Chapter 80

Zhao Yongsen thought he had a clever plan, but Tang Yunling wasn’t one to tolerate such behavior.

Neither He Ting nor Lu Baiwei would prioritize saving face over supporting Tang Yunling in standing her ground.

“Lingling, don’t be upset. I’m here to attend your cousin’s housewarming banquet and to bring the 200 yuan compensation for your family,” Zhao Yongsen said.

If the Zhao family had been sincere about compensation, they should have come to her house long ago.

Instead, Zhao Yongsen chose this moment—right during Weiwei’s housewarming banquet—to show up.

He was clearly counting on the Tang family’s reputation in Xiangyang Brigade to avoid a public confrontation. Lingling wouldn’t want him ruining the banquet, and the Tang family wouldn’t risk losing face in front of a room full of guests.

Not wanting to escalate the situation, Tang Yunling took the twenty 10-yuan notes he handed her.

“Fine, I’ve received the money. Consider our accounts settled,” she said curtly before dismissing him.

“You don’t need to stay for the banquet. We’re not family or friends. Take your red envelope and leave!”

Unfortunately, Zhao Yongsen had come prepared and wasn’t planning to let things go so easily.

Noticing that everyone in the room was now watching them, he played up the drama, his eyes reddening as though holding back tears.

“Lingling, how can you be so heartless to drive me away? Do the feelings we’ve shared since childhood mean nothing?”

“That thing with Liu Zhiying—it was a huge misunderstanding! She kept using Tiantian as an excuse to come to my house and kept sneaking into my room. That day, she shamelessly threw herself at me, and you just happened to catch it!”

“Nothing happened between me and her!”

Most of the Tang family and the educated youths present already knew about this incident, so it didn’t surprise them.

However, the cadre Qian and Director Shen were stunned, completely caught off guard. For a moment, they even forgot about the feast in front of them, chewing their food with wide-eyed astonishment.

At this critical moment, Zhou Yanfeng put down his chopsticks, stood up, and walked over to Tang Yunling. Casually, he wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

“Who’s this?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. “Isn’t he the guy from Hongqi Brigade who tried to assault Liu Zhiying with drugs?”

Zhou Yanfeng smirked. “Zhao Yongsen, right? What’s this now? Your brigade didn’t send you to the Public Security Bureau, and now you’ve come here to harass Lingling?”

“We educated youths should be proactive about reporting issues to the commune. Before Liu Zhiying came here for her assignment, she lived in the same compound as me and He Ting. That drugging incident? I think we should all head to the commune together to file a report. What do you all think?”

As soon as Zhou Yanfeng spoke, several educated youths who had helped He Ting build the house chimed in.

“Exactly. We educated youths should stick together. Let’s report this to the commune after the meal.”

“Using drugs against a female educated youth? That’s despicable!”

“Using force against a female educated youth is utterly despicable!”

“He deserves to be charged with hooliganism.”

“Didn’t get what he wanted from Liu Zhiying, and now he’s pestering our sister-in-law? Where does he get the audacity?”

Hearing that the educated youths were planning to report the incident to the commune, Zhao Yongsen panicked.

What shocked him even more was hearing the educated youths refer to Tang Yunling as their “sister-in-law.”

He had even been prepared to kneel and beg Tang Yunling to reconcile with him, banking on the fact that, with Lu Baiwei’s housewarming banquet underway, Tang Yunling wouldn’t cause a scene. But Zhou Yanfeng crushed his plans in just one move.

Pale and shaken, Zhao Yongsen turned to Tang Yunling and demanded, “Who is he?”

“Come on, let me introduce myself.”

Ignoring whether Zhao Yongsen was willing, Zhou Yanfeng grabbed his hand in a firm grip. With a sharp squeeze, Zhao Yongsen’s face twisted in pain.

Zhou Yanfeng raised an eyebrow and declared, “I’m Zhou Yanfeng, an educated youth from the capital—and Tang Yunling’s new fiancé.”

“Comrade Zhao Yongsen, thank you for your disgraceful act of drugging Liu Zhiying. It helped my Lingling see your true colors. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have had the chance to be with her.”

