Many people began cursing Xie Qingsong:
“Seeing how calm he was before, I thought his dad had died and he’d finally grown a spine. Turns out he was just putting on an act! He acted so hard he screwed himself!”
It wouldn’t have mattered if he were just posturing, but plenty of capitalists in the business circle believed he had a way out, some kind of backup plan. They were even thinking of begging Xie Qingsong for help when the time came.
Who would’ve thought this idiot would bluff himself straight into disaster!
Still, Xie Qingsong was a member of the Xie family after all, and he did have a bit of backbone. People heard that he and his wife absolutely refused to reveal where the money was hidden.
That much was impressive.
But once you entered the Revolutionary Committee, things didn’t go well.
They didn’t interrogate you politely there. Even if they didn’t beat you outright, they had countless ways to torment people.
“Flying the little airplane,” “boiling the eagle” those were just the basics.
“Flying the little airplane” meant holding your hands behind your back, squatting halfway, bending forward, and running nonstop.
“Boiling the eagle” meant depriving you of sleep until you broke.
Days passed, and the two of them still refused to talk.
People cursed them, but also grudgingly called them tough.
Only the people suffering knew whether they were really tough or not.
“Ahhh! I want to die! Let me die! Let me die!! I don’t want to fly the little airplane anymore! Aoooo!”
Xie Qingsong and Wu Fengrao screamed hysterically. They were on the verge of being tortured to pieces.
To hell with being tough!! They really didn’t know anything!!
“We really don’t know! All the money was taken by that damn girl Xie Silin! If we had it, would we have run with just this little bit on us?!”
Xie Qingsong broke down crying.
When Old Master Xie was still alive, even though he was strict, he’d never abused him like this!
This place treated him worse than an enemy country!
Who could endure this?!
Xie Silin, on the other hand, kept her mouth shut. She was still fantasizing that once the bracelet activated its space, she’d be able to turn things around.
Wang Dechang was getting anxious.
On his turf, right under his nose, two major capitalist families had fled with their money in succession and the key point was that all the assets had vanished!
If higher authorities investigated, anyone who didn’t know better might think he’d pocketed everything himself!
Sure, he’d taken bribes before but there was no way he could swallow both the Pei and Xie families’ fortunes in one go! He was terrified that if those two kept their mouths shut, investigators would dig into his past dealings.
After much deliberation, Wang Dechang summoned Xie Li.
“Comrade Xie, your previous performance was outstanding. Now the organization has encountered some difficulties. Are you willing to lend a helping hand?”
Wang Dechang’s official tone was smooth and practiced.
Xie Li snapped to attention and replied loudly:
“When the organization has difficulties, I have difficulties! Secretary Wang, please give instructions I will do my utmost!”
As she said this, she took out her introduction letter and marriage approval.
“Secretary Wang, I’ll be leaving Shanghai in a few days to join the army. Before I go, I have a small request and hope you can help…”
Wang Dechang glanced at the address on the marriage document and sighed:
“No wonder your ideological awareness is so high you’re a military wife! Good, Comrade Xie. We’re all one family here. Say what you need; if the organization can help, we certainly will.”
His words were watertight. Xie Li grinned.
“I’d like to ask Secretary Wang to help publish a notice in the newspaper. I want to formally sever ties with the Xie family.”
In this era, cutting ties with capitalists and ‘stinking intellectuals’ was considered politically exemplary, so naturally it was approved.
Wang Dechang waved his hand grandly.
“No problem! Leave it to me!”
He’d just done her a favor.
Xie Li immediately returned it.
“Secretary Wang, whatever you needed just now leave it to me as well!”
Wang Dechang blinked.
Why did it feel like he’d been outmaneuvered? He’d summoned her to ask for help so how had he ended up agreeing to her request first?
Looking into Xie Li’s bright, almond-shaped eyes, Wang Dechang suddenly felt a chill down his back, as if a cold breeze were blowing against his spine…
Terrifying. Unsettling. Just who exactly was this Xie Li?
“Oh? Secretary Wang, why is your jacket torn?”
Xie Li pointed at his back.
There was a big rip.
“Hahaha! So that’s what it was! Hahaha!”
