Luo Xuwen's kicks and Xu Huixin's two resounding slaps had the group chat members cheering in delight. If the live stream had supported tipping, they would have definitely sent Xu Huixin some nice things to pass on to Luo Xuwen. Those kicks were just too satisfying.
At that moment, comments flooded the live stream screen as if they were free.
Luo Xuwen held absolutely nothing back. His family had three children, with Luo Yan being the only daughter. If not for the mandatory quota requiring one child from each household to go to the countryside, and with Luo Yan's younger brother only being 14 and her older brother married with a child (thus not meeting the criteria), this trip to the countryside would never have fallen to Luo Yan!
After she went, the family didn't abandon her; they sent money and ration coupons every month. She never lacked for food or drink. If Luo Yan hadn't been saved by Shen Shuyu, she would have had no connection with a man like him.
Combined with the fact that Shen Shuyu had toyed with his daughter's affections, Luo Xuwen began to suspect a sinister plot. This old man must have seen his daughter's youthful beauty and ethereal grace, and then hired someone to follow her! All for the purpose of getting close to her under a righteous pretext and playing with her emotions!
Thinking of this, Luo Xuwen's foot veered slightly, aiming a kick at Shen Shuyu's lower region. Accompanied by a howl, Shen Shuyu clutched his crotch with both hands.
At that moment, the male comrades present, as well as Lin Duxi and Chu Qianmo watching the live stream from another dimension, all instinctively tightened their thighs in unison.
Seeing that the beating was about enough, several police officers quickly stepped forward to pull Luo Xuwen away.
"Talk things out properly. Resorting to violence in front of the police, do you not take us seriously?" The speaker was a relatively young officer. His words were stern, but he used no real force. As Luo Xuwen was being pulled away, he struggled and managed to land two more kicks on Shen Shuyu.
One kick landed precisely on Shen Shuyu's injured leg, which had just been re-cast at the hospital.
Now Shen Shuyu was in pain: his uninjured leg hurt, his injured leg hurt even more, and his "third leg" wasn't faring much better. His hands were a frantic, busy mess, not knowing where to clutch first. The pain had him rolling on the ground, howling. Some found it too cruel to watch and simply closed their eyes.
Seeing her son beaten, Su Xianghong looked at Luo Xuwen with a changed expression. She wanted to step forward and demand justice for her son, but was afraid she'd just be another target. She hesitated, utterly torn.
At that moment, Shen Minqiang, worn out from a day with his grandchildren, returned with the three kids. Seeing the crowd gathered in the yard watching the commotion, Shen Minqiang also came over to see. People nearby saw him and immediately made way, exposing Shen Minqiang—holding one child with two others beside him—to everyone's view.
As soon as Su Xianghong saw him, her tears began to fall.
"Old Shen! It's outrageous! That wretched daughter-in-law brought people here to beat our Shuyu!" Su Xianghong slumped weakly to the ground, slapping her thighs as she started to wail.
"No justice! The national police, the national officials, just stood by and watched a daughter-in-law beat her mother-in-law! Everyone, look at my face! She did this!" Su Xianghong's tears came on cue.
In her youth, she had been quite beautiful and was skilled at playing weak and coy. She had always felt Shen Minqiang was like dough in her hands, going wherever she poked. Shen Minqiang glanced at the slap marks on her face, and his expression darkened. His wife being beaten in public was like trampling his dignity as a man underfoot.
His gaze swept over the faces of the police officers, the Women's Federation officials, and the neighborhood committee staff. It paused briefly on Luo Xuwen, who was still wildly struggling to break free and attack, before finally settling on Xu Huixin.
Suppressing his anger, Shen Minqiang spoke in a reasonable tone, "Huixin, I know our Shuyu was wrong in the matter of your hospitalization. But for you to bring people here to beat him... isn't that going too far?" Shen Minqiang was a union cadre at the neighboring machinery factory, most adept at lecturing. He had a whole arsenal of grand principles at his disposal.
It could be said that during her time in the Shen household, Xu Huixin not only endured Su Xianghong's sarcasm and insults, Shen Shuyu's emotional neglect, and the hatred of her three stepchildren, but also had to bear the moral coercion from Shen Minqiang, this paragon of virtue.
