The Tycoon's Mysterious Darling Wife-Chapter 492 - 495. Twist of Events (7 updates)

"Don’t think we’ll be scared just because your lawyer is articulate. You’re trying to turn the tables on us," the woman said hatefully, casting a hostile glance at Lawyer Zhang, as if she desperately wanted to rush over and tear him apart.

Lawyer Zhang smiled faintly and began to speak leisurely, "Madam, I’m merely stating the facts. The lady here has also recounted the events, and I think, since it all happened in front of everybody, she wouldn’t lie. If what this lady has said is true, then we will have to pursue your legal responsibility."

"Responsibility? What responsibility could I possibly have?" the woman defiantly retorted, her neck stiffening.

"You want to extort money by demanding a hefty compensation from my client," said Lawyer Zhang.

"I certainly do not—it was they themselves who mentioned compensation," the woman denied. She now understood that this group had no intention from the start to compensate them in any way. All their nice talk of reimbursing medical and emotional damages was just to placate them, and now they intended to make her pay instead? The thought sent a chill down the woman’s spine.

She nudged her husband and whispered lowly, "Are you even a man? Speak up."

Pushed by his wife, the man came forward to face Lawyer Zhang. He looked at Shen Qinglan and then at Lawyer Zhang, feeling that neither were people one should provoke. Thinking it best to drop the issue, he said, "The richer people are, the stingier they get. I see that clearly now. Today, I’ll just consider it a dog bite and let it go. Let’s call the whole thing off."

The woman had hoped her husband would argue their case, but he had given up instead, which upset her. She pinched him secretly. The man sucked in a breath of cold air from the pain and glared at his wife. The foolish woman—clearly they were at a disadvantage. Continuing the dispute would not only mean they wouldn’t receive compensation, but they might even end up paying out. Better to smooth things over now, at least they wouldn’t suffer any loss.

"Officer, look, they’re admitting it’s over. Clearly they know they’re in the wrong, afraid of being held responsible, wanting to escape," said the red-clothed girl. She suddenly remembered her silent boyfriend standing by and pulled him over, "This is my boyfriend. He was sitting right beside me and saw the whole thing. You can ask him—is what I said true?"

The policemen turned to look at the red-clothed girl’s boyfriend, who had not expected to be put on the spot and looked uncomfortable. Touching his nose, he said, "Well, it really went down just as my girlfriend described. It was those three who demanded the soldier give up his seat. The soldier didn’t want to, which led to the conflict. However, I think, even though the soldier was under no obligation to give up his seat, it wouldn’t have been wrong to let the elderly lady sit for a while. Officers, don’t you agree?"

His words barely out, the red-clothed girl looked at him incredulously, "Do you even know what you’re saying? What do you mean by ’it wouldn’t have been wrong’? Have you lost all semblance of proper values? I’ve totally misjudged you."

The red-clothed girl’s boyfriend, publicly chided by his girlfriend, wore an expression of embarrassment.

The woman, however, smiled upon hearing the young man’s words, "At least someone is speaking the truth. They talk about the soldiers, using our taxpayer’s money to live it up, but when it’s time for them to give back, they shrink away. There’s no sense in that. It wasn’t even for me that I asked for the seat, but for my mother-in-law. Look at her—over 50, her hair mostly white, trembling as she walks. Can she endure standing for over five hours on the train ride? They always say the military and civilians are one family, so why don’t they treat our family as their own now? If it were their mothers who couldn’t get a seat today, would they still do nothing simply because they’re not obliged to?"

Perhaps feeling supported by someone, the woman straightened her posture and her tone became more assertive as she spoke.

"It’s not that I don’t want to give up my seat, it’s that I can’t," said Chen Li, who had been silent until now. He raised his eyes to the crowd, his hands clenched into fists at his sides, slightly trembling.

The crowd didn’t understand what he meant and looked at him puzzled.

"Chen Li," Gu Yang called his name in a low voice, disapproving.

"Why can’t he then? If it wasn’t for him being a soldier with priority for seat tickets, perhaps it would be us sitting in his place," the woman voiced loudly.

"Because I..." Chen Li started to explain but was interrupted by Gu Yang, "Because my comrade has injuries. He cannot stand for long periods. Is that reason enough?"

The crowd was taken aback, not expecting this revelation, which made them understand the situation better. However, the woman refused to believe Gu Yang’s explanation, "Just because you say he’s injured, he’s injured? With his healthy appearance, where does he look injured? You think you can get us to believe just any story?"

