Chapter 44
After being a "mama's girl" at home for two weeks, Iris finally went out to meet up with the A Team members on Su Wenqiang's birthday. They decided to celebrate at a karaoke bar. Iris and Zhuang Zhuoyuan arrived a few minutes early and were surprised to find that Wenqiang was surrounded by a group of hunky men in the center of the room, which was truly enviable.
Zhuang Zhuoyuan knew what his wife was thinking at a glance. When no one was paying attention, he turned around, scratched her chin, and whispered in her ear, "Don't drool. You're a married woman now."
Iris blushed, slapped his thigh, and said coquettishly, "Go away!"
As the couple were playing a game of tag, a commotion suddenly erupted outside, including Su Wenqiang's voice. The group rushed outside and saw a dejected man with several henchmen harassing Su Wenqiang. Even after the latter identified himself, Su Wenqiang showed no fear, instead shouting, "The police are beating people! The police are beating people!"
Seeing that the other party was a scoundrel, Zhuang Zhuoyuan, fearing something might happen to Iris, reached out to stop her, leaving her in the private room, and then went out with a group of brothers to surround the thugs. Unexpectedly, this time it was Qiu Junxuan who stepped forward. After the Zhong Yingjia incident, he had clearly matured a lot. This time, he stepped forward and reprimanded the other party with a stern face: "Gan Guowen, right? I remember I arrested you when I was in West Kowloon. Your boss is Ah Xiang, and he's most afraid of Cao Sir bothering him. If you keep making trouble, call your boss over so he can sing karaoke with you, okay?"
Gan Guowen finally calmed down a bit, but his expression was still disdainful, and he spoke casually: "It's just a misunderstanding, why make a big deal out of it? Let's go."
The gangsters turned and went into their room, but before they knew it, Inspector Zhan came out and grabbed one of the blond-haired guys: "Chung-jai, are you kidding me?"
The man called Congzai didn't answer, his face arrogant, before being pulled away by Gan Guowen. Iris then pulled Ah Xing aside and asked, "Who was that?"
“A new waiter at PC Bar,” Ah Xing replied.
Jianren added in a low voice, "It might be the son of Uncle Chao's old flame."
Guangzai then patted him on the shoulder and gave him a warning look.
Seeing that Inspector Zhan was paying attention to the blond boy, Qiu Junxuan asked with concern, "What's wrong?"
Zhan Hantao then explained, "He lied to my parents, saying his mother wasn't feeling well and he needed to take leave to go back and see her, but he actually came here to hang out." Clearly, he didn't have a good impression of Yang Shaocong, this delinquent youth. However, having met him, he didn't intend to let it go unchecked. Thinking about Qiu Junxuan's behavior earlier, Zhan Hantao asked, "Are you very familiar with these thugs?"
Qiu Junxuan truthfully replied: "I arrested them when I was in the Special Duties Squad before. Those thugs are inhuman."
A group of people had been standing outside for quite some time. Today was Su Wenqiang's birthday celebration, and Zhuang Zhuoyuan felt there was no need to dwell on it for the time being, lest he spoil everyone's fun. So he said, "Never mind, they've already left. It's Madam's birthday today, so let's all have a good time tonight."
The cake, made by Jason, was simple in design and sparsely decorated, reflecting Su Wenqiang's style. She made a wish as everyone sang "Happy Birthday," her smile sweet. The moment she opened her eyes, Iris pressed her, "Tell us what you wished for!"
Birthday wishes don't come true if spoken aloud, and she also wanted to keep them a secret for now. However, there was one wish that only Iris could grant, so Su Wenqiang spoke without hesitation: "I hope Iris publishes a new book soon! Although following short stories online is quite enjoyable, I really, really want to see you write another mystery novel!"
Zhuang Zhuoyuan immediately gave her a thumbs up; she truly deserved to be called the number one writer when it came to getting deadlines. He also had his own selfish motives; standing on the same side as Jennie, Zhuang Zhuoyuan also supported Iris taking a year off from school. However, the latter was still unwilling to budge, so he could only respect his wife's decision for now. After all, he was truly in the wrong in this matter; he had to bear more than half the responsibility for this accident. Of course, after the verdict, he accepted full responsibility.
A birthday party reignited Iris's gossip-loving spirit. Even in the car, she couldn't wait to ask Zhuang Zhuoyuan, "Is something going on between Ali and Qiang?"
