Zhou Cheng claimed it was an accidental injury, and his unit leaders generally believed him.

But since he wouldn’t apologize, the unit had to impose some punishment to appease Gao Fei and Fang Shizhong’s feelings.

How had Gao Fei and Fang Shizhong been set up on their blind date?

One was an intern doctor, the other a cadre – someone had matchmade them. Though not Gao Fei’s relative, this person was her parents’ friend. When Gao Fei was hit, she went crying to her uncle about it.

People tend to tell stories in ways that benefit themselves, and in most people’s eyes, a man hitting a woman is simply wrong!

Even if these same people might regularly abuse their wives or physically punish their children, they maintain appearances in public. They might beat their wives black and blue behind closed doors but still act respectfully toward women in public.

When Gao Fei’s uncle heard about this, he was furious.

He didn’t know about the previously accumulated tensions, didn’t know about Gao Fei repeatedly antagonizing Xia Xiaolan, and certainly didn’t know that Gao Fei had directly insulted Xia Xiaolan’s entire family as uncultured outsiders! As for the slap Gao Fei received, it was an accidental hit during the chaos – these things Gao Fei wasn’t foolish enough to mention.

The matchmaker’s uncle was extremely angry. If he could introduce matches to a cadre like Fang Shizhong, his position must be even higher.

One usually only saw superiors caring about subordinates – when did subordinates dare to arrange matches for their superiors? This matchmaker happened to be one of the few people who knew about Zhou Cheng’s family background. He had initially wanted to introduce Gao Fei to Zhou Cheng, but Zhou Cheng had shown strong resistance to the idea, and the Zhou family’s standards were indeed high – they probably wouldn’t have accepted Gao Fei’s family. That’s why he had matched Gao Fei with Fang Shizhong instead.

Yes, Zhou Cheng had a good family background and was capable, of earning a promotion at such a young age.

But he couldn’t bully people like this!

In his anger, the matchmaker reported the incident to the Zhou family.

Telling Zhou Cheng’s parents wouldn’t amount to much – parents might defend their child. Instead, he told Zhou Cheng’s uncle!

Zhou Cheng’s uncle usually had some subtle feelings about his brother Zhou Guobin, but family matters behind closed doors were different – the Zhou family presented a united front to outsiders.

Hearing what Zhou Cheng had done, his uncle was nearly apoplectic: Was this how a child the Zhou family had invested so much in turned out – someone who hits women? Now that word had reached his ears, who knew how many people were laughing at the Zhou family.

Such a slap could affect Zhou Cheng’s future!

Zhou Cheng’s future was tightly bound to the Zhou family’s future. Among the younger generation, besides Zhou Cheng, no one else showed as much promise. But what was this thing Zhou Cheng had done, hitting a family member at work – he’d done it this time!

Zhou Cheng’s uncle was genuinely angry, and concerned, and perhaps had other thoughts as well.

He didn’t tell Zhou Guobin and Guan Hui’e, instead reporting it to Old Master Zhou. The grandson the old master had taught so well had turned out like this – he could care or not, but at least as an uncle, he wouldn’t have to handle it himself.

Old Master Zhou directly summoned Zhou Cheng home:

“If you can’t get leave, I’ll arrange it for you.”

Zhou Guobin and Guan Hui’e were also called to attend.

Before Zhou Cheng arrived, Old Master Zhou briefly explained the situation.

“We’ll ask for details when he returns. I believe he wouldn’t hit someone without reason, but this incident has very bad implications… This slap from Zhou Cheng might delay his promotion by two years.”

Young people having everything go smoothly wasn’t necessarily good.

Old Master Zhou believed some setbacks weren’t bad, but it depended on the cause!

If Zhou Cheng was truly showing off by hitting women, it was extremely foolish and disappointed the old master.

Zhou Guobin remained silent while Guan Hui’e’s heart twisted with worry.

How could Zhou Cheng hit a colleague’s wife?

