The Tycoon's Mysterious Darling Wife-Chapter 491 - 494. Conflict Triggered by Giving Up a Seat Episode 2 (6 Updates)
Chen Li’s face turned red with anger, just about to stand up when a pair of hands were pressed on his shoulders, "You shall not give up your seat." Gu Yang had returned.
Gu Yang had gone to fetch water and would have been back quickly, but the train was so crowded it blocked the aisle. Plus, an elderly lady couldn’t lift her suitcase onto the luggage rack. Gu Yang lent a hand which delayed him a bit, only to return to this scene.
Gu Yang didn’t know the cause of the situation, what he saw was an arrogant woman pressuring his comrade to give up his seat. Such behavior immediately enraged Gu Yang.
Gu Yang coldly eyed the woman, "This seat was bought with my money, why should I give it up for you?"
The woman glanced at Gu Yang, her eyes full of disdain, "Another busybody. I asked him to give up his seat, not you."
"He is my comrade," Gu Yang stated forcefully.
The woman seemed suddenly enlightened, "Oh, so you’re a soldier too. You’re one of them. What, now soldiers gang up on people?"
"I just want to know, why should he give up the seat he paid for?"
"Just because he’s a soldier. You soldiers take our hard-earned tax money and enjoy various benefits provided by the state. Now we’re just asking you to give up a seat, shouldn’t you?"
Gu Yang burst into laughter in irritation, "Ordinary people, like you?" His gaze was mocking.
"What’s wrong with me? Am I not a citizen? Don’t I pay taxes?" She believed she was right because she was a taxpayer.
Chen Li tugged at Gu Yang’s clothes, "Let it go, Gu Yang." He tried to stand up but was pushed back down by Gu Yang, "No way, why should we? I wouldn’t give up this seat today, especially not to her." Moreover, Chen Li’s health didn’t allow him to stand for so long.
Upon hearing this, the woman’s anger surged, "Wow, so you really are bullying me in a group. What, you think I’m alone here?" With that, she pulled her husband into the fray, "Are you dead? Your wife is being bullied, and you’re still playing with your phone?"
The man hadn’t played with his phone since Gu Yang’s return and had heard the exchange. He was indifferent about whether Chen Li should give up the seat or not. If Chen Li didn’t want to give up the seat, that was fine, but if he did, all the better since his mother indeed needed a seat. That’s why he didn’t stop his wife from demanding the seat from Chen Li earlier.
Now that Gu Yang had returned and was so rude to his wife, as a man, he was naturally angry. So when his wife asked for help, he immediately stood in front of her, "What’s wrong with what my wife said? Why should you get to buy tickets first and we can only get standing tickets? If you had any conscience, you’d offer your seats to us common folks. Plus, your comrade is so young, my mother is over 50, what’s wrong with giving the seat to her? Will standing for a few hours kill you?"
Gu Yang was infuriated once more, laughing at the ridiculous pairing. They really did seem to encounter a peculiar family today. He was curious to see how this matter would unfold.
With her husband’s support, the woman grew bolder, hands on her hips, she declared, "Exactly, look at his attitude, calling himself a soldier, pah! Dressed in a military uniform, acting all grand, but doing nothing respectable. It’s a total insult to the word ’soldier.’"
Her words crossed the line. As soon as the woman finished speaking, Gu Yang’s face darkened. He glared at her with intense ferocity, and she took a step back, but then straightened up again, embarrassed, "What, you want to hit me? If you dare to hit me, I won’t let this go today."
Gu Yang indeed wanted to strike out. He had never encountered such a shameless, slap-worthy woman before. If he wasn’t against hitting women, he truly wished he could explode on the woman in front of him.
The red-clothed girl who had spoken up for Chen Li had argued with her boyfriend for a bit without reaching a conclusion. Seeing Gu Yang return and knowing the two were comrades, she hoped he could back up Chen Li. But she didn’t expect the woman to become even more arrogant upon seeing Gu Yang and to begin uttering increasingly ugly words. Feeling an intense anger, she stood up without heeding her boyfriend’s attempt to stop her, "Hey, what did you eat for breakfast, old lady, something from a latrine pit? Your mouth stinks so much."
She had only spoken one sentence before being pulled back by her boyfriend, who covered her mouth with his hands, whispering softly, "Say a little less; you’re the one who will get scolded later." It’s obvious they are being unreasonable and everyone tries to avoid them, yet you keep running into the fray. Are you foolish?
Chen Li, seated uncomfortably, wanted to get up, but Gu Yang’s hands held him down, pressing him into the seat. The woman’s words reached his ears, making his face grow even redder.
