In her previous life, Lin Miaoyin had died from illness. During the period before her death, she had spent most of her time lying in bed, and she often looked up what happened to the human body after death.
She had learned that rigor mortis usually began appearing in certain parts of the body within one to two hours after death. It took about four hours for rigor mortis to spread throughout the entire body.
Just now, when she squeezed the old man’s arm, it was already quite stiff.
That meant Old Man Liu had been dead for at least two hours.
The trip from the clinic to the Lin family’s house normally took only half an hour.
The Liu family had just claimed that Old Man Liu had died right after arriving at the clinic. Even if they had spent some time at the clinic before bringing him to the Lin family’s house, it should not have taken more than two hours.
The only explanation was that Old Man Liu had already been dead for some time, but they had hidden the actual time of death and were trying to frame someone else.
Once she figured this out, she walked over to Meng Yuanzheng.
He raised his head and looked at her with his bruised, swollen face. His lips were pressed together, and he said nothing.
“Was Old Man Liu already dead earlier? Do you still remember exactly what happened?” she asked.
As soon as she said this, everyone was shocked.
The Liu family nearly jumped up.
“What nonsense are you talking about?”
Meng Yuanzheng frowned. Even moving the corner of his mouth made him suck in a breath of pain.
He recalled what had happened earlier that day.
“On my way back from the commune, I happened to see them carrying an old man out. Since I had learned some first-aid knowledge, I went over to check on him. The old man was already in very bad condition. I performed chest compressions, and he seemed to improve a little. When they saw that, they hurriedly carried him away.
“I followed them. When we reached the clinic, they suddenly said that the old man had stopped breathing…”
“You were the one who killed my father! If you hadn’t delayed us, we could have gotten him to the clinic in time!” someone from the Liu family shouted.
“Are there many people around you when you performed the chest compressions?” Lin Miaoyin ignored the others and only asked Meng Yuanzheng.
Meng Yuanzheng shook his head.
“Not many. More people gathered after we reached the clinic.”
He was actually confused himself.
The old man had been unconscious, but after the chest compressions, he had clearly shown some improvement.
So why had he suddenly died?
Meng Yuanzheng truly had no way to defend himself.
Lin Miaoyin nodded.
She returned to the body and looked around at everyone.
She noticed the anger and slight guilt on the faces of the Liu family.
Her parents and the others had vaguely realized that Lin Miaoyin had discovered something, so they did not dare stop her. They could only watch anxiously while putting on rain capes and bamboo hats to protect themselves from the rain.
There were also many neighbors who had come after hearing the commotion. They were wearing rain capes and bamboo hats as they gathered around to watch, whispering among themselves.
“What exactly are you trying to do? My father is already dead, and you’re still playing games! Just give us an explanation so we can take our father home!” someone from the Liu family shouted indignantly.
“We all know that a person’s body becomes stiff after death. The arms and other parts of the body usually take at least two or three hours to become stiff. You said Old Man Liu died at the clinic, so let me ask you—what time was it when you arrived there?” Lin Miaoyin asked.
The Liu family immediately fell silent.
“It was around 6:40 in the evening. I checked my watch,” Meng Yuanzheng said in a low voice.
Lin Miaoyin continued, “It’s only just gotten dark, so it shouldn’t even be eight o’clock yet. Then why are Old Man Liu’s arms already stiff? Didn’t you say he only died about an hour ago? From the condition of his body, he must have been dead for at least two hours.”
“What do you mean, stiff or not? My father is dead! Could that possibly be fake? When Meng Yuanzheng was pressing on my father’s chest, my father was clearly still fine!” Old Man Liu’s eldest son shouted.
Lin Miaoyin let out a cold laugh and was about to argue back when a woman’s voice suddenly came from behind.
“I can prove that Educated Youth Meng is innocent!”
Everyone turned to look.
A young woman was walking toward them along the road.
She was holding an umbrella and looked to be in her early twenties. Her hair was tied into two braids. She wore a military-green jacket, long pants, and green rubber shoes.
She had a graceful figure, and even in the dim light, her beautiful face could clearly be seen.
“Who is that?”
“I think she’s one of the educated youths who arrived today.”
“A girl from the city? What is she doing here?”
The villagers looked her up and down and whispered among themselves.
The young woman remained calm as she steadily walked closer. She gave them a gentle smile.
