Chapter 676: Chapter 674: Kind Father 53
After coming out, these people started inquiring about Ah Chen.
That day, Ah Chen was stopped, and Ma Zihou, with his henchmen, fell to their knees in front of her with a thud, begging her for mercy.
Li Feiwei squinted his eyes. Although he didn’t know what was going on, he could guess that these people must have offended his senior back then, but he didn’t find anything out at the time.
"Are they crazy?" Ah Chen pretended to be confused, "Always this inexplicable behavior."
Ma Zihou and his group turned pale, then were blocked by bodyguards, unable to get closer to Ah Chen.
If it were someone else, they would rush forward and fight back, making sure others wouldn’t have it easy either. But they were facing Ran Chen, and they couldn’t muster any resistance, only hoping she would kindly let them go.
The result was bound to disappoint them.
Watching Ran Chen’s departing figure, Ma Zihou and his cronies were genuinely regretful, wishing they had never provoked her in the first place.
How did they end up provoking Ran Chen?
Ma Zihou’s minions quickly remembered; it was Ma Zihou who, because of his lascivious intentions towards her, got them into trouble.
Before Ma Zihou could come to his senses, he was pinned down and beaten up by the same minions.
Hearing what they were shouting, he angrily rebuked, "Weren’t you all initially trying to curry favor with me? When you followed me out in the past, did you ever spend a dime? Don’t pretend you’re all innocent; you’ve harmed your share of people too!" Ma Zihou was not the type to take a loss silently, so he began cursing and brawling with them.
In the end, it was unclear who was hitting whom. Causing such a commotion in the mall, it wasn’t long before someone called the police. Thus, having just been released from prison not long ago, they were soon taken away again.
As Ah Chen left the mall, she noticed someone familiar—Duan Tianyu.
She only gave a quick glance and didn’t look again, as though she hadn’t recognized him. Over the years, she had bumped into him several times while out; he seemed merely curious about her condition.
Duan Tianyu thought he hadn’t been noticed. Every time he saw her doing well and getting better, his heart settled a little, and then he hobbled away, with something light and unburdened about his back.
His leg was lame, having been crippled when he tried to help a girl being taken away by thugs ten years ago, but he had no regrets.
"Senior, Duan Tianyu is really strange," Li Feiwei remarked casually once they were back in the car.
Ah Chen laughed, "Why didn’t you just ask him directly if you’re curious?"
Li Feiwei held her close, rubbing against her, "I’m curious."
Ah Chen briefly explained, finally lifting the long-standing mystery that had troubled Li Feiwei: Was Duan Tianyu feeling guilty, so he became a man of courage and justice?
Since he was harmless, there was no need to pay him any mind.
"I just received some news," Li Feiwei said. He had arranged for certain people to be watched, though he didn’t quite understand why—perhaps just feeling that knowing their current state would be something to share with his senior. And since his senior seemed genuinely interested, he hadn’t considered calling them off. "It’s about Duan Mu."
Ah Chen leaned back in the car seat, her hand held by Li Feiwei. Her interest was indeed piqued.
Those who had harmed the commissioner—knowing they were not doing well would indeed be a good thing.
Li Feiwei continued, knowing she was listening intently: "Recently, Duan Mu ran into some trouble. When he went to treat his illness, he discovered his family couldn’t come up with the money."
Ah Chen raised an eyebrow, waiting for more details.
Duan Mu seemed to have something special for Wei Yue, but it was obvious they couldn’t be together. Even if Duan Mu wanted it, Wei Yue wouldn’t agree. Wei Yue was rather smart and knew how to handle Duan Mu, having declared early on they were just friends. The word "friend" immediately pushed all his thoughts back.
Later, Wei Yue got married, and soon after, Duan Mu did as well.
But their lives were not particularly satisfactory. Wei Yue was slightly better off, at least knowing what she wanted.
Duan Mu was different. Marriage for him was just a formality, mainly because Wei Yue got married, so he felt he should too. He wasn’t very clear-headed in such matters.
After marrying, he still put Wei Yue first, despite Wei Yue wanting to keep a distance and slowly fade out of his life. Once, she even changed cities, only for Duan Mu, whose job was unsatisfactory, to follow her without a second thought.
For this, Wei Yue felt helpless, unable to say anything directly, fearing his now extreme and sharp personality might react poorly to anything she said, not knowing what he might do. So she could only placate him carefully.
This led to conflicts with her husband, but she didn’t dare tell him the real reason, fearing the resurfacing of old issues.
She assured him that she only saw Duan Mu as a friend, a person who had once helped her, and she couldn’t be ungrateful, which was the only way her husband let it rest. But a rift remained between them that Wei Yue didn’t know how to resolve.
The online scandal from back then had died down, rarely mentioned anymore, but its aftermath still lingered with her.
Duan Mu had it far worse.
His wife discovered his constant attention towards Wei Yue and couldn’t bear it, leading to countless arguments. Although she once truly liked him, by now, she felt almost nothing for him. When a woman faces her husband’s concern for another woman, her calmness indicates a lack of love. She then took back her heart and secured control of their finances.
Duan Mu even felt increasingly comfortable at home, not minding passing the money management over to his wife.
After all, he had no one to support; Wei Yue wouldn’t take his money. It was precisely because Wei Yue wanted nothing from him that she held such a special place in his heart.
Little did he know, Wei Yue was unwilling to owe him anything, fearing if misinterpreted later, she’d have no way to explain it. She’d suffered from such losses once and wasn’t willing to go through it again.
Encouraged by his wife, Duan Mu worked extremely hard, not only at his day job but also doing part-time work, until he fell ill, with an illness that required tens of thousands to treat.
In the end, the family had no money!
His wife moved back to her parents’ home, not bothering with him at all.
Previously, Duan Mu might have chosen to expose his situation online. But he had a psychological fear of the internet now; causing a fuss might bring back old issues, and likely many would curse it as his retribution.
So he dared not.
Having lived over half his life, Duan Mu finally thought of Duan Li, his mother, returning to his original home, down and out.
Over the years, Duan Li hadn’t been out of touch with Duan Mu, but he always felt she was trying to control him, leading to unpleasant endings each time. He didn’t even inform her of his marriage, prompting Duan Li’s complete heartbreak, treating it as if she had no son.
As for Duan Mu’s biological father, he had long since married and had his own children, even less likely to take care of him.
"Isn’t Duan Li’s family living abroad now?"
They hadn’t immigrated, just mostly stayed overseas, likely because both spouses had assignments there, Ah Chen recalled.
But Duan Li’s willingness to leave was perhaps proof of her complete hopelessness towards Duan Mu, wanting to start over.
After marrying her current husband, Duan Li had a daughter, and it seemed like the family was doing well enough.
"When he went to find them, he discovered the place was completely empty, the house sold long ago to someone else." Li Feiwei added, eyes filled with disdain, "Serves him right!"
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