He reached back to touch it his clothes were torn. No wonder his back felt cold.
Wang Dechang waved dismissively.
“Don’t mind the details. Let’s get back to business! The Xie family members are too stubborn they refuse to say where the money is hidden. You know how high-profile the Xie family is. I can’t afford any mistakes…”
He clasped his hands behind his back and adopted an official tone again.
“Comrade Xie, I’ll leave this matter to you.”
Xie Li understood immediately Wang Dechang wanted to locate the Xie family’s assets so he could claim credit with his superiors.
This old fox wasn’t a good person. The Xu family from the Chamber of Commerce was close to him, and he’d deliberately let them slip away days earlier clearly, he’d received plenty of benefits.
Xie Li nodded confidently.
“Don’t worry, Secretary Wang! Leave it to me!”
Leave it to me to ruin.
The next day, the notice severing Xie Li’s ties with the Xie family was published on the front page of the newspaper. Xie Li was then escorted by Red Armbands to see Xie Qingsong.
“Xiao Li! Xiao Li! Save us! Get us out! Once we’re out, everything the Xie family has will be yours!”
Xie Qingsong and Wu Fengrao were barely recognizable after the torture.
One lens of Xie Qingsong’s tortoiseshell glasses was shattered, his face lined with hardship; in just a few days, his temples had already turned gray.
Wu Fengrao, once a refined Shanghai socialite, now looked disheveled and filthy.
So the Revolutionary Committee really wasn’t a place for humans to stay, Xie Li sneered inwardly. Then let them stay longer.
“Dad, Mom there’s nothing left of the Xie family. Just an empty shell. What good would it do me?”
Xie Li crossed her arms and looked down at them coldly.
“When you threw me out as bait back then, did you ever think about what would happen to me?”
Xie Qingsong’s eyes reddened. With a thud, he knelt.
“Xiao Li, it was Mom and Dad who wronged you! We wronged you! Please save us—once we’re out, we’ll make it up to you, child!”
Wu Fengrao was already sobbing, kneeling as well, unable to speak.
“Xiao Li, Dad was wrong. You’re my real child. I shouldn’t have treated you like that. Dad was wrong! Save us your parents will make it up to you for the rest of our lives!”
Xie Li lowered her gaze and returned Xie Qingsong’s own words to him, unchanged:
“Next life. Compensate me in the next life.”
Xie Qingsong stared into her peach-blossom eyes.
Cold. Indifferent.
He collapsed onto the floor, staring blankly at her.
He vaguely remembered three years ago, when he first brought Xie Li back from the countryside. She’d worn a faded floral blouse and dark blue linen pants patched and altered from someone else’s old clothes.
She’d been timid too scared even to speak to him.
But the clarity in her big eyes back then was something he’d never seen before.
Now, looking at those same eyes filled only with cold detachment, Xie Qingsong broke down:
“Xiao Li… Dad is sorry. Go. Go join the army. Don’t get involved with the Xie family anymore. Dad wronged you.”
A faint smile curved Xie Li’s lips.
If every wrongdoing could be erased with a single apology, forgiven with a single “sorry,” then hadn’t the original owner of this body died far too unjustly?
Of course, Xie Li knew perfectly well that Xie Qingsong and Wu Fengrao didn’t know where the money was.
Because everything was in her space.
She then went to see Xie Silin.
Xie Silin, who had been silent for days, widened her eyes the moment she saw Xie Li then suddenly exploded.
Like a feral monkey from Mount Emei, she grabbed the bars and started doing frantic pull-ups, then even hooked her feet onto them.
As if she’d reverted to some primitive ancestor.
“Was it you?! You bitch! Was it you?! It had to be you who reported us! I knew you weren’t that kindhearted!!”
Xie Silin had replayed everything again and again these past days. She was convinced it had all been Xie Li’s scheme a trap from start to finish.
“You’re going to join the army now? Just you wait! I won’t let you off! One day I’ll kill you, you bitch!”
She screamed her threats.
She had a space!!
She smashed the bars wildly with both hands.
Crack!!
The jade bracelet on her wrist shattered.
Xie Silin: “!!!”