Xia Xiaolan felt she didn’t quite fit in at Zhou Cheng’s unit.

Every visit had been unsettling, with Gao Fei like a mangy dog always coming around looking for trouble.

Everything they did at Zhou Cheng’s unit seemed to cause problems. Though today’s fight was satisfying, Zhou Cheng hadn’t come out of the leader’s office yet, and she didn’t know how the unit would handle him. Xiaolan felt frustrated—their good mood was ruined by a mad dog!

Moreover, the wives living in the unit probably weren’t happy with her either.

Gao Fei’s face was swollen like a pig’s head, crying pitifully, naturally appearing as the victim. Few women liked Xiaolan’s charming type without knowing her deeply. The wives sided with Gao Fei, and someone had even come to persuade Xiaolan to consider the bigger picture and apologize to Gao Fei for the unit’s harmony—but she wouldn’t apologize. Whatever punishment Zhou Cheng received, she would bear it with him.

She could support Zhou Cheng anyway!

Besides, Zhou Cheng wasn’t just excellent at his job, he was good at business too. An excellent man would excel anywhere. If the unit didn’t want Zhou Cheng, Xiaolan would gladly keep him at home.

Of course, the Zhou family might have different opinions.

Thinking it over, Xiaolan wondered if sending the lamb and watermelon had triggered Gao Fei by overshadowing her.

Add to that Gao Fei’s unspoken feelings for Zhou Cheng, and all these factors combined provoked her outburst.

No wonder those wives sided with Gao Fei. Xiaolan’s high-profile gestures had given Zhou Cheng a face, but the unit’s gossip about her probably didn’t sit well with the wives.

Xiaolan felt a headache coming on.

Due to Zhou Cheng’s special profession, before dealing with in-law relationships, she had to handle these interpersonal relationships at his unit.

Perhaps she should visit Zhou Cheng’s unit less often.

She’d still send things, but just for Zhou Cheng. Whether his subordinates got a share or not, she couldn’t worry about that anymore. She’d thought she was helping Zhou Cheng build relationships, but these social tactics seemed ill-suited for his unit.

She couldn’t just think about her glory while putting Zhou Cheng in a difficult position.

Zhou Cheng was probably already in a tough spot—promoted so young, with Fang Shizhong’s obvious jealousy making things difficult.

While Xiaolan was self-reflecting, Zhou Cheng returned from the leader’s office.

He still looked spirited, making it hard for her to guess the outcome:

“Did they make you write a self-criticism? Or apologize? Or receive discipline? If it’s a self-criticism, don’t worry, I’ll help you write it—”

Though Zhou Cheng had clashed with the leaders, seeing Xiaolan’s worried face, he didn’t want to concern her further.

“What self-criticism? Your hands are meant for drawing architectural plans, why should you write anything for those two? Don’t worry, it’s not a self-criticism or discipline, it’s just… not convenient to say now, just some tasks they want me to do.”

Zhou Cheng’s expression was a bit strange.

Xiaolan frowned, “They’re sending you on a mission? Is it dangerous?”

“You could call it a mission. Not dangerous.”

Zhou Cheng’s words were vague, but his expression seemed genuine. Xiaolan stopped asking, assuming it involved confidential matters. She told him about the wives coming to persuade her: “Technically, since Gao Fei was beaten so badly, I could force myself to apologize, but I don’t want to this time, though I worry it’ll affect you.”

She could tolerate being cursed at, and after the fight, they’d gotten even.

But Gao Fei had insulted Xiaolan’s entire family, yelling at Liu Fen. Personally, Xiaolan thought she deserved two beatings.

Everyone has their breaking point. How had her mother protected her when others bullied her?

Now when someone bullied Liu Fen, Xiaolan wouldn’t tolerate it either!

Whatever Gao Fei wanted, bring it on—Xiaolan would meet her head-on!

“Don’t apologize. I refused to apologize to the leaders too. The unit should be harmonious and loving, but we can’t indulge people who repeatedly provoke us. If they achieve their goal by crying and making a scene this time, they’ll surely come back for more!”

Even if this reached the Zhou family, Zhou Cheng wouldn’t apologize.

Getting a reputation for hitting women was indeed bad, but if he worried too much about others’ opinions, he couldn’t do his job!

People already called him “King Yama Zhou” behind his back anyway—Zhou Cheng had never been the nice type. He’d risen through his abilities, not by being submissive to maintain good relationships. Gao Fei was hit accidentally—should he offer his face for her to hit back?

Today’s meeting had started happily but ended ruined by mad dogs.

Xiaolan’s group couldn’t stay overnight at the unit. When Zhou Cheng was seeing them out, Li Fengmei’s hand was still numb.

Passing Fang Shizhong’s door, several wives surrounded Gao Fei, someone had found ice wrapped in a towel to press against her face. Her swelling had gone down somewhat—Li Fengmei’s strength couldn’t match Zhou Cheng’s initial slap, but five clear fingerprints remained visible on one side of her face.

“Zhou Cheng, come here, explain why you hit a woman?”

“No matter what, hitting a female comrade is wrong!”

“Zhou Cheng, you should apologize to Gao Fei…”

Though speaking earnestly to Zhou Cheng, their eyes were on Xiaolan.

If Zhou Cheng and Li Fengmei apologized to Gao Fei together, and if Xiaolan apologized too, it would show more sincerity.

Zhou Cheng wanted to ignore them. These wives were those whose leader husbands weren’t around. Though usually respectful to them, why were they ganging up against his Xiaolan?

Annoyed by her high profile, were they?

When Zhou Cheng delivered Xiaolan’s gifts house by house, no one refused!

Neither the lamb meat before nor today’s watermelon—no one declined those.

Zhou Cheng felt completely fed up. In the future, he wouldn’t deliver anything anywhere—let them do whatever they wanted.

“Sisters, I need to see my girlfriend and her family at the gate first. Look at the time—they still need to return to the city.”

Zhou Cheng pulled Xiaolan away.

Before leaving, Li Fengmei gave Gao Fei one last glare:

“You say we outsiders have no manners and are nothing—well, what are you? Did your family build Tiananmen? I’ll come to Beijing if I want to, you can’t stop me! Stop crying and playing the victim. If you dare bully our Xiaolan again, I’ll come back to beat you when I find out!”

Since they weren’t apologizing, they couldn’t show weakness now.

Li Fengmei had learned this fierce style of arguing from rural conflicts—they’d already hit her, would an apology earn forgiveness? She’d surely hold a grudge, so why bother with a damn apology!

Li Fengmei’s words gave the wives pause.

If Gao Fei hadn’t said those excessive things, they wouldn’t have beaten her. Wasn’t it said that Zhou Cheng hit her? Now it seemed it was Xiaolan’s relative who did the beating.

Now understanding what was said, among the wives, only one was from Beijing—the rest were “ill-mannered outsiders” according to Gao Fei.

While Gao Fei continued crying pitifully, the wives weren’t stupid.

Xiaolan was too high-profile, but Gao Fei wasn’t innocent either! Both Zhou Cheng and Fang Shizhong had found highly educated partners. To the wives, it wasn’t anything special—each had a higher education than the last, and each was more difficult to please, looking down on everyone else!