Everyone was stunned.
No one had expected Political Political Commissar Zhang to side with Su Jiuyue and officially approve the severing of ties between the two families.
What they didn’t know was that this had been Huo Tingxuan’s suggestion on the way here.
Li Yanchuan’s body trembled. He swayed slightly before forcing himself to stand straight. His voice was hoarse as he squeezed out two words.
“…Understood.”
Bai Lili lowered her head, her expression unreadable.
Every one of the four rulings had struck them where it hurt the most.
Especially the last one.
It was essentially a public declaration that the two households had nothing to do with each other anymore.
Exactly what Su Jiuyue had wanted.
She had made such a scene precisely to achieve this outcome.
Recovering her belongings and receiving compensation were important—but more importantly, she wanted to completely tear away all pretenses and, under the witness of both the Party and everyone present, permanently cut off the reach of this shameless pair.
“Comrade Su Jiuyue,” Political Commissar Zhang asked respectfully, “do you have any objections to this decision?”
Su Jiuyue wiped the tears from her face and straightened her back.
She shook her head, her voice calm.
“I have no objections. I accept the organization’s decision. Thank you, Commissar, for upholding justice for my daughter and me.”
She deliberately emphasized the words “upholding justice.”
Political Commissar Zhang nodded before turning toward Li Yanchuan and Bai Lili, his tone becoming stern.
“What are you waiting for? Bring everything over immediately! Especially that toy jeep!”
Startled awake as if from a dream, Bai Lili hurriedly dragged Li Yanchuan back into the house and hastily packed everything together.
Time was short, and since nothing was missing, there was no need to pay compensation.
Then she forcefully pried the little green toy jeep from Li Tao’s arms.
The boy was still in shock, clutching it tightly and refusing to let go.
“Tao Tao! Be good! Give it back to your sister!”
Her voice was low, trembling with panic and tears.
“Waaah! My car! My toy car! Mom promised it was mine! Waaahhh!”
The moment his beloved toy was taken away, Li Tao erupted into ear-splitting cries.
He threw himself onto the ground, kicking and flailing wildly.
Bai Lili’s face burned with humiliation.
She was anxious, angry, and heartbroken, but she didn’t dare delay.
Holding her struggling son tightly to stop him from grabbing the toy again, she shoved the little jeep and the rest of the belongings toward Su Jiuyue’s feet without daring to meet her eyes.
Su Jiuyue bent down and carefully inspected everything.
The toy jeep was completely intact, with only a little dust on its surface.
She gently wiped it clean with her handkerchief before solemnly placing it into Jiaojiao’s eagerly waiting hands.
“Jiaojiao, hold on to it. This belongs to you.”
Her voice was warm and gentle.
The little girl hugged the recovered toy jeep tightly to her chest.
At last, a genuine smile appeared on her small face.
Her eyes were still red from crying, but she nodded firmly.
“Mhm!”
Su Jiuyue checked the rest of the items one by one. Only after confirming that everything was there did she turn back to Political Commissar Zhang.
“Commissar, everything has been returned. As for compensation… there’s no need.”
Political Commissar Zhang nodded.
Since nothing was missing, compensation was unnecessary.
“Thank you, Commissar,” Su Jiuyue said once more.
Then she glanced at Huo Tingxuan and quickly added,
“Thank you, Commander Huo!”
Without sparing the adulterous pair another glance, she took Jiaojiao’s hand.
“Jiaojiao, let’s go home.”
With her back straight and head held high, she walked steadily out of the revolting courtyard under everyone’s watchful eyes.
Jiaojiao hugged the little jeep in one arm while tightly holding her mother’s hand with the other, puffing out her tiny chest with pride.
Once the mother and daughter left, the crowd gradually dispersed.
Still, today’s spectacle would give everyone plenty to gossip about for quite a while.
What an unbelievable drama.
The courtyard was left with only Li Yanchuan, standing there in despair; Bai Lili, collapsed on the ground sobbing pitifully; and Li Tao, who was still bawling at the top of his lungs.
Looking at the mess scattered across the yard and thinking about the public self-criticism and disciplinary punishment that awaited him, Li Yanchuan felt a rage he simply couldn’t suppress.
“H-Haichuan…”
Seeing his livid expression and frightening eyes, Bai Lili timidly crawled over and hugged his leg, crying even more miserably.
“You have to believe me. I never meant to steal anything… I just thought it would be more convenient if we all ate together in the future. Looking at Jiuyue, I figured she wouldn’t even have the energy to cook.
“So… so I moved the things over first…
“I really meant well…
“Who knew… who knew she’d think such awful things about us… and make such a huge scene…
“Wuu…”
As she cried, she secretly watched Li Yanchuan’s expression, skillfully shifting all the blame onto Su Jiuyue.
Li Yanchuan looked down at her swollen, tear-filled eyes.
Listening to her explanation and thinking about the kind of person she was, he found himself believing most of it.
The tiny seed of doubt Su Jiuyue had planted instantly vanished.
Exactly.
What bad intentions could Lili possibly have?
Maybe she simply didn’t know how to handle things properly.
She had only been trying to help and ended up making a mistake.
As for Su Jiuyue…
Even if Lili’s approach had been wrong, couldn’t they have settled it privately as a family?
Why did she have to make such a public spectacle of it?
Why humiliate him in front of everyone and get the organization involved?
How had she become so harsh…
So cold…
So unreasonable?
Was it because Yanchuan had “died” that she no longer considered herself part of the Li family?
The more he thought about it, the more convinced he became that Su Jiuyue was the one at fault.
Lili had made mistakes, yes—but her intentions had been good.
It was Su Jiuyue who had been overly petty and blown the whole matter out of proportion.
With a stiff motion, he bent down and helped Bai Lili to her feet.
“Stop crying. Get up first.”
He let out a heavy sigh.
“You really were too careless. No matter what, you shouldn’t have taken her things without telling her first. Look what happened now.”
The moment Bai Lili heard his tone, her heart settled.
She knew he still believed her.
He was still on her side.
Immediately, she cried even more pitifully.
“I… I just felt sorry for her. I acted without thinking… Haichuan… what are we supposed to do now? Even Political Commissar Zhang said those things… Jiuyue… will she hate us even more now?”
“If she hates us, then so be it.”
Li Yanchuan waved his hand impatiently.
“She’s refusing to listen to reason right now. Give her some time to cool down. After a while, I’ll go talk to her properly.
“We’re family.
“Yanchuan has only just passed away. I understand that she’s angry.
“But we can’t stay like this forever.”
Though that was what he said aloud, he had already made up his mind.
After everyone had gone home that evening, he would visit Su Jiuyue.
There were things that couldn’t be said during the day with so many eyes watching.
He had to make her understand that this ugly confrontation hadn’t benefited anyone.
For now, he was still her brother-in-law.
He still had to look after her in the future.
They couldn’t truly cut off all contact.
As for everything that had happened today…
It was all just a misunderstanding.
Once they talked it through, everything would be fine.
What he failed to notice was the flash of cold hatred and triumph in Bai Lili’s eyes as she buried her face against his chest, pretending to cry.
Su Jiuyue… just you wait.
You made me lose so much face today.
You made me suffer such a huge loss—and you almost dragged Haichuan down with you.
This isn’t over.