Yin Ze had a kind heart. If he had been there, there was no way he wouldn’t have protected Dabao and the others.
Grandma Qin was deeply worried. It was precisely because Yin Ze was different from ordinary children that she had once feared he would be bullied, which was why she had taken him back to live in the countryside.
Now that he had grown up, she thought he could protect himself, so she brought him back again.
Unexpectedly, just after returning, something had already gone wrong.
Dabao pointed toward the equipment room. “They tricked Brother Ze into the room, locked the door, and wouldn’t let him out.”
Grandma Qin rushed over to open it, only to find Yin Ze lying unconscious on the ground. His forehead was swollen and red with a large bruise. She screamed in panic, crying as she tried to wake him, but he did not respond no matter how she called.
By the time things escalated this far, the security office had only just received the news and arrived late.
Yin Ze was sent to the hospital, while Ruan Ting He and the children were taken to the security office.
The parents of the other children were also summoned.
One by one, they saw their children crying in misery and immediately rushed forward to attack Ruan Ting He, only to be stopped by Section Chief Li of the security office.
But Ruan Ting He was not someone to be bullied. If they dared to make a move, she would fight back without hesitation.
She had once fought her way out alive from an entire Stone Village full of villagers. She was not afraid of these people.
She had a simple principle—when fighting against a stronger group, she would target the weakest person on the other side and go all out. If she could take down one, it was not a loss; if she took down two, it was a gain.
Everyone feared death. Once they saw her willingness to go that far, they would back off.
Her cold gaze swept across the crowd of parents, finally locking onto a young woman who had just arrived—dressed luxuriously, strikingly beautiful, clearly on a completely different level from the others.
Her.
If it came to a fight, she would take her down first.
Then she paused.
Wait—wasn’t that… Ruan Jiao Jiao, the biological daughter of Ruan Dashan and Li Qiumei, her adopted sister?
What was she doing here?
The current appearance of Ruan Jiao Jiao was completely different from the one in her memory. If not for the distinctive pink mole on her chin, she wouldn’t have recognized her at all.
She remembered that when she first transmigrated, Ruan Jiao Jiao had already gone missing. The Ruan family had said she had suddenly married a soldier and followed him into military life.
No wedding, no news for four years. There had been endless rumors in the village.
So she really did marry a soldier—and now she was here in the military compound, right in front of her.
Perfect. She could settle old and new grudges together.
“Yaozu! Are you okay?”
Ruan Jiao Jiao rushed forward and hugged Shen Yaozu, whose face was covered in snot and tears, fussing over him with distress.
After comforting him for a long time, she finally followed his accusation and looked at Ruan Ting He.
At this moment, Ruan Ting He was no longer the thin, yellow-faced little girl from four years ago. She was now fair-skinned, beautiful, and graceful, standing there like a young lady from a wealthy family.
Ruan Jiao Jiao felt that she looked somewhat familiar, but she didn’t connect her to the girl from her memories.
Because in her mind, someone like Ruan Ting He could never escape a remote mountain village in her lifetime.
Besides, she had already instructed her parents to deal with Ruan Ting He and her children. There was no way someone who should be dead could appear here in the military compound, looking so bright and alive.
“Mom, it hurts so much. You have to help me beat that bad woman to death!” Shen Yaozu wiped his nose with his sleeve and pointed viciously at Ruan Ting He.
Ruan Jiao Jiao, upon seeing Ruan Ting He’s striking beauty, already felt the urge to tear her face apart herself.
She would never allow any woman more beautiful than her to exist in the compound.
But she had always maintained a gentle and kind persona here.
No matter how much she hated her, she couldn’t act personally. She could not let others see her true, vicious side.
So she tearfully turned to Section Chief Li and complained.
“Section Chief Li, how do you plan to handle this? Our children were beaten like this by this woman. You must stand up for us.”
The other parents quickly echoed her demands.
“Yes, Section Chief Li! She just moved into the compound and already beat up everyone’s children. Who knows if she’ll even hit adults next!”
