At 8:30 a.m. on October 2nd, accompanied by a long, drawn-out whistle, a green-painted train pulled up alongside the platform at Ning City Station!
Inside the soft-sleeper car, Li Yi and Tang Xue were ready to disembark!
The carriage door slowly opened. Li Yi, carrying a large backpack on his back, two large suitcases in his hands, and a military-green canteen slung around his waist, led Tang Xue toward the door.
Tang Xue wanted to help him carry some of the load, but Li Yi wouldn’t dare let her.
In Li Yi’s eyes, Tang Xue was now absolutely as precious as… no, far more precious than a national treasure.
As they stepped out of the train station and looked across at the Ning City Bus Station, Tang Xue felt a surge of emotion; her eyes even began to redden slightly.
To be honest, this trip to Qin Province to visit family had been nothing short of a nightmare for her!
Even before returning, Tang Xue knew that being with Li Yi would never earn her those people’s blessing.
But back then, she still harbored a glimmer of hope in her heart. After all, they were her family—no matter how heartless they might be, could they really turn their backs on their own kin?
However, upon returning, she discovered that she wasn’t a member of the Tang family at all.
What she never could have imagined was that she had actually been stolen by Tang Jizhong and his wife, and her biological mother still believed to this day that she had given birth to a stillborn child.
It was precisely because of this that the Tang family had committed those acts—seemingly cold-blooded, yet ultimately understandable!
So, this trip to Qin Province had been an absolute nightmare for her!
Now that she’s finally back in Ning City and will soon be home, the nightmare is finally over!
In contrast to Tang Xue’s inner turmoil, Li Yi was in high spirits.
Unlike Tang Xue, who had returned to Yong County with the intention of visiting relatives, Li Yi had come with the specific purpose of investigating the case.
Ever since he learned from Tang Xue a great deal of information he hadn’t known in his previous life, he realized that this matter wasn’t as simple as it seemed—and he understood even more clearly that Tang Xue’s death in his previous life wasn’t straightforward either.
So when he arrived, he was determined to uncover the truth and settle every score—repaying every grievance and avenging every wrong!
And things turned out exactly as he had anticipated—there were indeed issues surrounding Tang Xue’s background.
Although it took some effort to investigate Tang Xue’s background, he eventually stripped away the facades of Tang Jizhong and his wife, as well as Tang Meiqin, exposing their ugly true faces to everyone.
Although the case hasn’t been adjudicated yet, the evidence currently in the hands of the public security authorities is more than enough to ensure those scum rot in prison for the rest of their lives!
In addition, during this trip to Qin Province, Li Yi also tracked down Long Zhanjun.
With his support, things would be much easier for him in the future.
However, there were aspects of this trip to Qin Province that left him unsatisfied. First, he hadn’t managed to uncover the identity of Tang Xue’s biological mother—he didn’t know if she was still alive or where she might be!
Second, not all those who deserved punishment had been brought to justice—people like Tan Cheng, Tang Bing, and that lecherous old toad Liu Ermao, who had his eye on his own wife.
In his previous life, these people were all accomplices in driving Tang Xue to her death, yet most of them ultimately went unpunished.
In this life, Li Yi would absolutely not let them get away with it!
However, due to the short timeframe and a lack of manpower, he couldn’t round them all up at once—a slight regret.
Nevertheless, Li Yi had already put Long Zhanjun’s men on their tails. It wouldn’t be long before these scoundrels were dealt with one by one.
All in all, although this trip to Qin Province wasn’t entirely successful, it had resolved the main issues, and overall, Li Yi was quite satisfied!
“What are you spacing out for?”
Tang Xue rubbed her eyes and said, “I want to go home!”
“Which home?” Li Yi asked, feigning ignorance.
Tang Xue paused briefly, then looked at Li Yi and said, “From now on, Nianzi Mountain Village is my only home. If you dare to let me down, I’ll…”
Before Tang Xue could finish, Li Yi cut her off immediately: “Don’t worry. Since you’ve chosen me, I’ll never let you lose!”
“Thank you! If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t even know how desperate my life would have become!” Tang Xue said.
Li Yi felt a sharp pang of pain in his heart. In his previous life, it was precisely because she had been so desperate that she had taken her own life.
In this life, he was determined to protect her with all his might and would never let her suffer any harm!
“From now on, I don’t want to hear the words ‘thank you’ from your lips. You’re my wife—protecting you is my responsibility!” Li Yi said earnestly.
“Mm-hmm!”
Then, Tang Xue suddenly said, “I don’t know why, but I really want to go home—I miss Mom and Sister Na!”
“Hahaha, then what are we waiting for? Let’s take the first bus back!” Li Yi said with a smile.
“Mm-hmm!”
Without another moment’s hesitation, the two grabbed their bags and headed straight for the bus station!
Better late than never—they had barely stepped inside when the station’s loudspeaker began announcing that passengers bound for Qingshan County were being called for boarding.
Li Yi immediately ran to the ticket window to buy two tickets, then led Tang Xue onto the bus bound for Qingshan County!
As always, the bus to Qingshan County was in terrible shape, and the road was just as bad.
After enduring three hours of torture, the bus finally pulled into the bus station outside the West Gate of Qing Shan County!
Finally setting foot on the soil of Qing Shan County, Li Yi and Tang Xue both let out a long sigh of relief!
After exiting the station, Li Yi was about to find a horse-drawn carriage to take him and Tang Xue to the entrance of the textile factory!
Normally, Third Sister should have been setting up her stall there at this time.
Just then, an olive-green jeep suddenly pulled up in front of them.
The door swung open, and a uniformed police officer stood before them.
Upon closer inspection, it was none other than that guy Li Gang!
“Brother Li Yi, it really is you! Your wife’s here too. Did you two just get back?”
Li Yi smiled and said, “Yeah, we just got off the bus!”
“Hahaha, what a coincidence!”
Then Li Gang asked, “Are you heading back to the village?”
“Yeah!”
“Then what are you waiting for? Get in!” Li Gang said.
Li Yi didn’t hesitate; he immediately opened the left rear door and let Tang Xue get in.
He loaded the luggage and the gifts he’d bought in Qin Province into the trunk, and only then took the passenger seat!
Li Gang then started the car and headed straight for Nianzishan Village!
It wasn’t until they were on the road that Li Yi learned Li Gang had actually been promoted.
When Wang Anguo was transferred to Ning City, he specifically recommended Li Gang to the county bureau to fill the vacant position of Criminal Investigation Team Captain, but the higher-ups hadn’t approved it right away.
After all, compared to Wang Anguo, Li Gang’s experience was still somewhat lacking.
They had been deliberating on the matter, but while Li Yi was away, the young man had cracked a major case and exposed a massive corruption scandal.
This finally earned him the favor of the top brass at the county bureau, allowing him to smoothly take over from Wang Anguo and become the captain of the county criminal investigation team.
What Li Yi hadn’t expected was that the major case Li Gang had just cracked was actually connected to him in some way!