Chapter 184: Life Imprisonment—Totally Deserved!

Inside the freight warehouse.

Su Qiang rested for a while, then prepared to continue finishing off Wu Sanye.

This time he planned to be even harsher.

He picked up a fruit knife, walked to Wu Sanye's side, and jabbed the knife into the bloodied wound in his abdomen.

Wu Sanye bled heavily, his lips turned pale, his spirit languid and drowsy, but the stabbing pain suddenly made him more alert.

Seeing him like that, it was clear that even if released, he wouldn't have the strength to run.

"Come over and lend a hand," Su Qiang called to a few people, "help me set this mess down."

Wu Sanye grinned, "What's up, seeing your grandpa exhausted me, you want me to lie down and give me a massage?"

Su Qiang toyed with the fruit knife in his hand, saying ominously, "Just keep laughing, later I'll see if you can still manage to smile."

When Wu Sanye was placed on the ground.

Su Qiang pressed his knee against Wu Sanye's right wrist, held the fruit knife toward his fingers, and said, "Come, Third Uncle, pick one yourself."

"You fucking want to cut my finger?" Wu Sanye's face darkened slightly.

He knew the guy was a bit crazy, but didn't expect him to be this insane.

"Scared now?" Su Qiang's face lit with excitement, "You tell me, which one should I cut?"

Wu Sanye's cheek tightened, "None are good; how about… you cut off the nail?"

"Fuck you!" Su Qiang used his left hand to pry open Wu Sanye's right little finger, "Since you won't choose, I'll choose for you; let's start with this one."

Wu Sanye glared, "Start with this one? You motherfucker… how many more do you want to cut?"

Su Qiang's face turned feral, "As long as I please, I'll cut as many as you have."

Wu Sanye tried to struggle, but having lost too much blood and severely wounded, he lacked even the strength to move a finger, and could only watch as Su Qiang sliced down.

Bang bang bang—

A knock on the door sounded suddenly.

The tip of Su Qiang's knife halted less than half a centimeter from Wu Sanye's little finger, and he turned his head toward the warehouse door.

"Who?" Ya She Mao asked.

"It's me!" a subordinate's voice called from outside the door.

Ya She Mao wondered, "Why did you come back so quickly?"

The other replied, "I stepped out for a while, ran into Liu Zong, who was parking, so I came to notify you first."

Ya She Mao lowered his guard and immediately ordered his men to open the warehouse's big iron door.

The thick electric rolling shutter slowly rose.

When it rose to less than a meter, a muffled thud sounded, and a silhouette, like a sandbag, rolled in from outside.

Everyone looked and saw that it was the person who had just spoken to open the door.

Ya She Mao froze for a moment, spotted another figure outside, and though unsure what was happening, quickly reacted, "Close the door!"

Before the words left his mouth.

The figure outside bent over and swiftly entered the warehouse.

Seeing the tall figure, Ya She Mao blurted out in surprise, "You?!"

"Ning Jinli?!" Su Qiang was also surprised.

Wasn't it said that Yang Shao would go personally to deal with her? How come she has nothing to do and ended up here?

Ning Jinli scanned the warehouse, and upon seeing Wu Sanye lying on the ground, drenched in blood, a cold glint flashed in her eyes.

"Stop her!" Ya She Mao shouted, "That woman is formidable! Don't be careless!"

Having fought Ning Jinli earlier in the day, Ya She Mao dared not be reckless.

The two men guarding the door rushed toward Ning Jinli at once, but after two muffled bangs, they were thrown three to four meters away.

Seeing this, the others hurriedly grabbed steel pipes stored in the warehouse.

Ning Jinli took a deep breath, pressed the rolling shutter switch beside her, then pulled out her phone to call Old Yang, telling him that people could be sent over.

The man whom Ning Jinli had taken as a guide now lay on the ground near the door; seeing the situation, he immediately rolled toward the exit.

His shoulder was dislocated, and he didn't want further injury.

In the second before the rolling shutter fully closed, he rolled out the doorway, catching a glimpse of Ya She Mao's group converging on Ning Jinli.

The warehouse's main door was heavy and well insulated against sound.

The man sat on the floor, one hand covering his shoulder, his head pressed against the iron door to listen for any sounds inside.

At first, faint sounds of fighting could still be heard.

After a few minutes, the noises grew quieter.

After more than ten minutes, it became completely silent.

"People really can't be judged by appearance..." the man muttered, "It took over a dozen thugs this long to deal with that woman. Damn, good thing I'm clever and didn't go at her one-on-one."

Hum—

The sound of the electric rolling shutter opening rang out.

The man leaned on the wall beside the door and stood up.