Shen Minqiang didn't pay Luo Yan any mind at all. He thought she was just a bystander here to watch the show.
After addressing Xu Huixin, he immediately turned a smiling face to Director Zheng from the neighborhood committee: "Director Zheng, I'm truly sorry you had to make this trip. This really isn't a big deal, just a little spat between the young couple. My son lost his balance for a moment, and Huixin wasn't steady on her feet either, fell and hit her head."
Shen Minqiang was unaware of Shen Shuyu's affairs outside. He thought today's ruckus was because Xu Huixin had brought people to seek justice for herself.
He was extremely displeased with Xu Huixin! He knew his son was in the wrong, but couldn't such matters be discussed behind closed doors? Did she have to make such an ugly scene? Even bringing the police into it—did Xu Huixin not want this marriage anymore? Could she bear to leave her son? Shen Minqiang didn't believe it.
Director Zheng and Shen Minqiang had a fairly good relationship. Usually, when they met on the street, they would stop to greet each other and chat. But right now, Director Zheng wished he didn't know Shen Minqiang.
When Xu Huixin and the others came to the neighborhood committee earlier to explain the situation, they had presented evidence of Shen Shuyu's extramarital affairs! Director Zheng had no doubt about the authenticity of that evidence. The police had come with them; they must have investigated and confirmed it!
Who would have thought that Shen Shuyu, with his honest, straightforward looks, had so many tricks up his sleeve! He had a dutiful, hardworking wife at home, yet dared to have a mistress on the outside. Having a mistress was bad enough, but he was brazen enough to even hold a wedding ceremony with her! Wasn't he afraid of being exposed? The sheer audacity!
And that wasn't all. He treated his wife at home poorly, finally provoking her to the point where she joined forces with the outside woman to crush him completely.
As a man, Director Zheng couldn't help but envy Shen Shuyu's skill in attracting women. Whether it was Shen Shuyu's ex-wife Gong Lili or his current two wives, major and minor, none were bad-looking. Director Zheng couldn't even handle the one at his own home, leaving him with a sour feeling in his heart. He couldn't help but think that if he had such ability, he would surely arrange everything perfectly for both wives, and today's incident would never have happened.
While Director Zheng was lost in his fantasies, the Women's Federation Director, who had no personal ties with Shen Minqiang, had a dark expression. "Comrade Shen, do you have any idea how serious a mistake your son has committed?"
Shen Minqiang was already brushing it off. "Director Wang, this is our fault. In a moment, I will definitely make Shuyu apologize to Huixin..."
"Apologize? Apologize for what! Who wants an apology from a scoundrel and bigamist like him?" Director Wang of the Women's Federation directly cut off Shen Minqiang's words.
Shen Minqiang's words were abruptly choked back in his mouth. The people around them, hearing this, erupted into a buzz of discussion.
Su Xianghong, who had been wailing on the ground, suddenly fell silent like a duck being choked, all her cries stuck in her throat.
Shen Minqiang turned to look at his son. Shen Shuyu had already been helped up. He sat hanging his head on a chair, not daring to look at his father. His face was ghastly pale; the physical pain was nothing compared to the fear in his heart.
In these times, issues of moral conduct were taken extremely seriously. During the crackdowns in previous years, how many scoundrels had been executed? The reason Shen Shuyu dared to hold a wedding banquet with Luo Yan at the educated youth settlement in Suzhou was precisely because Suzhou was far from Shenyang. He figured that even if he grew tired of Luo Yan later, he could just dust off his hands and leave.
Even if Luo Yan realized she had been deceived, without his real address or work unit, as an outsider, even with all the power in the world, she would never be able to find him.
Moreover, he had already investigated Luo Yan's family background—just an ordinary worker's family. What could they possibly do to him even if they figured it out later? The only thing Shen Shuyu hadn't anticipated was Luo Yan getting pregnant after just that one night.
This threw Shen Shuyu into complete disarray. He had always believed he loved his ex-wife, Gong Lili. After her death, he had sworn at her graveside that no matter how many women he had in this lifetime, he would never have children again! His paternal love would only belong to the children Gong Lili had borne him!