“She’s an outsider. She never should have been allowed to stay here! Expel her!”
“Expel her is too light! She should be handed over to the police!”
Voices of anger rose one after another.
Ruan Ting He had already prepared herself for being expelled when she started fighting.
But she could leave with her children—she would not leave with a false accusation or humiliation.
She let out a cold laugh. “Your children teamed up to bully mine first. I simply hit back. What’s wrong with that?”
“My children are only three years old! Not even four yet! And your children—some are three, some are twelve or thirteen—seven or eight of them ganging up on my three children!”
“When I arrived, they were taking turns throwing basketballs at them!”
Her voice rang with righteous anger. She wanted nothing more than to beat those children up all over again.
“If I didn’t fight back, I wouldn’t deserve to be their mother!”
The crowd was left speechless. Many of the parents didn’t even know the full story and only knew their children had been crying. Now, hearing the truth, they felt ashamed and lowered their heads.
But some still refused to accept it.
Ruan Jiao Jiao, eyes red, said indignantly, “Even if our children started it, that doesn’t prove they were wrong first. Who knows what your wild children did to provoke them?”
Immediately others chimed in.
“Exactly! If your children didn’t do something wrong, why would everyone target them instead of others?”
“My child is naturally kind! There’s no way he would bully anyone for no reason!”
Ruan Ting He almost laughed in anger. She pointed at Shen Yaozu. “You, fatty, tell me—who started it? If you lie, I’ll skin you alive and hang you on a tree to dry!”
Shen Yaozu shivered violently. He had originally wanted to blame Dabao and the others, but the burning pain on his butt made him too afraid to lie again.
So he stammered, “I-It was us… I was the one who led everyone to bully Dabao and them…”
“You all heard that, right?”
Ruan Jiao Jiao was furious. She secretly pinched him and hissed in his ear, “What nonsense are you saying? Didn’t I teach you before?”
Dabao cried out in pain, afraid of offending both sides, and burst into loud tears.
Ruan Jiao Jiao cursed inwardly at his uselessness.
With her son unreliable, she had no choice but to step in herself.
She put on a pitiful expression.
“Miss, please don’t scare Yaozu anymore. Look how frightened he is. If you have any resentment, take it out on me instead.”
With that sentence, the crowd immediately assumed Shen Yaozu had confessed only because he was being threatened.
Section Chief Li was already overwhelmed by the noise. On one side were many compound families; on the other, the newly arrived relatives of the Yin family.
After weighing the situation, he decided it was better to offend the Yin family than the others. Moreover, Shen Yan had returned and made great contributions—he might even be promoted to commander.
Shen Yaozu was Shen Yan’s son. For Shen Yan’s sake alone, he had to side with them.
So he lowered his voice and advised, “Comrade, regardless of who’s right or wrong, this is just a children’s quarrel. You’re an adult—you shouldn’t have interfered or hit so many kids. How about you apologize and offer some compensation, and we’ll let this go?”
“And you’re staying with the Yin family. You wouldn’t want to drag them into conflict with everyone here, right? If you’re expelled, what happens to the Yin family’s relationships in the compound?”
Ruan Ting He clenched her fists tightly. She was unwilling, but he was right about one thing.
She could leave, she could walk away without care—but she couldn’t bring trouble to the Yin family.
They had treated her well. She couldn’t repay kindness with harm.
But apologizing was something she could not do.
Just as she was caught in hesitation—
Suddenly, the crowd parted.
A tall, familiar figure walked forward.
“Shen Yan, you’re here?”
Section Chief Li frowned. With him here, this would be even harder to resolve.
That man had been fiercely protective since childhood.
He looked worriedly at Ruan Ting He and the children, thinking the single mother and kids were doomed.
At that moment, Ruan Jiao Jiao tearfully called out, “Husband.”
At the same time, Dabao rushed forward like a small cannonball and hugged Shen Yan’s leg, raising his head and shouting clearly,
“Dad!”
Both voices rang out at the same time. The entire crowd froze in shock.