Chapter 110

Chapter 110

At noon, Wang Shuanzhu hadn’t planned to come back, but as he approached his doorstep, he saw a crowd gathered there. His stomach dropped, thinking something must have happened to a student.

He hurried forward, only to find Feng Yanwen sitting on a chair, gasping for breath, while people around her gossiped loudly.

Some said Feng Yanwen had a terrible temper, resorting to violence at the slightest provocation.

Others accused her of being a money-grubber, claiming her ex-husband had come to reconcile in good faith, yet she remained ungrateful.

Some of these comments wormed their way to Feng Yanwen, stinging her. She shot Wang Shuanzhu a look, who had rushed over, and snapped coldly, "Why are you back?"

Damn it, just when he had to see her in such a sorry state.

Along the way, Wang Shuanzhu had gotten the gist of it. He knelt on one knee in front of her and began examining her hands.

Sure enough, she had struck with such force that her thumb joint was injured. Several blows hadn’t even landed on Xu Jiefang but had instead hit the doorframe beside him. The recoil from striking something so hard had been intense, causing her hand to split open in places. Now, she couldn’t even clench her fist properly.

Wang Shuanzhu held her hand, noticing traces of blood. She must have gone all out. He quickly went inside to fetch rubbing alcohol and cleaned the bleeding wounds.

There was no gauze at home, so it would be best to visit the nearby clinic.

Just as he was pondering how to bring it up, someone butted in and asked,

"Teacher Feng, who was that man earlier? Your ex-husband, right? He seemed polite as could be to me—kept trying to talk things out. Even when you yelled at him, he didn’t retaliate. Since he’s already groveled like that, shouldn’t you at least give him a proper response? At our age, we really shouldn’t let anger get the best of us."

The way they phrased it made it sound like Feng Yanwen was the one in the wrong.

The anger she had barely suppressed flared up again. Feng Yanwen shot the speaker a death glare.

The woman flinched, muttering something under her breath.

This was the same woman who had once tried to set her up with her own brother—a nearly forty-year-old man who still hadn’t married, was up to his neck in gambling debts, and mooched off his parents. Yet, his family treated him like a treasure while looking down on Feng Yanwen for not being a "local" of the city.

Feng Yanwen had wanted nothing to do with him. After asking around, she hadn’t even bothered to meet him.

That family hadn’t thought much of Feng Yanwen either, dismissing her for being divorced and not a local. They had planned to reject her after a meeting, but Feng Yanwen had one-upped them by refusing to meet at all. The woman had taken it as a slap in the face and had held a grudge against Feng Yanwen ever since.

Just as Feng Yanwen was about to retort, someone else spoke up: "Auntie, if he’s so great, why don’t you marry him?"

Huang Xiaoying had been preoccupied all morning. Before lunch, she had asked Zhang Mingqing for leave to return home. As soon as she arrived, she heard about what had happened to Teacher Feng and rushed over. Hearing such callous remarks, she couldn’t help but feel furious.

Let her be the one to say something offensive—Teacher Feng shouldn’t have to.

After all, Teacher Feng still had to do business here. She needed to maintain her reputation.

The woman, embarrassed at being called out, stammered, "You mouthy kid, how dare you talk back to your elders at such a young age?"

"Yep, I’m talking back. What about it? Am I supposed to just take it lying down when someone says something nasty? Who says younger people can’t respond to their elders? If you love lecturing people so much, maybe you were a father in your past life?"

The woman, bristling with humiliation, wanted to snap back. But when she caught Wang Shuanzhu’s dagger look, she hesitated. Her rented home belonged to him—she couldn’t afford to offend her landlord.

What’s Wang Shuanzhu’s deal? With all his money, he could’ve found someone younger. Why settle for a woman nearing forty and treat her like some treasure?

In Changchun Alley, the narrow-minded men all were green over Wang Shuanzhu, while the women envied Feng Yanwen.

Such a small place, yet it had produced such a power couple. How could anyone not want a piece of that?

In the end, accompanied by Wang Shuanzhu and Huang Xiaoying, Feng Yanwen went to the nearby bone clinic. The wound on her hand was likely a tear—not too deep, but she needed to rest it properly. For now, she shouldn’t get it wet or exert any force.

Wang Shuanzhu said, "Doctor, please examine her carefully. Just now, she not only used force with her right hand, but I noticed her left hand also looked odd. And her feet—does your foot hurt? Did you twist your ankle?"

Feng Yanwen flinched in pain as her left hand was squeezed.

She had been biting it back, or else she would have cried out earlier.

