Volume 1 Chapter 23: One Rotten Apple Spoils the Barrel
Shen Guanghui was scared out of his wits.
He had always thought Su Jin was an easy target.
When she divorced Shen Zhenkun in her youth, Su Jin hadn’t made a fuss.
When she rescued the critically injured Shen He from the creek years ago, Su Jin hadn’t made a fuss.
Four years ago, when he returned to the countryside to bring Shen He back to the Shen family, Su Jin still hadn’t made a fuss…
Who would have thought that Su Jin, always so meek and mild, would suddenly transform into a fierce shrew capable of taking on anyone, even daring to harm her own son to protect her granddaughter!
Shen Guanghui was genuinely terrified.
He scrambled toward the apartment door, stumbling out as soon as he pulled it open.
Su Jin chased after him with a kitchen knife in hand.
Shen Guanghui was lucky—the elevator happened to be stopped on that floor.
Seeing the elevator doors close and successfully block Su Jin outside, Shen Guanghui, having narrowly escaped disaster, slid down against the elevator wall, sweating profusely.
As the elevator slowly descended, Shen Guanghui could still hear Su Jin’s curses—
“You scoundrel! If I ever see you coming to find Miaomiao again, I’ll send you underground to reunite with your scumbag father!”
…
Su Jin slowly made her way back to the apartment, her solitary figure seeming to have aged several years in an instant.
She had always known Shen Guanghui was an ungrateful wretch.
But she had still underestimated just how despicable Shen Guanghui could be, and how ruthless her daughter-in-law Zhou Yulan was.
Shen He stood in the chaotic living room, watching her grandmother wipe away tears while shaking her head, and her heart ached.
“Grandma.” Shen He walked over, gently taking the kitchen knife from Su Jin’s hand. She told Su Jin, “I’m fine. Zhou Yulan didn’t succeed.”
Su Jin hugged Shen He tightly, sobbing with heartache. “My poor Miaomiao, they treated you like that, and I even urged you to be magnanimous…”
Su Jin was filled with regret. “Miaomiao, it was Grandma who was foolish!”
Shen He didn’t blame Su Jin.
Su Jin was the woman who brought Shen Guanghui into this world, yet Shen Guanghui had never shown her any filial piety. Instead, he had joined Shen Zhenkun in calling her a promiscuous and unfaithful woman.
He was her own flesh and blood!
No one in this world could hate Shen Guanghui more than Su Jin.
“Grandma, I don’t blame you. I know you don’t like either of them. You urged me to be magnanimous because you hoped that after you pass away, I would still have family.”
“But Grandma, not all parents love their children. Miaomiao would rather be an orphan than forgive those two.”
Hearing this, Su Jin felt a pang of sorrow in her heart.
Holding her granddaughter, who was now taller than her, Su Jin said with heartache, “Miaomiao is right. We only live once—we shouldn’t force ourselves to endure injustice. You were born unloved by your father and mother, but we won’t be blindly filial daughters.”
“Mm.” The image of her grandmother drowning in the fish pond in front of the house flashed through Shen He’s mind once again. That scene had become her nightmare.
“Grandma.” Shen He seized the opportunity to hold Su Jin’s hands, pleading sweetly, “Don’t go back to the countryside, okay? I want to spend more time with you.”
Su Jin had originally planned to stay with Shen He only for a while, returning to the countryside once Shen He had recovered.
But what happened tonight made Su Jin realize that she was never a burden to her granddaughter—she was her granddaughter’s pillar of strength.
As long as she was here, her granddaughter had a home.
As long as she was here, her granddaughter had someone to rely on.
Thinking of this, Su Jin said, “I’ll stay with you in Qingshi. With me here, let’s see who dares to bully you!”
She's just old, not dead. She can still wield a knife and drive away the wolves for her granddaughter!
Hearing this, Shen He instantly felt at ease.
After escaping the apartment, Shen Guanghui took a taxi to the hospital.
Shen Ershu was woken by a phone call in the middle of the night. Upon learning that his elder brother had been hospitalized, he hurriedly got out of bed, grabbed his car keys, and prepared to head to the hospital.
