The finance department called for the people from the news department to collect their salaries. Li Mingfang also went back to her workstation. Lin Shuyue and Huang Qiang walked towards the finance office together.

Huang Qiang was clearly very concerned about Lin Shuyue. “Ah Yue, did you go see Zhengjun?”

“I did.” Lin Shuyue had also wanted to talk to Huang Qiang about this. “Mentor, when you went to see Zhengjun back then, did you go to his house? Did you read their appeal for a wrongful conviction?”

“I did. When you read Zhengjun’s appeal, don’t you think that with these two pieces of evidence, Zhengjun’s case is very clear?” Huang Qiang slowed his pace a bit.

Lin Shuyue nodded. “Yes, I plan to go find the owner of that village store tomorrow to understand the situation and then go to the hospital to check the archives from back then.”

Huang Qiang said, “No need to go, Ah Yue.”

“If this matter were that simple, it wouldn’t be your turn to investigate it now. We went to ask, and the owner of that village store had long since changed his statement.”

“He said that he did indeed see Zhengjun come out of his house that day, and the time hadn’t changed, but he denied seeing Liang Haihui come out to close the door. Later, he returned to his hometown, and now you can’t find him even if you want to investigate.”

“Taijiang Hospital does have Zhengjun’s medical records, but besides proving that his stomach wasn’t good, it can’t prove that his wife argued with him because of it. The witness who saw them arguing that year had already resigned and no longer worked at Limin Real Estate.”

“Ah Yue, ten years have passed. If you want to overturn his case, you need to go to the police, ask them to provide you with the case files from back then, and then go to the court and the procuratorate^[1]T/N: The procuratorate plays a crucial role in the legal system, acting as both a prosecutor and an investigator of certain types of crimes, as well as overseeing the legality of the activities of … Continue reading to have them re-examine the case. Otherwise, relying on us alone won’t be useful.”

The finance department called their names. The two ended their conversation, collected their salaries, and Huang Qiang had already left with his bag. Lin Shuyue had heard him say while chatting with others that today was payday, and he was going to treat his wife and children to Western food. The whole family had been looking forward to it for a month.

Lin Shuyue waited for Li Mingfang to get her salary, and the two of them left work together.

As they entered the stairwell, Lin Shuyue saw the beautiful woman from the neighboring company again. She also saw Lin Shuyue and Li Mingfang and rolled her eyes up to the sky once more.

Lin Shuyue was baffled. Then, when the beautiful woman looked at her again, she also rolled her eyes back in response.

The elevator stopped on the first floor, and the beautiful woman sashayed out, as if Lin Shuyue and Li Mingfang were carrying viruses.

As soon as she was far away, Li Mingfang couldn’t help but say, “Did you see that? That’s Zhong Jiali, the younger sister of the boss of Shengda Trading. She’s supposedly a top student who returned from studying in France. She’s extremely arrogant and has different attitudes towards men and women. She looks at women like they’re enemies, but her attitude changes immediately when she sees a man.”

Lin Shuyue could tell, even without Li Mingfang saying it, that this beautiful woman was indeed unfriendly to women. Just like now, she walked past the cleaning lady with a look of disgust, but when she saw the security guard at the main entrance, her attitude immediately changed.

The words “male privilege worshipper” flashed into Lin Shuyue’s mind. As a normal person, she had never been able to understand why there were so many oddballs in the world.

“Let’s go, let’s go, forget about her. I rented a car today. I’ll drop you home first later.”

“Okay, okay, saves me from taking the bus. These past few days, the bus drivers at this time seem to be sick or something. They drive more erratically every day. Every time I get home, I feel like throwing up from the swaying.”

After dropping Li Mingfang home, Lin Shuyue also returned.

Lin Shuxing and Luo Zhengjun had already gone out to do business. Lou Fengqin had a lot of work these past few days and hadn’t returned yet.

Lin Shuyue had just stepped into the house when Lou Fengqin arrived right after.

Behind her was a man in a shirt and suit pants.

The man was also carrying a bag. He smiled when he saw Lin Shuyue. “Ah Yue, I heard you’ve been doing very well at work recently. It just so happens that a friend of mine went to Xiangjiang, and I asked him to bring back the latest model camera from over there for me. Now, I want to give it to you, hoping it will help you with your future work and life.”

The person Lin Shuyue hated most in this life was a scumbag, and Lin Jianxin was the ultimate scumbag. Her smiling expression instantly dropped. “I wouldn’t dare to accept anything from you. If your wife comes knocking on my door, I’ll be scolded to death.”

This had happened in the original owner’s memory. At that time, the original owner had just started junior high school. One day, Lin Jianxin suddenly came looking for her and gave her several hundred yuan. Because the original owner had to go to class, she didn’t have time to argue with him. She was planning to wait until school was over and have Lou Fengqin return the money, but Lin Jianxin’s second wife, Zhang Mei, arrived.

Without saying a word, she snatched the money and verbally insulted the original owner. From then on, the Lin sisters never took a single cent from Lin Jianxin again.

Lou Fengqin also looked very impatient. “Alright, stop talking nonsense with me. Quickly tell me what clues you have about Ah Yang. Say it and then get lost.”