The woman was still cursing non-stop. Gu Yang was burning with rage, his expression turned icy as he lunged and grabbed the woman by the front of her clothes, "Don’t push me to hit a woman."
As soon as her husband saw this, he rushed over and swung a punch at Gu Yang. Gu Yang dodged and kicked the man in the waist, then let go of the woman, grabbed the man by the collar, raised his fist, and smashed it down into the man’s face.
All this happened in the blink of an eye; no one expected Gu Yang to suddenly become violent. By the time the crowd reacted and came to break up the fight, the man had already taken several punches from Gu Yang.
The woman never expected her man to be hit and stood there dumbfounded, not knowing how to react. It was instead the woman who had barely spoken since boarding the train that sprang into action. She picked up her son from the ground and began to wail, "Oh no, a soldier is hitting people, a soldier is hitting people!"
Hearing her mother-in-law’s sobbing, the woman suddenly snapped out of it and sat down on the floor, hands slapping her thighs as she wailed, "Soldiers are hitting people, oh God, our lives are over! We merely asked them to give up their seats, and we get beaten for it. Is there no justice in this world?"
Passengers in the carriage who had witnessed the incident from the start remained silent. Although they did not agree with the woman’s decision to ask the soldier to give up his seat, no one stepped forward to speak up. However, when they saw Gu Yang actually hitting someone, their expressions changed, this time disapproving of Gu Yang’s actions.
"How can you just hit someone like that? That’s too much," someone whispered.
"Do you think soldiers are all good guys like they are portrayed on TV? ’Military thugs,’ that’s what those people are—thugs in human skin," another said with disdain.
"Although this woman is in the wrong, hitting people is where they crossed the line."
The girl who stood up for justice glared fiercely at the speaker.
The commotion drew the attention of the train staff. A person who looked like the train conductor approached and asked, "What’s going on here?"
Pointing at Gu Yang, the woman accused, "Him, him! He dares, as a soldier, to assault us common folks. Look what he did to my husband."
The conductor, not knowing the full story, could see that the man had been hit. With Gu Yang standing right in front of the man, it was obvious who had thrown the punches.
The young girl broke free from her boyfriend’s grasp and said, "That’s not how it happened! This woman demanded this soldier give up his seat. When the soldier didn’t stand, she cursed and insulted him. Her husband even tried to hit someone, and then the soldier fought back."
She explained the situation succinctly, and the conductor immediately understood. He told the woman, "He is under no obligation to give you his seat; you have a standing-room-only ticket."
The woman’s eyes widened with indignation, "So what? I asked them to give up their seats. If they didn’t want to, they could have just said so. There’s no excuse for hitting people. Apologize, apologize right away."
This woman was clearly unreasonable, while the other woman continued to clutch her son and wail about how hard life was and her own suffering, with a voice full of ups and downs, as if she was performing in an opera.
The conductor, feeling a headache coming on, turned to Gu Yang, "It’s indeed wrong to hit someone, and you really should apologize to the lady." What mattered now was calming the situation, and an apology seemed the fastest way.
Gu Yang responded coldly, "I am not going to apologize." He had done nothing wrong; why should he apologize?
"Fine, you won’t apologize? Then I’m going to the police station to file a complaint against you, I will call the police," the woman clamored upon hearing his response.
However, they were on a moving train, and even if she wanted to call the police right now, no one would be available to address the issue. Hence, the woman threatened, "You wait, once we get to the station, I’m going to the police station to report you all. Tell me, which station are you getting off at?"
"Yang City," Gu Yang said, his voice still cold, unafraid of a police station visit.
The woman hadn’t expected that they would be going to the same destination, "Then that’s easy, we’ll go to the police station when we get to Yang City."
"The two soldiers don’t need to be afraid. I saw everything that happened with my own eyes, and I will testify for you," the red-clothed girl spoke up loudly. As she said this, she glanced at the other passengers, "I’m not like some people who just like to watch the commotion without a sense of justice, it’s disheartening."
The woman glared fiercely at the red-clothed girl who was meddling, and the red-clothed girl glared back, as if to say, ’What are you going to do about it, come bite me?’
The other passengers in the carriage felt uneasy after hearing the red-clothed girl’s words, but none of them spoke up. Her boyfriend facepalmed.
**
The police officers present initially didn’t know what had happened, only hearing the woman yelling about a soldier hitting people without mentioning the cause. After hearing the red-clothed girl’s version of events, their view of the mother and son shifted. The saying goes ’the military and civilians are one family,’ but the behavior of these three was truly disheartening.
Gu Yang’s action of hitting someone suddenly seemed more understandable. If they were in his place, they probably would have wanted to hit someone too.
