Chapter 61

The two walked towards the small dock, discussing the president of the Touch Face Society, Hu Wenxuan.

The person in front waved at them, "Qingying, over here."

"Xiaolin, you're here?" Yu Qingying ran over to Wang Xiaolin. Tang Zhendong followed behind.

Before Yu Qingying reached her, Wang Xiaolin saw Tang Zhendong behind her. Yu Qingying hugged Wang Xiaolin, "Xiaolin, you came early?"

"Oh, I just got here too."

"Right," Yu Qingying pulled Tang Zhendong behind her, "This is our classmate, Tang Zhendong. You haven't forgotten him, right? Tang Zhendong, this is Wang Xiaolin. You should remember her. The person next to her is Xu Zhijun, the chief editor of our newspaper, and Xiaolin's boyfriend."

Yu Qingying introduced the three to each other. Tang Zhendong didn't expect to meet Wang Xiaolin here, and Wang Xiaolin didn't expect to meet Tang Zhendong here either.

Wang Xiaolin and Tang Zhendong were from the same town, a place called Quanshui Town in the suburbs of Haicheng, and they were also junior high school classmates who both got into Haicheng No. 1 High School and were coincidentally in the same class.

In fact, their relationship as classmates and townspeople was quite close. However, Wang Xiaolin always felt guilty towards Tang Zhendong. The story between them was as follows:

In the winter at Haicheng No. 1 High School, it was usually dark during evening study sessions. One time, Wang Xiaolin was so engrossed in her homework that she forgot to buy dinner and was late. In the small market behind the school, she encountered a few small-time thugs who tried to molest her. Coincidentally, Tang Zhendong was also late from playing basketball and happened to pass by the market. He stepped in to teach the thugs a lesson. However, Tang Zhendong was strong from a young age, and when the thugs were being taught a lesson, two of them pulled out knives. In a panic, Tang Zhendong kicked one of the thugs to death.

Because of this incident, Tang Zhendong was sentenced to eight years in prison.

In reality, Tang Zhendong should have been considered a hero for his actions, especially since the thugs were in a group and had pulled out knives. Even if he had killed one of them, it shouldn't have been such a severe sentence, at most it would have been considered excessive self-defense. If it weren't for the fact that the father of the thug who was killed was the chief of the police station in the area where Haicheng No. 1 High School was located, Tang Zhendong might have even received a commendation for bravery.

Because Dong Aiguo was the chief of the police station, he naturally couldn't let Tang Zhendong off easily. He found connections in the court and the prosecutor's office and then found Wang Xiaolin, threatening her to make her withdraw from the entire incident.

Wang Xiaolin was just an ordinary student from the countryside, and she was terrified by the situation, not daring to tell anyone. Dong Aiguo also threatened her parents, who lived far away in the town. As a result, when Tang Zhendong's case most needed her testimony, Wang Xiaolin did not stand up.

Without the element of saving someone, Tang Zhendong's act of bravery turned into a fight, making it easier for Dong Aiguo to manipulate the situation. After the fight, he accidentally killed someone. However, Dong Aiguo, who had worked in the police station for many years, still had a sense of party loyalty. Although his son was dead, he didn't dare to make the incident too big. If he had directly labeled the case as murder and sentenced Tang Zhendong to the death penalty, Dong Aiguo would have been risking his career. Changing a heroic act into a revenge killing would have completely overturned the justice system, giving his political opponents a powerful weapon to attack him.

Everything has its limits. Although Dong Aiguo's son was dead and it was his son's fault, slightly punishing the person who killed his son would not have raised any objections, even from his political enemies, who could understand Dong Aiguo's actions.

If it were anyone else, they might not have let it go either. This was a political trade-off, and everyone could understand it.

However, if Dong Aiguo had insisted on the death penalty, his political enemies would have jumped out to bring him down.

At that time, Tang Zhendong was just an ordinary high school student who had never seen much of the world. His parents were simple farmers. When they saw that their son had killed the son of a police chief and was only sentenced to eight years, they didn't think of appealing and quietly accepted the verdict.

Tang Zhendong spent eight years in prison. During this time, he had many opportunities to reduce his sentence, but he gave them all up because he was learning the profound Ghost Valley internal skills and feng shui techniques from his master Xu Zhuo.

Tang Zhendong was a person who believed in cause and effect. Although Wang Xiaolin didn't stand up for him at the critical moment, he didn't bear any grudge against her. Because of this cause, Tang Zhendong was fortunate to meet his master Xu Zhuo and learn the mysterious feng shui techniques.

However, Wang Xiaolin didn't think the same way. She regretted her cowardice at the time and didn't stand up to Dong Aiguo's threats. If she had another chance, she would have bravely stood up in court to clear Tang Zhendong's name.

Of course, this was also because after graduating, Wang Xiaolin worked at the Haicheng Daily, broadening her horizons and knowledge. With her current position at the newspaper, she had the power to bring down a police chief with her pen.

However, since she was in this position, she wouldn't use this ultimate move unless absolutely necessary. Because of her inaction towards Dong Aiguo, she felt particularly indebted to Tang Zhendong. She felt that she was the main culprit behind his eight-year imprisonment.

This is why Wang Xiaolin had been avoiding Tang Zhendong, including after she and Yu Qingying met him by chance at the Haicheng Hotel. When Yu Qingying told her about it, Wang Xiaolin didn't dare to see Tang Zhendong and hurried Yu Qingying back to the table.

Wang Xiaolin didn't expect to meet Tang Zhendong here today, and it seemed that Yu Qingying and Tang Zhendong were dating. Her gaze was somewhat evasive, and she didn't dare to look at Tang Zhendong.

"Hello," Tang Zhendong showed no signs of discomfort, shook hands with Xu Zhijun, and nodded at Wang Xiaolin, whose gaze was evasive. "Wang Xiaolin and I are not only in the same class but also from the same town. We are classmates and townspeople."

Hearing this, Wang Xiaolin felt even more embarrassed. With such a close relationship, she had let fear stop her from helping Tang Zhendong at a critical moment. She felt deep regret, as if poison was gnawing at her heart.

Yu Qingying also noticed Wang Xiaolin's discomfort, "Xiaolin, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"

"Maybe I got up too early this morning and caught a cold from the wind."

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