Chapter 373: Do You Know How Your Father Died?
Chapter 373: Chapter 373: Do You Know How Your Father Died?
"I don’t know," Liu Juan said, shaking her head. "All I know is that tons of people saw Xu Xianhui get taken away by the police, so that part can’t be fake. As for the exact reason, nobody has a straight answer."
"The police came straight to the university to arrest her? That can’t be anything minor." A nearby classmate who was also discussing the matter asked Liu Juan, "Did you manage to dig up anything else?"
"Nope, that’s all I’ve got," Liu Juan said with a shake of her head. "The police went straight to Xu Xianhui’s academic advisor’s office, so he’s probably the only one who knows the real reason."
"Ugh, that Mr. Chen is super tight-lipped. He’d never say anything."
"Yeah, seriously. I’m dying to know what on earth Xu Xianhui did."
...
Rumors about Xu Xianhui’s arrest swirled all over Beijing University, but no one knew the specific reason. The students who had lent her money had already clarified that she had paid them back and that they hadn’t reported her to the police.
But it wasn’t long before Su Qing found out why. Just two days later, Li Fenghuo came to the university to see her.
"Big Uncle, are you saying... Xu Xianhui was arrested on suspicion of plotting to kidnap me? And now she wants to see me?" Su Qing was stunned. She never would have imagined that last week’s kidnapping attempt had anything to do with Xu Xianhui, let alone that Xu Xianhui was the one who came up with the idea. ’Tsk, what kind of grudge is this? It’s not like we ever had any real interactions. Why does she hate me so much?’
Xu Xianhui wanted to see Su Qing. The Li family didn’t want the students at Beijing University connecting Su Qing to Xu Xianhui’s case, and they certainly didn’t want the police coming to the university to question her and stir up misunderstandings. That was why Li Fenghuo had come to tell her about it in person. He nodded. "That’s right. Xu Xianhui said she wants to see you, so I came to get your thoughts on it. Do you want to meet her? If you don’t, then you don’t have to. This is a very serious matter. These people are facing a severe sentence, so you don’t need to get involved at all."
"Why would you want to see a woman like that?" Li Huan had come along with Li Fenghuo to see Su Qing, and now she spoke up, filled with righteous anger. "That Xu Xianhui is completely shameless, coming up with something so vicious! How did Qingqing ever get in her way? She was trying to completely ruin her."
Recalling the terror of that day, Li Huan’s anger flared. Her face flushed red as she grabbed Su Qing’s arm. "Qingqing, let’s just ignore her. She’s definitely plotting something."
"I’ll go see her," Su Qing said after a moment’s thought. "I’m curious to find out what she wants from me."
"It’s definitely nothing good," Li Huan huffed. "She probably just wants to beg you to let her off and not press charges."
Seeing that Su Qing had agreed, Li Fenghuo said, "Alright. I’ll let the police bureau know. You can just go straight to the station. The case is a major one, so the entire group is being held at the Beijing Public Security Bureau headquarters."
Su Qing raised an eyebrow. ’Oh, that’s the bureau where I have a nominal post. I haven’t even visited once since I got it.’
"Okay, I understand, Big Uncle. I’ll go take a look tomorrow," Su Qing nodded.
"Qingqing, I’ll go with you," Li Huan said quickly. "If that woman makes some ridiculous demand, I’ll be there to curse her out for you."
"There’s no need. Don’t worry," Su Qing said with a smile. "Just stay here at the university and focus on your classes. It’s not like Xu Xianhui is some kind of monster who’s going to eat me alive, right?"
"Okay, fine. But if she really asks for something, or begs you, you absolutely cannot agree to anything. She did something that vicious, she deserves to be punished," Li Huan urged, still worried.
"Okay, I know. Don’t worry."
The following afternoon, Su Qing saw Xu Xianhui in an interview room at the Beijing Public Security Bureau headquarters. After just two or three days, Xu Xianhui looked significantly more haggard. Her hair was a frizzy mess, there were dark circles under her eyes, her complexion was sallow, and her clothes were wrinkled, clearly unchanged for days. The woman looked utterly listless.
The moment she saw Su Qing enter the interview room, Xu Xianhui became visibly agitated. She shot to her feet and tried to lunge toward her. "Su Qing! You’re finally here!"
"Don’t move." The female officer guarding Xu Xianhui immediately restrained her, barking, "Sit down."
Xu Xianhui pressed her lips together and sat back down, resentful but obedient. She still stared at Su Qing with a desperate eagerness, a glimmer of light appearing in her otherwise vacant eyes, as if she had just spotted a ray of hope.
Su Qing watched Xu Xianhui with a completely neutral expression. She calmly took the seat across from her and said, "I hear you wanted to see me."
"Yes, I needed to see you," Xu Xianhui said frantically. "Su Qing, I... I know I did something wrong. I know it was my fault, and I shouldn’t have done it. For the sake of us coming from the same hometown, can you please spare me this one time? Can you please go tell the police that you won’t press charges? Look... you didn’t even get hurt, right?"
Xu Xianhui stared at Su Qing’s beautiful face, and jealousy coiled around her heart like a thorny vine. ’On what grounds? We both came from the same village, so why does Su Qing get to be so beautiful, have a family that adores her, and have more money than she can spend? And what about me? Not only am I ignored at home, but I’m drowning in debt, I’ve lost my innocence, and now I’ve ended up in a place like this.’
’It’s not fair. Why is the world so unfair? All I wanted was to live a slightly better life. Why is that so hard?’
But no matter how jealous she was, Xu Xianhui knew she was at Su Qing’s mercy, so she could only speak in a low, subservient tone.
Su Qing let out a cold laugh. "Xu Xianhui, what makes you think I should let you go? Are you not aware of what you’ve done? You have the nerve to ask me not to press charges? Let me tell you something. Not only am I going to press charges, I’m going to make sure you rot in prison for the rest of your life."
"No, you can’t!" Xu Xianhui cried out. "Su Qing, you can’t ruin me! I was supposed to have a bright future ahead of me!"
"You ruined yourself. Don’t you understand that yet?" Su Qing said coldly. "If the only reason you wanted to see me today was to beg me to let you go, then let me make this crystal clear: impossible. Just wait to face the consequences of the law."
With that said, Su Qing turned to leave.
"Su Qing, do you know how your father died?" Seeing that Su Qing was about to walk out, Xu Xianhui blurted out in desperation.
Su Qing, who had been on her way out, froze. Her brow furrowed as she turned back to Xu Xianhui. "What did you say?"