Chapter 595 I’m Afraid of My Wife

Chapter 595: I'm Under the Thumb

Jiao Zongyao looked at Wu Yue's expression and thought with a sneer.

Did she actually think having He Feiyan by her side meant she had a backer now?

"Your mom misses you—aren’t you going home?"

Wu Yue froze, biting her lip, torn as her heart twisted in conflict.

She had to go back—Wu Fengxi was waiting for her.

Wu Fengxi was precisely Jiao Zongyao’s way of controlling her.

He Feiyan said, "Don’t listen to him. Stay if you want."

Just then, Xue Ying passed by and scoffed upon hearing this.

"He Feiyan, why butt in? They’re family. There’s a transfer student in your class—take her for now."

He Feiyan turned and saw someone standing behind Xue Ying.

"What’s your name?"

"Ding He."

He Feiyan frowned. "You look like you should be in middle school, don’t you?"

She seemed about the same age as He Lilan.

Xue Ying explained, "She’s never gone to school. Sticking her in first grade wouldn’t work, so she’ll join your class."

He Feiyan let it drop. A child this old never having attended school surely had a reason—no need to dig up the past.

"Feiyan, take her for now. I’m heading home."

He Feiyan was still uneasy—she knew Jiao Zongyao’s type.

If he didn’t want something, he wouldn’t have come to the school specifically for Wu Yue.

"If there’s trouble, come get me. I don’t mind you troubling me."

Wu Yue looked away and nodded.

"I know."

She turned to look at Jiao Zongyao, only to find his eyes staring at Ding He.

She went pale—she knew that look.

"Let’s go, Uncle."

Jiao Zongyao smiled and nodded, turning to lead Wu Yue out of the school gate.

"That group of four has already been brought to justice. You’re no longer the old Deputy Director Jiao. You should cut out those sick ideas."

Wu Yue spoke these words as if it took everything she had.

She couldn’t believe she’d talked to him like that.

Jiao Zongyao watched her tremble, her eyes welling up with fearful tears, and couldn't help but give a light chuckle.

"Yueyue, you're getting better."

Wu Yue bit her lip, forcing herself to meet his eyes.

If she couldn't overcome her fear, she would stay trapped in this cage for the rest of her life.

"You'll come to a bad end sooner or later!"

Jiao Zongyao tilted his head back and laughed loudly. Her level of insult barely registered.

From the moment he embarked on this path, he had heard far worse.

"Yueyue, even if I really set my sights on her, could you stop me?"

Wu Yue stubbornly stared at him, locked in a silent battle of wills.

Jiao Zongyao scorned her overconfidence. "Yueyue, don't even think of crossing me. You don't have the capability yet."

He raised his hand and grabbed her chin. "Remember your mother. Didn't she marry me back then for your sake?"

Jiao Zongyao had once told her something: unless you're certain you can strike me down in one blow, to make sure I stay down—

Otherwise, as long as I have even one breath left in me, I'll drag you and your mother into the abyss.

Her fear of him was deep in her bones.

Wu Yue stiffened, using every ounce of strength to turn her face away and break free from his grasp.

"You promised me. Now I want to add another condition."

Jiao Zongyao raised an eyebrow. "What condition?"

Wu Yue lifted her chin, her neck as slender as a swan's.

"I want to take my mother away from Beicheng with me."

Jiao Zongyao gave a dark chuckle. "I wonder how He Feiyan would feel if she knew the friend she's been protecting so wholeheartedly was actually scheming behind her back."

Wu Yue avoided his gaze, her nails dug into her palms hard enough to draw blood.

"I only befriended her for this. Otherwise, we would never have become friends."

Jiao Zongyao liked her answer. "Then get ready."

With that, he couldn't be bothered to take Wu Yue home and simply turned to leave.

Wu Yue stood in place, watching his retreating back for a long time without moving.

Until He Feiyan walked out of the school and noticed Wu Yue was still there.

"You're still here?"

Wu Yue turned to look at her, her gaze dark and unreadable.

"Fei Yan, I need to see Jiang Yu. Is that okay?"

He Feiyan went still. "Did he do something to you?"

Wu Yue shook her head, "I want to find Jiang Yu."

"Okay."

Meanwhile, Jiang Yu and He Tingyue had originally planned to leave the kids behind and go to Dongkelai Restaurant for hot pot.

But as they were heading out, He Feiyan caught them in the act.

"Sis-in-law, why are you home? Didn’t you go to the factory today?"

Jiang Yu replied, "Your brother and I have some time off right now."

He Feiyan: "...Lucky you! So where are you going?"

"Hot pot. You in?"

He Feiyan gave her a dagger look, "If we hadn’t happened to come back, you would’ve ditched us, right?"

Jiang Yu laughed sheepishly, "Not exactly, I was planning to bring takeout for you."

