Tian Jing narrowed her eyes. Did Li Zhengguo forget to tell her about this? Or was she not paying enough attention to her husband?
"You wait, I'll call back right now to ask. We must get this matter cleared up."
"Don't project your ideal man onto my husband, it's disgusting."
Zhao Xiaofang smiled triumphantly, "Alright, I'll wait for you. Anyway, the visiting hours today are not fixed."
Tian Jing borrowed the prison's landline to make a call.
Li Zhengguo was supervising work in the back mountain.
Accountant Zhou asked her to call back in half an hour, and he would go fetch him.
Ouyang Meihua asked Tian Jing who she was calling. Tian Jing simply said she had some private matters to ask Li Zhengguo about.
Half an hour later, Tian Jing called again, and the phone was immediately picked up, "Tiantian, is something wrong?"
Hearing her husband's panting voice on the other end, the slight awkwardness in Tian Jing's heart disappeared. She told her husband what Zhao Xiaofang had said.
Li Zhengguo denied it, "I was specially recruited when I was fifteen, but I never saved anyone who fell into the water, let alone a woman who wanted to repay me with herself."
Tian Jing hadn't expected such a twist, "Could she have imagined it?"
Li Zhengguo agreed, "It's possible. She felt she was sold by her family... Wait, let me think."
"I remember when Uncle Li Er came to ask for a spot in the army but didn't get it, Li Weiguo came to tell me he envied soldiers the most and asked me to lend him my uniform. I didn't lend it to him."
"The next day I went out for a bit, and when I came back, I found the uniform was gone. I quickly asked my mother, and she said it was borrowed by Weiguo."
"I ran to get it from Li Weiguo. The uniform was drying in the yard. He said he had washed it because he had worn it."
"I grabbed the wet uniform and came back, and asked my mother to wash it for me again."
"You know how long ago it was. If you hadn't mentioned family just now, I wouldn't have remembered this at all."
"Hehehehe."
Tian Jing laughed so hard her teeth showed.
"Hahahaha." Ouyang Meihua, who was eavesdropping, burst into laughter.
"Let's go, I'll accompany you in to see her expression."
Damai and Xiaomai sighed. How could they have such a mother?
After rescheduling the meeting, they waited for another half an hour.
Seeing Ouyang Meihua follow her in, Zhao Xiaofang didn't mind, "Did you find out?"
"I found out," Tian Jing nodded. "Li Zhengguo was indeed specially recruited and joined the army at fifteen."
Zhao Xiaofang was very excited, "Does he still remember me?"
"He remembers..." Seeing Zhao Xiaofang's delighted smile, Tian Jing continued, "He remembers that his uniform was borrowed by Li Weiguo..."
"...This is the truth. If you don't believe me, you can ask to see Li Weiguo. You're in the same unit anyway."
"No! No!"
Zhao Xiaofang shouted angrily, "You're lying! You're lying! You're jealous of me, you're jealous that Li Zhengguo and I had physical contact, and you're deliberately lying to me."
"Quiet!"
The prison guard's baton slapped against the wall with a crack.
Zhao Xiaofang turned around, "I want to see Li Weiguo, I want to see Li Weiguo from the men's ward."
Seeing Zhao Xiaofang's agitation, the prison guard could only escort her back.
Zhao Xiaofang struggled, "Tian Jing, don't leave. I'll see Li Weiguo right now. I must clarify this matter, or I won't die in peace."
Seeing Zhao Xiaofang's breakdown, Ouyang Meihua lost her desire to watch the drama.
"I suddenly feel she's quite pitiful. If Li Weiguo was unintentional, then forget it."
"If it was intentional, then it's too insidious. Let's just wait, don't let her die with regret."
They waited in the car until one in the afternoon. A prison guard came to notify Tian Jing to go in to see someone again, and only Tian Jing.
This time, they saw two people at once.
Zhao Xiaofang and Li Weiguo were each guarded by a prison guard.
Zhao Xiaofang looked listless.
Li Weiguo was in good spirits. Seeing Tian Jing, he smiled happily,
"Tian Jing, I'm very grateful you came to see me. My sentence has been reduced, and I'll be out in two years."
"I heard that outside is changing rapidly, and the village has also developed well. When I get out, I will definitely be a law-abiding person."
Tian Jing waved at him, "You know very well I'm not here to see you, yet you can say such things. It shows how thick-skinned you are."
"I just want to know who saved Zhao Xiaofang back then. Looking at Zhao Xiaofang's appearance, I already know without asking."
"Zhao Xiaofang, do you have anything else to say? If not, I'll be leaving now."
Zhao Xiaofang looked up, her eyes filled with a dead stillness.
"Please tell Li Liguo and Damai Xiaomai I'm sorry. I've failed them."
Tian Jing raised an eyebrow, "Is that all?"
Zhao Xiaofang shook her head.
Tian Jing glanced at Li Weiguo and asked Zhao Xiaofang, "Didn't you ask him why? Aren't you going to find something to expose him?"
"If you are executed, he will be out soon. Are you willing?"
"If it weren't for his misleading information, you would be living a happy life with Li Liguo now."
"I don't believe he saved you unintentionally. Think about Zhang Fangcao."
"I'm leaving now. I wish you a good journey."
The two prison guards exchanged glances and each led away the prisoner they were guarding.
Back in the car, Ouyang Meihua pressed for details.
Tian Jing told her truthfully.
Ouyang Meihua sighed, "She's truly pitiful, even more pitiful than Zhang Fangcao."
Tian Jing disagreed, "There's a reason for the pitiful. Drive on."
...
When Li Zhengguo learned that Li Weiguo's sentence had been reduced by three years, he smiled, "It was my arrangement. Don't worry, he won't get out."
Before the New Year, the village received a notice:
Li Weiguo leaked internal prison information and was sentenced to ten years. The previous sentence reduction reward was obtained by deception and trickery, invalidating the reward.
Zhang Fangcao, having behaved well in prison, had her sentence reduced by five years and would be released next year.
Tian Jing was relieved. She truly detested Li Weiguo.
Li Weikang, who was already married and had children, specifically took his child to visit his father in prison.
"Father, if you don't come out, we can pretend you're not here."
"If you come out, your grandson will be pointed at."
"If it weren't for the good development in our Kushan village, and having a father like you, I wouldn't have found a wife. Weiwei is still single."
"You say you have food and drink in prison, why do you want to come out? You only bring us harm."
"To get out early, you could even falsify information. I truly admire you."
"Now it's good, you have to stay for another fifteen years. After fifteen years, you'll be almost sixty. Coming out will only be a disaster for us."
"In the past ten years, the reputation I've worked so hard to regain has been torn up and trampled on by you in an instant."
"My only hope is that you continue to work hard, get your sentence extended, and die in prison."
"Don't worry, I'll definitely come to collect your body and bury you in the ancestral grave."
"Get out!" Li Weiguo roared in anger.
Unable to find evidence to clear his name and facing an extended sentence, he was still touched when his eldest son brought his grandson to see him.
Who knew his eldest son came to urge him to die in prison? How could he stand it?
Li Weikang soothed his frightened son, "Look at you, your first meeting with my son is filled with harm. How will this go in the future? I'm leaving. Stay well."
Li Weiguo stood there speechless.
If he had known, he should have drowned this unfilial son back then.