But this startled the lightly sleeping Madam Zhong.
Madam Zhong opened her bedroom door and called out to Shen Ershu, who was about to leave. "Mingli, where are you going so late at night?"
"Mom? Did I wake you?"
Shen Ershu quickly approached Madam Zhong's room and said softly, "Elder brother has been hospitalized."
Madam Zhong asked calmly, "What happened?"
Shen Ershu cautiously observed his mother's expression and hesitated before saying, "I heard that Elder brother's birth mother came to Qingshi and beat him so badly he has a concussion."
Madam Zhong harbored deep resentment toward Zhang Jingyu, the mistress who had destroyed her marriage, but she held no hostile attitude toward Shen Zhenkun's ex-wife, Su Jin.
Madam Zhong pondered and said, "Su Jin has never once actively sought out Shen Guanghui in all these years he's grown up, which shows she isn't the type to cling to her son for wealth and status."
"There must be more to this incident of Shen Guanghui being beaten. Don't rush to support him and demand justice. First, investigate the matter thoroughly, then decide how to handle it."
Madam Zhong didn't believe that a mother who hadn't been in contact for decades would travel all the way to Qingshi to beat Shen Guanghui without reason.
It must be that Shen Guanghui, that scoundrel, did something despicable that thoroughly enraged Su Jin.
"…But no matter how angry she was, she shouldn't have beaten Elder brother into a concussion," Shen Mingli said. "Madam Su Jin went too far."
Madam Zhong understood her children's character.
Worried that Shen Mingli might foolishly side with family over reason, she spoke earnestly, "Mingli, our Shen family is at a critical stage of advancement."
"Your Sili has become a police officer. Hanwen, just turned 17, has been taken as the closed-door disciple by the president of the Calligraphy Association. He is sure to have a place in the future calligraphy world."
"Your nephew Jinyan is a rising star in the medical field with a boundless future. Zhi Lü is exceptionally intelligent and a standout student at the law school."
"As long as our children don't make mistakes or take wrong paths, our Shen family will soon rise to become a Prestigious Family in Qingshi. The more critical this time is, the more we must avoid any trouble."
Madam Zhong spoke with a serious tone, "If we truly have a few muddle-headed scoundrels among us, do you understand what must be done?"
Shen Mingli felt a chill in his heart.
He knew what his mother was hinting at and understood what needed to be done.
Shen Mingli said, "One piece of rat dung can ruin a whole pot of soup. If Elder brother has truly done something foolish, then I will show no mercy!"
"It's good that you understand."
After instructing Shen Mingli, Madam Zhong returned to her room.
Shen Mingli walked out. Just as he started the car intending to go to the hospital, he saw Shen Sili, who should have been on night duty, driving back home.
He rolled down the car window and asked Shen Sili, "Aren't you on duty?"
"I swapped shifts with a colleague." Seeing his father about to go out, Shen Sili frowned and asked, "Dad, where are you going?"
Shen Ershu told him about Shen Guanghui being beaten.
Upon hearing this, Shen Sili's face immediately turned cold. He told Shen Mingli, "I ran into a friend who works at the police station in the neighboring district today and found out that Auntie has committed a crime and is being held in detention."
"What!" Shen Mingli was greatly shocked, "Isn't your aunt away on business?"
"Uncle lied."
Thinking of Shen Guanghui being beaten and hospitalized, Shen Mingli realized this matter was likely very serious. He anxiously asked, "What exactly did your aunt do?"
Shen Sili said with a dark expression, "Aunt is simply unfit to be a mother! She actually hired men to rape Shen He! Fortunately, Shen He was lucky and rescued in time, otherwise…"
"Scoundrel!" Shen Mingli's face turned iron-gray as he got out of the car, "Come! Follow me to see your grandmother."
He decided not to go to the hospital.
Shen Mingli didn't even need to go to the hospital to interrogate Shen Guanghui; he could already guess the reason Shen Guanghui was beaten.
His elder brother must have gone to Shen He's home to cause trouble over his wife's bail, which led to Ms. Su Jin beating him into a concussion.
A concussion is nothing—even beating him into brain damage would be Shen Guanghui's deserved fate!