Seeing Shen Fuyao staring thoughtfully at the commander, Xia Yulan suddenly remembered something. No matter what, I can’t let her get a chance to complain. She hurriedly said,
“Dad, I know I was wrong. Let’s just forget about this. I won’t pursue the matter of this comrade hitting me. I’m hungry—let’s go home.”
As she spoke, Xia Yulan winked at Xie Furong.
Xie Furong understood her daughter well. Normally, even when she was in the wrong, she would still argue her case relentlessly. Today, after being beaten until her face looked like a pig’s head, she was saying “forget it”—something was clearly off. Playing along, Xie Furong said, “Old Shen, I made pork and chive dumplings today. Let’s go home and eat.”
“Did you forget I came to visit Comrade Dongfang?”Commander Shen glanced at his wife, who was more than ten years younger than him, assuming she was worried their daughter was hungry. He waved his hand.“You go back first with them.”
That made Xia Yulan even more unwilling to let her stepfather stay behind alone. She forced a smile.“Dad, I’ll wait and go home with you.”
Standing behind Commander Shen, Wang Chaoying shot Shen Fuyao a warning look and even made a “don’t speak” gesture.
Shen Fuyao rolled her eyes at him in response. Don’t let me speak? I’ll speak—loudly, and a lot.
“Don’t rush off yet. Missing one meal won’t kill anyone. But if you miss today’s drama, you might never get another chance to see it again.”She looked straight at Commander Shen.“Commander Shen, I’m afraid that if you leave now, I’ll be killed by your daughter and your own biological grandson.”
“And there’s also my current husband—your future son-in-law—Wang Chaoying. He wants me dead too. Before you arrived, their whole family was ganging up on me. One accused me of colluding with bandits, another wanted to lock me in solitary confinement. Your daughter was even more impressive—she said she’d have you order me executed.”
Shen Fuyao deliberately put on a terrified expression, shrinking beside Dongfang Yunqi’s bed as she asked,“Brother Dongfang, I don’t really understand military regulations. Can the commander just execute civilians at will?”
“No,”Dongfang Yunqi replied succinctly from where he leaned against the headboard.
Shen Fuyao nodded rapidly.“That’s good. That’s good. Commander, when your daughter said she’d have me shot just now, I was scared to death.”
Commander Shen’s brows knit together. Just as he was about to scold Xia Yulan, Wang Chaoying hurried to speak first.
“Sir, Shen Fuyao did collude with bandits and emptied my hometown house. My adopted son, Wang Zhuo’er, can testify. Yulan and I were only carrying out our duties by asking her to return to the unit for investigation, but she refused to cooperate—and she even hit Yulan.”
Wang Zhuo’er raised his hand and immediately said, “Yes! I heard her talking to the bandits.”
“Commander, he’s lying,”Dongfang Huaiyu stepped forward to testify for Shen Fuyao.“The night the Wang house was emptied, Fuyao returned to Phoenix Brigade to ask my husband for a letter of introduction. The letter has both a date and an official seal.”
Shen Fuyao patted Dongfang Huaiyu’s hand reassuringly, then fixed her gaze on Wang Zhuo’er.“So what exactly did you hear?”
“I heard you saying you were going to move everything out of my grandpa’s house. And you said you’d even take the roof tiles, to freeze our whole family to death. Wuwuwu—”Wang Zhuo’er lowered his head and began crying theatrically.
“Heh.”Shen Fuyao gave a soft snort.“So you’re saying your house didn’t even have a roof left?”
Wang Zhuo’er nodded.
“And you were the only one who heard this? What about your grandparents?” Shen Fuyao asked again.
“They were too tired and fell asleep,” Wang Zhuo’er replied without a second’s thought.
Shen Fuyao sneered inwardly. Even after being reborn, he’s still this stupid. His lies are full of holes.
Calmly, she turned to Commander Shen.“Commander, if I really colluded with bandits and even tore off the Wang family’s roof, that would’ve made an enormous racket. How could no one in the Wang household wake up—except Wang Zhuo’er alone?”
“And roof tiles—are those something you can just remove in a short time? And he claims the bandits wanted to freeze them to death? Hahaha—”
Shen Fuyao shook her head and laughed.“If there really were bandits who wanted to kill people, wouldn’t they just slash them to death directly? Why go through all that trouble to rip off the roof—just to freeze them? Commander, do you think that’s possible?”
“Obviously, the Wang family is using a child’s mouth to frame me and have me arrested, all to cover up their own unspeakable scandal.”
The moment Shen Fuyao finished speaking, regret flashed through Wang Zhuo’er’s eyes. After being reborn, he had been so eager for revenge—so focused on killing Shen Fuyao as quickly as possible—that he’d forgotten even the most basic logic.
“Shen Fuyao, don’t slander us!”Wang Chaoying panicked. After shouting at her, he turned to Commander Shen.“Sir, she’s just that woman from my hometown who’s been clinging to me all this time. I failed to handle it properly. You go ahead with your business—I’ll take her out right now.”
As he spoke, he stepped forward, reaching out to grab Shen Fuyao.
“Tsk. So this is you panicking because you’re afraid I’ll expose your dirty deeds,”Shen Fuyao said, looking at Commander Shen.“What, as the commander of the army, you’re just going to ignore this?”
Commander Shen let out a sigh. He had always believed that his own survival was bought with Xia Yulan’s biological father’s life, and because of that, he had been especially kind to this daughter.
Earlier, when Wang Zhuo’er spoke, Commander Shen had clearly seen his face. His brows and features were a smaller version of Wang Chaoying’s, yet his mannerisms were exactly like Xia Yulan’s when she was young. Coupled with Shen Fuyao’s mention of a “biological grandson,” how could he not understand?
In order to protect the reputation of his benefactor’s daughter, Commander Shen said coolly,
“Comrade Shen, this is a family matter between you. I cannot interfere. This is a hospital—take it home and settle it there. Do not disturb the soldiers’ recovery.”
“As for the matter of colluding with bandits, I believe the child was simply frightened and spoke nonsense. Don’t hold it against him. I believe you are innocent.”
By the late 1970s, bandits had nearly been wiped out. Even if a handful still hadn’t come down from the mountains, they wouldn’t dare raid homes anymore. Emptying an entire house would have caused a massive disturbance—impossible for no one to hear, and impossible to complete in such a short time. The story simply didn’t add up.
Moreover, Shen Fuyao had Dongfang Huaiyu as a witness. Commander Shen saw little point in her giving false testimony. A simple inquiry at Phoenix Brigade would confirm whether Shen Fuyao had returned there that night.
After speaking, Commander Shen turned to the guard at the door.“Xiao Li, drive them back to the family compound. Take them straight to Wang Chaoying’s doorstep.”
Shen Fuyao knew that this commander—who might very well be her own grandfather—was trying to shield that despicable couple. She was already calculating whether she should go to the capital to lodge a complaint with an even higher-ranking commander when she heard Dongfang Yunqi speak:
“Commander Shen, an officer’s family affairs are not private matters. It’s obvious that Comrade Shen has been wronged. She represents the masses and has come to the army seeking justice from the organization. We have a duty to stand up for her.”