TN: I don’t post the part two of the chapters of this novel on NovelUpdates, so if you’re reading or clicking links from there, make sure to double-check here first so you won’t miss a chapter!
“That rebellious son of ours spends his days indulging in debauchery, drinking, and playing with women—and you just run around cleaning up his messes, acting like it’s your greatest joy. Have you ever thought about what would happen if he finally crossed someone he shouldn’t have?”
“And if I don’t clean up after him, should I expect you to?” Mrs. Zhao shot back, equally enraged. “All you ever care about is work, work, and more work! Have you ever taken a single day to actually discipline your son?”
Then, with a cold laugh, she added, “Is there really anyone in Rongzhou that the Zhao family can’t afford to offend?”
Mr. Zhao was so furious he actually laughed. His palm lifted, about to strike her again. But Mrs. Zhao wasn’t one to back down either—she tilted her face up, daring him.
“Go ahead! If you have the guts, beat me to death!”
At this moment, the once dignified and elegant couple had completely shed their carefully maintained personas, bickering like common street hooligans.
But in the end, Mr. Zhao didn’t go through with it. He let out a cold snort instead.
“No one you can’t offend, huh? Then why is your precious son still locked up?”
The moment he said this, Mrs. Zhao’s heart skipped a beat, a deep sense of foreboding creeping up from within her. She instinctively refuted,
“That’s only because he happened to run into Director Tian…”
“Still in denial.”
Mr. Zhao couldn’t be bothered to argue anymore. He turned around to leave.
Mrs. Zhao hurriedly chased after him.
“You’re not seriously trying to say that young couple is someone we can’t afford to offend, are you?”
Even as she said it, she found the idea absurd, murmuring,
“Impossible. I’ve lived in Rongzhou for so many years, and I’ve never even heard of them.”
A woman’s narrow field of vision—this was exactly the problem.
Mr. Zhao didn’t reply. He simply kept walking forward, following his secretary, who led him down a corridor. Before long, they arrived at a small room. The secretary opened the door, and Mr. Zhao stepped inside without hesitation.
Mrs. Zhao’s mind was still a chaotic mess. But just as she snapped back to reality, a series of piercing screams erupted from the room.
“Dad! Dad, calm down—don’t hit my face!”
“Why are you using the chair?! Ahhh—!”
“Mom, save me! Mom! Save me!”
Mrs. Zhao gasped and immediately rushed forward to help Zhao Yanchen—but before she could get inside, the secretary stepped in front of her, shutting the door silently behind him.
In an instant, her son’s agonized screams were muffled, completely sealed away behind that closed door.
“Open the door!”
The secretary remained impassive, his expression unchanged.
Mrs. Zhao paced frantically, feeling like an ant on a hot pan. But when she looked at the secretary’s stone-cold face, she hesitated—and in that hesitation, she realized something.
Perhaps… her husband had been right all along.
Regret surged through her.
She shouldn’t have forced Yanchen to go on that arranged date at the state-run restaurant.
She shouldn’t have let him storm out in anger ahead of schedule.
She shouldn’t have acted so arrogantly afterward, treating the entire incident like it could just be swept under the rug with money and connections.
She shouldn’t have…
But regret was the most useless emotion in the world.
The only thing that mattered now was finding a way to get Yanchen out of the Public Security Bureau.
Since the Huang family couldn’t help, as per Huang Mifang’s words, their only hope was Yanchen’s father.
Once he cooled down, he would surely step in to help—after all, Yanchen was still his son.
But Mrs. Zhao never could have expected that when Mr. Zhao finally stepped out of that room, he didn’t make any moves to bail Yanchen out.
Instead, he grabbed her and dragged her straight back home.
Then, in an utterly ruthless tone, he issued a final ultimatum:
“If you dare interfere in this matter again—we’re getting a divorce!”
As for Zhao Yanchen, he had made his mistakes, and he would receive whatever punishment he deserved.
With this, Madam Zhao’s heart completely crumbled. She no longer dared to intervene and could do nothing but weep at home, praying that her son would return as soon as possible.
