One of the aunties couldn’t stand it anymore and frowned. “You’re a young girl—how can you speak so filthily?”
Chen Lingling raised her voice and shouted, “Filthy or not, I’m still better than a nosy old hag like you!”
The auntie looked at her. “If I’m an old hag, you’re worse than me. Your whole family lacks morals and conscience. Yesterday, you said those things on purpose, didn’t you? You deliberately got Song Xiongguan and his sister taken away.”
Chen Lingling put her hands on her hips. “So what if I did it on purpose? Song Jinyue is a capitalist’s daughter! If she wasn’t, would she have been taken away?”
She pointed at the auntie. “You old hag, defending her—you’re part of the capitalist class too! I’ll report you as well!”
A young man suddenly rushed out. “Go ahead and try!”
Startled at first, Chen Lingling quickly regained her confidence, seeing so many people around. She shouted, “I’ll report you! What, you want to hit me?”
“Come on, try it!”
She even leaned her face toward him.
She thought he wouldn’t dare.
But the young man raised his hand and slapped her across the face.
“Ah!” Chen Lingling screamed, clutching her cheek in disbelief. “You actually dared to hit me?!”
She lunged at him, clawing wildly.
The young man fought back, and the scolded old woman stepped forward to help her son.
The Chen family had nearly finished moving their belongings. When they turned around and saw Chen Lingling fighting with people from the compound, they rushed over to help.
But the moment they joined in—
The residents of the compound swarmed forward and beat them down!
Unable to withstand it, the Chen family fled.
The residents didn’t chase—they had made their point and didn’t want to escalate things too far.
Watching the Chen family run away, the crowd cursed loudly:
“Get lost!”
“If any of you Chens come back, we’ll beat you again!”
At the gate, Chen Pansheng stopped, turned around, and spat. “Bah!”
“This crappy place? Even if you begged me, I wouldn’t come back!”
The old woman’s son clenched his fists. “That bastard…”
Seeing the situation turn bad, Chen Pansheng ran off quickly.
Once he left, the man stopped chasing.
The residents gathered again, discussing the Chen family’s behavior—calling them heartless and opportunistic.
Some even wondered how Song Xiongguan ever married Chen Jing.
As they talked, someone recalled what Song Jinyue had said the night before.
Just then, someone noticed several police officers entering the compound.
Captain Han led the group. Seeing everyone gathered, he paused briefly before asking, “Hello, comrades. Does Song Jinyue live here?”
All eyes turned toward him.
Hearing that the police were looking for Song Jinyue, unease spread among the crowd.
Still, someone answered, “Yes.”
Relieved, Captain Han smiled. “Which floor does she live on? We need to see her urgently.”
“She’s not here. She was taken away.”
His smile froze. “Taken away?”
Someone got to her before him?
Impossible.
He had received orders directly from Director Zhong and Secretary Wei.
Which meant—
Whoever took her wasn’t one of theirs.
That realization made him anxious. The foreign expert was still waiting.
Li Huguo—no, that traitor Li Maiguo—had been arrested. There was no translator now. They urgently needed Song Jinyue.
“Who took her? Where was she taken?” he asked.
The residents all spoke at once, recounting everything that had happened the previous night.
Captain Han’s expression changed. He nodded and said, “Alright, thank you.”
“No need, no need.”
Someone asked, “Officer, why are you looking for Song Jinyue?”
“We need her help with something.”
That immediately sparked curiosity.
“The police need her help?”
“Officer, is she really a capitalist’s daughter?”
“Of course not!” Captain Han replied firmly.
He paused, then added, “She has actually rendered great service.”
That was true.
Catching the group of spies the previous night had a lot to do with her.
The crowd’s eyes lit up. “She made a contribution?”
“What kind of contribution?”
“I’ll tell you after I find her,” Captain Han said.
In truth, it wasn’t just about finding her—there were plans to reward her.
And more importantly, with Li Maiguo gone, there was no translator for Charles. The steel factory’s gear issue still needed solving.
Charles already favored Song Jinyue, and Secretary Wei intended to cultivate her as talent.
If they wanted to retain her, they needed to show sincerity.
“Alright!” the crowd responded.
Captain Han quickly left with his team to “rescue” Song Jinyue.
Watching them leave, the residents smiled.
“See? The police themselves proved it—Jinyue can’t be a capitalist’s daughter.”
“Exactly!”
“Otherwise we wouldn’t have beaten that Chen Weiming yesterday.”
“The Chen family turned on them so fast—even rushed to divorce Song Xiongguan. Just wait, in less than three days they’ll come crying back.”
“Three days?” a middle-aged man laughed. “They’ll be back tomorrow.”
Everyone looked at him skeptically.
Another chubby man shook his head. “Tomorrow? No way, not that fast.”
The middle-aged man smiled. “Old Chen, let’s make a bet. I say tomorrow at the latest—maybe even tonight. You say three days. One yuan.”
“Deal,” Old Chen agreed.
Someone nearby chuckled. “You two betting now?”
Old Chen grinned. “Just for fun, just for fun.”
As they talked—
Another figure rushed into the compound.
He was about to head upstairs when he spotted someone familiar and stopped.
“Engineer Zhou?”
The middle-aged man who had made the bet looked over and smiled. “Leader He, what brings you here?”
Leader He pointed upstairs. “Is Song Xiongguan there?”
Zhou shook his head. “No.”
“He’s not? Already at the factory?”
Zhou explained, “Something happened to him.”
Leader He was stunned. “Something happened?”
“He was reported.”
“What? Who reported him? Why? Where is he now?” Leader He asked anxiously.
“His wife’s younger sister reported him.”
“???” Leader He was confused. “Chen Jing’s sister?”
“Yes.”
Zhou quickly explained everything, including the earlier events and even the news of Chen Jing divorcing Song Xiongguan.
Leader He’s expression grew serious.
After Zhou finished, he asked, “Did something happen at the factory?”
“There’s an issue with a machine…” Leader He began, then stopped. “Never mind. I’ll go find him. Engineer Zhou, head to the factory as well.”
“Alright.”
…
Inside the house.
Song Jinyue and Song Xiongguan stared at each other.
Then, hearing voices outside—
“Leader, leader! They’re here, in this room!”
The siblings exchanged no words.
They both lay down on the floor.
And pretended to sleep.