As the rolling shutter rose slowly, the warehouse's condition gradually came into view, and his expression grew increasingly blank.

Inside was a mess.

Over a dozen big men lay scattered on the floor, some passed out, others curled up, clutching their stomachs in pain.

"Step aside," Ning Jinli's cold voice sounded before him.

He hadn't even recovered, standing dazed and not moving.

Ning Jinli steadied Wu Sanye with one hand, then with her right hand she slapped a strike to the man's neck side.

The man's vision went black, and he fainted, collapsing to the ground.

「Miss Ning……」 Wu Sanye said weakly with a smile, "You… you've opened my eyes again. It hasn't been long since we last met, and you've become a martial arts expert……"

If Ning Jinli's display of skill in the antique shop this morning had surprised him, then just now the situation simply shocked him.

Even though the fight is over now, his mind keeps replaying the scene of Ning Jinli single‑handedly taking on over a dozen hired thugs.

"You're in this state, stop snarking and conserve your strength." Ning Jinli said, frowning.

"Yes, yes, yes, I'll listen to Miss Ning."

Ning Jinli waited outside the warehouse for another ten or so minutes until the squad sent by Old Yang arrived and took over the scene, then she relaxed and brought Wu Sanye to the hospital.

——

A few days later.

Ning Jinli went to the hospital to visit Wu Sanye.

During that time, Su Qinglan basically stayed in the ward to take care of him.

This was her own suggestion.

She felt that this whole thing happened because of her son, or rather, ultimately, she also bore responsibility.

When Ning Jinli entered the ward, Su Qinglan was peeling an apple and cutting it into pieces.

"How's the recovery?" Ning Jinli approached the bedside, looking at Wu Sanye, whose body was wrapped in bandages everywhere.

"The doctor said he's recovering well," Su Qinglan said while feeding him apple pieces, "but he still needs some time before he can get out of bed."

Wu Sanye said glumly, "I think I can get up and take a walk."

Su Qinglan frowned, "Your injuries aren't light either—you have fractures of varying degrees in your arms and legs. You need to listen to the doctor and stay in bed as long as he says."

Wu Sanye chuckled, "Hey, don't just focus on feeding me; you should eat something too."

Su Qinglan kept feeding him apple pieces, saying, "I'm not the patient; the doctor said you need more vitamins, so eat up, eat up!"

"Okay, okay, I'm eating, I'm eating… slowly, slowly, I haven't even swallowed the last bite yet."

「……」

Ning Jinli watched from the side, pursing her lips and smiling, "I feel like I've become a third wheel."

Su Qinglan and Wu Sanye both froze for a moment.

"Cough… cough…" Wu Sanye quickly changed the subject, "Miss Ning, has the Project Team announced the verdict yet?"

Hearing that, Su Qinglan's expression grew somewhat tense.

Ning Jinli nodded, "Old Yang told me the verdict in advance. Yang Laoer is guilty of attempted intentional homicide, and with the Project Team also uncovering some of his past illegal acts, he got twenty years; Yang Zhengxing is even more serious—attempted intentional homicide, illegal possession of firearms, forming a criminal gang, inciting crime, not to mention drug use and even participation in drug trafficking, and he has been definitively sentenced to death. As for anyone connected to his illegal activities, they've all been rounded up."

"Good, that's good!" Wu Sanye exclaimed indignantly, "They deserve it!"

Su Qinglan's expression turned grave; after hesitating a few seconds, she asked, "And… what about Su Qiang?"

Wu Sanye grinned, "That kid used an illegally possessed gun to smash up the antique shop—that alone gets him at least ten years; add his kidnapping and assault, that's another ten plus, and factor in his connection to Yang Zhengxing, I'd say he's looking at twenty‑five years behind bars, no way out."

"Twenty‑five years…" Su Qinglan frowned, turning to Ning Jinli for confirmation, "Is that the verdict?"

Ning Jinli shook her head, "Not twenty‑five years—it's… life imprisonment, no reduction of sentence."

"Hahaha!" Wu Sanye burst out laughing, "So it's life imprisonment after all! Great! You bastard, still thinking of revenge on me? You totally deserve it!"

"Third Uncle." Ning Jinli gave him a look.

Wu Sanye only then realized, his smile freezing, he said embarrassedly, "Sorry, Qinglan, I got carried away… I forgot you're his mother, sorry sorry…"

"Xiao Li, I… I want to see Su Qiang—can you help me?" Su Qinglan made the request timidly.

Ning Jinli agreed without hesitation, "No problem—you're allowed to see him anyway."

Su Qinglan added, "I want to see him as soon as possible."