Shen Shuyu never imagined that a momentary lapse of concentration while driving would cause him to crash into the mountainside, leaving him unable to even walk. What he expected even less was that Xu Huixin actually knew about his affair with Luo Yan and had even managed to track Luo Yan down.
Shen Shuyu found it utterly incomprehensible. He thought Xu Huixin had gone mad. What good would ruining his reputation do for her, Xu Huixin?
Shen Shuyu looked at Luo Yan, his eyes filled with pleading. He knew Luo Yan loved him deeply, and he hoped that, for the sake of their past affection, she would tell the police they had no relationship whatsoever.
That there was no bigamy, marriage fraud, or scoundrel behavior. Shen Shuyu swore that if Luo Yan saved him this time, he would allow her to keep the child. Although that would let down the deceased Gong Lili and betray his promise to her, she was so kind and virtuous—she would surely forgive him.
As for Xu Huixin, Shen Shuyu now hated her to the core. He decided not to spare her even a glance from now on. She loved him so much; his neglect would surely make her suffer, restless day and night.
Not only that, Shen Shuyu planned to give her the ultimate revenge: making her watch him live a loving life with someone else for the rest of her days. He would make her yearn for him but never have him, forcing her to regret this day for the rest of her life!
In that glance at Luo Yan, countless thoughts flashed through Shen Shuyu's mind. By the time he snapped back to reality, Luo Yan was already standing right in front of him. Before he could even muster a smile for her,
a loud slap from Luo Yan landed on his face. "You scumbag! Did you think one look from you would make me swallow all the deceit I suffered and willingly help you cover things up?"
On the way from Xu Huixin's house, Xu Huixin had told Luo Yan many things about Shen Shuyu, including how he often moved himself with his own displays of affection.
Luo Yan thought it over carefully. Once she stripped away the filter of her love for Shen Shuyu, she realized this man was indeed prone to self-aggrandizement. Just like in his letters to her, he would always bring up his deceased ex-wife, pouring out his deep feelings for her.
Every time at this point, Shen Shuyu's tone would shift, turning to express his inexplicable fondness and affection for Luo Yan.
This tactic—first crafting an image of a devoted man, then painfully declaring, "I thought my heart died with my wife, but then I met you, and I feel it coming back to life."
Luo Yan, a young girl, how could she resist the allure of being the one to 'save' such a seemingly devoted man? She inevitably fell head over heels.
"Shen Shuyu, oh Shen Shuyu, you truly have no shame. On one hand, you told me how deeply in love you were with your ex-wife, and on the other, you wrote me letter after letter, keeping in touch. Every time you passed Suzhou, you'd make a special detour to see me. I really thought you were something special. And the result? You had a wife at home?"
With each sentence, Luo Yan delivered another slap. Having been in the countryside for two years, doing farm work year-round, her hands were strong. In no time, Shen Shuyu's face was swollen.
Shen Minqiang and Su Xianghong were no fools. Shen Shuyu wasn't their only son. Without much deliberation, they decided to abandon this son. They didn't dare utter a single word of protest.
The eldest boy by Shen Minqiang's side, just over six years old, stared fixedly at Luo Yan. An indescribable fierceness flashed in his eyes. His younger brother, a little over four, didn't understand much of what was happening and could only watch wide-eyed, occasionally sucking on his fingers. The little girl in Shen Minqiang's arms, just over three years old, had already fallen asleep.
When Xu Huixin married into the family, the girl was just over two months old, and she had been the one raising her from the moment she entered the household. Under the influence of the plot, she genuinely loved this child and truly regarded her as her own daughter, especially since she had no children of her own. Yet, this very child would deal her a fatal blow in her old age.
In the storyline, around the turn of the millennium, Shen Shuyu became involved with another woman, who was Shen Qiuhe's university senior. After Shen Shuyu's affair was discovered, Shen Qiuhe sided with her senior, accusing Xu Huixin of being petty and lacking tolerance. She even said her father had merely committed a mistake all men make. If Xu Huixin made a fuss, it was because she wasn't magnanimous or virtuous enough, and because she was old and faded. In short, there was no problem with her father having one woman after another outside.
The root cause, according to them, was that Xu Huixin wasn't good enough. Of course, when the same thing happened to her, it was a different story. When her own husband cheated, she found several people and had him beaten up, and she certainly didn't let the other woman off either. It was the epitome of double standards.
