bai Ying's good friend when we were in school. The two of us were assigned to the same hospital. It's often so incredible how things go around in circles.
The capital, there are people I care about, my footprints are there, I will still go back, and then ask her whether the medical examination report from six years ago has been tampered with.
After receiving my call and knowing that I was coming to Hengshan County, Cen Xiaowei was so excited that she took a leave of absence and came to clean up my old house. Fortunately, the neighbor lady had just cleaned it a few days ago, so she didn't need to do too much.
"Brother Jing, you used to live here." Cen Xiaowei looked around the house. "It's quite shabby here. No wonder you moved to Changsha."
I didn't say anything. We didn't move because it was dilapidated, but it became dilapidated after we moved. A house that had been uninhabited for over twenty years, no matter how well it was decorated, couldn't mask its fading popularity. The old house was abandoned, just like me now. In the past, my family and I abandoned it, and now my family has abandoned me.
It's still there, but I'm lost, without family, alone. It's a house, not a home.