Old Deng is reborn in the 1980s, and he starts by severing his father-son relationship!

The ward fell silent for a moment.

Before Chen Deshun could speak, Chen Jianye shouted, "What's there to talk about? We're going to send their whole family to jail!"

I already found the Huang family disgusting, and now seeing the eldest daughter-in-law's pretentious behavior made me feel even more nauseous.

Huang's eldest daughter-in-law turned pale, shrank back, and looked to Zheng Yi for help.

Zheng Yi seemed not to see or speak, standing there quietly with his gaze fixed on Chen Deshun. The one who tied the knot must untie it; Chen Jianye's words didn't count, and the final decision had to be made by the man in front of him.

Chen Deshun met Zheng Yi's gaze, his eyes calm and unwavering. After a moment of silence, he slowly nodded: "Okay, when?"

He had already revealed his background to Zheng Yi when he was at the police station. Since Zheng Yi brought people here, he must have worked on the Huang family.

If that's the case, it wouldn't hurt to go. If we can get the compensation as soon as possible, why not?

Even if they can't reach an agreement in the end, he has a way out; at worst, he can drag it out to court.

By then, pre-trial mediation will be the Huang family's last chance. If they go to court, they won't even have a chance to bargain.

"what?"

Chen Jianye's shouting stopped abruptly, his face showing a look of utter confusion as he looked at Chen Deshun.

This isn't going according to plan! How did they agree? Wasn't it agreed that they would resolutely refuse to reconcile and make the Huang family pay a heavy price?

The elderly couple were also surprised and confused. They had heard their son analyze the case, and now the Huang family was begging them. Why were they the ones who had given up first? But with outsiders present, they couldn't ask directly and could only suppress their doubts.

On the contrary, Huang's eldest daughter-in-law's face lit up with joy, and the huge weight that had been hanging over her all the way was finally lifted off her shoulders.

Her thinking was simple: as long as Chen Deshun was willing to participate in the mediation, her husband and in-laws would be separated soon!

Zheng Yi wasn't surprised by Chen Deshun's answer. After a moment's thought, he said, "Tomorrow afternoon at three o'clock, at the police station. Your two families can have a good talk then."

He hadn't had time to inform Police Chief Song and Director Qian yet, and he couldn't set the time too hastily.

"Okay, we'll be there on time." Chen Deshun nodded in agreement.

Having accomplished their mission, Zheng Yi and Huang's eldest daughter-in-law did not linger. After exchanging a few polite words, they left the ward.

The door had barely closed when Chen Jianye couldn't contain himself any longer and rushed over to Chen Deshun: "Dad, are we really going to go and reconcile with them tomorrow?"

Chen Deshun shrugged and said calmly, "Who said the past has to be reconciled?"

Chen Jianye was taken aback, and the old man next to him couldn't help but ask, "Why go there if you're not going to reconcile?"

"I'm just going to hear what conditions they're prepared to offer. Unless they satisfy me, there's absolutely no possibility of a settlement," Chen Deshun shrugged, his tone resolute.

"I see!" Chen Jianye exclaimed in realization, slapping his thigh.

He said it himself: Dad is cunning and shrewd, how could he compromise so easily?

Chen Jianguo, standing to the side, kept his eyes darting around, already hatching his own scheme.

Settle down? How do you settle down? Isn't that just paying compensation?

So, Dad might have an extra sum of compensation money tomorrow?

My heart started to stir again.

If Dad had money, could he help me out? Then I could try to persuade my grandparents to put in some effort too, and maybe things would work out. Compensation money and a bank account—two birds with one stone!

However, that depends on how much compensation the Huang family can pay tomorrow.

He wouldn't even consider losing 30 or 50 yuan.

The main problem is that the Huang family already owed the family 200 yuan. The debt and compensation together should amount to at least 250 yuan.

This is no small sum.

The more he thought about it, the drier his mouth became, so he quietly memorized the time: 3 p.m. the next day.