“I heard that Educated Youth Meng was being falsely accused of killing someone, so I came here to testify for him.”
When Lin Miaoyin’s father heard this, he quickly stepped forward to greet her.
He knew the woman.
“Educated Youth Zhu, were you there this afternoon too?”
“Yes. I happened to meet Educated Youth Meng on the road this afternoon. He had helped me carry my luggage in the morning, so we already knew each other and exchanged greetings. Then we happened to see them carrying an old man.
“We had both learned first aid when we were in school, so we went over to take a look. After Educated Youth Meng performed chest compressions, the old man seemed to improve a little. I had something else to do, so I left first. Who would have thought that when I came back, I would hear about what happened, so I came over immediately.”
Educated Youth Zhu?
Lin Miaoyin was startled.
She carefully looked at the young woman.
Isn’t this the female lead from the original story, Zhu Wanqin?
Why had she come here?
The original story had never mentioned Meng Yuanzheng being accused of killing someone.
At first, Lin Miaoyin had thought perhaps the author had simply left out this unimportant incident.
But now that the female lead herself had appeared, that explanation no longer made sense.
After all, the novel was written from the female lead’s perspective. How could something like this have been left out?
While Lin Miaoyin was thinking, Zhu Wanqin had already walked over to Meng Yuanzheng.
Her eyes were filled with tenderness and concern.
“They… They actually beat you like this…”
“You were only trying to help. How could they…”
As she spoke, she reached out, seemingly wanting to touch the injury on his face.
Meng Yuanzheng immediately leaned backward and looked at her warily.
Lin Miaoyin was speechless.
This female lead really is exactly like the one in the original story—far too kind.
But no.
She absolutely could not let Zhu Wanqin get close to Meng Yuanzheng.
“You’re Educated Youth Zhu, right? Didn’t you say you came here to testify?” Lin Miaoyin walked over and spoke loudly.
The Liu family members looked at one another, uncertain what to do.
Originally, they had planned to insist that Meng Yuanzheng was responsible for Old Man Liu’s death.
But now a female educated youth had suddenly appeared.
It was true that this woman had been with Meng Yuanzheng that afternoon. However, she had only stayed nearby for a short while before leaving.
Zhu Wanqin spoke gently.
“My family has a medical background, so I know a little about these things. Let me be fair about this. Judging from the situation at the time, Old Man Liu was most likely suffering from an acute heart attack. If I’m not mistaken, he had probably been suffering from this condition for quite some time.”
The Liu family did not deny it.
She gave a faint smile and continued,
“An acute heart attack can cause someone to lose consciousness and have difficulty breathing. Chest compressions are an appropriate first-aid method in such a situation. Of course, they cannot guarantee that the person will survive, but what we can say for certain is that pressing on his chest a few times would not have caused his death.”
The Liu family’s expressions became ugly.
Zhu Wanqin continued, “In short, you cannot blame Educated Youth Meng for this. If you don’t believe me, you can find a professional doctor and ask.
“Oh, and what that young woman just said about rigor mortis is also correct. If Old Man Liu’s arms are already stiff, then he must have died before reaching the clinic. From my rough estimate, he probably died not long after I left the scene.”
After hearing this, the people around them began looking suspiciously at the Liu family.
A thought suddenly flashed through Lin Miaoyin’s mind.
In the original story, she vaguely remembered a scene where the female lead complained to another educated youth about a family who had been extremely heartless.
Their old father had been dying, yet they had carried him outside and left him there because they did not want him to die inside the house and bring bad luck.
The two of them had then sighed over how poverty and backwardness could produce cruel people, and how such things could still happen even under the guidance of the Party.
They had even concluded that the country urgently needed educated young people like them to help change the situation.
Could the family mentioned in that scene be the Liu family?
With that thought, Lin Miaoyin immediately pressed the advantage.
“Everyone knows that ever since Old Man Liu suffered his stroke, his sons have already had several arguments over who should support and care for him. When he had his previous stroke, none of you took him to the clinic. You simply left him paralyzed at home. Yet this time, you’re suddenly so eager to take him to the clinic?”
“You! What exactly are you implying?” Old Man Liu’s daughter-in-law shouted.
“I’m saying that you may have realized he was about to die, so you deliberately carried him outside and left him there so that he would die away from home!”