Another Scheme

"What are you doing!?"

Zhao Qiancheng looked at the lovey-dovey pair before him and let out a furious roar. Qin Fengying was so enraged that she threw her bundle to the ground, rushed over, and slapped Jiang Hongmei twice across the face.

"Ah!"

Caught off guard, Jiang Hongmei was slapped so hard that the steamed egg she had just eaten flew out of her mouth and splattered all over Qin Fengying's face.

That only made Qin Fengying even angrier. Like a madwoman, she yanked Jiang Hongmei away from the table and shoved her hard. Jiang Hongmei was sent sprawling to the floor, feeling as if every bone in her body had nearly fallen apart.

"Ah! It hurts!!"

Seeing how vicious Qin Fengying was, she feared she would be beaten to death before she could enjoy a good life. She quickly squeezed out two tears and put on a helpless, pitiful expression. "Jianguo, save me!"

"You little slut, and you still dare call my son!?"

Seeing that Jiang Hongmei still refused to repent and even dared seduce her son right in front of her and her husband, Qin Fengying cursed furiously. "Bitch, didn't I warn you? Didn't I tell you to stay away from my son? Did you take my words for nothing?"

As she spoke, she raised her foot and kicked Jiang Hongmei hard. Jiang Hongmei immediately screamed in pain, "Ah—help!"

"Hongmei!"

Seeing his beloved being beaten by his own mother, Zhao Jianguo panicked. He set the steamed egg he was holding on the table and rushed forward to help her up, only to be yanked aside by the enraged Zhao Qiancheng and slapped viciously across the face.

Smack!

"You'd better wake the hell up!"

The sharp slap, mixed with Zhao Qiancheng's furious roar, rang through the room and instantly silenced the chaotic scene.

Qin Fengying had always treated her husband as her heaven. Since her man had stepped in, she naturally would not rush ahead of him. She quickly stepped aside and glared furiously at Jiang Hongmei, who was sprawled on the floor, and at her eldest son, who looked utterly stunned after being slapped.

Zhao Qiancheng raised a hand and overturned the food on the table. Then he shouted, "Xiufen! Where the hell did she run off to?"

He swept a dark gaze over Zhao Jianguo. Startled into shivering, Zhao Jianguo hurriedly tried to please him. "Dad, why are you looking for Xiufen? She... she went to the brigade to make hair flowers."

Zhao Qiancheng was so angry that he laughed. Look at this fine son of his. His daughter knew enough to go make hair flowers and earn work points, while he was fooling around with a vixen at home in broad daylight.

His anger flared even higher. He slammed his hand heavily onto the table, making it shake loudly, and panted like a bull. "Mother of my children, go bring Xiufen back. Tell her I have questions for her."

A trace of struggle flashed through Qin Fengying's eyes. With such a disgraceful thing happening in the family, how could someone as proud as her show her face where people gathered? But compared to enduring her husband's fury, she would rather face outsiders' ridicule. She nodded. "Oh! All right."

She turned and ran out the door. Only then did Zhao Qiancheng pull over a stool and sit down, glaring coldly at his eldest son and Jiang Hongmei. "You two are really something, aren't you?"

Zhao Jianguo feared his father most when he acted like this, and his heart trembled. "Dad, listen to me."

"Shut up!"

Zhao Qiancheng pointed at him and roared, "Did I give you permission to speak?"

Zhao Jianguo shrank back and shook his head repeatedly. Seeing the situation, Jiang Hongmei began trembling too. She had been about to get up, but froze halfway through the movement. After thinking it over, she cautiously lay back down on the floor.

Unexpectedly, Zhao Qiancheng suddenly turned his head and fixed his eyes on her as though he wanted to devour her alive. Jiang Hongmei's heart clenched in fear. Bracing herself on the floor with both hands, she unconsciously scooted back a step. "Secretary Zhao, b-beating people is against the law."

"Hmph!"

Zhao Qiancheng ground out coldly, "Believe it or not, I can make sure you never return to the city!?"

Jiang Hongmei's expression froze, all color draining from her face in an instant. She looked deathly pale. "Secretary Zhao, y-you'd better not do anything reckless. If anything happens to me, Jianguo won't get off well either."

