Han Ruixue couldn’t just stand by and watch her younger brother get beaten by Granny Liu. But she also couldn’t bring herself to fight Granny Liu—after all, that was her elder, her mother-in-law, Section Chief Liu’s own mother.

Liu Tong and Liu Lei, seeing their mother being beaten so one-sidedly by the Miao family’s eldest daughter-in-law, grabbed small sticks and rushed to help. But before they could even reach the battleground, the Miao family’s eldest daughter-in-law elbowed them aside without blinking.

As for her daughter-in-law getting beaten, Granny Liu didn’t care at all.

But the sight of her two precious grandchildren sitting on the ground, bawling in grief, made her furious.

Granny Liu practically jumped three feet into the air and hurled herself into the brawl between the two women, using her age as a shield—charging in and aiming her head at the Miao family’s eldest daughter-in-law like a human battering ram.

“There’s no justice left! Bullying a poor widow and orphans!”

But the Miao family’s eldest daughter-in-law had none of those so-called traditional virtues about respecting the elderly and showing kindness to the young.

The Miao family’s eldest son saw the situation spiraling out of control—and now even a frail old woman had joined the chaos. You couldn’t strike an elderly person; if anything happened to her, their family couldn’t bear the consequences.

So he stepped forward and tried to pull his wife away. “That’s enough, stop it. Let’s just go home.”

But his wife was fuming. How could she leave so easily? She turned around and slapped him hard across the face.

“Pah! You think I don’t know about the filthy business between you and Li Jun? I let it slide for the kids’ sake. But if this were a few years ago, I would’ve paraded the two of you through the streets with a pair of worn-out shoes hung around your necks!”

Onlookers: ?!

They had come to watch a fight, but who would’ve thought there’d be bonus gossip to snack on.

With just one sentence, the Miao family’s eldest daughter-in-law managed to silence the entire crowd.

The Han siblings, who had just been glaring at Li Jun moments ago, suddenly looked pure and innocent, their expressions blank. Like everyone else, their eyes now shifted back and forth between the Miao family’s eldest son and Li Jun.

All the adults present immediately understood what that sentence implied. Only Liu Tong and Liu Lei looked confused, their young faces filled with cluelessness.

Miao Jinhui had thought that running around looking for Section Chief Liu was a smart move—it let him show his face in front of leadership while also helping him avoid the awkward dilemma of choosing between supporting his current or former wife.

But when he finally managed to locate Section Chief Liu and rushed back home with him, the sight that greeted him was his own eldest sister-in-law pinning down their boss’s ex-wife, pummeling her.

And yet, even that wasn’t the worst part.

The most terrifying thing was that earth-shattering line his sister-in-law had shouted just now—it was so loud that even the families living a block over must have heard it.

For the first time ever, Miao Jinhui wished that Section Chief Liu had a hearing problem—preferably the kind that made him completely deaf to what had just been said.

No one knew his own older brother’s faults better than Miao Jinhui did.

There hadn’t been any caught-in-the-act moment, no irrefutable evidence, but he had absolutely no doubt about the truth of his sister-in-law’s accusation. It was exactly the kind of thing his brother would do.

Miao Jinhui didn’t even dare glance at Section Chief Liu’s expression. Even though the chief had divorced Li Jun years ago, Li Jun had never remarried and still lived with her former mother-in-law. So most people still regarded her as Section Chief Liu’s wife.

Looking every bit like a palace eunuch delivering an imperial decree, Miao Jinhui scurried into the crowd to announce, “Section Chief Liu is here! Everyone, stop fighting!”

The moment Granny Liu heard her son had returned, her expression changed faster than flipping a page. She immediately plopped down on the ground, wailing and moaning.

“Oh, son, you have to stand up for me! Some people have no conscience—they beat your son and then tried to beat your mother too. If you don’t do something, what’s the point of me living anymore? I might as well find a rope and hang myself right now!”

Granny Liu’s wailing was truly a skill to behold—each line delivered in a different tone and pitch. Jiang Ling couldn’t help but marvel inwardly: now this is a true folk artist.

Section Chief Liu, who cared a great deal about appearances, quickly stepped forward and tried to pull his mother up. “Ma, what are you doing? So many neighbors are watching. Get up now, I’ll take you home.”

The moment the man came back and headed straight for his mother, completely ignoring her, Han Ruixue was displeased. “My siblings and I have suffered a disaster for no reason today.”

