Zheng Xiujie paused, feeling somewhat guilty under that gaze, even developing an urge to turn and run.
But thinking of his mother and uncle who had already been arrested, he steeled himself and signaled his friend to push him into the hospital room.
"Ruan Zheng, I want you to drop the case. Otherwise, you won't be able to bear the consequences."
The commanding tone and threatening phrasing directly made Ruan Zheng laugh in anger. "I'm not even afraid of death—what consequences could I possibly not bear?"
Zheng Xiujie was left speechless, but considering his mother and uncle, he could only force himself to continue patiently. "I heard your younger brother is still studying. If you drop the case, I'll recommend him to attend the Worker-Peasant-Soldier University."
She was the youngest in the Song Family, with no younger brother below her.
So this "younger brother" referred to her adopted brother, Song Yao's biological brother, Ruan Hongbing.
Realizing who Zheng Xiujie was talking about, Ruan Zheng let out a scoff, looking at him as if he were an idiot.
"Zheng Xiujie, are you out of your mind?"
"All my suffering was caused by their family. They are my mortal enemies. You're asking me for a favor, offering me compensation, but the actual benefits go to my enemies. What kind of abstract nonsense are you pulling?"
Being called sick by this rude woman, Zheng Xiujie angrily slapped the armrest of his wheelchair.
"What mortal enemies? They raised you with painstaking effort. Doesn't your conscience ache when you say such things?"
"My conscience certainly doesn't ache. They swapped me to the countryside for their own selfish desires. They are robbers, thieves, and bugs that ruined my entire life!"
"And by 'painstaking effort,' do you mean endless chores, a perpetually empty stomach, constant beatings, or persecuting me like a class enemy?"
"They even blamed their longing for their beloved daughter and their inability to reunite with her on me. It was their own choice, yet they used sticks, striking me blow after blow."
"From childhood to adulthood, there wasn't a single patch of unblemished skin on my body. And the day before I was brought back, I was already digging up dirt to eat."
Ruan Zheng grew emotional, instinctively pressing a hand to her chest.
Realizing she had already crossed over and that this body's heart was fine, she continued, "Have you ever eaten dirt, Young Master?"
"That kind of kaolin clay—it fills your stomach but has no nutrition and doesn't digest. If you eat it long-term, you grow thinner and thinner while your belly grows bigger and bigger, until it can't take it anymore and bursts open, and then you die."
"And who is the root cause of all this?"
"Do you think I care about their lives or deaths?"
Her words weren't exactly earth-shattering, but they were enough to make one sigh.
These days, no one has it easy, but Ruan Zheng's hardships weren't due to natural disasters—they were man-made, a calamity she never asked for.
Like a duck that suddenly flies away just as it reaches your mouth.
An ordinary person would regret losing just one duck for a long time, but for the past eighteen years, Ruan Zheng had watched countless ducks fly away from her lips without even realizing it, all while facing hardship day after day.
The fact that she didn't turn dark on the spot the moment she learned the truth was a testament to her kindness.
Zheng Xiujie understood.
If everything Ruan Zheng said was true, then her first eighteen years were indeed difficult, and it was only natural she felt no affection for the Ruan Family.
But the moment he remembered that Ruan Zheng's adoptive parents beat her because they missed Song Yao, and that Ruan Zheng's return to the city would steal the affection and family assets that originally belonged to Song Yao, he couldn't bring himself to soften toward Ruan Zheng.
Fingers are not all of equal length.
He didn't like Ruan Zheng in the first place, so naturally, he didn't feel much empathy for her plight.
If Ruan Zheng and Song Yao's situations were swapped, he might have already made the mistake of going to the Ruan Family and shooting them one by one.
So, after Ruan Zheng's long-winded rant, it all boiled down to one sentence.
Just bad luck.
Zheng Xiujie felt there was no need to argue with someone so unlucky that they were triggered by it. A person's nature is shaped by their environment.
She hadn't received an education and grew up in such circumstances—it really wasn't fair to expect too much from her.
He took a step back and said calmly, "I can't out-argue you, but since you don't want the benefits to go to the Ruan Family, who do you want them to go to? As long as it's not too difficult, I'll make it happen." He then added with a concerned tone, putting on a face of caring for Ruan Zheng, "My mother made a mistake, but aren't you at fault too?"
"If you hadn't used violence against me and recklessly talked about divorce, my mother wouldn't have chased you to the hospital. After all, we're family, and we still have to live under the same roof. You're always trying to get the upper hand and hold grudges over the smallest things—it's really not good for family harmony."
"Let's just let this matter go. Both sides should take a step back. I won't pursue you hitting me, and you should drop the case quickly. My mother is getting old and can't handle the stress."
