thefictionvixens Does Chapter 8 even things out?
Does Chapter 8 even things out?
"He agrees with the other person's statement? Does that mean I'm going to be sentenced?"
Although Liu Xi brazenly claimed that none of this was his fault, he knew perfectly well why Zuo Chujing had drunk pesticide that day. The two had been trying to conceive for a long time without success. He didn't think it was his fault; instead, he increasingly suspected that her infertility stemmed from uncleanliness or a miscarriage. He'd seen it on Douyin (TikTok), saying that women who had multiple abortions were infertile. The day before, when she started her period, he'd remarked that she was worse than the village dog.
Oh, a stray dog came to the east end of the village last year, and every time it went into heat, it became the target of all the male dogs in the village. Liu Xi couldn't stand it either, but then again, the dog and the dog had puppies.
Zuo Chujing's eyes reddened after hearing this, and she went to the hospital the next day, saying she wanted to get an ultrasound report to prove it to him.
What are you proving?
These days, what can't be changed?
But you're just getting an ultrasound, and you're back around 10 PM? All that nonsense about not being able to get a taxi or not wanting to spend money on a taxi—you're probably out gallivanting somewhere again. He said a few words to her and then locked her out.
Is that all? Is it worth committing suicide?
He was speechless; his mother opened the door for him.
After hearing that her mother was going to sue, he didn't just sit idly by. Those TikTok posts said that to win a case, you either need to bribe the judge or hire a top-notch lawyer. The judge? Forget bribes, you can't even reach him by phone. The court clerk acts all high and mighty, not answering the phone. The expensive lawyer he hired seems unreliable too. Now, the judge is satisfied with the other side—how can he accept this? He doesn't want to go to jail.
He started shaking his leg.
"Say something! What are you going to say later?"
"Don't rush," Zhang Qian said. "We still have a chance to speak."
He became even more anxious: "What are you going to say? Just that you didn't get a marriage certificate? That's too weak."
"This is a legally established fact, more important than her entire collection."
"Come on, isn't what she said the truth?"
Zhang Qian: Did we not communicate enough with him before the trial? The legal facts he mentioned are not the same as the facts he's talking about. But before he could say anything more, Liu Xi couldn't hold back anymore: "Chu Jing, when have I ever been willing to hit you? Tell the judge, do you really want to see me go to jail? Can you bear to do that? Can't we just drop the charges? I promise I'll live a good life with you when we get back."
Zuo Chujing looked over.
He squeezed out two tears, and Zuo Chujing's tears instantly flowed down her cheeks. She opened her mouth to speak. Yu Xingge quickly grabbed the paper that had just been written on the table and shoved it in front of her eyes. Zuo Chujing saw the two lines of writing clearly through her teary eyes and couldn't help but glare angrily at Yu Xingge.
Yu Xingge smiled, revealing two harmless little tiger teeth.
She shut her mouth in frustration.
Liu Xi slammed her hand on the table: "What did you show her, you bitch? Did you threaten her?"
"Silence!" The presiding judge struck the gavel. "The defendant is to present his arguments as required."
"Chu Jing, tell me, did she threaten you?"
"Zuo Chujing! You can still talk, can't you? You were talking just a couple of days ago, why have you stopped? Hurry up, say you're withdrawing the case." Liu Xi asked the presiding judge, "Can I withdraw the case now?"
He leaned forward, pointing at the person opposite him with his right hand: "Zuo Chujing, let me tell you, don't push me to my limit. What do you mean by abuse? Have I ever hit you? If you keep this up, believe me, I really will hit you right now!"
The presiding judge knocked three times: "Defendant, please control your emotions."
Liu Xi ignored her and continued his verbal attack on Zuo Chujing: "Everyone in the village knows you hosted a banquet for me. Since you're one of my people, you can't do whatever I tell you to do. What's wrong with scolding you a bit? I didn't hit you, so why are you being so dramatic? And you're even going to sue me? I'm already being lenient by not blaming you for being despicable!"
"Defendant's lawyer!" "Please help your client control his emotions."
Zhang Qian was exasperated. "You can't even persuade me to go?"
Listen to this, they're starting to expose themselves.
Zuo Chujing and the other two were repeatedly berated but remained unresponsive. Oh. Zuo Chujing did react; her expression quickly shifted from initial emotion to astonishment, and then, without Yu Xingge's further threats, she shut her mouth. Liu Xi lost his last shred of reason and began verbally attacking the presiding judge. Seeing the judge's face turn as black as a pot, Liu Xi's mother, Fang Qing, couldn't hold back any longer and rushed over from the audience to slap him, finally silencing him.
The presiding judge swallowed his intention to adjourn the court and instead asked Fang Qing to leave on charges of disrupting court order.
Things went much more smoothly after that. When it was over, Yu Xingge pressed her hand down, letting out a long sigh of relief.
Gu Ping led Zuo Chujing ahead, while Liu Xi and his mother Fang Qing chased after them, cursing, "A jinx begets a jinx! What did our family owe you in our past lives? You're determined to kill my son, aren't you? Let me tell you, if my son goes to jail, you won't have an easy time either. I'll go to your yard and throw manure every day!" Gu Ping stopped, and before she could speak, Zuo Chujing darted forward and charged, shouting, "You dare! You dare try bullying my mother?"
Liu Xi: "Try pointing at my mother again!"
