Chapter 31: The Real Culprit!

Chapter 31: The True Culprit!

Although she had suspected it, Shen Qingye couldn't help but shudder upon hearing this.

Yue Lingchuan also frowned and asked, "What exactly went down?"

Su Yunfang brushed her hair behind her ear, looked up at them, took a deep breath, and said, "At every gathering, they would bring their girlfriends and then start swapping partners to play with."

Swapping partners...

Hearing this, Shen Qingye felt a wave of nausea.

Yue Lingchuan's face darkened as he keenly grasped the key point: "Did those girls consent?"

Su Yunfang replied, "Some consented."

Some consented, which meant others didn’t…

Shen Qingye's face hardened, already foreseeing what was coming.

"And if they refused?" Zhou Qiming asked.

"If they refused, they would force them," Su Yunfang looked at them and suddenly gave a light laugh: "You're cops, you should know more about this than me."

Everyone's faces turned grim.

"They usually trick those girls into coming under the guise of meeting friends. Once they arrive, they start making unwanted advances, offering some benefits. If the girls are compliant and willing to go along, then everyone is happy. But if they refuse…" Su Yunfang paused: "Those guys would play the part of gentlemen, apologize, and slip them spiked drinks. After that… well, they would have their way."

Upon hearing this, Shen Qingye muttered a curse and couldn't help but ask, "And what about you? Which one were you?"

"Me?" Su Yunfang smiled faintly: "At first, I was one of the unwilling ones."

Shen Qingye frowned: "Didn’t any of them try to fight back or go to the cops?"

"Going to the cops?" Su Yunfang said: "They thought about it, of course they did."

She laughed: "But officer, they had cameras set up in the private rooms."

Shen Qingye's expression changed.

Su Yunfang smiled almost helplessly: "They recorded everything from start to finish, threatening us that if we dared to disobey, these videos would be released."

"They’re well-connected and powerful in Pingjiang. Some didn’t care about their so-called reputation and went to the police, but they were all suppressed."

"They’ve got insiders at the Jiangdong District Police Department."

The interrogation room was filled with a heavy silence.

What started as a simple murder case had, as the investigation deepened, revealed a scope that was somewhat beyond their expectations.

Yue Lingchuan tapped his knuckles on the table and asked her, "Do you have any impression of the people Yuan Zhenghao usually brought?"

Su Yunfang nodded: "I have some impression, but I'm not clear on who they specifically were."

"You don't need to know who they are," Yue Lingchuan signaled to Shen Qingye and added, "See if you can identify who among these people consented and who were forced."

Shen Qingye stood up, placed the stack of photos on Su Yunfang's desk, and the other person looked down at them one by one, pulling out two photos: "I haven't seen these people, I don't know them."

Shen Qingye glanced at them: Xia Jingling and Lin Mengjiao.

"These two likely went willingly," she said, taking out the photos of Wei Xiaoxia and Liang Siqing. Given their previous encounter, Shen Qingye wasn't surprised.

Now, the remaining two...

Shen Qingye's eyes lingered on the last two photos.

One was Zheng Yudan, and the other...

was He Shuwen.

That shy, timid girl who was never a suspect.

·

"I recall that girl vividly."

"The first time she came, Master Liao and his friends harassed her. She felt something was off, cried, and demanded to leave. Young Master Yuan had to take her away, fearing a scene. But failing the first time only made them more determined. They lured her back with a fake apology."

But this time, her luck ran out.

Yue Lingchuan burst out of the interrogation room, barking orders: "Zhou, keep interrogating her. Press her for more details on those photos and videos."

"When Zhengyi and the others arrive, send them with Captain Xu to inspect last night's Nightfall Bar private room. There might be evidence left there."

"Have them seal the bar and keep it quiet."

"Get Jiang Cheng to pull some people from groups one and two and bring Geng Haonan and the others to me. Be subtle, probe them without tipping them off."

