Chapter 67 Improper Conduct

Lu Huaiyuan's face turned ashen as he stared in disbelief at the object in his hand.

People nearby immediately stood on tiptoe and crowded around. One of them, with sharp eyes, couldn't help but laugh loudly, "Look! This envelope is at the very bottom, which means the leader didn't even look at it! It's obvious he didn't want to accept it and was just looking for a reason to return it! Now, taking advantage of your family's 'happy occasion,' he's returned it all intact!"

"Hahaha, this is a huge embarrassment!"

Lu Huaiyuan's hands, which were holding the basin, trembled violently. He muttered to himself in a daze, "Impossible... So many good things... How could they not accept them..."

Li Xuemei felt as if the gazes of the entire village were piercing her like needles.

She could no longer care about anything else; she grabbed her son, who was already in a daze, and dragged him into the house.

Lu Huaiyuan stood like a puppet, letting his mother pull him along, his ears filled with the undisguised, deafening laughter of the villagers.

Gu Mansheng stood there, her face drained of color, her body ice-cold.

She's in big trouble!

Listening to the surrounding people's discussions about the Lu family, no one was interested in who Liu Zhixia was going to marry anymore. They were more concerned about whether the Lu family would be replaced now that they had been rejected.

She glanced at the tightly closed door in horror, and dared not linger any longer, quickly running back to the educated youth settlement.

Lu Huaiyuan was dragged back into the house by Li Xuemei. He could no longer hold onto what he was holding. With a "clatter", the enamel basin fell to the ground, and its contents scattered all over the floor.

Lu Jianping came out of the inner room and, seeing his son's distraught appearance, was furious: "You can't even hold a basin properly! How are you going to work in the fields in the future!"

"Dad!" Lu Huaiyuan exclaimed, as if grasping at a lifeline, "I'll be the accountant, I won't have to work in the fields! I'll just hold a pen!"

"An accountant?" Lu Jianping seemed to have heard the biggest joke in the world. He pointed at his nose and cursed, "You married someone with a bad class background, and you still want to be an accountant in the commune? Let me tell you, the higher-ups have already said that you can't even be a scorekeeper now, let alone an accountant!"

"It's all over! Everything's over!" Upon hearing this, Li Xuemei broke down in tears. "I told you to stay away from that Gu Mansheng a long time ago! But you wouldn't listen! Now look what's happened, we have nothing left!"

Lu Huaiyuan swayed and grabbed Lu Jianping's arm urgently: "Dad! I won't marry Gu Mansheng! I'll marry Liu Zhixia! Isn't it okay if I marry Liu Zhixia! Her family has a clean background!"

"You finally decided to marry him?!" Lu Jianping couldn't hold back any longer and rushed forward to slap him hard across the face. "Where were you when I was trying to persuade you?! How much money did I have to pay the Liu family for your stupid affair?! You remember now? Too late!"

He looked at his son's swollen face, panting as he looked at Li Xuemei.

Meeting his gaze, Li Xuemei cried even harder without him saying a word, collapsing to the ground and wailing, "Now I can't marry her even if I want to! She's engaged! They're getting their marriage certificate the day after tomorrow! Even if Liu Zhixia is a slut now, she's not someone our family can accept!"

"What! Which company is it?" Lu Jianping was startled, his voice filled with anxiety.

"I don't know! Just say it's not from our brigade!"

Hearing his parents still lamenting Liu Zhixia's passing, a glint of madness flashed in Lu Huaiyuan's eyes, and he immediately devised a wicked plan:

"Mother! Go and find out! Once we find out which brigade it is, we'll go and make a scene! We'll say that Liu Zhixia has been having an affair with me for a long time, and that she's a shameless slut! Let's see who will want her then!"

"Lu Huaiyuan!"

Before he could finish speaking, a loud shout came from the doorway, and Lu Kai stormed in!

Lu Huaiyuan met Lu Kai's eyes, which were burning with anger, and trembled with fear, his voice shaking: "Kai... Brother Kai... why are you here..."

Before he could finish speaking, Lu Kai had already rushed in front of him and slammed a powerful fist into his face!

Lu Huaiyuan flew out like a broken sandbag, crashing to the ground and unable to get up for a long time.

Li Xuemei and Lu Jianping were both stunned by this sudden scene.

"Lu Kai!" Lu Jianping was the first to react, shouting, "What's wrong with you! You didn't learn anything good in the army, and you've picked up a bandit's air about you?"

Lu Kai scoffed, "I am a soldier, a son of the people! My hands are for protecting our country and safeguarding the peace of every home. I bear the responsibility for the tranquility of the nation and its people! I am not like you despicable scoundrels!"

"How dare you! How can you speak to your elders like that!"

"Elders?" Lu Kai's eyes grew even colder. "When you allowed your son to steal our family's engagement token and break up my marriage agreement with the Liu family, did you never think of yourself as an elder?"

"How could you..." Lu Jianping was shocked.

"Your son just said it in front of the whole village!" Lu Kai pointed at Lu Huaiyuan, who was groaning on the ground, and said, word by word, "As the brigade leader, you have been extorting money and demanding bribes, and your conduct is improper! As a member of this brigade, I can write a letter of complaint to the commune at any time! You can just wait to be punished!"

"Xiao Kai!" Lu Jianping panicked completely, losing all composure. "We're family! Your father and I are brothers!"

"My father can't take that responsibility!" Lu Kai sneered. "After my father passed away, your family bullied my mother quite a bit. Don't think I didn't know just because I was in the army! My mother was just afraid of affecting me, so she didn't bother to argue with you!"

He clenched his fists, his icy gaze sweeping over the family of three, issuing a final warning:

"Listen up, if you ever dare to bully my mother again, or dare to covet the Liu family again, I, Lu Kai, will never let you get away with it! I am now a battalion commander, not the greenhorn you used to bully! Those leaders you bribed and fawned over will have to treat me with utmost respect!"

After saying that, he glanced at Lu Huaiyuan on the ground with disgust, then turned and strode away.

As soon as Lu Kai left, Lu Jianping felt as if his pillar had been ripped out. He slumped to the ground, his eyes glazed over, muttering, "It's over...it's all over..."

Lu Huaiyuan was still lying on the ground, feeling no pain on his face, muttering to himself as if possessed: "I want to marry Liu Zhixia... I want to marry Zhixia..."

Looking at the father and son, Li Xuemei angrily slammed her fist on the ground, "This marriage is off!"

"Not getting married?" Lu Jianping let out a desperate, cold laugh. "You think you can just say you won't get married? The whole brigade has seen it, his affair with Gu Mansheng is a done deal! If he doesn't get married, Gu Mansheng will sue him! Then your son can just wait to be shot!"

Li Xuemei was still not giving up: "Old man, aren't you still the captain? Get rid of that little bitch..."

"Are you deaf!" Lu Jianping abruptly interrupted her. "Didn't you hear Lu Kai say he was going to report me? If I make another mistake now, do you want me and our son to go to jail together? This marriage must go ahead! Right now!"

He gritted his teeth, his eyes turning incredibly fierce.

"Didn't she go to great lengths to get into the Lu family? Fine! Let her come in and see if she's even fit to enter the Lu family!"