As she spoke, she turned to look at her beloved. Zhao Jianguo, who had just been scolded into behaving like a quail by his father, felt his urge to protect her flare up again the moment he saw her pleading gaze.

He hurriedly moved sideways a few steps and stood firmly in front of Jiang Hongmei. "Dad, if you're unhappy, take it out on me. Hongmei is innocent."

Seeing him still protect that vixen, Zhao Qiancheng rose in fury and slapped him again.

Smack!

With a crisp sound, Zhao Jianguo's head snapped violently to one side. His cheek swiftly swelled, and even the corner of his mouth split open.

But Zhao Qiancheng had no intention of stopping. He backhanded him again. "You little bastard, even if this woman screws you to death, you'll still think she's innocent, won't you?"

He put his full strength into that slap. Zhao Jianguo was beaten so hard that his mind went blank, and he staggered backward several steps. But Zhao Qiancheng still did not intend to stop. He stepped forward, kicked him to the ground, and followed with several more vicious kicks.

Zhao Jianguo did not dare fight back. Blood immediately streamed from his nostrils, and he began crying out at the top of his lungs. "Dad, Dad, spare me! Spare me!"

"Spare you!?"

Zhao Qiancheng kicked him hard in the backside and gritted out, "You've disgraced the Zhao Household so badly. If I don't beat you to death today, then I'm not Zhao Qiancheng!"

As he spoke, he kicked him again. Zhao Jianguo gasped in pain and hurriedly covered his head, begging, "Dad, stop hitting me, Dad..."

Yet no matter how Zhao Jianguo cried and begged, Zhao Qiancheng showed no sign of stopping. Jiang Hongmei watched from the side, shocked and terrified.

Seeing Zhao Jianguo, a tall, sturdy young man, covered in footprints from the kicks and howling nonstop, she trembled all over like a fallen leaf. Tears filled her eyes once again.

Wasn't Zhao Qiancheng supposed to dote on Zhao Jianguo the most and never hit anyone? Why was he being so ruthless now? If those fists and kicks landed on her, would she still live long enough to become rich?

As she let her thoughts run wild, Qin Fengying rushed in with the trembling Zhao Xiufen. Seeing her son being beaten, Qin Fengying opened her mouth, but in the end, she did not plead for him.

In the past, she would have rushed over to stop it out of heartache. But today, perhaps she was simply too furious and felt that this son of hers was disobedient and stubborn. She only glared at him from afar, then led her daughter forward and silently stood to one side.

By then, Zhao Qiancheng had vented most of his anger. He stopped kicking his son, walked back to the table, and sat down. He looked up at Zhao Xiufen and asked coldly.

"What exactly is going on between your brother and this vixen? Tell me everything, word for word."

"Yes."

Zhao Xiufen nodded. She also resented Zhao Jianguo for being unable to control himself and dragging the Zhao Household into disgrace. Without caring what Zhao Qiancheng had specifically asked, she opened her mouth and told him everything that had happened over the past few days.

"That day, Big Brother and I came back and went to the brigade meeting. Shen proposed... In the end, Big Brother left in a huff... Remembering what you told me, I urged him to go work for the brigade. Not only did he refuse, he even scolded me..."

"I didn't! Don't talk nonsense."

Hearing his sister say this, Zhao Jianguo suddenly remembered what had happened the other day and began to panic. He clearly felt he had done nothing wrong, yet for some reason, he felt guilty and feared his parents finding out.

But he had completely forgotten that Zhao Qiancheng and Qin Fengying had raised him for over twenty years. How could they not see that he was making excuses? Neither wanted to hear his bullshit, so they simply raised their hands to signal their daughter to continue.

Seeing her parents' attitude and realizing they were no longer protecting her elder brother in everything like before, Zhao Xiufen finally felt a little better. She glared fiercely at Zhao Jianguo before continuing.

"He said he couldn't be bothered doing that kind of work and that sooner or later, he would earn more than all of them... Later, everyone heard someone say there were people in the Reed Marsh... When we got there, we found Big Brother and Jiang Hongmei... The captain and the cadres were kind enough to let it go. Otherwise, those two would have ended up on the denunciation platform."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Qiancheng and Qin Fengying nearly fainted from anger. They had never imagined that their son could be so stupid.