Yue Lingchuan barked out orders, and Zhou Qiming nodded in agreement. Shen Qingye hurried after him into the car.

Yue Lingchuan tossed his phone to Shen Qingye as he started the car: "Xiao Shen, call Zhengyi and check if He Shuwen and her roommate were in the dorm all morning that day."

Shen Qingye nodded and dialed. Wei Zhengyi sounded puzzled when he heard the reason for the call: "Her roommate said they slept all morning and only got up around noon because they were starving."

Shen Qingye calmly said: "The university is a ten-minute taxi ride from the hotel, and they got up around noon. He Shuwen had enough time to return to school after the crime."

Yue Lingchuan was already speeding towards the university. Shen Qingye spoke a few more words with Wei Zhengyi before hanging up.

She looked ahead, her expression serious and somewhat puzzled: "If it really happened as Su Yunfang said, and the incident occurred at the end of December, why didn't He Shuwen choose to act then, but waited until now?"

Yue Lingchuan said: "We know too little about He Shuwen. All the information we have about her comes from her teachers and classmates."

Shen Qingye murmured: "Right, what about her family..."

If there was nothing unusual at school, could something have happened at home that triggered her desire for revenge?

Both were deep in thought, and in less than twenty minutes, they arrived outside Pingjiang Normal University.

Shen Qingye had already informed the school leaders, and the counselor had gathered the girls from He Shuwen's dormitory in an empty office.

The girls looked at each other, whispering softly, not knowing what was going on. When Yue Lingchuan pushed the door open, this was the scene he saw.

The counselor stepped forward and whispered: "He Shuwen is still in the library. I've already sent someone to call her; she'll be here soon."

Shen Qingye thanked the counselor and asked the others to leave before sitting down on a chair on the other side of the office.

She noticed the girls were slightly stiff, and her expression softened as she gently comforted them: "Don't be nervous. We just need your help with an investigation."

A girl in blue was slightly calmer, pursed her lips, and asked: "Didn't the police already ask us before?"

Shen Qingye nodded. "Yes, but since the case has new developments, we need to verify the details. Don’t worry, we’ll ask the questions, and you just need to answer."

The girl in white nodded. "Go ahead and ask, we’ll do our best to cooperate."

Shen Qingye and Yue Lingchuan exchanged a glance, then Shen Qingye began. "What were all of you in the dorm doing on Sunday morning?"

"We were asleep..." The girl in white answered without hesitation. "We were all asleep that morning and didn’t wake up until around noon."

The girl in pink also nodded. "Exactly."

Shen Qingye asked again. "Are you sure? Was everyone in the dorm asleep that day, and no one went out?"

The girl in pink looked puzzled. "Well… what else could it be?"

The girl in white thought for a moment. "That day, Cui Jiayi woke up the earliest, then me, and after I got up, Lu Huiwen woke up, and Yuanyuan was the last to get up..."

Everyone was asleep...

Shen Qingye pondered. "Did you hear anything while you were asleep?"

"Noises?" The girl in pink, Hao Yuanyuan, shook her head. "I’m a heavy sleeper, and I don’t remember hearing anything..."

However, the girl in white, Lu Huiwen, said, "I think I heard some noises, but they seemed to be coming from outside. Since we didn’t have classes that day, some wanted to sleep, while others might’ve gone out early to hang out."

Shen Qingye nodded, then turned to another girl in blue, Cui Jiayi, whose lips moved as if she wanted to say something but hesitated.

Shen Qingye narrowed her eyes slightly. "Do you know anything?" She reassured gently. "It’s okay, feel free to speak up. Even if you’re wrong, we won’t blame you."

"I…" Cui Jiayi hesitated for a while, then pursed her lips and said, "That morning, I think I heard someone open the door and leave."

Hao Yuanyuan and Lu Huiwen looked surprised.

Shen Qingye's gaze sharpened, and Yue Lingchuan beside her also showed a slight reaction.

He asked. "What time was it exactly?"

