Chapter 28

Even though Lan Xiruo had guessed the process of her poisoning, Xu Mei wasn’t afraid at all.

She was confident that Lan Xiruo would never find any evidence.

With full confidence, Xu Mei looked at Lan Xiruo provocatively, as if to say, Even if I poisoned you, what can you do about it?

Lan Xiruo glanced at her, scoffed, then turned to Jiang Aiguo and said:

“Captain, I’m sure that Xu Mei framed me. She had a motive—she wanted to go out to sea with the fishing boats, but most of them were already full.

Later, she found out that only if someone on the boat got sick would they allow a replacement. That’s when she targeted me—all because I embarrassed her on the first day she arrived.”

Jiang Aiguo frowned. “Just for that?”

“And also, when we were on stage receiving our awards today, she kept staring at me and Comrade Sun with jealousy.”

Gu Xizhi agreed. “Yes, yes, I can vouch for that. Her eyes looked like she wanted to kill Lan and Sun Comrades right there.”

“Ah, yes, I saw it too. I was holding my grandson while watching, and he was so scared by her glare that he burst into tears,” an old lady from the crowd spoke up.

Lan Xiruo smiled gratefully at the old woman and then said to Jiang Aiguo:

“I know Xu Mei has a habit of keeping things that she finds meaningful as souvenirs.

For example, poisoning me with croton seeds must have been very significant to her. I’m sure she kept something as a keepsake.

Please come with me as witnesses. Otherwise, if I find the evidence, she’ll just deny it.”

Xu Mei’s expression finally changed.

She did have this habit—but how did Lan Xiruo know?

With Jiang Aiguo’s permission, Lan Xiruo led the group to their shared room.

Once inside, she walked straight to Xu Mei’s bed, crouched down, and pulled out Xu Mei’s luggage bag.

“Lan Xiruo, don’t touch my stuff!” Xu Mei panicked and lunged forward, throwing herself on the bag.

Lan Xiruo glanced at her and continued rummaging under the bed.

Xu Mei’s eyelid twitched. She tried to stop her but was held back by Sun Yuqing.

“If you haven’t done anything wrong, why are you so nervous? Didn’t you say Lan Xiruo was falsely accusing you?” Sun Yuqing sneered.

“Sun Yuqing, let me go!”

“I won’t!”

While they struggled, Lan Xiruo suddenly exclaimed, “Found it!”

Xu Mei jerked her head around, and when she saw the tattered cloth doll in Lan Xiruo’s hand, her pupils shrank.

“Lan Xiruo, I’ll fight you to the end!”

Xu Mei suddenly went berserk. She violently broke free from Sun Yuqing and lunged at Lan Xiruo.

The doll’s stomach contained all her darkest secrets—she could never let anyone see it.

This wretched woman—if she wouldn’t let her off, then neither of them would get away unscathed!

“Xiruo, watch out!”

Sun Yuqing saw Xu Mei pouncing at Lan Xiruo and turned pale, but it was too late to stop her. She could only scream in warning.

—-

In just a few seconds, before anyone could react, there was a loud bang!

Xu Mei was sent flying by a swift kick, crashing onto a bed so hard that the bed frame collapsed.

The force of the impact was so strong that Xu Mei passed out.

For a moment, the air was deathly still.

Everyone snapped out of their shock and turned in unison to the owner of that powerful kick.

They saw Gu Xizhi, face cold as stone, tightly holding Lan Xiruo. His emotionless gaze was locked on Xu Mei.

If one looked closely, they would notice his legs trembling slightly, weak, as if he was barely standing with Lan Xiruo’s support.

“Comrade Gu, what’s going on?” The sudden commotion left Jiang Aiguo dumbfounded.

Gu Xizhi remained silent—he was afraid that if he spoke, his voice would tremble.

Just a little more. Just a fraction of a second, and Xiruo’s head would have hit the ground.

Just a little more, and they would have been separated forever again.

“Captain, Xu Mei first poisoned me, and now she tried to attack me in front of everyone. I won’t let this slide.”

Lan Xiruo patted Gu Xizhi’s arm, stepping slightly away from his embrace, though still holding onto him for support.

Jiang Aiguo’s expression darkened. “Don’t worry, Comrade Lan. With so many witnesses, she won’t get away this time.”

“Also, this—” Lan Xiruo picked up the cloth doll from the floor. “This is a record of all the bad things Xu Mei has done since childhood. The police should find it useful.”

The deputy captain took the doll and curiously tore a small opening.

“…This…”

“…Hiss…”

“…Oh my god!”

Seeing what was inside, the deputy captain gasped repeatedly, his shock piquing the crowd’s curiosity.

“What is it? Let me see,” Jiang Aiguo demanded, frowning.

“Oh, here.”

Jiang Aiguo took a quick glance and immediately exclaimed, “My god!”

Without hesitation, he clutched the doll tightly. “We must send this to the police immediately!”

Knowing too much might destroy his worldview.

Jiang Aiguo refused to let anyone else see what was inside the doll, leaving the crowd restless with curiosity.

Despite their best efforts to coax him into revealing the contents, he remained firm.

In the end, everyone left the youth camp, full of regret and frustration.

Since it was already late, they didn’t immediately send Xu Mei to the commune, but she was locked up at the brigade headquarters.

As for the doll’s contents—Lan Xiruo had learned about them in her past life, after she had exacted revenge.

There’s a saying that a child’s nature is visible from an early age. In Xu Mei’s case, this was terrifyingly true.

That ragged cloth doll had been a gift from her uncle on her sixth birthday.

On that very day, she had nearly suffocated her two-year-old cousin—just because he wanted to take her doll.

—-

After her mother scolded her and gave her a beating, she held a grudge. Later that night, she snuck into her mother’s room while she was asleep and cut off her hair. She kept the strands inside the doll.

As she grew up, whenever she had conflicts with classmates, she would take something from them and hide it in the doll.

When her parents had a second daughter after she turned ten, Xu Mei felt neglected.

One day, when her little sister had just learned to walk, she opened the front door while her parents weren’t looking.

Her sister toddled outside—never to return.

The item she kept in the doll as a memento of her sister? A broken, limbless clay figurine.

And these were only some of the horrors hidden inside.

Jiang Aiguo and the others had probably only seen the money and ration tickets so far.

If they had seen everything else in that doll, their minds might never recover.