For the sake of a shameless vixen, he not only stopped earning money but also offended the entire brigade. Had his brain been soaked in water?

At that moment, Qin Fengying wished she could stuff this idiot son back into her womb and remake him. Zhao Qiancheng's face turned red, veins bulging as he pointed at him and cursed.

"Do you have a pig's brain? What did I tell you at the city hospital? Didn't I tell you and Xiufen to come back, build good relationships with everyone, learn the skills properly, and take the chance to ask around..."

He abruptly stopped, remembering that Jiang Hongmei was still there. He mumbled vaguely, then continued cursing. "And what happened? Not only did you ruin everything, you disgraced the Zhao Household and indirectly cost your father the best chance to take over all the brigade's business. Do you know how great that loss is?"

Zhao Jianguo shuddered under the roar. Seeing how furious his father was, his muddled mind gradually began to clear. Only then did he realize what a stupid thing he had done.

Still, he only admitted to himself that he had ruined Zhao Qiancheng's plan to take over the brigade's business. As for fooling around with Jiang Hongmei, he believed he had done nothing wrong.

But with both his father and mother in the middle of their rage, he did not dare provoke them further. He could only focus on resolving the business matter first, lest he be beaten to death.

After thinking for a moment, he shakily crawled into a sitting position. Looking up at Zhao Qiancheng and Qin Fengying, who were still cursing him, he spoke sincerely.

"Dad, Mom, I really was wrong about this. I acted too impulsively at the time. I'll find a way to make up for it."

"Make up for it? Hmph! Easy for you to say!"

Zhao Qiancheng sneered. "Let me ask you, how will you make up for it? What will you use to make up for it? Can you secure orders, or can you help the brigade add another business that completely surpasses hair accessories and backpacks?"

He looked at Zhao Jianguo, who sat half-upright on the floor, his expression complicated. "Son, it's not that I look down on you. You don't have that ability."

Zhao Jianguo's face visibly reddened at those words. He looked up at him with wounded eyes. "Dad! Do you think I'm inferior to Shen Jianan and Gu Yu?"

Zhao Qiancheng said nothing. He only looked at him quietly. Yet it was precisely that attitude that made Zhao Jianguo feel even more humiliated. Wanting to prove himself, he began spouting nonsense.

"Dad, the little money those two earn is only worth looking at to you and Mom."

He pointed at Jiang Hongmei, who was huddled to one side and too afraid to speak. "Do you know? Hongmei's father is the director of a certain department in the Capital City, and her mother works at a department store. She's a cadre too, more or less. If I marry her, would my future really be worse than theirs?

"And that day, Hongmei and I were in the Reed Marsh..."

He blushed briefly, then continued, "It was to lure someone else into the trap..."

"Jianguo!"

Jiang Hongmei was furious and anxious. Hearing this idiot about to reveal the lie she had made up, she was so frightened that her soul nearly left her body. "Stop talking."

This had been a lie she invented to quickly reconcile with Zhao Jianguo. If Zhao Qiancheng and Qin Fengying found out, how would she keep the story straight over time?

Unfortunately, her attempt to stop him had no effect at all. The more she refused to let him speak, the more Zhao Qiancheng wanted to hear. And Zhao Jianguo, eager to recover the face he had lost before his parents, had even less reason to hide it. He took her hand and said gently.

"Don't be afraid. My dad has always been reasonable. Once he hears the plan, he'll definitely forgive us and agree to our marriage."

Jiang Hongmei was furious and anxious, despair filling her heart. She wished she could slap him several times. If you say it, what will I do when someone exposes me someday? Will I have any way out left?

Unfortunately, Zhao Jianguo neither understood nor would understand her fear and misery. He soothingly patted his beloved's hand, then turned and told his parents what she had said about the Gu Household.

As a result, not only did he fail to gain Zhao Qiancheng and Qin Fengying's forgiveness, but they pointed at his nose and cursed him for another half hour.

Why? Because they thought that if the Gu Household truly had such excellent circumstances, could give so much money, and would even raise the child, why take the long way around and rush to scheme against them, only to get themselves trapped instead?

Why not just have Zhao Xiufen marry Gu Yu directly? That way, Jiang Hongmei could marry into the family, making them doubly related, and they could gain support from both the Jiang and Gu families. What was not to like?

