Chapter 161: Wishful Thinking

Chapter 161: Chapter 161: Wishful Thinking

Before she could finish, she was already wiping away tears, forcefully pushing Yao Yuzhen out the door.

Yao Yuzhen stood frozen, staring at Shen Shuangshuang, whose shoulders shook with sobs. She then glanced at the trashed room.

She opened her mouth, her voice tight.

It wasn’t until she was completely pushed out the door that she whispered, "Heh..."

That very night, Yao Yuzhen came down with a high fever. Her forehead was alarmingly hot, and her lips were pale and cracked.

She tossed and turned, soaking the bedsheets in sweat.

Delirious with fever, she had no one to come near her, no one to take care of her.

By the time her fever broke and she could get out of bed, Liu Yumin had already been taken to Beijing in a dedicated car, where she now sat on the witness stand, waiting to testify.

But her story didn’t match Ruan Yongxing’s at all.

Liu Yumin confessed everything honestly.

She had indeed met Yao Yuzhen, but only twice. The first time was when they discussed adopting the baby.

The second time was the day the child was taken away.

After that, all contact was solely with Ruan Yongxing. Even the money was just transferred by him on schedule.

"Did they give you money for the child’s expenses?"

Liu Yumin’s hands were clasped in cold handcuffs, leaving two red marks on her wrists.

She said dejectedly, "They did... two hundred yuan a year."

"But they only paid for a few years. After the child turned ten, the payments stopped. After that, I had to grit my teeth and pay for everything myself."

"If you don’t believe me, go check the school records! She really studied until she was thirteen before dropping out!"

"If they hadn’t cut off the money, would I have made her quit school? I’m poor, but I’m not immoral! I had no money, I really couldn’t manage anymore, that’s the only reason I had her come home to work!"

"I raised her until she was eighteen, made sure she had enough food to eat, clothes to wear, and saw a doctor when she was sick... I have a clear conscience!"

At this point, she suddenly raised her voice, which cracked with emotion.

The more she thought about it, the more wronged she felt. She had done a bad thing, yes.

But when it came to the matter of Song Yao, she really didn’t feel she had done anything wrong.

’What did I do wrong?’

’I wasn’t good to her?’

’But it’s not like Song Yao came out of my own belly!’

’Why should I have to dote on her with all my heart and soul?’

’Besides, didn’t I raise Song Yao?’

’I fed her, clothed her, and sent her to school.’

’Back in my hometown, everyone would say I was accumulating good karma, right?’

’How is it that here, it’s become a crime worthy of prison?’

Liu Yumin had been in custody for less than ten days, and most of her hair had already turned white.

On the strength of her testimony alone, Yao Yuzhen was taken away again.

Because as soon as Liu Yumin started talking, Yao Yuzhen’s story about giving the child up for adoption for her own good immediately fell apart.

Liu Yumin insisted that she and Ruan Yongxing had been plotting how to get rid of the child ever since the pregnancy was confirmed.

Intentionally abandoning a child, and with long-term premeditation at that, was a direct escalation in the nature of the crime.

These words also reached the ears of Shen Zhenwu, verbatim.

He thought he had already seen the depths of her cold-heartedness.

But as one thing after another was peeled back, he realized he had been completely blind before.

Yao Yuzhen was escorted back to the police station.

When she saw Liu Yumin’s written testimony, she shot to her feet.

"She’s lying!"

Officer Peng didn’t even lift his eyes. "Which part is false?"

"The money! The first year, I gave her three hundred yuan, not even counting the grain and cloth ration coupons! Later, it increased to five hundred, and I paid it until the child was eighteen! I only stopped because she couldn’t get into university, otherwise, I would have paid more!"

Officer Peng flipped through the documents in his hand.

"We’ve investigated thoroughly. Ruan Yongxing did not transfer a single cent to Liu Yumin’s account after the child turned ten."

"Furthermore, the amount he sent was always exactly two hundred."

"Impossible!"

Yao Yuzhen shook her head, her lips pale.