Chen Deshun sat down on the bedside, his gaze sweeping over the faces of the second and fourth brothers before finally landing on Chen Jianguo. He paused for a few seconds, his eyes filled with scrutiny.

No one knows a son better than his father. This kid has been in the hospital room all afternoon; he must be plotting something mischievous again.

He cleared his throat and said, "Boss, everything's settled at the hospital. You can go back now."

Chen Jianguo was reluctant to leave. He wanted to find out what the police station planned to do when he went there tomorrow, so he could act accordingly.

His eyes darted around, and he put on an indignant expression: "Dad, those Huang family guys are too slippery! They're trying to humiliate us with rotten apples—they have no sincerity at all! Tomorrow when we go over there, our family must stick together and not let them take advantage of us!"

Chen Deshun raised an eyebrow, his tone laced with sarcasm: "What nonsense are you spouting? What business is it of yours?"

Chen Jianye immediately jumped in to undermine Chen Jianguo, launching a tirade: "Brother, why do you always want to meddle in everything? What, are you after that money the Huang family is going to pay us again?"

Chen Jianguo, his thoughts exposed, blushed and stubbornly retorted, "Don't judge me by my own standards! I just wanted to help the family! What kind of younger brother talks about his older brother like that? Do you have any proof?"

"Ha, you've said all the nice things and the mean things, trying to have your cake and eat it too. What's wrong with you?!" Chen Jianye said with a face full of disdain.

What is the meaning of this ghost?

Chen Jianguo rolled his eyes at his second brother and proudly raised his chin: "That's called being utterly pathetic. You can't even pronounce the words correctly. You should read a few more pages of a book. Illiteracy isn't scary. What's scary is an illiterate person who thinks they're very cultured."

Chen Jianye's lips twitched, and he said jokingly, "Hehe, I did it on purpose. The word 'kan' is down-to-earth and doesn't match your highbrow style."

"You..." Chen Jianguo's face turned red from the second brother's words.

"That's enough!" The old man couldn't take it anymore and scolded, "You're all grown up, making such a racket in the ward! If you keep making noise, get out!"

Upon hearing his grandfather speak, Chen Jianguo immediately adopted a pitiful expression and grumbled, "Grandpa, I'm the eldest son in the family. With such a big thing happening, is it wrong for me to care?"

"Hey!"

Grandma Shen wasn't buying his act and couldn't be bothered to watch his performance. She waved her hand and said, "Stop talking nonsense. If you have nothing else to say, hurry up and leave."

Chen Jianguo wanted to argue, but seeing his grandmother and father's attitude, and that they had already given him the order to leave, even if he had a thicker skin than a city wall, he was too embarrassed to stay any longer and swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue.

Forget it, I'll just go to the police station myself tomorrow. They can't possibly block the door and prevent me from getting in, can they?

Thinking this to myself, I reluctantly got up and walked towards the door.

"Wait a minute," Chen Deshun suddenly called out to him.

Chen Jianguo paused, thinking Chen Deshun had changed his mind, and suppressed a smile as he asked, "Dad, what's wrong?"

"Did you forget something?" Chen Deshun reminded him.

What did you forget?

Chen Jianguo scratched his head, racking his brains but still couldn't remember: "Dad, what are you talking about?"

Chen Deshun rolled his eyes at him, thinking, "Is it true that important people have such bad memories?" and uttered two words: "Salary."

"What salary?" Chen Jianguo still wanted to play dumb and get away with it.

Chen Deshun bluntly exposed him: "Of course you promised me that you would hand over one-third of your salary to your family every month. I still have the guarantee you wrote. Director Yang and the neighbors can all testify to that."

Chen Jianguo's heart sank. Why did his father suddenly bring this up? His lips trembled, and he couldn't utter a sound for a long time. He hurriedly turned his head and looked to his grandparents for help, now hoping that they could speak up for him.