Zuo Chujing shuddered involuntarily, her imposing aura instantly weakening.
"You dare to try?" Gu Ping squeezed through the crowd. "The verdict hasn't been handed down yet, so this is a good opportunity for the judge to see what kind of person you are."
Liu Xi's momentum weakened, but he was still not satisfied: "Zuo Chujing, what have I done to you that you treat me like this? Tell me honestly, have I ever laid a finger on you? You're going to sue me? You're not even a virgin, so who's really wronged whom here?"
"Enough!" Despite the sweltering heat, Zuo Chujing trembled. "Virgin, virgin! If you're a virgin, you treat me well. If you're not, you'll curse me for the rest of my life, and I deserve to be ashamed of myself forever. Do you value a person or just that broken hymen?!"
"Of course..." Liu Xi hesitated. Then, after a moment's thought, he said smugly, "See, you admitted yourself that you're not a virgin, so I didn't wrong you."
Zuo Chujing calmed down. Yes. This was the person she had liked for ten years.
Zhou Yuxuan and Yu Xingge stood in the corner and whispered, "You're quite lucky. In your first court hearing, you encountered a mentally challenged defendant. Otherwise, it's hard to say whether you could have charged him with abuse based solely on his insults and passive-aggressive behavior."
"So, can we say now that there's a greater than 50% chance of us winning the case?"
Zhou Yuxuan nodded and then shook her head: "It's more than 50%, I estimate there's an 80% chance." Seeing Gu Ping and Zuo Chujing preparing to come this way, she quickly whispered: "Even if there's a 99% probability, you can't guarantee it to the family."
Gu Ping brought Zuo Chujing over to greet them: "Attorney Zhou, Xiao Ge, the court hearing is over, is everything alright?"
Yu Xingge nodded: "Take Chu Jing back and wait for news. The verdict will be mailed to you, and I will let you know as soon as possible."
Gu Ping's forehead wrinkles smoothed out: "We didn't do anything, and it's just over like this? It feels so unreal. It's all thanks to Xiao Ge." She took Yu Xingge's hand: "Thank you so much, I really don't know how to express my gratitude. How about we have a meal together? I think this area is quite bustling, let's find a place to treat Lawyer Zhou and Xiao Ge to a meal."
"No, Professor Gu," Yu Xingge declined with a smile, "I see there are still so many witnesses waiting to be arranged over there. Please don't bother with us, go and get busy."
"What are you thanking me for? Mom, come back with me now!" Zuo Chujing grabbed Gu Ping, causing her to stumble, and turned to leave. A moment later, she came running back and stopped in front of Yu Xingge, saying fiercely, "An eye for an eye, we're even!"
Does it even things out?
The smile on Yu Xingge's face vanished, and she stared intently at the other person.
"Gurgle, gurgle." Her stomach protested angrily after two repetitions of the empty city strategy. Clinging to her new clothes, mosquitoes buzzed around her, and an itch seeped into her heart and spread to every limb. Yu Xingge squatted under the kitchen window, pressing her empty stomach. Perhaps the clothes were so tattered that Teacher Gu had bought her this cardigan a few days ago. When Zuo Chujing found out, she cried and screamed to no avail, and in anger, she and her little follower stole Yu Xingge's food for two consecutive days.
"Dad, I'll keep these leftover steamed buns in this freezer, but what about these leftover dishes?"
"Nonsense! Of course I'll take her back; your mother hasn't eaten yet at home."
Lin Jiafu, the cook at the welfare home, is getting old, so he took his son, Lin Sheng, who dropped out of high school, with him to teach him how to take over. Yu Xingge noticed that they would finish processing the leftovers every evening at 7 pm and then go back to the village to rest. In the summer heat, Lin Jiafu couldn't be exposed to drafts because he had been shot in the shoulder years ago, so the kitchen windows were always open for ventilation.
She waited a while longer. When she heard no more sound, Yu Xingge stood up, ignoring rubbing her legs, and rushed inside to the freezer. The steamed buns that had just been put in weren't cold yet, so she picked them up and started eating.
The hunger in her stomach and the aroma of wheat made her lose her guard, and when Zuo Chujing pushed the door open, she didn't even have time to put down the steamed bun.
"Master Lin, my mom asked me to come..."
She saw Yu Xingge squatting in front of the freezer.
"Great!" Zuo Chujing exclaimed excitedly, "You actually came to steal things! I was wondering why I hadn't seen you for so long."
Yu Xingge clenched his fingers into the steamed bun, remaining silent.
Zuo Chujing crossed her arms: "If you kneel down and beg me now, I won't call anyone to catch you in the act. Do you know the rules of the orphanage, what the consequences are for stealing?"
"It's because you threw away all my food from the past few days that I..."
"Hmph!" Zuo Chujing sneered. "So what? Did I ask you to steal? Guess what my mom would do if she found out you stole something?"
"Not so great," Yu Xingge said, feigning indifference. "You know I don't have parents."
Zuo Chujing hesitated for a moment, "Yeah, you have a father but no mother to raise you, that's why you steal!" Her eyes rolled around twice, "No way, your parents are gone, your grandfather is gone too. Now your aunt has kicked you out of the house. If I tell the orphanage you stole, they might kick you out too! Then, I wonder where you'll live." She held her head high.
Yu Xingge's expression changed.