Chapter 1425: Repaying Karmic Debts—Is This a Ruse of Self-Sacrifice? (Part 2)

“So if you buy this place, it might actually end up with no business at all for several years.”

Luo Fei said this.

He sounded a bit hesitant.

But Su Manying replied.

“Mr. Luo, you don’t need to be so polite with me. This bath center is already in the county seat to begin with. And I also think that if we can build a charity center branch here, that might be a pretty good option.”

Su Manying’s words took Luo Fei by surprise.

“Boss Su, I didn’t expect you to be so charitable. This really does make me see you in a different light.”

“But I still need to ask Tang Siqi. I have to see whether she agrees with your idea.”

Just while Luo Fei was speaking.

At some point, Tang Siqi had already come up behind him.

“Mr. Luo, I’m willing to accept the compensation.”

Tang Siqi suddenly appeared.

And her face was full of sincerity.

This inevitably surprised Luo Fei as well.

“Tang Siqi, are you serious?”

Seeing Luo Fei a bit taken aback.

As if he hadn’t expected her to say that.

Tang Siqi neither confirmed nor denied it.

“Mr. Luo, I have no reason to lie.”

“After all, what’s done is done, and we really do need to cut our losses in time. It’s also a way of taking responsibility toward those victims.”

Looking at how earnest Tang Siqi was.

Luo Fei understood.

The auntie beside them was indeed very hard to deal with.

And there had been a total of five employees who died back then. There was no telling if all their parents would react like that.

So Luo Fei really did need to think it through.

Get them to stop making trouble for now, otherwise it would do Tang Siqi no good.

“All right then, let’s just treat it as using money to ward off disaster.”

“Fine. I’ll transfer the money to Tang Siqi later. As for how to use it, that’s her own business.”

Hearing the other side agree.

Tang Siqi was deeply grateful.

“Boss Su, I really have to thank you for all of this.”

“If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t even know how to comfort the victims’ families.”

There was deep gratitude in Tang Siqi’s voice.

But Luo Fei knew.

She must be feeling awful inside right now.

No matter how depressed, how upset she was.

She still had to force a faint smile.

Because she knew her own family did bear responsibility for this.

It was only right that she handle the aftermath.

Ring ring ring!

Just then.

As the phone rang again.

Tang Siqi answered it.

And from the other end came a voice that sounded somewhat familiar.

“Tang Siqi, I’ve already heard about what happened with your parents. As brothers and sisters, it’s only right that we contribute money for the funeral, but the relatives back home are all busy. Your eldest uncle’s daughter just got married and they’ve just put down the down payment on a car.”

“And over here, my baby has just turned one month old. We just threw a full-month banquet. So…”

Hearing this, the caller sounded a bit abashed.

Tang Siqi understood too, that at bottom it was just, when the tree falls, the monkeys scatter. Only when people can rely on each other are relatives really relatives, and blood ties mean something.

But once it comes to a point where they can’t help, then it’s a different story.

So Tang Siqi didn’t mind in the least.

She also decided that once this matter was thoroughly investigated.

She would find an opportunity to treat Su Manying to a meal.

“Mr. Luo, speaking of it, I really have to thank you this time too. If you hadn’t stepped in and helped, and persuaded Boss Su to give me some support, I might never have been able to get through this. And the trouble afterward would have been endless.”

But although Tang Siqi said this.

Luo Fei said instead.

“Tang Siqi, there’s actually something I’ve been wanting to ask you. How much do you really know about Dong Jialin? Have you ever noticed anything unusual about him?”

Luo Fei’s question.

Took Tang Siqi aback.

“Mr. Luo, why would you ask that?”

Back in school, Tang Siqi had had conflicts with Dong Jialin, but on the surface their relationship had still been pretty good.

So in the face of Luo Fei’s question, Tang Siqi was somewhat puzzled.

Seeing her a bit confused.

As if she hadn’t expected him to ask something like that.

Luo Fei was firm.

“Tang Siqi, I’ve actually been investigating Dong Jialin for a while now, and even back then I felt there was something off about him.”

What Luo Fei said made Tang Siqi hesitate.

“That… shouldn’t be possible, right?”

“Tang Siqi, you must not intend harm to others, but you can’t afford not to guard against them.”

“If you’re too careless, that won’t be a good thing either. At a time like this, we should be even more cautious, shouldn’t we?”

What Luo Fei said made her nod as well.

“Yes, Mr. Luo, you’re right. What you’re saying does make sense. I should be paying more attention.”

“I’ll be more careful.”

Seeing Tang Siqi agree.

Only then did Luo Fei finally feel relieved.

“Tang Siqi, with you saying that, I can put my mind at ease. You know as well as I do that some things are beyond our control.”

As he spoke, Luo Fei was genuinely worried for Tang Siqi.

And she was sincerely grateful.

“Mr. Luo, again, I really have to thank you for everything this time. If you hadn’t been willing to help, I might never have sensed that something was wrong.”

“From here on out, I’ll tread carefully.”

Over the next few days, Tang Siqi contacted the victims’ families one by one. She also hired a lawyer to notarize the agreements and give them reasonable compensation.

But even after doing the math that way, she still had several hundred thousand left in her hands.

This left Tang Siqi rather troubled.

And seeing her looking conflicted, as if trying to say something but holding back.

Luo Fei at her side couldn’t help feeling puzzled.

“Tang Siqi, I really don’t get it. Now that you’ve got money, why aren’t you happy? Strictly speaking, you’re a victim too, and this money is compensation for your emotional distress. By rights you should be glad.”

Noticing Luo Fei’s confusion.

Tang Siqi explained patiently.

“Mr. Luo, I know you must find this strange. You probably think I should just accept this money happily. But this is money I traded my parents’ lives for. So I’m not going to spend it lightly.”

“More importantly, once the relatives find out, they’re bound to come knocking. They might even try to find ways to get money out of me. So I really can’t feel happy about it.”

What Tang Siqi said made Luo Fei suddenly understand.

“So that’s what you’re agonizing over?”

“Yes, I’m worried that if I keep this money, the relatives will show up at my door, doing everything they can to squeeze money out of me. That kind of thing is hardly unheard of, is it?”

As Tang Siqi spoke, her expression was dead serious.

And Luo Fei was sure of it.

Dong Jialin was about to stir up trouble.

And sure enough.

Right then.

Luo Fei’s phone rang.

“Mr. Luo, this is bad. Something’s happened!”

Hearing the panic and anxiety in the caller’s tone.

Luo Fei couldn’t help being curious.

“What is it, classmate Zou?”

Classmate Zou was one of Tang Siqi’s classmates, and had once shared a dorm room with her back in school.

She was also the designated contact person between Tang Siqi and the school.

But right now, she was clearly panicked, even somewhat frightened.

“Mr. Luo, just earlier, when I went to do my internship with Dong Jialin, we were actually beaten up by the deceased’s family. He tried to protect me, and now he’s in the hospital, unconscious. If he never wakes up, what are we going to do?”

At that moment.

Her voice was full of fear and anxiety, clearly holding her breath, completely distraught.

And Luo Fei was understandably puzzled.

“Is that so? I didn’t expect something like this.”

“Yes, officer, the victim’s family wouldn’t allow us to conduct a forensic examination. They said it would damage the body and be disrespectful to their relative. Dong Jialin said it was his duty now to find out the truth. And then they smashed a liquor bottle over his head. He might be in a coma for a while. What are we supposed to do?”

“I understand, classmate Zou. Don’t panic. We’ll be there shortly to look into it and figure out exactly what happened. Try not to get too worked up.”