After Wang Cheng’s family fell out with Huang Fulai, both sides stuck to their own version of events. Everyone had only heard about the medicinal-herb merchant involved and had never actually seen him, much less heard of him before. However, the son of the auntie who had previously told Mama Wang that people outside the village were spreading rumors ended up becoming the turning point in the whole matter.
The auntie’s son was named Guan Li, and he worked at a pharmacy. Guan Li was a cheerful young man whom many people in the village knew. After the rumors spread, he came home for the weekend and heard his mother mention the matter. Surprised, he told her what he had heard about that medicinal-herb merchant.
Since one of the people involved was a fellow villager and was also on very good terms with his mother, Guan Li had naturally paid some attention to the story. The previous day, he had heard a shocking piece of news.
The medicinal-herb merchant who had tried to cheat the Wang family was under investigation. It had already been reported on television. According to the news, medicines sold by the merchant contained ingredients prohibited by the state, and he had also sold expired medicine to customers. Some medicinal herbs had been stored so long that they grew moldy, yet his business still processed them into medicine and sold them, causing some customers’ conditions to worsen instead of improve.
Once the news spread, it immediately drew widespread public attention, and the relevant authorities began investigating. Until the merchant’s products passed inspection, none of the pharmacies under his name would be permitted to sell medicine to customers.
Even a young man with little experience of the wider world could tell that this was serious. Even if the merchant ultimately avoided prison, the business of his pharmacies would still suffer.
Once the news got around, the rumors collapsed on their own.
If there was nothing wrong with that merchant, why would the government investigate him? If he was willing to tamper with medicine, how good could his character possibly be?
The people who had originally supported Huang Fulai became furious and embarrassed. Once they realized they had been deceived, they did not need anyone else to urge them. They went to his house in a group. Some villagers who knew Huang Fulai had previously bought cheap medicine he brought back from the city. At the time, they had thought they were getting a genuine bargain, reasoning that Huang Fulai surely would not cheat them. It turned out the medicine itself had problems.
Huang Fulai became so frightened that he did not dare leave the house. His wife was originally from Wangjia Village, and after hearing what happened, she had a huge argument with him. She knew exactly what the villagers were like, and what her husband had done was indeed dishonorable. In the end, she simply packed her things and took their son back to her parents’ home, leaving Huang Fulai alone and terrified, too afraid even to step outside. Finally, he had no choice but to leave Guanjia Village in the middle of the night, planning to return for the rest of his belongings after the matter died down.
When Wang Cheng heard what had happened, he already had a suspicion. He called his big brother that night, and sure enough, Wang Ning’an had done it.
“Big Brother, you move fast. You took care of them all at once.”
Wang Ning’an did not have to work overtime that evening, so he had time to chat. When Wang Cheng asked about the matter, he explained, “I already knew about this Boss Xu when I was still working in Shanhai City. He’s an unscrupulous businessman who’s good at exploiting legal loopholes. I originally planned to deal with him before my transfer and had already gathered the evidence, but my transfer order came sooner than I expected, so I had to put the matter aside for the time being. When you told me he had set his sights on our family, I decided to make time and finish it.”
“So there was more to it. Good thing you stepped in, Big Brother, or Mom and Dad would’ve been pestered to death by Huang Fulai. After we exposed him, he went around spreading rumors everywhere. Now he’s become a rat everyone wants to chase off the street. The villagers hate him.”
“There’s no need to be polite with an ungrateful little man like that.” If Wang Ning’an had not been in the capital, he absolutely would not have let the matter end there. Huang Fulai would have had a much worse time of it.
Hearing the coldness in his brother’s voice, Wang Cheng explained, “Don’t worry, Big Brother. After this, Huang Fulai definitely won’t be able to keep living in the village.”
It was still better to leave people a little room to retreat. Huang Fulai had schemed against their family, but in the end he had not caused any real harm. There was no need to destroy his entire household. His wife and son had done nothing wrong. A person’s wrongdoing should not be visited on his family.
*
After Zheng Jingen ran into Chu Yifeng at the Wang Family Jam Shop, he sent someone to investigate. The information reached him the following evening. Only after reading it did he learn just how deeply Wang Cheng and Chu Yifeng were connected. Even so, he remained uneasy, not because he feared Chu Yifeng would discover his own purpose, but because he was more worried that Chu Yifeng might have some ulterior motive toward Wang Cheng.
Knock, knock.
Mama Zheng opened the door and walked in. Zheng Jingen immediately covered the documents spread open in front of him.
“Jingen, Mom made you a bowl of three-delicacy soup. You work so hard during the day, so eat it while it’s hot.” Mama Zheng set the bowl in front of him and gazed lovingly at her only son. Although she was already in her fifties, she looked as though she were in her forties. Her skin naturally could not compare with that of a young woman, but she looked much younger than others her age.
“Thanks, Mom.” Zheng Jingen took Mama Zheng’s hand.