Shen Qinglan listened to the red-clothed girl’s account, grasped the course of events, and looked at the woman with a hint of icy detachment. The woman shrank her neck.
But Shen Qinglan didn’t say anything to the woman. Instead, she turned to Gu Yang. "Apologize."
Gu Yang looked at Shen Qinglan, disbelief in his eyes, "Sister-in-law."
The red-clothed girl had thought that after hearing everything, Shen Qinglan would side with Gu Yang and the others. To her surprise, Shen Qinglan insisted that Gu Yang apologize, leaving her stunned, "Hey, did you clearly hear what I said? It was this woman causing trouble without reason, it has nothing to do with these two soldiers."
Shen Qinglan just gave the red-clothed girl a kind smile, staying silent. She looked at Gu Yang again, "Don’t make me say it a third time, apologize."
Gu Yang met Shen Qinglan’s slightly cold gaze, pursed his lips, and reluctantly stepped forward, "I’m sorry."
The trace of fear in the woman’s eyes vanished instantly as she looked at Shen Qinglan with an air of smugness, "That’s more like it. Hitting people is wrong. But don’t think that just apologizing settles the matter. We haven’t even checked my husband’s injuries yet. We’ll need you to pay for medical expenses, compensation for emotional distress, and since today’s incident caused a delay, you’ll also need to pay for lost wages."
"We naturally will cover your husband’s medical expenses," Shen Qinglan spoke indifferently, her tone shifting, "But now that we’ve talked about this matter, let’s discuss another issue."
"What issue?" the woman asked subconsciously.
"You insulted my brother and his friend. You must apologize for that."
"When did I insult them? Don’t talk nonsense," the woman raised her voice.
"You don’t have to apologize if you don’t want to," Shen Qinglan continued, "but as for what really happened, surely other people on the train saw it too. We can ask around and learn the truth. With so many witnesses, I’m not afraid you’ll deny it. My brother was wrong to hit someone, so I made him apologize. As for your husband’s medical expenses, whatever you’ve spent, we’ll pay. But the insults you publicly threw at my brother and his friend are also a fact. To put it lightly, it was a dispute between you. But to take it more seriously, you didn’t just insult my brother, you insulted soldiers. And to elevate it further, it’s as if you disrespect our country’s armed forces."
The red-clothed girl had initially thought Shen Qinglan was timid, but when the situation took a new turn, she looked at Shen Qinglan with admiration.
Shen Qinglan’s expression remained indifferent throughout, even her voice calm, yet it made the woman’s complexion shift dramatically, "I have never disrespected our country’s soldiers. Don’t you dare throw your filth on me."
Insulting people is one thing, but once it’s elevated to a collective level, or even the level of the nation’s soldiers, then the matter becomes severe. Even if the woman was foolish, she understood this.
Seeing her daughter-in-law at a disadvantage, the woman’s mother-in-law immediately stepped forward to aid her, "Are you trying to bully someone with fewer people? Even if my daughter-in-law said a few inappropriate words, we didn’t lay our hands on anyone, did we? They are standing here unharmed, but look at my son, beaten to such a state. Who’s really at a loss here?" The woman was adept at creating a fuss, skillfully avoiding the real issue and focusing on the violence.
Seeing the woman still intent on causing trouble, Shen Qinglan took out her phone and called Shen Junyu, "Brother, I’ve run into some troublemakers here in Yang City who are looking to make a quick buck. We’re going to need a lawyer. Please send someone immediately."
Shen Junyu was slightly taken aback, then agreed, "I’ll send the lawyer right now. They’ll arrive in three hours. Where exactly are you in Yang City?"
"I’m at the police station by the Yang City train station."
Shen Qinglan was on speakerphone, so everyone present heard the conversation. Seeing that Shen Qinglan really intended to call a lawyer, the woman panicked and rushed over, trying to snatch Shen Qinglan’s phone. Shen Qinglan simply raised her hand and ended the call.
"The lawyer is already on the way. Who is right and who is wrong will be determined by the lawyer," Shen Qinglan said to the woman coolly.
Hearing that a lawyer was being called, the mother-in-law grew fearful and whispered to her daughter-in-law, "What should we do now? They’re calling a lawyer."
The woman felt nervous, but was calmer than her mother-in-law, "Don’t be afraid, Mom. We’re in the right here. We didn’t hit anyone."
The mother-in-law thought about it; yes, her son was the one who had been hit. What did she have to fear? Her spine straightened immediately.
Since the lawyer would take more than three hours to arrive, the group waited at the police station. The red-clothed girl, as a witness, stayed with them.
