Chapter 622 - 652: I’ll Turn Myself In
Chapter 622: Chapter 652: I’ll Turn Myself In
This time, Qin Tao was silent for even longer.
He remembered how his father’s neck was about to be stomped on, yet he was still muttering, "You can’t have the money. I have to save it for my Xiao Tao to get married..."
Xiao Tao lifted his head, looked at Qin Jiao, and said earnestly, "I’ll go turn myself in."
**
Since Qin Tao had turned himself in and described the sequence of events, the police were able to contact their counterparts where the incident occurred and verify the facts of the case.
Meanwhile, a comparison of Feng Lan’s and Qin Jiqun’s testimonies showed that both of them were clearly fabricating their stories.
They both claimed Qin Jiqun was the killer, but their descriptions of the event didn’t match.
Ultimately, the investigation concluded that Qin Tao’s account was a perfect reconstruction of what had actually happened.
True to her word, Qin Jiao found a former classmate who was now a lawyer to represent Xiao Tao. The defense argued that Xiao Tao had not been the aggressor and had acted in justifiable defense to save Qin Jiqun. In the end, he was convicted of manslaughter.
He was sentenced to ten years of reform at a juvenile detention center.
When Feng Lan heard the verdict, she fainted on the spot, while Qin Jiqun fell to his knees, weeping.
It could be said that Qin Jiqun and Feng Lan were largely responsible for Xiao Tao ending up in this situation. Of course, the way Mr. Qin and Old Mrs. Qin had spoiled him also played a part.
There is a great deal of truth to the old saying: to spoil a child is to kill them.
Feng Lan wanted to get back together with Qin Jiqun, but he refused. He only said, "Just go. I’ll wait here for the day Xiao Tao is released."
The incident had hit Feng Lan hard as well. In a way, if she hadn’t gotten involved with Wang Dagang, Xiao Tao would never have ended up in prison.
In the end, she gritted her teeth, turned, and walked away.
Qin Jiqun didn’t concern himself with where she went. Perhaps the marital bond between them had been completely eroded.
Qin Jiqun found a temporary job doing manual labor at a construction site in North City. He had always been lazy and averse to hard work, with no real skills to speak of. Although he wasn’t very strong, the job was simple enough—just moving bricks and materials—so it wasn’t too difficult.
He didn’t plan on going anywhere else. This place was the closest to the juvenile detention center, which meant he could visit Xiao Tao periodically.
Xiao Shi brought some books to Qin Jiqun. "Uncle, please give these to Xiao Tao. He’s already missed so much school and can barely read as it is. If he can take his rehabilitation seriously and study hard in there, he won’t be completely left behind by society when he gets out."
Qin Jiqun’s eyes instantly reddened. He choked out, "Xiao Shi, I... I treated you so poorly before. I’m so sorry. And please, don’t be angry about what happened the other day, with Xiao Tao pointing that knife at you. He wouldn’t have hurt you, really."
Xiao Shi nodded earnestly. "I know," she said. "Besides, he couldn’t have hurt me."
Qin Jiqun looked at Xiao Shi, then at Qin Jiao, who had helped him so much through all of this. He fell silent.
’How he used to look down on his second brother,’ he thought. ’Just for having two girls. Daughters are like spilled water; once they marry, they’re gone. What use are they? They can’t even be there to care for you in your old age or see you to your grave.’
’But look at them now. Each one is more successful than the last.’
’Never mind that girl Qin Jiao, who’s opening one company after another. And Xiao Shi... she’s only a year older than Xiao Tao and even started school late, but just look at her now...’
Qin Jiqun lowered his head in shame. He had been wrong about so many things.
When Old Mrs. Qin saw her youngest son coming home from moving bricks, covered in dust and grime, her heart ached for him.
She didn’t dare approach Qin Jiao directly, so instead, she went to her second son, Qin Zhonghui. "Zhong Hui," she said, "aren’t you and the others opening a restaurant? Why don’t you have your third brother go work there instead? Moving bricks and sand... it’s such exhausting work."