Chapter 7: Scum Comes in All Ages p2
Yun Lang was pushed forward just in time to see Zhou Wanfeng dare to hit her own father. He couldn’t retreat in time, and before he could even open his mouth to speak, his arm was grabbed. He stumbled, his center of gravity shifting, and before he knew what was happening, he was thrown like a wave, thud, his back hitting the ground. He grimaced in pain and waved at his dumbfounded friends. “What are you looking at? Get over here and help!”
The three classmates rushed over, eager to join the fray.
The three students went up, all brawn and no skill. Zhou Wanfeng used their momentum against them, throwing one, back-throwing another, and kicking away the third after a reverse arm lock.
The scene descended into chaos. Granny Zhang was screaming and crying, hurling all sorts of curses.
Zhou Wanfeng threw Zhou Zhiru to the ground again, grabbed a nearby chair, and swung it with a crash, her eyes fierce. “From the moment I met you, you’ve been nothing but sarcastic and condescending to me. What the hell do you think you are?”
The chair hit a nearby table, but it was enough to scare Granny Zhang into silence.
Sensing someone behind her, she was about to deliver a back elbow strike when she caught sight of a uniform and immediately retracted it.
Zhou Wanfeng’s eyes were cold, her face was cold. She pulled up the sleeve of her arm. Her arm was red and bruised, with a patch of broken skin bleeding. It was clearly the result of someone digging their nails in.
“What are you doing? What do you think this place is? Cuff them all!”
They had actually started a fight in the Public Security Bureau. There weren’t many people on duty at night, and this group was causing a disturbance.
They said “cuff them,” but they were actually just taken to separate small rooms. It was obvious this was a family dispute.
Zhou Wanfeng was taken to a small room. The police officer opposite her had a stern expression. “You even dare to hit your own father. And you still say you want to stay in Yunhai City?”
“He ignores me, lets those people bully me. Has he fulfilled his fatherly duties? Is he deaf to the things that old woman called me? ‘No mother to raise me’? She’s a woman herself, don’t those words hurt? My mother died of illness when I was little, I don’t even remember her. Shouldn’t she be cursing the father? He’s the one who gave birth but didn’t raise.” Zhou Wanfeng retorted coldly.
The police officer calmed down and tried to mediate from a different angle. “Alright, alright, let’s not talk about that. Let’s talk about why you want to stay in Yunhai City. Isn’t it because your father is here?”
Zhou Wanfeng lowered her eyelids and sighed silently, rubbing her wrist. This body was too weak. She would have to train it properly in the future.
She looked up at the police officer. “Can you understand? Some people have a father, but they wish he were dead. People die every day in this world. I often pray that he gets hit by a car, stabbed by a thug, or that a kitchen knife falls from a tall building and lands on his head. Some people are better off dead than alive. Dead, there’s peace. Alive, you wake up every day to a world full of comparisons. I have a father too. He’s alive, but I don’t get any of the benefits of him being alive.”
Zhou Wanfeng sneered, as if mocking herself. “So I came looking for him. He’s my father. If he’s eating fine food, I can’t be eating scraps. Otherwise, he’s abusing me. He’s in Yunhai City. To leave me in my hometown is to abandon me. Yunhai City is very good. Life, school, it’s all much better than my hometown. Why should I give up such a good starting point and go back?”
Once the police officer understood, the matter became easier to mediate. Thinking of the fight just now, his eyes suddenly turned stern. “Your fighting skills are very professional. Where did you learn them?”
A layman might not have understood, but although the girl lacked strength in the fight just now, she definitely had skill, and very professional skill at that.
At the very least, the way she had pushed and pulled the young man was definitely the technique of someone familiar with three types of internal martial arts.
Zhou Wanfeng’s expression was blank. She didn’t answer, but asked instead, “What does that have to do with anything?”
“Nothing. Then why, if you’re so good at fighting, did you let your arm get scratched at the beginning?” The police officer was no fool. His investigative skills were strong.
“Isn’t the one who starts the fight the one at fault?” Zhou Wanfeng countered.
