Surprised, the young man cried out in pain as he sat up and forcefully kicked away Lin Guozhiâs foot.
Seeing this, the crowd realized the man was faking it, and many of them laughed disdainfully.
"Oh dear, heâs pretending to be dead to extort people," laughed someone. "Itâs the first time Iâve seen someone extort like this, full of energy; he must do this often."
The manâs words caused the surrounding people to burst into laughter.
Lin Wan looked at these people, thinking they were like clowns. Itâs hard to imagine who came up with such a crude plan.
Seeing the situation turning against them, Li Yongfang lowered his head, his eyeballs rolling as he quickly thought of a plan.
They came today intending to extort Lin Guozhi. He brought a knife initially planning to slash him twice, since it was Lin Guozhi who caused the death of his parents. This resentment had to be avenged. He had planned to catch him off guard, slash him twice, then injure himself to frame Lin Guozhi. Even his wife, son, and grandchildren could share in the disgrace.
Eventually, they would claim it was all done by Lin Guozhi. As a former military officer, naturally, he couldnât be taken away by the police, and alerting them would surely affect him.
He intended to use this as an opportunity to blackmail Lin Guozhi. Who knows, maybe he could use this as leverage in the future; even if he lost his job, he wouldnât have to worry about his livelihood.
They chose such a conspicuous location, hoping to quickly resolve the matter and attract a large crowd. Once people saw the disadvantaged party, they would surely side with them. He hadnât expected Lin Guozhi, even at his old age, to react so quickly. Had he known, he would have targeted the two women behind him instead.
He had even decided where he would slash himself, just to evoke sympathy from the spectators. But to his surprise, people in the compound knew about Lin Guozhiâs affairs.
Shouldnât such matters be kept secret? How did word spread everywhere?
This wasnât favorable for them.
Suddenly, Li Yongfang started crying loudly, stepping forward to grab Lin Guozhiâs hand. "Brother, these years we were wrong, it was my fault, but I had no choice. Our family was too poor to even put food on the table. Our parents were strict with us kids; perhaps there were some misunderstandings. Canât we just talk it out face to face? Why must things become so strained? Now even our parents are dead because of you. Isnât your heart appeased? The family is truly in difficulty. Your nephew is lazy, idle every day, and unemployed. Iâm the only one making money, and Iâm already so old with a family to support. Brother, please, show mercy and spare us. Iâm begging you," said Li Yongfang, crying as he knelt before Lin Guozhi.
This move attracted the sympathy of some onlookers who didnât know the full story, and for a moment, some people started pointing fingers at the entire family.
"Whatâs going on? Brothers killing each other?"
"Seems like it. Look at that knife nearby. Tsk tsk, itâs shocking."
"Isnât he a former military officer? How can he do such things? What unit is he from? Why not report him to his unit?"
"Right."
Hearing the murmurs, Lin Guozhi wasnât fazed. He took a step back, glaring coldly at Li Yongfang.
He said coldly, "Back when you beat me and refused to give me food, didnât I also kneel and beg you? What did you do? Not an ounce of mercy, you beat me even harder. Do you want to see the scars on my body? The scars you left on me are more than those from the battlefield; I canât even count them. Now, you have the nerve to beg me. Hah... not having your entire family jailed is already gracious."
"Brother, we..." Li Yongfang got anxious upon hearing this, shuffling forward on his knees to grab Lin Guozhi, who didnât want to be touched by him, pulling his wife and daughter back a bit. "Donât call me Brother. I donât have a brother like you."
"Even if theyâre in the wrong, you canât be so heartless. Theyâre old... "
"So what if theyâre old? Theyâre just old bad people," Lin Wan interrupted them sharply.
"You little girl, what do you know? When your father was with our family, you werenât even born. What do you know?" Li Yongfang, seeing that the crowd was beginning to sympathize with them, was about to seize the moment, but the little girl interrupted, making him unwillingly mutter, "Shut up!" At the main entrance, someone wielded a knife, saying they were targeting the Lin familyâs eldest.
The elderly couple couldnât sit still, hurrying over with the second son to check. Unexpectedly, they heard what the eldest son had just said.
