After Joy Zheng left the Zheng family for Oceanport, life became extremely difficult.
When Evan Lin was little, he was skinny and malnourished, and because his family was poor and had little money, he was looked down on by classmates after starting middle school.
Looking back on Evan Lin's whole childhood, it really can't be called happy. Other than Ken Feng and Hank Chu, he had hardly any good friends. Even Chloe Cheng, his deskmate back then, was forced—because of her parents—to make Evan leave Whitewood and go study in Minghai.
The humiliation he felt back then was intense. If Joy Zheng hadn’t left the family in a fit of anger but had instead swallowed her pride and stayed in Oceanport, Evan’s childhood definitely wouldn’t have been as tough as it was in Whitewood, always envying other kids’ toys and their complete families.
“Mom, the past is over. Besides, after all these years, even if we’d really stayed with the Zhengs, living in Whitewood might not have been any less comfortable.”
“No matter what choices you made, you’re still my mom. I’ll always support you.”
“Giving birth to me and raising me is already a huge kindness. Wanting anything more would just be greedy on my part.”
Evan Lin shook his head slightly.
Hearing those words, Joy Zheng—who’d been full of hesitation—couldn’t help but laugh, reached out, and tapped Evan’s forehead: “Why do you sound so formal now? You used to talk like such a rascal.”
“It’s because I’ve grown up.”
Evan Lin smiled, “But this is your home. We have no reason to leave.”
“Whether it’s Susan Xu or Jason Zheng, if they dare come at us, I guarantee they’ll be the ones who suffer. Mom, you just relax and live here.”
Evan had Joy Zheng take him to her residence. The cracks in the floor and pits in the walls were still there. Seeing this, Evan’s face didn’t change, but inside he grew even colder.
Just now, Evan sealed Jason Zheng’s musculature, so his realm is bound to drop back to Inner Strength. He’ll never again be able to project force or step into Vajra.
Compared to just crippling him outright, Evan preferred to strip away his hope and watch him fall from the clouds.
Claire Zheng accompanied Susan Xu to the hospital.
Susan Xu wore a mask. She’d been thrilled about getting a Youth-Preserving Beauty Pill, hoping it would make her beautiful and younger. But instead, she’d ended up beaten into a pig head.
At the hospital, when she took off her mask in front of the doctor, she scared him so badly he fell onto his butt. He quickly sent her for a CT scan, suspecting her facial bones were deformed.
“Tell me, Claire! I’m a nice person, right? Why did that kid hit me the moment he walked in? No manners at all! He’s just way too arrogant!”
Still wearing her mask and waiting for her scan, Susan Xu sat on a bench in the corridor, her face full of anger.
Claire Zheng didn’t say a word. She just scoffed at Susan Xu’s rant, but since they were family, she had to keep up appearances.
“I just said a couple things to him as an elder, and he actually hit me! He clearly doesn’t respect the Zheng family at all! If you let him into our family, won’t he just turn the whole house upside down?”
Susan Xu’s voice was loud and full of anger.
She hadn’t called Leon Zheng about this yet—she was just waiting for him to come home tonight so they could settle the score together.
“Sister-in-law, Joy just got back, and you’ve already gone after her several times. No matter what, she’s still Dad and Mom’s favorite. And Evan Lin—I met him back in Whitewood, he’s not a bad kid. He only lashed out because he was protecting his mom.”
Claire Zheng frowned.
“Protecting his mom? What do you mean, protecting his mom? It’s not like I sent anyone after Joy Zheng! All I did was spend twenty grand on two porcelain vases from her. Twenty thousand! For two vases! That’s not nothing!”
Susan was fuming, and her attitude toward Claire was getting snippy. “I know she’s your sister, and I’m just the outsider since I don’t have the Zheng surname. But Claire, you’ve got to be reasonable!”
“I’m the one who got hurt this time. You can stand by and watch, but what if next time it’s you?”
Just as Susan finished her rant, someone hurried over by the door.
Both Susan and Claire blinked in surprise when they saw who it was.
It was none other than Gavin Pan, Faye Zheng’s dad.
“Claire, where’s my daughter? Which room is she in?”
Gavin Pan strode up to Claire, his voice tense.
“Which daughter?” Claire looked confused.
“I just got a call—Faye was beaten up at the railway station!”
Gavin sounded frantic, and Claire’s face changed when she heard it.
Not far away, Leo Li was helping Faye Zheng walk out. Faye looked pale, just barely awake, clearly still feeling the effects of being knocked out.
“What happened!”
Seeing Faye Zheng, Gavin Pan and Claire Zheng rushed over.
“It was Evan Lin who had someone beat up Faye! That kid’s absolutely heartless—Faye brought him to Oceanport, and he pays her back by attacking her!”
Leo Li and his buddies started chattering, twisting the story to pin everything on Evan Lin.
“Unbelievable, just unbelievable!”
Gavin Pan’s face was twisted with rage, while Claire Zheng just looked stunned—she couldn’t believe Evan would attack Faye for no reason.
“See? I told you, that kid is nothing but trouble! If we let him into the Zheng family, he’ll turn the place upside down!”
Susan Xu pounced on the moment, putting on a fake caring act for Faye. “Don’t worry, Faye! I’ll stand up for you!”
“Your cousin Jason Zheng is a Vajra Realm master now! When we get back, he’ll make sure you get your revenge!”
Susan Xu spat out the words viciously.
She was wearing a mask, but her voice gave her away.
Hearing this, Leo Li and his friends all perked up, while Faye Zheng was completely shocked. “Jason Zheng reached Vajra Realm?”
“Vajra Realm—that’s what everyone dreams of!”
“Looks like Jason Zheng’s future is golden! With him around, we won’t even need to bother my master anymore!”
Leo Li nodded like crazy, getting more and more excited.
They’d barely finished speaking when more people came rushing through the hospital doors.
A few nurses were pushing two beds, one of which had a person lying on it.
“Wait, that guy... doesn’t he look just like Jason Zheng?”
Faye Zheng caught a glimpse and her face twisted with confusion.