Ruan Zheng rolled her eyes, shrugged her shoulders, and curled her lips.
Arrogant, self-absorbed men really exist in every era.
After all this, did he still think she wanted to live with him?
Ruan Zheng didn't indulge him at all. "You're a cripple, you have someone else in your heart, and your family is constantly persecuting me. Am I some kind of lowly person who has to strive for harmony with your family?"
"Are you done yet?!" Zheng Xiujie slapped the armrest of his wheelchair and snapped sharply.
She kept calling him a cripple—his patience had its limits. "Do you have any idea how much trouble you've caused? While I'm trying to clean up your mess nicely, can't you be a little more sensible?"
"Exactly!" Another male voice chimed in at that moment.
"If it weren't for A-Yao, you'd still be eating dirt in the countryside. How dare you throw a tantrum here?"
Ye Wentao didn't want to ruin Zheng Xiujie's plans, so he had been holding back since entering the room.
But this woman was just too much. He said indignantly, "Being able to marry Brother Jie is the greatest fortune of your life, but you don't know what's good for you. You constantly oppose Brother Jie and even made Aunt Wang suffer. If it were up to me, I'd send you straight back to the countryside and have your foster parents marry you off to some old widower. That would teach you a lesson."
In her memory, Ye Wentao was Zheng Xiujie's most loyal lackey and also Song Yao's staunchest supporter.
In modern terms, this unlucky guy was a fan of Zheng Xiujie and Song Yao as a couple.
Now that the main couple had broken up, he couldn't blame Zheng Xiujie or Song Yao, so he directed all his anger at Ruan Zheng, the "third party."
Ever since she married Zheng Xiujie, Ye Wentao had repeatedly made snide remarks, calling her a country bumpkin and a wild chicken.
Now he was even scheming to marry her off to an old widower—he wasn't even trying to hide it anymore.
Ruan Zheng sneered, "Why don't you take that fortune for yourself? First, trick you into a marriage where you're left a living widow, then tie you to the bed of an idiot. After all that, you're supposed to feel like you've won the lottery. If you don't, you're ungrateful. I'd like to ask, are the folds in your brain just filled with sewage? You love trash so much, chasing after the stench wherever it goes."
"You!" Ye Wentao was so angry he stomped his feet, feeling even more sorry for Zheng Xiujie.
Having to be with such a vulgar woman every day would sour anyone.
Of course, Brother Jie didn't want to touch her!
When words failed, they resorted to attacking on matters of principle.
Ye Wentao's brain managed to be clever for once.
"Anyway, it's wrong for you to insult and assault a national hero. If you don't drop the case, we'll also file a report and have the police lock you up for ideological reeducation!"
Ruan Zheng: "What kind of hero aids a tyrant in threatening a victim to drop a case?"
"What aiding a tyrant? That's your own mother-in-law!"
"Does being a mother-in-law give someone the right to kill? Do you even realize that Wang Jinhua nearly strangled me to death—that's attempted murder!" Ruan Zheng dug at her ear, her tone full of disdain.
"One of you is a former officer with higher education, the other a child of high-ranking cadres. Do you really not understand? Or is it simply that you think my life is worthless, that it wouldn't matter if I died, but you absolutely cannot let your loved ones suffer the slightest grievance?"
"With such awareness, how can you be worthy of being called national heroes? How can you bear the people's admiration?"
"After all, the vast majority of our country's people are like me, still living in poverty or barely above the subsistence line. You want our admiration yet treat us as worthless weeds—what difference is there between you and those who eat the nation's rice but turn around to become traitors?"
Zheng Xiujie and Ye Wentao left.
They had wanted to argue further, but they were driven away by the other patients in the ward who splashed them with foot-washing water.
Ruan Zheng thanked them.
They waved it off, saying righteously, "They don't treat us as human beings, so splashing them with a bit of foot-washing water is nothing wrong."
Ruan Zheng gave them a thumbs-up.
After chatting a bit more, the aunt delivering meals arrived.
The food indeed had no meat and very little oil—just cabbage stewed with tofu and stir-fried shredded radish.
But the staple was two-in-one steamed buns and an egg.
During this famine, even families like Zheng Xiujie's could only eat two-in-one steamed buns, let alone have eggs with every meal. That was why they considered giving Ruan Zheng a few meals as an enormous favor.
Still, it also showed that the aunt was a sincere person.
Ruan Zheng didn't stand on ceremony. She sat up, held the meal box, and ate with relish.
The System finally managed to get a word in and couldn't help asking her.
[What are you planning to do next?]
After running the data, the System believed Ruan Zheng's optimal solution was to secure benefits from Zheng Xiujie while still punishing Wang Jinhua.
But the host had driven them away with her scolding. Was that reasonable?