Living like a widow? My rough neighbor is coaxing me to have a baby every night.

Let's just consider the mess from before Chapter 79 a closed chapter.

He raised his head, his face filled with pain and deep emotion: "To break things off completely with that woman, to give Lili and the child a clear explanation, I gave them all my savings from over the years, plus the money I borrowed from my colleagues—a total of five hundred yuan! As long as they're willing to sign and leave, I'd give them my life!"

Yan Xiujuan sat in the chair opposite, her brows furrowing as she listened to these words.

"Five hundred yuan?" Yan Xiujuan raised an eyebrow. This was a huge sum of money in those days, almost two years' wages for a worker.

"You think you can just give me money like that? Who knows if things are really completely clean up after all?"

Yan Xiujuan interrupted coldly, her sharp gaze fixed on Zhao Gang, "What if those country folk get a taste of success and come back to cause trouble in a couple of days? Our family isn't a charity!"

"Mom, don't worry!" Zhao Gang swore urgently, holding up three fingers. "I've already filed a report at the police station! It's clearly written in the agreement: money and goods exchanged, and we'll never have anything to do with each other again! If they dare to come back, that's extortion, and they'll be arrested and jailed! They're only after money; they took the money and ran away that very night, afraid I'd go back on my word!"

Hearing this, Wang Lili finally couldn't hold back anymore, and tears streamed down her face like a broken string of pearls: "Gangzi... how could you be so foolish... so much money..."

Taking advantage of the moment, Zhao Gang crawled two steps to Wang Lili's feet. Ignoring Yan Xiujuan's presence, he grabbed Wang Lili's leg and buried his face in the hem of her skirt, weeping bitterly.

"For you and the child, I'd be willing to sell my blood, let alone spend money! Lili, I'm penniless now, but my life is yours and the child's. As long as you don't despise me, I'll serve you and the three of you like a slave from now on! I'll never let you suffer any hardship!"

These words completely shattered Wang Lili's psychological defenses.

Yan Xiujuan looked at the two of them crying together, feeling a mix of emotions.

Although she utterly despised Zhao Gang, this swindler, she was indeed in a dead end.

Lili was carrying twins, and as her pregnancy progressed, it was impossible to hide it any longer.

Since Zhao Gang has gotten a divorce and cleaned up the mess, this is currently the only solution.

We can't really let our daughter have an abortion while heavily pregnant, or give birth to a child without a father who will be talked about behind her back for the rest of her life, can we?

"Alright!"

Yan Xiujuan picked up the divorce certificate, flipped it open, and glanced at it. The red stamp on it was glaringly red, but it was indeed the seal of the Civil Affairs Bureau.

She slammed the marriage certificate on the coffee table, her expression softening slightly. "Now that we're married, I'll consider all those past grievances forgotten. But Zhao Gang, I'm warning you, this is the last time. If I find out you have anything to do with that country woman again, or if any rumors circulate about you two in this compound, don't blame me for turning against you! I'll make sure you can't stay in Yun County!"

Zhao Gang felt a relief on his back; the heavy stone that had been pressing down on him and making it hard to breathe had finally been lifted off the ground.

He scrambled to his feet, ignoring the pain in his knees, and nodded vigorously, "Mom, don't worry! If I misbehave again, you can break my legs! I'll stay by Lili's side for the rest of my life!"

Wang Lili had finished crying by then. She reached out her slender white hand and gently tugged at Zhao Gang's sleeve, her voice as soft as cotton: "Gangzi... are you hungry? Your lips are all chapped..."

Zhao Gang grasped that hand in return, his eyes welling up again, this time with emotion: "I'm not hungry. Seeing you and the child doing well makes me feel full."

Yan Xiujuan watched this scene and shook her head helplessly. "Silly girl, you're already softening? You'll regret this later."

Just as the atmosphere had eased and Zhao Gang thought he had finally escaped a disaster, heavy footsteps suddenly came from outside the door.

The footsteps were steady and powerful, each step feeling like it was treading on one's heart.

Immediately afterwards, the sound of a key being inserted into the lock came through clearly.

"Click."

The door opened.

A middle-aged man wearing a dark gray Zhongshan suit and carrying a briefcase walked in.

He was tall and burly, with a square face and thick eyebrows that exuded an air of authority. He was Wang Jianguo, who had just returned from a business trip.

The three people in the room froze at the same time.

Zhao Gang was as if struck by lightning; his previously relaxed back instantly straightened, and cold sweat poured down his back.

As soon as Wang Jianguo entered the room, he sensed that something was wrong.

The curtains were drawn, the lights were on in broad daylight, and a sense of oppression still permeated the air.

His gaze swept over Zhao Gang, who was kneeling beside the carpet, and then looked at his daughter with swollen eyes and his wife with a pale face. His brows furrowed deeply.

"What are you doing? Not opening the windows during the day? Are you practicing feudal superstition?"

Wang Jianguo placed his briefcase on the chest of drawers by the door, his voice booming, carrying the imposing aura of someone who had long held a high position.

Yan Xiujuan's heart skipped a beat. She quickly stood up, her body intentionally or unintentionally blocking the coffee table: "Old Wang, why are you back at this hour? Didn't you say you wouldn't arrive until the afternoon? Lili... Lili isn't feeling well, Gangzi came to check on her..."

"Not feeling well?" Wang Jianguo glanced at Zhao Gang, but instead of his usual fatherly smile, his eyes held a hint of scrutiny and suspicion.

As he changed his shoes, he said casually, "When I went upstairs just now, I ran into Old Liu from the second floor, and that loud-voiced Hu Mei. Why were they looking at me like that? Especially Hu Mei, she asked me in a sarcastic tone if a happy occasion in my family was going to turn into a funeral, and she also asked if I knew about the commotion at the supply and marketing cooperative yesterday."

Wang Jianguo changed into slippers, straightened up, and stared intently at Zhao Gang. His tone turned cold: "Zhao Gang, you also work at the supply and marketing cooperative. Tell me, what's been going on at the cooperative's gate these past two days? Why is everyone in the compound talking behind my back?"

At this, not only Zhao Gang, but even Yan Xiujuan's face turned pale.

The thing I feared most has finally happened.

Wang Jianguo is very concerned about his reputation. If he knew that he had been made a fool of by a poor country boy for so long, the consequences would be...

Zhao Gang felt his throat tighten and his legs trembled so badly he could barely stand. The flawless story he had just prepared suddenly became pale and powerless in front of his father-in-law, who had been immersed in officialdom for decades, like a window paper that could be torn at any moment.

"Dad...I..." Zhao Gang opened his mouth, his voice dry as if he were chewing wax.

Before he could finish speaking, Wang Jianguo's gaze suddenly fell on the divorce certificate on the coffee table, which hadn't yet been put away. The bright red cover was glaringly obvious in the dim light.

"What's that?" Wang Jianguo pointed at the coffee table, his voice dropping to freezing.