"I'll ask." Ning Jinli left the ward to make a phone call.

A few minutes later she returned to the ward, "Godmother, Old Yang gave special approval—no need to go through the visitation process; I'll bring you there right now."

"God… godmother?" Wu Sanye stared wide‑eyed, "How did she become your godmother? Didn't you used to call her aunt?"

"Third Uncle, I'll go with Xiao Li first." Su Qinglan said softly.

Wu Sanye quickly replied, "Sure, sure, go ahead and do what you need to; don't worry about me."

Ning Jinli took Su Qinglan out of the hospital and headed straight for the city police bureau.

Since Old Yang had given a heads‑up, the police bureau arranged for Su Qinglan to meet Su Qiang in an interrogation room with one‑way glass.

Ning Jinli didn't go in; instead she stood outside the one‑way glass, watching what happened inside.

Now Su Qiang wore a prison uniform, his head shaved, half his face bearing a scar from the burns of the past few days—he looked like a completely different person from the last time Su Qinglan saw him.

When Su Qiang saw that the person coming to see him was Su Qinglan, he couldn't help but stare for a good while.

Now Su Qinglan wore a simple yet tasteful and refined outfit.

Not only was her skin no longer the sallow, rough, wrinkled complexion it used to be, but the gray‑white hair that had grown from years of hard work had all turned jet‑black and lustrous.

If Su Qinglan's appearance used to make her look over ten years older than her actual age, now she looks more than ten years younger.

In a daze, Su Qiang finally realized that she, too, had once been young.

Faint, fleeting memories flashed through his mind, and Su Qiang snapped back to awareness.

The heart that had sunk into despair at rock bottom flared with a glimmer of hope—since she had come to see him of her own accord, it must be to save him!

No matter what, he is still her own son!

Thinking of that, Su Qiang's listless, dazed eyes suddenly lit up.

"Mom… mom! Mom!"

He shouted it over and over.

If he weren't handcuffed to the chair, he could have lunged at Su Qinglan and dropped to his knees.

Su Qinglan's expression was complex, and she said nothing.

Su Qiang pleaded, "Mom, help me, I don't want to spend my whole life in prison! I'm only in my early thirties…… I…… I'm still young!"

Su Qinglan's eyes turned red, she gripped her fingers tightly, yet still did not speak.

"Mom! Please!" Seeing she remained unmoved, Su Qiang burst into tears and snot, wailing, "Your grandson is still little…… he, he can't have no father! When I was a child I had no father…… I know that feeling! Mom! Please, for your grandson's sake, don't let him end up like I did as a child!"

Those words stabbed hard at Su Qinglan's heart.

She turned her head away, quickly wiped her eyes, composed herself a bit, and finally spoke, "Su Qiang, I can't help you."

"You can!" Su Qiang, hearing her say that, felt hopeful and hurriedly said, "Back then Wu Sanye said Ning Jinli had powerful connections, I didn't believe it then, but now I do! Mom! Help me go plead with Ning Jinli, ask her to let me off!"

Outside the one-way glass wall, Ning Jinli heard those words, her brows gradually furrowed.

Su Qinglan fell silent for a few seconds, then said softly, "Even if Xiao Li has powerful connections, what does that have to do with me?"

"How not? Mom, you've raised her for ten years! What's the difference between that and being her birth mother? Moreover…… moreover, she's so filial to you; as long as you speak up, she'll surely agree!"

Su Qinglan asked, "Do you know you were wrong?"

"Yes! Of course I know! I'm terribly wrong!" Su Qiang replied hastily.

"Where did you go wrong?"

"I…… I was wrong…… wrong in…… not…… not treating you well……"

"Anything else?"

"And……" Su Qiang racked his brains, "And I shouldn't have done illegal criminal acts; anyway I know I was wrong, I truly regret it! Mom, I promise you, if you don't let me go to prison, I will absolutely turn over a new leaf and become a new person, I will surely be filial to you. I swear! If I fail, then…… then may I be struck by lightning and die a horrible death!"

"Oh my son……" Su Qinglan's eye sockets reddened further, her voice grew somewhat choked, "I gave you a full ten years, ten years…… have you ever once cared about my life or death? I bore you, raised you, gave you everything, I never thought to seek repayment from you, but you…… how have you treated me?"

Upon hearing those words, Su Qiang began to feel uneasy, straining to squeeze out more tears, he wailed:

"Mom! It's that I was immature before, I really know I was wrong, I…… I shouldn't have kicked you out of the house, I shouldn't have ignored you…… Mom, believe me, I will surely make it up to you in the future! You only have this one son, I am the flesh that fell from your body! How…… how could you bear to watch me rot in prison until death?"