Since they were already back, Jiang Yu naturally brought them along.

Hearing that Wu Yue wanted to talk to her, Jiang Yu said, "I’ll have them set up a private dining room."

Wu Yue didn’t plan to go with them and only wanted to chat with Jiang Yu at home.

So Jiang Yu took her inside to talk.

Wu Yue didn’t stay long and left after their conversation.

He Feiyan asked Jiang Yu, "What did she want?"

Jiang Yu replied, "Was Jiao Zongyao at school to see her today?"

"Yeah, I thought Wu Yue would go home with him, but she didn’t."

Jiang Yu scoffed. He only cares about what Wu Yue can do for him—whether she went home or not didn’t matter.

"It’s fine. Just go to class as usual and go about your usual routine."

At Dongkelai, He Feiyan chatted a bit about school.

Later, she found out by chance that Ding He had come to school and coincidentally got placed in He Feiyan’s class.

"Ding He? This Ding He?"

Jiang Yu dipped her finger in water and wrote the name on the table.

He Feiyan nodded, "Sis-in-law, you know her?"

"She’s the girl from Hebei we took in. She came back with Yu Lan."

Yu Lan was already living a normal life again, but Ding He, who had no memory of her family, drifted around like a tumbleweed.

She probably only went to school because Lan Raoping talked her into it.

Jiang Yu focused on eating the hot pot, gave Ding He a passing thought before brushing it aside.

She’d even checked with Xiao Qi before—after that, Ding He never went back to see him.

Perhaps out of fear of Jiang Yu, or perhaps because Xiao Qi didn’t meet her standards and wouldn’t be able to take her in once she left Lan Raoping.

Sometimes Jiang Yu couldn’t make sense of what this girl really wanted.

After grabbing a bite at Dongkelai, Jiang Yu felt warm all over.

Just as she returned to the residential compound, she saw Factory Director Zheng waiting at the entrance, scowling.

He spotted them and let out a derisive snort.

"Where have you been?"

Jiang Yu rubbed her nose, feeling a bit guilty.

"Just took a walk around."

Factory Director Zheng mercilessly called her out: "You smell like a mutton feast—did you take a detour through a butcher shop?"

Jiang Yu: "..." *[Jiang Yu thought to herself]* Then why ask if you already knew?

"Director, what brings you here so late instead of heading home?"

Factory Director Zheng’s eyes widened. "You’re asking *me*? *You* tell *me*! With so many people at the meeting, all those factory bigwigs from the textile base watching, and the two of you just walked out—was that appropriate?"

Jiang Yu pouted. "Yeah, not ideal—but we left anyway. If I’d stayed, was I supposed to just sit there while Jiao Zongyao kept smearing me? So much money was donated to the disaster area—no one said anything was wrong when spending it, but now that the money’s gone, you want to trace its origins? Is that appropriate?"

Clearly, it was a classic case of kicking the ladder after climbing up, and she wasn’t buying it.

Factory Director Zheng glared at He Tingyue. "She’s running wild, and you’re just enabling her?"

He Tingyue didn’t even glance sideways. "I’m henpecked."

That one sentence nearly made Factory Director Zheng explode.

Oh, spare me the 'henpecked' crap!

"I think you two are trying to kill me!"

Jiang Yu smiled faintly. "How is that? Deputy Director Jiao’s the one I’m gunning for."

Factory Director Zheng said angrily, "Director Qian admits you got a raw deal, so he’s throwing in extra bonuses—just call off the strike."

Jiang Yu stuffed her hands in her pockets, face unreadable.

"Money’s not the issue here."

Factory Director Zheng looked ready to blow a gasket. "Then what do you want?"

"Deputy Director Jiao said those things and damaged my reputation—he should at least apologize, right? If this hits the papers, well… wouldn’t make for great PR, would it?"

Factory Director Zheng wasn’t deaf to the threat—he wouldn’t have lasted this long otherwise.

"Now you’re threatening to go public?! You’re outrageous! I’m telling you, stirring up all this drama just to force an apology—what’s your endgame?"

Jiang Yu shrugged. "I won’t tolerate him gunning for me. Can you honestly say he isn’t?"

Factory Director Zheng: "Look, it’s not that—"

"Straight answer: is he coming after me or not?"

"But hasn't he been rebuffed by you every single time..."

"So is he targeting me?"

Factory Director Zheng sighed wearily, "Yes, yes, he's targeting you, alright?"

Jiang Yu retorted indignantly, "Then he owes me an apology! Director Zheng, count yourself lucky I'm so patient. Anyone else would've gotten into it with him right then and there."

Factory Director Zheng scoffed sarcastically, "Right, you have a good temper. I've never seen anyone with a better temper in my life. I'm leaving!"

Too fed up to keep arguing, he decided to leave it to Director Qian to handle.