Su Guilan peered through the iron gate. The courtyard door was unlocked, and the pavilion was hidden from view at the entrance. She didn’t see anyone in the yard.
She pushed the door open and entered.
Wen Yaozu, hearing the sound of the door opening, instinctively sprang up from his chair. His eyes fixed intently on the middle-aged woman at the gate, and he recognized her immediately.
Last time, she had shown up unexpectedly at their home. He hadn’t been able to chase after her then because he was protecting Xiao Chuan.
But this time, he wouldn’t let her escape.
Wen Yaozu casually picked up a broom leaning beside the pavilion, leaped into the middle of the courtyard, and brandished the broom with a flourish. “Hey, it’s you again, you old witch! You got away last time, but let’s see how you escape this time!”
As soon as he finished speaking, Jiang Chen’s gaze fell on the chubby boy’s face. His youthful cheeks and features bore a slight resemblance to Jiang Ye.
“Who are you?”
“You barged into my home and still have the nerve to ask who I am!”
Jiang Chen laughed, his eyes filled with disdain. “A poor kid from the countryside like you could never afford to live in a place like this in your entire life.”
Wen Yaozu wasn’t bothered. Mimicking the tone of the tall man in military uniform standing before him, he said sarcastically, “A poor kid who could never afford to live here in his entire life~”
He waved his hand as if fanning away dust and spoke indifferently, “Where is Jiang Ci?”
“None of your business, you old witch!”
Jiang Chen glared at him angrily. Seeing the boy’s fearless expression, he strode toward him, grabbed the broom swung at him by the chubby boy, and scolded, “Since your parents didn’t teach you any manners, I’ll teach you today.”
With that, he snatched the broom from Wen Yaozu’s hands, broke it in two over his knee, and grabbed the boy by the collar.
Just as he was about to take action, Yu Qing appeared at the gate and shouted, “You’re a soldier! What kind of man bullies a child in his own home?”
Jiang Chen stopped.
He recognized the woman before him—she was Wen Ci’s colleague from the Northwest Military District. “This brat has no manners. I’m just teaching him a lesson on behalf of his parents. What’s wrong with that?”
“Since when is it your place to teach him? How about we take this to the military base and settle it there?”
Yu Qing was using the authority of the military to pressure Jiang Chen.
Her meaning was clear: Jiang Chen had intruded into someone else’s home to meddle in their affairs. No matter how the situation escalated, reason would be on their side.
Su Guilan played the peacemaker. “How can someone your age stoop to arguing with a child?”
Hearing this, Jiang Chen released Wen Yaozu’s collar. Narrowing his eyes, he warned, word by word, “If I ever hear you calling anyone an ‘old witch’ again…”
He finished by making a fist.
Wen Yaozu quickly hid behind Yu Qing and muttered, “So not all soldiers are good people.”
Yu Qing smiled. “A profession doesn’t define whether someone is scum or not.”
Jiang Chen wanted to retaliate, but Su Guilan stopped him. She shot him a cold glare. “Haven’t you embarrassed yourself enough already?!”
The incident from earlier had already caused a stir in the residential compound. If things escalated further and reached the military base in the afternoon, the Jiang family would lose all face.
Su Guilan turned to Yu Qing, her tone much softer. “I am Jiang Ci’s birth mother. Could you tell me where she has gone?”
“Jiang Ci? Who’s that?”
Yu Qing pretended not to know and looked at Wen Yaozu. “Do you know who Jiang Ci is?”
“I don’t know her. You’ve got the wrong person, you old witch! My sister’s name is Wen Ci—Wen, as in Wen Yaozu’s Wen!”
Jiang Chen frowned.
Just as he had suspected, the chubby boy was Jiang Ye’s birth brother. Although they were biologically related, their personalities were completely different. The influence of one’s upbringing was indeed significant.
In rural areas, people always favored sons over daughters. Thankfully, Xiao Ye had been switched at birth. Otherwise, who knows how her birth family’s influence would have shaped her? The thought was too dreadful to imagine.
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