Aunt Song had already left, leaving Su Yuebai alone in the narrow room. She looked around the cramped space and felt utterly defeated. This place didn’t resemble where a son-in-law should live at all! Did her parents even treat him like a human being?
Su Yuebai knew very well that her parents were trying to assert dominance. They were afraid he would become hard to control in the future, so they used harsh measures to suppress him. To put it bluntly, this was emotional manipulation—using psychological and physical pressure to achieve their goal. But was this fair to him? He was a human being, not an animal! What if he starved to death at home? What if he couldn’t bear the pressure one day and took his own life? Now he was gone! He’d left! He had nothing to do with this family anymore!
The more Su Yuebai thought about it, the more bitter she felt. Tears streamed down her cheeks again as she held onto the empty hammock and cried, burying herself in it.
…
A long time passed before Su Yuebai finally pulled herself together and walked outside. When she stepped into the living room, every piece of furniture she saw stirred pain in her heart. Her parents had forbidden Zhang Xiaofeng from sitting on the sofa casually and even made him clean it. He wasn’t allowed to use the water dispenser and was told to boil water for drinking instead. There were so many strict and harsh rules—it wasn’t like they were treating him as family at all! Would he ever truly see them as family? He endured everything only for her sake, constantly backing down and tolerating them, but how could he not feel aggrieved? How could he not feel humiliated? Now he had finally severed ties and left without looking back!
Suddenly, Su Yuebai’s gaze landed on the chandelier on the ceiling, and her heart ached even more! She vaguely remembered when it had burned out, and her father asked Zhang Xiaofeng to buy a new one and install it. But during the installation, the chandelier accidentally fell and broke. Her father immediately kicked the ladder over. That was a ladder! A 3-meter-high ladder! If it had fallen wrong, it could’ve killed someone—or at the very least, crippled them!
Fortunately, the ladder fell onto the sofa, damaging it and leaving a deep dent. But Zhang Xiaofeng was miraculously unharmed, landing on the soft cushions. Whether it was divine intervention or sheer luck, he survived unscathed.
He once said to her, “Am I worth less than a phone in your eyes?” But in the eyes of her family, he wasn’t even worth a light bulb!
Even though that chandelier was expensive, to her it was only worth a few thousand yuan, no more valuable than his phone. Yet her father valued that light more than Zhang Xiaofeng—so much so that he kicked over the ladder, letting him fall. Did his life mean that little?
Because of the chandelier, her father kept scolding him afterward, saying he couldn’t even install a light properly. That he was useless. But she remembered clearly—back then, the ladder was already unstable with loose screws, and it shook when climbed. He risked his life just going up there! At the time, he said, “It’s fine, don’t worry,” and went up to fix the light, yet her father treated his effort as worthless!
Just then, Aunt Song entered to clean and saw Su Yuebai standing dazed in the living room. She asked, “Miss, what’s wrong?”
Su Yuebai turned around, quickly wiping her tears, and said, “I was thinking about when he installed that light. Do you remember? Was he really okay afterward?”
Aunt Song let out a long sigh. “He wasn’t. He looked fine, but he borrowed 300 yuan from me and went to the hospital. They found he had a mild concussion. Fortunately, it wasn’t serious. With some rest and medication, he recovered.”
Concussion!
Su Yuebai’s heart trembled. She hurriedly asked, “Why didn’t I know? Is that true?”
“Miss, don’t worry. Mild concussions can heal on their own, often without needing special treatment. But he worked overtime frequently and stayed up late. He was terrified of dying suddenly. He’s the only child in his family, and he married into ours. He was afraid he wouldn’t live to see his parents again or take care of them in their old age. He was afraid of dying… and afraid of never seeing you again. He hit his head on the edge of the sofa, right on the corner.”
“Why didn’t my dad notice?”
“Miss, you can check the surveillance footage. Sir was furious at the time and thought he was fine. That sofa corner looks soft, but it’s wrapped in fabric over solid wood. If someone hits their head there, it can be dangerous.” Enjoying the story? Read on at novelping.com.
Su Yuebai didn’t have the key to the surveillance room, so she immediately called Su Haiqiang. But he was out. The call connected quickly, and he answered gruffly, “What is it, Xiaoyue? I’m driving!”
“Dad, come back quickly. I need to check the surveillance footage.”
“What for? What’s there to see?”
“Just come back. It’s urgent!” Su Yuebai was furious. Originally, she just wanted the key, but now she wanted her father to see it for himself—to see how cruel and blind he had been, how he treated a human life like it was worthless!
On a wide road, Su Haiqiang angrily hung up and turned the car around.
Not long after, at the Su Family villa, Su Haiqiang handed the surveillance room key to Su Yuebai and said, “What’s the point of watching that? No one ever checks that room!”
Su Yuebai didn’t reply. She just took the key and said, “Dad, just come with me.”