—
Meanwhile…
Cheng Fangqiu and Zhou Yinghuai had no idea that such a dramatic turn of events had unfolded after they left. They simply rode their bicycle to the supply and marketing cooperative near the factory, buying some grains and vegetables before heading home.
The two of them wordlessly agreed not to bring up that unpleasant incident again.
“Comrade Zhou is back? Is this your wife?”
By the time they returned, it was already past mealtime. Many of the factory workers and their families had finished eating and were now sitting under the ginkgo tree enjoying the evening breeze. The moment they spotted the two of them riding up on their bicycle, their eyes lit up.
Cheng Fangqiu gave Zhou Yinghuai a little pat on the waist. He immediately understood, extending his long legs to stop the bicycle. The two of them got off in sequence and pushed the bicycle forward to stand before the gathered crowd.
“Yes, I just got back. This is my wife, Cheng Fangqiu.”
Zhou Yinghuai introduced her openly and confidently.
“Oh my, she’s really beautiful! Yesterday, I wasn’t able to pick up my eldest son from work, so I only heard today that Comrade Zhou brought his partner back to get registered and married! Everyone’s been saying that your wife is pretty, and now that I see her in person, I must say—the rumors didn’t do her justice!”
“That’s right! You two really make a great match—a handsome man and a beautiful woman. If you have kids in the future, they’ll definitely be gorgeous!”
Hearing Zhou Yinghuai casually say “my wife”, Cheng Fangqiu nearly choked on her own spit. A faint blush crept up her cheeks, and she secretly stole a glance at him—only to find him smiling smugly while replying to everyone else.
His words were modest, but the slight upward lilt of his tone betrayed just how pleased he was.
Cheng Fangqiu’s lips twitched slightly. She quickly looked away and then, with a gentle smile, introduced herself.
“Hello, everyone. I’m Cheng Fangqiu, from Enchuan County. I just moved into the family housing yesterday, but since it was quite late, I didn’t get a chance to greet everyone. Looks like I got lucky today!”
Her crisp, sweet voice paired with her polite and well-mannered demeanor naturally left everyone with a good impression of her.
After exchanging a few casual words about daily life, Cheng Fangqiu took the opportunity to say,
“Yinghuai and I are planning to hold a wedding banquet at the end of the month. Everyone must come and have a drink with us!”
“Of course! We’ll be there!”
“Let us know if you need any help with the preparations!”
Everyone was enthusiastic, immediately agreeing to attend.
Not wanting to linger downstairs for too long, Zhou Yinghuai and Cheng Fangqiu bid farewell to the crowd, locked up their bicycle, and went home.
As they entered the building, they noticed that the hallway had been thoroughly cleaned—all the clutter and miscellaneous items had disappeared, making the space look much tidier.
“Out of sight, out of mind.”
Seeing the improvement, Cheng Fangqiu’s mood lifted significantly.
—
Not long after they got home, the furniture delivery team arrived.
Since Zhou Yinghuai had informed the security guards at the gate in advance, the truck was allowed to drive right up to the building.
Such a large operation naturally drew the attention of many onlookers.
After a quick discussion, they decided to remove the old furniture first before bringing in the new ones.
The old furniture belonged to the factory—even if they didn’t use it anymore, they couldn’t just throw it away. It had to be sent to a designated warehouse for inventory registration. However, since that was something that could be handled later, Zhou Yinghuai wasn’t in a rush.
Right now, the priority was setting up the new furniture.
Otherwise, if he left for his meeting, Cheng Fangqiu would have to clean up the mess by herself, and he wasn’t comfortable leaving her with that burden.
So, Zhou Yinghuai called over a few colleagues that he had a good relationship with, and with the help of the five or six movers, they all quickly got to work.
Thankfully, since they had just moved in, they didn’t have too many belongings to organize. As a result, they were able to clear out the old furniture rather quickly.
A few neighbors from upstairs and downstairs, seeing that the couple was overwhelmed, took the initiative to bring their brooms and mops over, helping to sweep and mop the floors—they even cleared away the cobwebs on the ceiling.
