eurekapd Chapter 225 Killing the Cuckoo (40)
Chapter 225 Killing the Cuckoo (40)
Once the video was deleted, Li Tingyi relaxed completely, her face became less tense, and she even straightened her back a bit.
He put away his phone and, taking advantage of his height, looked down at the two girls in front of him: "Want to call off the engagement?"
He Xiaolian nodded cautiously.
"You still don't want to return the betrothal gifts?"
He Xiaolian: "..."
Li Tingyi sneered: "There's no such thing as a free lunch. I agree to annul the engagement, but I'll give you two days to return the 200,000 yuan. Otherwise, we'll have to go to court."
He Xiaolian was silent for a while, then said, "You lied to me first and cheated on me. Your engagement to me was not out of good intentions, so it is only right that I don't return the betrothal gifts."
"Stop giving me that nonsense. At most, what I did was immoral, but if you don't return the bride price, especially such a large amount as 200,000 yuan, that's fraud."
Li Tingyi said coldly, "Do you know how many years you get for fraud? If you go to jail at your age, you'll be over thirty when you come out. You already look like a country bumpkin, and when you get older, you can only marry a divorced man and become his stepmother. Are you sure you want to ruin your whole life for 200,000 yuan?"
If it were the old He Xiaolian, she might have been intimidated.
But after listening to Yan Zhen's words, she knew that if this matter went to court, it would be a civil case, and at most the judge would order her to return the betrothal gifts; it was impossible for her to go to jail.
“Then go ahead and sue,” He Xiaolian said. “I’ll wait for the court summons.”
Li Tingyi's face darkened—two hundred thousand was nothing to him now, and he didn't care whether he got it or not.
But He Xiaolian made a big fuss. Now all the neighbors know he is gay, and the He family is spreading rumors that the Li family cheated them first and refused to return the betrothal gifts.
If he doesn't get the money back today, it would indirectly confirm that he is gay, and that he gave up on getting the bride price because he felt guilty and ashamed towards the He family.
Therefore, he had to get the bride price back before he could "clarify" his sexual orientation.
"Looks like you won't learn your lesson until you're faced with the truth." Li Tingyi twirled the folding knife in his hand even faster, and said sarcastically, "A girl's reputation is so important. A woman like you, who has neither education nor looks, can marry a good man entirely depending on her reputation and her womb. You insist on making things so ugly. Believe me, I'll make sure you can't stay in this town anymore."
He Xiaolian looked at Li Tingyi's menacing expression, then at the folding knife in his hand, and involuntarily shrank back: "What are you going to do?"
"Don't worry, I won't do anything illegal. You're such a lowlife that you're not worth my life." Li Tingyi smiled, but his misogyny grew stronger, and his words became increasingly vicious.
"Spreading rumors is so easy. Just make a few videos with photoshopped faces and post them in local WeChat groups for the older uncles and aunts to enjoy. Do you think they can tell that they're photoshopped? Then the whole town will know that you sell fish by day and prostitutes by night... Ha."
He Xiaolian was startled by the malice that was casually revealed in his tone: "Li Tingyi, don't go too far!"
Having grown up in a small town, He Xiaolian knows all too well how quickly rumors can spread in WeChat groups that gather local parents and grandparents.
Most of these elderly people are illiterate, and they communicate entirely through voice messages in WeChat groups.
If Li Tingyi really photoshops a few head-swapped videos and posts them online, the elderly will not only be unable to tell that the videos are composites, but such explosive news will also quickly spread from online to offline.
Even if she reports it to the police, and the police eventually clarify the rumors, the elderly people who have seen the video won't believe it, and might even secretly speculate whether she has made some kind of private deal with the police...
Thinking of this, He Xiaolian trembled with anger.
"Likewise." Seeing that he had hit her sore spot, Li Tingyi put away his folding knife. "I admit that I was wrong to start this, but you made such a big fuss without communicating with me, so you're also at fault. Let's each take equal responsibility. You return the betrothal gifts, and you and your friend post a video to clarify that this is a misunderstanding. I agree to annul the engagement, and we'll be even. How about that?"
He Xiaolian remained silent.
Li Tingyi emphasized, "He Xiaolian, don't be too greedy! You've caused me so much damage to my reputation, and I haven't even asked you for compensation yet, you should be grateful. If you insist on not returning the betrothal gifts and not clarifying the situation, then we'll see. If I don't ruin your reputation, I'll change my surname to yours!"
He Xiaolian gritted her teeth, calmed herself down slightly, and said, "I need to think about it."
"What's there to consider?" Li Tingyi said impatiently. "You only have two choices: cooperate and resolve the matter so that everyone is happy; or don't cooperate, and then we'll see whether you force me to my death first, or I kill you first."
"...My mind is a mess right now. I'll give you an answer tomorrow morning," He Xiaolian said, then added, "Anyway, you've already deleted the video, so the buzz won't spread any further. Why are you in such a hurry?"
Li Tingyi knew he couldn't push her too hard, so he backed down and said, "Okay, I'll come over tomorrow morning."
He said and turned to leave.
Bao'er immediately said, "Wait, my phone—"
Li Tingyi turned around and waved his phone defiantly: "I'll keep the things for now, and I'll return them to you tomorrow morning once we've settled things."
After he finished speaking, he swaggered away in front of the two girls.
Only after his figure disappeared from sight did Bao'er, who had been quite frightened, finally breathe a sigh of relief, while simultaneously stomping her feet in anger: "What a pity! The video was deleted just like that, and so was my camera... Xiaolian, I've really lost a lot trying to help you..."
He Xiaolian ignored her question and asked in a low voice, "Do you have a spare phone?"
Bao'er said, "Yes, it's upstairs."
People who make a living through social media often carry two or three spare phones with them.
"Go upstairs first and remotely put the phone that Li Tingyi took into lost mode. Don't let him touch anything inside," He Xiaolian said calmly. "I'll go get something and come up in a bit."
Although Bao'er didn't know what He Xiaolian was planning, she considered that her account was still logged into the phone that Li Tingyi had taken.
If he had any ulterior motives and used her account to post a clarification, he would definitely be severely criticized by those who were following this matter.
Thinking of this, Bao'er hurriedly went up to her room on the top floor to get her phone.
A moment later, He Xiaolian came up with a memory card in her hand: "Can I borrow your computer for a bit?"
Bao'er watched as she inserted the memory card into the card reader and connected it to the laptop, and asked curiously, "What's this?"
He Xiaolian said, "The memory card of the surveillance camera downstairs in my building should have recorded everything Li Tingyi said and did to us."
Bao'er's eyes lit up.