Cui Jiayi said. "It was probably around six or seven in the morning…" She thought for a moment. "I usually wake up early—it’s a habit. It was just dawn, and when I woke up groggily, I heard footsteps in the room, and then the sound of the door opening. I figured someone was getting up to use the bathroom, so I didn’t think much of it, and since I had drunk the night before, my head was still heavy, so I fell back asleep."

The dorm at the Normal University doesn’t have private bathrooms; the restrooms are at the ends of each floor, so it’s normal to go out to use the bathroom.

Hao Yuanyuan and Lu Huiwen exchanged glances and asked. "Did you wake up that morning?"

Lu Huiwen shook her head. "No, I slept until it was completely light."

Hao Yuanyuan murmured. "Me too…"

Then who could it have been?

Both fell silent for a moment.

Shen Qingye lowered her eyes in thought. It’s still cold, not yet spring, and at around six in the morning, it’s just getting light, so what Cui Jiayi said is probably correct. But…

She looked at the girls. "You said you went drinking on Saturday night?"

They all nodded simultaneously.

Shen Qingye asked. "Where?"

Hao Yuanyuan said. "At a bar next to us."

Shen Qingye asked, "Do you guys often go out drinking together?"

Lu Huiwen shook her head, "No, we almost never go. That was probably the first time."

Shen Qingye frowned, "What made you decide to go drinking all of a sudden?"

The girls paused for a moment before Cui Jiayi spoke up, "Because... that Saturday, He Shuwen was feeling really down, and she suggested we go out and grab a drink."

"He Shuwen was the one who suggested it?" Shen Qingye exchanged a glance with Yue Lingchuan, "What was bothering her that day?"

Cui Jiayi seemed to catch on to something and unconsciously licked her lips, "Actually, it wasn't just that day. She had been in a funk for a while."

Lu Huiwen also nodded, "Yes, because her grandma passed away before the semester started. So ever since then, she’s been really down, and she didn’t seem to be in a good place mentally either. Yesterday, she finally seemed to cheer up a bit and suggested we go drinking. We thought it might help her blow off some steam, so we went with her..."

Shen Qingye was surprised, "Her grandma passed away?"

She asked, "Was it an accident, or...?"

Lu Huiwen shook her head, "We don’t know. She was so upset at the time, we didn’t want to push too much, so we just comforted her. But we had heard before that her grandma’s health wasn’t the best, always having minor illnesses and pains..."

Hao Yuanyuan added, "He Shuwen’s parents left her right after she was born and never cared for her, so she had to depend on her grandma. Her grandma worked hard to raise her, even in her old age, which led to her health problems."

Shen Qingye thought for a moment. The start of the semester was around mid-February, just after the New Year.

"Did she reach out to you during the break?"

The girls all shook their heads, "No."

Hao Yuanyuan, seeing her remain silent, couldn’t help but ask, "Officer, is He Shuwen in some kind of trouble?"

Shen Qingye looked up at her, and Hao Yuanyuan continued, "You need to look into this carefully, this must be a misunderstanding! He Shuwen’s such a sweet person, she’s shy and wouldn’t even raise her voice at anyone, what could she have done?"

Lu Huiwen also pleaded, "Yes, Officer, He Shuwen is usually a very gentle and easy-going girl. She never refuses to help classmates or teachers. If you don’t believe us, you can ask around. Is it possible you’ve got the wrong person?"

They didn’t know what was going on, but with the police coming repeatedly and the school leaders taking it so seriously, it must be something big.

Shen Qingye, seeing the concern on the girls' faces, paused and then said seriously, "Don’t worry, if she is truly innocent, we will definitely clear her name."

If she is innocent... but what if she isn’t?

The girls all looked worried. Seeing this, Shen Qingye changed the subject, "Are you all very close to her?"

Lu Huiwen said, "Of course, we’ve lived together for four years, it’s like we’re family."

Shen Qingye asked, "Do you know about her relationship?"

