CH 99

Miaomiao’s thoughts were all jumbled up. She uncovered some more clues about this mystery. If Tao Ming had truly uttered those cooing words to her in the past, and if he truly was honest about his feelings and wasn’t just trying to confuse her, then it would explain why she tolerated all of that humiliation in the past. But the abuse became so much of a problem that she could no longer fetter her emotions.

She saw nothing but darkness in her future; therefore, she felt that it just wasn’t worth fighting for. They had robbed her of her hope. She no longer had any dreams to strive for; therefore, she took this measure.

Miaomiao posted her findings online on purpose because she knew that many people tolerated such loathsome behavior if it was due to love; although love could be viewed as a form of madness if taken too far. Some might accept and forgive his terrible behavior if it was due to love.

Miaomiao didn’t want this.

Although her parents had spoiled her since her childhood and shielded her from the unfairness of the world, she could still empathize with peoples’ emotions such as suffering and despair, happiness and sadness.

Jingjing couldn’t understand why Ji Hao had taken her own life. She believed that she should’ve gone down swinging, at least that would’ve been better.

Miaomiao’s musings clouded her mind; she couldn’t fully comprehend Ji Hao’s bloodstained decision.

Miaomiao’s mood was all over the place; therefore, Zhou Yuan accompanied her to the place beyond the playground. The playground was glazed with moisture due to the heavy downpour of rain today. They couldn’t sit down on a bench there.

The evening segued into the night, and due to the suicide incident at school; therefore, the playground was bereft of people.

Miaomiao turned her head and said to Zhou Yuan, “That boy is a twisted pervert.”

That boy bullied the girl he claimed to have loved, suppressing her conation to do what she had desired. He was a real, bonafide pervert who treated his so-called beloved with malevolence. 

Miaomiao mused about this and felt a wave of depression overcome her. That girl labored away to obtain a good life. She managed to land a spot in a good high school, despite her destitute background with nothing but her effort. With her learning capabilities, a good university would’ve definitely accepted her.

Miaomiao sighed and turned to look at Zhou Yuan.

“Zhou Yuan.”

“Well, we’re here.”

“It doesn’t seem very fair to me,” Miaomiao whispered. “If there was just one person there to help her. If one person had been there, then maybe she wouldn’t have arrived at such a conclusion.”

Many people condemned Tao Ming, but some people believed that the girl was too fragile, unable to deal with the harshness of real life. But it wasn’t that simple. She wouldn’t have taken her own life if she could speak with someone who understood and didn’t just brush off her concerns as nothing more than trivialities.

Zhou Yuan patted her head, “I know.”

The two sat in silence. Then Miaomiao said, “Go back. It’ll cause a problem if you’re late.”

The two began walking towards the school’s entrance.

The school was devoid of students. Miaomiao suddenly questioned him, “Zhou Yuan, would you abuse the girl that you loved? Especially if your love for her becomes an unhealthy obsession?”

She just casually brought this up without any real thought.

Zhou Yuan turned his head and looked at her. She had grown from being a little girl to a big girl.

“No,” Zhou Yuan replied, “I like…”

He paused for a moment before continuing, “If I liked her, I would hold her sacred within my heart. I’ll worry about her every single day, even though both her IQ and EQ are quite high, and she could handle anything herself. But I’ll still worry about her well-being. I’m afraid of seeing her sad. I’m afraid of seeing her miserable.”

When Miaomiao heard Zhou Yuan’s response, she enskied him for his honesty. Within the confines of her heart, she realized that Zhou Yuan must have fallen in love with a very good person, so she replied, “Then, you two are a good match. Since you’re quite experienced in everything, I’m sure that you could handle whatever comes your way.”

As Miaomiao uttered this, a multitude of thoughts inundated her head; therefore, she didn’t notice that some discomforting feelings were beginning to manifest within her heart.

Although one could not betray their own feelings, they could sometimes be ignored.

Zhou Yuan’s eyes were wreathed in happiness when he heard her response. “I think we’re a good match, too,” he replied.

Miaomiao: “…” Zhou Yuan’s mentality has recently regressed to that of a child. Am I hallucinating? 

At night, Miaomiao fell asleep amidst the whispers of her roommates.

She slept restlessly that night. That boy’s response from earlier made her feel a fit of discomfort. It felt as if all the plans that I was looking forward to were shattered. It felt as if her hopes and dreams were all gone; this uncomfortable feeling surged in her heart.

Miaomiao looked up and saw the sun, which glowed brightly and beautifully. She squatted down, and then she heard the patter of footfalls outside. Fear and consternation smoldered from her eyes. And she subconsciously told herself not to move. Someone was coming…

Although Miaomiao was nescient of the person coming, she recalled it as if she already had a guess who it was.

Wait for a little while; then, you can go to grandmother’s house…

Then she heard an echoing voice laced with a grotesque eeriness.

