Chapter Fifty: Kneeling in Confession

The following evening, Wu Zhenri returned to the watch-repair stall on South Street. Finding him quite generous, Hu Mimi treated him with considerable warmth.

This time, Wu Zhenri had not come to repair a watch; instead, he invited Hu Mimi out for tea.

Believing him to be trustworthy, Hu Mimi packed up her watch-repair stall and accompanied him a short distance to a nearby teahouse.

Filled with a sense of gratitude, Hu Mimi felt that doing business with him was remarkably lucrative. Normally, repairing over a dozen wristwatches would yield barely a few dozen yuan, yet repairing just a single watch for him brought in the equivalent of more than a dozen watches.

Seeing that Hu Mimi had warmed up to him, Wu Zhenri seized the opportunity to launch a passionate romantic offensive. He took her for walks in the park, presented her with flowers, and gave her gifts until she finally yielded to him.

During the interrogation, the police connected Wu Zhenri’s mention of Pei Huaihua and deduced that she must have been the person who called the police. Prior to this, the officers had received a tip-off from a young woman, which led them to conduct a routine check at the designated Sakura Hotel.

Once the transcript was completed, the police imposed administrative fines in accordance with local security regulations: Wu Zhenri and Hu Mimi were fined 3,000 yuan and 2,000 yuan respectively for public indecency and engaging in illicit heterosexual relations caught in the act; the Sakura Hotel, which provided the venue for illicit intercourse, was fined 5,000 yuan.

Upon hearing the penalties announced, Hu Mimi, who had been kneeling, collapsed mentally, covering her face and weeping bitterly. She occasionally glanced at Wu Zhenri, casting a flushed, reproachful look at him as she accused him of ruining her, deceiving her, and driving her to such a miserable end.

She recalled how, a few years earlier, two boys