“Everyone, come take a look at this shameless slut!” Zhang Chunfang slapped her thigh, spittle flying as she deliberately raised her voice. “My son is still locked up, and she’s already in a hurry to find her next man!”
Shen Zhiwei had known all along that Zhang Chunfang wouldn’t let her off.
She yanked the door open. Outside stood not only Zhang Chunfang, but also her unruly younger son Chen Weimin, along with several neighbors who had been woken up and come to watch the commotion.
In Chen Weimin’s hand, he was shoving forward a man in a blue Zhongshan suit, his face full of panic.
Director Wang from the supply and marketing cooperative?
“Representative Gu! We’ve found evidence of her having an affair!”
Chen Weimin shoved Director Wang forward and shouted viciously to the onlookers, “Everyone, take a look! This is the evidence! Director Wang from the supply cooperative!”
“Shen Zhiwei is shameless! She’s been sneaking around with him all day, trading goods for favors her morals are completely rotten!”
Director Wang trembled under Chen Weimin’s glare and shakily pulled out a cloth bundle from his chest. “It’s her she seduced me! This is a token of love she gave me!”
The bundle fell open.
Inside was a piece of women’s underwear.
“Oh my heavens! That’s underwear! And she acts so proper usually.”
“Who would’ve thought Shen Zhiwei was like this? So shameless!”
“Exactly! And she still had the nerve to report her own husband!”
The filthy gossip surged like a tide. Before she could speak, the man behind her had already stepped forward to shield her.
Shen Zhiwei stared coldly at the underwear in Director Wang’s hand, a memory flashing through her mind back in her previous life, there had been a thief in the family compound who stole women’s underwear.
Not only did he steal undergarments, he had even molested a young girl in the compound who had just come of age, nearly ruining her life.
But at the time, there was no evidence, and the matter had been dropped.
She hadn’t expected it to be him!
She rushed forward, snatched the underwear, and pointed at Director Wang’s nose, cursing, “Wang Defa! Haven’t you fixed your disgusting habit of stealing women’s underwear yet?”
“Last Mid-Autumn Festival, you used delivering mooncakes as an excuse to go to the textile factory’s women’s dormitory how many did you steal?”
“And last month, the floral underwear belonging to Xiaohua, the eighteen-year-old daughter of Chef Li from the cafeteria you stole it from the courtyard! You even tried to sneak into her room at night to assault her!”
From the crowd, Aunt Li suddenly screamed, “My heavens! So the one who stole underwear last year was him!”
Director Wang’s face changed. Beads of sweat rolled down his forehead. He had been extremely careful with this how could she know it so clearly?
He stared at Shen Zhiwei in horror, as if seeing a ghost. His legs went weak, and he nearly collapsed.
“You’re talking nonsense!” he denied flatly, instinctively covering his pocket. But Shen Zhiwei was quicker she reached in and yanked something out.
A bright red dodice embroidered with plum blossoms.
“Isn’t that my wife’s?” Old Zhou the carpenter’s eyes widened.
Shen Zhiwei sneered, her presence overwhelming. “Shall we go confront Xiaohua right now? Or I can report this directly to the security office and have them thoroughly search your place.”
“Let’s see whether crimes like stealing underwear, molesting women, and harassing young girls deserve punishment.”
“You’re making this up! How could that be possible?”
“If you don’t believe me, let someone check whether you still have other people’s belongings in your pocket.”
Director Wang instinctively clutched his pocket.
Just as expected.
Shen Zhiwei turned to the crowd. “Aunt Li! Didn’t your daughter lose some underwear too?”
In the crowd, Aunt Li’s face changed. “That’s right! My Xiaofang’s underwear went missing too!”
People around them began talking all at once, recounting details of their own missing items.
Pieced together, it became clear that every time Director Wang planned to steal underwear, he would first scout the place under the pretense of making deliveries.
Director Wang completely broke down. With a thud, he dropped to his knees, kowtowing repeatedly to Gu Yanzhou and Shen Zhiwei.
“I confess! I confess everything!”