A beauty shedding tears, delicate and sorrowful—it was a sight to behold. The male onlookers were all dazed by it. No wonder Section Chief Liu had divorced Sister Li. With a woman like Han Ruixue tempting him, who could resist?

Section Chief Liu helped his mother to a stool, then walked straight over to his wife. “Who bullied you? Tell me everything.”

Li Jun’s face was swollen like a steamed bun. She stood there and watched as he walked right past her, going directly to that fox-spirit Han Ruixue’s side. Her expression darkened instantly.

Of course, with her face swollen like a steamed bun, it would’ve been strange if her expression looked anything but awful.

Li Jun saw herself as a loyal woman—through and through. In her heart, Section Chief Liu had always been the only man for her.

Old Liu was a capable man. A boy from the countryside who had made it to the city, become a factory worker, and climbed step by step to the position of Security Section Chief.

So even after their divorce, she insisted on living near her ex-husband’s home, holding onto the hope that he would one day come to his senses and return.

That Han Ruixue, she was just a pretty face. She wasn’t virtuous, couldn’t cook, couldn’t bear children—she wasn’t a proper woman by any measure.

Men might be tempted by beauty for a time, but sooner or later, they’d realize who truly suited them best.

In Li Jun’s mind, Section Chief Liu was still her husband. Han Ruixue? Just a concubine.

The man had completely ignored his former wife and gone straight to the “concubine’s” side, leaving Li Jun no place to save face.

What Han Ruixue didn’t know was that—even with a marriage certificate in hand—she was still just the concubine in Li Jun’s eyes.

She was in the middle of reporting the situation to Section Chief Liu. “Liu Lei and Liu Tong came into our house to steal money. Qingzhu and I caught them red-handed. Instead of apologizing, Li Jun came in and started hitting me.”

She tilted her head, showing him the injuries on her face. “Just look at what she did to me.”

To be fair, Han Ruixue’s injuries weren’t as serious as Li Jun’s. There was a purplish bruise forming around her neck, and a small clump of her hair had been yanked out.

Meanwhile, Li Jun’s face had been clawed by Han Ruixue’s long fingernails, and then slapped who-knew-how-many times by the Miao family’s eldest daughter-in-law.

Seeing the injuries on his wife’s delicate face, Section Chief Liu did feel a twinge of heartache—but he was even more puzzled. If the fight had started because Liu Lei and Liu Tong were caught stealing, leading to a conflict between Ruixue and Li Jun, how on earth had it ended with the Miao family’s eldest daughter-in-law brawling with Li Jun instead?

And then there was that matter the Miao family’s eldest daughter-in-law had blurted out, what exactly had happened between Li Jun and the Miao family’s eldest son?

Li Jun couldn’t bear to hear anyone accuse her children of being thieves, especially not Han Ruixue.

She instantly sprang back to life, full of energy. “Liu Lei and Liu Tong didn’t steal anything! You’re a grown woman—how could you throw filth like that on two children!”

She then turned to Section Chief Liu. “You’re the father of Leilei and Tongtong. You need to speak up and be fair. You can’t let your own children be branded as thieves at such a young age. How will their teachers and classmates see them in the future?”

They were, after all, his children. Even if he didn’t defend them publicly out of consideration for Han Ruixue, Section Chief Liu still felt a deep pang of guilt and affection for them.

No matter what the truth of the situation was, Li Jun was right. He, as their father, couldn’t let his children carry the stigma of theft.

So he turned to the crowd and gave a small bow. “I’m sorry for disturbing everyone. My wife misunderstood the children and thought they had taken money, but it was a false alarm. Leilei and Tongtong are good kids. They would never steal.”

The onlookers shared the same thought—Han Ruixue had never liked Leilei and Tongtong. It was obvious she had stirred this up on purpose.

Someone in the crowd spoke up, “Section Chief Liu, you really need to manage your wife better. Just look at the mess this caused. Tongtong and Leilei were wrongly accused for no reason, how pitiful is that?”

Section Chief Liu nodded repeatedly. “Yes, yes, you’re right. I’ll be sure to strictly discipline my wife. I guarantee this sort of thing will never happen again.”

His attitude in admitting fault was good. The neighbors, having been treated to quite a show, didn’t press the issue further.

But Han Ruixue had now, for no reason, been painted as the cruel stepmother who bullied her husband’s children—and of course she couldn’t accept that.