Xu Huixin didn't spare her another glance.
The police officers watched from the sidelines as Shen Shuyu got beaten, then stepped forward to try and talk them down, but it was just verbal persuasion—they didn't actually step in to pull anyone apart.
Putting personal feelings aside, they were all male officers. Luo Yan was a woman and pregnant. If they went to intervene and something happened, who would they explain it to?
Seeing that Luo Yan had already set the stage, Xu Huixin knew she couldn't back down. She looked around, seeing that most of the people in the residential compound had come out, even many coworkers who didn't live there.
She stepped forward and loudly explained to the neighbors: "We all live in the same residential compound. You all know who I am. The machinery factory's compound isn't far from our textile factory's. Before I moved into this compound, what I was like, everyone knows."
"I believe in the three years since I married into the Shen family, I have respected my in-laws, treated all three children equally, and cared for my husband Shen Shuyu in every matter. Especially you, Aunt Li, you live right next door to us. How I've performed as the Shen family's daughter-in-law, everyone is aware."
The Aunt Li that Xu Huixin named didn't get along well with Su Xianghong. The main reason was that Aunt Li was very good to her son and daughter-in-law, keeping the house in perfect order while they were at work. Su Xianghong, on the other hand, did nothing at home, just waiting for her daughter-in-law to come back from work to do everything.
The two were like a study in contrasts. Their feud started when Xu Huixin once fell ill. Not only did Su Xianghong show no consideration, but as soon as Xu Huixin walked in the door, she started hurling abuse. Aunt Li couldn't stand it and said a few words to her, only to be rudely snapped back at by Su Xianghong.
And what Su Xianghong said was extremely offensive, including remarks about Aunt Li being a young widow who had to curry favor with her daughter-in-law to survive. Aunt Li hated anyone mentioning her widowhood, and they had a huge argument. From then on, Aunt Li never spoke another word to Su Xianghong.
When she truly couldn't bear to see how Xu Huixin lived, she would even secretly slip Xu Huixin a steamed bun or a few pieces of candy.
Aunt Li had even advised Xu Huixin to divorce, but Xu Huixin, constrained by the plot, simply couldn't listen.
Now, seeing Xu Huixin standing up for herself, Aunt Li was happy to lend a hand: "If you ask me, this Shen family is really something else. Not only is Xu Huixin a permanent worker at the factory, but she was just a seventeen or eighteen-year-old girl when she married into the Shen family. Once she arrived, Su Xianghong started living like some old lady from feudal times."
"Just look at what she's wearing, her clothes, her accessories—does she look like a member of the working class at all? And look at Xu Huixin, if I'm not mistaken, that's Su Xianghong's old padded jacket, isn't it?"
Aunt Li's words made everyone's eyes dart between Xu Huixin and Su Xianghong.
The padded jacket on Xu Huixin was dark and worn. The one on Su Xianghong looked brand new.
Someone who worked in the warehouse let out an "oh": "That outfit Su Xianghong is wearing, isn't that from the batch of flawed fabric our factory sold off in the autumn? I remember back then, the factory distributed it per person, wasn't it four and a half feet per head?"
"Exactly! I work in the same workshop as Little Xu. The cloth on my son and the cloth allocated to Little Xu were cut from the same bolt."
Everyone lived in the same compound, and households didn't have much in the way of entertainment. When people gathered, gossip about other families' mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law was the most common topic.
What kind of life Xu Huixin led in the compound, everyone had heard a little about. It wasn't that the flawed fabric distributed by the factory couldn't be given to a mother-in-law, but the contrast between what Su Xianghong was wearing and what Xu Huixin was wearing was just too stark.
Especially for the female workers who lived with their mothers-in-law and worked at the factory, they directly put themselves in Xu Huixin's shoes. They felt this unhealthy trend couldn't be allowed to grow; this Su Xianghong, who treated her own daughter-in-law like a servant, had to be put in her place.
Otherwise, if their own mothers-in-law saw how comfortably Su Xianghong lived and started copying her, what would they do? Working a full day was exhausting enough; who could handle coming home to battle their mother-in-law too?
So someone immediately shouted: "This old woman has no shame, does she? That's a benefit for factory employees. She's not even an employee of our factory, what right does she have to wear those clothes?"