"Miss Shen, I’m sorry," Chen Li apologized to Shen Qinglan in a low voice. The incident had started because of him, and Gu Yang had intervened on his behalf, "I’ll cover the medical expenses and lost wages."
Shen Qinglan’s gaze casually swept over Chen Li’s left leg and she spoke indifferently, "This isn’t your fault, I’ll handle it, don’t worry."
Gu Yang chimed in, "Right, this mess isn’t our fault, we’ve got nothing to fear, my sister-in-law will sort it out."
Shen Qinglan glanced at Gu Yang, and he immediately fell silent.
Half an hour later, the woman grew impatient and clamored to leave. In reality, she was afraid that if the lawyer truly arrived, the situation would turn unfavorable for them.
Shen Qinglan said lightly, "You can’t leave just yet; we need to resolve this today. Your husband’s injury hasn’t been treated at the hospital yet, our medical fees haven’t been compensated, and there’s no resolution for the insults hurled at my brother and the others. How is it settled if you just walk away now?"
"We’ll tend to the wounds ourselves, just pay us the money," the woman clung to the topic of medical fees, "The beating your group gave my husband today has caused us great emotional distress, so you must compensate us for our emotional suffering, 50,000 yuan."
Unexpectedly, even now, the woman was shamelessly demanding a hefty sum. The red-clothed girl clicked her tongue in wonder; she’d seen shameless, but never this shameless.
That’s what she thought, and she said as much. Her voice wasn’t quiet, and naturally, everyone present heard it. Some police officers covered their mouths, concealing the smiles at the corners of their lips, while the woman flew into a rage, "You brat, what nonsense are you spouting? Keep talking nonsense, and see if I don’t rip your mouth apart."
The red-clothed girl stood with hands on hips, "This is a police station, if you’re so capable, come and hit me." She was actually curious to see if the police would intervene if someone was assaulted in the station.
Of course, the woman didn’t dare to strike someone in the police station and glared hatefully at the red-clothed girl, standing with her arms crossed, fuming quietly.
However, the woman could only sulk for five minutes before she approached Shen Qinglan with her hand outstretched, "We’ll drop the medical costs, just pay us for emotional damage and we’ll be on our way; let’s call it even." She wore a face that said ’I’m being generous, you’d better take the offer.’
Shen Qinglan’s demeanor remained cool, "The lawyer is already on his way here; we’ll let him handle this. Whatever compensation is due, we won’t pay a penny less, and the legal system will provide recourse for the insults you’ve made."
The woman’s expression froze, about to create a scene, but Shen Qinglan just looked at her calmly, her gaze serene, without a trace of ferocity, yet it made the woman step back in fear.
Anyone with clear eyes could see that Shen Qinglan wasn’t someone to be trifled with. Seeing his wife’s reaction, the woman’s husband suggested leaving, "Let’s just go."
But the woman was still fixated on the medical and emotional distress compensation; she wasn’t willing to leave just like that. Even if it wasn’t tens of thousands, a few thousand would be nice. As for her husband’s injury, it was nothing more than superficial wounds, easily treatable with some medicated liquor at home — they’d heal in a few days. They were just ordinary workers with limited incomes, and any compensation would be welcome. Moreover, these people clearly seemed wealthy; what harm was there in taking a bit of their money? To them, that sum was just pocket change, and easily spared from what slipped between their fingers. The woman convinced herself of her right to the money without a hint of guilt.
Shen Junyu’s efficiency was high, and within less than three hours, Lawyer Zhang appeared before them, "Miss Shen." The lawyer approached and greeted Shen Qinglan.
"A hassle for you again, Lawyer Zhang," Shen Qinglan said with a light tone.
Lawyer Zhang spoke with a smile, "Miss Shen, this is part of my job. May I know what happened this time?"
Shen Qinglan softly recounted the incident to Lawyer Zhang, who nodded in understanding.
He walked up to the woman, "Ma’am, from this point onward, I will be acting as Mr. Gu Yang’s attorney. You claim that my client physically assaulted your husband, is that correct?"
"Yes, that’s right, don’t even think about denying it," the woman stated, full of righteous indignation.
Lawyer Zhang nodded, "But how come I heard that it was your husband who started the physical altercation, and Mr. Gu Yang was merely acting in self-defense?"
"This is denial, sheer shamelessness," the woman yelled shrilly.
"You’re the shameless one," interjected the red-clothed girl, "Mr. Lawyer, and all the police officers, I can testify that indeed, this man was the first to initiate violence against the two soldiers, and the soldier was simply defending himself appropriately. Not only did I witness this, but many passengers on the train saw it too, which you can verify."
The woman glared fiercely at the red-clothed girl, who didn’t even spare the woman a glance.
