Chapter Thirty: Meet once, draw once

  When Zhang Jun's family entered the private room of Yazi Farmhouse Restaurant, another family was already waiting in the room. The airs of high-ranking officials and wealthy people were not put on, giving enough face to possible future relatives.

  Zhao Mei Ru and her husband, university lecturer Wei Lu, Zhao Ya's biological father Ding Xin Group Chairman Lu Da Hong, the four of them were present. Lu Da Hong tactfully did not bring his new wife, only coming as a father to meet with relatives, while Zhao Mei Ru, who had changed her daughter's surname with a strong hand as a non-guardian, was also there. The declining Lu family indeed no longer had the qualifications to point fingers at the city's third-in-command.

  A high-ranking official in the city, a billionaire boss, a famous doctor from the province, and a leader of the public security front. The usual pleasantries were fewer, but the flattery was more when everyone thought this would be a harmonious and pleasant dinner party. Suddenly, Zhang Shidong asked Wei Lu, who was sitting next to him with an enchanting smile on his face: "Are you a university lecturer?"

  Everyone was stunned, and Wei Lu slightly furrowed his brow.

  "Damn it!"

  One word, a loud slap, Wei Lu's glasses flew off, he fell from the chair, and the five bloody fingerprints on his face and the blood-stained teeth falling from his mouth left everyone in the room in a state of collapse.

  "Get out!"

  Zhang Shidong pointed at the door, grabbed Wei Lu's collar from behind and directly threw him out.

  Zhao Ya was the first to react, her eyes red-rimmed. Even the darkest of belly blacks couldn't help but worship at Zhang Shidong's crazy altar.

  "Xiao Dong!" Zhang Jun and Kong Mei reacted simultaneously, scolding their son.

  Lu Dahong, on the other hand, has a twisted mentality, with both fear of Zhang Shidong and the pleasure of seeing Wei Lu, that old white face, get beaten up. Although he divorced Zhao Meiru, if he saw her being intimate with another man, he would feel uncomfortable.

  Zhao Mei Ru stood up, having been in a leadership position for many years, her authority was self-evident: "Zhang Shi Dong, you've gone too far."

  Zhang Shidong turned around, pulled Zhao Ya and pointed to Zhao Mei Ru: "Do you believe your daughter or your husband? You must believe the latter, otherwise she wouldn't have suppressed her emotions for so many years. If I were you, I would have smashed my head against the wall long ago. Who is this? This is your own flesh and blood, born after ten months of pregnancy. Your husband almost crawled into her bed in the middle of the night, scaring her from an ordinary girl to what she is now. If she hadn't met me, within three years, a female doctor with mental illness would have appeared. I don't need to investigate, nor do I care if she lied or not. I just need to unconditionally believe her, even if she's framing that scumbag outside. You can't do it, right? Who should you believe now? Don't let me see that scumbag again, every time I see him, I want to beat him up."

  Zhao Ya stared at her mother, two lines of tears streaming down from the corners of her eyes, saying nothing, stubbornly biting her lower lip with her upper teeth.

  Lu Dahong was furious, no matter how you put it, she was his own biological daughter, and she had almost been insulted by a scoundrel. With a loud kick, the door burst open, and Lu's big leather shoes thudded against Wei Lu's body. Wei Lu, still reeling from the shock, could only curl up on the ground, clutching his head.

  Zhao Meiru closed her eyes, and after a moment, walked to her daughter's side, gently embracing her. Just as Zhao Ya was about to completely open up to her mother, a voice said "I'm sorry". Zhao Meiru stood up and left the room, giving Lu Dahong a glare, and helped Wei Lu up: "Fix your clothes." As they left the restaurant, as a municipal party leader, she had big ambitions, so big that she would rather wrong her daughter than lose face. She couldn't get divorced; although it was partly because she couldn't bear to part with Wei Lu's obedience and sweet talk, more importantly, at this critical moment when she was about to be promoted, she couldn't let any negative news come out. A woman who wants to achieve something in her career has to pay a much higher price than a man.

  In the car, Zhao Mei Ru closed her eyes, and her tense body suddenly relaxed, leaning against the seat with only a feeling of cold hands and feet.

  "Daughter, mom is sorry to you."

  In the room, Kong Mei hugged Zhao Ya and comforted her in a low voice. Lu Dahong stood by with an angry face, constantly scolding Zhao Meiru and Wei Lv, shouting to give them a good show.

