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CHAPTER 5
PART 4
Before arriving at Yuehai Bay Residential Complex, Tan Yong called Li Xueli to ask if she was at home. After receiving a positive response, he and Li Bin split up.
Li Bin went to Gong Yamei's apartment on the 13th floor, while Tan Yong headed to apartment 1203 on the 12th floor.
Li Xueli prepared a cup of hot tea for Tan Yong and asked, "Old Tan, are you here to see me, or is it about the case?"
"Yes, three things."
"Go ahead."
"First, the night before last when you and Gong Yamei were at home, you were cooking sweet fermented rice soup dumplings in the kitchen. Did you hear Gong Yamei making a phone call outside?"
Li Xueli thought for a moment. "I don't know if she made a call. The TV was on, so there was already some noise, and she seemed to be moving between the living room and the balcony. At least when I brought out the sweet fermented rice soup dumplings, I didn't see her on the phone."
"In other words, you didn't hear any of her conversation?"
"That's right. I didn't know she made a call. And Sister Yamei has a habit of going to the balcony to answer calls."
So, it seemed that Gong Yamei went to the balcony to answer that crucial call. The kitchen and the balcony were separated by a distance, making it impossible for Li Xueli to hear the conversation.
Tan Yong pondered and said, "The next question may involve your privacy, but I still want to know your thoughts on this."
"I know what you want to ask." Li Xueli guessed, "Why did I secretly have a relationship with Ma Qiang, right?"
"Yeah. You know he's the son of the previous owner of this apartment, right?"
"Of course I know."
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Tan Yong looked at her.
Li Xueli sighed, "I myself felt conflicted about this matter, which is why I kept it a secret from everyone. Now that you've asked, I might as well tell you."
She paused briefly and continued, "Because of the fact that this apartment had a tragic history, I took the previous owner to court, but I lost the case. I was furious at the time and went to argue with that old lady a few times in private."
"She was quite apologetic, but she couldn't help me solve the problem. When I was at a loss, Ma Qiang came to my house and found me. He said it was their fault indeed. If I was willing, he could try to make it up to me."
"I asked how he could make it up, if he could return the money I used to buy the apartment. He said, of course, that's impossible. His mom had already used that money to buy a storefront for him, and he was planning to open a barbecue restaurant."
"He asked if I was afraid to live alone in the apartment, so he could come and stay with me. But his mom couldn't know about this because she's superstitious and would absolutely not allow him to spend the night here. However, he didn't believe in these things and thought it would be fine."
"Did you agree to that? Did you really let him move in?" Tan Yong asked.
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Li Xueli chuckled bitterly, "I didn't have any other choice at the time. I had just moved here not long ago, I didn't know anyone or have any friends, and the 'community' hadn't formed yet. If I didn't have someone to accompany me, I would never dare to stay alone in this ominous apartment. Then my purchase would have been in vain, right? So, I let him move in."
"It's quite ironic when you think about it. This apartment was originally bought by his mother as a marriage home for him. But when something like this happened, she quickly sold the apartment to prevent her son from living in this inauspicious place."
"Yet her son still ended up moving in. And me? I spent over a million yuan buying this place and renovating it, and in the end, I had to let the son of the previous owner live here for free, and he was even here to accompany me. It's more like I owe him a favor, hehe."
Tan Yong also found the situation somewhat ironic and was momentarily speechless.
"The key is, Old Tan, have you ever thought about this? If… I mean if I had married Ma Qiang, I would have basically lived in this apartment without spending a penny. Can you imagine, the over one million yuan I spent on buying and renovating the place, would it all have been wasted?"
"Why didn't Ma Qiang continue living here?"
"I kicked him out." Li Xueli said coldly.
"Why? Was his so-called accompanying you just a pretext? In reality, did he have ulterior motives toward you?"
"No, not really. He's quite straightforward. During the time he stayed with me, he always slept in the guest bedroom. Later on, it was me who initiated... letting him sleep in my room."
"Then why did you kick him out?"
"Because later, I gradually got to know the neighbors here, made friends, and formed the 'community,' so I didn't need him to accompany me anymore."
"Besides, Old Tan, I don't know if you've seen him or not, but with his short stature and unimpressive looks, does he match me? I might not be as beautiful as Su Xiaotong, but I'm not bad-looking, am I? Marrying a man like him would be too unfair to me, right?"
"If that's the case, why did you still go to his shop to spend the night?"
Li Xueli was momentarily at a loss for words. After a moment, she snorted and said, "It's better than nothing. When there's no one to accompany me and I feel a little scared, I went to his place, treating it as a free hotel."
"Does his mother know about this?"
Li Xueli shook her head.
Tan Yong took a sip of his tea and said, "Xueli, I've known you for over a year now. I know you somewhat. I've noticed that whenever you say insincere things, you tend to display a personality that's completely opposite to your true self."
Li Xueli froze. "What... insincere things did I say?"
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