Zhuang Zhuoyuan didn't react for a moment: "What's wrong with them? Are they arguing? That's normal, Ali can't control his mouth."
"Have you ever seen Ali verbally abuse me?" Iris was rather annoyed by his slowness. She had sensed something was off during their BBQ last time; Yu Xueli was constantly provoking Su Wenqiang, and today it was the same. It was clear he enjoyed teasing her: "Even if Ali has masochistic tendencies and likes being chased and beaten, try it on someone else and see if he fights back?"
"Hey!" Zhuang Zhuoyuan's eyes lit up, as if he had discovered an incredible secret. He planned to gather his brothers tomorrow to interrogate Yu Xueli.
But Iris immediately dismissed his idea: "I guess that silly boy hasn't realized that he feels differently about Ah Qiang, and as for Ah Qiang, I don't think she has that kind of feeling for him."
"Wife, how can you be so perceptive?" Zhuang Zhuoyuan admitted that his emotional intelligence was quite high, but compared to Iris, he felt he was far behind. He hadn't noticed any of the things she mentioned.
Iris raised his chin, quite confident in his guess: "Don't you even know what your wife does?"
Writing requires a certain amount of talent, and Iris is most praised for her incredibly nuanced psychological portrayals of characters. She excels at analysis, which means she relies heavily on meticulous observation. And what she might miss comes from a wealth of accumulated data; G-Force is also one of her informants.
Zhuang Zhuoyuan was quite used to Iris receiving large briefcases from G-Force from time to time, but unexpectedly, this time she even took a document from one of them and gave it to him. Iris was focused on the information she wanted and didn't seem very interested in the few sheets of paper she gave Zhuang Zhuoyuan. She said, "These are the files on Yang Shao Cong and Gan Guowen. I noticed Gan Guowen looked so bad the other day, with those dark circles under his eyes, so I suspected he was overindulging in sex or using drugs. That's why I asked G-Force to check." Ever since the car accident, Iris had developed an intense aversion to drug users. Even though she had given Qiu Junxuan face after Zhang Po pleaded for her, she still harbored a grudge. Thankfully, she and the baby were both alright!
Zhuang Zhuoyuan noticed Iris's momentary displeasure, went over and hugged her. She gave him a kiss in return, but it felt somewhat perfunctory. After that brief touch, she turned back to look at the thick stack of documents. Zhuang Zhuoyuan couldn't help but ask curiously, "What are you looking at?"
"Information on the King of Thieves and his wife."
"Du Tianyu and Yao Meiling?" Zhuang Zhuoyuan frowned subconsciously, not having a good impression of the couple, and also worried that Iris would secretly contact them: "You want to write about them in your next story? Don't tell me that after reading these materials, your next plan is to visit them in prison?"
“Visiting prisoners is something only Ella does; I have no interest in it.” Iris paused her reading, earnestly trying to reassure him: “I used to think that interacting with criminals was interesting, but I haven’t thought so since Ella disappeared. Don’t worry, honey, I won’t talk to Du Tianyu. I have a feeling he’s a terrifying person, and I won’t put myself and the baby in danger. But I am indeed a little interested in his and his wife’s story, which is why I asked G-Force to collect some rumors. I want to see what kind of people they really are.”
"Shall I read it to you? I also want to see what G-Force dug up." Curiosity was one thing, but Zhuang Zhuoyuan had no reason to stop Iris from continuing her investigation. He put Gan Guowen's file aside and went to bed with Iris, practically treating the story of the king and queen of thieves as a bedtime story. But before starting, he suddenly remembered something: "By the way, BB, I thought of a nickname for the baby today. How about Tangyuan? It sounds cute, round and round, and it can be used for both boys and girls."
"Tangyuan, Tangyuan," Iris murmured twice, then placed her hand on her lower abdomen and finally decided, "Okay, we'll call him Tangyuan!" She really hoped the baby would be born soon so she could pinch his cheeks. Her and Ayuan's baby would definitely be adorable.
"It's almost the size of a glutinous rice ball now, isn't it?" Iris's belly was still flat, but Zhuang Zhuoyuan liked to place his palm on it. Whenever he did this, he would feel a magical connection to life. Pregnancy truly always brings hope.
On one side, they were enjoying their sweet time together, while on the other side of the Zhan family, they were arguing fiercely over Yang Shao Cong. Pauline stormed off in a huff, and Zhan Hantao chased after her, eventually ending up at the villa together.
