She knew perfectly well what kind of person Zhang Ping was...
Gao Xiulian doesn't remember which year it was, but while cleaning Zhang Ping's room when he was in junior high school, she found a boy's underwear under his pillow.
There was also an unidentified liquid on the underwear.
She's been through it all; how could she not know what that liquid was? She always thought it was her son growing up.
But those underwear weren't made for him at all... until he found another pair under his pillow again.
She panicked, but suppressed her bad thoughts and slowly and secretly looked for her son's unusual behavior, until she saw him stuffing one thin picture book after another under the straw on the kang (a heated brick bed).
That must be from overseas.
Two men together... it's truly an eyesore to watch.
She realized her son was abnormal back then, but didn't make a fuss. As soon as he came of age, she forced him to go on blind dates with girls... She pressured him year after year until he finally brought home a girl named Shen Mingzhi who had no parents.
She never spoke out about this matter.
She originally thought her son was just doing it secretly, but who knew the whole army knew?!
“He’s not like that…” Gao Xiulian murmured, repeating herself.
Jiang Shao Chen looked at her sitting on the ground, his face cold and stern. "You know best whether it's true or not!"
Her actions indicated that she knew.
"What's that called again when you're messing around with men? A homosexual relationship, right?!"
"Does a homosexual still get married?"
"They like men and hate women. I've seen this when I was studying abroad. They even get jealous of women."
People were discussing it animatedly.
Gao Xiulian felt utterly humiliated. Her fingers dug into the ground as tears streamed down her face. "I didn't mean to... I didn't mean to accuse you of adultery. It was that District Chief Song. He wanted to get back at your Jiang family, so he came to my door and said he'd give me a thousand yuan if I did what he said. It was all his doing..."
The crowd, having been exposed to a shocking revelation, gathered even closer.
"Zhizhi... please forgive the Jiang family this time, considering that Zhang Ping helped you once before?" Zhang Hua knelt down.
She had only just learned of Jiang Shaozhen's words and was still recovering from the shock. When she saw her mother sitting on the ground wailing, she felt that she had no choice but to kneel down and obtain the Jiang family's forgiveness.
Shen Mingzhi was holding the child and couldn't pull her away.
Zhang Hua had virtually no presence in the Zhang family.
She married an ordinary man and lived an ordinary life. When her family had problems, they would pull her over, and sometimes they would even make her children play the role of the victim.
Shen Mingzhi didn't actually sympathize with her.
After all, Zhang Hua is an adult, and she should know what she is doing, but she still followed her mother to harm herself and Jiang Shaochen.
"This is a matter for the law. What am I supposed to say to him? When you came here with your mother to slander me and him, did you think about what would happen to us if you succeeded?" Shen Mingzhi asked her coldly.
Zhang Hua was speechless after being rebuked.
“You also got a share of the money and benefited from it. You know that if you benefit from something, you will be punished,” Shen Mingzhi said, turning to go back.
“I didn’t take any money…” Zhang Hua explained.
Shen Mingzhi didn't know what to say for a moment.
That makes sense, Gao Xiulian is a greedy and selfish person, how could she possibly give money to her married daughter!
But that's no longer something Shen Mingzhi needs to consider.
Shen Mingzhi carried the child back to the courtyard.
Jiang Shaozhen stared into Gao Xiulian's eyes and said, "You'd better go back now, or I'll have to take you to the police station during the holiday!"
He finished speaking with a cold face, then turned around and went back into the yard, closing the gate behind him.
Shen Mingzhi waited until he returned to the kitchen before asking, "You always knew Zhang Ping was gay?"
"Gay men?" Jiang Shaozhen asked, puzzled.
“I just like gay men,” Shen Mingzhi explained.
Jiang Shaozhen was silent for a while, seemingly organizing his thoughts. After he finished, he said to Shen Mingzhi, "Let me tell you about him from the beginning."
Shen Mingzhi and Zhang Ping were not familiar with each other, but... the original owner of this body had lived with Zhang Ping for a period of time. Thinking about it, even if she didn't want to listen, the person who had already left would want to listen, right?
“Zhang Ping and I both finished high school and then went to the army. At first, we didn’t know he liked men because he was very gentle and kind to everyone. He was very familiar with my older brother at first and took special care of him,” Jiang Shaozhen explained to Shen Mingzhi while kneading the dough.
Shen Mingzhi listened quietly, and after he finished speaking, she couldn't help but interject, "Is your older brother also very handsome?"
Jiang Shao Chen noticed that she used the word "also" and asked, "Do you think I'm handsome?"
"Yes, please continue." Since the two of them had such feelings for each other, Shen Mingzhi had nothing to hide.
“Yes, my older brother is very manly. He is upright and responsible. Zhang Ping is rather gentle. As new recruits, they inevitably get bullied and harassed by the veterans. It was always my older brother who helped protect him. Gradually, he and my older brother became very close,” Jiang Shaozhen told her.
Shen Mingzhi nodded.
“He did like my older brother… When my older brother found out, he was terrified. But since the two of them had a really good relationship, my older brother didn’t deliberately ignore him. Instead, he made things clear to him, and the two of them became complete strangers.”
Jiang Shaochen paused here, "Until one mission, when my older brother was in danger, he risked his life to save him. My older brother remembered the kindness, but because of his special circumstances, he was also in a difficult position."
"So, in the end, your older brother considered taking care of me because of this reason?" Shen Mingzhi asked.
Jiang Shaozhen nodded, "Yes, because Zhang Ping really felt sorry for you. He saw you all alone and thought that taking you home would make his parents accept you and he wouldn't have to suffer because of marriage anymore. He could abandon you, but if things came to light, you would have no parents, no relatives, and you would be completely controlled by him."
Shen Mingzhi didn't know how to answer.
All I can say is that they are indeed very shrewd and calculating.
They feel guilty, but they also consider their own interests.
She wasn't sure what would happen if the original owner knew, but she felt that... given the original owner's living in this era, coupled with her limited understanding and her own unfortunate situation, Zhang Ping might really have her completely under his thumb.
To put it bluntly, the original owner of this body really did marry him. Wasn't the original owner a wife of a gay man?
Shen Mingzhi felt a chill run down her spine; thankfully, he hadn't applied for marriage back then.
“Do you know why he didn’t apply for marriage? It was my older brother who persuaded him. My older brother felt that he was doing you a disservice. If he doesn’t like you, or even dislikes you, why would he tie you down for life?” Jiang Shaozhen said with a sigh.
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