Luosang was full of anger too. “Now your son is going to prison and you came to us begging for mercy. What’s that called? You have only yourself to thank. That’s called karma.”
“I didn’t dare to tell the truth back at that time. I made up a lie, I shouldn’t have. Jingxi believed that lie. I really didn’t have the courage to tell him the truth as our relationship finally turned better. I have talked to him. I told him not to hurt your family. I didn’t know it when he got close to you. I only found out about that after your father went to prison.”
Chu Lei sobbed and pressed a hand to her chest. “I was even more afraid to tell the truth back then. I could only escape. I hid in a nursing home. When you came to find me, I wanted to tell you the truth. But I was really afraid that I might lose him. Once I told you the truth, he’d go to jail. Because he had broken the law.”
“The law will not spare any criminal. Do you think that as long as you didn’t tell, we’d never know the truth? The longer my father has spent in prison, the longer he’ll be in there. It won’t be too long, only about four to seven years. You should know that.” Finished talking, Luosang turned and left.
“Miss. Xu, you loved him after all. He loves you too…” Chu Lei was pushed away by Nian Junting before she could even finish.
She fell to the ground and saw Nian Junting staring at her coldly and fiercely. She couldn’t help but shiver.
Luosang laughed with anger. “I was so unlucky that I met him and let him fall in love with me. He’s not even thirty yet. Is a couple of years too long for him? Because of you and your son, my father was nearly going to spend the rest of his life in prison. Don’t let me see you again. The more I see you, the angrier and more disgusted I’ll be. I even want him to be in prison until he dies.”
Chu Lei trembled with fear. She kowtowed to Luosang endlessly.
“Cast her out,” Nian Junting said to Lu Kang.
Lu Kang immediately dragged Chu Lei up from the ground and headed toward the exit.
“Wait…” Luosang abruptly asked a question, “Who’s the father of that baby? What exactly happened between you and my father? I hope you can tell me the truth. At this point, you have no reason to make up more lies.”
Chu Lei raised her head and responded with a bitter look. “I wanted to be with your father but he didn’t like me. Later on, I became a producer’s mistress in order to become a star. I thought I’d become a star but it turned out that he was only playing with me. I got pregnant. I was so downhearted. I decided to abort that child and go home to live with Jingxi’s father. I was happy in those years. I decided to forget about the past and start a new life.”
“I never thought that his father would find out about the child. I didn’t want him to think of me as a shameless woman so I lied to him. I thought he wouldn’t do anything to your father. After all, it was a long way between my hometown and your father’s school. However… He had an accident in a hotel near the school… he was burned to death.”
An indescribable dislike toward Chu Lei rose in Luosang’s heart.
“My father will always regret having a student like you. Don’t ever come to me again. If you make me angry, I might sue Yi Jingxi for taking away my film company through illegal means. He’d spend even longer in prison.” Luosang turned and walked into the room without looking at Chu Lei.
After she closed the door, Luosang buried her face in Nian Junting’s arms.
“Junting, I’m so upset.”
Nian Junting patted her shoulder. He honestly didn’t know how to comfort her. So he said, “Stop overthinking. It’s your father who should really be upset.”
Luosang stayed silent.
…
Friday, nine am.
Xu Zhengxuan’s case came before the court again.
Luosang went to the courthouse with Nian Junting and the others early in the morning.
In the court, Xu Zhengxuan looked around then dropped his head disappointedly.
The trial was mainly about the prosecutor accusing Principal Cheng. Yi Jingxi was both a suspect and a victim. He had also provided evidence. No matter how Principal Cheng’s lawyer defended him, he couldn’t possibly get away with it because the prosecutor was holding strong evidence.
At last, Xu Zhengquan was acquitted and released. He would also receive reasonable compensation from the government.
Luosang stood up with excitement. The judge continued, “Yi Jingxi and Cheng Fang will be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of five years for deliberately falsifying evidence.”
“Jingxi…” Chu Lei burst into tears.
Yi Jingxi gave a bitter smile. From the beginning to the end, he didn’t even glance at Chu Lei, but fixed his eyes on Luosang who was hugging Xu Zhengxuan.
His eyes turned misty. The police officers came to take him away.
While walking past Xu Zhengxuan and Luosang, he said with a low voice, “Uncle Xu, I’m sorry.”
You shouldn’t say sorry to me. You should say that to Luosang and your own conscience,” Xu Zhengxuan responded with a deep frown.
He had liked that young man before, but unexpectedly…
He was stupid. He couldn’t believe that he actually tried to use Chu Lei to make Mo Jin jealous. He felt no pity for himself. He believed he deserves all that he had suffered.
“Sangsang… I wish you a happy life with Nian Junting,” Yi Jingxi gave a sad smile. Seeing Nian Junting walk over, he said to him, “Nian Junting, if you mistreat Luosang, I’ll make you suffer in five years when I get out of prison.”
“When you get out, I might have three kids already,” Nian Junting snorted then turned away.
The police officers took Yi Jingxi away. Chu Lei followed them out while crying. Out there, a group of reporters were taking photos.
Luosang held Xu Zhengxuan’s hands and said, “Dad, let’s go home.”
“I don’t have a home anymore,” Xu Zhengxuan smiled bitterly.
His name had been cleared, but what he had lost would never come back. The government would compensate him according to the average daily income in recent years, with an added sum for mental suffering compensation.
“Yi Jingxi bought our house. He went to prison now and the government has given it back to us.” Luosang put her arm around his and said, “You may enjoy your retirement from now on.”
“If you really have nothing to do, you can come to help with babysitting,” said Nian Justing abruptly.
“Ba-baby?” Xu Zhengxuan was confused. He turned to his daughter, saw her lower her head awkwardly. “You are not…”
“Father, Luo is already pregnant for over three months. We plan to get married in October,” Nian Junting said smilingly.
Xu Zhengxuan’s eyes popped out with anger. They had only been together for a short time, yet she already got pregnant. Hadn’t he been telling his daughter to protect herself since she was a little girl? Didn’t he tell her that she should not have sex before getting married?
‘You…’
He glared at Nian Junting. Nian Junting looked at him, seeming to be honest and frank. Xu Zhengxuan suddenly didn’t know what to say. He had been in prison after all. His daughter became someone hated by everyone. However, Nian Junting was helping her all the time. He worked on his case, found evidence, made a lot of effort. How many men could do what he had done? Even though that son-in-law of his was a little thick-skinned, as long as he loved his daughter and was nice to her…
“You’re pregnant. You should get married,” he mumbled. “Treat my daughter well…”