Mrs. Lin, hearing this, wiped tears from her eyes at the side.
Her son wasnât well protected when he was young, and now grown, he doesnât need protection, but hearing the shamelessness of the Li Family made Mr. Lin Senior feel sending them to jail was too lenient.
"Your parents committed crimes and escaped justice for so many years. Now their retribution has come, and we handed them over to the labor reform team as a punishment for their past deeds. Jail time is inevitable. The conditions in the labor reform team arenât good; who doesnât know that? Donât think I donât know; you didnât even send them cotton-padded jackets in winter, causing them to fall sick from the cold. If you, as family, had shown a bit of care, they wouldnât have ended up like this. If thereâs blame, it should be on you, the unfilial descendants. Itâs your responsibility. Yet, youâre seeking retribution from us. I think youâre tired of living. Today, our Lin Family will settle the accounts of how your Li Family mistreated my eldest son over the years. My eldest son just said that when he was eleven or twelve, you beat him into a coma? Did that happen?"
Seeing the arrival of Lin Guozhiâs family, and with things taking a bad turn, Li Yongfang quickly gestured to his wife to retreat.
Lin Yinghui wouldnât let them succeed, prepared to kick anyone who tried to leave the circle. The surrounding compound residents also blocked them tightly.
For a moment, they were dumbfounded.
"After bullying my eldest son for so many years, they even deserve to die. I wish I could tear off her flesh, drink her blood to quell the hatred of losing my child back then. You heartless people, how dare you mistreat my son, see if I donât beat you to death," Grandma Lin said, lamenting as she pounded her chest. Her son, whom she raised as a precious one, when sent to their home, had to serve like an ox, frequently beaten, scolded, and deprived of food. These people should have been dead long ago.
Grandma Lin, saying so, lifted her cane to strike Li Yongfang.
Lin Guozhi and Liang Hongmei quickly held her back, "Mom, weâll handle these people. Donât be upset."
"How can I not be upset when these heartless individuals mistreated my son?"
"Mom, rest assured, we will certainly deal with it," Lin Guowen comforted his mother.
Lin Guowen saw the police approaching from afar, and he turned, pulling out a file and confronting Li Yongfang, "For years, youâve been impersonating Li Yongcan at the factory. That was the name given when your parents kidnapped my brother. During your tenure, you took advantage of your position to receive bribes, amounting to over twenty thousand yuan."
"So thatâs how it is; we thought they were wrongly accused just now."
"Yes, yes, we should watch carefully before speaking next time."
"Oh, heâs a âten-thousand-yuanâ holder," teased the spectators, laughing heartily.
"Such people should have been jailed long ago."
"You not only took bribes but also embezzled public funds and falsified accounts. Inside this folder is evidence of every bribe and every fraudulent account youâve made over the years. Although youâve been harsh to my elder brother, youâve refrained from selling him off. My elder brother, remembering this, didnât expose you and only asked for your removal from office. But since you refuse to acknowledge this kindness and insist on going all out, donât blame us now."
After Lin Guowen finished speaking, seeing the police had arrived and one of them was a familiar face, he said, "Officer Wang, sorry to trouble you with this matter," handing the file directly to Officer Wang.
"Xiao Wang, make sure to handle tonightâs incident impartially. This family, wielding a knife, attempted murder; it must be properly dealt with," instructed Mr. Lin Senior, who was familiar with Officer Wang.
Officer Wang replied without hesitation, "Mr. Lin, Brother Lin, Second Brother Lin, rest assured, I will handle it impartially and not let any criminal off."
Li Yongfang, dragging his entire family into this mess, found his years of deeds exposed by the Lin Family, leaving him stunned.
Apparently, he underestimated the situation, thinking Lin Guozhiâs absence indicated lingering feelings for their family. Who knew, Lin Guozhi simply loathed them too much to want to see them anymore.
Without pressing them to the last extremity, he had instead jeopardized his own family.
For a moment, he was bewildered, not even knowing how he ended up in custody, hearing only the cries of his wife and children around him.