"She relies on having no shame, that's what. If you ask me, this Little Xu is too soft. If it were me, if my mother-in-law dared to take my things, I definitely wouldn't let her off. It's simply bullying."
Su Xianghong had already gotten up from the ground. Hearing this, she fired back: "You're the one with no shame! This was a gift my daughter-in-law willingly made for me. She offered it as a token of respect, so of course I'll take it. A daughter-in-law showing filial respect and serving her mother-in-law is only right and proper."
"Su Xianghong, don't you talk nonsense. You sound so righteous, but why didn't you take good care of your own mother-in-law back in the day? After your mother-in-law was paralyzed at home, you hardly looked after her. The day she died, she was filthy underneath, her body covered in sores." This came from someone in the neighboring machinery factory residential compound. They were digging up Su Xianghong's past without holding back.
"Well, Su Xianghong, if you're like that, how do you have the nerve to make little Xu serve you like a maid from the old society?" Aunt Li shot back.
Several police officers who had been standing idly by stopped watching Luo Yan slap people. They pulled out notebooks from their pockets and walked towards the crowd.
Seeing the police approach, everyone spoke up even louder. Especially Aunt Li, who directly described the life Xu Huixin led in the Shen family: "Officers, let me tell you, this Shen family is really no good. They demanded Little Xu get up at five in the morning to work."
"Whether it was spring, summer, autumn, or winter, they insisted on fresh steamed buns, never day-old ones. Xu Huixin had to prepare the dough before going to bed and get up before dawn to steam them. They also demanded fresh dishes for every meal, so she had to get up before daybreak to buy vegetables from the market. At noon, she'd rush home right after work. In the evenings too, even if she had to work overtime, she had to come back and cook their meals."
Aunt Li's words made the young and married women around her widen their eyes in shock. A women's federation cadre also came over at this point.
Seeing so many people gather, Aunt Li got even more worked up and continued, "Officers, Director Wang, you wouldn't believe it. The Shen family also demanded clean clothes every single morning. When Xu Huixin came home from work, there would be a huge basin full of dirty clothes waiting. Su Xianghong wouldn't even let her into the house until she finished washing them all."
"In the dead of winter, how cold it gets at night! Xu Huixin was once locked out before. If I hadn't gotten up to use the bathroom and taken her into my house, she might have frozen to death outside. And this Shen Shuyu, wasn't he lying at home recovering from a car accident that broke his leg? It was Xu Huixin who was running around taking care of him, front and back."
"And even with that, Su Xianghong wasn't satisfied. She even egged her son on to hit Xu Huixin. The injury on Xu Huixin's head was from Shen Shuyu. You didn't see it then, she was covered in blood, her face and body. They didn't take her to the hospital, didn't even help her up. It was Xu Huixin who passed out, then came to and went to the hospital by herself." At this point, Aunt Li couldn't help but wipe her tears.
She had bad luck, having a mother-in-law similar to Su Xianghong when she was young. But she was fortunate not to have married a man like Shen Shuyu. Her husband always stood up for her when her mother-in-law bullied her. That was also why Aunt Li never remarried all these years after her husband passed away.
Of course, another bigger reason was that she felt marriage was just that—getting married again would just mean going to serve another family. It was better to live alone and be free.
"You all don't know, this Shen Shuyu doesn't even share a bed with Xu Huixin, saying the child isn't willing. To be honest, this whole family never intended to live properly with Xu Huixin. They just saw her simple nature and tricked her into coming to their home to be used as a live-in servant!"
"On weekends, Su Xianghong's sons and daughters all come over. Good grief, a whole big family does nothing but wait for Xu Huixin to serve them. Sometimes there's no place to sleep at night, they have to make do on the floor. The three children have been taught by Su Xianghong to hold a huge grudge against Xu Huixin. Their eldest once even hit Xu Huixin with a slingshot before."
"Her head was bleeding from it. This time, after Shen Shuyu got injured, it was Xu Huixin taking care of everything inside and out. After Xu Huixin was beaten and came back from the hospital, she went straight to her parents' home. Shen Shuyu had no one to look after him, no one to handle his waste. Tsk tsk tsk, and this is his own mother?"
