A while ago, Sheng Zexi had been promoted to a regimental-level officer, and Gu Jianing had called her family to share the good news, so the Gu family was aware of it.
Now, as soon as Gu Yunzhou brought up Sheng Zexi, it immediately intimidated those people.
The villagers also chimed in.
“Back then, Officer Sheng personally came to propose marriage and offered a hefty betrothal gift. It’s clear how much he values Ningning and the Gu family.”
“Yeah, if he found out the Gu family was being treated like this, who knows how furious he’d be.”
“A regimental-level officer—that’s such a high rank!”
The members of the “certain committee” hesitated, their expressions uncertain. Finally, the leader stepped forward.
“But we’ve received an anonymous tip. The proper procedures still need to be followed.”
At this point, Old Man Gu stepped forward. “Everyone, we understand your difficulties and are willing to cooperate. You can proceed with the process, but please be gentle during the search.”
Truthfully, Old Man Gu knew that once these people arrived, it would be hard to make them leave.
But he also knew—had even witnessed—how these searches usually went. They were like locusts sweeping through, no different from bandits.
He didn’t want his well-kept home to be turned upside down.
Seeing Old Man Gu’s agreement, the leader visibly relaxed.
“Alright, then it’s settled.”
Thus, with Old Man Gu’s consent and the Gu family stepping aside, they immediately began their search.
The villagers crowded forward.
“Village Chief, how could you let them in?”
“Whoever dared to harm you, Village Chief, has no conscience.”
“You shouldn’t have let them in. What if they find something…”
Old Man Gu stepped forward and addressed the crowd. “Fellow villagers, you all know what kind of person I, Gu Chunsheng, am. I have a clear conscience.” With that, he walked back into the house, and the rest of the Gu family followed.
Old Man Gu was unshaken, but the villagers still muttered among themselves. If this really happened, it had to be a setup.
Still, no one said anything more. They all followed inside, curious to see the results of the search.
Wen Zhuqing, hidden in the crowd, curled his lips into a mocking smirk as he listened to Old Man Gu’s words.
His gaze swept through the crowd until it landed on Yang Manman’s figure.
He clenched the packet of medicine in his hand and slowly stepped forward.
Yang Manman followed her family inside, anxiously awaiting the outcome.
Although her family had already anticipated this situation last night and knew there wouldn’t be any issues, facing such a scene still made Yang Manman tense and uneasy.
Just then, someone from behind seemed to be in a hurry to push forward and accidentally bumped into her.
The impact wasn’t particularly strong, but caught off guard, Yang Manman staggered to the side.
“Manman!” a voice cried out in alarm. Gu Yunting, who had been by her side the whole time, immediately steadied her.
“Manman, are you okay?” Gu Yunting asked urgently.
Though startled, Yang Manman was quickly supported. When she looked up and saw it was her husband, her heart settled.
She knew A-Ting had been watching over her all morning.
“I’m fine.”
Once he confirmed his wife was unharmed, Gu Yunting turned his fury toward the person who had bumped into her.
He strode forward, shoved Wen Zhuqing to the ground, and demanded angrily, “Wen Zhiqing, why did you bump into Manman? Was it on purpose? She’s pregnant—are you trying to kill her?”
Wen Zhuqing, sprawled on the ground, was dazed.
The pain from when Liu Yuan had pushed him earlier, bruising his tailbone, hadn’t fully faded, and now he had landed on it again—agonizing.
Before he could even react, Gu Yunting grabbed him by the collar, hauling him halfway up, and then a fist slammed into his cheek.
Gu Yunting punched him squarely.
This punch made Wen Zhuqing howl in pain.
The people around quickly snapped out of their shock and rushed to intervene.
Bao Shanyan also stepped in. “What are you doing? Why are you hitting him?”
Though she didn’t know when Wen Zhuqing had slipped out to join the commotion, he was still her husband. No one else had the right to hit him—doing so would be a slap to her face, Bao Shanyan’s dignity.
Gu Yunting sneered. “Ask him what he did. Manman is pregnant, yet he deliberately bumped into her. If she had fallen, what would have happened to her and the baby? Was Wen Zhuqing trying to murder Manman and her unborn child?”
“I saw it—Wen Zhiqing really did bump into Manman just now.”
“Yeah, Manman almost fell.”
“Goodness, Manman’s belly is so big. If she had fallen, it would’ve been dangerous!”
Several people had witnessed what had just happened and now stepped forward to speak up for Gu Yunting.
If a man’s heavily pregnant wife was nearly knocked over and put in danger, any husband would be furious, right?
Just punching Wen Zhuqing was already going easy on him.
Bao Shanyan also glared angrily at Wen Zhuqing.
Realizing he had been seen by so many, Wen Zhuqing had no choice but to endure the pain and say, “I didn’t do it on purpose—it was an accident.”
Bao Shanyan immediately echoed, “Right, it was an accident!”
Gu Yunting scoffed. “Just because he says it wasn’t on purpose, it wasn’t? Thankfully, Manman is fine, or I’d have beaten him to death.”
With that, he protectively guided Yang Manman to a less crowded area.
The others hurried forward to see the results of the search.
Bao Shanyan kicked Wen Zhuqing in the backside. “Get up already! You’re humiliating me. Who told you to come out here?”
Wen Zhuqing let out another pained cry.
Bao Shanyan’s kick had landed right on his already injured spot, and she was strong—her kicks were no joke.
Now, Wen Zhuqing was doubly wounded, the pain intensifying.
Fortunately, some male educated youths from the educated youth outpost saw this and stepped forward to help him up.
As for the female educated youths—Liu Juan and the others—they didn’t dare intervene.
If they had once harbored feelings for Wen Zhuqing, now that he was married to the brutish, almost crazed, and immensely strong Bao Shanyan, they knew better than to provoke her.
So any lingering affection they had for Wen Zhuqing had long since vanished.
Sure, Comrade Wen was handsome, but they valued their lives more than his looks.
“Useless trash.”
Bao Shanyan spat out another insult as Wen Zhuqing was helped up, then ignored him and pushed through the crowd to see what was happening.
Wen Zhuqing watched her retreating figure, his peripheral gaze drifting toward Gu Yunting and Yang Manman standing in a corner. A shadow of malice and ruthlessness flickered in his eyes.
Soon… very soon.
Once those people found the banned books, he’d see how the Gu family could keep acting so high and mighty.
He couldn’t wait to watch them all tremble in fear.
And as for Yang Manman…
Wen Zhuqing stuffed the now-empty packet into his pocket.
Leave a Reply