When his wife, Ding Xia, opened the back door for him, Qiu Yong frowned. He didn't question why she had lied to him. He simply bent down and sat in the back seat, glancing at his wife on his left. He kept his mouth tightly shut and didn't say a word, his brows furrowing even more deeply.
"Master, Lane 198, Tianyuan Road."
Ding Xia didn't explain. Seeing her husband made her feel better, but the fear deep inside her intensified.
Lin Yao didn't lie to herself. Her husband, Qiu Yong, was entangled with that viper-like woman, Ji Rong. She had no choice but to have her husband immediately start transferring funds and relocating their relatives to other provinces and cities. Then, she would try to get them immigrated. Finally, she would give Ji Rong a good stab and end that venomous woman's life. It would be her last responsibility in this world.
The three of them got out of the taxi. Lin Yao paid the fare and then followed the couple into the villa's hall in silence.
"This is Lin Yao from Chengdu Minhong. Minhong is owned by his family. He came to Taiyuan to help me deal with the people who harmed me."
Ding Xia first made tea for Lin Yao and her husband Qiu Yong, and then sat on the small sofa next to her husband, introducing Lin Yao in a calm tone.
"The person who harmed you?! Wasn't it Minhong who harmed you? I told you not to go for beauty treatments, and now you're almost dead!"
Qiu Yong was like a powder keg that had been lit, and he suddenly erupted in fury. His loud voice, combined with his gesticulating movements, made him look quite terrifying.
Ding Xia laughed, and Lin Yao laughed too. They both knew that Qiu Yong's excitement and anger stemmed from his concern and his hatred for Ding Xia's previous reckless behavior.
“Brother Yong, you’re a smart man. Minhong has over a thousand branches nationwide, nearly two thousand hospitals, and more than ten million people have taken their medicines. How could it be that only I was poisoned while everyone else is fine? Some members don’t even show any signs of poisoning. Am I just that unlucky?”
Ding Xia seemed to have returned to the past. In the past, whenever she persuaded her husband to accept her business philosophy and solutions, she always used this gentle attitude, using reason and facts to convince her impulsive husband.
At that moment, she suddenly experienced a long-lost feeling of happiness.
Qiu Yong glanced at his wife in front of him with a strange look. He felt as if he had returned to the past, to that warm and happy life that made his soul tremble. Now he was filled with longing for it.
Qiu Yong sat down obediently on his main sofa and mumbled in a gruff voice, "Go on, I'm listening."
Ding Xia's smile widened. She felt her husband's affection and tenderness towards her. All the previous neglect was caused by the trap set by Ji Rong.
Lin Yao looked at everything in front of him calmly, feeling quite gratified. He knew that his initial assumption that her husband had conspired with his lover to murder his wife was incorrect. Qiu Yong's behavior was a testament to Ding Xia's deep affection for him, the kind of affection that she would rather give her own life to protect.
“Minhong never allows members to take their special medicines outside. The medicines I usually take at home are fake, they are all poisons. It is these poisons that have killed me and are about to take my life.”
Before Ding Xia could even finish speaking, Qiu Yong jumped up from the sofa in shock. "What happened? Who hurt you? Tell me! I'll go chop him up!"
"Sit down. There are guests here. What kind of behavior is this, jumping around and shouting like this?"
Ding Xia's words of reproach were gentle, without any hint of scolding, only the feeling of a mother spoiling her child, which instantly calmed the irritable Qiu Yong down. He sat back on the sofa, staring wide-eyed at his wife, waiting for her answer.
"They persuaded me that women get old and lose their beauty, and that their husbands are more likely to change their minds. They dragged me to register as a member at Minhong, and then from time to time they would get me so-called authentic beauty drugs from inside the hospital. But they would secretly add something highly poisonous to the herbal soup for me to drink. Then they would deliberately use my phone to send a lewd text message to a man. Then they would take me shopping and pretend to be tired and need to rest. We would book a room at the Pingyuan Hotel, and then coincidentally a man I had never seen before would appear. And you would coincidentally appear in room 403 and catch them in the act."
Ding Xia spoke slowly, but the resentment and unwillingness in her tone were very obvious, which made Qiu Yong, who was listening to the story, clench his fists so tightly that the veins on his neck and forehead bulged.
