Jealousy

The surrounding villagers nodded as Qiao An said her piece.

Qiao An called out to the villagers righteously, “If any of you have been treated unfairly by them, feel free to speak now. Testifying to their crimes will make them receive the punishment they deserve. Only then can the evil be eradicated. Only then can you live in peace and fairness.”

The villagers looked at one another as if they were restless but afraid of something.

Qiao An smiled. “Don’t worry. After this, I guarantee that the Wang family won’t be able to escape jail. You don’t have to be afraid of them taking revenge on you.”

At this moment, Huo Xiaoran looked at the Dahai. Dahai received his cue and stepped forward. “Many of the wives in our village were bought. Almost all of these wives fled. I suspect that many of them were abducted by human traffickers. Their lives were very miserable. The villagers don’t treat them as humans at all. I beg you to weed out such a bad habit.”

As soon as these words were spoken, it immediately caused a huge commotion.

The cadre of the village police station looked at Qiao An awkwardly. “Miss Qiao An, I suggest that the arson case and Chen Jing’s kidnapping be tried independently.”

Qiao An smiled awkwardly. “Whatever you say.” Although she was righteous, she didn’t understand the process and couldn’t direct blindly.

When the village head saw that Qiao An was also dispirited, his eyes lit up. He immediately flattered the village cadre. “You can’t just listen to Qiao An’s one-sided story. After all, Qiao An is the victim. Her testimony might be exaggerated. It’s not enough to accept.”

“Well…”

At this moment, Xiao Ming, who had been silent, cleared his throat, scaring the cadres until their faces turned pale. He scolded the village head bluntly, “You have no right to speak here.”

The village head glanced at Xiao Ming and saw that he had an aura of righteousness. Seeing the cadre bowing to him, he guessed that his status was extraordinary.

“Who is this?” he surreptitiously asked one of the cadres beside him.

The cadre seemed to have a good relationship with him, but he did not dare to be rash today. He only said simply, “He’s a big shot from the capital.”

The village head thought to himself that he had to curry favor with him. As long as he bribed him, this case would be over no matter how complicated it was.

Unexpectedly, in the next moment, Huo Xiaoran scolded Xiao Ming impatiently, “Xiao Ming, interrogate them quickly. My An’an is injured and can’t last long.”

Xiao Ming glanced at An’an with heartache and nodded. “Yes, yes, yes.”

The village head was dumbfounded. So Xiao Ming was in cahoots with Huo Xiaoran?

Seeing how respectful he was to Huo Xiaoran, the village head’s heart instantly turned cold.

Then, the village head abandoned the army to protect the general. “Yes, Wang Ning’s parents personally admitted to me that Wang Ning and Xing Xiaoya set fire to Qiao An.”

Wang Ning’s parents fell to the ground.

Wang Ning and Xing Xiaoya’s faces were ashen.

At this moment, Chen Jing also provided evidence. “That day, I eavesdropped on Wang Ning and Xing Xiaoya’s plan to burn Qiao An to death. I was anxious, so I secretly followed behind them. When the fire burned, I broke the window and jumped into the wooden house. It took me a lot of effort to drag the unconscious Qiao An out.”

The villagers also testified. “We saw the footprints of Wang Ning and Xing Xiaoya going to the cabin.”

Xing Xiaoya and Wang Ning sat on the ground dejectedly.

Xing Xiaoya crawled up to Huo Xiaoran indignantly and begged, “Brother Xing Chen, I just care about you too much. I was afraid that Qiao An will snatch you away, so I wanted to get rid of Qiao An. I was wrong. Can you forgive me? Please, I’ll kowtow to you.”

Huo Xiaoran said coldly, “Get lost.” His words were filled with disgust.

Xing Xiaoya looked at Huo Xiaoran with tears in her eyes. “I just love you too much. Why are you treating me like this?”

Huo Xiaoran ignored her.

Qiao An looked at the cold Huo Xiaoran. His demeanor would only make others think that he was heartless and cold.

After all, in the eyes of the villagers, he had been saved by Father Xing.

Qiao An didn’t want the villagers to misunderstand Xiaoran. She took the initiative to explain to Xing Xiaoya, “Xing Xiaoya, your Brother Xing Chen has given up on my pursuit many times because of you. It’s obvious how grateful he is to your father for saving his life. But why did he hate you more and more later?”

Xing Xiaoya said angrily, “It’s all your fault. You sowed discord between us.”

Qiao An shook her head. “Later, Xing Chen just understood. I loved him more than you did. My heart ached for his efforts, for his old illness, for everything. And you took all of Xing Chen’s efforts for granted. He had the heart to feel the difference between true kindness and malice in this world. He chose me. Why can’t you bless him?”

“If you’re really good to him, you should be wishing him well when he finds a woman who dotes on him and loves him. Not scheming to hurt someone he loves.”

Xing Xiaoya didn’t understand Qiao An’s logic. She just glared at her angrily.

Huo Xiaoran said to Qiao An, “Xing Xiaoya, Qiao An is my wife. She saved my life and took the risk to give birth to my children. Who else can I love but her?”

He said sarcastically, “Qiao An is beautiful, kind, and loves and respects me. You, on the other hand, are domineering and spoiled. You only know how to enjoy and not give. Even a fool knows whom to choose between Qiao An and you. Xing Chen isn’t a fool.”

Xing Xiaoya thought of the breakfast Xing Chen had made for her every day for the past four years. He was busy with work every day, but he never asked her to do anything. As a result, she became lazy.

No wonder he despised her for not loving him enough.

Xing Xiaoya was indignant because she had seen how Xing Chen doted on Qiao An. He could cook for Xing Xiaoya. However, he tried her best to make Qiao An’s favorite dishes which were complicated to make but nutritious…

It was not just food that could fill one’s stomach.

Xing Xiaoya muttered, “You’re biased, and Qiao An hasn’t done anything for you, but you still serve her with all your heart.”

Xing Xiaoya only saw the current Qiao An. She would never know that in the first half of their lives, Qiao An had sacrificed everything to save Huo Xiaoran.

Only then did she obtain Huo Xiaoran’s unwavering love.

Huo Xiaoran sneered. “You don’t have to be jealous of her. After all, Qiao An is the only woman I, Huo Xiaoran, have devoted myself to in my life. She can be spoiled, domineering, and arrogant. I’m willing to dote on her.”

Xing Xiaoya was speechless.

Only now did she know how sad and ridiculous it was for her to be jealous of Qiao An. She was simply overestimating herself.