Lou Fengqin had always been a woman who loved and hated fiercely. Lin Jianxin had always been a pretty boy who couldn’t lift a finger. From the day she married Lin Jianxin, she had taken on the burden of the family.

Later, Lin Jianxin went out for a trip and came back, picking fights and wanting a divorce. Lou Fengqin first came to the city to investigate what exactly he had encountered while working outside. After finding out that Lin Jianxin had climbed up the social ladder, she went back and made a big scene.

Even though his new lover was already pregnant, Lou Fengqin’s commotion eventually resulted in her getting the land that had been allocated to Lin Jianxin and the house.

This was obviously an incredible thing in Guangdong Province, where male offspring were highly valued.

If Lin Shuyang hadn’t been abducted later, Lou Fengqin might have spent her whole life in her hometown with her daughters and son. She most likely wouldn’t have had any more contact with Lin Jianxin.

But the child was lost, and it was lost while in Lin Jianxin’s care. When the child was first lost, Lou Fengqin even slashed Lin Jianxin with a knife.

Lin Jianxin looked at his second daughter, who didn’t show any affection towards him, and his ex-wife, who, despite her worn-out clothes and mud stains, was still beautiful. He then thought about Zhang Mei, whose figure had ballooned like an inflated ball since giving birth and was getting bigger day by day, and his daughter at home, who looked exactly like her mother. He felt uncomfortable all over.

“Ah Qin, won’t you let me come in and sit down for a bit?”

Lou Fengqin knew Lin Jianxin too well. Looking at his lecherous expression, she knew what he was thinking.

This man, when he was with her back then, looked down on her for being crude, lacking in romance, not relying on him, and only knowing how to work all day. All she ever talked about was what to eat today and which field was short of water. That’s why he got involved with Zhang Mei.

Now that Zhang Mei had gained weight, he saw that her appearance wasn’t much different from when she was young, and since Lou Fengqin hadn’t remarried for many years, he thought she was waiting for him and wanted to rekindle their old relationship at any opportunity. Lou Fengqin felt like throwing up just looking at him. If he hadn’t said he remembered a clue about Ah Yang before he was abducted, Lou Fengqin wouldn’t have even bothered to talk to him.

But seeing his lustful look, Lou Fengqin knew that this idiot’s purpose for coming today wasn’t pure. Thinking about his earlier gesture of buying something for Lin Shuyue, she narrowed her eyes and kicked out. Lin Jianxin dodged and ended up outside the door. Lou Fengqin seized the opportunity and slammed the door shut.

“Let’s go eat. Your Brother Zhengjun said he’s making stir-fried pork tonight. I’ve been craving it all afternoon.”

“Stir-fried pork!” Lin Shuyue’s eyes lit up at the thought of the fatty and lean stir-fried pork. “Let’s go, let’s go, let’s eat together.”

The mother and daughter ignored the loud knocking on the door and walked towards the dining table under the grapevines. Zeng Xiaoyi had already laid out the food Lin Shuxing had left for them when the mother and daughter entered the house.

The food was kept warm in a pot of hot water, and it was still warm enough to eat.

At the dinner table, Lou Fengqin first talked about her work at the construction site and then routinely asked about Lin Shuyue’s work. Lin Shuyue didn’t hide anything from her and told her about Zhengjun’s case, even mentioning that the boss of Limin Real Estate still visited Zhengjun.

Lou Fengqin didn’t say anything after hearing this, only telling Lin Shuyue to be careful. Lou Fengqin already knew about Lin Shuyue’s undercover investigation at the internet addiction school. Lin Shuyue had been surrounded and lectured by her and Lin Shuxing for a good while, a few days ago.

Later, Lou Fengqin told Lin Shuyue that she only had one request for her, which was that she wished her peace and safety.

Lin Shuyue repeatedly assured her, but Lou Fengqin was still worried and finally just sighed.

Lin Shuyue finally managed to escape from Lou Fengqin’s clutches. After washing up and chatting with Zeng Xiaoyi for a while, before going to bed, Lin Shuyue thought for a moment and sent a message to Huang Qiang.

Huang Qiang, who had just enjoyed a romantic moment with his wife, received Lin Shuyue’s text message. After sitting on the sofa and smoking a cigarette, he replied to her and then started calling people he knew.

His wife brought him a glass of water. “Isn’t your little apprentice about to become a regular employee? You won’t be getting a cut of her bonus anymore. Why bother helping her so much?”

Huang Qiang hung up the phone, smiled at his wife, and said to her, “Ah Li, I’ve already lost the initial passion I had when I first entered this industry, but others still have it, so I want to help them.”

His wife didn’t speak, only saying to him, “You’ve been wearing your glasses all day. Aren’t they uncomfortable? Quickly take them off and wash them. Your personality hasn’t changed in all these years. Back then…”

“Ah Li, let’s not talk about the past.” Huang Qiang’s phone made a sound. He picked it up to look and then forwarded the message to Lin Shuyue. “Being an entertainment reporter is also very good now. You can make money much faster.”

But Huang Qiang looked up at the bright lights outside. He felt that there was nothing wrong with his current life, but occasionally in the middle of the night, he would always return to fifteen years ago. He was so close, so close to succeeding!