’Over the years, she had secretly covered so many of Ruan Yongxing’s debts. His own salary wasn’t low, how could he not even scrape together this little bit of money...’

"Do you know Yang Wei?"

Officer Peng asked suddenly.

"Yang Wei?"

She froze.

"Yes, an old acquaintance of Ruan Yongxing. We followed the trail and discovered that all the money you transferred to Ruan Yongxing, every last bit of it, went straight into Yang Wei’s pocket. Was he in on this with you?"

Yao Yuzhen’s mind went BUZZ, and a few blurry images flashed before her eyes.

Her throat tightened. She dug her fingertips into her palm and blurted out.

"Why did he give the money to him?"

Officer Peng shook his head.

"We can only draw a conclusion after Yang Wei confesses."

He paused, opened the notebook beside him, and tapped a line of text with the tip of his pen.

"What we know so far is that Yang Wei has three bank cards under his name, all of which have financial transactions with Ruan Yongxing. Furthermore, none of these incoming or outgoing funds are supported by any contracts or receipts."

"Do you have anything else to say?"

Yao Yuzhen lowered her head, her throat dry.

"I want to see Ruan Yongxing."

Officer Peng nodded and immediately arranged the meeting with Ruan Yongxing for her.

In less than five minutes, the iron door was pushed open, and Ruan Yongxing was brought in.

The moment Ruan Yongxing appeared, his mouth dropped open.

"Did you ask Shen Zhenwu to pull some strings? Hurry up and beg him! I can’t go to jail! You were the one who told me to do this, it really has nothing to do with me!"

Yao Yuzhen stared at him, taking a long moment before forcing out a sentence.

"How much... how much money did you send Liu Yumin every year?"

"Huh?"

Ruan Yongxing froze, blinked, not understanding.

When he finally understood, he didn’t even bother to look up.

"I sent the amount you told me to!"

His tone was practiced and completely unapologetic.

"But the police checked. You only sent two hundred yuan a year. And after she turned ten, you cut it off completely."

Ruan Yongxing’s face instantly darkened.

"What’s the point of bringing up this old score now?"

He leaned forward, his shoulders tensed, his nostrils flared.

"Trying to pin the blame on me? Put it all on my head?"

"You were the one who came to me and said you didn’t want the child, so I handled it for you! And now you’re turning on me?"

He slapped his thigh hard.

"I remember exactly what you were wearing that day!"

Yao Yuzhen stared at his contorted face, a chill spreading through her heart.

"I... I wanted to adopt Shuangshuang..."

"Adopt?"

"Adopt?"

Ruan Yongxing slammed the table, repeating the question twice, making the plastic chair legs wobble.

The guard immediately coughed as a warning, and he shrank back into his chair.

His shoulders heaved as he panted, but his eyes remained fixed on Yao Yuzhen.

But Yao Yuzhen remained frozen.

’So from beginning to end, it was all just her own wishful thinking?’

As soon as he settled back down, he sneered sideways at her.

"You brought this on yourself! You had a good life right in front of you, but you just had to cause trouble. Your heart is colder than a knife. You threw away your own daughter without a second thought. She was only a month old when you stuffed her into that poor, remote mountain village! People there barely see a piece of meat all year round; a kid can’t even get a taste of grease!"

"You’re the one who did the deed, and now you’re turning around to interrogate me?"

"Trying to look like you have such a great conscience?"

"Don’t be ridiculous! I may be bad, but when it comes to ruthlessness, who can compare to you, Yao Yuzhen? You’re her biological mother! What’s that old saying? Even a cornered rabbit won’t bite its own young, but you? You snuffed out your own daughter with your own hands!"

"What’s the point of grilling me about the money now?"

"Did you really think that as soon as the money arrived, she’d be raised like a princess? Do you really think the Shen Family runs a charity?"

"Yao Yuzhen, are you out of your mind? You tell me, did she ever have a single hot meal?"

"Is there really anyone else like you, who treats their own flesh and blood like a dirty rag while treating someone else’s child like a precious treasure?"