“It was Zhang Chunfang and Chen Weiming they forced me to come! They said as long as I framed Comrade Shen, they’d give me twenty yuan!”
“Bullshit!” Zhang Chunfang and Chen Weiming’s expressions changed drastically.
“Enough.”
Gu Yanzhou gave a cold shout. He bent down and, using two fingers, pinched a corner of the underwear, then turned to the security officers who had rushed over. “You all heard clearly?”
“Gathering a crowd to cause trouble, slandering a military family member, framing and false accusation, and hooliganism! The evidence is conclusive!”
“Take all of them away together. Interrogate them strictly and handle it according to the law.”
The security officers immediately stepped forward and restrained the wailing and cursing Zhang Chunfang, twisting her arms behind her back. She wouldn’t be getting out for at least a few days now.
Even as she was dragged away, she kept shouting, “Shen Zhiwei! You’ll die a miserable death!”
The crowd gradually dispersed, leaving only a few of Gu Yanzhou’s colleagues standing at a distance, watching him with subtle expressions.
He was still holding that floral underwear.
The tips of Gu Yanzhou’s ears reddened slightly. Expressionless, he stuffed the underwear into his briefcase and turned to leave.
Shen Zhiwei looked at his stiff back and suddenly laughed.
“Representative Gu!” she deliberately drew out her tone. “If you like it, keep it I have more.”
Gu Yanzhou paused mid-step. He didn’t turn around, but the back of his neck visibly flushed red.
Late at night.
Shen Zhiwei lay in bed, listening to the soft rustling of papers as Gu Yanzhou went through documents at the desk. The dim desk lamp cast his shadow on the wall broad shoulders and a narrow waist forming a silhouette hard to look away from.
In her past life, she must have been blind how could she have missed someone this handsome right by her side?
“Gu Yanzhou,” she suddenly called.
His pen paused.
“Mm?” His voice was low.
“With the light on, I can’t sleep.” She turned over under the blanket, revealing part of her fair calf. “Either turn off the light, or…”
She deliberately paused. “…you come lie down and sleep with me.”
Gu Yanzhou’s pen dropped onto the desk with a clatter. He turned his head stiffly, his gaze unconsciously lingering on her leg for a few seconds before quickly shifting away.
Shen Zhiwei almost burst out laughing.
How is this man so adorable?
After a moment of silence, Gu Yanzhou walked to the bedside and sat down. “You sleep. I’ll keep watch.”
Moonlight filtered through the blue cloth curtains. She poked his waist. “You’re really planning to sit here all night?”
He suddenly stood up, his face even redder than before. “Mm.”
This man really is a block of wood!
She turned over, facing away from him, but couldn’t stop the smile tugging at her lips.
Forget it no rush.
Early the next morning.
As soon as Shen Zhiwei woke up, she found Gu Yanzhou already fully dressed, standing at the door waiting for her.
“The car is ready,” he said in a low voice, though his gaze had softened a little.
She followed him downstairs and noticed that on the passenger seat of the army-green jeep, a coat had been laid out clearly something Gu Yanzhou had put there so she wouldn’t feel uncomfortable sitting.
Her heart warmed. She opened the door and got in, her eyes drifting to his rolled-up sleeves his arms firm and well-defined.
Noticing her looking at the neatly folded coat on the passenger seat, he cleared his throat awkwardly. “Those guys usually sit there it gets dusty.”
“Seat belt,” Gu Yanzhou reminded.
Shen Zhiwei blinked. “What belt?”
In her previous life, she had never ridden in a car. Even after Chen Weidong rose to the rank of deputy commander and exchanged foreign currency for a Japanese car, he had never let her ride in it.
Seeing this, Gu Yanzhou leaned over to help her.
The distance between them suddenly closed. Shen Zhiwei could even smell the faint scent of soap on him.
Click. The seat belt fastened.
Just as Gu Yanzhou was about to straighten up, Shen Zhiwei suddenly turned her head. Her lips lightly brushed against his cheek, grazing the faint stubble.
Both of them froze.
The tips of his ears instantly turned bright red, and the hand gripping the steering wheel tensed.
How is this man so easy to tease?