"Her relationship?" Lu Huiwen nodded, "We all know about it."

She said, "I remember, it was around October last year, she started acting strange, often smiling to herself, sometimes disappearing during holidays. We noticed something was off and asked her if she was in a relationship, and she admitted it."

Shen Qingye asked, "Do you know much about her boyfriend?"

Lu Huiwen shook her head, "We’ve hardly seen him, only know that he seems to have graduated and is working. At first, Jiayi and I were a bit worried, afraid she might meet a bad guy, especially since He Shuwen is so naive and simple. But she was so into him, we didn’t want to say much, just told her to protect herself."

"Later... around the end of December last year, He Shuwen went out with that man and came back in a strange state. It was almost finals, and she kept getting distracted while studying. We were worried and pressed her until she told us they had broken up. We were really concerned about her state then, but since it was her first love, we thought she might get over it after a while..."

As she spoke, a hint of regret appeared on her face. If they had pressed a bit more, maybe things wouldn’t have turned out like this.

Hao Yuanyuan asked, "Officer, can we know what's going on now? You just asked about her relationship... is it related to her boyfriend?"

Shen Qingye studied them for a while, then finally shook her head: "Sorry, the case is still unclear, we can't say anything."

The girls' faces fell instantly. Cui Jiayi managed a weak smile: "Can you let us know if there's any definite news later?"

Shen Qingye nodded in agreement.

Yue Lingchuan, listening in, checked his watch and frowned.

He abruptly asked: "Is it far from here to the library?"

Cui Jiayi was startled: "Not far, it's about... seven or eight minutes on foot?"

Yue Lingchuan asked: "It's been nearly twenty minutes. Why isn't He Shuwen here yet?"

Hao Yuanyuan looked puzzled: "Did the classmate who went to find her not find her?"

Lu Huiwen looked uneasy: "No, I told him the places Shuwen usually likes to stay, he should have found her quickly..."

Shen Qingye inquired: "Are you sure He Shuwen is in the library?"

Lu Huiwen grew frantic: "She, she said she was going to the library this morning!"

Shen Qingye and Yue Lingchuan shared a look, then quickly stood up and walked outside.

The counselor was still standing outside. Yue Lingchuan demanded in a low voice: "How did you instruct the person to find He Shuwen?"

The counselor hesitated: "I said the police are here and asked He Shuwen to come back to cooperate with the investigation..."

Yue Lingchuan sighed deeply and scanned the area: "Does the school have surveillance cameras?"

The counselor was equally clueless: "I, I don't know..."

At that moment, a male student rushed over from the stairs, out of breath: "Teacher, He Shuwen, she's gone!"

The counselor smacked the railing in exasperation: "What do you mean she's gone? How is she gone?"

The boy protested: "I found her in the library and was bringing her here. She was walking behind me the whole way, and she responded when I talked, so I didn't pay much attention. But when we got to the south playground, I noticed there was no movement behind me. When I turned around, she was gone!"

The counselor snapped: "What's wrong with you? How could you lose someone while looking for them?"

The boy replied defensively: "I didn't know..."

Yue Lingchuan cut them off, uninterested in their excuses: "Enough, stop talking about it. Go get your supervisor, if there are surveillance cameras, get me the footage. If not, ask the guards at the gates if they've seen her leave!"

Shen Qingye turned around and inquired: "What was He Shuwen wearing today?"

Cui Jiayi thought for a moment and confidently replied: "Gray pants, a white short jacket."

The counselor nodded eagerly. Yue Lingchuan pulled out his phone and dialed the traffic department, cutting to the chase: "Old Hua, help me check if there are any surveillance cameras on the main road outside the Normal University. If there are, pay attention to see if a girl wearing gray pants and a white short jacket left the school between 9:35 and 9:47 this morning. Try to be quick!"

As he spoke, the counselor had already finished his call and came over. Despite the chill, he was drenched in sweat: "Officer, I just asked, there really are no surveillance cameras in the school. I've also had someone contact the security guards, they're asking around now..."

