Director Zhang was truly exhausted!

His son-in-law was old friend Wang Guangping’s son. Both families knew each other well, and Director Zhang had always thought highly of the young Wang Jianhua. Going to a remote village as an educated youth, getting into university from there, and actively working for Wang Guangping’s rehabilitation – Director Zhang had maintained a good impression of him.

As for Wang Guangping’s retirement to the Party History Office, Director Zhang didn’t mind much. If Wang Guangping hadn’t gone there, making their careers equal, the Wang family might not have considered his daughter. After all, his daughter’s circumstances weren’t outstanding – she had “married” a local man during her time as an educated youth and had a child. Director Zhang had been firm, refusing to let her bring that child back to the city.

The Wang family knew all this. So when Wang Jianhua had a child with another woman, Director Zhang’s anger was more about Wang Jianhua’s carelessness.

As a father, he even advised his daughter: “Your husband having this weakness means he’ll never be able to face you proudly again. You don’t need to be the bad guy – let me handle it and use this incident to bring him under control.”

Director Zhang thought since they both had illegitimate children, it evened things out, preventing his son-in-law from bringing up old issues if he became successful later.

He even strategized with his daughter, insisting Wang Jianhua should suffer enough to learn his lesson before the Zhang family helped resolve his troubles: “Even if the child is his, we absolutely cannot acknowledge it. We can’t force him – let him choose between his future and the child. If we force him to choose, he’ll blame us later.”

Wang Jianhua wasn’t stupid. Or rather, most men aren’t stupid – unlike women, they don’t place such importance on children. As long as that function still worked, he could have children with his wife just as he had with his ex-girlfriend. Career was far more important than a child – Director Zhang believed Wang Jianhua would surely make the right choice.

With her father’s explanation, his daughter understood. The child was likely Wang Jianhua’s…

Realizing this, Director Zhang’s daughter was naturally angry. Ten out of eleven women wouldn’t accept such a situation!

But Director Zhang’s daughter didn’t have much room to be willful. She was somewhat insecure – finding a husband with Wang Jianhua’s qualities was possible only because of her family background. Apart from that, she felt she didn’t deserve Wang Jianhua. If she left him, she probably couldn’t find anyone better, so she decided to endure it and, as her father suggested, use this incident to control Wang Jianhua.

The Zhang family reached an internal consensus. Director Zhang’s daughter trusted and supported her husband, while Director Zhang, though angry at his son-in-law’s indiscretion, sought ways to help him while wanting to maintain a harmonious family relationship.

Wang Guangping and Ran Shuyu were touched by their daughter-in-law’s magnanimity, praising her to the skies. Ran Shuyu called Xia Ziyu a “slut” at every turn, wishing she could drag her corpse from the grave for flogging. She completely ignored Xia Ziyu’s contributions to the Wang family, only remembering her wrongdoings.

Even if Xia Ziyu hadn’t fled as a fugitive, Ran Shuyu would never have accepted her as a daughter-in-law. No matter how well Xia Ziyu did, if she couldn’t help the Wang family, she was just a burden! Now this little slut had a child with some random man and wanted to dump it on Jianhua… Ran Shuyu cried until her eyes were swollen at the Zhang house.

Wang Guangping, however, honestly apologized to his old friend. Men see things more clearly, and men understand men better. The child was likely Jianhua’s – he had committed a mistake common to men worldwide, failing to resist temptation and control his lower half. This error, Wang Guangping had to examine, admit, and bow his head in apology to his old friend and in-law!

But the greater fault lay with Xia Ziyu – a fugitive deliberately trying to harm Jianhua by maintaining connections with him. If she truly loved Jianhua, she wouldn’t have had the child and sent it to his workplace…

“Old Zhang, is someone deliberately trying to harm Jianhua? I have nothing worth coveting anymore, but on your side—”

While Wang Guangping was spinning conspiracy theories to divert attention, making Director Zhang uneasy, before they could discover who was targeting Wang Jianhua or Director Zhang, Liu Shan filed her signed complaint in Fujian Province!

This left not only Director Zhang stunned but also left Wang Guangping unable to defend his son. While all men might make mistakes, Jianhua’s were too frequent – not only his unclear relationship with Xia Ziyu but also his entangling with Liu Shan!

Was Liu Shan someone to be trifled with?

Her family wasn’t ordinary – they had status in Beijing. If Wang Guangping were still Deputy Director of Higher Education, he might have been able to pressure Professor Liu, but now in the Party History Office…

Director Zhang was so angry he nearly had a stroke. How had he not noticed his seemingly reliable son-in-law was so stupid? The two women he’d gotten involved with – one an ex-girlfriend turned fugitive, the other a senior schoolmate and young female cadre with a university degree – did he think at all before undoing his belt?

What made him think he could control such women?

A deep exhaustion enveloped Director Zhang. He wanted to be a good father-in-law but couldn’t guide such a foolish son-in-law!

Director Zhang couldn’t and didn’t want to intervene anymore. When Wang Guangping and Ran Shuyu went to the Liu family to plead, Professor Liu threw them out without mercy. No conditions or intermediaries could move him.

This time, even Director Zhang couldn’t protect him – Wang Jianhua’s workplace had to deal with it seriously. Whether the child was Wang Jianhua’s remained uncertain, but with Liu Shan, there were intimate photos and letters. If there had been hotel records in the 1980s, Liu Shan would surely have provided those too.

A serious black mark was added to Wang Jianhua’s file. Following the lifestyle issues, they discovered Wang Jianhua had accepted gifts and frequented high-end venues during his Shenzhen business trip, violating organizational discipline and tarnishing the unit’s image.

The unit decided to fire Wang Jianhua. This punishment was rare – Comrade Wang Jianhua had worked exceptionally hard to lose his iron rice bowl!

His career was ruined at what should have been its promising beginning!

Liu Shan was also punished with a serious demerit. Unlike Wang Jianhua, her unit gave her a choice – a chance to cool off by transferring to a basic-level school. As a Normal College graduate, the state was reluctant to waste her education. However, everyone knew that with such a mark in her file, no matter how well she performed at the basic level, she would never be promoted – she would be permanently “exiled”!

Liu Shan rejected the unit’s offer and resigned voluntarily. The day Wang Jianhua left the unit in disgrace, Liu Shan appeared.

When Wang Jianhua saw her, he viewed her only as an enemy, with no trace of love remaining.

Liu Shan wasn’t one to be trifled with. In front of everyone, she slapped Wang Jianhua hard twice across the face:

“Pah! I must have been blind to ever love you!”