Though he hadn’t witnessed the scene firsthand, he had seen him from afar before—tall and burly. And from the way Xu Meng talked, it seemed the man had a history of violence?

Today, he had figured out what went down from the neighbors’ scattered gossip.

That man had come to harass Teacher Feng on his own!

The thought made Wang Shuanzhu’s blood run cold. After all, the man had the advantage of physical strength. Luckily, it happened in broad daylight with people around—nothing serious occurred. If it had been at night… The idea alone made him shake.

The doctor carefully pressed along Feng Yanwen’s left arm. At the painful spots, she let out small gasps. The doctor, experienced, immediately recognized signs of past fractures. Frowning, he pressed a few more times and said sharply, "There are multiple fractures here, and they didn’t heal properly. Now they’ve been reinjured. Are you her family? These injuries aren’t accidental."

His gaze at Wang Shuanzhu was less than friendly.

Others might not know, but a professional like the doctor could tell at once what had happened.

Wang Shuanzhu squirmed under the stare. "Doctor, what’s wrong?"

Feng Yanwen, feeling cold, tugged her sleeve back down. "It’s not his fault. These injuries are from someone else in the past, and I didn’t rest properly afterward. Is there anything wrong with this hand?"

It wasn’t the hand she had used to hit the man, but it had been bumped during the scuffle, causing pain again.

Thankfully, it was her left hand that had been injured back then. If it had been her right, it could’ve crippled her.

Her arm had been broken in three places, though fortunately not shattered completely. Still, the pain had been unbearable. Bones are so hard—what kind of force must have been used to break them? Hearing this, Wang Shuanzhu could guess who had done it, and he saw red. He wanted to kill Xu Jiefang right then.

Huang Xiaoying immediately sensed his rage and gave Feng Yanwen a light elbow. "Doctor, should we get an X-ray for this hand?"

The doctor looked at the patient. Back then, they didn’t push for X-rays, and bone injuries were usually straightforward—rest was the main treatment.

Feng Yanwen thought for a moment. "No, let’s skip it."

An X-ray wouldn’t heal her hand anyway. They’d just tell her to rest and avoid strain.

Wang Shuanzhu finally cooled down and asked the doctor for care instructions.

After the examination, the doctor prescribed medication and told Wang Shuanzhu to go get it.

Once he was gone, the two sat in the hallway. Huang Xiaoying asked, "Auntie, did that guy used to hit you?"

Feng Yanwen didn’t want to dwell on it and mumbled a noncommittal "Mm."

Wang Shuanzhu, overhearing, felt his chest tighten. "Maybe I’ll get a German Shepherd later…"

Xu Jiefang, after being beaten, didn’t return home immediately. He drifted around for a long time, unwilling to go back.

As he roamed, he happened upon a secluded alley. A door swung open, and a woman tossed out a basin of water, almost soaking him. Though he dodged quickly, some still splashed onto him.

The two locked eyes, each finding the other vaguely familiar. The woman recognized him first. "Xu Jiefang, you still live around here?"

She had a head of big curls, her face slathered in cheap makeup, her lips painted bright red, and she wore a gaudy red padded jacket.

Xu Jiefang thought hard but couldn’t place her.

The woman grinned and waved him inside. "How could you forget me? I’m Yang Shanshan."

At this, Xu Jiefang finally remembered.

This woman, Yang Shanshan, had once been with him for a while.

They had stayed together for a year even after graduating from middle school, but later, he heard that Yang Shanshan’s family had set her up with someone, so they broke up. Yet after all these years, he hardly recognized her now.

Yang Shanshan looked him over and said, "Did I get your clothes dirty just now? Come in, come in, I’ll get a dry towel to wipe it off."

Xu Jiefang hesitated for a moment before stepping into the house.

Inside, there was a musty, foul smell—something uncommon for the north.

This was a slum area, a whole alley lined with ramshackle houses along both sides of the street. The tallest of these structures was barely eight feet tall. Yang Shanshan’s place was no bigger than 160 square feet, with an outer room serving as the main living area and an even darker, colder space inside. The moment Xu Jiefang entered, he grimaced and turned away.

Back then, her family had been quite well-off—both parents had steady jobs at their companies, and their son had taken his mother’s job right after graduating high school. He couldn’t imagine how she’d ended up like this.

Yang Shanshan quickly brought over a dry towel—stiff as sun-dried seaweed—and dabbed at the damp spots on his clothes. For some reason, the gesture amused Xu Jiefang, and he suddenly chuckled.

"Your husband not home?"

Yang Shanshan lowered her head but didn’t pull her hand away. "I’m divorced."

"Divorced?"

