Chapter 14: The Shen Family, Retribution Has Come

“Shen Zihan.” A clear and pleasant voice interrupted Yu Zihan’s thoughts.

“Zhou Mengrui.” Yu Zihan looked at her chubby classmate and greeted her warmly.

Zhou Mengrui was one of her few good friends. Her family was well-off; her father was the director of a cotton spinning factory, and her mother was a doctor. She also had a ten-year-old younger brother.

“Are you feeling better? Why didn’t you rest a few more days? Your grades are so good; missing a few days won’t matter, and you’ll definitely get into high school,” Zhou Mengrui chattered on as soon as she saw Yu Zihan, her mouth running non-stop.

“Hey, you should hurry to the dorm and get your lunch box, or you’ll miss breakfast,” Zhou Mengrui urged Yu Zihan anxiously.

“Mengrui, I’m not staying in the dorm starting today. My mom and I have moved to the city. Our house is in Dongshun Alley, so now you can come over to my place to play,” Yu Zihan’s words caught Zhou Mengrui off guard.

Zhou Mengrui knew about Shen Zihan’s family situation; her father had never wanted her to go to school, and their eccentric grandmother had caused Shen Zihan a lot of distress.

“Tell me, what’s going on?” Zhou Mengrui asked curiously.

Yu Zihan briefly explained the events that had happened in her family over the past few days to Zhou Mengrui, but she concealed her and her mother’s backgrounds.

“My goodness, such a dramatic situation? That scummy dad of yours really has no decency. He actually did something so despicable.”

“But now it’s better; your mom has divorced him, so he can’t control you anymore. You can focus on your studies now. That’s great; you’ll be able to complete your education smoothly,” Zhou Mengrui said happily, even starting to bounce with excitement.

“Yeah. From now on, you should call me Yu Zihan. I don’t want to be called Shen Zihan anymore,” Yu Zihan felt she could truly express her real feelings in front of Zhou Mengrui.

The two chatted as they made their way to the classroom. Once back at her seat, Yu Zihan felt a lot of pressure. She opened her books; she could still manage subjects like Chinese, English, politics, history, and geography, but she had completely forgotten the knowledge of math, physics, chemistry, and biology.

Worried, Yu Zihan scratched her head in frustration.

Unfortunately, she was still the math class representative. Their math teacher, Mr. Wang, was also their homeroom teacher. He particularly liked Yu Zihan and had been very helpful to her in her studies.

The first class was math, and Mr. Wang brought some exciting news to everyone: in just 40 days, the final exams for the semester would take place.

Upon hearing this news, Yu Zihan nearly fainted, but her naturally strong-willed character made it hard for her to give up easily.

She decided to postpone any thoughts of making money for now. After all, the money and supplies they had would be enough for a year and a half; she would focus on getting into high school and think about work during the summer vacation.

Having made up her mind, Yu Zihan entered a frenzied study mode.

During class, she listened attentively, and after returning home, she locked herself in her room, which was actually her way of entering her space to study with videos.

Seeing her daughter study so hard that she neglected her meals, Yu Meijuan felt both comforted and pained. At this stage, her daughter was still growing, so she began to prepare nutritious meals in various ways to support her.

She knew her daughter wanted to get into a university in the capital, and that studying depended solely on her daughter. So, she thought about how to make money. She couldn’t rely on her daughter to support her.

She remembered that she used to be the outstanding young lady of the Yu family, well-educated and knowledgeable. It was unfortunate that her circumstances had turned difficult, compounded by her encounter with a scummy man.

Now, there was no other option; she had to follow her daughter’s plan, supporting her education first. Once her daughter got into university and they moved to the capital, she could then focus on her own matters.

Time flew by as Yu Zihan studied diligently. Before she knew it, the final exams had arrived.

At the start of the exam, Yu Zihan was still getting used to the situation and felt a bit nervous. However, seeing that the questions on the paper were all ones she had practiced, her anxiety instantly eased. She quickly got into the zone. These questions felt like a piece of cake for her.