Her unreasonable attitude caused many to frown. Regardless of what actually happened, her behavior alone made her seem in the wrong; and the more they learned from the red-clothed girl’s account, the more they saw that the woman had no footing to stand on. Besides, if they claimed there were injuries, why would they lie about something like that?

"Stop being unreasonable," Gu Yang said sternly, glaring at the woman.

"You’re the one who said he’s injured," the woman insisted, "then prove it to us. If he is truly hurt, I’ll apologize."

Gu Yang’s face reddened, he glanced at his comrade who had lowered his head, but said nothing.

The woman raised an eyebrow smugly, a satisfied smirk spreading across her face. She had been right not to fall for it. "Now you have nothing to say, huh? Show evidence and you get nervous. Hmph, calling yourselves soldiers yet with nothing but lies."

Shen Qinglan frowned, disliking the woman’s attitude immensely. She was about to say something when Chen Li beat her to it, "I’ll prove it."

Gu Yang was startled, "Chen Li."

Chen Li smiled faintly, "I’m fine, Yang Zi." Saying that, he lifted the hem of his left trouser leg.

The eyes of the crowd followed his movement, and as they focused on his leg, the atmosphere suddenly became silent, shock written on everyone’s faces.

After letting the trouser leg fall back into place, Chen Li spoke in a gentle tone, "I really am injured. My left leg has a prosthetic, and I can’t stand for long periods, so it was inconvenient for me to offer you my seat. I am truly sorry."

The trio that had been making a scene looked embarrassed, and at this point, none of them spoke up.

Gu Yang looked at Chen Li’s left leg, his expression one of sorrow. "My comrade was seriously injured on a mission, lost his left leg, and had it replaced with a prosthetic. Because of this, he was discharged from the service. I’m here to escort him home." And securing that ticket for Chen Li had taken a significant effort.

No one had anticipated such a twist in events. Although they had only caught a glimpse earlier, it was clear that Chen Li’s leg was indeed fitted with a prosthetic.

The red-clothed girl had a trace of tears in her eyes, glaring at the woman, "You actually expected a wounded hero to give up his seat for you. Do you have no shame at all?"

The woman, looking sheepish, could no longer act arrogantly and stammered, "Well, we didn’t know he was injured, he didn’t say anything before, and if he had told us about his leg... we wouldn’t have asked him to give up his seat."

"Did you even give him a chance to speak? You came at him aggressively from the start. Whenever he tried to say something, you interrupted him. How could he speak?" the red-clothed girl defended Chen Li.

The woman said sheepishly, "Let’s just leave it at that, we don’t want the money anymore." The woman said, attempting to leave.

Shen Qinglan spoke up indifferently, "You’re just going to leave like that? Don’t you still owe him an apology?" The woman had been the one demanding an apology before.

"Sorry," the woman muttered quickly and, grabbing her husband and mother-in-law’s hands, headed out.

The red-clothed girl wanted to stop them but was held back by Shen Qinglan, who shook her head.

Once the family of three had left, the red-clothed girl turned towards Shen Qinglan, "Why let them off so easily?"

Shen Qinglan did not explain but looked towards the police officers, "Officer, may we go now?"

The police officer nodded and made a gesture for them to proceed.

Shen Qinglan led the way out, walking slowly to ensure Chen Li could keep pace. The red-clothed girl noticed Chen Li’s leg and remembered how slowly he had been walking when they got off the train. She hadn’t thought much of it then, but now realized it must have been due to his leg injury.

Gu Yang tried to support Chen Li but was pushed away. Chen Li shook his head slightly, "I’m fine, I can manage."

Reaching the entrance of the police station, Shen Qinglan turned to the red-clothed girl, "Thank you for speaking up for my brother and his friend today."

The red-clothed girl scratched her head, smiling awkwardly, "Actually, I didn’t really help much. I was just telling the truth."

"It’s already remarkable that you stood up to speak for them," Shen Qinglan said with a smile. In today’s society, where human connections are cold and everyone minds their own business, many are merely bystanders to others’ troubles. Like today, everyone in the train carriage witnessed the event, but the only one who dared to speak up, who was willing to, was the red-clothed girl alone.

The red-clothed girl’s boyfriend had been hanging his head in silence ever since Chen Li showed his leg, trailing quietly behind. Now, hearing Shen Qinglan’s words, his face turned even redder, his ears flushing.

The red-clothed girl, feeling even more embarrassed, looked at Chen Li and said with a smile, "Soldier, you are amazing. I am proud that our country has soldiers like you, and I thank you for the contributions and sacrifices you’ve made to protect us. I am honored to have met you today, and I hope everything goes well for you in the future."

