Xing Sha saw Liu Qinye, bound by chains to the bed. Liu Qinye looked back at him and grinned ferociously again. However, he didn't go mad this time. Perhaps it was because father and son appeared together, Liu Qinye finally regained some clarity. Xing Sha stared at Liu Qinye, "You're not dead."
"Haha, how could I die before seeing your Xing family fall? If anyone dies, it should be you first!" Liu Qinye glanced behind Xing Sha, as if searching for someone. "Where is that bitch? Weren't you two very much in love? Why isn't she here?" The person he spoke of was naturally Xie Qin Jia.
Xing Sha's expression turned cold. Xing Zheng saw the anger and warning in his eyes. He must have strongly disliked Liu Qinye mentioning Xie Qin Jia. "Do you even deserve to see her?"
"If I don't deserve it, who does? You? If I hadn't saved her back then, she would have been dead long ago. You ungrateful wretches plotted against me. You deserve to have your son die, haha...!"
Liu Qinye's words were arrogant, especially when mentioning Xing Yan's death, he gloated with smug satisfaction. Xing Zheng and Xing Sha's faces were exceptionally grim.
Xing Zheng saw Xing Sha go and grab Liu Qinye by the neck. Astonishment flashed in his eyes. If he remembered correctly, this should be the first time he saw Xing Sha physically confront anyone. The veins on his hand bulged as if he were about to strangle the delirious man on the bed to death.
Liu Qinye's breathing became difficult as his neck was gripped, but he refused to yield or show weakness. He struggled with all his might, shouting, "Haha, you're choking me? If you have the guts, go find Zhao Rong. That bitch wore so many green hats for you behind your back. She's just a used rag, and only you would think she's innocent!"
Liu Qinye mentioned Zhao Rong again. Xing Sha loosened his grip on his neck slightly, "What do you know?"
"Heh, you think... you were the only one looking for that bitch back then? That bitch and Zhao Rong were already secretly involved before you. Zhao Rong even took my son to the Zhao family to raise him for her, hahaha..."
Even while being choked, Liu Qinye did not alter his arrogant demeanor. "You are all fools, eating what I've left behind and thinking it's a treasure! Xie Qin Jia is my wife, even in death!"
*Crack!*
Xing Sha slammed Liu Qinye's head against the headboard. The force was so brutal that his back of the head collided with the headboard with a violent thud. Bright red blood flowed down, but Xing Sha ignored it and continued to torment him.
Liu Qinye's arrogance vanished, and he began to beg for mercy like a madman. Xing Zheng naturally did not intervene. However, seeing Xing Sha fight someone like this for the first time, Xing Zheng was extremely surprised.
Liu Qinye was eventually beaten into unconsciousness by Xing Sha. Only when the man went into shock did Xing Sha calm down. He took a breath and said to Xing Zheng, "Let's go upstairs and talk." His voice was hoarse.
Xing Zheng and Xing Sha went to the living room. The father and son sat down. Xing Sha felt his pockets and found them empty, so he asked Xing Zheng for a cigarette. Xing Zheng handed him a cigarette and a lighter. Seeing him smoking dejectedly, he asked, "What did he mean by saving her?"
If Liu Qinye was just talking nonsense, why would Xing Sha lose control and beat him to death like that?
"I wronged her." The taste of tobacco spread through his lungs, and the air before him was filled with swirling smoke.
Xing Sha's face was obscured by the smoke. Time rewound thirty-two years. He was twenty-three then, and Xie Qin Jia was twenty. They met in university. Xing Sha had started dating Xie Qin Jia when she was nineteen.
They were two years apart. When Xing Sha graduated, Xie Qin Jia was still studying. After graduation, Xing Sha joined the family business. Rong Shi was not Rong Shi then, nor was it as large. Coinciding with the economic trend, Xing Sha, with his extraordinary intellect and methods, seized the opportunity, and his career soared, making him increasingly busy.
On Xie Qin Jia's twentieth birthday, Xing Sha accompanied her on a trip to a small town in Southern Sichuan. Xie Qin Jia was a true literary youth, favoring such off-the-beaten-path places. They took a green-skinned train for several days, eventually arriving at the small town in Southern Sichuan. They were supposed to stay for a week, but after celebrating Xie Qin Jia's birthday, Xing Sha had to rush back due to an urgent work matter.
Xie Qin Jia did not want to abandon their travel plans and asked him to ignore work and accompany her for the rest of the trip. Xing Sha thought she was being childish and didn't understand him. They had a huge argument during the trip, and finally, Xing Sha bought a train ticket and returned to Nanjiang, leaving Xie Qin Jia to travel alone in Southern Sichuan.
Later, this decision became Xing Sha's most regrettable one in his life. If he had known that his departure would cause Xie Qin Jia to go missing for nearly two years, he would never have left her alone in such a dangerous place, no matter how important the work was!
This was a memory Xing Sha had been unwilling to recall for decades. Now that he had spoken it, his emotions were close to breaking down. Xing Zheng beside him was no different.
Xing Sha's story, combined with what Liu Qinye had said, was enough to piece together a narrative. "She had a car accident there, and Liu Qinye saved her, and then they got together?" His voice was hoarse and heavy.
"No." Their voices, father and son, were remarkably similar when they were dejected.
Xing Sha plunged back into that memory and said, "She had amnesia because of the car accident. Liu Qinye deceived her."
Liu Qinye was then twenty-five or twenty-six, of marriageable age, but because he lacked education and ability, and was also a gambler, none of his peers were willing to marry him. He happened to rescue Xie Qin Jia, who had been in a car accident, by the roadside. Discovering that Xie Qin Jia had lost her memory, he lied to her, claiming to be her husband. Xie Qin Jia believed him and returned home with Liu Qinye after being discharged from the hospital.
At that time, Xie Qin Jia regarded Liu Qinye as her beloved, even though Liu Qinye was lazy, drank heavily, and gambled, she endured it because of his "life-saving grace." Fearing that Xie Qin Jia would regain her memory, Liu Qinye wanted a child to tie her down. Thus, Xie Qin Jia became pregnant soon after, and at the age of twenty-one, she gave birth to Zhao Jiang He.
After the child was born, Xie Qin Jia regained her memory and wanted to find Xing Sha. Liu Qinye, enraged, refused to let her go, and the two had a conflict.
After Xie Qin Jia went missing, Xing Sha never gave up searching for her. From the cities around Southern Sichuan, to provinces across the country, and even to small countries bordering the borders, his search lasted for nearly two years.
After finding Xie Qin Jia, Xing Sha went to meet Liu Qinye and took Xie Qin Jia away from him. At that time, Xie Qin Jia had been tormented by Liu Qinye to the point of mental instability and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder.
When Xing Sha learned the test results at the hospital, he intended to kill Liu Qinye, but Xie Qin Jia stopped him, crying and telling him that if Liu Qinye died, there would be no one to look after the child, and the child was innocent.
Xing Sha even wanted to kill the child along with Liu Qinye at that time, but seeing Xie Qin Jia's tears, he softened.
Now, he regretted it immensely, "I should have eliminated them both, father and son, back then."