  Zhang Shidong: "Alright, otherwise I'll have Wei Lu captured and brought to you, and you can kill him with your own hands."

  One sentence made Lu Dahong wake up, as a father, is he qualified?

  "Go ahead, enjoy the time with your wife and son. Think about it, you have a daughter who has been living alone outside for a long time. When other students are excited to go home and reunite with their families on weekends, where is she? Probably wandering around the streets and shopping malls, killing time until she returns to that cold and fearful place that isn't even her home, her mother's home, her father's home."

  Lu Dahong stood in front of his daughter, and all he could say was "I'm sorry". He even felt that he didn't have the right to hug her.

  A dinner that was supposed to be harmonious ended abruptly due to Zhang Shidong's outburst, and after Lu Dahong left, Zhang Jun and his wife also followed suit. Kong Mei accompanied Zhao Ya as she cried for half a day, repeatedly telling her to come home if nothing was wrong.

  From that moment on, no one saw Zhao Ya shed tears again. Everyone who knew her found that she had changed, becoming more taciturn and increasingly developing into an "iceberg beauty". Even with someone as close to her as Kong Mei, she didn't receive any special treatment. Only when facing Zhang Shidong did Zhao Ya become a normal girl, smiling, joking around, willing to enjoy the simple first love, very innocent without many worries, walking on the street eating a string of cotton candy would make her very happy.

  Many people think Zhao Ya has a mental illness, her spirit is somewhat split, and her personality is also split. They suggest that Zhao Ya go see a doctor, to which she responds with a cold, icy courtesy, nodding her head in thanks. Her heart, however, has long been ravaged by the stormy winds of winter, and Zhang Shi Dong is the fire that prevents her world from being completely frozen over, sticking close to her side and giving her a little bit of warmth.

  Wei Luo got beaten up again. As soon as he walked out of the school gate, he was put in a sack and beaten with sticks until he was sent directly to the hospital.

  On-site investigation, no witnesses, everyone only saw a few masked men in black clothes, no physical evidence, no video or image data, and even when you ask Wei Lu why he was beaten, he himself can't explain.

  At night, the door of Wei Lu's ward was opened and a bucket of yellowish dirty stuff was poured in. Wei Lu was given a feces bath from head to toe. The hospital with surveillance cameras everywhere couldn't find the person who splashed the feces.

  Zhao Meiru personally found Zhang Jun and asked for his help in private, suspecting Lu Dahong as the first suspect. When they found him, he neither admitted nor denied it, saying that such a grandson should be like this. Zhao Meiru wanted to suppress it, but he would expose the matter.

  Everyone thought it was over and done with, thinking it was Lu Dahong's fault, and warned him. It seemed like nothing would happen, but then a dead mouse appeared in the millet porridge that the nanny at home had cooked for Wei Lu.

  One strange thing after another happened to Wei Lu, lying in hospital with a smashed window.

  Just out of the hospital, I was pestered by a beggar, my newly changed clothes were stained with oil, and my skin was scratched, forcing me to get another rabies shot.

  Wanted to get off the plane and clear my head, but as soon as I got off, I was stopped for carrying dangerous goods. A few unclear explanations and some shaking heads later, I had gotten into trouble again. After finally returning to Pingjiang, as soon as I got off the plane, a butcher wielding a cleaver accused me of seducing his wife and chased me for several kilometers.

  ………

  Zhao Mei Ru went to look for Zhao Ya and got an answer that made her feel very helpless.

  "You, Secretary Zhao, have the ability to give him 24 hours of police protection. If not, let's play slowly. My man said that if you want to play with him until he dies, it's easy, but you can't let him die so easily. Life is long, and whenever I'm in a bad mood, something will happen to him that makes me happy."

  "You mustn't divorce him, without you, it would be much easier for him to torment. Oh, by the way, I'll tell you something, the secretary's family can't be so rich either, can the secretary's husband just take out 300,000 yuan to buy my and Zhang Shidong's legs?"

  That afternoon, Wei Lu's leg was shot through by someone with a gun. Zhao Mei Ru did not report the case, and Zhao Ya's mood improved. Wei Lu was temporarily 'safe'.

  Similarly, Zhao Mei Ru compromised for the sake of promotion, in the past it was Zhao Ya who compromised, now it's Zhao Mei Ru forcing Wei Lu to compromise, everything will be settled after the meeting is over.

  PS: Thanks for the straw man's reward!