This was the first time since Chen Li had enlisted that someone had thanked him so sincerely for his service, and he was momentarily at a loss for words, "This is my... duty."

The red-clothed girl couldn’t help but laugh. She could tell that Chen Li was not good with words, probably a reserved person who didn’t talk much. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been at a loss for words on the train when confronted by the woman.

Gu Yang grinned at the red-clothed girl and said, "Little lady, thank you for today."

The red-clothed girl smiled, "I really didn’t do much, you don’t need to thank me over and over again. I’m honored to have met you all today, but it’s getting late, so I’ll be leaving now."

Everyone watched as the red-clothed girl left, Shen Qinglan then turned to Lawyer Zhang, "Lawyer Zhang, I apologize for making you come all this way for nothing."

Lawyer Zhang smiled lightly, "Miss Shen, you don’t need to be so formal, this is my job. Since everything is fine now, I plan to return to Beijing tonight. Will you be joining me, Miss Shen, or...?"

"You go ahead. I’ll travel with Gu Yang later. Also, please tell my brother that I’m fine here and he doesn’t need to worry." Lawyer Zhang nodded, indicating he would deliver the message, and then took a taxi to the airport. He was the special legal counsel for Junlan Group, usually very busy, and Shen Junyu wouldn’t seek him out for ordinary matters, except when it concerned Shen Qinglan.

Chen Li’s hometown was in a small county in Yang City, a few hours away from the city center. Now that it was already late, they decided to wait until the next day to travel and found a hotel nearby to stay.

Shen Qinglan called Gu Yang and asked him to come to her room. Gu Yang dawdled for quite some time before he finally arrived, "Sister-in-law," he said with his head lowered.

"Do you know what you did wrong?" Shen Qinglan asked indifferently.

Gu Yang nodded.

"Where did you go wrong?"

"I shouldn’t have started a fight."

"Not bad, at least you know what you did wrong, that shows some progress." 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"Sister-in-law, stop teasing me. I know I was wrong about what happened today. No matter what the reason, it was wrong for me to hit someone. So, when you told me to apologize, I did. But I don’t regret it. If it happened again, I would still take action," Gu Yang looked up at Shen Qinglan, his eyes resolute.

Shen Qinglan didn’t feel like scolding Gu Yang much for today’s incident either; after all, anyone in such a situation might have lost their temper, especially someone as impulsive as Gu Yang.

"I won’t tell your brother about today’s events, but in the future, you need to be more composed when handling things. Think more about the consequences, think more about the military uniform you’re wearing, rather than letting emotions overwhelm your reason."

"I understand, sister-in-law. I’ll be careful in the future." Actually, today’s events had been somewhat perilous. Although there was a reason behind his actions, the fact was he had started a fight, and if the military leadership found out about it, he would definitely face discipline. If someone with an agenda exploited the incident to tarnish the image of a soldier, that would be the gravest issue.

Realizing the crux of the matter, Gu Yang felt a sudden apprehension. He indeed needed to reevaluate his temperament; his quick temper could cause serious trouble sooner or later.

"Sister-in-law, I’m planning to take Chen Li home tomorrow. Would you like to come with me?"

"I’ll come with you," Shen Qinglan replied lightly.

The next day, Shen Qinglan accompanied Gu Yang to take Chen Li home. Chen Li’s family lived in a small town. Following Chen Li’s directions, Shen Qinglan drove towards his home.

From a distance, they could see a woman standing at the door who appeared to be his mother. As the car came to a halt, the woman approached quickly, her eyes red as she looked at Chen Li’s left leg, tears swirling in her eyes, yet not falling.

"Mom, I’m fine," Chen Li said softly.

Mrs. Chen nodded with a smile, "It’s good you’re back." As long as he was alive, that was all that mattered.

Gu Yang helped Chen Li carry his luggage inside, and Mrs. Chen hurriedly invited Gu Yang and Shen Qinglan to sit down, "Thank you both for bringing Chen Li back. You must be tired; please, take a seat and I’ll make you some tea."

Gu Yang stopped her, "Auntie, you don’t need to be so polite. Chen Li and I are comrades, brothers. If he’s going home, of course, I would see him back. This is all Chen Li’s luggage, I’ll just leave it here for now."

"Alright, thank you. Come to have lunch at our house; I’ve bought quite a lot of groceries," Mrs. Chen invited them to stay for lunch.

"No need, Auntie, we have to catch a flight this afternoon. Maybe next time—we’ll definitely come to visit you and Chen Li when I’m on leave."

