"How could it possibly be your Jason Zheng? Right now, who could even hurt him..."
Hearing Claire Zheng's words, Susan Xu gave a cold laugh and reflexively retorted. But as the nurse pushed the hospital bed closer, she finally saw the faces of the two people lying there—and shot to her feet.
"Jason!"
She cried out and rushed forward, face full of worry. "What happened to you? What on earth is going on?"
Jason Zheng lay on the bed, eyes open and brimming with humiliation. He was clearly conscious, but couldn't move at all. On the next bed, Frank Chang was in much worse shape—his head was split open and bleeding, neck twisted to the side, obviously knocked out cold.
"The patient can't move right now. If you're family, go handle the paperwork over there—he needs to be checked immediately!"
The nurse didn't dare slack off, since these were people brought in from the Zheng Estate and needed close monitoring.
"It was that kid! That kid's got something weird going on!"
Jason Zheng looked at Susan Xu and opened his mouth. As soon as he spoke, he was pushed away, but those words kept echoing in the ears of Claire Zheng and the others.
"What kind of situation is this guy anyway? Don't tell me Jason was beaten up by him too?" Gavin Pan said angrily, "First he beats my daughter, then he rushes to the Zheng house to stir up trouble—I say he's doing it on purpose!"
"This isn't going to end so easily. I'll go check on Jason first, and when Leon gets home tonight, I'll tell him everything! That kid and Claire Zheng both need to go!"
Susan Xu's expression shifted unpredictably. After a deep breath, she hurried after the nurse.
Claire Zheng didn't say anything. Her mind was a complete mess.
Too much had happened today. She still couldn't figure out how that kid named Evan Lin could cause so much trouble.
"If it doesn't work out, I'll call Master again later. Faye, you go home and get some rest. If you feel uncomfortable anywhere, let me know."
Leo Li looked at Faye Zheng, his eyes unusually serious.
In the afternoon, Evan Lin helped Joy Zheng tidy up her room.
During that time, Claire Zheng called Joy Zheng. No one knows what they talked about, but it left Joy with a headache.
It wasn't until about seven in the evening that Old Sun, who had led Evan Lin in earlier, came over.
"Madam invites you to dinner in the main hall."
Old Sun looked at Joy Zheng and Evan Lin, his expression flat and his voice slow.
Joy Zheng hesitated at that, but Evan Lin was already stretching and getting to his feet. "Mom, let's go eat."
"I've never tried the Zheng family's food before. Might as well see if it suits my taste."
Evan Lin grinned. Just those two lines made Old Sun give him a second look, but he kept quiet and led the way.
"Try to keep your mouth shut at dinner, okay? No need to make things worse."
On the way, Joy Zheng gave him a gentle reminder.
"I can promise I won't start anything."
Evan Lin didn't really agree, just brushed her off. Joy Zheng could only sigh helplessly.
The Zheng family's dining hall was a separate room, filled with calligraphy and antiques, with a long table in the center.
Right now, six people were already seated at the table, with seven place settings prepared.
At the head of the table sat a man in his forties, square-faced and dressed in a suit, radiating authority without even trying.
He took the main seat, eyes closed, quietly resting.
This was Leon Zheng, eldest son of the Zheng family. He ran several massive chemical factories and controlled countless assets—an industrial titan by anyone’s standards.
Back in the day, he racked up over five billion yuan in export revenue in a single year. He was a legend, poised to launch three major listed companies and pivot from chemicals to high-tech industry parks. But all of that crashed and burned when Joy Zheng broke off her engagement with the Qi family.
To outsiders, Leon Zheng’s empire looked rock-solid. Only he knew the truth: everything had hit a ceiling. Even with hundreds of billions in land and assets, the coming winter for heavy industry was unavoidable.
He was already irritable, and today he’d gotten complaint calls from Gavin Pan and Susan Xu, making him even more annoyed.
Joy Zheng, gone for years, suddenly brought a kid back home. He’d always been against it, but had to give in because of the old man and woman’s insistence.
And now, look what happened—the kid just got here and already stirred up trouble, one mess after another. Leon Zheng was seriously fed up.
The atmosphere at the table was heavy.
Claire Zheng looked worried, Gavin Pan was fuming, Susan Xu sat arms akimbo with a face mask on, Faye Zheng kept glancing at the door, and Jason Zheng’s face was so dark it could rain.
He’d finally broken into the Vajra Realm, but before he could even enjoy it—before a single real fight—he was knocked right back down to the inner-strength ranks. Sure, he was still strong, but he felt utterly stifled. Completely humiliated.
No one spoke. Not a single sound.
The dishes on the table had already gone cold.
Soon, footsteps sounded outside the door.
Everyone turned to look at the doorway. Leon Zheng slowly opened his eyes, sharp as an eagle.
"Big brother..."
Joy Zheng stepped in first, saw Leon Zheng, and called out softly, her feelings complicated.
"Joy, you stormed out years ago and left the Zheng family behind. Seventeen years have passed—have you ever really thought it through? Do you understand what you did wrong?"
Leon Zheng looked at Joy Zheng, his tone full of patriarchal authority.
He was used to dealing with people of his own rank—big shots. The fact that Joy Zheng had spent years teaching elementary school in Whitewood made him feel nothing but shame.
"I did nothing wrong."
Joy Zheng heard Leon Zheng’s accusation, sighed, but still shook her head. Her voice was steady: "If I had the chance to choose again, I’d make the same decision."
Standing behind Joy Zheng, Evan Lin glanced at her and felt the unexpected strength in her words.
"Joy..."
Claire Zheng looked at Joy Zheng, started to say something, then just shook her head, knowing advice was pointless.
Gavin Pan and Susan Xu shot cold looks from the side, eyes full of malice.
"Seventeen years! The Zheng family lost face because of you for seventeen years! Our parents suffered for seventeen years! Seventeen years—seventeen years! And you still refuse to repent! Do you really think you can do whatever you want just because they spoil you?"
"What about the Zheng family? What about the Qi family? All for some wild man, you still refuse to admit you were wrong—absolutely outrageous!"