Yue Lingchuan's expression was grim.

Now they had no idea where He Shuwen had gone, and there was nothing they could do but wait here.

The girls looked on nervously, not understanding how things had come to this, nor why the usually gentle and sensible Shuwen would suddenly run away.

Time passed minute by minute, and Old Hua called first:

"Yue, I checked for you, there's no surveillance at the entrance of the Normal University. However, during the time frame you mentioned, I found a taxi coming from the direction of the Normal University in the surveillance footage at the nearby main road intersection. Not sure if it helps?"

Yue Lingchuan hurriedly said, "It's useful! Track that car for me, see if you can trace its trajectory and where it eventually stops."

Hua replied, "It could be tough, but I'll try my best."

Right after this call, the advisor received another call. He said 'okay' a few times before stating, "Officer, the north gate guard just spotted a girl wearing gray pants and a white short coat. She left the school gate and got into a taxi."

She left?

Shen Qingye frowned deeply. Where could she—He Shuwen—be heading?

Is she going home, or is she on the run?

Yue Lingchuan's phone rang again. Hua reported, "I tracked the car, but it vanished on Jiangbei Avenue."

Yue Lingchuan asked, "Jiangbei Avenue? Which way was it going?"

Hua replied, "It was likely heading toward Shangyang District."

Yue Lingchuan hesitated, and Shen Qingye also frowned deeply.

Shangyang District? But the bus and train stations aren’t there.

Wait—Shangyang District?

Shen Qingye suddenly thought of something and abruptly looked up, "The Yuan family’s company?!"

·

In the car, Shen Qingye hung up and spoke quickly, "If our guess is right, her grandmother’s death pushed her to seek revenge through murder, then why didn't she act immediately but chose to do it at the wedding?"

Yue Lingchuan, with a cold and stern expression, stared ahead, "She wants to cause a spectacle."

"That’s the only explanation I can come up with. She wants to cause a spectacle, to expose Yuan Zhenghao for who he really is, to seek justice for herself."

"Initially, when the incident occurred, He Shuwen may have considered fighting back, or she might have chosen to endure. But something happened, and her grandmother, who she depended on, passed away because of this. He Shuwen no longer had anyone she cared about, and she ended up committing this crime."

"Including those seven roses, perhaps it's not as we initially guessed, that it was revenge by seven women, but rather seven men who bullied her."

Yue Lingchuan suddenly thought of something, "When we interrogated Liao Hongyuan and the others at the hotel, the name He Shuwen was mentioned far less frequently than Zheng Yudan and the others."

Shen Qingye was startled, "You mean, they were deliberately hiding it?"

"Or maybe they were guilty." Yue Lingchuan stared ahead and continued, "They must have had some conflict."

Yue Lingchuan didn't overlook that Su Yunfang said Zheng Yudan was also one of the victims.

They could say Zheng Yudan's name without hesitation, were they sure Zheng Yudan wouldn't speak out? Then why were they so secretive about He Shuwen?

The car sped towards Shangyang District. Fifteen minutes later, Shen Qingye received a call from Wei Zhengyi and the others first:

"Boss, you guessed right, He Shuwen is indeed on the rooftop of the Yuan family's company, wanting to jump!"

Yue Lingchuan lowered his eyebrows, "What's the situation now?"

Wei Zhengyi's voice was slightly heavy, "We're trying to persuade her, but it's not very effective. He Shuwen is determined and won't listen to anyone."

Yue Lingchuan asked again, "What's the surrounding situation? Are there many onlookers?"

Wei Zhengyi's voice was filled with bitterness: "It's a workday, all the employees are at work, and suddenly this happens, everyone is gawking at the scene."

Yue Lingchuan said solemnly: "Call in officers from the nearby police station, control everyone, lock down the area until we sort this out, and do not allow anyone to leave! Make sure no one calls or texts to spread the word, we'll be there soon!"