Seeing Gu Yang and Shen Qinglan were determined to leave, Mrs. Chen no longer insisted but returned to the house to grab some local specialties and stuffed them into Gu Yang’s arms. "These are our local products, you guys take them back to try."

Gu Yang didn’t refuse. "Thank you, Auntie."

Chen Li looked at Gu Yang and said softly, "Yangzi, thank you." Gu Yang stepped forward, pounding a fist on Chen Li’s shoulder. "If you ever need anything, just call me, brother. No matter how far, I’ll come running, I’d climb a mountain of swords or plunge into a sea of flames without a second thought."

Chen Li smiled and nodded, watching Gu Yang and Shen Qinglan leave. Mrs. Chen patted her son on the shoulder, "Let’s go inside."

Chen Li withdrew his gaze and followed his mother back into the house. "Mom, now I’ll have time to be by your side and take care of you."

"That’s good," she said softly, helping Chen Li pack up his luggage.

Out of Chen Li’s sight, Mrs. Chen secretly wiped away a tear. At the start of the year, her son had come home whole, but now... yet she didn’t want to show her sadness in front of her son.

She was a single mother; her husband had also been a soldier and had sacrificed his life on a mission, leaving her to depend solely on her son.

She had originally hoped her son would find a stable job, have children, and lead a peaceful life, but when he grew up, he told her he wanted to join the military. She tossed and turned over it for three full days before agreeing and personally sent him off on the train.

From the first day her son joined the military, she had braced for this day. Now the outcome was much better than she had initially feared—at least her son was still alive, even though he had lost a leg.

On the way back, Gu Yang looked melancholic, and Shen Qinglan glanced at him, "What’s wrong?"

"It’s just that I was remembering the times I spent with Chen Li. Sister-in-law, the first time I met Chen Li was three years ago when Grandpa and Brother sent me to the military. He and I were in the same unit. We shared a dorm. He was a very reticent person, didn’t talk much. Though he was quiet, his training was intense, very hardworking. When we were busy resting after a day’s training, he would still do extra drills by himself. We all called him ’Hardworking Liang Shanbo.’"

"He improved quickly, so he was selected for the special forces during their first recruitment in our unit. After that, we lost touch, and I could only hear snippets about him from other comrades—always about how diligent he was, about the medals he won. Then, just a few months ago, I suddenly heard from others that Chen Li was injured. I went to the hospital to see him and found out how severe his injuries were."

"How did Chen Li get injured?" Shen Qinglan asked.

"Apparently, he was part of a mission deep in enemy territory to rescue hostages. They were discovered, and during their retreat, a bomb exploded near him. That’s how he lost his leg," Gu Yang said with lingering sorrow for Chen Li.

If none of this had happened, Chen Li might still be in the military, doing the job he loved.

"Chen Li told me that his father was a soldier. Since he was little, his father taught him that being a soldier is a noble profession, guardians of the people’s safety, and it’s because of soldiers that civilians can live and work in peace. So when his father sacrificed his life, he silently vowed to follow in his footsteps and become an honorable soldier when he grew up. He achieved that and excelled at it. He was the best soldier of our generation." And because of that, he was selected early for the special forces.

"He did this of his own accord, and I think he was prepared for the possibility of an outcome like today’s," Shen Qinglan said calmly.

"I know, it’s just a pity. He loved that job so much, he even told me he wanted to be a soldier for his whole life, until the very day he couldn’t do it any longer." But now? In his twenties, Chen Li had already left the military, ending his brief career as a soldier.

Back in Beijing, Gu Yang didn’t immediately return to his unit. He had a five-day leave, so he could spend a few more days at home. The incident on the train seemed to have passed.

But just when everyone was beginning to forget the event on the train, a video exposing what happened that day suddenly surfaced on the internet. The video was taken out of context, only showing the part where Gu Yang hit someone, without showing what led up to it. As soon as it was released, it hit the trending lists. Suddenly, there were all sorts of rumors online, casting the military in a negative light.

Shen Qinglan learned about it through a phone call from Yu Xiaoxuan. Although the video blurred the people involved, Yu Xiaoxuan immediately recognized Gu Yang as the one hitting someone. Realizing the seriousness of the situation, she quickly phoned Shen Qinglan.

As soon as Shen Qinglan heard, she immediately turned on her computer. Just opening the webpage made the trending topics pop up, with the soldier hitting someone event right at the top. She watched the video very carefully, then read the comments below, her face turning thoroughly dark.