Chapter 125: Overlord

　　Someone poisoned him in broad daylight with a highly toxic drug. Fortunately, Xu Jianxin was sent to the hospital in time and his life was not in danger. However, the poison damaged his lungs and had a great impact on his future life.

　　This kind of thing has never happened in the teachers' family compound before, and there was a lot of discussion for a while.

　　The melon-eating system is indeed a bug-like existence in this era. Jiang Youtao quickly understood the cause and effect of this melon.

　　She originally thought that this melon was a cucumber representing the relationship between a man and a woman, but when she opened it, she found that it was indeed a bitter gourd with cucumber flesh, which almost made Jiang Youtao die of bitterness.

　　In the next few days, Jiang Youtao paid attention to this matter whenever she had time. During this period, she replied to Fu Shaohua's two letters and met with Fu Shaohua twice.

　　Fu Shaohua is already working on the job transfer, and it will probably not be long before there are results.

　　By the time Xu Qiuyue's appendicitis was cured and she was discharged safely from the hospital, even the matter with Xinlan had come to a conclusion.

　　After Lian Xinlan was taken away, the police interrogated her. She never mentioned Gu Subing or the matter of borrowing sperm. When the police asked her whose children the two children she had aborted in the hospital were, she kept silent.

　　The public security authorities brought public prosecution against Lian Xinlan, during which she was sent to a detention center.

　　The time in the detention center was the most comfortable time for Lian Xinlan. She didn't have to worry about being beaten, being looked at with strange eyes when she walked outside, and no one would talk about her fickleness behind her back.

　　Lian Xinlan's heart was exceptionally calm, she never thought of Gu Subing once, not because she didn't want to, but because she didn't dare to. Some thoughts would burst the dam as soon as they were thought of.

　　Lian Xinlan knew that she and Gu Subing were not destined to be together in this life, so she wished Gu Subing all the best. She hoped that Gu Subing would live the rest of his life in peace and safety, and that he could remarry his wife and live a good life.

　　She is now in a detention center and will go to prison in the future. She doesn't have to worry about food and drink, and Xu Jianxin can no longer beat her. That's good.

　　On this day, she was working, and the prison guard came to look for her: "Lian Xinlan, someone is here to see you."

　　Lian Xinlan touched her short hair and followed her to the meeting window.

　　When she saw the person on the other side of the glass, the expression on Lian Xinlan's face changed. The prison guards stood on both sides. Lian Xinlan stood in front of the glass window in silence for a long time. The man on the opposite side kept knocking on the window.

　　The "dong dong dong" knocking sounds seemed to be knocking on her heart, mixed with her heartbeat, and she couldn't tell which one she missed more.

　　She picked up the phone and just as she answered it, the person on the other end started talking: "Xinlan, Xinlan, can you hear me?"

　　The familiar voice made Lian Xinlan's throat choke up: "You shouldn't have come."

　　In the eyes of everyone, Gu Subing was her lover. During this period, I believe Gu Subing was investigated and interrogated many times. He told everything he knew, but he did not say that he wanted to kill Xu Jianxin.

　　Gu Subing was not afraid. He knew Xu Jianxin was not dead and Lian Xinlan was going to jail. However, he was selfish because he knew he could not sacrifice himself as well. It would take several years for Lian Xinlan to be released, and he had to plan for their future.

　　He has no money and no house now, but he wants to give Lian Xinlan a home after she is released from prison. She can't be left with nothing, otherwise he would be sorry for her.

　　Gu Subing looked at Lian Xinlan with gentle eyes and a soft tone: "I have returned to work. Wait for me. In less than two years, I will be able to buy another house and wait for you to come out. Then we can live together."

　　Lian Xinlan's tears fell in an instant. She looked at the man in front of her almost obsessively, then reached out to wipe her tears. With Gu Subing's words, Lian Xinlan felt that her life was worth it: "Aren't you going to remarry her?"

　　Gu Subing and his wife were in love freely. When they got married, Lian Xinlan even attended the wedding. She was a very beautiful, gentle and virtuous woman.

　　Lian Xinlan thought that only a woman like that was worthy of Gu Subing. She was different and she was not worthy of him.

　　Gu Subing said: "She found someone again very soon after divorcing me. I guess they will get married soon."

　　Lian Xinlan was stunned: "It's fine this way. I am sorry for her."

　　This matter was not Lian Xinlan's fault, but she still felt sorry for causing the breakup of Gu Subing's family.

　　Gu Subing shook his head and said to her, "She asked me to tell you that she doesn't blame you."

　　When Gu Subing was getting divorced, he told his ex-wife the whole story. His ex-wife slapped him and divorced him happily.

