"Stop! Stop fighting!"
Commissar Zhuang's voice came from the doorway.
Lin Zhilan shook off Song Fang and pulled Wang Rou out of the scuffle.
Song Fang and Cai Laifeng still wanted to fight but were held back by the soldiers.
It was utterly disgraceful for military wives to be brawling like this.
Commissar Zhuang's face was dark with anger.
"All of you, come to my office!"
"Leader, she was the one who came to our house and started smashing things first!" Song Fang yelled. Her nose had been headbutted by Wang Rou and was still bleeding.
"I was the one who smashed them," Lin Zhilan stood perfectly straight, her voice calm. "I kicked the door, and I smashed the things. Commissar Zhuang, Wang Rou only got dragged into this because she tried to break up the fight. She has nothing to do with this, so she shouldn't have to go, right?"
"You..." Song Fang was speechless with anger.
Break up the fight?
Was there anyone who broke up a fight as biasedly as Wang Rou?
Commissar Zhuang glared at Lin Zhilan in annoyance, fuming with frustration.
Lin Zhilan had always been mature and capable. Why did she resort to physical violence today?
"Cut the nonsense, everyone involved in the fight is coming!"
Wang Rou grabbed Lin Zhilan's hand. "Sister, if we have to go, we go. I'm not afraid."
Lin Zhilan turned to look at the injuries on her face, reached out to gently touch them, and scolded her with heartache, "You fool, with your tiny frame, who could you possibly beat?"
"Well, I still pulled her hair," Wang Rou said defiantly.
Even in such a tense moment, the two of them were still displaying their deep sisterly bond.
Song Fang was furious. Pinching her bleeding nose with one hand, she pointed at them and said, "Commissar Zhuang, just look at them!"
Commissar Zhuang coughed. "Stop making a scene and follow me to the office!"
Once in the office, Commissar Zhuang sat in his chair, his gaze sweeping across the four faces one by one. He took a deep breath, suppressing his anger, and said, "Speak. What happened?"
Cai Laifeng jumped in first, her lips moving rapidly. "Leader, you have to stand up for us! My daughter-in-law and I were just minding our own business at home taking care of the child, and she kicked our door open and started smashing things everywhere. When I went to stop her, she even hit me! At my age, isn't she just bullying an old woman?"
As she spoke, the old woman even squeezed out two tears.
She slapped her thigh and complained, playing the perfect victim.
Commissar Zhuang did not respond to her, but turned his gaze to Lin Zhilan. "What do you have to say for yourself?"
Lin Zhilan said coldly, "I already said it just now. I was the one who kicked the door and smashed the things. But as for hitting people, she was the one who struck first. I was merely acting in self-defense."
Commissar Zhuang felt a headache coming on. "You were doing just fine today, why did you go looking for trouble with them?"
Lin Zhilan glanced at the old woman feigning pitifulness beside her. She pressed the wound on her arm, and her eyes immediately turned red.
"Commissar Zhuang, you know that my mother-in-law has a heart condition. We didn't even dare to tell her the news of Su Lang's injury, and Commander Gu also gave orders forbidding anyone from gossiping in front of my father-in-law."
"These two," Lin Zhilan raised her hand and pointed at Cai Laifeng and Song Fang, "specifically came to my door today to deliberately tell my mother-in-law the news of Su Lang's injury. My mother-in-law has now suffered a heart attack and is currently bedridden at home."
"How is she doing now?" Commissar Zhuang asked out of concern.
"She's resting in bed, it's hard to say."
"Leader, I'm innocent!" Cai Laifeng panicked and shouted her grievances at the top of her lungs, spit flying everywhere. "I was just passing by the door. What does her having a heart attack have to do with me? There are so many people in the family compound, maybe she heard something from someone else. Why blame it on me?"
Lin Zhilan sneered. "Every wrong has its cause, every debt has its debtor. Do you want me to drag you to my mother-in-law's bedside to confront her? We can ask her face to face if you were the one who said it!"
Cai Laifeng's eyes darted away, clearly lacking confidence, but she still stubbornly argued, "Well... well, I didn't make anything up. Su Lang really did get into an accident. I... I was just kindly letting her know."
"Whether you had kind intentions or not, anyone with eyes can see clearly. Commissar Zhuang, you tell us how this should be handled."
Just as Commissar Zhuang was about to speak, there was a knock on the office door.
"Who is it?" Commissar Zhuang's tone was not very pleasant.
"Report!" Zhou Jianjun walked in. "Commissar, it's me."
"Son, you're finally here! Your mother has been bullied to death by them!"
"Enough, Mother!" Zhou Jianjun scolded. "I heard everything outside, and you still refuse to admit your mistake!"
Cai Laifeng's mouth parted slightly, and she did not dare to speak anymore.
"Sister-in-law," Zhou Jianjun apologized to Lin Zhilan again, "Song Fang and my mother were wrong in this matter. Please be the bigger person and forgive us this once."
Watching her husband bow his head to Lin Zhilan, Song Fang gritted her teeth and said, "Zhou Jianjun, what right do you have to admit fault on our behalf? What did we do wrong?!"
Zhou Jianjun glared at her furiously. "Shut up! You're here fighting, did you even think about how the child is doing right now?"
When Zhou Jianjun heard the news, he rushed home hurriedly.
The house was long empty, leaving only the child crying their lungs out in the room.
He asked a neighbor to look after the child before rushing over here.
Song Fang choked for a moment, then argued, "If she hadn't come to our house to cause trouble, I wouldn't have forgotten the child!"
"Alright, alright," Commissar Zhuang slammed the table. "Is this the place for you to bicker?"
Everyone fell silent.
Commissar Zhuang said, "Doctor Lin, Zhou Jianjun has already spoken. What do you say?"
Lin Zhilan lowered her eyes for a moment, then looked up and stared at Zhou Jianjun. "Battalion Commander Zhou, you just called me sister-in-law again. I wonder if Zhou Chen's spirit in heaven would be grateful for this brotherly affection of yours?"
Zhou Jianjun's expression changed drastically. "I'm sorry, Doctor Lin."
Lin Zhilan felt even more that something was wrong.
The book clearly stated that the original owner of her body was Zhou Jianjun's unforgettable first love.
From the female lead's perspective in the book, Zhou Jianjun adopted Linlin because he could not forget the original owner.
However, despite adopting Linlin, he completely ignored her later on.
Zhou Jianjun turned a blind eye to Linlin's situation in the Zhou family, including the rumors Song Fang spread outside.
Lin Zhilan had even tried to find excuses for him.
Perhaps Zhou Jianjun really did like the original owner, and his feelings towards Linlin were complex, which was why he ignored her after adopting her.
But Lin Zhilan had met Zhou Jianjun several times now, and she did not feel the slightest bit of affection from him towards the original owner of this body.
On the contrary, every time she saw Zhou Jianjun, Lin Zhilan saw evasion and avoidance in his eyes.
Including Zhou Jianjun's reaction just now, the more Lin Zhilan thought about it, the stranger it seemed.
But she could at least be sure of one thing.
Zhou Jianjun definitely did not like the original owner, and the so-called unforgettable first love mentioned in the book was pure nonsense.
Another thing she could confirm was that Zhou Jianjun owed the original owner and Zhou Chen something, she just did not know in what aspect.
Lin Zhilan suppressed the thoughts in her heart and turned to look at Commissar Zhuang. "Commissar Zhuang, I have stated everything clearly. You can handle this according to the rules, and punish me if you must. But I demand that this mother-in-law and daughter-in-law pair also receive punishment."
