Chapter 773: Time to Head Back!
February 19, the 26th day of the first lunar month—an auspicious day for travel and moving!
Early in the morning, Xiao Zhanwu and his wife, accompanied by the Xiaoya sisters, Qiao Chunfang’s family, and Lin Xiaodie and her mother, all arrived at the guesthouse.
At the guesthouse, Li Yi, Jiang Xue, Ye Lingyun, and the others had already packed their bags and checked out of their rooms.
Today marked their ninth day in Yong County, and it was also the day of their return.
With Tang Bing, Tan Cheng, and his parents all apprehended one after another, and Ye Lingyun having gradually reunited with her childhood friends, visited the places where Jiang Xue once lived and attended school, and gained some understanding of her daughter’s early life, the emotional knots in her heart had slowly begun to unravel.
With school set to start in just a few days, Li Yi and his group decided it was time to head back!
Upon hearing the news of their departure, Xiao Zhanwu and a few other friends came to see them off.
Perhaps because they knew these travelers didn’t truly belong here, the atmosphere of farewell wasn’t particularly heavy.
There were none of the tearful, tear-stained embraces and heart-wrenching goodbyes they had imagined.
Everyone simply wished them a safe journey and encouraged them to visit Yong County again when they had the chance—a scene that felt quite heartwarming.
At 8:30, with everyone’s blessings, Li Yi and his friends boarded the train bound for Chang’an!
“Sniff…”
As the train pulled out of the station with a blast of its whistle, Jiang Xue watched the county town recede rapidly with a touch of reluctance, her mood tinged with melancholy.
Although Ye Lingyun didn’t seem to show any signs of reluctance, she was equally lost in thought, saying nothing!
Seeing the mother and daughter like this, Li Yi decided to break the silence.
He gently stroked Jiang Xue’s head and asked softly, “Do you miss this place?”
“A little, but not too much.”
Jiang Xue continued, “I remember when I was sixteen, I also took this train to leave Yong County and go to work in the countryside in North Sai Province. Back then, I cried my eyes out—I was so, so reluctant to leave.”
“But today is quite different. Although I still feel a little of that in my heart, what I feel more is a sense of relief and an eagerness to return home. Do you know why that is?”
Li Yi smiled and said, “Because you know your home is in the capital. This place is just a temporary stopover in your life—it no longer holds any ties for you!”
“You’re right. I just want to get back as soon as possible. I miss Yunrui and Yunjin!” Jiang Xue said.
Ye Lingyun looked at her daughter and said, “You’ve had a hard time, Xue’er. This is the first time you’ve been separated from the children for so long; you must miss them terribly!”
Jiang Xue smiled and said, “It’s not so bad. I know my older sister will definitely take good care of them!”
Li Yi chimed in, “Mother, don’t worry about it. Actually, I think it’s good for Xue’er to get out and about like this.”
“Ever since the children were born, her life has revolved entirely around them. She hasn’t had a chance to see the outside world. This is the perfect opportunity for her to get out and relax!”
Jiang Xue nodded and said, “Mom, I’ve really enjoyed this trip. How about you? Are you still thinking about what happened before?”
Ye Lingyun thought for a moment and said, “I feel much lighter. Things I used to be too afraid to even think about don’t seem so scary when I look back on them now.”
“Plus, now that we’ve successfully met your Aunt Fang and Aunt Juan, and seen the places where you lived, studied, and played as a child, things have suddenly become much clearer in my mind.”
Hearing this, Jiang Xue immediately said happily, “That’s great—it means our trip wasn’t for nothing!”
Li Yi felt the same way. Although the trip to Yong County hadn’t gone entirely smoothly—they’d encountered some frustrating setbacks—overall, it had been incredibly rewarding.
First, they had successfully resolved the emotional knot that had weighed on his mother-in-law’s heart for over twenty years. He believed that with this trip to Yong County, her depression would be completely cured.