　　She hated Xu Jianxin and Gu Subing, but she really couldn't hate Lian Xinlan. She was just a poor person.

　　The two were silent for a long time. The visiting time was up, Gu Subing was taken away, and Lian Xinlan squatted on the ground, feeling heartbroken.

　　The case went to trial in November 1975, when the first heavy snow fell.

　　It snowed all night yesterday, and the snow on the road was thick enough to reach above her ankles. Jiang Youtao put on cotton trousers, a cotton jacket, cotton shoes, and a hat and walked out of the house.

　　Gu Nianwei, Xu Manqiu and Han Taorui were already waiting outside the door. They nodded to each other and went to the court with their hands in their pockets.

　　Along the way, they met many people, and everyone's destination was the court.

　　Fu Shaohua was already waiting at the entrance of the court. He had several roasted sweet potatoes in the arms of his military coat. When Jiang Youtao and the others came over, he gave each of them one.

　　The sweet potatoes were baked very soft. When the skin was peeled off, the sweet flesh inside leaked out. Fu Shaohua also brought a bottle of water, specially for Jiang Youtao to drink: "This sweet potato was baked by Zhong Qianxi. She asked me to bring it to you."

　　Zhong Qianxi seldom comes to the county town and devotes herself wholeheartedly to agriculture. Jiang Youtao hasn't seen her for a long time.

　　"Is she okay lately?" Jiang Youtao took a bite of the roasted sweet potato, which was sticky and sweet.

　　"It's fine. She's with that technician Meng now. She asked me to tell you when she's getting married and she'll send you an invitation."

　　Gu Nianwei and Xu Manqiu were both very happy about this.

　　After eating a sweet potato and drinking a sip of water, the trial began.

　　This was an open trial, and everyone rushed to the court.

　　Fu Shaohua specifically asked his friend to reserve a seat in the front.

　　Fu Shaohua took them to sit down, and then introduced them: "Taotao, let me introduce you, this is my friend, Zeng Shaolin, he is the grandson of Grandpa Zeng, and we are good friends. Shaolin, this is Jiang Youtao I told you about, my girlfriend."

　　Jiang Youtao and Zeng Shaolin nodded politely to each other.

　　As soon as he finished speaking, people started to come into the courtroom seat in front.

　　After the judge came in, the plaintiff, defendant, prosecutor, clerk, etc. began to enter the room.

　　The clerk first read out the trial rules, and the room fell into silence.

　　Xu Jianxin looked at Lian Xinlan, whom he hadn't seen for a long time. She was much thinner than before. Without the cosmetics he had forced on her, she had a bare face, but her eyes were surprisingly peaceful.

　　Xu Jianxin suddenly felt particularly indignant. He had been in very poor health recently and would sometimes cough when he breathed too hard.

　　Not only that, Xu Jianxin was also beaten by Gu Subing and Lian Xinlan's brother.

　　When he saw Lian Xinlan again, Xu Jianxin's eyes were full of hatred.

　　He have been living such a miserable time recently, why is it that Shinran is living so peacefully?

　　The prosecutor had finished the prosecution and it was time for the defendant to make his statement. Lian Xinlan confessed to her crime and her previous confession.

　　The prosecutor asked her several questions in a row, and she answered yes to all of them.

　　The prosecutor finished his questioning and the judge made the final judgment.

　　Lian Xinlan was convicted of attempted murder and because the circumstances were relatively minor, she was sentenced to three years in prison.

　　Lian Xinlan looked up in surprise, while Gu Subing, who was watching the trial in the jury seat, burst into tears.

　　Xu Jianxin stood up from the plaintiff's seat: "I don't accept it, I don't accept it. She wanted to kill me, and I'm lucky to be alive. Why should she be sentenced to three years in prison? She should be sentenced to death!"

　　Xu Jianxin's eyes widened, and the veins on his neck were exposed because of excitement.

　　The judge was unmoved: "If you disagree with this ruling, you can appeal."

　　"Appeal, appeal, I want to appeal." These days, Xu Jianxin has been comforting himself with the thought that Lian Xinlan would be sentenced to death for poisoning him. Now things are going against his wishes, and Xu Jianxin cannot accept it.

　　Jiang Youtao, who was sitting in the jury box, took advantage of the fact that no one was paying attention and threw the sweet potato peel at him.

　　Her aim was good and she threw it right on Xu Jianxin's face.

　　Gu Nianwei took the lead: "Bah, shameless."

　　Xu Jianxin glared at the jury seats, but there were too many people, not enough chairs, and many people were standing.

