Chapter 376: Sentencing
Her predecessor’s memories of Du Xiangbao were scant. All she knew was that his parents had died when he was young, and he was raised by his grandparents. After his grandparents passed away, Du Xiangbao lived by himself. He was in his late twenties, nearly thirty, yet he was unmarried and had no children.
As for the relationship between Su Shengjun and Du Xiangbao, her predecessor had been too young to know. The only thing she remembered was that two or three months after Su Shengjun’s death, Du Xiangbao had quietly left the village.
No one knew where he had gone. He never even went to Zhao Youcai for a letter of introduction, so not even Zhao Youcai had a clue as to his whereabouts.
Su Qing told Zhou Chengbing and Zou Ming everything she knew about Du Xiangbao.
Zou Ming’s brow furrowed even deeper after he heard her story. "From the sound of it, this Du Xiangbao is even more suspicious. By the way, who was the other person who came back alive?"
"It was Uncle Niu," Su Qing said. "But five years ago, he supposedly came down with a sudden illness and passed away."
"So, you’re saying the only one left from that time is Du Xiangbao, and his whereabouts are unknown?" Zhou Chengbing leaned back in his chair and said to Su Qing, "Little Su, we’ll contact the police over in Xiyuan County and have them investigate this matter thoroughly. If anything comes up, I’ll have someone notify you immediately."
"Okay. Thank you, Director Zhou," Su Qing said to Zhou Chengbing.
"If your father really was murdered, we will see that he gets justice." Zhou Chengbing had a deep-seated hatred for evil, and he also recognized Su Qing’s talent. He was determined to see this investigation through to the very end.
"Mhm." Su Qing nodded at Zhou Chengbing gratefully.
With conclusive evidence, the verdict against Xu Xianhui was quickly reached. For deliberately instigating kidnapping, as well as for making threats and engaging in intimidation, Xu Xianhui was sentenced to ten years in prison. Mr. Jing also expelled her from Beijing University, and with that, the dust had finally settled on the matter.
Not two days later, the Song family sent over the compensation payment. Song Yufang burst into Su Qing’s dorm room and cried, "Are you satisfied now? You have your money, but my family is ruined! Because of you, my two older brothers have split from my parents. My family is in this mess, and it’s all because of you!"
Song Yufang was furious. Because Father Song and Mrs. Song had insisted on taking family money to compensate Su Qing and her friends, her two older brothers decided to throw caution to the wind and demanded to split the family assets. They were their sons, after all. As much as Father Song and Mrs. Song doted on their daughter, they loved their sons too. Feeling they had truly wronged their boys this time, they agreed to the separation.
The family businesses were handed over to the two sons, and Song Yufang was left to live with her elderly parents. Per the separation agreement, her brothers would provide their parents with an annual allowance for food and living expenses.
This arrangement ensured the elderly Song couple wouldn’t have to worry about their livelihood, but Song Yufang’s situation was dire. Her brothers and their families now treated her with open contempt, and the profits from the businesses were certainly no longer hers to spend. She could no longer live the extravagant, unrestrained lifestyle she was used to.
As the saying goes, it’s easy to go from frugal to lavish, but hard to go from lavish to frugal. How could Song Yufang, so accustomed to spending extravagantly, possibly accept such a drastic change? Furious, she had stormed into Su Qing’s dorm room to vent her anger.
"Serves you right!" Liu Juan, who had a fiery temper, retorted with a cold snort. "You should have thought about this before. Why didn’t you consider the consequences when you were hurting people?"
"I didn’t do it on purpose!" Song Yufang screamed.
"But it’s a fact that you hurt someone. You can’t deny that," Su Qing said coldly. "If you’re not satisfied, fine. I can give the money back to you, and we can go to the police station instead. How about that?"
"You..." Song Yufang came to her senses at Su Qing’s words. She immediately took two steps back and blustered, "I’m telling you, Su Qing, don’t you get too complacent. A day will come when you’ll be the one crying."
With that, Song Yufang turned and fled without a backward glance.
Chen Meizhen spat in the direction she had fled. "Pah! What a coward."
"Alright, let’s not talk about that downer," Su Qing said to her roommates with a smile. "Coincidentally, tomorrow is the weekend. How about I treat you all to a meal at my courtyard house?"
"Oh, yes!"
"Oh, that’s wonderful!"
"Su Qing, I’ve heard you’re an amazing cook! I’ve been waiting for a chance to try your food."
Hearing this, all her roommates began to cheer. They started chattering excitedly with Su Qing and Li Huan about what dishes they should have for the get-together, their faces flushed with excitement.
The dejected Song Yufang heard the cheers erupting from Su Qing’s dorm. Gritting her teeth in fury, she hurried away from the women’s dormitory and ran to a stone bench near the school’s woods, where she hugged her knees and wept.
"Do you want to get revenge on Su Qing and Li Huan?" Suddenly, someone sat down beside Song Yufang and asked in a low voice.
Song Yufang jumped, startled. She turned to look at the newcomer and asked, "Who are you?"