Forced to marry a disabled man in the countryside? I'll repay you tenfold!

He was immediately relieved: "You're back?! That's wonderful! With you back, I have someone to rely on! Come quickly, come quickly!"

The two went inside.

This is Old Lu's dilapidated home, two mud houses. One is clean and tidy, whitewashed, with a new kang (heated brick bed) and brand-new floral quilts, making it a decent place to live. The other is run-down, with only a bare wooden bed.

At that moment, in the clean room, Zhou's mother huddled in the corner of the kang (a heated brick bed), her eyes red and swollen from crying. A handsome middle-aged man stood in front of her, his body covered in bruises, clearly having been beaten quite a bit. Although disheveled, he had handsome features and seemed very responsible.

Su Wanqing opened her mouth, feeling like she'd stumbled upon a huge bombshell. So this was what Zhou's mother liked? An older man dating a younger woman? She secretly glanced at Zhou Yanshen, wondering what he was thinking.

Zhou Yanshen's face was ashen, but his emotions remained relatively stable.

Uncle Ding was clutching a shoe in his hand, glaring angrily at the man. Seeing Su Wanqing and Zhou Yanshen enter, he reluctantly lowered his hand, panting heavily with rage. He pointed at Zhou's mother, his lips trembling, unable to utter a single word.

There was no time for reminiscing; Uncle Ding immediately said, "You two are back just in time! Tell me quickly, how are we going to handle this?"

When Zhou's mother saw her son and daughter-in-law return, she didn't react much, but just kept sobbing behind the handsome middle-aged man.

Su Wanqing's eyes twitched.

It's so offensive, it's really too offensive to look at.

Zhou's mother was speechless... She didn't even know how to describe her feelings at that moment. This news was more shocking than an earthquake!

She couldn't help but glance at the man a few more times—in his thirties, with deep-set features and a refined demeanor; in later times, he would be a combination of middle-aged Andy Lau and Daniel Wu, exuding the sexual tension of a mature man.

How could a man like this hide in such a run-down place? And for so long?

Most importantly, wow—Zhou's mother is over forty, while this man is clearly younger and stronger!

Zhou Yanshen's face was calm, and his tone was relatively steady, but everyone could hear the suppressed anger in his voice: "Uncle, what exactly happened? Please tell us from the beginning so we can know what to do."

He never dreamed that after risking his life to complete a mission outside, almost not being able to return, finally completing the mission, making merit, being able to return to the city early, and even being promoted three levels... as soon as he got home, his own mother wanted to find him a stepfather who was only more than ten years older than him.

All joy was washed away by the sight before my eyes.

Uncle Ding glared at the young man and gritted his teeth as he began to speak: "I've always felt something's off lately! Wanqing left so much food before she left, enough for the three of us to eat for three months, but after only half a month, it's almost gone! I got suspicious and secretly marked a few things in the kitchen the day before yesterday. Yesterday, I counted them, and sure enough, quite a few were missing!"

He grew increasingly agitated as he spoke: "I thought it was a burglary. The kitchen is always locked, so it must have been someone I knew. I secretly called Secretary Liu over, hoping to catch them in the act..."

You can guess what happened next without him saying it.

"Secretary Liu and I were hiding in the shadows, and guess what? It was your mother who stole it!" Uncle Ding's eyes widened. "We just watched her carrying a huge bowl of meatballs this way. I followed behind, wondering what she was up to. What was she bringing food to the home of a fifty-something-year-old bachelor?"

He took a breath: "We waited outside for over half an hour, but there wasn't a sound from inside. We were afraid something had happened, so we barged in. And then..."

The results speak for themselves.

Uncle Ding was extremely worried outside, fearing something might happen to his sister, but she was having a good time inside.

He pointed at Zhou's mother, exasperated: "Even if you've taken a fancy to a man, just say so! If you can get married, then get married! You've been a widow for years, remarrying isn't shameful! Why do you have to do this sneaky thing? Where does that leave Yan Shen's face? Yan Shen is about to be a father, and you're about to be a grandmother. What will the whole village think of Yan Shen and Wan Qing? And the person you've chosen..." is too young!

Su Wanqing and Zhou Yanshen had already roughly guessed the ins and outs.

Su Wanqing asked, "If you followed them secretly, how did the whole group find out?"

Uncle Ding glared hatefully at the house next door: "It's that old Lu again!"

It turned out that when Uncle Ding and Liu Shuqing barged in, Zhou's mother and her lover were in the inner room, while Old Lu was in the outer room, munching on meatballs with grease dripping from his mouth. At first, Old Lu only offered Gu Yuan a hiding place in exchange for some food, supplies, and ration coupons, enough for his own survival, on the condition that he keep it a secret that there was an outsider hiding in his house.

But lately, Gu Yuan has been bringing women back, which has made Old Lu unhappy. Zhou's mother, worried that Gu Yuan isn't eating well, brings him delicious food from home every day. Old Lu's appetite has grown increasingly larger, and he's started threatening them: each time they come, they must bring enough food for three or four people, plenty of meatballs and buns, or he'll expose everything. Anyway, he's an old bachelor and doesn't care about his reputation.

Today, Uncle Ding and Liu Shuqing barged in and caught Old Lu eating meat in the outer room while keeping watch. Needless to say, what was happening in the inner room? The two were furious and beat Old Lu up on the spot.

That old man was no pushover either. After being beaten, he started yelling and blabbing, revealing everything that had happened recently, as if he wanted the whole regiment to know.

Oh, now the whole regiment knows, they even know exactly when Zhou's mother gets her period! Zhou's mother has probably become the laughing stock of the entire 65th Regiment!

Uncle Ding slapped his thigh in regret—if only he hadn't hit that old scoundrel!

Su Wanqing and Zhou Yanshen finally understood the cause and effect.

At this moment, Liu Shuqing stared at the middle-aged man and asked in a deep voice, "Where are you from? Why have you been hiding here for so long? What secrets are you hiding? Are you a fugitive? What about your food supplies?" His eyes were sharp. "Do you know what kind of offense it is to illegally hide someone? If it's serious, you could go to jail!"

The man sighed, pulled Zhou's mother behind him to shield her, tucked her in, and dressed himself before speaking: "This can't be hidden any longer. My name is Gu Yuan, and I'm not a fugitive. I came here... because my parents are in the cowshed next door. They've been sent to the countryside, and I'm worried about them, so I secretly came to take care of them."

Su Wanqing and Zhou Yanshen both widened their eyes at the same time!

Liu Shuqing was also stunned: "You're Old Master Gu's biological son? Gu Zhixing's father? But didn't they say their son was dead?"

Gu Yuan nodded with a bitter smile: "They disappeared, not died. By the time I was able to get away, my parents had already been sent down here. It was too late for me to change anything, so I could only sneak over here, hoping to at least take care of them." He paused, looking towards the direction of the cowshed next door.