A few minutes later, they entered the surveillance room and turned on the lights. There were several computers inside. Su Yuebai began searching for the footage from over two months ago. She recalled the date and quickly found the right recording.
She stared blankly at the screen. In the footage, Zhang Xiaofeng set up the ladder and climbed up to change the light. Just a few seconds later, the ladder wobbled, he lost his grip, and the light crashed to the ground with a loud shatter. From a distance, Su Haiqiang turned and shouted, “Are you blind?! Can’t even change a bulb! What the hell are you doing?!”
Then, as the footage progressed, Su Haiqiang stormed over and angrily kicked the ladder. With a loud crack, it collapsed under Zhang Xiaofeng, who fell straight onto the sofa. The cushions were destroyed, and his head hit the corner hard. Luckily, the rest of him avoided the hard floor. He froze for a moment, stood up slowly, patted his head like he was dizzy, then opened his eyes and looked around. Without saying a word, he went back to work—so humble, so silent.
Seeing this, Su Yuebai’s heart ached terribly. Tears flowed again. His head must have hurt so much! Yet he kept working. And her father? He just stood there, glaring at him!
Su Haiqiang said, “Xiaoyue, what are you watching this for? There’s nothing worth seeing. Even if he comes back, I won’t forgive him. What kind of person is he anyway? He’s been gone for so long!”
That client still hadn’t received the software delivery, and now they had sent a lawyer’s letter to sue. Su Haiqiang felt like his heart was bleeding—he would have to pay a huge settlement! He was furious and hated Zhang Xiaofeng. But if Zhang Xiaofeng were to come back and give him enough face, he’d gladly let him return. Deep down, he regretted it, but he was too prideful to admit fault.
“Dad, you saw it, didn’t you? He suffered a concussion!” Su Yuebai said coldly, her voice like ice.
Su Haiqiang was stunned. “What concussion? He’s a grown man. He just bumped his head a little—why be so dramatic?”
“But he really had a concussion! Didn’t you see? He hit his head on that sofa corner! You had that custom-made—you should know how hard it is! Go touch it yourself. It’s solid. Hitting your head there hurts! Look closely. Didn’t he look dizzy, standing there? I heard he was diagnosed with a mild concussion. If it had been worse, he could’ve had a serious injury! Why did you turn a blind eye? Why are you so heartless?!” You are reading on novelping.com, the official source.
“Well, isn’t he fine now? Didn’t he just yell at me and argue like nothing happened?”
“Dad, you’ve gone too far!” Su Yuebai’s voice turned colder, on the verge of cursing him out.
Su Haiqiang stubbornly insisted, “He’s perfectly fine! Look at him afterward—he was walking and working like normal!”
Su Yuebai didn’t know what else to say. Her father cared too much about appearances and would never admit his mistakes. She was fuming and said, “Dad, in your eyes, is his life not a life? Did you ever treat him like your son-in-law? Did you even treat him like a human being?”
“What does it have to do with me?!”
Su Haiqiang exploded with rage, flung his sleeves, and stormed out!
Admit fault to a son-in-law who married into the family and had to be humble? Impossible! He was a millionaire, a tycoon who drove cars worth millions, ran a huge company, and commanded respect everywhere he went. How could he possibly lower his pride?
Watching her father leave without looking back, Su Yuebai felt even more heartbroken. It was like burning liquor had been poured over her heart—painful and unbearable.
So what if you have to bow your head? Zhang Xiaofeng never cared about pride. Why should you? Aren’t you both men? Why is the difference so vast?
Once again, she realized—maybe Zhang Xiaofeng loved her more than her father ever had. Because he was willing to be humble for her, while her father was not. The contrast couldn’t be clearer.
…
Elsewhere, Zhang Xiaofeng was at work. Today’s workload was light. Honestly, the job was easy for him to begin with, and now he didn’t even have to do much—he felt like he was in paradise.
Leaving the Su Family was the smartest decision he’d ever made. If only he had done it sooner. Who would willingly stay there and suffer?
No wonder his parents used to say, “A golden nest or silver nest is not as good as your own doghouse.” Now he understood the truth of those words.
His boss, Zhang Long, had come by several times today, delivering rare and expensive tea for him to enjoy freely. During lunch, there were all kinds of drinks and snacks available for free. At 3 p.m., there was afternoon tea, and if he got sleepy, there was coffee. It truly felt like heaven!
If this was heaven, then working at Su Yuebai’s father’s company must’ve been hell—working like a dog without respect. Some colleagues even gossiped behind his back, mocking him for getting close to the boss’s daughter. He endured it all for Su Yuebai. But now? Ha!
Now, even if Su Yuebai begged him to go back, he wouldn’t. Even if her whole family begged him, he still wouldn’t!
Here, he felt like a fish back in water. You’d have to be crazy to return!