Tang Ruojia appeared at such an inconvenient time – not earlier, not later, but right now!

Xia Xiaolan could tolerate her staring directly at Zhou Cheng, but now it was just too annoying.

“When we met Uncle Fujun and the others, we exchanged a few words… Ruojia, why didn’t you greet Uncle Fujun and the others?”

Xia Xiaolan turned the tables, leaving Tang Ruojia momentarily speechless.

Tang Ruojia had been sent to Beijing for schooling by Shi Surong when she was very young. She only returned to the countryside during holidays, staying at Tang Chunlei’s house during elementary school, and then boarding during middle school. She barely knew the villagers.

Besides, why should she bother with these farming relatives who were barely connected to her family anymore?

However, when Xia Xiaolan pointed this out publicly, Tang Ruojia’s face inexplicably turned red. She called out a quick “Uncle Fujun” and headed straight home.

She completely ignored Uncle Fujun’s wife.

Xia Xiaolan sneered – wasn’t this little girl easy enough to deal with?

Xia Xiaolan gave Zhou Cheng a meaningful look before chasing after Tang Ruojia: “Hey, Tang Ruojia, wait up! I’ve noticed you’re quite arrogant. Could it be that you look down on rural people?”

Tang Ruojia walked even faster.

Zhou Cheng remained standing there, amusement in his eyes – even his wife’s “bullying” was adorable!

“Auntie, there’s no one here now, please continue what you were saying.”

Uncle Fujun’s wife’s gathered courage had been broken. Although Xia Xiaolan had driven Tang Ruojia away, she kept her head down, unable to say a word.

Had Tang Ruojia heard anything earlier?

If that shrew Shi Surong found out, her family would never know peace.

After all, there wasn’t any concrete evidence, only what she had seen.

Tang Fujun rubbed his hands together. “Woman, continue talking!”

Their family’s chance to turn things around depended on this opportunity.

Tang Fujun wasn’t being too greedy. He just wanted to use this information to have Tang Hongen help secure a job position for one of his sons. He had four sons, and he was only asking for one job position – that wasn’t being too greedy, right?

If Tang Hongen was willing to help secure jobs for two of his sons, Tang Fujun would even be willing to openly oppose Tang Chunlei’s family.

Everyone was just seeking a better life. If it was true, why weren’t they allowed to speak up?

Unfortunately, his wife wasn’t the brave type, which nearly drove Tang Fujun mad with frustration.

Seeing Tang Fujun about to lose control, Zhou Cheng stopped him. “Uncle Fujun, please don’t be like this. This came up suddenly, and it’s truly not convenient to talk here. How about this – tomorrow, bring Auntie to the city and find us at this address and phone number. We can sit down together and discuss everything clearly, okay?”

Zhou Cheng left his contact information with Tang Fujun.

Uncle Fujun’s wife had already said enough earlier to confirm Zhou Cheng and Xia Xiaolan’s previous suspicions.

The rest was just filling in the details.

This didn’t necessarily need to be completed today.

Zhou Cheng believed that since Tang Fujun’s wife had already revealed most of the story, she would seek them out to claim the “benefits,” so he waited for the couple to come to Beijing on their own.

After Zhou Cheng left, Tang Fujun raised his hand again.

But he couldn’t bring himself to strike.

This woman was his wife after all – she had borne and raised his sons with him. He couldn’t bear to hit her.

“Why are you so stupid? You don’t even dare to speak up – you’re completely useless!”

His wife shrunk her neck, “I’m afraid of Shi Surong. She’s formidable. Even the police couldn’t find anything out. Do you think Shi Surong would admit to anything? They’re family after all – broken bones are still connected by tendons. If they reconcile later, won’t our family…”

Won’t their family be in big trouble?

This made Tang Fujun uneasy too, but thinking of his sons without prospects, he steeled his resolve:

“Am I supposed to be afraid of Shi Surong, a mere woman? Look at Tang Xianzhong’s death – Tang Lao’er’s attitude toward that family is obvious. If something happened to Little Ru, Tang Lao’er would never forgive Shi Surong. This is our family’s chance. Not taking it – that would be truly stupid!”

His wife couldn’t find any words to argue back.

Tang Hongen and Tang Youru’s relationship had been genuinely close.

Tang Hongen was still a big kid himself when he started taking care of Tang Youru.

When Tang Youru went missing, Tang Hongen was already ill, but he dragged himself out of bed to search everywhere. He nearly dropped out of school just to find his sister.

The couple clutched Zhou Cheng’s address tightly in their hands, refusing to let go.

…

Zhou Cheng returned to the Tang household as if nothing had happened.

Having confirmed their suspicions, he and Xia Xiaolan showed no unusual behavior toward Shi Surong. They continued playing their simple-minded roles without immediately showing their cards.

That night passed without incident. Early the next morning, Xia Xiaolan started acting up, insisting on returning to the city.

Tang Ruojia nearly got into an argument with Xia Xiaolan.

Tang Chunlei mediated: “Then let’s all return to the city. Ruojia, you too – get back to school early and continue reviewing. Don’t forget your dream university is Huaqing. You need to work harder than others!”

Honestly, apart from being too utilitarian, Tang Chunlei wasn’t particularly unlikeable.

It was quite normal for someone like him to be a cadre in his work unit.

In another decade or so, Tang Chunlei would likely at least become a mid to high-level leader in his unit.

At any rate, he had much deeper political acumen than Tang Ruojia.

Though Tang Chunlei probably found his upward mobility too slow and hoped to repair relations with Tang Hongen to leverage his influence.

After dropping off the Tang siblings, Zhou Cheng and Xia Xiaolan returned home.

When they arrived, they found someone crouching by their door.

“How long have you been waiting here?”

Shao Guangrong stood up and rubbed his face. “Brother, don’t lecture me first. I need to ask Sister-in-law Xiaolan about something.”

Shao Guangrong had been waiting for two hours!

His legs were numb from standing up.

During his grassroots investigation, something felt off.

He hadn’t been on the investigation list initially.

After overthinking for a day, Shao Guangrong couldn’t help but return early.

In just one day, the apartment he had lent to Yu Li was empty, and even at the hospital, Yu Li’s mother was gone… Yu Li had moved too quickly, completing her mother’s hospital transfer on Saturday.

Shao Guangrong knew where they had transferred to – a hospital in Pengcheng.

He wanted to buy a plane ticket to chase after them but held back his impulse.

Yu Li was doing this deliberately – what use would chase after her be? Without a solution, his actions would only make things worse.

“I can guess what you want to ask. Zhou Cheng and I just got back from the countryside, and I can only help you ask around. Come in first – standing out there playing the pitiful role, who are you trying to impress? Little Yu has probably left Beijing, right?”

Shao Guangrong entered with his head hanging low.

“It’s my fault. I was too conspicuous, and my mother found out about Little Yu. My mother went to the hospital to see Little Yu, and I can guess what she said, but Little Yu is just too-“

That girl was just too decisive, wasn’t she?

She didn’t give him any time to react.

Or any chance at all.

What did transferring her mother mean – was she giving him a death sentence?!

Zhou Cheng looked at his childhood friend with sympathy and patted his shoulder: “You’re in big trouble now.”

Brother, I know that – could you stop rubbing salt in the wound?

Shao Guangrong turned his pleading eyes toward Xia Xiaolan.

Xia Xiaolan immediately recalled some unpleasant memories:

“What’s wrong with all of you? Are you still not weaned? Just as a relationship starts, before taking the next step, the elders rush out to stop it… If you can’t be weaned, then don’t date at all!”