"Me harm him?" Zhou Chen sneered. "Aunt, if Zhou Jianjun had shown even a shred of brotherly feeling, I wouldn't have ended up like this today."
Cai Laifeng and Song Fang had no idea what had really happened. They could only plead bitterly.
"Even if he did something wrong, please be magnanimous and let him off this once. He won't dare do it again... I'll kowtow to you!"
Cai Laifeng clenched her teeth and thumped her head on the ground three times, "dong dong dong."
Their family had worked so hard to produce one successful person, Zhou Jianjun. They all counted on him to make something even bigger of himself and drag them all out of the countryside one day.
If Zhou Jianjun was ruined, their whole family would lose all hope of turning their lives around.
Song Fang pretended to wipe away tears. "Big brother, our whole family is begging you. Just talk to your superior, say it was all a misunderstanding. Brothers don't hold grudges overnight, right? We'll still be relatives after this."
Zhou Chen's face stayed expressionless.
Nothing they said seemed to move him.
When Cai Laifeng saw this, she scrambled up from the ground and pointed a finger at his nose, cursing, "You ungrateful, gutless bastard! An elder kowtows to you, and you still act high and mighty—aren't you afraid you'll die young?"
This whole dramatic performance left Su Bingcheng dumbfounded.
He walked over to Xu Yueyun and asked in a low voice, "What's all this about now?"
Xu Yueyun covered her little granddaughter's ears to block out Cai Laifeng's foul language and sighed. "That man is the child's biological father."
She lowered her gaze toward Linlin.
Su Bingcheng suddenly realized, "Ah, I thought he looked familiar. It's those eyes."
Xu Yueyun frowned and shot him a displeased look.
Now was hardly the time for that.
Cai Laifeng and Song Fang kept causing a commotion at the door. Zhou Chen tried to leave, but they kept grabbing and holding him back.
Luckily, the spot was a little ways from the apartment buildings, so there weren't many onlookers.
Liu Chunhua's household was empty—everyone had gone to work or school.
Next door, Chen Hehua had been hiding behind her door listening, clicking her tongue and tsking in amazement.
She still hadn't figured out exactly what was going on, but from what she could gather, Zhou Jianjun had wronged someone, the truth had come out, and now they were here begging for forgiveness.
"Mom, move aside."
Wang Rou suddenly appeared behind her, giving Chen Hehua a big fright.
Chen Hehua patted her chest. "Good heavens, you walk without making a sound!"
Wang Rou pressed her lips together—honestly, her mother-in-law had just been too absorbed in the gossip.
Chen Hehua asked her daughter-in-law, "Where are you going?"
"I'm going out to check on things."
Chen Hehua grabbed her arm. "Just sneak a peek from here. Don't go out and look right in their faces!"
"Mom, I'm going to check on Linlin."
"Oh..." Chen Hehua choked a little and stepped aside.
The door opened. Wang Rou walked calmly past the three people outside, and under Song Fang's murderous glare, she closed the door behind her with a "smack."
Cai Laifeng was still hurling abuse outside. Xu Yueyun had already taken her little granddaughter into the bedroom.
Wang Rou breathed a sigh of relief, greeted Su Bingcheng, and sat down in the courtyard.
Outside, Cai Laifeng was still making a scene.
Zhou Jun shook off Cai Laifeng's hand that was clutching his clothes and warned, "Aunt, if you keep this up, I won't go easy on Zhou Jianjun!"
Seeing that Zhou Chen was unmoved by either soft words or hard threats, Cai Laifeng plopped down on the ground and started wailing and carrying on.
Song Fang was seething inside. She glanced at the tightly shut door behind Zhou Chen, then at Zhou Chen, who refused to let go of his grip, and a surge of resentment rose in her heart. "Zhou Chen, is it because your wife won’t go back with you that you’re taking it out on our Jianjun? Or is it that you’ve found out about Zhou Jianjun’s wandering eye for your wife?"
She sneered, "Don’t blame her, though. She’s good-looking, so of course she’d aim higher. Regiment Commander Su is handsome and outranks you. Now that she’s latched onto an even bigger branch, it’s only natural she’s looking down on you."
Zhou Chen clenched his fists.
Song Fang’s eyes darted around slyly. "You two aren’t even divorced yet, and she’s already found another man, cuckolding you. If I were you, I’d raise a stink with the military and make sure she doesn’t get off easy!"
Zhou Chen glared at her, the corners of his eyes reddening.
He understood exactly what Song Fang was implying.
She wanted him to cause a scene and ruin “Lin Zhilan’s” reputation.
But leaving aside the fact that his wife was already gone, even if she were alive, remarrying would not be wrong given his presumed death during the mission.
Zhou Chen thought he would feel resentment, but knowing that his wife had been driven to thoughts of death by the gossip, he actually wished she had been more selfish.
If she could have lived, what would it matter if she remarried?
Song Fang noticed the simmering anger on Zhou Chen’s face and assumed her words had struck a chord. She felt secretly pleased.
Wasn’t Lin Zhilan so impressive?
She wanted everyone to see Lin Zhilan’s true colors.
Zhou Chen tightened his fists, restraining himself from hitting the woman.
He had already been reprimanded for brawling with Zhou Jianjun.
He needed to keep his job to give his daughter a better future.
The wooden door behind him creaked open. Wang Rou appeared, holding a basin full of water, and dashed it straight into Song Fang’s face.
Song Fang shrieked, "Wang Rou, are you crazy?!"
Wang Rou stood at the door with the empty basin, "You’re the one who’s crazy—green with envy!"
Song Fang trembled with rage.
The person she hated most in her life was Lin Zhilan.
If Lin Zhilan was her mortal enemy, then in her eyes, Wang Rou was nothing but Lin Zhilan’s most loyal lackey.
Whatever she said or did, it was all in lockstep with Lin Zhilan.
Dressed in a gentle and quiet demeanor on the surface, it was this very Wang Rou who had yanked her hair the hardest in their last fight!
"You bitch, I’ll tear your mouth apart today!" Song Fang screamed, lunging toward Wang Rou.
Wang Rou tossed the basin aside, ready to "engage."
"Stop!"
Two sharp commands rang out at once.
Zhou Chen stepped in front of Wang Rou to shield her, while Su Lang grabbed Song Fang’s hand and shoved her into Cai Laifeng.
Mother-in-law and daughter-in-law tumbled to the ground together.
Su Lang had already heard about Zhou Jianjun being forced to retire from the military. Taking one look at the scene before him, he pieced together the situation in an instant.
He checked his watch and ordered Bai Yang behind him, "Go find someone to tie Zhou Jianjun up and bring him here!"
Bai Yang leaned in, swallowing hard, "Commander, you really mean it?"
Su Lang shot a cold glance at the two women on the ground, "And report this to the police station. He’s no longer under our military jurisdiction. Let them sort it out in prison."
Song Fang’s face went pale.
"Don’t tie him up. We’ll leave right now."
Seeing Su Lang, Song Fang seemed to snap back to reality.
She had already heard that Su Lang had been promoted again.
Someone like him could crush their family as easily as squashing an ant.
Cai Laifeng hadn't achieved her goal and wasn't ready to leave, but Song Fang dragged her away anyway.
Bai Yang asked, "Commander, should we still tie him up?"
Su Lang shot him an annoyed look and kicked him on the backside. "Go chop some firewood!"
"Got it!" Bai Yang sidestepped from the kick, didn't feel much pain, and grinned, showing a row of white teeth.