When Zhao Jianguo heard that, he also felt it made sense. Why had he not thought of it before? He asked what his beloved thought. Jiang Hongmei rolled her eyes wildly inside. What could she say? Was she supposed to tell him that she had made it all up to fool them?

She could only put on a troubled expression and struggle to say, "But Gu Yu doesn't like Xiufen. How are we supposed to do this? We can't force them to bow to Heaven and Earth, can we? What if Gu Yu's aunt finds out and brings people over to kill us? We'll be in serious trouble then."

"If we can't do it the hard way, can't we do it the soft way?"

Qin Fengying glared at her irritably and sneered, "You were able to fool Jianguo. Our Xiufen is so smart and pretty, and she can't win over a mere Gu Yu!?"

Hearing her mock her again, Jiang Hongmei pretended to agree on the surface while raging inside. If not for the good life she wanted in the future, she would have loved to jump up and beat this old witch to death immediately.

Zhao Xiufen, who had been left standing to one side, felt both embarrassed and annoyed. She could not help protesting, "Mom, what are you talking about? Gu Educated Youth and I have barely exchanged a few words. How could I marry him? Besides, with his class background, aren't you afraid it'll affect our family?"

Though she said that, she could not stop herself from thinking of that tall, slender figure. Her face instantly grew hot, and she hurriedly lowered her head.

The moment Qin Fengying saw her reaction, she understood everything. She immediately smiled. "Class background depends on the situation too. His family has so much influence. Maybe in a few years, it won't matter anymore?"

The moment she said that, Zhao Qiancheng, who had still been somewhat hesitant, became even more determined. As for Zhao Xiufen, though she was somewhat unwilling to have her marriage arranged so casually, she had always obeyed her parents. Besides, other than Gu Yu's somewhat poor class background, he did seem outstanding and handsome.

Moreover, in this era, not many people with good class backgrounds lived well. Some could not even afford to eat. Others might think being a poor peasant was glorious, but she did not. If they were starving to death, what glory was there to talk about? Living well was what mattered most. So she nodded and compromised.

Of course, she did not dare say any of that aloud. Otherwise, people would say her thinking was not "red" enough and drag her off for reeducation and reform. That would be the end of her.

Seeing that she had nodded, Jiang Hongmei had even less room to retreat. She could only agree through gritted teeth, though inwardly she was thinking of how to ruin the whole matter. The Zhao family did not know what she was thinking. They only assumed she was actively cooperating before the family so she could marry Zhao Jianguo smoothly.

In the end, the five of them came up with a plan. They decided to hold Zhao Jianguo and Jiang Hongmei's wedding feast as soon as possible, then get Gu Yu drunk during the banquet and make his relationship with Zhao Xiufen a fact. After that, they would force him to marry into the Zhao Household and use his safety to force Shen Jianan to hand over full control of the hair accessories and backpack business.

After all, once the crime of hooliganism was established, Gu Yu could be shot. Shen Jianan was so close to him and seemed fairly kind-hearted, so he presumably would not bear to see Gu Yu lose his life over this. Then their plan would succeed smoothly.

Once the plan was settled, Zhao Qiancheng could not wait another moment. He immediately got up and went to the brigade, announcing that Zhao Jianguo and Jiang Hongmei would be getting married. He asked one of the Zhao family elders present to consult the almanac, and they finally chose the fifteenth of August for the wedding feast, ten days away.

Everyone warmly congratulated them on the surface, but inwardly they despised them intensely. Hadn't they previously looked down on Jiang Hongmei for not being worthy of their son? And now they were still bringing her into the family?

Zhao Qiancheng had always been good at reading people. How could he not know what they were thinking? However, he had no time to care about that for now. Instead, he busied himself trying to get close to Gu Yu and Shen Jianan.

He had just learned from Zhao Gang and several other cadres that Shen Jianan had secured orders for another hundred-plus backpacks for the brigade. He wanted to chat with him and probe for information.

But Shen Jianan was too shrewd. After chatting for a long time, he refused to reveal even a single useful detail. Zhao Qiancheng was furious, but he could only suppress his anger for the time being. Once he resolved the matter between Gu Yu and his daughter, he would deal with him.

But before his dream could come true, Shen Jianan provoked him again. No, it should have been the entire brigade.