"Yeah, for four or five years now. He found another woman outside. At first, he just stopped coming home, then he demanded a divorce and threw me and the kid out." She had never held a proper job before, so after the divorce, she was left with no income. Work was hard to find these days—she had tried a few but couldn’t keep any of them. Eventually, she moved here.

Xu Jiefang’s smile deepened, and he suddenly grasped her hand.

He gloated to himself—Feng Yanwen was no different from Yang Shanshan back then. Women who chased status and sucked up to the powerful would all meet the same fate. The thought made him even more pleased.

Yang Shanshan’s voice softened further. "You’ve got some injuries on your hand. Let me get something to treat them."

…

By the time Xu Jiefang got home, most of the family had already returned.

Granny Xue had told his brothers about him storming out earlier. The two brothers had expected to see Xu Jiefang return dejected, but instead, he looked smug and pleased, despite the visible bruises on his face and body. His mood seemed far from bad.

Old Xu called out, "Third Brother, have you eaten yet?"

The family was sitting around the dinner table, with several dishes laid out in the center and Granny Xue seated at the head.

It was only because of the earlier gossip that the two sons had, for once, invited their mother to join them at the table.

The moment Xu Jiefang walked in, everyone noticed something off about his expression.

Well, not exactly off—he just looked triumphant, as if in high spirits.

Earlier, the old woman had told them that Xu Jiefang had stormed out to reconcile with Feng Yanwen.

Judging by his demeanor, had he actually succeeded?

The thing was, Granny Xue’s attitude had changed. She wasn’t as helpless as before, and Feng Yanwen wasn’t as obedient as she used to be. She didn’t want Feng Yanwen coming back at all—if her son was so fixated on her, once she came back, would there even be room for the old woman to speak? So seeing her son in such a good mood instantly soured Granny Xue’s own.

She slapped a steamed bun onto the table, her face darkening.

"A son who gets a wife forgets his mother!"

Xu Jiefang took one look at the scene and couldn’t even be bothered to go over for a bite.

Seeing her son return home yet unwilling to speak to her, Granny Xue clutched her chest like a delicate beauty, "Laoer, I’m afraid I don’t have many days left. These days, I can’t eat well or sleep soundly—it seems my good days are numbered."

Xu Laoer wanted to comfort his mother, but his wife shot daggers from her eyes.

Here we go again, acting like some eighteen-year-old beauty!

"I’ve told you before—greasy food is off-limits. After this meal, stick to porridge," Wang Meili chided, snatching the untouched steamed buns from in front of the old woman. It was always like this—whenever Granny Xue throws a tantrum, Wang Meili would claim her health couldn’t handle rich food. Yet the old lady never seemed to learn.

Granny Xue was left speechless.

Wang Meili was itching to dig for gossip but, catching Third Brother’s expression, didn’t dare ask outright.

Once dinner ended, she pulled Xu Laoer aside. "Did Third Brother really make up with Feng Yanwen?"

Xu Laoer snapped, "What’s it to you? Focus on your own daughter! If she can’t get into college, where do you think she’ll end up?"

Xu Jia, however, perked up. "If Third Uncle really got back with his ex-wife, would Xu Meng and the others move back in?"

Wang Meili glared at her. "What nonsense are you dreaming up now? Don’t say I didn’t warn you—stealing a college acceptance letter is illegal! Drop these schemes. Do you think she’s an idiot? She’d find out sooner or later. She’s not the same Xu Meng anymore—her grades are stellar now. The moment she’s admitted, her name will be posted on the honor roll. Even if she doesn’t check, it's not like the school wouldn't contact her. Stop entertaining these thoughts!"

Xu Laoer pressed for details, so Wang Meili recounted Xu Jia’s so-called "perfectly seamless plan" as a joke. Xu Jia endured her parents’ double dose of mockery.

Flushed with anger and shame, Xu Jia retorted, "And whose fault is it? If only you’d given me good brains!"

Wang Meili’s expression darkened.

Even she had never met Xu Meng’s birth parents, yet Xu Jia kept bringing them up.

Xu Jia clung to Wang Meili’s arm. "Mom, what do you think Xu Meng’s parents actually do?"

Wang Meili’s eyelid gave a nervous twitch. "What are you scheming now?"

It seemed this daughter had no intention of putting in real effort.

Wang Meili fumed at her daughter, her head full of crooked schemes. "Don’t think I don’t know what you’re plotting. Even if they came back to claim their child, do you think they’d just accept whoever we handed over? A little digging would reveal who was really adopted. Stop wasting your energy on this! What kind of child obsesses over such things? If you put half this effort into studying, you might actually achieve something. What a waste of a Beijing household registration—you're going to be the death of me!"