"How did it start with a three-year sentence?"
Lin Fan’s voice drifted over, immediately causing everyone to turn their heads.
Zhu Zhixuan’s parents saw her come out and immediately surrounded her, "Zhixuan, did you hear that? Your brother is going to be sentenced. Please think of a way to save him. If he goes in, he’ll have a criminal record. What will we do then?"
"I’m just an ordinary teacher, what can I do? It’s not just the three-year starting point, even if he were to be executed, that’s the law of the land."
Zhixuan hid behind Lin Fan. Although she came to prevent her parents from being deceived, if they hadn’t been indulging Zhu Xiaolong since he was young, he wouldn’t be so idle and lawless all the time.
"Zhixuan, how could you curse your own brother like that? Do you believe I would beat you to death?"
Zhu Zhixuan’s father angrily reached out to grab her, but the next second, Lin Fan knocked his hand away.
"Just talk properly, don’t start hitting."
Lin Fan glared sternly at him, but unexpectedly, Zhu Zhixuan’s father brazenly said, "I’m disciplining my own daughter, what business is it of yours? Who do you think you are, meddling in our family matters?"
It was surprising that they didn’t recognize Lin Fan, but that wasn’t strange since the Zhu family was famously poor in the village. Even though their daughter married into the Cai Family, she wasn’t really respected. After Zhu Xiaolong was taken away by the police that day, the old couple rushed to the town but didn’t see Lin Fan go in, and Zhu Xiaohu, who usually mixed in the city, didn’t get involved in this matter.
"I don’t care what you want to do, but hitting someone is against the law, even if it’s your daughter. Unless you also want to end up in jail?"
Lin Fan’s words made Zhu Zhixuan’s father, Zhu Biao, step back. This lazy man was most afraid of facing officials in his life, so whenever there’s talk of going to the police station, he’s more obedient than anyone.
"Big brother, my sister is here, and she is beautiful, isn’t she?"
Beside them, Zhu Xiaohu hurriedly spoke to the man with a large gold chain. The beefy fellow had been leering at Zhu Zhixuan. She, already beautiful, seemed even more appealing after some heartfelt tears, making his mouth twist into a smile as he walked over.
"Don’t always use the officials to fool people. This is just a family conflict, no need to bring officials into this. Besides, what does a poor teacher like you know about how the officials operate? Talking about official matters like you know anything."
Clearly, these guys mistook Lin Fan as Zhu Zhixuan’s colleague, surrounding them with a sneer on their faces. "I’ve heard from Zhu Xiaohu that his sister is pretty. Seeing her now, she really is quite charming. And I also heard your husband is in prison. Let me tell you the truth, I have connections inside. Do you want to get your husband out?"
"I don’t want to. Best if he stays there until he dies!"
Zhu Zhixuan pursed her lips. If Lin Fan hadn’t been there, she wouldn’t dare confront them, given these guys looked like no good people.
"Girl, you’re really heartless!"
Zhu Zhixuan’s response startled them. They initially wanted to use her husband as leverage to threaten her, but she outright rejected them. From her words, it was clear she had no good impression of her so-called husband.
"What about your brother then? He’s committed a crime, and it starts with a three-year sentence. I’m telling you, while he is in the police station, there’s still room to maneuver. Once it goes to court in the city, even the king of heaven can’t help. Are you going to just watch your brother carry a criminal case his entire life, becoming a lifelong convict?"
This indeed made Zhu Zhixuan shut her mouth, while Zhu Xiaohu quickly added, "Sis, I know you don’t like us brothers, but after all, our blood is thicker than water. You can’t just stand by and watch us die, can you? Brother Huo is a big boss with broad connections. Just a little effort from him and our brother can be freed. Consider it as helping him and yourself."
Lin Fan, holding his arms, sneered at Zhu Xiaohu, "I understand helping your brother, but what do you mean by helping myself?"
"Helping yourself means becoming my woman!"
Brother Huo leered at Zhu Zhixuan, "Your husband’s in prison, and here in this poor village, even if you worked to death, you’d still be just a country teacher all your life, and your salary wouldn’t be enough to buy a house in the city. But if you become my woman, not only will I help get Zhu Xiaolong out, but I’ll also make sure you live comfortably, not just without poverty, I can even arrange a place for you to live in the city."
"Stop right there... How did you even start talking about supporting me? Right now, I just want to know, exactly which law did Zhu Xiaolong break that he needs a sentence, and moreover starts with three years? You can’t even name the crime, can you?"
Lin Fan waved making Brother Huo falter, "What are you to demand answers from me?"
"Let’s see if you can refuse to answer?"
Lin Fan pulled out a stack of cash from his bag, shaking it in front of everyone, "Money’s here. There’s ten thousand yuan. If you can tell, I can pay!"