Grandmother is dead…

Mother was stunned; she felt as if the sky had fallen. The world began shrinking, and only she and her inner despair personified as her worst fear remained there…

Suddenly, a wall appeared next to her. It was covered with blood.

Miaomiao suddenly awoke. She realized that it was just a dream; she sat up gasping for air.

She realized that it was just a dream. Fortunately for her, it was just a dream.

She looked at the time on her phone and saw that it was only 2:30 in the morning.

The dream felt so real. Miaomiao got up from her bed and grabbed a glass of water that was on a desk next to her.

She was very stressed recently; therefore, she had such a strange dream.

But…it felt so real.

Miaomiao was incognizant of what had happened during the earlier years of her life. She stayed in the dark until the age of five or six when they finally unfettered her to allow her into the outside world. Information was very limited.

After the age of seven, a deluge of new information inundated her mind, for she was finally unfettered and allowed to wander the outside world. She knew what others were already aware of. Blissful school memories filled her childhood. She spent her summers vacationing with her mother and father abroad and domestically, which led to some ebullient recollections, which recreated themselves in her mind. She also remembered that a mysterious villainous figure had captured her when she was a child, but her mother found and rescued her. At least, that was what Mother Hua had expounded to her.

Apparently, she found her via telepathy.

Miaomiao pressed her temples. Many things had happened recently, and these happenings had affected her greatly.

Zhou Yuan’s probing bore fruit, for the Education Bureau quickly issued a statement. The school apologized almost immediately for the teacher’s and school management’s dereliction of their duties. But the school didn’t divulge any information about Tao Ming.

Miaomiao also paid close attention to this matter since the school publicly promulgated their regrets about their situation, which caused the number of people mouthing their execrations and anger to dramatically decrease.

Most of them just wanted the school to apologize.

And concerning Tao Ming. There was news on the Internet about him. He was promulgating that he sent those threatening and defamatory messages because he loved her, but since she didn’t love her back, he decided to take a gamble and sent those slanderous messages.

Apparently, his parents buried themselves in their work, and his nanny had raised him, so he was unable to express his feelings properly. 

His statements were useless though since Miaomiao had revealed some rumors on the Internet yesterday, which began to spread and circulate to every corner of the Web. As a result, everyone believed that Tao Ming was trying to whitewash his past deeds.

Very few people have fallen for his schemes.

Zhou Yuan expounded to Miaomiao, “If the police discover the correct evidence, Tao Ming should be charged with slander and defamation.”

Miaomiao didn’t know anything about the law. Of course, she scoured the Internet for some information regarding this. But she found out that Tao Ming could not be held responsible.

Miaomiao combed through some websites for some information regarding the crime of slander. The more she examined it, the more she started to understand it. When she read the final website, she was stunned, “The only way to prosecute him was if he was reported?”

In other words, if his violation was done privately, he couldn’t be prosecuted? Am I understanding that correctly?

Zhou Yuan expounded further to Miaomiao, “Since the victim already had taken her own life, you could no longer prosecute him.”

This aggrieved Miaomiao, but she realized that she could at least make the other party pay.

Tao Ming never attended school again, and the school calmed down again. However, everyone had to use another gate to exit the school since the easternmost gate was now locked and closed.

After several months, they found out that he was on trial. The judge handed down his judgment. He was sentenced to three years in prison.

Eventually, the time for them to take their college entrance exams was edging closer and closer.

Miaomiao cried out in misery when she heard about this. First and second-year high school students had five consecutive days off due to the college exams.

Miaomiao helped her mother cook at home whenever she was home. Zhou Yuan called her to tell her the judge’s punishment for Tao Ming.

As the steam from the rice cooker rose out, Miaomiao hung up the phone and sat on the couch. 

After answering the phone and listening to Zhou Yuan’s explication about the trial’s result, a notion popped up in her head, “Three years? That’s it?”

Miaomiao pressed her temples in vexation. 

I’ve never had such an angry expression before, have I? 

She became consumed by her curiosity.

When I was a child, was it possible that the people who abducted me only served in prison for three years?

Miaomiao searched on the Internet, ‘How long do human traffickers have to stay in prison?’

There are several prison sentences, which have fixed durations, and they are usually more than five years but no more than ten. However, there are some special circumstances, which led to sentences of more than ten years. She saw one website mention a child who was in a similar situation to hers whose kidnappers caused grievous injuries to her.

There were a lot of scars on her body. She had to undergo a lot of scar removal procedures, and these scars showed how serious her injuries were.

No matter the situation, these types of kidnappers who purposefully injured, or even maimed, the child usually were handed ten-years behind bars.

Miaomiao didn’t think much of it, and put the words ‘human traffickers only have to serve three years in prison’ into the search engine.

Then, she noticed a related link, which stated that “the girl was abused by her biological parents. She was admitted to the intensive care unit. The parents were only sentenced to three years in prison.”

On a whim, Miaomiao clicked on the link.