Back to 1984: Earning Money, Raising Kids, and Keeping the Household Busy

The child in Zhang Jingxuan's arms was so frightened that he dared not move.

Zhang Jingxuan covered his face and remained silent.

Zhang's father stared at him coldly, "Go! Tell everyone that these three people have nothing to do with you. Apologize to your father-in-law and mother-in-law and beg for their forgiveness. Otherwise, you are no longer my son, Zhang Long!"

"Dad!" Zhang Jingxuan covered his face, looking at his father in disbelief. "From childhood to adulthood, every step of my life has had to be arranged by you. If you are not satisfied with anything, you beat me to death, even after I became an adult!"
Where I go, what I do, what friends I make, what kind of woman I marry—all of this is dictated by you! Why should I? I have benefited from the Zhang family's upbringing, but I have also given enough to the Zhang family!
Now that my lover and children have come looking for me, you want me to deny their existence? Who are you trying to fool?

And another thing! Why should I apologize? I had a child with another woman outside of our relationship, but didn't Xue Lingxue also cheat on me with other men?

"Back in England, she spent a month in an apartment with two men. What kind of classmates or friends are they? They're kidding me!"

Mr. and Mrs. Zhang looked at the Xue family of three.

Mr. Xue was furious.

Xue Lingxue removed her veil and strode forward. "Zhang, you're shameless, so you think everyone in the world is as despicable as you? You said I spent a month with two boys, but why don't you mention there was another girl? Why don't you mention they were siblings!"

You spoke in half-truths, left things ambiguous, and misled everyone. That's how you fooled my parents back then!
Otherwise, they wouldn't think that their precious daughter would become decadent and unambitious after going abroad, right?

I, Xue Lingxue, am upright and have nothing to fear; I can withstand slander!

"That's right! Lingxue, I support you!" Qu Zhiyang suddenly stood up, and everyone looked over.

Chen Xinyue and Chen Ruiyu exchanged a glance, and the siblings stood up as well.

The three of them silently went up on stage and walked to Xue Lingxue's side.

Xue Lingxue glanced triumphantly at Zhang Jingxuan and said to the crowd, "The two men Zhang Jingxuan mentioned are them. At that time, my good friend was also studying in England. Her brother and my childhood friend came to England to visit us. What's wrong with renting the same apartment?"
Furthermore, if it weren't for their tutoring, I wouldn't have graduated so smoothly. We spent every day studying in the library; our international classmates can testify to that. Zhang Jingxuan, you have a dark side; you've done shady things and want to drag me down with you? Dream on!

Mr. and Mrs. Xue were so angry that they almost fainted. They never expected the truth to be like this.

Seeing everyone pointing and whispering about Zhang Jingxuan, Zhang's mother immediately defended him, "Lingxue, you can't say that. You're already engaged, it's not appropriate for you to still associate with other male classmates! My Jingxuan's suspicions aren't unfounded!"

"It was definitely my Jingxuan's fault in this matter. I think we should just let it go. You two can get married and live a good life together. Let's not talk about the past anymore. As for that woman and child, we will definitely send them far away so they can never see each other again. What do you say?"

Everyone was shocked by Zhang's mother's cold-blooded shamelessness.

Wang Suling stepped forward and, without saying a word, forcefully shoved Zhang's mother, saying, "How dare you ruin my daughter's reputation! I'll tear your mouth apart!"

The two women were entangled together.

Seeing his mother being beaten, Zhang Jingxuan's eyes turned red with anger. "Xue Lingxue, tell that crazy woman in your mother to stop! Otherwise, don't blame me for being impolite!"

"How do you want to be impolite? Not only will my mother beat up that bitch of a mother of yours, but I'll beat you up too!" With that, Xue Lingxue grabbed a wine bottle from the side and smashed it hard over Zhang Jingxuan's head before anyone could react.

Zhang Jingxuan could have dodged, but he had to protect Lily in his arms, so he only had time to turn around and use his back to block. With a muffled thud, Zhang Jingxuan was knocked to the ground.

Anne screamed.

The child kept crying.

The grand marriage did not end as perfectly as the host had predicted, but instead ended in an absurd fashion.

The guests didn't want to cause trouble, and some had already quietly left under some pretext.

With one person taking the lead, the others followed suit and said goodbye.

In the end, only the close relatives of the Xue and Zhang families, as well as the Qu and Chen families who were involved, remained.

The bottle only made Zhang Jingxuan dizzy for a moment; the situation wasn't serious, so everyone stayed on the scene to continue arguing.

Zhang's mother looked coldly at Annie and said angrily, "I don't know how you and my son met, nor do I know what your purpose is in getting close to him. I know my own son, whom I raised myself. He would never get another woman pregnant. We don't know whose child you have, and we don't want to know. Now, please leave immediately!"

If it weren't for the fact that the other person was a foreigner, Zhang's mother would have already had her kicked out without hesitation.

Annie looked at Zhang Jingxuan with disappointment. "Zhang, what do you think? Do you also think I approached you with ulterior motives? With ill intentions?"

Zhang Jingxuan frowned, let out a long sigh, and looked at Annie. "Annie, my mind is a mess right now, my head hurts, I don't know how to think. Also, how did you find this place?"

Annie pointed at Chen Xinyue, "I've found her!"

"It's you!" Zhang Jingxuan glared angrily at Chen Xinyue, his fierce eyes seeming as if he wanted to tear Chen Xinyue apart.

Chen Wenjun and Chen Ruiyu immediately shielded Chen Xinyue behind them, glaring defiantly at Zhang Jingxuan.

Zhang Jingxuan then remembered that Chen Xinyue had a powerful background, and he almost suffocated.

Anne smiled sadly, "Even at a time like this, you're still blaming others! Do you know how I found out your secret? Mary is Jane's governess, you probably didn't know that! That day I accidentally saw a photo Mary took, even though it was just a back view, I still recognized you."

So I met with Mary and pressed her to tell me who the person in the photo was. Even though I told her that it was my husband, Mary still thought I was wrong and insisted that it was a misunderstanding. It was only after I begged her repeatedly that she persuaded me to investigate and hoped that I wouldn't misunderstand her!
She didn't say anything from beginning to end. On the way to China, I kept telling myself it was a misunderstanding. I just wanted to take a look and, as long as I was sure it wasn't you, I would go back and treat it as a trip with the kids. But what happened?

Zhang! You've disappointed me so much! Like your mother said, I can't prove the two children are yours, so I won't bother you anymore. We're breaking up. I'll take the children and leave China, leave England, and get as far away from you as possible!

"No! No! Annie, I can't live without you! Give me a chance!" Zhang Jingxuan tried to stop Annie from leaving.

But Zhang's mother slapped him hard across the face, saying, "How long are you going to cause trouble? Are you only satisfied when you're kicked out of the Zhang family?"

After reprimanding Zhang Jingxuan, Zhang's mother turned to Chen Xinyue and apologized on Zhang Jingxuan's behalf in a humble voice, "Miss Chen, too many things happened tonight. My son lost his temper and acted rashly. It was all a misunderstanding. Please don't hold it against him." (End of Chapter)