Zhou Fukun's mind was racing. Now that things had come to this, he had no choice but to abandon his son.

If they insist they're here to steal, petty theft might just result in a scolding.

Seeing the tense exchange between the father and son, Li Shiqing coughed and said, "Everyone's here now, Zhou Yanshan, can you speak now?"

Zhou Yanshan wasn't stupid. After he was arrested, he gritted his teeth and didn't say a word. No matter how the onlookers speculated, he was waiting for his father, Zhou Fukun, to arrive.

Before Zhou Yanshan could speak, Zhou Fukun said first, "What are you doing peeking through someone's back window in the middle of the night? We're not short of food or drink for you. If you're not going to steal, explain it to everyone. Otherwise, with Shen Heng unconscious and Bai Jiaojiao inside, aren't you just putting her in danger?"

Zhou Yanshan immediately understood Zhou Fukun's meaning. He straightened up from the ground and knelt down before Zhou Fukun: "Father, I was wrong!"

"You bastard, what is it all for? Your Uncle Qing is right here, so explain yourself!"

Seeing Zhou Yanshan's reaction, Zhou Fukun knew that his son understood what he meant.

Zhou Yanshan glanced at Bai Jiaojiao with an expression of difficulty, while Bai Jiaojiao, with a cold face, heard Zhou Yanshan say, "Bai Jiaojiao asked me to come tonight. She said her man is impotent and she wants to find someone to rely on."

As soon as Zhou Yanshan said this, the onlookers outside gasped in shock.

They still vividly remembered Bai Jiaojiao's previous desperate attempts to win Wenli's heart. It was just that their man was still alive, yet he was already in such a hurry to find someone else, and a married man at that...

The crowd outside were whispering amongst themselves when Bai Shibao kicked one of them, yelling, "Watch your mouth, you son of a bitch!"

Zhou Yanshan was kicked backward by Bai Shibao. He felt a pain in his chest and coughed for a long time but couldn't cough anything up.

"I'm telling the truth!"

"Zhou Yanshan, you're not human!"

The speaker was Li Xiulian. Her husband was climbing through someone's window in the middle of the night, and she, as his wife, felt ashamed.

But she only felt resentment towards Zhou Yanshan, not hatred.

Li Xiulian turned to Bai Jiaojiao, who was looking at them with disdain, and said, "It's all your fault, you shameless vixen! You seduced my Yanshan, I'm going to kill you!"

"Smack!"

A handprint appeared on Li Xiulian's face, and Bai Shiqing's hand ached from the slap: "If you don't want to lose face, you'd better shut up now."

Li Xiulian looked down on Bai Shiqing the most in the village. They were about the same age, and although Li Xiulian was the village chief's daughter, she was not as outstanding as Bai Shiqing in any way. Even Zhu Shengping only had eyes for Bai Shiqing back then.

After being slapped by Bai Shiqing, Li Xiulian immediately went berserk. She started fighting with Bai Shiqing, but Bai Shiqing was well-liked in the village and had many female friends. Many people stepped in to help her, and Li Xiulian's hair was torn to shreds.

"What are you all doing! Shiqing, stop!"

Li Shiqing looked at the farce his daughter-in-law was putting on and helplessly called for a halt.

She even thought the matter wasn't troublesome enough, and stirred up another storm.

"Jiaojiao, is what he said true?"

Li Shiqing asked Bai Jiaojiao.

"Of course not, Uncle Qing. The brigade leader happened to come to see Brother Heng today. He saw Zhou Yanshan prying open our window with a razor blade. If I had lured him here, why would he need to resort to such methods?"

Bai Jiaojiao's explanation was light and airy, without the slightest hint of panic, and everyone believed her.

Bai Jiaojiao's reputation over the past few months has not been built up in vain; the villagers believe she has reformed.

Most importantly, they trusted their brigade leader, Zheng Xu, whose character was highly regarded in Shili Village.

Between a brigade leader who serves the people and a captain's son who is arrogant towards the villagers because of his good family background, it's obvious who everyone should believe.

A look of shock flashed in Zhou Fukun's eyes. He looked at Zhou Yanshan as if blaming him for being captured by Zheng Xu.

Zhou Yan said, "Maybe the captain was also someone you invited to a secret meeting? We've run into each other, and he's on your side, so of course he'll speak up for you."

"Zhou Yanshan, if you can't speak properly, then shut your mouth!"

Zheng Xu never expected the Zhou family to be so shameless, saying anything to clear themselves of any wrongdoing.

Zhou Yanshan said, "Everyone in our village knows that Bai Jiaojiao came from the city and acts like a capitalist's daughter. She doesn't care about these kinds of things at all. You should explain yourself. What business could you possibly have with Bai Jiaojiao in the dark?!"

Zhou Yanshan, with his neck stiff, was still managed to get a point out of Zhou Yanshan, even though he didn't mean anything by it.

Suddenly, he was kicked hard in the back.

If Bai Shibao's kick just now was meant to teach him a lesson, this kick was practically aimed at killing him.

Everyone stared in shock at Shen Heng standing behind Zhou Yanshan. Before Li Shiqing could even feel happy, Shen Heng grabbed Zhou Yanshan and slammed his fist, which was as big as a steamed bun, into him.

"What are you all standing there for? Go and stop them! Don't let someone get killed!"

Li Shiqing shoved Li Shuxian, and Li Shuxian, as the son, immediately stepped in. He seemed to be trying to break up the fight, but in reality, he made it easier for Zhou Yanshan to get beaten up.

Li Shiqing immediately saw through the ulterior motive and got up from his seat. He hadn't expected that someone as old as him, almost a grandfather, would still be here trying to break up a fight.

"Stop! Stop right now, Shen Heng, just give me some face!" Li Shiqing grabbed Shen Heng's wrist. If Shen Heng hadn't been giving him face, he would have broken free long ago.

Shen Heng has recovered his spirits, but his muscles are still very weak. He didn't stand on ceremony and plopped down in the spot where Li Shiqing had been sitting.

"I got beaten up just now because of the nonsense you made about my wife. My daughter is blind, she wouldn't even look at someone like you."

Shen Heng grabbed Bai Jiaojiao's hand as she leaned closer, glancing at Zhou Yanshan, who was lying half-dead on the ground.

Despite his son being beaten so badly, Zhou Fukun remained silent.

He stared intently at Shen Heng, who sat in the high seat, thinking that almost the entire village was gathered here now, and that he was truly doomed this time.

Now that things have come to this, Zhou Yanshan knows there's no going back. It seems he's fallen into a trap and been caught red-handed.

"As for the matter of you and your father causing my death, now in front of the villagers, let's settle it."

"What do you mean by 'harming his life'? Didn't you say he fell into the sea while fishing?"

"No wonder he sent his son to break into someone's window late at night; he was afraid the person wasn't quite dead yet."

People started whispering and discussing it.

“Village chief, brigade leader, I’m willing to testify that when we were returning, there were some waves at sea. Zhou Yanshan said that something was chasing the ship. Shen Heng is unlucky. It must be something in the sea that wants to keep him. If we don’t push him overboard, none of us will be able to come back!”