Chapter 24 Hunger Strike and Compromise

Chu Ci was taken aback, not expecting Cheng Zhenzhen to be so confused.

Hearing her grandmother's anxious voice on the phone, she agreed.

"I understand, Grandma. I'll be there now. Please remember to call the police."

"Call the police?"

The landlady snatched the phone.

After all, she was her own daughter. Even though she was so angry that her head was spinning, she still didn't want her daughter to go to jail.

"Aci, isn't this too serious?"

If that brat in her family knew that she and her father had called the police to arrest her, she could easily sever all ties with them.

Chu Ci sighed, "Auntie, do you think the man that Sister Zhenzhen chose is a good person?"

"Of course! He practically has scheming written all over his face, only that brat Cheng Zhenzhen can't see it!"

"So, what do you think that man will do to Sister Zhenzhen after he gets the money and achieves his goal?"

“I…” The landlady’s voice froze.

She opened her mouth, unwilling to believe it, "He might have his own schemes, but he shouldn't be trying to harm Zhenzhen, right?"

The landlady still held onto hope for the couple's relationship, but Cheng Zhenzhen's father, Cheng Yingkang, turned pale.

"Master, I understand what you mean. I'll call the police right away."

He hung up the call with Chu Ci and redialed the police number on the landline.

The landlady was puzzled. "I don't think it's that serious. If we call the police, what if that brat Zhenzhen causes trouble again..."

"Then let her make a scene. It's better for her to make a scene at home than for something to happen outside."

As Cheng Yingkang said this, he didn't mention to the police that his daughter had run off with the money. He only said that his daughter's gigolo boyfriend had stolen the money and kidnapped his daughter.

Fortunately, the police were called in time. Cheng Zhenzhen grew up in this area and all the neighbors knew her. When the police came to ask, everyone gave her clues.

Around 8 p.m., the suspect was caught red-handed.

Seeing her unrepentant daughter, the landlady was furious and slapped her without hesitation.

She slapped Cheng Zhenzhen with all her might, and half of Cheng Zhenzhen's face swelled up visibly as she stared at her mother in disbelief.

After a moment of stunned silence, he roared in a hoarse voice, "You hit me? You hit me for something so trivial?!"

"You actually think this is a small matter?"

The landlady is now unable to cry, and even feels that she didn't slap her hard enough.

She and her husband only have one daughter, whom they have cherished like a precious jewel since she was little.

When their child was young, it was the busiest time for their business, and they lacked the time to spend with their child. By the time the couple realized it, the child had already started to go astray.

For the sake of her children, she had to give up her career and stay home to take care of them, leaving her husband to run the business alone.

Faced with her daughter's skewed development, she always felt it was due to her and her husband's neglect, so she always tried to make amends with a sense of guilt.

But she never imagined that her guilt and attempts to make amends for her daughter would damage her brain!

“Cheng Zhenzhen, your father and I haven’t hidden anything from you about our family affairs. You should know that the cash in the house is what your father uses for his business. Without that cash, your father can’t produce the goods and will have to lose money. Do you know how much money he’ll have to lose?”

Cheng Zhenzhen sneered, "So, you hit me for such a small amount of money?"

She rushed to her mother like a madwoman, grabbed her shoulders, and shook her violently.

"Then keep hitting me! Just kill me already!"

As she wished, the landlady slapped her across the other side of her face.

Cheng Zhenzhen was completely dumbfounded.

She never expected that even after making such a scene, her parents would still blame her.

Her eyes widened in panic for a moment, and tears immediately streamed down her face.

"Mom...Mom, don't be angry, I won't do it again..."

She frantically tried to tug at her mother's clothes, but her mother shoved her away.

"mom……"

The young man next to her, who was handcuffed, watched the whole thing, his eyes darting around before he finally focused his attention on Cheng Zhenzhen.

"Auntie, blame me if something's wrong! It's all my fault, it has nothing to do with Zhenzhen..."

Cheng Zhenzhen was deeply moved, and the scales in her heart instantly tipped in favor of the man, completely dispelling the slight panic that had just arisen.

"Release my husband right now! I took the money from the house! What law did I break by taking my own money?! Take off the handcuffs on my husband right now!"

She frantically pulled at the handcuffs on the pretty boy's hands, but Cheng Yingkang pulled them off.

"My mom doesn't support me, and neither do you!" Cheng Zhenzhen cried angrily. "Why do you only care about whether he has money or not, and never about how he treats me? Does my happiness mean nothing to you?!"

Cheng Yingkang was so angry that he couldn't say a word.

Although his daughter was a little out of her element when she was young, she was still very sharp-witted and quick-witted.

Now it seems that as it grew, it lost its eyes and brain!

He grabbed his daughter and said, "Taking something without asking is stealing! He broke into a house and stole, no matter how you try to take the blame, he's still stealing!"

After saying that, he called the leading officer "Big Brother".

The middle-aged police officer watched the whole thing and couldn't help but sigh for his brother.

No matter how well he does outside, if his own child is disappointing, his younger brother will suffer for the rest of his life.

He patted Cheng Yingkang on the shoulder, then had someone put the pretty boy into the car, glancing at Cheng Zhenzhen who was still making a scene.

