Chapter 107 : Living Off Others

Shen Haiping, in Fang Xiaoluo’s arms, looked like a wounded little rabbit.

Fang Xiaoluo felt both distressed and angry.

Xu Zhigang and Zhao Lihong had actually come out of nowhere and tried to snatch the child for their selfish reasons.

Earlier in the afternoon, Shen Haiping had been surprisingly well.

Now, Fang Xiaoluo felt a sudden pang of panic. She was afraid Shen Haiping would close his heart again, or even worse, that things would get worse than before.

Zhao Lihong climbed back up from the riverbank, glaring fiercely at Fang Xiaoluo and Shen Zheng. “You’re finished. You beat people up! I’m going to report you to the police! I’ll sue you!”

Shen Zheng’s face darkened as he picked up Shen Jinxia. “I’ve already reported it.”

“You snatched children from the streets and kidnapped them as hostages. Do you think you’ll get away with it?”

After a while, the police arrived.

“Who made the report?”

Shen Zheng answered, “I did.”

“Comrade Public Security, these two people snatched a child from the street and kidnapped him for their own purposes.”

Zhao Lihong screamed in a frenzy, “Comrades, they are beating us! Look at what they’ve done to my husband and me!”

There were bystanders who had witnessed the events. They had seen the child being snatched and heard the words exchanged.

Before Fang Xiaoluo and Shen Zheng could respond, someone shouted, “Comrade Public Security, no one was beaten. They snatched the child and ran off when they saw they couldn’t escape. One of them fell down, and the other fell into the river.”

Several others quickly joined in, “That’s right, Comrade Public Security, snatching children is a serious crime. We can’t let them get away with it!”

Xu Zhigang and Zhao Lihong were stunned.

How could these people lie so blatantly when Shen Zheng and Fang Xiaoluo had assaulted them in broad daylight?

With great effort, Xu Zhigang sat up. “Comrade Public Security… I… I was beaten by him. You must handle this. He… he’s a soldier. He just… assaulted people on the street! These people… they must have been bribed by him.”

A man rushed forward and shouted, “Bullshit! You’re the one trying to bribe me! Do you think we’re blind?”

Fang Xiaoluo looked over and realized the man was the owner of the toy stall. He was still holding the toy she had just bought and the vegetables she had thrown there.

“Comrades from the police, just now in front of my stall, that man…” The owner of the toy stall pointed at Xu Zhigang. “He rushed over and snatched the child. The child was so frightened, he kept screaming. Comrades, look how terrified the child is.”

When the police officers checked the child in Fang Xiaoluo’s arms, they saw the fear in his eyes.

Fang Xiaoluo recounted the events that had just transpired, omitting the part where she and Shen Zheng had beaten anyone.

None of the witnesses had mentioned any physical assault, so why would they bring it up?

The eyewitness testimony was unanimous, leaving Xu Zhigang and Zhao Lihong speechless.

Furthermore, Shen Zheng was very skilled at handling people. Xu Zhigang felt pain all over, but his body showed no signs of injury.

The wound on his face looked like he had run into a tree.

As they prepared to go to the police station, the owner of the toy stall handed Fang Xiaoluo the items she had left behind. “This is yours.”

“Thank you, Boss,” Fang Xiaoluo said gratefully.

Shen Zheng took the items.

The stall owner waved his hand, “I should thank you. You buying my stuff is like the God of Wealth sending me money. Besides, we’re from Jiangcheng. Who can tolerate someone snatching children? It’s enough that we didn’t join in the fight.”

Fang Xiaoluo and Shen Zheng followed the police to the nearest station to file their statements.

Xu Zhigang and Zhao Lihong were directly detained.

This time, Xu Zhigang and Zhao Lihong would definitely face imprisonment for a period of time, along with criticism, education, and a fine.

When they left the Public Security Bureau, Shen Haiping had already fallen asleep in Fang Xiaoluo’s arms.

Shen Zheng placed Shen Jinxia on the ground and said, “Let me hold him for a while.”

Fang Xiaoluo handed Shen Haiping over, but his hands were still clutching her clothes and wouldn’t let go.

“No, I’ll just hold him like this. He’s scared.”

Shen Zheng grew anxious. Fang Xiaoluo must be exhausted from holding Shen Haiping this way.

Seeing what Shen Zheng meant, Fang Xiaoluo said, “Haiping’s emotions have finally stabilized. He can’t handle any fluctuations. Let’s leave it like this. He’s not seriously ill, and he’ll be in the car soon, so let him sleep well.”

Once they got on the bus, fortunately, they arrived early and found seats.

Shen Zheng sat holding Shen Jinxia, propping up his legs so Fang Xiaoluo could rest her arm that was holding Shen Haiping’s head. She could finally relax a little.

After a while, Shen Jinxia also fell asleep.

At the entrance to the military compound, Zhou Yanwen stood alone, pacing back and forth, sitting and standing repeatedly.

He had come to look for Shen Zheng after lunch, but was told that Shen Zheng had gone out. He had waited here until almost evening, when he saw Shen Zheng and Fang Xiaoluo riding their bicycles back with the two children.

Zhou Yanwen hadn’t looked at Fang Xiaoluo in a long time, and this time, he wished he could glue his eyes to her.

Xu Yaqiu at home was simply a shrew, a yellow-faced woman. She was not even one-tenth as good as Fang Xiaoluo.

“Xiaoluo!” Zhou Yanwen stood there waving his arms like a colorful peacock.

Fang Xiaoluo completely ignored him. Shen Zheng stood next to her, directly blocking Zhou Yanwen.

She took Shen Haiping straight into the yard.

Zhou Yanwen tried to look over, but unfortunately, all he could see was Fang Xiaoluo’s back.

The less you get, the more it itches.

Zhou Yanwen became anxious.

Shen Zheng put his bicycle aside and pulled Shen Jinxia towards Zhou Yanwen. “Come to pay back the money?”

Zhou Yanwen quickly withdrew his gaze, pulling out money from his pocket. “Here’s the remaining 500 yuan, Captain Shen. You need to give me a receipt.”

Shen Zheng took a pen and paper from his pocket, wrote a receipt for Zhou Yanwen, and took the five hundred yuan.

Zhou Yanwen said, “You’ve taken the money. Now I don’t owe Fang Xiaoluo anything. We agreed before that you wouldn’t cause any trouble for me!”

Shen Zheng said, “That’s natural.”

With that, Shen Zheng took Shen Jinxia inside, and Zhou Yanwen didn’t have time to say anything else.

Shen Jinxia sat in the front and looked up at Shen Zheng. “Dad, why did that uncle give you money just now?”

Shen Zheng explained, “He owes your mother money, which means the money originally belonged to your mother. It’s only natural to pay back a debt.”

Shen Jinxia thought for a moment. “My mom is so rich, how come he owes her so much money?”

Shen Zheng said, “He has no ambition and only wants to live off others.”

“Oh.” Shen Jinxia stretched out the word, seeming to understand a lot. “Mom is so capable. She must make more money than Dad. Dad, did you marry Mom just to live off her?”