She was delighted with the hard work she had put in through the system. It was precisely because of that training system that she had such a solid grasp of the fundamentals, allowing her to catch up with the study pace in such a short time.

Three days later, the exams were over, and they began their brief winter vacation.

Meanwhile, the Shen family in the small mountain village was in chaos.

It started when someone came to the village to investigate the disappearance of Er Laizi.

On that day, Grandma Shen had kept saying that she saw Er Laizi enter their yard.

So the police found her to inquire about Er Laizi’s situation. At first, Grandma Shen wanted to pin the blame on Yu Meijuan, but doing so would expose her previous actions.

She finally had a moment of clarity and only said that those were lies she fabricated to frame Yu Meijuan.

The police found her story plausible, and they also learned from the villagers that they hadn’t seen Er Laizi at all that day.

Just like that, a living person vanished without a trace, and the matter was left unresolved.

The main issue was that Er Laizi had done many unethical things; he was notorious in the area and had a record with the police, so his disappearance wasn’t surprising.

After dismissing this wave of police, Shen Jianguo thought he could live in peace.

Now he had a son, a daughter, and a wife. He could enjoy a stable and comfortable life.

When people in the village encountered him, they would hear him humming unknown tunes.

Li Cuihua was even more showy, walking down the street with her head held high and her butt sticking out.

A few days later, a work group came down to check on the village officials’ work. When Shen Jianguo saw so many people in their village, he subconsciously felt uneasy but couldn’t pinpoint what was wrong.

He immediately ordered people to prepare for their reception. The work group spent less than an hour at the village committee before taking Shen Jianguo and the village accountant away.

With his departure, the Shen family fell into chaos. They used various connections to find out what had happened to Shen Jianguo, but no one would tell them.

At that moment, everyone began to realize that Shen Jianguo might be in serious trouble. They then remembered to hide their own savings; otherwise, when the time came to use money, if it was demanded from them, would they give it or not?

At this point, the Shen family discovered that all their hidden savings had vanished without a trace.

Thus, the Shen family began to fight amongst themselves like dogs. The sounds of wailing and howling often echoed from their courtyard, making it a lively scene.

Half a month later, the investigation results regarding Shen Jianguo were released. It stated that during his tenure as the team leader and village secretary, he had repeatedly embezzled and accepted bribes using his position. He had also illegally withheld various funds allocated from above, amounting to over 100,000 yuan. Shen Jianguo was convicted of embezzlement and bribery.

Another charge against Shen Jianguo was that he maintained an improper relationship with Li Cuihua, a local woman, for over a decade while being married, and even fathered a child outside of marriage. This behavior constituted aggravated charges of both adultery and immoral conduct.

Li Cuihua, knowing Shen Jianguo was married, continued their relationship and bore a child, which constituted immoral conduct on her part.

Shen Jianguo was sentenced to death, the accountant received a life sentence, and Li Cuihua was also sentenced to life imprisonment. It must be said that at that time, people’s tolerance for immoral conduct was very low.

Next, an investigation into the Shen family’s assets began. No assets were found at the Shen home, but a significant amount of money, amounting to over 100,000 yuan, was discovered hidden in Li Cuihua’s house. This money was deemed to be embezzled funds belonging to Shen Jianguo and was confiscated.

Li Limei and her brother Li Libin, like the others in the Shen family, were not only relatives of a criminal but also found themselves penniless, though fortunately, their father had built them a courtyard.

Grandma Shen, unable to protect herself, no longer thought about reconciling with her grandchildren. She believed it was all Li Cuihua’s fault that her son had fallen into trouble.

What troubled her the most was that the money her son embezzled was hidden in that woman’s house. These facts pierced her heart like thorns, so she was unwilling to acknowledge her two grandchildren.

Li Limei and her brother were turned away by Grandma Shen, and she hated Yu Zihan deeply. It was because of her and her mother that her parents had been separated for so long.

Now she thought that since they were divorced, they would soon return to the Shen family and live a normal life with a mom and dad. But their father was going to die, and their mother would spend the rest of her life in prison. The hatr