Wei Zhengyi agreed, and Yue Lingchuan hung up the phone, hitting the gas again.

When the car arrived at the Yuan building, police cars and fire trucks were all over the place, and the rescue air cushion below was set up. Yue Lingchuan gave a quick look and bolted into the building.

The Yuan company had twelve floors. They bolted to the rooftop, which was packed with cops and firefighters. Wei Zhengyi and Zhou Qiming were standing at the front, and at the edge of the rooftop, a thin girl was standing outside the railing, facing everyone, with half her foot hanging off the edge!

Shen Qingye's eyes widened, and she and Yue Lingchuan shoved their way to the front.

Wei Zhengyi tentatively reached out, patiently persuading: "He Shuwen, come down first, let's talk things through, calm down a bit, come down, okay?"

The girl who had been anxious and reserved in the interrogation room now wore a blank, numb expression, and she shook her head coldly: "There's nothing to talk about, I have nothing to say to you..."

Yue Lingchuan stood beside Wei Zhengyi, softening his tone: "We understand what you've been through, and we sympathize with your suffering. Murder is definitely wrong, but if you're willing to testify against Yuan Zhenghao and the others, you might get a lighter sentence. Come down first, and we'll talk it over, okay?"

He Shuwen slowly turned her gaze to him, and after a pause, she suddenly laughed:

"You think you know what I've been through? What could you possibly know?"

Tears as big as beans fell from the girl's face, wetting the dry ground, stirring up dust in the air. Her words were filled with pain, each sentence a cry of blood: "Do you know that my boyfriend drugged me, and he watched as I was gang-raped?

"Do you know that I wanted to die afterwards, but they pressed me to the ground and humiliated me, saying that a dead person brings bad luck?

"Do you know that I wanted to report it to the police, but they threatened me with those videos, telling me that if I dared to report it, they would show the videos to everyone?"

He Shuwen lifted her chin, trying desperately to hold back her tears, but they only flowed more fiercely: "What did I do wrong?"

She wiped her face fiercely, her voice choked with sobs: "What did I do wrong!"

Shen Qingye's heart ached, and she licked her dry lips, tentatively stepping forward: "I understand, really, I'm a girl too, I understand.

"But if you die like this, will you be satisfied? Come down now, even if you spend a few years or more than a decade in prison, you'll only be in your thirties when you get out, you're still in your prime, you still have a lot of life ahead of you. Is it worth giving up your life for that scum?"

He Shuwen burst into tears: "What's the point of me living?"

She sobbed uncontrollably: "My grandmother is dead, what's the point of me living?"

Her expression crumbled: "I didn't want to take revenge, I really didn't want to take revenge. I wanted to leave this city after graduation, find a job outside, be a teacher, take good care of my grandmother, let her enjoy some peace... she's suffered all her life, she's suffered all her life... but why? Why can't even such a small wish be fulfilled?"

She looked at Shen Qingye, her lips trembling, her hand covering her abdomen: "I'm pregnant..."

Her lips quivered, her palm resting on her belly: "I'm pregnant, but I don't even know who the father is..."

Shen Qingye's eyes widened in an instant, and Yue Lingchuan and the others were also stunned, understanding everything in a flash.

Mrs. Yuan, who had just arrived, almost fainted upon hearing this, and Mr. Yuan supported his wife, his gaze falling on the girl, a strange light flickering in the depths of his eyes.

Perhaps thinking of impending death, or perhaps those things had been weighing on her heart, making it hard for her to breathe, He Shuwen no longer held back, pouring out her heart with tears:

"I wanted to secretly abort this child, but I don't know how the neighbors found out, they told my grandmother..."

He Shuwen would never forget the day she returned home, the neighbors pointing and staring, and her grandmother's trembling, disbelieving expression.

