False evidence

Chapter 233 The Most Familiar Stranger (4)

"You're saying Li Meizhi wanted to kill you?"

I suddenly remembered that Li Meizhi had said she recognized the thief. But later she contradicted herself and said she didn't.

Liang Kaiyuan said bitterly, "Yes! She even tried to kill me!"

I asked, "How did she do it? Is there any evidence?"

After a moment of silence, Liang Kaiyuan shook his head and asked:

Do you want to know how she treated me before?

We all understand that when he says 'before', he means some time ago.

Seeing the resentment on his face, I knew that if he didn't vent, it would be difficult to get to the point, so I said:

"Tell me about it."

Liang Kaiyuan nodded, then remained silent for a moment before saying, "Let's start from this life, from how we met..."

Liang Kaiyuan and Li Meizhi met by chance. According to Liang Kaiyuan, he fell in love with Li Meizhi at first sight and then began to pursue her.

As their relationship progressed, Liang Kaiyuan learned that Li Meizhi could only work as a sales clerk in a chain bakery because of her low level of education.

The day after the two officially established their romantic relationship, Liang Kaiyuan introduced his profession to her in a rather unique way.

On this day, Li Meizhi was working in the store when a customer dressed quite formally came in.

As usual, Li Meizhi asked the other person what they needed before looking up and realizing that the other person was her boyfriend.

She assumed Liang Kaiyuan was there to cause trouble, so she wasn't so polite.

Then, she was severely reprimanded by the store manager who came out after hearing the noise.

The result was that Liang Kaiyuan fired the store manager, while Li Meizhi was promoted to store manager.

It was then that Li Meizhi learned that Liang Kaiyuan was the owner of a bakery.

This kind of domineering CEO trope is so cliché.

But it is something that most women yearn for.

Not long after that, their relationship progressed further.

This is what Liang Kaiyuan meant when he said it was the first time the two of them were "together".

(Liang Kaiyuan described the 'first time' in great detail, and throughout the narration, he was completely immersed in the experience. I shook my head repeatedly as I read, finding it increasingly absurd. They were clearly a perfect couple, how could they be ruined by a 'dream'?)

Their first time together wasn't at each other's homes, but at the bakery where Li Meizhi was the manager.

After closing, the two remained inside the shop, browsing red wine, cakes...

Then...

After their exhilarating experience, both of them were exhausted and rested together on the small sofa in the inner room.

Liang Kaiyuan, being middle-aged, had experienced a decline in physical strength and energy, and unfortunately, he fell asleep at an inopportune time.

It was around that time that Liang Kaiyuan experienced his first, and most terrifying, dream...

Liang Kaiyuan wasn't quite sure about the exact era of the 'dream,' only saying that he must have been a lively and flamboyant young man at that time.

But he mentioned a detail: at that time, he enjoyed photography and owned his own camera, which was quite old and used 120 black and white film.

The dream began with Liang Kaiyuan and several other young men and women, dressed in what was considered quite fashionable at the time, traveling to an unfamiliar place.

Engrossed in the beautiful scenery, I unknowingly got separated from my companions.

He wasn't in a hurry to reunite with his companions, so he went alone to a vast lakeside.

The water surface was covered with large patches of emerald green, but these were not the lotus leaves and flowers he had ever seen before.

He didn't know what kind of plant it was, but he was so captivated by the scenery of his hometown that he kept holding his camera, searching for and capturing what he thought was the most beautiful scene with one eye open and one eye closed in the viewfinder.

After the shutter clicked, he turned the camera and was stunned. Because what he saw in the viewfinder was something he had never seen before.

In the water, amidst the floating greenery, there is a large wooden basin.

The wooden basin swayed gently in the water, and inside the basin, there was a person.

It was a girl, with her back to us. She had a long, glossy black braid with the front end hanging down in front of her. From behind, she looked very beautiful.

He had never seen such a scene before, and he didn't know what the girl was doing, but he just thought the scene was too beautiful.

After pressing the shutter five times in a row, he finally put down the camera, but he was still staring blankly at the girl's back in the wooden tub...

When Liang Kaiyuan got to this point, Fang Ling couldn't help but speak up:

"It's clear that your family was quite well-off in that life. Film was so expensive back then, and it seems you could only take a maximum of sixteen shots."

The second to speak was Xiao Shen San: "Oh dear, there's a wooden basin in the water, and there's someone in the water... Isn't that what Tang Sanzang's mother did? No! The person in the basin is Tang Sanzang, not his mother!"

I was amused by this 'little Northeasterner,' 'That's not Tang Sanzang's mother! They went somewhere further south than where we are now... probably a water town in the Jiangnan region. Those things on the water are water chestnuts! That woman is rowing a wooden basin to pick water chestnuts!'

Xiao Shen raised an eyebrow: "I've eaten water chestnuts before. They're those little things that look like the heads of horned goats. They're a bit astringent when eaten raw, but they're very soft and delicious when cooked! But I've never seen anyone harvesting water chestnuts! So what? What can you do to me?"

“Illiterate people should go out more,” I muttered to myself, turning my head away.

Liang Kaiyuan suddenly exclaimed, "Yes! That's picking water chestnuts! I know now... I knew a long time ago in this life. But back then I didn't know what they were doing. I thought she was..."

"By what?" Xiao Shen asked three times.

Liang Kaiyuan, who had already raised his head seemingly excited, suddenly became somewhat shy upon hearing this, lowering his head and whispering:

"I thought she was being punished for breaking village or family rules..."

Xiao Shen and Fang Ling laughed at the same time.

Xiao Shen chuckled, "Do you think that's the same as a woman being drowned in a pig cage for adultery?"

Everyone knew he was joking, but to their surprise, Liang Kaiyuan suddenly raised his head, his expression changing drastically: "No!"

Both Xiao Shen and I were taken aback.

Fang Ling didn't react much, and said calmly, "You can continue."

Liang Kaiyuan nodded, and then continued...

He had never seen the situation before and genuinely believed that someone was using feudal remnants to persecute others.

He was quite 'clever'. First, he looked around to make sure no one else was there, then he tiptoed down to the riverbank and searched along the river for ropes or similar items used to bind 'torture instruments'.

He actually found a hemp rope that was soaking in water.

Without saying a word, he grabbed the rope and pulled hard toward the shore.

Unexpectedly, too much force was used, the wooden barrel lost its balance, wobbled violently a few times, and actually tipped over!

He was terrified, thinking that he had done something wrong with good intentions and might have killed someone.

He wanted to go down and save the person, but he couldn't swim!

After a brief internal struggle, he decided to go into the water.

His idea was simple—the person had to be saved; if I went down with the rope, at the very least I could come back up, right?
He thought so and did it.

But by the time he got down to knee-deep water...

Not far away, the wooden barrel overturned first.

Then, a person emerged from the water.

It was a woman.

Her figure, emerging from the water, was very graceful.

However, the woman had no face!
(End of this chapter)