The police officer looked into the girl’s eyes and couldn’t help but suck in a breath. If this weren’t a mediation room, he would have thought it was an interrogation room, and he was interrogating one of the toughest, most difficult suspects.
“Fine. You know it’s wrong to start a fight. At your age, a verbal reprimand is in order. It’s right to know to call the police for help when you have a problem. But it’s wrong to try to provoke the other party and then take the opportunity to vent your anger by beating them up. Especially when your target is an elderly person, that’s even more wrong,” the police officer said sternly.
“So according to you, when they hit me, curse me, and are sarcastic to me, I should just take it and not fight back? Even a sane person would be driven mad,” Zhou Wanfeng stood up and promised, “If they don’t provoke me, I naturally don’t want to cause trouble. In my eyes, scum is scum, regardless of age or gender. They’re all beasts. If you try to teach a beast morality, will a dog stop eating shit?”
The police officer watched the girl get up and leave, clearly not intending to listen to what he had to say next. He shouted in anger, “I see you have a sharp tongue. Remember not to use your fists next time. You could talk someone speechless with just your mouth. Remember, use your words, not your fists.”
It was the first time he had seen a child like this, who could hit someone and not even change her expression. This kind of person either had an extremely strong mentality, or was a natural-born troublemaker.
Just that cold brow and cold eye, you could tell she was extremely stubborn and wouldn’t listen to advice.
Zhou Zhiru and Yun Lan were in another mediation room.
When Zhou Wanfeng came out, she saw that there were suddenly a few more people standing outside.
Granny Zhang, who had just been crying and complaining to a lavishly dressed woman, immediately shut her mouth when she saw Zhou Wanfeng come out.
Next to Yun Lang stood a woman dripping with jewels. Her makeup was too heavy, especially her eyebrows, which looked strange for her age.
Next to the woman stood two elderly men in their sixties. Just by looking at their faces, you could tell they were probably brothers.
When Zhou Zhiru and Yun Lan came out and saw the people standing outside, they were stunned. “Dad, Uncle, Aunt, why are you all here?”
Hearing the form of address, Zhou Wanfeng glanced over.
When Yun Lan saw her father, she immediately ran over, her eyes red as she called out, “Dad, why are you here?”
Yun Haisheng looked at Yun Lang.
Seeing everyone looking at him, Yun Lang held his back and chuckled. “I was eating with my classmates and got into a little trouble, so the police called our parents. They wouldn’t let us go otherwise.” With that, he reached behind him and tugged at his mother.
His mother, Diao Yufeng, couldn’t seem to look at enough things at once. She was staring at Zhou Wanfeng, and now she was staring at the injury on her son-in-law’s chin. The thought of such a thing happening in her pretentious sister-in-law’s house at South Lake Mansion made it impossible for her to suppress a smile.
Only when she was tugged did she react. “Oh, oh, right, right. That little rascal Yun Lang called and said his leg and ribs were broken, crying and screaming for me to come quickly. I heard it was so serious, so I called his dad. Who knew he would come with his big brother.” The little rascal hadn’t told the truth on the phone. She had really thought something had happened.
But when she got here, she heard Yun Lang excitedly chattering about how Zhou Zhiru’s daughter from his hometown had come to Yunhai City, and how his aunt and cousin Lan wanted to send her back. The girl got angry and reported to the police that she had been abandoned, and even wanted to go to the media to expose them.
My god, so exciting. No wonder the little bastard had insisted she come.
Diao Yufeng didn’t listen to a word Auntie Zhang said. It was all a pack of lies.
Enjoying the show, Diao Yufeng saw Zhou Wanfeng standing there all alone and deliberately said loudly, “Oh my, how can you not tolerate such a small child? Can’t you find a spare room in that big house at South Lake Mansion? Can’t you add another pair of chopsticks at the dinner table? There’s no one left in her hometown, why send her back?” With that, she ran over to Zhou Wanfeng, a look of pity on her face as she tried to touch her forehead.
Yun Lang was about to stop her when he saw Zhou Wanfeng push her away. He immediately ran over and pulled his mother back, whispering in her ear, “Just watch, don’t touch.” Or she’ll throw you out too. My back still hurts.
