“I’ll help you get this thing done, but... but you have to be prepared. He’s unlikely to get the death penalty. I’ll get Xia Zhe to check on their family’s business and see if there’s anything we can use to make sure he gets a heavier sentence. Other than that, there’s nothing much we can do,” Qiao Mei said regretfully.
Based on the current situation, Ma San would at most be sentenced to 15 years in jail. If Xia Zhe could manage to find evidence of more crimes, Ma San might be sentenced to a few more years in jail. However, there was not enough evidence to send Ma San to his grave.
Qian’e put her palms together and shook her head at Qiao Mei. She did not want to speak at all. Instead of saying that she did not want to speak, it would be more accurate to say that she had lost the ability to speak and could not make any sound at all.
During this era, there were still very few well-trained psychiatrists. Even if a person had a psychological problem, there was no way to get treatment. Most people would think that it was because the person was melodramatic or had weird thoughts and was mentally ill. They would not think that such issues were treatable.
In everyone’s eyes, this was a shameful thing and a disgrace to the family! If anybody had a mentally ill family member, everyone would laugh at their family!
Qiao Mei handed the statement to Luo Yu and told him to deliver it to Xia Zhe personally. She told him that he must witness Xia Zhe keeping it away safely before he could come back and that he must protect it with his life. He could not let this statement fall into the hands of the He, Shen or Ma families.
Luo Yu immediately realized the severity of the matter and swore that he would not disappoint Qiao Mei and would complete the task well. Qiao Mei still needed to stay at the hospital to keep an eye on Qian’e and monitor her state of mind. In addition, Qiao Mei herself had not fully recovered yet and it was really not suitable for her to keep traveling back and forth.
Qian’e felt a lot better when she saw Qiao Mei staying behind to accompany her. Qiao Mei asked tentatively, “Do you... want to know anything about Zheng Peng?”
At the mention of Zheng Peng, Qian’e had sadness and resentment in her eyes. She knew that she should not blame Zheng Peng for not helping her and being with her at this time, but she still could not help herself.
During this most difficult time of her life, it was Qiao Mei and Xia He who helped her. She often used the landline at her house to make phone calls to Zheng Peng’s house. The police had previously checked the items in her house, so they must have found out about this. In that case, the police must have already contacted the Zheng family.
She had tried to attack Qiao Mei so many times and even wanted to snatch Xia Zhe away from her and harm her babies. However, Qiao Mei still lent her a helping hand when she was in danger. Xia He also did her best to help her get through these difficult times, but the Zheng family ignored her situation completely even after receiving the phone call from the police. They did not even bother to send someone to take a cursory look.
Qian’e was completely disappointed in Zheng Peng. He had indeed tried his best to resist the Zheng family, but he still could not escape the restraints they put on him. In that case, she would only cause more trouble for Zheng Peng in the future as the Zheng family would never allow her to marry Zheng Peng.
Whatever happened to Xia Wen and Tan Jing was the perfect example. People like her should not cause trouble for others. Zheng Peng should find a nice and innocent girl, not someone like her.
There was no longer any light in her eyes, which looked like pools of stagnant water. They had lost their original shine.
“Qiao Mei... I want to... go home...” Qian’e said with great effort. Her voice was so soft that it was difficult to hear her clearly. Qiao Mei had to keep leaning closer to make out what she was saying.
However, it was not suitable for Qian’e to go back and recuperate at home in her current condition. It was not possible for Qiao Mei to bring Qian’e to Xu Lan’s place either. She wondered... perhaps she could bring Qian’e to her own house and ask Li Gui and Xu Kang to help take care of her.
“Based on your current state, you still need to recuperate in the hospital for a period of time. We’ll go back when you’ve almost recovered, alright?” Qiao Mei said patiently.
Qian’e nodded obediently, but then she turned around and shed a single tear. She had no one to rely on now. Even if it was a matter of life and death, she had to face it alone. She felt really lucky to have met Qiao Mei.
In the afternoon, Zhuang Hua and Zheng Yuan brought Zheng Peng to the hospital. He sat in a wheelchair and looked very tired. It would not be hard to convince people that he was a vagrant. After half a month of resistance, Zheng Su finally compromised. However, Zheng Su only agreed to let Zheng Peng go to the hospital to see Qian’e and did not agree to anything else.
“Qiao Mei! Can I go in and see her?” Zheng Peng asked anxiously.
Qiao Mei greeted Zhuang Hua and Zheng Yuan first before looking at Zheng Peng sternly and saying, “You should... go back...”