Second, the trip to Yong County had exposed the scheme by Tang Bing, Tan Cheng, and their cronies to evade punishment, and had sent that scummy couple back to prison—along with their old fools of parents, Tan’s father and mother.
Li Yi felt a deep sense of satisfaction at seeing those two old fools locked up. In his previous life, they had been active accomplices in driving Jiang Xue to her death, and their guilt was hardly any less than Tan Cheng’s.
The final outcome of the trip to Yong County was that they unexpectedly saved over 40 lives. Although the verdict in the Yan Minsheng case had not yet been handed down, given the fact that the demonic couple had murdered eight people, it was entirely foreseeable that they would be sentenced to death.
With their imprisonment, the original toll of 48 victims had been reduced to eight, and the remaining 40 people had effectively escaped a deadly fate.
Although those people were unaware of this, Li Yi himself knew full well just how great this act of merit was—after all, he had saved 40 lives.
Just as Li Yi was deep in thought, Jiang Xue suddenly asked, “By the way, I saw you slip Xiao Zhanwu an envelope just now—it looked pretty thick. Was it money?”
“It is money, but it’s not for him!” Li Yi replied.
“Then who is it for?”
“It’s for Jiang Lin’s parents!”
At those words, not only Jiang Xue and Ye Lingyun turned to look at Li Yi, but even Zhang Ziqiang, Yang Zhiwen, and Zhang Feng all stared at him in astonishment.
Seeing this, Li Yi immediately explained, “The main reason Jiang Lin was convicted of a crime was that he wanted to save his mother—his intentions were good!”
“Although his methods were wrong, his filial devotion is genuine. So I wanted to help him—I had Captain Xiao deliver 2,000 yuan to his parents. That should cover his mother’s ongoing rehabilitation treatment.”
Jiang Xue nodded and said, “You did the right thing. It’s just a shame about Jiang Lin—he’ll be facing an extended sentence this time!”
Li Yi smiled and said, “Actually, it’s not so bad. He was indeed going to get an extended sentence this time—about five years!”
“But since the fact of his previous escape doesn’t hold up, the four-year sentence added for that will definitely be revoked. So, all told, he’s only getting an extra year!”
“That’s a relief. It’s really hard to watch someone so devoted to his family keep getting his sentence extended!” Jiang Xue said.
“Mm-hmm!”
Li Yi then looked at Ye Lingyun again and asked, “Mother, we’ll arrive in Chang’an a little after ten o’clock today. Would you like to meet Uncle Hu and the others?”
“Are there any flights back to the capital this afternoon?” Ye Lingyun asked.
“Yes!”
“Can we book a ticket?”
“No problem!”
With special agents like Zhang Ziqiang and Yang Zhiwen on hand, getting a few plane tickets was a piece of cake.
All they had to do was pull out their little red ID cards. As long as there were empty seats on the flight and it hadn’t taken off yet, they could board without a hitch. That’s what you call privilege!
“Since we can get tickets, let’s not bother them then!”
“Alright…”
Meanwhile, in the spacious office at the provincial bureau, Hu Zhiqiang hung up the phone, his brow furrowed and his face full of helplessness!
Hu Jianqiang, sitting across the desk, saw his older brother’s expression and immediately asked, “What’s wrong? Did something happen?”
Hu Zhiqiang paused briefly before saying, “The call was from Comrade Xiao Zhanwu in Yong County. He said Lingyun and the others had just left Yong County and were heading back to Chang’an!”
“Huh, that’s good news. But why didn’t Sister Lingyun call us?” Hu Jianqiang asked.
“Maybe she’s a little upset with me,” Hu Zhiqiang said with a hint of resignation.
“Come on, you were just worried your niece and the others wouldn’t be able to handle it. Besides, haven’t they already arrested all those scoundrels? It shouldn’t be that bad!” Hu Jianqiang said.
“That may be true, but we didn’t actually tell them the whole truth… Never mind, I’d better give Shiying a call!”
With that, Hu Zhiqiang immediately picked up the phone and dialed a number…
………