The investigation lasted three full days.
In those three days, the military district was turned upside down.
The news that Chen Weidong and Su Man had been isolated for investigation spread like wildfire through the family compound and the nearby villages.
The “model military family” title became a complete joke overnight.
Although no official word had come from the political commissar yet, the rumors circulating inside “illicit relationships,” “embezzlement of property,” and “attempting to kill the legal wife” were enough to drown the Chen family in public scorn.
Shen Zhiwei was temporarily arranged to stay in a single room at the military guesthouse, only a short distance from the family compound.
On the evening of the third day, she had just come back from the canteen with a bowl of plain, watery noodles using her meal ticket. Before she even reached her door, she heard loud shouting at the entrance of the guesthouse.
“Shen Zhiwei! You jinx! Get out here!”
She recognized that voice well.
Zhang Chunfang her mother-in-law, who could scold the dead back to life.
A crowd had already gathered at the guesthouse entrance to watch the commotion.
Zhang Chunfang stood at the front with her hands on her hips. Behind her was Chen Weidong’s burly elder brother, Chen Weimin, and further back were over a dozen villagers from Chenjiagou.
Some carried vegetable baskets, others hoes clearly here to stir up trouble.
“Give me back my dad! Give me back my dad!” A small, thin figure squeezed out of the crowd.
It was Chen Zihao.
He suddenly broke free from Zhang Chunfang’s grip, rushed forward, and kicked Shen Zhiwei’s leg.
The cloth sole of his shoe left a dusty mark on her pant leg.
Staring at that footprint, Shen Zhiwei recalled how she had fallen to her death right in front of him in her previous life.
“Bad woman! You’re slandering my mom and dad! Get out! This is my dad’s house! I hate you! It’d be better if you were dead!” Such vicious words coming from a three-year-old child were especially cruel.
Unless someone had deliberately taught him, a child that young wouldn’t harbor such deep hatred toward her.
The last trace of affection Shen Zhiwei had for him vanished completely.
This brat was rotten to the core!
Just like his parents! In her past life, he watched her die before his eyes; in this life, he was outright cursing her to die!
Good. Very good.
Shen Zhiwei slowly crouched down, meeting Chen Zihao at eye level. “Who is your father? Chen Weidong?”
“My dad is Chen Weidong! My mom told me since I was little!” Chen Zihao shouted confidently.
Back when Chen Zihao was brought home, he had been introduced as Li Man’s son with her ex-husband. Now, hearing these words from a three-year-old’s mouth
It was more convincing than any evidence.
Zhang Chunfang’s expression changed, and she quickly pulled her grandson back. “Kids talk nonsense!”
“You barren hen! You can’t have children yourself, so you’re harming my son!
Zihao has a birth certificate! Our Chen family only put him under our household registration because we pitied Li Man as a single mother!”
Unhurried, Shen Zhiwei took out a handkerchief bundle from her pocket and slowly unwrapped it, revealing a photograph taken at a provincial park.
In her previous life, it had been Chen Weidong’s treasured possession.
In this life, it was proof of his cheating.
“July 15th, three years ago.” Shen Zhiwei raised the photo high. “Chen Weidong said he was going to a meeting at the division headquarters, but in reality, he took the two of them to the park.”
“At that time, Zihao was less than a month old. Then in August, Chen Weidong went to my house to propose marriage.”
Someone in the crowd suddenly shouted, “Is… is this a marriage scam?!”
Zhang Chunfang’s face turned green and white. She plopped down on the ground, slapping her thighs and wailing, “Heaven has no justice! My daughter-in-law is trying to drive me to death!”
Splash.
A bowl of still-steaming noodles, broth and all, was dumped right onto Zhang Chunfang’s face.
“Ah!” Zhang Chunfang let out a pig-slaughter-like scream, her face covered all over.
But compared to what she had suffered in her previous life, this was nothing.
“Shut up!” Shen Zhiwei’s voice wasn’t loud. “I drove you to death? Everyone in the whole military already knows about Chen Weidong and Li Man’s dirty affair! They’re in the interrogation room right now giving their statements.”
Her gaze swept over the villagers. “And you coming here to make trouble?
“Do you even know what it means to harbor criminals? Keep spouting nonsense and I’ll have the security department arrest all of you and properly investigate whether you have any other dealings with the Chen family!”
The villagers were intimidated by her presence and instinctively stepped back a few paces.
Zhang Chunfang wiped the noodle soup off her face. “Bullshit! You want to live in the guesthouse forever? Don’t even think about coming back to live in my son’s house!”
“His house?”
She looked as if she had heard the biggest joke in the world. “Zhang Chunfang, have you gone senile? This house was allocated by the army to Chen Weidong and his family.”
“Who’s the family? Me Shen Zhiwei. The property certificate clearly has both my name and Chen Weidong’s on it, black and white, registered with the military logistics department!”
“As for after the divorce, the house will naturally be assigned to me.”
As soon as she said this, Zhang Chunfang and Chen Weimin were stunned.
“Since you won’t give up until you see the coffin, then come take a look.”
Shen Zhiwei ignored them and walked toward the small room in the family compound. The Chen family members, unwilling to accept it, followed her in unison.
She lifted the kang mat in one swift motion.
Inside the pit were things Chen Weidong had secretly hidden. Under their shocked gazes, she pulled out several items and slammed them onto the ground.
A red canvas undergarment, along with several revealing clothes too indecent to look at.
“See this?” Shen Zhiwei pointed at the items on the ground. “This is the evidence. They used the army’s money to support a mistress and an illegitimate child and even tried to kill me, the legal wife.”
“The money Chen Weidong used to strut around in the army all came from my natal family.”
“And you still have the nerve to come here and make trouble? Still have the nerve to say this is Chen Weidong’s house?”
Shen Zhiwei picked up a letter from the ground. On the paper, in Chen Weidong’s crooked handwriting, it read: Manman, once you divorce, we can be together openly.
“So what?” Chen Weimin pushed forward. “This is the Chen family’s business. It’s not your place, an outsider, to meddle.”
She suddenly pointed toward the door. “Fine, I’m an outsider.
“Get out. This house is mine mine, Shen Zhiwei’s. Every single one of you from the Chen family, get out right now.”
“I’m giving you three days to clear all your junk out of my yard! If I see even a single thing belonging to the Chen family after three days, I’ll treat it as trash and dump it into the manure pit.”
There was not a shred of mercy in her tone.
Those who had just been siding with Zhang Chunfang now looked at her with undisguised contempt.
“My heavens! So there really was an affair how shameful!”
“And embezzling property too! Old Zhang, your Weidong sure is something!”
“That’s utterly despicable! Zhiwei has worked like a slave for three years after marrying into your family what a waste!”
Hearing this, Chen Weimin raised his fist and was about to charge forward.
“Stop.” A cold voice came from the end of the corridor.
The crowd automatically parted as Gu Yanzhou strode over with two uniformed officers.
“Causing trouble as a mob?” Gu Yanzhou’s gaze lingered on Chen Weimin’s raised fist for a moment. “Want to go inside and keep Chen Weidong company?”