"Her health was already poor, and she was so angry she ended up in the hospital... I wanted to treat her, but I had no money, I borrowed from everyone I could, but it still wasn't enough, it still wasn't enough! I could only go to Yuan Zhenghao, I begged him to lend me some money, I begged him to save my grandmother, and I promised to pay him back when I had money..."

He Shuwen covered her face, tears streaming down her fingers: "He made me accompany him, he made me spend the night with him..."

On one side was her grandmother's life, on the other was the man she hated with every fiber of her being.

"I agreed...

"The next morning, he gave me five hundred yuan." He Shuwen's body trembled as she laughed: "He gave me five hundred yuan!"

Her eyes burned with intense hatred: "He said he didn't need that much to find women outside, and that he gave me so much because I was a college student!"

What could five hundred yuan possibly do? It was her two months' living expenses, an amount she had never dared to imagine before. But five hundred yuan couldn't save her grandmother's life.

"I could only stand by and watch my grandmother die, I couldn't do anything, I killed her, I killed her..."

Mrs. Yuan, who was standing nearby, screamed in fury: "So you killed my son, you killed my son in such a cruel way?"

He Shuwen slowly raised her head, looking at Mrs. Yuan not far away, and a slow smile crept across her lips: "Was it any crueler than what he did to me?"

She laughed, tears streaming down her face: "That beast deserved to die, what right did he have to live?"

"I initially thought about cutting off that piece of his flesh and feeding it to the dogs, but then I thought, how innocent are the dogs? Even dogs are purer than him, I was afraid that if the dogs ate his flesh, they would be cursed in their next life! So, I made him eat it himself!

"Wasn't he so proud of that part of himself? He should be happy with what I did, right?"

Mrs. Yuan was furious: "You bitch! You'll die a horrible death!"

He Shuwen shouted: "I know I'll die a horrible death, today I will jump from your company building, and even after I die, I won't let you go! I'll haunt you, you beasts!"

Seeing Mrs. Yuan's furious expression, she sneered: "And who are you performing for? In the end, isn't Yuan Zhenghao's death partly your fault?"

Mrs. Yuan's eyes widened, her chest heaving violently: "What are you babbling about?"

He Shuwen sneered: "Mrs. Yuan, you must've forgotten, how I begged to see you at the Yuan building, only to be ruthlessly thrown out by the guards!

"What did you say then? Oh, you didn't say a word, you just had your secretary tell me that your son had many women outside, and not to think that sleeping with him would get me into the Yuan family!"

Mrs. Yuan suddenly remembered something, her face instantly pale. He Shuwen laughed: "Actually, I just wanted to ask you for a loan, I just wanted to save my grandmother, I thought once this was over, we would have no more ties...

"But you, you destroyed all my hopes."

Mrs. Yuan slumped back weakly, unable to imagine that her son's death was partly her fault? If she had met her then, would there have been a different outcome?

She shook her head repeatedly, her voice hoarse from screaming: "No, no, it's you, you killed my son, it's you!"

Mr. Yuan held his wife tightly in his arms, controlling her movements, and looked at the girl in front of him, saying in a deep voice: "I'm sorry for what my son did. I also regret that I was too busy with work and didn't discipline him properly, leading him to make such a mistake."

He Shuwen looked at him coldly, without emotion.

Mr. Yuan continued: "Your grandmother has passed away, I understand your grief. But now my son is gone too, can we consider it a life for a life?"

He Shuwen sneered: "How can you compare a beast to my grandmother?"

Shen Qingye, standing nearby, couldn't help but frown, not understanding what he was trying to achieve with these words.

Mr. Yuan's eyes darkened, but he didn't get angry, instead patiently said: "Alright, you can say whatever you want. But you are still young, with a bright future ahead, are you willing to die like this?"

He Shuwen said: "What are you trying to say?"

Mr. Yuan's true intentions were finally revealed: "As Zhenghao's father, I can write a letter of forgiveness, and the court should be lenient in sentencing your actions—provided that you agree to a paternity test to confirm that the child in your belly is Zhenghao's."