Chapter 14: Forgiveness Agreement? I Won’t Sign It

When he got home, he didn’t see anyone and, without thinking, went straight to open the door of his eldest daughter’s room.

The room was pitch black, so he quickly turned on the light by the door.

As soon as the light came on, Lu Mianmian, who hadn’t been sleeping deeply to begin with, was woken up by the brightness.

“Mianmian, hurry up and get up, sign this paper! Otherwise, your mom and brother won’t be able to come back!”

Faced with her father’s sudden appearance, Lu Mianmian rubbed her eyes and looked dazed for a moment. Once she became fully awake, she smiled happily at Lu Zhicai.

“Dad! You’re out? Did they clear things up?”

Hearing the words “cleared things up,” Lu Zhicai’s eyes flickered with unease, and he vaguely explained:

“Yes, yes, daddy didn’t do anything wrong. But your mom and your brother are still being held. They were framed. Someone blamed your grandma and your mom’s death on them—it’s just too evil.”

Upon hearing that her family had been wronged, Lu Mianmian felt indignant.

“What are these cops even doing? How could they detain you all based on such vague accusations? I’m furious!”

Time was running out, and Lu Zhicai, sweating profusely, quickly handed the paper to her.

“Daddy knows you understand. Just sign this quickly so I can go save your brother.”

Lu Mianmian was always obedient. She immediately took the pen, but just as she was about to sign, something made her hesitate.

“Is my signature alone enough? What about Jiang Tangtang?”

“Your sister needs to sign too. She just came back—I almost forgot about her. Go upstairs and call her down. I’ll wait outside to catch my breath.”

After running all the way from the police station, he finally got to rest a bit at home and didn’t want to move.

“Okay, I’ll go get her. You go outside and take a break, have a glass of water.”

Not wanting to delay what she saw as an important matter, Lu Mianmian threw on a coat and went to knock on Jiang Tangtang’s door.

Knock knock knock.

“Tangtang, wake up! Don’t sleep, there’s something urgent.”

Jiang Tangtang had just fallen asleep not long ago.

Hearing the knocking, she immediately opened her eyes, sat up in bed, and asked, “Sis, what’s going on this late? I want to sleep.”

Lu Mianmian, outside the door, got angry.

“You don’t know something happened at home? And you’re still sleeping? Dad’s back! He needs something from you—get up now!”

In her mind, her younger sister wasn’t very smart, and she had never liked being contradicted.

Dad’s back?

At this point, Jiang Tangtang wasn’t sure why he would be out. He should still be in custody awaiting sentencing, right?

But since he was here, she had to keep up appearances. Jiang Tangtang let out an “oh,” got out of bed, put on her shoes, and opened the door.

“Hurry up. Dad and I are downstairs waiting for you. I’m going to sign now.”

Sign? Jiang Tangtang sensed something was off and quickly grabbed Lu Mianmian’s arm.

“Sign what?”

“You’ll see when you get down there. Stop dawdling! Why do you drag your feet with everything?”

Lu Mianmian never liked anything her sister did, always criticizing her for no reason.

“Alright!”

Afraid that Lu Mianmian would sign it without thinking, Jiang Tangtang quickly followed her downstairs.

On the sofa, Lu Zhicai sat with messy hair and dark circles under his eyes, sipping from a cup. When he saw his daughters coming down, he immediately stood up and put the cup aside.

“Come here quickly and sign. Once you’re done, you can go back to sleep. Leave the rest to me.”

On the table in front of him lay two pens and a sheet of official-looking paper.

Looking at the table with suspicion, Jiang Tangtang picked up the paper and opened it.

“Dad, you’re finally back! But this forgiveness agreement… What is it? Why do we have to sign?”

Putting on a deliberately confused expression, Jiang Tangtang widened her eyes and looked at him innocently.

Signing the paper was the priority. Lu Zhicai forced a smile and started making up excuses.

“It’s a misunderstanding by the police. I’m afraid to even tell you the full story—it might scare you. You know they’ve been cracking down on anti-government elements lately. Someone falsely reported that your mom didn’t die accidentally. But you both know she did, right? These people clearly want to destroy our family!”

“Your stepmom was afraid you’d be traumatized by all this and worried those bad guys would succeed in ruining us, so she took the blame. It’s a serious charge, one that could lead to execution. Now the police are asking for a forgiveness agreement from the family. I had no choice but to wake you both up…”

His words sounded sincere and full of reluctant grief.

Lu Mianmian, moved to tears, sniffled.

“Even if stepmom isn’t our birth mother, she’s always treated us so well. I know mom died in an accident. Dad, I’ll sign it now—just bring Mom and little brother home!”

Watching his performance, Jiang Tangtang stayed composed on the outside but laughed coldly inside.

This can’t be signed. Jiang Tangtang knew this well. She suddenly grabbed all the pens and pretended to be furious.

