Chapter 60

Chapter 60

Outside the door, Mother Huo's piercing shrieks and curses and the sound of the axe pounding against the door had already drawn all the neighbors around.

People held up flashlights, peering and chattering loudly: "Who is it? Who's having an affair?"

"Was it Huo Weiguo they were yelling about just now? Who's Huo Weiguo?"

Old Man Huo wasn't a native of this village. He came here as a famine refugee in his early years and had no deep roots in the village.

When he was younger, people still called him by his real name. Later, after he married Mother Huo, since he was much older than her, everyone just called him Old Man Huo. The younger generation had no idea what his full name was.

"It's Old Man Huo! There's only one family surnamed Huo in our village, right? It's Huo Huaichuan's father!"

As soon as Huo Huaichuan's father was mentioned, everyone suddenly realized, and everyone erupted: "What? Old Man Huo? He's fooling around? With who?"

"Let's go, let's go take a look! An outsider, marrying our brigade leader's sister and still not content, daring to fool around—we'll beat him up!"

The commotion was deafening. Gao Mingzhu and Huo Huaichuan, who had already gone to bed, were woken by the yelling and screaming outside.

Huo Huaichuan woke first, trying to sit up, supporting himself on his arms. Beside him, Gao Mingzhu rubbed her eyes and sat up groggily: "What's going on outside?"

She reached out to help Huo Huaichuan, who leaned on his arms to sit up, frowning deeply: "Not sure."

Gao Mingzhu was still very drowsy, about to say, "Maybe we should just go back to sleep," when suddenly she jolted awake, her eyes snapping open.

With such a big commotion... could it be that Old Man Huo's affair got found out by Mother Huo?!

She perked up her ears to listen. The more she heard, the more it sounded like it. She immediately got up and climbed out of bed.

"Where are you going?" Huo Huaichuan asked at once.

"I—I'm going out to take a look." Gao Mingzhu's tone was a bit shaky, momentarily unsure whether to let Huo Huaichuan know.

Huo Huaichuan knew her too well. The second he heard her tone, he knew something was off. "Wait for me! I'm coming too."

"...Maybe you shouldn't come?" Gao Mingzhu tried to resist.

Seeing her like this only made Huo Huaichuan more certain that something was up. He was already reaching for his wheelchair beside the bed, his dark eyes showing a determination that brooked no refusal: "I have to go!"

Gao Mingzhu: "..."

Fine, since it couldn't be hidden anyway, they might as well go together. They'd bring Tiewei along. If it came to a fight, they could let the dog loose on them!

She didn't hesitate any longer. Stepping forward, she helped Huo Huaichuan move into the wheelchair, quickly threw on an overcoat herself, and hurried out the door pushing him.

Of course, before leaving, she had to bring Tiewei. The dog was well-behaved and followed right by their side without being called.

As soon as they stepped out, they ran into Huo Weicheng and Lin Meilan, who were also rushing out of the old house in a panic.

Huo Weicheng, shirtless and with his clothes not even properly fastened, muttered, not believing it: "How could my dad hook up with your fourth aunt-in-law? Has he gone mad?!"

Lin Meilan was also fuming, her face turning livid: "You're asking me? Who am I supposed to ask? How would I know how they hooked up?!"

"That fourth aunt-in-law of yours never seemed like the faithful type!"

"And your dad's any better?"

"Shut up! No matter how wrong my dad is, he's still your father-in-law! How dare you talk about him like that?!"

"Didn't you start it by badmouthing my fourth aunt-in-law? What's that got to do with me?!"

The two were squabbling loudly when they turned their heads and saw Huo Huaichuan and Gao Mingzhu. They instantly fell silent, shot each other a glare, and skulked away sheepishly.

Gao Mingzhu didn't have time to pay them any attention. She now finally knew who Old Man Huo's mistress was—it was Lin Suanshu's wife, Chen Fengniang!

Was there anything more coincidental in the world? All these people and things got mixed up together!

She instinctively looked down at Huo Huaichuan. Sure enough, the man's face was terrifyingly dark.

Seeing that she had stopped pushing, he reached for the wheelchair himself, preparing to turn it.

"Don't move! Let me push!" Gao Mingzhu hurried forward and pushed Huo Huaichuan toward the fourth Lin brother's place.

Following the crowd, they soon arrived at Lin Suanshu's house.

The yard was already packed with people, the noise deafening.

Mother Huo was still swinging her axe at the door. Her relatives from her maiden family, the Du clan, surrounded her, joining in the curses. On the Lin side—Chen Fengniang's mother-in-law, Lin Suanshu's own mother, led the Lin clan as they wildly banged on the door and shouted: "Old Man Huo, you low-life scum! Have you no shame at all? Sneaking into a widow's door in the dead of night—have you no shame?!"

"And Chen Fengniang, you vile slut! It's only been how long since our fourth son passed? And you're already so desperate you have to sneak around with a man?"

"No wonder our fourth warned us to watch out for you before he died. Turns out you really are a slut who can't stand being alone! Get out! Take your two brats with you and get out of the Lin family!"

Lin Suanshu and Chen Fengniang were in a remarriage. His first wife, because she couldn't conceive, had been beaten and abused by the Lin family until she finally couldn't take it anymore and ran away.

Only later was it discovered that it was actually Lin Suanshu himself who was infertile, not his ex-wife's problem at all.

So when he remarried, he simply found Chen Fengniang, a widow with two children. But since they were a remarriage and the children weren't his own, the Lin family never had any true affection for Chen Fengniang. They had always been wary of her. As soon as Lin Suanshu died, they wanted to kick her out.

Now that they caught her in the act with Old Man Huo, the Lin family was even less likely to let her off. Their curses grew increasingly vicious.

It was only then that Gao Mingzhu pieced together the truth from the surrounding chatter, listening in stunned amazement. So Chen Fengniang had such a past...

She wanted to push Huo Huaichuan a little closer, but there were too many people—she simply couldn't squeeze through.

Just then, a loud crash was heard—

Mother Huo, the Du family, and the Lin family together had finally battered down the already flimsy door!

Inside the house, the panicked Old Man Huo and Chen Fengniang, along with two children who had clearly just been woken up and were crying in terror, were suddenly exposed to the crowd.

Old Man Huo was a total wimp. The moment he saw the door broken, his first instinct was to crawl under the table.

But the Du and Lin families wouldn't let him escape. They rushed forward, dragged him out, and pinned him firmly to the ground.

Huo Weicheng, who had just squeezed into the crowd, saw his father in such a shameful state and couldn't bear to look. He quietly ducked his head and slipped out again.

Gao Mingzhu, watching the crowd surge forward, quickly pulled Huo Huaichuan's wheelchair back a bit.

Even though this involved Mother Huo, there were already people protecting her. It was better for them not to get too close.

Besides, seeing that Mother Huo wasn't being hurt, Huo Huaichuan no longer hurried forward—of course, his wheelchair could hardly squeeze through anyway.

Sitting at the edge, he gripped the armrests of his wheelchair tightly with his fingers with prominent knuckles, radiating a terrifying chill. His dark, brooding eyes stared fixedly at the center of the crowd, his lips pressed tightly together.

Watching from the side, Gao Mingzhu felt a lump in her throat.

Seeing one's own father betray one's mother, with so many people watching and pointing—how embarrassing and agonizing must that be for a child?

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