"That Uncle Chao, he's infuriating! He's so biased towards that Congzi! He doesn't mind him being late or leaving early, he doesn't care about his laziness or slacking off, and now, I clearly saw him take money from the cash register and give it to some thug, and your Uncle Chao is saying I must have seen wrong, and that he gave the money to Congzi. Tell me, isn't that infuriating? He treats outsiders better than his own family!"
Pauline remained visibly angry throughout; it was the first time Iris had ever seen her so upset. However, the fact that she had even brought her suitcase showed her determination to "break ties" with Uncle Chao. Iris quickly offered her a teacup, trying to quell the situation: "Pauline, here, have some tea first, soothe your throat before we talk."
Zhan Hantao stood in front of the sofa with an apologetic look on his face: "I'm sorry, Mrs. Zhou, Iris, Ayuan, and Madam Zhuang, I'm sorry to have disturbed your family."
"Why are you saying that? Pauline has always been so good to me and Iris, like our own children. Now that she's saying she's moving in, we're overjoyed. It's giving us a chance to be filial to her and take care of her. I feel so honored, don't you, BB?"
"Exactly!" Zhuang Zhuoyuan put his arm around Pauline, and she seemed much happier. Iris chimed in, "We're so happy that Pauline is staying here! I was saying I wanted to learn how to make soup from her, and now I have the chance. And with my wedding to A-Yuan, we've been racking our brains over the dowry and bride price these past few days. Pauline's here will definitely help us out, right, Mommy?"
“Of course.” Jennie put down her teacup and nodded. “Mrs. Zhan takes good care of Ah Yuan and Iris, I know, so we welcome you to our home anytime. Pauline, may I call you that? You can stay with us as long as you like.” With a wave of her hand, the maid took Pauline’s luggage to the guest room.
There's even less of a problem with Chong Cheuk-wah.
“Thank you, Aunty,” Zhan Hantao said gratefully. After exchanging glances with the Zhuang siblings and Iris, he said sincerely again, “Then I’ll trouble you to take care of her for me.”
After the first round, Pauline was still angry and felt a little apologetic for bothering them: "That jerk and I have been married for decades, and he would never talk back to me for the sake of outsiders. This time he really went too far, which is why I ran away from home. So I can only trouble you."
"Don't say that, Pauline." Iris hugged her. She could actually understand Pauline's feelings. If Zhuang Zhuoyuan were to argue with her over an outsider, she would definitely run back to her parents' house. Putting everything else aside, this villa was originally prepared for her.
She was indignant, but Zhuang Zhuoyuan was much better at mediating than she was. He followed up the same "Don't say that" with different words: "Uncle Chao is indeed a bit soft-hearted, but think about it, being soft-hearted is his strength. It means he has no temper and won't make you angry. Other women envy you for having such a husband; you're the one who's lucky."
"Don't make me laugh, you're making me forget my anger." After a few kind words, Pauline immediately smiled. Zhan Hantao also cheered and joined Zhuang Zhuoyuan in saying, "It's good that you're not angry. You look so beautiful when you smile! It's not worth ruining your health for outsiders."
Pauline could easily see through their intentions, and immediately put away her smile: "Don't think that just because you two are working together, I'll be fine. That loser is determined to protect that bad boy. I'm afraid he'll eventually give in to his old ways and let that hoodlum go, which will only lead to his early retirement."
Iris gradually felt reassured by the concern conveyed in her words, believing that the couple would soon reconcile. However, she was hearing for the first time what Pauline mentioned in her drawing. She hadn't expected Uncle Chao to have such a past.
Zhuang Zhuohua also became interested: "So the rumors are true?" She put down her work and leaned closer to listen.
A slight blush appeared on Zhan Hantao's face: "You know about him too? I really didn't expect my father to be so famous in the police force."
Chong Cheuk-wah then comforted her, saying, "You weren't involved, and you weren't even there at the time. The facts might not be as you imagine." With one wave of trouble already settled, she certainly didn't want to stir up another.
“Yes,” Zhuang Zhuoyuan continued, “Perhaps Uncle Chao had his reasons back then.”
Pauline was reluctant to talk about this, because she felt helpless whenever she did: "The problem is that I'm too soft-hearted. I was too soft-hearted for a moment, and in the end, Yang Shao Cong's father was killed. Anyway, I don't care anymore. I won't go back until your dad comes to apologize to me."
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