Chapter 26: The Savior

Just after the two had finished conspiring, they heard someone pounding loudly on the front door.

Startled and feeling guilty, Chen Qiuwei nervously got up and went to open it.

“Who is it?”

Outside stood several middle-aged women, and the woman leading them looked somewhat familiar.

“Is this Comrade Chen Qiuwei?”

Chen Qiuwei looked closely, her heart skipping a beat.

“Oh, isn’t this Director Yang? What wind blew you here?”

The steel factory had nothing to do with the Women’s Federation, so Chen Qiuwei didn’t know why Yang Ling had come calling.

She felt a little uneasy for no reason.

With a smile, Chen Qiuwei hurriedly welcomed them inside.

“Jiancheng, Jiancheng, Director Yang from the Women’s Federation is here.”

Yang Ling entered with her group openly and confidently.

When Wen Jiancheng heard Chen Qiuwei call his name, he knew something was wrong.

“Director Yang, what brings you here? Please, have a seat.”

At the same time, he instructed Chen Qiuwei to go pour some tea.

Yang Ling waved her hand, her face serious.

“No need, Director Wen. Let’s speak frankly: last time I made myself clear. Nowadays, free love is popular, and arranged marriages are not allowed. Why do you keep committing the same offense?”

Wen Jiancheng forced a smile.

“Director Yang, you must be mistaken. The children’s marriages are their own decisions. I’m an open-minded parent and never interfere.”

Yang Ling was unmoved.

“Oh? Then why have I heard you forced Wen Nian to marry Zheng Jiahe?”

Wen Jiancheng swore confidently.

“Impossible! There’s no such thing. My daughter Nian Nian and Comrade Zheng are in love of their own free will. No coercion whatsoever.”

Chen Qiuwei also spoke up to defend.

“Director Yang, you can’t just believe rumors. You’re wronging Jiancheng. Nian Nian and Comrade Zheng’s relationship is mutual. There’s no forcing. Besides, with Comrade Zheng’s family being so well-off, it’s us who are lucky to marry into them, not the other way around.”

Yang Ling snorted coldly, deeply disdainful. She knew well enough the true nature of this family, though others might not.

After his rural wife had just died, Wen Jiancheng abandoned his adopted daughter, who was still helpless, and followed his father back to the city without hesitation.

Before his deceased wife’s seventh day funeral rites had even passed, he married a daughter from the Chen family to gain entry into the steel factory.

He smoothly took over his father-in-law’s position.

Now, for promotion, he was thinking again about that abandoned adopted daughter, wanting to squeeze out her last bit of value.

“Whether there was coercion or not, let Comrade Wen Nian come out. We’ll ask her directly and find out.”

Yang Ling watched the couple act their play with calm amusement.

Chen Qiuwei and Wen Jiancheng exchanged a glance, both a little uneasy.

“Director Yang, no need. It’s just a young couple dating. You don’t have to worry about it.”

Wen Jiancheng smiled politely but cursed inwardly.

He didn’t know who he’d offended. A few months ago, Yang Ling had already come to him once, saying someone reported him for arranging his adopted daughter’s marriage.

At that time, he was at a crucial promotion stage, so he kept a low profile for a while.

But it never ended.

He’d made a lot of enemies at the factory, especially with this promotion, where he squeezed out some strong rivals.

Yang Ling pressed on aggressively.

“What? Afraid to let Comrade Wen come out for a face-to-face confrontation?”

Wen Jiancheng forced a stiff smile.

Although he was a director now, his weight didn’t compare to Yang Ling’s.

Yang Ling was head of the Women’s Federation, wielding absolute power and backed by strong connections.

He didn’t dare go head-to-head with her.

Wen Jiancheng’s eyes flickered as a smile spread across his face.

“Of course not. Based on what you said, what would I be afraid of? It’s just that Nian Nian isn’t home right now, so she can’t come out.”

Chen Qiuwei quickly chimed in to support him.

“Yes, yes, exactly. Look at how this has turned out—so inconvenient. She just went out, said she had an appointment with Comrade Zheng. You know how young people are; when they get cozy, they tend to lose track of time. No one knows when she’ll be back.”

Yang Ling gave a cold smile. If she didn’t know Wen Nian was inside, she might actually have been fooled by the couple’s excellent acting.

Without wasting words, she ordered several people to go inside and search.

Seeing this, Wen Jiancheng and Chen Qiuwei truly panicked.

“Hey, Director Yang, what are you doing?”

“Director Yang, you’re trespassing into a private home—that’s illegal.”

Both of them looked flustered and hurried forward to stop the others.

But unfortunately, Yang Ling had brought enough people that blocking one or two wouldn’t stop the rest.

“Director Yang, the person was found — she’s in the storage room over there.”

Wen’s house wasn’t large; it was a small three-room place, easy to search quickly.

Besides, Chen Qiuwei’s eyes kept intentionally or unintentionally lingering on the storage room.

Two Women’s Federation personnel helped weak Wen Nian out.

Yang Ling’s chest heaved with anger as she pointed at Wen Jiancheng and Chen Qiuwei.

“You two, really something! Do you know this is illegal imprisonment?”

This girl was after all the orphan of a martyr, and her father had ties with the Lu family.

How dare this couple treat her like this?

They must have a heart of steel!

With the situation exposed, Wen Jiancheng stubbornly denied and tried to explain.

“Director Yang, don’t throw baseless accusations at me. The child is disobedient; I just disciplined her a bit. How does that become illegal imprisonment? I’m her father—can’t I even manage her?”

Chen Qiuwei chimed in to back him up.

“Right, Director Yang, don’t slander Jiancheng. It’s normal for a father to discipline his daughter! Besides, we didn’t hit or scold her—just made her face the wall and reflect. No need to make a fuss!”

Yang Ling was too tired to argue and decided to take Wen Nian away first.

“Fine, you’ve disciplined the child enough. Now I’m taking her with me. If you try to stop us, we’ll take this to the police.”

The threat was clear.

The two didn’t dare to really pick a fight with Yang Ling and could only watch helplessly as they took Wen Nian away.

Wen Nian, faint and weak, was led out the door, where she saw a green jeep parked in front.

The sky was dim, and inside the car was a vague figure, nothing else clearly visible.

Yang Ling approached and said something to the person inside.

A tall and upright figure pushed open the car door and strode over quickly.

Wen Nian looked at the familiar face, tears instantly welling up in her eyes.

Lu Hanzheng carefully observed her frail state.

His brows furrowed tighter and tighter; the anger inside him burned hotter.

Everyone from the Women’s Federation felt the heavy atmosphere, hardly daring to breathe.

Yang Ling’s knowing eyes flickered between the two, scanning back and forth.

She was experienced, having worked many years at the Women’s Federation; she had seen all kinds of bizarre situations.

She had witnessed many cases of selling daughters for personal gain.

Cases like today’s were common—usually she’d just scold once and that was it, but the root problems never got solved.

Though she was a director at the Women’s Federation, and seemed powerful, these were family affairs after all; there wasn’t much she could do.

Unless the girl herself stood up and fought to the end.

Only then could they lend a hand.

Unfortunately, most girls couldn’t stand up for themselves and couldn’t completely break free from their original family’s shackles.

In the end, everything faded away unresolved, the problem remained unsolved, the Women’s Federation offended people, and both sides ended up with nothing good.