“The facts are right in front of your eyes. Are you determined to be truly blind? That Xiao Ye wasn’t wrong—you just want to deceive yourself and bury your head in the sand for the rest of your life!”
Xu Xun pointed at Xu Wan. “How did our Xu family end up with such a hopeless girl like you, throwing your life away for a worthless man?”
“Big brother, Ah Can promised me that from now on, when he’s with me, he’ll never do anything like that again.”
Xu Wan pleaded with Xu Xun. “Big brother, please believe in Ah Can.”
Xu Xun was so angry he was at a loss for words, pacing furiously around the room. “He won’t do it again? I think he won’t stop doing it!”
“When he was with Xiao Ye, he was already being inappropriate with her sister. Regardless of what happened with Xiao Ye, the undeniable fact is that when Chen Can married Shen Liya, she was already three months pregnant.”
“Then, before he was even divorced from Shen Liya, he started latching onto you, being with you, and still going to see that other woman.”
“While he was involved with that woman, Shen Liya was pregnant!”
Xu Xun tried to reason with Xu Wan. “Xiao Wan, Chen Can is exactly that kind of man—always eyeing the next prize while holding onto what he has. No matter who he’s with, he’ll always be like this!”
Xu Wan shook her head vigorously. “Big brother, it won’t be like that with me. He loves me. He doesn’t love Shen Liya. As for that Shen Zhiqiu, she was the one who acted improperly first.”
Xu Xun wanted to say more, but Xu Changkong raised his hand, signaling him to stop. He looked at Xu Wan. “Xiao Wan, think carefully. In the future, even if Chen Can does such things, will you still stay with him?”
Xu Wan opened her mouth, wanting to argue that Chen Can would never do that, but the words wouldn’t come out.
Her face was full of conflict. She looked at Xu Changkong, then at Xu Xun beside him, and finally nodded forcefully. “Yes.”
Both Xu Changkong and Xu Xun were instantly filled with disappointment. Xu Changkong heaved a heavy sigh. “Xiao Wan, since you’ve made up your mind, from now on, we will say no more about your affairs with him.”
“Dad, then…”
Xu Changkong knew what Xu Wan wanted to say and cut off her hope directly. “But don’t expect us to help Chen Can in the slightest. Whatever position he wants, he must fight for it himself based on his own ability.”
“And this current matter, he must also resolve it himself.”
“Dad, how can that work?” Xu Wan grew anxious. “Ah Can was framed by that Shen Zhiqiu!”
“Xu Wan, are you deaf or just stupid? Didn’t you hear what the police officer said? What Chen Can did has nothing to do with Comrade Xiao Ye.”
Xu Xun warned Xu Wan. “Also, don’t you dare pull any more of those underhanded tricks behind the scenes to slander Comrade Xiao Ye’s reputation.”
“Big brother, I think you’re the one who’s lost your mind. Have you been bewitched by her too?”
Xu Wan sneered. “She really lives up to the name ‘fox spirit,’ doesn’t she? You just met her today and you’re already this infatuated.”
“And that police officer, and the man beside her… every single one of you is taking her side. Look at your shameless gazes.”
“Sister-in-law, you’d better keep a tight rein on my big brother from now on, otherwise our Xu family might soon need a new daughter-in-law.” Xu Wan tried to stir trouble with Kang Zhimiao.
Kang Zhimiao didn’t dare speak up at this moment. Xu Xun pointed at Xu Wan, furious. “Xu Wan, you are utterly unreasonable!”
“We side with Xiao Ye because she is in the right. Only a brainless person like you would believe the nonsense spouted by that scoundrel Chen Can.”
“Just the fact that he tried to throw dirt on Xiao Ye shows what an unreliable man he is. Yet you treat him like a treasure. Sooner or later, you will regret it.”
Xu Wan puffed out her chest. “I will never regret it!”
Xu Xun could bear it no longer and slapped Xu Wan across the face. “You’d better not regret it. If you dare come home and tell me you regret it, I’ll break your legs.”
Xu Wan stared at Xu Xun through tears. “You hit me! You actually hit me for that fox spirit!”
“Don’t worry, I’d rather die out there than ever come back!”
Xu Wan ran out. Kang Zhimiao moved to go after her, but Xu Xun stopped her. “Why chase her? She won’t turn back until she hits the wall head-on. She needs to hit it so hard she bleeds before she realizes she was wrong.”
Kang Zhimiao’s face was full of worry. “But it’s so late. What if something happens?”
“I’d almost rather something happen to her than have her heart and eyes only filled with that Chen Can.”
Xu Xun cursed. “Calling this one a fox spirit, calling that one a fox spirit… I think that Chen Can is the real fox spirit. Who knows what kind of bewitching potion he gave her to turn her into this.”
Cursing and hitting aside, at the core of it all was their frustration at Xu Wan’s stubbornness. But deep down, Xu Xun couldn’t bear the thought of Xu Wan suffering.
Their mother had passed away early, their father was rarely home, and he, as the eldest brother, had looked after his younger siblings since childhood. He cared for his youngest sister, Xu Wan, the most.
“Dad, are we really just going to let Xiao Wan continue running wild like this?”
Xu Xun complained to his father, Xu Changkong. “How could you agree so easily to let her stay with that Chen Can?”
“Would stopping her work? The more you try to stop her, the more determined she becomes. We might as well let her do as she pleases.”
Xu Changkong saw things more clearly than Xu Xun. “We all understand what Chen Can’s motives are for getting close to Xiao Wan. But Xiao Wan insists on believing Chen Can loves her for herself. So let her see. If we stop managing Chen Can’s affairs, let’s see if Chen Can will still treat her so well.”
“Best case, Chen Can cools off towards Xiao Wan, and they separate on their own. If Xiao Wan still insists on having only Chen Can, then there’s truly nothing more we can do.”
Xu Xun calmed down and started thinking more deeply. “Dad, I have a feeling Chen Can’s situation might be more troublesome.”
“Oh? How so?”
Xu Xun glanced at Kang Zhimiao, and he and Xu Changkong went into the study.
“Normally, if something like this happened within our own unit, we’d make a call, have the person released, and deal with it internally. We wouldn’t let outsiders laugh at us. But Tan Jianping directly detained Chen Can there.”
“Yue Mingyuan saved Tan Jianping’s child. Tan Jianping wouldn’t easily offend the Yue family, but he also shouldn’t need to antagonize Chen Can, given they’re in the same regiment.”
After sharing his analysis, Xu Changkong lightly tapped his fingers on the desk. “Chen Can has his father’s reputation backing him. Even if he did such a despicable thing, their regiment leader, out of respect for his father, wouldn’t just abandon him.”
“For Tan Jianping to dare act this way, Chen Can must be involved in other matters—things serious enough that even his regiment leader wouldn’t protect him.”
Xu Changkong instructed Xu Xun. “Eldest, go investigate what’s really going on. If there are indeed other issues, we must distance ourselves from him even more.”
“Dad, I’ll go right away.”
Xu Xun stood up and left the study. As he was about to go downstairs, he paused, turned, and headed for the bedroom he shared with Kang Zhimiao.