　　Everyone was paying special attention to this case. Some street thugs even gave Xu Jianxin their thumbs up, then thought it was wrong and gave him their little fingers.

　　Now everyone in Pingyang County knows that Xu Jianxin's thing is only the size of a woman's thumb.

　　Everyone burst into laughter, and Xu Jianxin's face turned pale and blue.

　　He only dared to swing his fists at the unarmed woman who was unable to resist him at home. Outside, when provoked like this, he didn't even dare to fart.

　　Now the street thugs became even more arrogant: "Ah, what a spineless man."

　　"Hahaha."

　　The laughter was enough to blow the roof of the court off.

　　"Quiet, quiet, the trial is over, the court is adjourned."

　　Everyone left laughing, and the snow in front of the courthouse was melted by being stepped on.

　　Gu Nianwei put her hands in her pockets: "Fortunately, the result is good."

　　Three years later, it was 1978. The college entrance examination was resumed and the educated youth returned to the city. After another two years, reform and opening up began, and Lian Xinlan was able to make a living by moving to a new place.

　　This is much better than suspended death sentence, death penalty, and five to ten years in prison.

　　Jiang Youtao looked back and saw Gu Subing was the last one to come out.

　　He stood at the door of the court, braving the cold wind, just to see Lian Xinlan again and say a word to her.

　　"Yes, it's already very good." Gu Subing might have many shortcomings, but to Lian Xinlan, he is already very good.

　　Even though their relationship was unacceptable to the world at that time, he admitted it generously. Compared with those men who wanted to have it both ways, he was able to be honest with his wife and leave the house with nothing, which was actually good enough.

　　Lian Xinlan chose to do it herself in order to avoid him going to jail and to protect him.

　　After all, Gu Subing is a man. If he takes action, Xu Jianxin will probably die, and then Gu Subing will also die.

　　Gu Subing's original wife also lived a good life. She used the house that Gu Subing compensated her for and married a classmate who pursued her. Not long after the marriage, she had a child. Her classmate loved her very much, and the two of them rarely quarreled in their lives. In her later years, her children were filial and she had no worries about food and drink.

　　That's good enough.

　　Jiang Youtao asked the melon-eating system, and learned that Gu Subing and Lian Xinlan would be together in three years. They erected a monument for the two aborted children. In the days that followed, neither of them had children. They found a place where no one knew them and started over again, living an ordinary life.

　　As for Xu Jianxin, the county middle school could not have a teacher like him in its teaching staff. He was transferred by the Education Bureau to the commune primary school in his hometown.

　　After returning to his hometown, he changed from a middle school teacher that everyone envied to a man who loved domestic violence, tortured women, and had no balls. He even took the initiative to cheat on himself for the sake of his own face.

　　He became a man that even the fools in the village looked down upon.

　　Xu Jianxin's self-esteem could not stand this, he fell in love with drinking, and even refused to go to school. The principal of their commune had long disliked him and specially reported him to the higher authorities, and he was expelled.

　　His parents were ashamed of him, his brothers and sisters would spit on him when they saw him, and Xu Jianxin's life was worse than that of a dog.

　　After hearing about how Xu Jianxin was going to live the rest of his life, Jiang Youtao finally felt relieved.

　　After the first snow, snowy days became a frequent visitor to Yangping County. That day was Saturday, and Han Taorui came to her early in the morning.

　　Jiang Youtao's stove had been lit long ago. She put a pot of water on the stove and put some potatoes and sweet potatoes on it.

　　"Why are you here so early?" Jiang Youtao looked at the watch on her hand. It was only eight o'clock.

　　Han Taorui took off her hat, scarf and coat, and sat by the stove to warm herself. "Huo Jingshuang is here again. No matter how I say it, I can't get rid of her. She snatched my quilt last night and woke me up with the cold. I was too lazy to deal with her, so I came to find you."

　　Huo Jingshuang is shameless. After staying at her house once, she has become addicted. She comes two days a month, but she can't figure out her routine. Sometimes she comes after dark. She doesn't go home at night. What can the Han family do?

　　The house where Han Taorui and her friends live is a big house in the staff compound. It has three bedrooms. Mr. and Mrs. Han live in the largest one, Han Yanqing lives in the second bedroom, and the smallest room was chosen by Han Taorui herself. She likes to sleep in a small bed and feels especially safe there.

　　It's okay for her to sleep alone normally, but now that Huo Jingshuang is here, she really can't sleep well all night.

　　"What if she wakes up and attacks me?" Before successfully marrying into the Han family, Huo Jingshuang treated every woman like a love rival, especially Jiang Youtao, Gu Nianwei and the other three. Whenever she looked at them, her nose was not a nose and her eyes were not eyes.

