The police officers escorted Shen Daqiang out of the courtyard, while Wang Fengqin wailed behind him: “Oh, my man! How am I supposed to live without you?”
“How could Zhiqiu and her second uncle be so cruel? Why must they make life so hard for us?”
“What kind of daughter calls the police on her own father? Instead of siding with her dad, she takes her uncle’s side—does she even bear the surname Shen or Ye?”
“From now on, I’ll be surnamed Ye!” Shen Zhiqiu stepped forward from the crowd.
Shen Daqiang glared at her furiously and erupted in curses: “You beast! You absolute beast! How did I ever raise such a monster?”
“I should’ve strangled you at birth! The moment you were born, I knew you were a curse—my own personal disaster! I never should’ve shown you mercy!”
“Zhiqiu, if you had a problem with me, you should’ve taken it out on me! How could you do this to your own father? He’s your father!”
Wang Fengqin kept trying to smear Zhiqiu: “If you wanted to take the family’s money, fine! If you wanted to slash my clothes, I’ll let it go! I know you hate me—you think I stole your father from you!”
“I came into this family later, so it’s understandable if you resent me. But you can’t turn that hatred on your father!”
“If it weren’t for him, you wouldn’t even exist! If he hadn’t raised you, how could you have grown up at all?”
“Zhiqiu, now that you’ve landed a good job and married into a wealthy family, you can’t just decide we’re an embarrassment and throw us away like this!”
“If you really don’t want anything to do with us, just say the word—we’ll stay out of your way! You can live your high-society life, and we’ll keep to our humble ways!”
“Your father’s not young anymore—do you really think he’ll survive prison? You’re practically sentencing us to death!”
With just a few words, Wang Fengqin swayed the crowd. Soon, murmurs of sympathy for Shen Daqiang rose among the onlookers.
“I thought the daughter was the victim here, but it turns out she just doesn’t want to acknowledge her parents!”
“A married daughter is like spilled water—no use counting on her.”
“No use is one thing, but a daughter like this? Terrifying! I’m definitely leaving all my money to my son, not my daughter!”
“Wang Fengqin, you lying bitch!”
Li Shuying burst from the crowd and slapped Wang Fengqin several times before yanking her hair back, forcing her to tilt her head up.
“Everyone, take a good look at this venomous woman’s true face!”
“First, she pushed my sister Yunshuang down, causing her to go into early labor! Then she tampered with her medicine and killed her!”
“After that, she abused my niece Zhiqiu and pocketed the over one thousand yuan we sent for her care!”
“Zhiqiu was raised by my sister Yunshuang at first, and then we supported her with our money—but not a cent went to her! Instead, it all lined the pockets of these heartless monsters!”
Still seething, Li Shuying dragged Wang Fengqin over to Shen Daqiang and kicked him hard several times.
“Shen Daqiang, you’d better pray my husband Lao Ye pulls through—or you’ll be joining him in the grave!”
“You’re an extra in the human world but a star in the animal kingdom! My sister Yunshuang must’ve owed you eight lifetimes of debt to end up married to trash like you!”
“We know every rotten thing you’ve done! Even without Lao Ye’s case, you’d still be spending the rest of your life behind bars!”
“Before, we were too busy to deal with you, and we held back for Zhiqiu’s sake—but you just had to push your luck!”
“Now you remember Zhiqiu’s your daughter? Where was that thought when you mistreated her and ruined her reputation?”
“What kind of father are you? How dare you curse at her! Say one more word—I dare you!”
“You thought she had no one to protect her, so you bullied her all you wanted? Well, we don’t want your lousy Shen surname! Since you never treated her like a daughter, from now on, she’ll take the Ye name—she’s done with you and the Shen family for good!”
Click—
Hearing the shutter sound, Shen Zhiqiu turned and saw a bespectacled man in the crowd snapping photos with his camera.
Her brows furrowed. A bad feeling rose in her chest as she moved to stop him—but he quickly snapped a shot of her before darting away.
Who was that man? She’d never seen him before.
What did he want with those photos?
“Old Shen’s eldest girl, no matter how wrong your father was, he’s still your father. What you’re doing isn’t right!”
The speaker was Old Man Li, a drinking buddy of Shen Daqiang’s who often bragged about marrying a woman twenty years his junior.
Whenever Zhiqiu was home on leave, she’d overhear him and Shen Daqiang loudly exchanging vulgar remarks about his young wife—disgusting enough to make her nauseous.
Old Man Li reached out to grab her, but Zhiqiu sidestepped and coldly said, “He goes to your house when you’re not home.”
Then, pointing at a few other men in the crowd—all Shen Daqiang’s friends—she added, “And yours. And yours.”
Watching their faces twist in rage, Zhiqiu almost laughed. “Why so angry? Don’t you all share her too?”
“Auntie Zhao, Auntie Sun… she’s a frequent visitor at your homes as well.” She gestured at Wang Fengqin.
If not for Ya-Ya’s inadvertent revelations, she’d never have known just how depraved this little alleyway was.
She hadn’t planned to expose them, but since they insisted on attacking her, why hold back?
These very people had just been lecturing her from their moral high ground—hypocrites, every last one.
The accused stood frozen for a moment before realization dawned. Chaos erupted—men hitting women, women hitting men, and several turning their fury on Shen Daqiang and Wang Fengqin.
Seizing the opportunity, Shen Zhiqiu and Li Shuying quickly slipped away.
When Zhiqiu saw Shen Daqiang again a day later, his face was still swollen like a pig’s head.
“Go tell your second uncle to drop the charges. I’ll pay whatever he wants.”
Every word made him wince in pain.
“Second Uncle still hasn’t woken up. Auntie said she’s pursuing this to the end.”
“You’re lying! Your uncle and his son are fine! This is all a goddamn setup!”
Shen Daqiang slammed the table and tried to stand, but the officer guarding him shoved him back down.
“What proof do you have that they’re fine? They’re still in the hospital.”
“Liya asked around—this is all your doing!” Shen Daqiang pointed at her threateningly. “Shen Zhiqiu, don’t forget—my blood runs in your veins! Even if you change your surname to Ye, I’m still your father! What you’re doing will bring divine retribution!”