During this time, Cheng Fangqiu felt that she couldn’t really help much, so she focused on handing out candies and pastries to the helpers. If someone seemed thirsty, she quickly poured them a drink.
It looked easy, but in reality, it wasn’t—with so many people, just washing cups and refilling water kept her on her feet the entire time.
In no time, her forehead was covered in sweat.
Fortunately, with many hands at work, they managed to finish everything before nightfall and even borrowed a truck from the furniture store to transport the old furniture to the warehouse.
Exhausted, Cheng Fangqiu wanted nothing more than to collapse onto the couch.
But when she glanced down at her sweaty, dusty clothes and then at the brand-new sofa, she hesitated.
Even when Zhou Yinghuai attempted to sit down, she quickly shooed him away to a chair instead.
“It’s new. Of course, we have to be extra careful with it.”
“Give it a little time—once we’ve had it for a while, we probably won’t even care about lying on it without taking off our shoes.”
“Qiuqiu, you worked hard today.”
Zhou Yinghuai sat beside her and reached out to massage her shoulders and neck.
“You’re the one who really worked hard.”
She had watched him all day, running up and down, carrying heavy furniture until his shoulders were reddened from the weight. His entire body was soaked in sweat, as if he had just been fished out of water.
Even now, despite his exhausted state, he was still worrying about her.
Her heart suddenly ached at the thought.
Without another word, she leaned forward, cupped his face in her hands, and planted a firm kiss on his lips.
“Hubby, you’re amazing.”
Zhou Yinghuai’s eyes darkened slightly, but a glance at his watch reminded him of his meeting later tonight. Suppressing the temptation, he simply patted her head and said,
“I’ll take a shower first—I still have a meeting later.”
“Okay, there’s hot water in the kitchen,” Cheng Fangqiu naturally replied as she headed toward the corner where their luggage was temporarily placed.
“I’ll find you some clean clothes. You go fetch the water for the bathroom.”
As he watched her figure move away, Zhou Yinghuai’s gaze softened.
His deep affection was undeniable, his eyes overflowing with love, like waves in the ocean—vast and endless.
He stood up, casually stripped off his sweat-soaked shirt, draping it over the chair before walking shirtless to the kitchen to fetch hot water.
Just as he stepped out of the kitchen, he and Cheng Fangqiu ran straight into each other.
For a split second, her mind went completely blank.
Then—a whole lot of bare skin.
Her eyes widened, and she quickly threw up a hand to “cover” her eyes—except her fingers were completely spread apart, leaving gaping gaps that allowed her a perfectly clear view.
Zhou Yinghuai couldn’t help but chuckle. He was just about to say something when he noticed that she, too, seemed to realize how poorly executed her act was.
So, in a flustered panic, she shoved the clean clothes into his arms and bolted toward the bedroom.
“I’ll go… clean up a bit!”
Zhou Yinghuai raised an eyebrow.
Wasn’t the bedroom practically empty except for the new furniture? What exactly did she need to ‘clean up’?
Sure enough—within seconds, she ran right back out, hurriedly grabbing a pile of random items from the table, and attempted to flee back to the bedroom again.
At this point, he couldn’t hold back anymore.
He reached out, grabbed the back of her collar, and pulled her back.
“Alright, just sit and rest for a while.”
Then, as if remembering something, his lips curved into a sly smile.
Leaning down, he whispered into her ear, his breath warm against her skin.
“You’d better save some energy.”
After a two-second pause, he added mischievously,
“Save it for tonight.”
“…!!!”
Cheng Fangqiu’s ears instantly turned red.
She blinked rapidly, feeling like she had heard this before.
Wait a minute—wasn’t that exactly what she had said to him last night?!
Word for word?!
She snapped her head up, glaring at him, ready to demand justice—but when she turned around, he was nowhere to be seen.
A moment later, the sound of running water drifted out from the bathroom.
Hmph. Fine, since he’s exhausted from the day and still has a meeting later—I’ll let him off the hook this time.