Xu Huixin had started the ball rolling, and the rest didn't require her to say anything more; Aunt Li had taken over and finished the performance.
This was also Xu Huixin's intention in singling out Aunt Li. While Aunt Li was kind-hearted, she was also someone with clear likes and dislikes. Su Xianghong had offended her, especially by saying so many hurtful things, so Aunt Li was bound to hold a grudge.
Furthermore, often, the suffering one has endured is more effective when spoken by someone else rather than by the victim themselves.
Like getting up early to cook and buy groceries, coming home from work to wash clothes—if she said it herself, it would likely be greatly downplayed. Many might even think Xu Huixin was being overly sensitive. Isn't it just getting up early to cook and buy groceries, coming home to wash clothes? What woman hasn't gone through that?
The Shen family was just a bit particular, is that even worth mentioning? And regarding the stepson being encouraged to hit Xu Huixin, there would surely be moralists saying, the child doesn't know any better, Xu Huixin is an adult and a stepmother, why bother holding it against a child?
If you chose to be a stepmother, what's the use being fussy about these things now!
Luo Yan was also tired from hitting. She walked to Xu Huixin's side, watching Aunt Li animatedly denouncing the Shen family's unfair treatment of Xu Huixin amidst the crowd. Su Xianghong and her family squirmed uncomfortably under everyone's disapproving gazes.
She said to Xu Huixin, "Xu Huixin, I underestimated you. I really thought you were a complete pushover who only snapped into action after being pushed too far."
Luo Yan saw Xu Huixin in a new light; she was even starting to admire her a little.
Xu Huixin said, "You know how good Shen Shuyu is at sweet-talking. I used to be deeply in love with him, just like you were. I thought his coldness towards me was because he was worried about his children's feelings, so I tried my absolute best to be good to his family. In the end, I just wanted to build a good life with him."
As for being swept along by the plot, Xu Huixin didn't plan to tell anyone in this world about that.
Fortunately, this world always had various stereotypes about women, so Xu Huixin's explanation held up to scrutiny. At most, she'd just be called a fool a few times.
"I thought sincerity could be exchanged for sincerity, but I was wrong. Where in this world is there so much 'sincerity for sincerity'? My genuine kindness only brought in return their increasingly worse bullying."
"When Shen Shuyu pushed me to the ground this time, Su Xianghong and the others all heard my scream, but not a single one got up to check on me. When I went to the hospital, Su Xianghong, not wanting to serve the whole family anymore, went and pressured me to be discharged. Saying things like me going to the hospital for hitting my head was being overly dramatic, that something clearly treatable with a handful of plant ash had to waste money, and so on."
"Right then, my heart turned cold. When we got home, Shen Shuyu directly called me a slut, saying me staying at the hospital instead of coming home was because I was fooling around outside." Xu Huixin said expressionlessly.
"I suddenly understood. What I liked was probably the person he crafted in his letters, not him in reality. For these three years, I never woke up, perhaps because he always kept me at arm's length."
To a smart person, saying this much was already sufficient. Luo Yan, reflecting on her own situation, understood everything.
Come to think of it, she hadn't spent much time with Shen Shuyu in person either. All her understanding of him came from his letters. After hearing Xu Huixin's words, she realized, wasn't she herself also attracted to the persona Shen Shuyu created in his letters?
Luo Yan felt somewhat emotional. She said, "If we weren't in this kind of relationship, if we hadn't met under these circumstances, we probably could have become friends."
But Luo Yan knew she and Xu Huixin could not become friends.
Xu Huixin said, "Who knows about the future? It's too early to say for sure now."
The police and the Women's Federation had finished gathering the basic information. The police handcuffed Shen Shuyu and hauled him away, wheelchair and all.
The wicked mother-in-law who oppressed her daughter-in-law wasn't under police jurisdiction; she was taken away by the Women's Federation. They had been worried about finding a suitable example, and Su Xianghong, with a bit of operation and packaging, would absolutely fit the bill.
As Shen Shuyu was dragged away, the crowd of onlookers also dispersed, mainly because it was freezing outside—around minus thirty degrees Celsius, breath seeming to freeze into icicles in the air.