"Brother, you really need to teach your daughter well."

Cheng Yingkang has been working with this police officer for many years, so he's not afraid of being laughed at for causing this kind of trouble.

Shaking his head helplessly, looking dejected, he said, "My daughter is still causing trouble. I'm sorry to trouble you this time, brother. When you have time, bring your brothers together for a get-together."

The officer smiled and nodded, exchanged a few pleasantries with him, and then took a police car back to the police station.

Cheng Yingkang is right, Cheng Zhenzhen still has a lot of trouble to cause.

Seeing that her tantrums and outbursts had failed to stop the man she loved from going to jail, she decided to go on a hunger strike that very night.

Her mother was furious. "If you don't want to eat, then don't! You're starving anyway, so you won't even see that pretty boy!"

As she said this, she really didn't bring Cheng Zhenzhen any food for two days.

Cheng Zhenzhen, who was always pampered, changed her usual spoiled ways and didn't touch a drop of water for two whole days.

By the third day, it was the parents who couldn't hold on any longer.

The husband and wife align their information.

"That brat really hasn't eaten for two days?"

"No! I'm so angry! What's so great about that pretty boy! I've been watching her room for the past two days, and she hasn't come out at all!"

Years ago, considering their daughter's need for privacy, they installed a bathroom in her room so she wouldn't have to leave the bedroom to use the toilet.

For two whole days, that brat hasn't left her bedroom!

Cheng Yingkang's expression changed slightly. "Could it be that they ran away again?"

“I was on guard. I went over and knocked on the door every two hours, and if no one answered, I forced my way in.”

The landlady rubbed her forehead.

She stared at it for so long that she barely closed her eyes.

That brat really came to collect a debt!

On the third day, she couldn't resist bringing her daughter some food.

After being starved for three days, the first thing the daughter said was to tell them to release that pretty boy.

The couple were so angry that they threw down their food and left.

On the morning of the fourth day, the two knocked on the door again, but there was no response from inside.

When they rushed in, they found the food untouched and the person had fainted from hunger.

After taking the person to the hospital, the landlady broke down in tears in Chu Ci's shop.

"That brat, she was born to cause trouble. I don't know what she's thinking, she keeps saying that her father and I don't love her, and that her father and I don't want her to be happy at all, we only want that pretty boy!"

"She doesn't even realize that she's our only daughter, how could we not love her?"

“Back then, her father and I were worried she would suffer, so we stubbornly refused to have a second child! Now that she's grown up, she actually thinks of her father and me like this…”

There was a pile of used tissues in front of the landlady, and her eyes were so swollen that they were almost completely slits.

Grandma sat beside her and couldn't help but sigh.

"Oh, this child, she was fine when she was little, how did she become like this? She was so sensible before!"

Grandma's words were somewhat exaggerated.

Cheng Zhenzhen was willful and spoiled when she was a child. If she was unhappy, she would kick even a dog that passed by.

But ultimately, he's still a good kid.

I don't know how it turned out like this.

Chu Ci sat in a recliner on the side, flipping through the book "The Crash Course," her eyelids drooping.

A child like Cheng Zhenzhen, who was spoiled by her parents, is unlikely to have the idea that her parents don't love her.

Is it just willfulness, or is there another reason?

The landlady cried and complained to the old lady for a long time before revealing the purpose of her visit.

"Aci, your Uncle Cheng and I would like to ask you for a favor."

She took out the money, placed it on the table, and sniffed.

"Your Uncle Cheng and I want you to help us calculate whether Zhenzhen and that pretty boy will have a good future together."

Chu Ci looked up in surprise, "Are you planning to approve of them being together?"

“What can we do if we disagree?” the landlady choked up. “I’ve never seen that stubborn girl so obstinate in my life. She’s really willing to gamble with her own life.”

She truly felt sorry for her daughter. Rather than watching her starve to death, she preferred to let her try dating that pretty boy.

Anyway, that pretty boy isn't a good person. What if Zhenzhen suddenly sees through him one day?

Chu Ci looked at the helpless landlady and couldn't help but sigh.

"I can help her calculate it, but can she come over?"

The landlady shook her head. "Could you please come with us to the hospital to see her? She's still lying in bed and can't get up."

Grandma: "Ah Ci, you go ahead, I'll watch the shop for you."

Chu Ci followed the landlady over and saw Cheng Zhenzhen in the ward.

She went hungry for three days without a drop of water and almost became dehydrated.

Now, lying weakly in his hospital bed, he looked at them and gave a cold snort.

"Mom, you watched Chu Ci grow up, don't you know her capabilities? Are you really treating her like a master?"

"Shut up!" The landlady glared at her, both distressed and angry. "If it weren't for Aci, you would have been sold off by that pretty boy by now!"

"What?" Cheng Zhenzhen's eyes widened as she stared intently at Chu Ci. "What does this have to do with her?!"

She glared at him, and Chu Ci looked up to meet her gaze.

In the instant their eyes met, she saw Cheng Zhenzhen's tragic future.

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Author's note: Still 20 little red envelopes, thank you for your support, my darlings! [kissing emojis]