　　She even went to Gu Nianwei and spoke nonsense, making Gu Nianwei laugh.

　　During this period of time, whenever Huo Jingshuang came to the Han family to sleep, Han Taorui would hide next to them.

　　Huo Jingshuang would run over as soon as she woke up, as if she had caught someone cheating.

　　"I told my grandma. If she gets up and asks about me, just say I went out to buy groceries." As long as Han Taorui didn't say she was at Gu Nianwei's or Jiang Youtao's, Huo Jingshuang would get up and go back.

　　After all, the weather is quite cold, and the Han family's house is not as warm as the government compound.

　　Sure enough, within an hour, Gu Nianwei came: "Huo Jingshuang has left."

　　Han Taorui couldn't help laughing.

　　Gu Nianwei glanced at Han Taorui and asked her, "Is your brother not at home?"

　　According to Gu Nianwei's understanding of Huo Jingshuang, if Han Yanqing was at home, Huo Jingshuang would not leave so easily.

　　"No, my brother was on duty last night and he has to attend a banquet hosted by his colleagues this afternoon, so he won't be home all day."

　　Han Taorui's words made Jiang Youtao's eyebrows jump. She remembered the book where Huo Jingshuang was the heroine. The reason why Huo Jingshuang was able to marry Han Yanqing was because Han Yanqing drank too much at a colleague's banquet and was raped by Huo Jingshuang.

　　Jiang Youtao likes the Han family very much, especially the hint of romance between Han Yanqing and Gu Nianwei.

　　Jiang Youtao felt that she had to worry about Han Yanqing's chastity.

　　"That's perfect. We're having a hot pot dinner tonight. Would you like to join us?"

　　Fu Shaohua bought a few more pounds of lamb ribs and left them at Gu Nianwei's place. They planned to stew them in the afternoon and eat them directly in the evening.

　　Han Taorui's eyes lit up. She especially liked playing with Gu Nianwei and the others. She felt that she felt very comfortable when she was with them.

　　"Okay, I'll tell my grandma when I get home." Han Taorui couldn't wait to tell her family about it.

　　Old Mrs. Han knew that they were going to eat the hotpot, so she asked Han Taorui to send over a lot of her own bean sprouts.

　　At noon, Gu Nianwei built a fire in the shed outside and stewed the lamb ribs. Fu Shaohua also came with his friends, and they both brought some vegetables and tofu.

　　It was past three o'clock and the sky had turned overcast. It looked like it would snow again at night.

　　Fu Shaohua and Jiang Youtao squatted in the kitchen peeling potatoes: "There is too much snow this year. Now, unless the letter is particularly important, we will not send it to the countryside."

　　"Well, I can't send it. It's so cold and snowy. What if something goes wrong?" She put the peeled potatoes in the basin and asked, "How is the job transfer you mentioned before?"

　　Fu Shaohua laughed: "It's almost done. After January, I can come to work."

　　"It's already December, and there are only a few days left." Jiang Youtao said.

　　"Yeah. Then we'll see each other more often."

　　Both of them laughed.

　　After cutting the potatoes into pieces, everyone gathered around the stove to eat from the pot. The grandchildren were not at home, so the old couple of the Han family lay down on the kang after dinner.

　　When Huo Jingshuang arrived at the Han family's house, he did not see Han Taorui at home. Just as she was about to push open the door and look around, Han Yanqing came back, and Huo Jingshuang quickly hid.

　　Han Yanqing was probably drunk and reeked of alcohol. He passed out as soon as he lay down in the room.

　　Huo Jingshuang thought about how she had been trying to conquer Han Yanqing for some time, and a plan came to her mind. She pushed open the door of Han Yanqing's room and walked in.

　　While she was taking off her clothes, Gu Nianwei and the others brought Han Taorui back.

　　Jiang Youtao saw that Han Taorui's door was open, and quickly pushed Han Taorui, who was drunk after drinking a glass of wine: "Taorui Taorui, why is your door open? Oh, there are two sets of footprints at the door! Could it be that a thief broke in?"

　　Han Taorui screamed: "A thief broke in?!"

　　"A thief broke in!" It was Xu Manqiu's first time drinking, and her alcohol tolerance was so low that it could be ignored, so she also started shouting.

　　Han Yanqing was just about to fall asleep when he heard someone outside saying "catch a thief". He opened his eyes immediately and saw a dark figure groping beside his bed.

　　Han Yanqing jumped up and subdued the man with a counter-grapple move.

　　Huo Jingshuang exclaimed.

　　Xu Manqiu rushed into the house and said, "Catch the thief, catch the thief. The thief is here."