Yun Haisheng had graying temples and a thin, handsome face. But his expression was serious now. He took Yun Lan’s arm and walked over to Zhou Wanfeng, his voice slightly weary. “Child, I heard from Yun Lang that you’ve been staying at South Lake Mansion for the past two days. I was away on business, I didn’t expect this to happen. My daughter was raised by me to be insensible. I apologize to you on her behalf. At the same time, I give you my guarantee. No one will drive you away, and no one will send you back to your hometown. From now on, you will live and study in Yunhai City. I said it, and my word is my bond.”
Zhou Zhiru added, “Dad, we didn’t plan to send her back to her hometown. I was even preparing to transfer her school records for her, to find her a good school while there are still summer admissions. But things got out of hand because of a misunderstanding.”
Yun Lan lowered her head and said in a small voice, “It’s not Zhiru’s fault. He wasn’t home, and I had just come back, my mind was a mess, so I just spouted a bunch of nonsense. It was my fault.”
Diao Yufeng glanced at Auntie Zhang. “Big brother, this is definitely not Yun Lan’s fault. She’s always had a soft personality, she wouldn’t be able to say such hurtful, dismissive things. And she just got back from abroad today. It must have been sister-in-law who called and told you to come back, right?” To put it bluntly, it was Yang Yijun who had instigated this from behind, but she didn’t show her face, hiding behind and playing the good guy.
Thinking this was a rare opportunity, she ran forward again. “Big brother, this is all a family matter. With your guarantee, this child can probably rest assured. It’s getting late, sister-in-law is probably getting anxious at home. Let’s go home and see. I haven’t seen sister-in-law in a long time, I miss her. I’ll go have a chat with her.”
The fire that had been smoldering in Zhou Wanfeng for the past two days had subsided. Zhou Zhiru had also promised in front of the police to help her transfer her school records, so he wouldn’t go back on his word.
And Yun Lang’s mother in front of her probably wanted to stir up more trouble, which she was quite happy to see.
When her stepmother, Yun Lan, had spoken those words, she hadn’t even dared to meet her eyes. It was obvious she was just parroting someone else.
The one who wanted to send her back to her hometown was currently waiting for news at South Lake Mansion.
Yun Haisheng glanced at Zhou Zhiru, and finally said to Yun Lan, “Since you know you were wrong, you can help with the matter of finding a school for this child.” He then looked at Zhou Wanfeng, a hint of kindness in his eyes. “Take advantage of the summer vacation to have your Auntie Yun find you a tutoring class. The schoolwork here is more demanding than in your hometown. From now on, just focus on your studies.”
Zhou Wanfeng turned to look at Yun Lan, who seemed a little afraid of her. She nodded and quickly averted her gaze.
Granny Zhang stood behind the crowd, clutching her face, her eyes filled with anger and resentment.
Zhou Wanfeng caught a glimpse of it and smiled faintly, pointing a finger. “I hit her. She holds a grudge against me.”
Granny Zhang never thought that with so many people around, her resentment would be noticed. She immediately shook her head frantically in denial. “No, no, I wouldn’t dare…”
Seeing this, Diao Yufeng’s face lit up with joy. “Big brother, I don’t know what sister-in-law is thinking. Auntie Zhang is so old, she has children and grandchildren, she should have retired long ago to enjoy her life. Look at her, at this age, still running around and suffering. I happen to know a wealthy lady whose family is immigrating. They have a maid who has worked for them for a long time and is very good. The whole family is immigrating, but they didn’t forget to ask someone to help find her a new employer. You can see she’s really a good person.”
Yun Haisheng frowned, looking at the anxious Granny Zhang, then at the girl with a slightly cold expression. He sighed. “Auntie Zhang is indeed getting old. Introduce the person and let’s see.”
Zhou Zhiru’s eyes narrowed slightly as he looked at Zhou Wanfeng. Her expression was unchanged, showing neither pleasure nor anger. Her face was so calm, it was as if nothing had anything to do with her.
But at just the right moment, she had spoken up, letting everyone see the resentment in Auntie Zhang’s eyes.