Chapter 23

“What nonsense are you talking about!” Lu Zhonghua saw Old Man Lu’s face turn cold, about to lose his temper, and quickly pulled Qin Xianglan to stop her.

Everyone knew that Old Man Lu liked Shen Hongxing the most.

On the day she was brought back, Old Man Lu had told everyone that Shen Hongxing would definitely become a member of the Lu family.

Whenever they disliked Shen Hongxing, they only dared to do it behind Old Man Lu’s back.

However, Qin Xianglan completely ignored Lu Zhonghua’s gesture. She continued to escalate the situation, “What? Am I wrong? When our Ping’an refused to have anything to do with her, she followed him like a stray dog every day! Oh, now it’s good, our Ping’an agreed to marry her, and she wants to break off the engagement!”

“What does she think our Ping’an is? Take him when she wants him and throw him away when she doesn’t want him anymore?”

“Enough, look at your own son’s behavior. If he and that girl Shen Jiaojiao hadn’t repeatedly challenged Hongxing’s bottom line, would Hongxing have rejected your son? It’s clearly your son’s fault. You don’t know how to educate him, and you go around ruining the girl’s reputation!”

Shen Jianguo wanted to step in, “Uncle Lu, your wife…”

“And you two!” Old Man Lu shifted the fire to Shen Jianguo and his wife. He angrily rebuked them, “You are Hongxing’s biological parents, and you let others slander your own daughter in front of you? What kind of parents are you? She’s right to cut ties with you. From now on, no matter what happens, don’t bother her. She doesn’t have parents like you who take sides and don’t know right from wrong!”

Shen Jianguo and his wife dared not retort and could only lower their heads and let Old Man Lu scold them.

Old Man Lu glared at Shen Jiaojiao, then declared in a resounding voice, “From now on, if I hear a single bad word about Hongxing from anyone’s mouth, I will have them sent to the Northwest to build the region, and they will never be allowed to return!”

Everyone knew that Old Man Lu’s word was law.

Afraid of angering Old Man Lu, everyone didn’t dare to breathe!

“Since there’s nothing wrong, after two days of observation, go to work if you should, and go on the research trip if you should.”

Until Old Man Lu’s figure was completely out of sight, Qin Xianglan muttered softly, “It’s true, I didn’t say anything wrong!”

“Still talking!”

Lu Zhonghua glared at her fiercely as a warning.

Although Qin Xianglan was unhappy, she didn’t dare to speak again.

The anger in Shen Jiaojiao’s body was on the verge of exploding.

What’s so good about Shen Hongxing? Why do those two old men only like Shen Hongxing?

No matter how hard she tried, it was useless.

Her hand clenched tightly at her side.

(Endure!)

She absolutely had to endure.

Those two old men were so old, how many more years could they live?

She was different.

Just in her early twenties.

In a few years, when she outlived them, who would still protect Shen Hongxing?

Lu Ping’an was in low spirits.

He had fallen like this, and his grandfather didn’t care at all.

He closed his eyes in distress. After a long time, he slowly said to Qin Xianglan, “Mom, I’m tired, I want to rest!”

“Brother Ping’an, I’ll take you back to the ward!” Shen Jiaojiao volunteered, pushing Lu Ping’an towards the ward.

Lu Zhonghua and Qin Xianglan quickly followed.

Shen Jianguo and his wife stood there dejectedly.

After a while, Mother Shen suddenly turned to Shen Jianguo and asked, “Do you think we really did something wrong? Should we have listened to Uncle Lu and been nicer to Hongxing?”

“Nice? That dead girl was the one who didn’t want us, should we kneel down and beg her?” Shen Jianguo’s expression was cold.

They only favored the capable child.

Shen Jiaojiao was raised by them, beautiful, excellent, and capable.

She also had a good job.

While Shen Hongxing was raised by that gambler since she was young, she was full of the bad habits of country people.

Bad temper, vicious heart.

Useless.

How could she compare to Shen Jiaojiao?

On the other side.

The car was driving.

Because the car was full of mannequins, only one person could sit in the passenger seat.

Lu Jiaoyang sat in the passenger seat.

Shen Hongxing sat alone in the back, not feeling awkward at all.

Suddenly, with a “bang,” the car jolted.

Old Zhang noticed something was wrong and immediately stopped to check.

“What’s wrong?”

Lu Jiaoyang also got out of the car.

“Chief, a flat tire!” Old Zhang checked and reported to Lu Jiaoyang.

Lu Jiaoyang thought for a moment and said, “First get the spare tire and change it. We’ll get it fixed when we get back!”

“Ah, the spare tire?” Old Zhang looked at Lu Jiaoyang helplessly, “When I left this morning, I ran into Captain Gu, and he borrowed it!”

Lu Jiaoyang was so angry he wanted to curse, “What did Gu Qingshan borrow the spare tire for?”

“Captain Gu said that Old Commander Gu’s car had a flat tire, so he borrowed it first!”

Such a coincidence?

The spare tire was just borrowed, and the car got a flat tire?

Lu Jiaoyang squatted down and checked the tire. He found that the tire…

The edges of the cut were extremely neat.

More like a knife had been used.

He immediately understood.

Gu Qingshan had done it on purpose. Old Zhang was the driver; he would always check the car’s condition before each trip and absolutely couldn’t have been unaware.

Lu Jiaoyang understood their intention. He crossed his arms and looked at Old Zhang, “Tell me, who else was involved!”

Old Zhang approached him and whispered, “Chief, several old commanders gave the order. They ordered us to help you chase after your wife!”

“I knew it was those old guys!”

“What’s wrong with the car?” Shen Hongxing saw that the two of them weren’t getting in the car and got out as well.

“Flat tire!”

Lu Jiaoyang said.

Shen Hongxing immediately thought of the mannequins, “Could it be that we loaded too many mannequins?”

“No!” Lu Jiaoyang said, then asked Old Zhang, “Is there a repair shop nearby? We need to find someone to fix it!”

Old Zhang nodded vigorously, “Yes, about half an hour’s walk!”

And there were no bicycles.

The car couldn’t be driven either.

Old Zhang left.

“This has nothing to do with you, don’t feel pressured!” Lu Jiaoyang was worried that Shen Hongxing would feel pressured and gently comforted her.

“Mm, I know!” Shen Hongxing thought the scenery here was nice.

Various colorful wildflowers grew on both sides of the road.

She spotted a mulberry tree laden with fruit not far away.

“Wait for me!”

She strode towards the mulberry tree.

So many fruits.

Big and red.

She tiptoed to pick some when, suddenly, seven or eight burly men wearing masks rushed out from somewhere.

Before she could react, she was already under their control.

They held knives to her neck, “Don’t move!”

“Who are you? Let her go immediately!” Seeing her being held hostage, Lu Jiaoyang’s heart clenched.

His eyes, sharp as a leopard’s, emitted a sinister killing intent.

The leader turned and shouted to Lu Jiaoyang, “Chief Lu, you really made us wait!”