“I’ve admired her for a long time, and your deplorable actions gave me the opportunity I needed.”

Still gripping his hand tightly, Zhou Yanfeng shook it forcefully. “Zhao Yongsen, I owe you thanks for your refusal to marry her.”

Zhao Yongsen was outraged. How could Tang Yunling leave him and immediately attract the attention of an educated youth from the capital?

And this educated youth wasn’t just anyone—he came from the same place as Liu Cuifang, meaning his family likely lived on commodity grain and had connections.

Pinned by Zhou Yanfeng’s grip, Zhao Yongsen winced in pain, his teeth bared. Frustrated and furious, he shouted, “Tang Yunling, you shameless woman! Have you been fooling around with him all along?”

What a hypocrite, accusing someone else while being the guilty one! And now he dared to turn the tables and slander her?

Before this, Tang Yunling might have held a sliver of hope for Zhao Yongsen, feeling a sense of regret over their broken engagement.

But hearing him accuse her of being shameless and having an affair with Zhou Yanfeng extinguished any remaining feelings she had for him. The years of emotion she’d invested were now water under the bridge, leaving no trace of affection or regret.

True to her decisive nature, Tang Yunling didn’t bother with words. Instead, she aimed a fierce kick to send him flying.

At the last second, Tang Jinghe intervened to stop her.

At the crucial moment, Tang Jinghe stopped her.

“Zhao Yongsen, you used to play a good act. I, Tang Jinghe, thought you were a man of responsibility. But after that mess with Liu Zhiying, and being caught red-handed by the people from Hongqi Brigade, you still have the nerve to slander Lingling?”

“Zhou Zhiying is right. Thank you for your refusal to marry her. If it weren’t for your reckless actions, my Lingling would have fallen into your Zhao family’s pit.”

Tang Jinghe stepped forward and patted Zhou Yanfeng’s shoulder. “Since you’ve taken a liking to Lingling, fine. I’ll recognize you as my son-in-law.”

What?

Isn’t this all just a show?

Tang Yunling was stunned.

Zhou Yanfeng turned bright red, feeling extremely awkward as he rubbed his hands together.

As the head of the brigade, Tang Jinghe exuded authority with just a few words.

He turned to Zhao Yongsen and asked, “Are you going to leave on your own, or should I go to the Public Security Bureau and have the police escort you out?”

“I… I’ll leave…”

Zhao Yongsen, utterly humiliated, had no choice but to slink away, his head hanging low in defeat. He couldn’t even muster the courage to bring up reconciling with Tang Yunling. He disappeared dejectedly from the door of the brigade clinic.

Tang Jinghe acted as though nothing had happened and called out to everyone, “Let’s keep eating. It’s just a small interruption. Everyone, enjoy the meat. There’s plenty for all today.”

The cadre Qian from the commune was sitting at the table, and everything related to the commune was under his jurisdiction.

However, Tang Jinghe didn’t mention a word about the incident between Tang Yunling and Zhao Yongsen, even though Qian had given him several looks. Tang Jinghe simply didn’t bring it up.

But both Tang Jinghe and He Ting, as well as Lu Baiwei, knew that, given Qian’s serious and responsible attitude, this issue would definitely be investigated when it got back to the commune.

After all, the matter involved an educated youth and a case of forceful conduct, which required vigilance.

Normally, the Tang family wasn’t the type to swallow their anger.

While everyone was finishing their meal and planning to visit the new house, Lu Baiwei pulled Tang Jinghe aside. “Third Uncle, are we really going to let the matter between Lingling and Zhao Yongsen go like this?”

“What else can we do?”

Tang Jinghe countered. “Should we go to their house and beat up their orphaned mother and son?”

“Right now, Zhao Yongsen and Lingling’s matter is clearly Zhao’s fault. Our Tang family is strong, but using physical violence isn’t the way to deal with this situation.”

There were plenty of ways to handle Zhao Yongsen, weren’t there?

Tang Jinghe glanced at Qian, who was speaking with Director Shen. “Weiwei, physical violence is for small matters. The Tang family doesn’t resort to violence in these situations. We solve things with other methods. That’s the real way to handle things.”