Chapter 43.2

Wang Liying saw the bruise on Li Hongjun’s mouth and couldn’t help but exclaim, “What happened to you? Did you get into a fight?”

Li Hongjun touched the corner of his mouth. He hadn’t looked in the mirror, so he wasn’t aware of the noticeable bruise.

In the afternoon, Xu Zhao asked him if he wanted to spar. With so many people around, he couldn’t back out, as it would be too embarrassing. Besides, he felt a bit resentful because Xu Zhao, despite being younger and having taken the position of deputy regiment commander, seemed to overshadow him, a man of 32 still only a small captain.

After the sparring match, Li Hongjun lost, but he accepted the defeat with good grace. Xu Zhao had indeed shown superior skills, and Li Hongjun felt ashamed for his previous narrow-minded thoughts.

Li Hongjun hung his hat on a nail on the wall, saying, “It’s nothing. I just had a sparring match with Deputy Commander Xu this afternoon. I was outclassed and got a minor scratch.”

Every soldier has some scars; this minor injury was nothing to him. He had almost lost his life during past missions.

Wang Liying’s eyes widened, “Xu Zhao sparred with you?”

Li Hongjun didn’t understand why his wife reacted so strongly to Xu Zhao’s name and turned to look at her, “It was Deputy Commander Xu. Why?”

Wang Liying blurted out, “It must be that little girl Jiang Suihan who complained to Xu Zhao. It’s just children fighting, and I haven’t even settled scores with her. Yet, she dared to complain to her husband. Xu Zhao is too soft-hearted, he’s holding a grudge and taking it out on us, it’s too much.”

She didn’t dare tell her husband about their son’s fight. Although she was eager to confront Jiang Suihan and Wu Guihua, she knew in her heart that her son was at fault. She was angry that Jiang Suihan’s brother and Wu Guihua’s younger son had teamed up to bully her son. If it were just Jiang Leyun fighting with her son, he wouldn’t have been beaten so badly.

Moreover, she wanted to use this opportunity to dampen Jiang Suihan’s arrogance. Jiang Suihan had embarrassed her in the family compound, and she was upset about it, which led her to seek an explanation.

Unexpectedly, Jiang Suihan was not easily intimidated and refused to apologize. Wu Guihua also fueled the fire, which confused her. Wu Guihua had only known Jiang Suihan for a few days and was already so easily swayed. Her scheming nature was surprising.

Her husband was serious and upright. If he knew their son had done something wrong, he would certainly discipline him. A good thrashing was inevitable. She had been hiding this from him, but didn’t expect it to slip out at Jiang Suihan’s place.

Li Hongjun frowned, “Zili fought with someone? When did this happen?”

He was busy with work, and his wife managed most of the household matters. Being stern and unapproachable both at work and home, his son was afraid of him and rarely got close.

If it weren’t for his wife’s slip, he wouldn’t have known that his son was in another fight.

Oh no, she’s exposed.

Wang Liying looked uncomfortable and spoke vaguely, “Boys are mischievous. It’s normal for them to fight occasionally. Didn’t you fight when you were young? Look at your stern face; our son acts like a frightened mouse when he sees you, avoiding you as much as he can.”

Li Hongjun wasn’t convinced by his wife’s attempt to cover up, “Tell me clearly, who did your son fight with? Your reaction when you heard me talk about Xu Zhao just now was wrong. Is it related to his family? Are you hiding something else?”

His wife was arranged for him by his family. Their families were from the same village, and he and his wife were childhood sweethearts. He knew his wife’s temper very well, but he understood her about 70% of the way through. As long as they were generally okay, he generally didn’t care about small matters.

However, he could not ignore the issue of his son’s education. One of his former leaders made a big mistake in his son’s affairs, which cost him his good reputation for most of his life. He lost his career and his family. His other children blamed him for doting on his youngest son and not associating with him.

Wang Liying’s eyes wandered, “It’s really nothing. Children fight each other. They made up later. My son is young, so just teach him a lesson. Don’t beat him all the time. You’re not at home during the day, and you don’t say a word to your son when you get home at night. Who can you blame for your son’s disapproval? The fight wasn’t all my son’s fault. That brother-in-law of Xu Zhao and Captain Zhao’s youngest son teamed up to beat our son. Can’t I just go and argue with him?”

She didn’t say that her son was the first to cause trouble, but avoided the main point and spoke vaguely.

Li Hongjun didn’t listen to one side and believed it: “Who started it first? You went to his house to argue, but you didn’t start it first?”

He pondered, realizing that Xu Zhao’s request to spar seemed strange and probably served as a pretext to vent frustration on behalf of his family. He felt like he was being dragged into the conflict.

He was working hard outside, while his family was causing trouble at home and making him take the blame, which made him feel disheartened.

Wang Liying quickly shook her head, “No, I went to discuss things, not to fight. Jiang Suihan has a terrible temper, insisting that our son apologize. That’s unreasonable! Her brother hit our son, and yet she wants our son to apologize. There’s no such logic in this world. You must talk to Xu Zhao and make it clear; don’t let his family get away with their misdeeds.”

Li Hongjun: “So, our son started the fight first?”

How come he is so good at grasping the key points!

Seeing that she couldn’t keep up the pretense any longer, Wang Liying had to admit, “Xu Zhao’s little brother-in-law is just like his sister—quick-tempered. Zili just wanted to play with his toy tank. Xu Zhao wasn’t happy, so the two kids ended up arguing and then fighting. Zhao Xiaojun, that troublemaker, even jumped in to help, so two of them were beating up our son. He was hurt and crying his eyes out. I was heartbroken and thought that if we got them to apologize, things might settle down. But they’re so shameless, demanding that we apologize first. It’s infuriating!”