“Sis! If stepmom was really good to us, signing this would be admitting she committed a crime! How could we wrong her like that?”

Lu Mianmian was stunned.

“You’re right… Dad, if she didn’t do it, signing this would mean she did. When she comes back, what would the neighbors think of her?”

Even Lu Zhicai was momentarily frozen.

“Mianmian, Tangtang—sometimes we need to look at the bigger picture. Even if your stepmom didn’t do anything wrong, the police already judged it that way. You don’t want her to suffer in prison, right?”

“Just sign it quickly. Don’t worry about anything else—Daddy will handle the rest!”

Seeing their hesitation, Lu Zhicai started sweating even more.

But Jiang Tangtang stayed firm and even spoke with a tone of righteousness:

“Wrong is wrong, right is right. I didn’t expect the police to be this corrupt. I’m going to the station to find out the truth and seek justice for stepmom!”

Saying this, she dashed out the door before anyone could react.

By the time Lu Zhicai came to his senses, Jiang Tangtang was already gone.

Seeing this, Lu Mianmian didn’t know what to do.

“Dad, I think Tangtang has a point. Maybe I should go to the station too and get the facts.”

“Ugh! Can’t you just do as you’re told? There’s no time!”

Lu Zhicai, already disheveled, looked even messier now, both anxious and angry. He rushed out after her.

“Quick, go get your sister! What good can a girl do at the police station?”

Without thinking further, Lu Mianmian followed after her dad.

If they caught up, Jiang Tangtang would never reach the station. With Lu Zhicai’s ruthlessness, he might even forge her signature.

So she had to get to the station—and avoid being caught.

With this in mind, she ran as fast as she could.

Normally it took half an hour on foot to reach the station. Thanks to her speed, she arrived at the back gate in just a few minutes.

Seeing the station was like seeing light at the end of the tunnel. Without thinking about her exhaustion, she rushed in.

At the time, the officer on duty was dozing off. Hearing someone come in, he straightened up.

“Officer, I heard someone named Bai Shui Niang was arrested today for a report. My dad is trying to get me to sign a forgiveness agreement. I’m her daughter—I want to know the full story. I don’t want to be kept in the dark.”

As she spoke, Jiang Tangtang wiped her sweat and panted heavily.

The officer, who was involved in the case, knew all about it.

Seeing her in pajamas, breathless and panicked, he sobered up and patiently explained everything.

“This afternoon, we received a report alleging that Bai Shui Niang was involved in inciting a murder…”

Jiang Tangtang knew this case better than anyone, but she had to play dumb and act unaware to let the truth come to light.

If she wanted to bring down the real criminals, she had to endure this quietly.

So she listened as the officer explained.

Halfway through, Lu Zhicai and Lu Mianmian burst into the station.

“You—how’d you run so fast? Your sister and I couldn’t even keep up!”

Lu Zhicai grabbed Jiang Tangtang and cut off the officer.

“Dad! Why are you here? I just wanted the truth.”

Tears fell as Jiang Tangtang wiped her face and looked pitiful, prompting the officer to continue.

Seeing her like that, even the officer felt sympathy.

“As the victim’s family, you have every right to know. It happened years ago, but you should still be informed. The informant said your stepmother incited your younger brother to commit a crime when he was still a child…”

As the officer spoke, Lu Zhicai and Lu Mianmian had to listen to the full story.

During the explanation, Jiang Tangtang kept acting like she couldn’t believe it, even hitting her chest and pretending to be shocked and betrayed.

“This can’t be… it can’t be true!”

After the officer finished, Jiang Tangtang collapsed on the desk, sobbing loudly.

“Dad, tell me this isn’t true—I don’t believe it!”

“Dad… why does this sound like it might really be true?” said Lu Mianmian.

Meanwhile, Jiang Tangtang kept crying and pounding the desk, on the verge of a breakdown.

Seeing his daughter like this, Lu Zhicai felt no sympathy. Instead, he was irritated that they had ruined his plan.

Still, he had to keep pretending to comfort them.

“I already told you at home—none of this is true. Someone falsely accused us to destroy our happy family. If you believe them, then the bad guys win.”

The officer, already annoyed from night duty, was angered by what he heard next.

“What are you talking about?! We’re a state institution. We don’t lie. Your son Lu Yaozu has already confessed, and Bai Shui Niang has signed as well. Every step of our investigation can stand up to scrutiny. Are you trying to slander us? Want to go to jail yourself?”

“I…”

Since he made everything up, Lu Zhicai was left speechless and even a bit guilty.

But saving them was still his goal. Gritting his teeth, he tried to persuade Jiang Tangtang again.

“Tangtang, you need to wait until your brother and stepmom are released—let them explain it to you. You can’t just believe outsiders, right?”

“When you disappeared, I came to the station and asked them to help search for you. They looked for a whole year and couldn’t find you. If you hadn’t been smart enough to return on your own, I would never have seen you again.”