With no more spectacle to watch, why stay? But them going home didn't mean the matter was over. Because those women who went home gathered in twos and threes on the way back.
Shen Minqiang led his three children home, his face dark. The sight of the dirty, messy house made Shen Minqiang, who had grown accustomed to a tidy home, feel utterly uncomfortable.
He set the children down and sat in the living room, lost in thought. The former Shen Shuyu had been Shen Minqiang's pride.
He entered the textile factory as an apprentice in the transport team at 18, and officially became a driver for the transport team at 23. Over these years, how much income had Shen Shuyu generated for the family relying on that route? How many things had he managed for the family?
As Shen Shuyu's father, most of the money Shen Shuyu earned was handed over to him. With that money, he had accomplished quite a lot—for instance, arranging for Shen Shuyu's younger brother, Shen Shuhuai, to enter the thermos factory in the neighboring district, and getting his sister, Shen Shuliu, a job as a salesclerk at the supply and marketing cooperative.
Shen Shuyu being ruined like this pained Shen Minqiang, but no matter how much it hurt, he had to consider the future. As for Su Xianghong, Shen Minqiang was already considering cutting ties with her.
No matter how good she was, becoming a negative teaching material for the Women's Federation department was unacceptable. His wife must be someone with a clean background, without any blemishes.
Shen Minqiang pondered countermeasures at home.
Meanwhile, Xu Huixin, who had followed the police to the public security bureau to give her statement, after finishing all the formalities, sought out the head of the police station.
"Chief, what should be done if someone is reselling state-owned steel?" Shenyang was an industrial city.
Even now, machinery plants and steel rolling mills remained the pillar industries of Shenyang.
And reselling state-owned steel—if it were the 1960s, when the country was severely short of steel, it would absolutely be a capital offense warranting execution. Even now, the charge was no small matter.
Steel had extremely wide uses, even in military industries. Reselling state-owned steel was undermining the nation's foundation.
The head of the Hongxing Road Police Station originally thought arresting Shen Shuyu for bigamy was a perfect way to wrap up the year. He hadn't expected another case to come knocking?
He opened his notebook: "Comrade Xu, do you know something?"
Xu Huixin pretended to be a very timid woman. She said somewhat awkwardly, "I don't know if it's true or not... On the day I was pushed down and injured by Shen Shuyu, when I went out to fetch water, I overheard Su Xianghong talking to Shen Minqiang about Shen Shuyu being injured and how they would transport the steel out in the future."
"I didn't hear too clearly. Maybe I misheard." After saying this, Xu Huixin added, "Chief, I have to go back. My parents will be getting off work soon, and if they don't see me, they'll definitely worry. I cut ties with them for two or three years; I've already let them down enough all this time, I can't make them worry about me again. I'll go first."
With that, Xu Huixin hurried off first. Xu Huixin learned about Shen Minqiang reselling steel from the later plot. In the 1990s, Xu Huixin led the so-called male lead's family to better and better lives. But his brother Shen Shuhuai's family, due to failed investments, grew worse and worse.
When Shen Shuhuai went to Shen Shuyu to borrow money, the two brothers argued and mentioned this matter. Shen Shuhuai believed Shen Shuyu's success was because Shen Minqiang gave all the money from reselling steel to Shen Shuyu.
Shen Shuyu, however, didn't see it that way; he thought the money Shen Shuhuai lost was all subsidized by Shen Minqiang.
The two brothers argued fiercely. In short, none of the Shen family members felt the family's rise was due to Xu Huixin's contributions.
Thinking of this, Xu Huixin felt utterly disgusted. This feeling was just like her previous life, working herself to the bone overtime, only for the boss to achieve fame and fortune while she got nothing.
She took out a coin and rubbed it. The live stream had ended, and members in the group were chatting.
Everyone was spamming a stream of '666'.
The last message was from Lin Xi: [Earth Girl Lin Xi: Cheering for my Sister Xu! Reporting Shen Minqiang—I truly didn't see that coming!]
Xu Huixin smiled calmly and said in the group: [Step-mother in the Period Novel Xu Huixin: In the entire Shen family, the most cunning one is this Shen Minqiang. If I don't crush him, I won't even know how I'll die later.]
So before he figures out a way to crush me, I must strike first and eliminate the root of the problem.