He was the type who’d ignored girls since childhood. When girls pestered him too much, he either treated them like air or made them keep their distance. Guan Hui’e inexplicably thought of Xia Xiaolan.

She should have arrived in Beijing to register by now.

Guan Hui’e had an intuition that this might be related to Xia Xiaolan, but she didn’t want to wrongly accuse anyone, so she kept her suspicions to herself.

With Old Master Zhou’s word, Zhou Cheng was able to get leave. When he returned, he faced three elders in the family. Old Master Zhou directly asked him to explain what happened, and Zhou Cheng, having never faced setbacks before, didn’t think he’d done anything wrong, so he explained.

Gao Fei had provoked several times, and his wife was indeed furious.

Under those circumstances, letting Xiaolan fight with Gao Fei was not acceptable.

Xiaolan was about to start school, and knowing Wang Guangping now worked in the Higher Education Division, Zhou Cheng didn’t believe Xia Ziyu could influence Wang Guangping’s behavior… but just in case, Xiaolan couldn’t get physical. Huaqing University had high moral standards for students – you could have personality, but you couldn’t have moral blemishes. If Gao Fei had insisted on filing a case at the police station, it would have been trouble for Xiaolan.

Zhou Cheng had only thought of this point at the time, and out of protecting Xiaolan, he stepped in himself.

In the chaos, who knew Gao Fei would get hit?

But even with the accidental injury, Zhou Cheng didn’t feel he was wrong – he was the type who wouldn’t apologize unless he felt he’d made a mistake.

Old Master Zhou’s sharp eyes penetrated Zhou Cheng’s unspoken words.

“Zhou Cheng, she influences you too deeply. This girl is exceptional, knows what she wants, and can achieve it through her abilities. Her intelligence and capabilities stand out among her peers. With such abilities, family background becomes secondary – that’s what you think, right? You’re attracted to her while admiring her, and you even scoff at others’ talk of matching social status, believing you can break through these long-standing social prejudices! Including this time when you foolishly took on women’s matters as your own. You think you’re protecting her, just like months ago when you went to Shangdu for Xia Xiaolan and upturned half the cadres in Hedong County. Such exposures shouldn’t have been your doing – how will others view you, how will they view the Zhou family?”

Old Master Zhou even knew about the Fan Zhenchuan incident!

Zhou Guobin remained silent – though retired, the old master wasn’t out of touch.

Guan Hui’e quickly poured the old master some tea, “Father, please speak slowly, don’t let Zhou Cheng upset you…”

Old Master Zhou moistened his throat, set down the teacup, and didn’t give Guan Hui’e a face: “Zhou Cheng’s personality is partly your responsibility too – we’ll discuss this later.”

Zhou Cheng stood ramrod straight like a javelin, bearing Old Master Zhou’s fire:

“Others will think the Zhou family’s reach extends too far! You meddled in matters that weren’t your business, not out of justice for common people, but out of personal desire because you wanted to protect Xia Xiaolan. You couldn’t contain your anger, thinking Fan Zhenchuan’s arrogance insulted your, Zhou Cheng’s, face! Zhou Cheng, grandfather doesn’t think the concept of matching social status is right, but sometimes old views aren’t entirely wrong. Different backgrounds truly affect people. Xia Xiaolan is indeed exceptional, but her poor family conditions make her desire for success stronger than other girls her age. She’s like a sharp sword, pressing forward with disdain, never considering if she might cut others! Meeting such a girl, your feelings spread like wildfire, but is she suitable for you?”

Zhou Cheng and Xia Xiaolan weren’t complimentary.

Xia Xiaolan lacked peace, desperately trying to escape her past, both strong-willed and direct. Combined with her sharp mind, she would achieve success in academics and career, but she wasn’t suitable as Zhou Cheng’s wife.

At least the current Zhou Cheng needed someone who would help him mature, not another mass of molten lava meeting his own.