Qiu Yong was very angry and furious. This was the first time he had heard the truth. All his previous doubts and resentment towards his wife disappeared, replaced by deep self-blame. He blamed himself for doubting his wife, with whom he had shared so many years of marriage, and for realizing that their years of marital affection could not withstand the instigation of an outsider.
His wife wanted to become fairer and please him, but he cruelly stabbed her in the heart when she was most distressed and needed comfort the most. Qiu Yong felt that he was too cowardly and a terrible person.
Tears finally streamed down the face of this honest and straightforward Shanxi man, like beads from a broken string, falling onto his chest, the sofa, and the floor. He finally couldn't hold back his sobs and began to cry quietly.
"My poor Xia..."
Ding Xia couldn't help but rush to her husband's side, and the couple hugged each other and cried.
After a long silence, Qiu Yong raised his tear-filled face and asked, "Xia, who is it? Who is so cruel? Tell me!"
"It's Ji Rong! That venomous woman, Ji Rong, she ruined my whole family! I will make her pay!"
Ding Xia's eyes were filled with hatred as she gritted her teeth and squeezed out those words, which sent a chill down Lin Yao's spine.
In an instant, Qiu Yongquan understood everything.
Ever since his wife Ding Xia met Ji Rong, this charming and alluring woman had been very enthusiastic towards him. At first, it was just enthusiasm; she even publicly declared herself to be his brother, acting like a little sister in front of him, but never doing anything that crossed the line. There might have been some ambiguity, but it was very subtle.
Ding Xia, Ding Rong's wife, and Ji Rong were best friends, almost inseparable. Ever since Ding Xia was diagnosed with a health problem, Ji Rong had been busy taking care of her and taking her to the hospital for treatment. Ji Rong was also often responsible for keeping Ding Xia in touch with Qiu Yong.
I remember that time I stumbled upon the affair at the Pingyuan Hotel. Ji Rong claimed that a friend needed funds and invited me to the Pingyuan Hotel. The location was room 405, next to where my wife was having an affair. It was too much of a coincidence.
Afterwards, Qiu Yong believed his wife's explanation and ignored the incident. Ji Rong also often comforted him privately, saying that Ding Xia was a good sister and a good wife, and would never do anything to betray her husband.
However, several times when Ji Rong took Qiu Yong home from work to visit his sick wife, they encountered the man who had been having sex with his wife at home, or even at the gate of the villa, seemingly having just finished. Jealousy and suspicion became uncontrollable, and his wife's betrayal became a reality. At that time, Qiu Yong felt as if the sky had fallen, that life was utterly awful and had lost all its joy.
From then on, Ji Rong became even more caring and considerate towards Qiu Yong. Finally, on a gloomy afternoon, under the influence of alcohol and a desire for revenge, Qiu Yong and Ji Rong ended up in bed together in room 1108 of the "Pingyuan Hotel".
Upon hearing his wife Ding Xia's account, Qiu Yong instantly understood the whole story. He even suspected that he might have been drugged when he slept with Ji Rong, because he had no such thoughts at the time. Afterwards, he felt dizzy and incomprehensible, a feeling completely different from being drunk.
Although Qiu Yong's subsequent affair with Ji Rong occurred while he was sober, the desire for revenge after the first time naturally led to a second, a third, and eventually, a habit.
Later on, Ji Rong completely abandoned Ding Xia, her former best friend, and only spoke ill of Ding Xia in front of Qiu Yong.
"This woman is a viper! Everything was premeditated! Her goal was to kill his wife and seize his family fortune!"
Qiu Yong had reached a conclusion in his mind, and his anger erupted uncontrollably. He abruptly helped his wife, Ding Xia, up, rushed to the kitchen, and grabbed a gleaming kitchen knife.
"I'm going to kill that viperous woman and make her pay with her life!"
"Brother Yong! Wait a minute!"
Ding Xia cried her heart out, her face streaked with tears, and she slumped back onto the sofa. Although she had Lin Yao's "antidote," the shock and joy she had experienced had already taken a toll on her already weakened body.
"Xia! What's wrong with you?! Go to the hospital, we need to go to the hospital right now! I'll never leave you again! I deserve to die! I deserve to die the most!"
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