Mama Zheng’s smile deepened. She cared even more intensely for this son than for her younger daughter for one simple reason: she could not bear to lose another son. Zheng Jingen understood his mother’s old wound better than anyone. For years, he had been trying to untie that knot in her heart. Now that he had finally found a possible lead, he did not want too many people to know before anything was certain.
Papa Zheng noticed that his wife was neither in the living room nor their bedroom. When he heard that their son had returned, he immediately came looking for her. Whenever their son was home, his wife automatically forgot she had a husband.
“Sure enough, you’re here. The moment our son comes home, you forget your husband.” Papa Zheng sounded distinctly aggrieved.
Mama Zheng raised a shapely brow. “Of course. My son comes first in my heart, my daughter second, and you can settle for third.”
Zheng Jingen patted the back of his mother’s hand and smiled. “Mom, Dad has been working outside all day too. He must be tired. Why don’t you serve him a bowl of soup as well?”
“Since Jingen has spoken, I’ll be merciful and bestow a bowl upon your father.” Mama Zheng looked at Papa Zheng with an expression that clearly said, Well? Aren’t you going to thank me for my imperial grace?
Papa Zheng did not know whether to laugh or cry. He cupped his hands toward her. “Many thanks, my lady wife.”
Only then did Mama Zheng leave downstairs in satisfaction.
Once his wife was gone, Papa Zheng’s smile faded. He looked at his son, then at the documents in front of him, though he made no move to touch them. “Jingen, I heard you’ve been investigating something lately. You know plenty of people are watching the Zheng family. Be careful.”
“Dad, don’t worry. I know what I’m doing.” A trace of hesitation crossed Zheng Jingen’s face after he spoke, but in the end he said nothing more.
Papa Zheng did not notice. Once Mama Zheng had served the soup, she sent a servant upstairs to call him down. The couple sat in the living room chatting and laughing, the picture of warmth and affection. Who could have imagined that such a loving family had once nearly fallen apart? It had taken them a long time to recover, yet everyone in the family knew that somewhere deep in their hearts, certain regrets still remained.
*
After the rumors passed, Wang Cheng and his parents returned to their usual busy lives. With the warehouse’s jam stock exhausted, Mama Wang and Eldest Maternal Aunt had been going to the jam shop with them these past few days, leaving the fruit mountain in the care of Eldest Cousin and several trustworthy villagers.
Time passed quickly, and before they knew it, the end of the month had arrived. The weather grew colder, and villagers wrapped in thick clothing could be seen everywhere on the streets. The Wang Family Jam Shop had already made a name for itself in Chengping, and its regular customer base had mostly stabilized. Wang Cheng later made several more trips into the city. The supermarkets that had already tasted the benefits placed new orders, and Wang Cheng used the opportunity to expand into several more supermarkets.
There was still one problem, however.
Although their customer base had stabilized, jam production was gradually failing to keep up with demand. Wang Cheng did not want Mama Wang and Eldest Maternal Aunt to exhaust themselves, so he decided to expand the small workshop and hire more people. That meant the workshop would need to move somewhere else. Papa Wang volunteered to look for a suitable location, and Wang Cheng was happy to leave it to him. With Mama Wang helping mind the shop that day, Wang Cheng drove into the city.
Wei Dandan had called him several days earlier. At the time, the trouble with Huang Fulai had just broken out, and then Wang Cheng became busy again, so he had never had time to respond. Since he had a little free time before a new workshop location was found, he finally called her back the previous night.
Wang Cheng drove to the company building. Just as he was about to call Chu Yifeng, someone knocked on his car window. He turned and saw Fang Tian, whom he had not seen for some time. Fang Tian was the only person who knew about his relationship with Chu Yifeng.
“What a coincidence!”
“Not really. I saw your car drive in just now, so I came over for a look. Didn’t expect it really was you.” Fang Tian straightened up. Even though he had known about the relationship for some time now, he still found it hard to imagine how Wang Cheng had ended up in that kind of relationship with their boss.
Wang Cheng was driving his big brother’s car that day. Since he was not planning to go to the warehouse, he had not brought the truck. It was no surprise Fang Tian recognized it.
“How have you been lately?” Wang Cheng asked as he got out and closed the door.
Fang Tian already knew Wang Cheng was thick-skinned. Getting him to look embarrassed really was asking too much, which made all the time Fang Tian had spent agonizing over the matter seem wasted. “So-so. The company expanded its business, so I’m busy as a dog every day. Not like you, your own boss now, going wherever you want.”
“You’d better not envy me. Today’s the first free day I’ve had. By the way, is Boss upstairs?”
“Boss spends less and less time at the company these days, but you’re lucky. He happens to be here today. You two didn’t arrange this over the phone, did you? Be honest with me. Tell me to my face right now: are you and Boss really dating?” Fang Tian stared straight at him. He had even wondered whether the phone call he had overheard that day had only been his imagination rather than something real.
Wang Cheng suddenly turned his head toward one side.
Confused, Fang Tian followed his gaze and saw Li Yu getting out of a car, currently staring at them with an expressionless face. His heart seemed to stop for an instant.
I’m finished. She couldn’t have heard that, could she?