Chapter 66

Chapter 66

Mother Huo nodded and said, "Alright, I'll stay home today and sort out the things we brought back from the old house yesterday. You can go to work without worry. If Huaichuan needs anything, I can lend a hand."

"Good." Gao Mingzhu felt relieved at that and turned to Huo Huaichuan, said lightly, "Then I'm off to work."

"Okay." Huo Huaichuan looked at her quietly and reminded her, "Take care of yourself, and be especially careful of that father and son from the Lin family."

"I know! They won't do anything to me for now." Gao Mingzhu nodded, then told Tiewei to keep an eye on the house before cycling off.

Huo Huaichuan and Mother Huo watched her leave.

When her figure disappeared at the intersection, Huo Huaichuan turned his wheelchair to go back inside and said to his mother, "Mom, I'm going to my room to read for a while."

"Oh, alright. If you need any help, just call me." Mother Huo said quickly.

She always felt a bit distant and polite with this son, who had left home to study at sixteen and hadn't been very close to her since childhood.

Hearing this, Huo Huaichuan paused, hesitated, and then asked softly, "If you're feeling bored... want me to keep you company and talk?"

"No, no." Mother Huo waved her hand hastily, "Go ahead and do what you need to do."

Seeing that, Huo Huaichuan didn't insist further and pushed his wheelchair back to the bedroom.

Mother Huo watched his back and felt touched.

Her son and daughter-in-law were both very considerate and thoughtful!

...

On Gao Mingzhu's side, the journey was anything but quiet.

The incident last night had caused a big stir, and as she cycled to the brigade headquarters early in the morning, she could still hear people talking about it.

Because she was the daughter-in-law of Old Man Huo, some people even cast sympathetic glances at her when they saw her.

Gao Mingzhu ignored them and pedaled to the brigade headquarters.

As she passed the big tree where Old Man Huo and Chen Fengniang had been hanged last night, she found Chen Fengniang and her two children were still there.

Chen Fengniang had woken up and was being helped to her feet by her two children, presumably to go home.

A crowd had gathered around, but no one stepped forward to help; everyone looked contemptuous.

Gao Mingzhu felt a bit uneasy as she watched, but as soon as she thought of what Chen Fengniang had done, that sympathy vanished.

Earlier, when she had gone to find Mother Huo for a meal, she had overheard Chen Fengniang gossiping about her with Lin Meilan and a few villagers. At the time, she had sarcastically asked Chen Fengniang if she was seducing every man she met. She never expected it to come true—and with her own father-in-law, no less, and it hurt her mother-in-law... just thinking about it was absurd.

Her face turned cold. She cycled to the entrance of the brigade headquarters, parked her bike, and was about to go upstairs when she ran into an unexpected person—Lin Tianxiong.

They had bumped into each other for the second day in a row. Was he specifically waiting for her here today?

As soon as Lin Tianxiong saw her, he wore an apologetic smile and greeted her warmly, "Good morning, Accountant Gao."

Gao Mingzhu's expression was cold. She merely nodded coldly and tried to walk past him upstairs.

Lin Tianxiong had come specifically to wait for her, so he wasn't about to let her go that easily. He followed her a few steps, lowering his voice to ask, "Were you scared by what happened last night?"

"No."

"And Aunt Huo... is she okay?" Lin Tianxiong pressed further.

Hearing him ask about Mother Huo, Gao Mingzhu stopped and gave him a strange look. "You care about my mother-in-law?"

Although last night's incident was caused by Old Man Huo and Chen Fengniang, Chen Fengniang was a member of the Lin family. That meant Lin Tianxiong, as a Lin family member, was on the opposite side from Gao Mingzhu, who had the support of the Du family.

On her way here, Gao Mingzhu had already seen the Lin clan clashing with the Du clan.

Logically, they should be hating Mother Huo!

Lin Tianxiong could see the confusion in Gao Mingzhu's expression. He gave a helpless smile and said, "This whole thing was Old Man Huo and Chen Fengniang's fault. Your mother-in-law is the victim. How could I hate a victim?"

"Is that so?" Gao Mingzhu nodded. "But not everyone is as reasonable as you. It's rare that you care about my mother-in-law."

"Don't praise me too much." Lin Tianxiong smiled gently, his tone warm. "I just think the blame lies on Old Man Huo and Chen Fengniang. Aunt Huo is completely innocent. I sympathize with her and especially hate what Old Man Huo did—having a wife but fooling around behind her back, bringing shame to the whole family."

These seemingly righteous words made Gao Mingzhu pause slightly. She turned her head and looked at him deliberately. "Do you really think that?"

"Of course." Lin Tianxiong nodded, matter-of-factly. "I believe that a man, once he marries a woman, should love her and be faithful to her."

Hearing this, Gao Mingzhu's expression softened slightly. "You're a good man."

Lin Tianxiong smiled. "I wouldn't say that. I just hope to find someone I truly love someday and spend my life with her."

As he said this, a hint of restrained affection flickered in his eyes as he looked at Gao Mingzhu.

He had heard that this was how Huo Huaichuan had won Gao Mingzhu over, so he wanted to try the same approach to see if it worked.

Of course, he couldn't be too obvious, since Gao Mingzhu was still Huo Huaichuan's wife.

But that didn't matter. This kind of subtle, lingering affection was the easiest way to make someone's heart race.

Gao Mingzhu clearly noticed his gaze. Her eyes flickered, showing a hint of fluster.

"That's... nice." She said hurriedly, her steps unsteady as she climbed the stairs, she added, "I'm off to work now."

"Alright—oh, by the way, you still haven't told me how Aunt Huo is doing." Lin Tianxiong seemed to suddenly remember and pressed on, feigning concern and persistence about Mother Huo's condition.

Gao Mingzhu knew he was putting on a show for her, but she didn't mind telling him. In fact, she even wanted an opportunity to let it out.

So, standing at the stairway landing, she turned and said, "She's not in a good mood. She's resting at home."

Lin Tianxiong said, "With something this big happening, she really should take a few days off at home."

Gao Mingzhu said, "I hope she rests a few more days too. No need to rush back to work. Health comes first."

"You're absolutely right!" Lin Tianxiong agreed wholeheartedly with her words.

Seeing that Gao Mingzhu was about to turn and go upstairs again, he raised his voice and said, "Accountant Gao, if you don't understand anything in the account books, feel free to ask me anytime."

"...Okay." Gao Mingzhu responded, her voice soft. Then she leaned out from the stairwell again and said, "But I don't have much free time lately. There's a lot going on at home, so I'll need to focus on the household for the next few days."

Her saying she didn't have time for the account books was exactly what Lin Tianxiong wanted to hear.

He immediately nodded and said, "We can go over it later, when you have time."

Later... once he'd won her over, he could teach her.

By then, even if she does find something wrong with the books, she probably won't kick up a fuss!

The more Lin Tianxiong thought about it, the more he felt that this mess with the Huo family was simply a godsend to him!

Gao Mingzhu quickly vanished from Lin Tianxiong's sight.

As he watched Gao Mingzhu hurry away, a smug, cunning smile spread across Lin Tianxiong's face.

Looks like a beauty like her responds better to kindness than to force.

I thought she'd be tough to crack, but she's nothing special after all!

Lin Tianxiong walked out feeling a mix of contempt and excitement, in high spirits.

Gao Mingzhu went up to the second floor and watched from the window as Lin Tianxiong walked away light-heartedly, her gaze darkening.

However, it was obvious that neither Lin Xiangsong nor Lin Tianxiong took her very seriously.

That was fine — it would make it easier to round them all up at once.

I hope tonight's operation goes off without a hitch…

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