Tears welled up in her eyes. She hadn’t cried during the fight with Li Jun, but now she was crying out of sheer grievance. “Fine, fine. So you’re all one big loving family, and I’ll always be the outsider.”

Han Qingzhu and Han Hongmei spoke up too. “Brother-in-law, we saw it with our own eyes—Liu Lei and Liu Tong did steal money. Our older sister didn’t bully them. She was telling the truth.”

But Section Chief Liu didn’t care about what really happened. At this point, all he wanted was to smooth things over.

“I’ll decide for myself what the truth is.”

He frantically gave the Han siblings signals with his eyes, silently begging them to give him some face and drop it.

Before their parents passed away, the Han siblings had been pampered and spoiled. And after their parents died, Section Chief Liu married Han Ruixue and began treating her like a deity—indulging her every whim.

Han Ruixue had never suffered such humiliation. Enraged, she began smashing things on the spot. Whatever she could get her hands on—pots, pans, thermos flasks, even kitchen knives—she flung across the house.

Within moments, the home had turned into a disaster zone.

The outburst came so suddenly that even the crowd of neighbors watching from outside hadn’t seen it coming.

Li Jun, her face swollen, said mockingly, “You’re a grown man, yet you can’t even manage your own wife. How useless.”

Section Chief Liu was furious. This whole mess had started because of her, and now she was still fanning the flames.

He pointed at her nose and yelled, “Get lost. Go! The farther, the better.”

Li Jun stomped her foot in frustration and turned to Granny Liu. “Ma, did you hear him?”

Granny Liu, of course, took her son’s side. No matter how much she looked down on Han Ruixue as a daughter-in-law, she didn’t want her son stuck between two women and humiliated like this.

She gently patted Li Jun’s hand. “That brat’s always been like this. Don’t take it to heart. Does your face still hurt? Come home, I’ll put some medicine on it for you. Tonight I’ll cook, and you just rest.”

Li Jun was deeply moved. “Ma…” If it weren’t for having such a good mother-in-law, she honestly didn’t know if she could have held on this long.

The neighbors around them chimed in, “Granny Liu really is the most reasonable one in that family. Even after her son got divorced, she still lives with her former daughter-in-law and helps take care of the grandchildren.”

Jiang Ling naturally overheard the neighbors’ gossip.

Reasonable? She didn’t see it that way.

Two types of people couldn’t come from the same kang. If Granny Liu were truly a good person, how could she just stand by and let her daughter-in-law take advantage of everyone without saying a word?

She watched as Li Jun was led back home by Granny Liu, and Section Chief Liu turned to the crowd and said, “Sorry for taking up everyone’s time. The rest is a family matter. Please, let’s not trouble ourselves any further.”

Since Section Chief Liu had already put it that way, the neighbors had to give him some face—they couldn’t just keep crowding around his door watching the drama.

Most of the onlookers slowly dispersed. But the Miao family’s eldest daughter-in-law wasn’t ready to let it go. She still wanted Section Chief Liu to give her a fair resolution. What, she was just supposed to accept being beaten up by Li Jun for nothing?

The Miao family’s eldest son, seeing things escalating again, forcibly dragged his wife home. She hadn’t lost an inch during the fight—she had landed who knows how many hard slaps on Li Jun’s face. He was afraid that if they lingered, Li Jun might come to her senses and turn around to demand compensation instead.

As Jiang Ling walked away from Section Chief Liu’s house, she could still hear crashing and smashing from inside—the sound of objects being thrown—along with Han Ruixue’s shrill voice shouting and cursing.

Section Chief Liu, likely aware that he was in the wrong, remained silent and allowed her to scream and vent her anger.

When Jiang Ling got home, Song Guanshu was still reading.

She had been so caught up in the spectacle that she had completely forgotten he was even there.

Outside was chaos, but inside their home, it was all calm and peaceful.

“I’m back! You have no idea what a scene that was—those people…” Jiang Ling waved her hands animatedly as she described everything she’d just witnessed. “Oh, you really missed out. Next time something like that happens, I’m definitely dragging you along to watch!”

She was speaking with such excitement, her whole face lit up with energy. But when she looked up, she saw Song Guanshu watching her with a faint smile at the corner of his lips.

His gaze made her feel a little uneasy, a strange shiver running down her spine. “What? Is there something wrong with me?” she asked, suddenly self-conscious.