Li Hongjun furrowed his brows, understanding that his wife was defending their son. However, if the child made a mistake, he needed to acknowledge and correct it. Overindulgence only makes a child bolder and could lead to even bigger mistakes in the future.

“When people refused to give their toy to him, he went to rob them. Where did he learn the logic of a robber? Where did he go?”

Wang Liying wanted to plead for their son but seeing her husband’s dark expression, the words were swallowed back down. “He went out to play.”

Li Hongjun loosened the top button of his coat. “It’s almost mealtime. Go find him.”

Wang Liying was very reluctant, her feet dragging and not making it to the door.

Wang Lijuan, not wanting to stay at home, said, “I’ll go look for him.”

She went to the places where Li Zili usually hung out but couldn’t find him. Standing by the roadside, Wang Lijuan saw a figure approaching in the distance.

Her heart raced so fast it felt like it would leap out of her chest.

Xu Zhao, looking straight ahead, was walking home with two apples in his hand.

Wang Lijuan squeezed her hands into fists, took a deep breath, lowered her head, and quickly walked toward Xu Zhao.

Noticing someone approaching, Xu Zhao sidestepped.

There was a thud, and someone fell to the ground, sprawled out.

With a sharp pain in her hand, Wang Lijuan frowned and looked up at Xu Zhao with a pitiful expression. “It hurts.”

Xu Zhao frowned. Not recognizing this person, he pointed east. “The hospital is that way.”

If she’s hurt, she should see a doctor. Why is she staring at him? He’s not a doctor, and her gaze is rather strange.

Wang Lijuan’s lips twitched. How could Xu Zhao be so indifferent? She fell to the ground, and instead of helping her, he just avoided her.

Did he have no pity at all, or does he just not care about other women except Jiang Suihan?

She had been a bit impulsive earlier, focusing only on approaching Xu Zhao and momentarily forgetting that he was married.

He wouldn’t think she was that kind of frivolous woman, would he?

Seeing Xu Zhao preparing to leave, Wang Lijuan, ignoring her injury, pushed herself up from the ground and accused him indignantly, “Why didn’t you help me up?”

She was utterly embarrassed by falling in front of him.

Xu Zhao’s expression darkened slightly. “You can get up yourself.”

It was just a fall, not a broken arm or leg.

Wang Lijuan gritted her teeth. Though things hadn’t gone as planned, she couldn’t get angry. She decided to ignore what Xu Zhao had just said and sweetly asked, “Um, are you Deputy Commander Xu?”

Xu Zhao didn’t understand why this person was stopping him and responded in a flat tone, “Is there something?”

He was already running late from work and had been delayed on the road for no reason. If he had known, he wouldn’t have taken this route—just his luck.

Wang Lijuan flashed a sweet smile, having practiced in front of the mirror at home for a long time. This angle gave the sweetest smile.

“I’m Wang Lijuan, Wang Liying is my elder sister. Yesterday, my nephew had a small altercation with Sister Jiang’s younger brother. My elder sister was upset about the child and spoke harshly to Sister Jiang. She didn’t mean it; she was just very concerned about the child. I’m here to apologize on behalf of my sister.”

Jiang Suihan: Who’s your Sister Jiang? Did you ask my opinion?

Xu Zhao raised an eyebrow, looking at Wang Lijuan. He found her words interesting—avoiding the real issue and apologizing to him instead of the actual parties involved.

What kind of nonsense was this?

Xu Zhao’s expression remained unchanged. “Oh, is there anything else?”

If there’s nothing else, then move aside. He was running late, and his family might be worried.

Wang Lijuan, feeling awkward and somewhat resentful, thought she was quite attractive. Young men in the village often tried to run into her, always nervous and shy around her. But Xu Zhao treated her as if she were invisible, showing no difference in his attitude towards her compared to others.

How could he be like this!?

Did he not know she was the woman he was going to marry!?

Wang Lijuan quickly gathered her wits, her mind racing. She put on a sweet and charming smile again. “I just want to apologize and make sure you don’t misunderstand me. How about this? Let me help you with something as a way to make up for it.”

This person might have some issues. He doesn’t know her but looks at her like she’s a scorned woman—it’s quite creepy.

Xu Zhao opened his mouth to refuse. “Not needed.”

Wang Lijuan, finally having managed to confront him, wasn’t ready to give up so easily. “No, it’s fine. Originally, it was my sister’s fault. Please, give me a chance to help. I would feel very uneasy otherwise and wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight.”

What kind of baffling statement was that?

Why should his sleeplessness concern him?

Xu Zhao didn’t want to waste time with unrelated people and spoke in his usual indifferent tone. “No need.”

He stepped around Wang Lijuan, ready to leave.

Wang Lijuan took a step forward and blocked Xu Zhao’s path. “Do you like hawthorn cake? I learned how to make it from someone in the village, and everyone who’s tasted it says it’s really good. Let me make some for you?”

It was clear now that this girl must be out of her mind, or perhaps she hadn’t taken her medication.

Xu Zhao glanced at Wang Lijuan with indifference. “Please have some self-respect. If you’re unwell, go see a doctor.”

Don’t make a fool of yourself in public and cause trouble for others.

With that, he turned and walked away decisively.

Wang Lijuan’s eyes blazed with anger as she watched Xu Zhao’s retreating figure, stamping her foot in frustration.

How could he be so indifferent after she had lowered herself so much!?

After standing there for a while, Wang Lijuan came to a conclusion: it must be because of Jiang Suihan. As long as she was alive, Xu Zhao would never be interested in another girl.

With this thought, although she still felt quite uncomfortable, a small sense of comfort emerged, thinking that Xu Zhao must be a very responsible person. Being liked by such a person must be a great thing.