CHAPTER 1417: CHAPTER 1417: IT’S NOT THAT IT WON’T BE AVENGED, IT’S JUST NOT THE RIGHT TIME YET

Ever since Ning Ziping learned about these things, he hadn’t touched Wang Hailan again. If Big Brother’s words were verified, he felt Wang Hailan was nothing but his humiliation.

The Ning Family began to act separately, and as the saying goes, hard work yields results—they really managed to find some traces from back then.

Before marrying Ning Ziping, Wang Hailan went to the hospital for an examination. Coincidentally, the person conducting the examination was a distant relative of Ning Zijun’s wife.

Once, at Ning Zijun’s house, the relative had met Wang Hailan, even joking with Ning Zijun’s wife Ge Daju, saying that her sister-in-law was truly bold and open—and that her younger brother-in-law was equally daring.

At the time, Ge Daju didn’t take it to heart, thinking her younger brother-in-law was just flirtatious, hooking up with her sister-in-law right after returning to the city, without paying much attention to the relative’s remarks.

Now, after hearing her husband mention it, she brought up what that relative had said all those years ago, and the couple called Ning Ziping together and the three of them went to find that relative.

The relative still vividly remembered the matter, as it was rare back then for an unmarried girl to become pregnant. Adding to this, upon realizing Wang Hailan was a sister-in-law to one of their own relatives, the memory became even harder to forget—it confirmed that Wang Hailan was already two months pregnant when she married Ning Ziping.

After receiving proof, Ning Ziping couldn’t even recall how he managed to get home.

Old Lady Ning exploded with anger upon hearing the news, almost passing out.

This time, Ning Ziping was resolute in wanting a divorce. No man could tolerate being deceived and humiliated like this. The Ning Family deliberated and agreed to first determine the identity and circumstances of that man, and then approach the Wang Family.

******

A month flashed by. During this time, Luo Qiao split her days between the lab and the hospital, spending her breaks doing things her children enjoyed.

One day, the mother and kids were changing flower pots in the courtyard when they heard shouting from outside, growing louder and fiercer, followed by the sound of objects being smashed.

Luo Qiao turned to Yanyan and said, "Alright, I’m almost done here. Take your little sister and brothers to the backyard to read."

Once the kids went to the backyard, Luo Qiao sped up her work, cleaned the flowerpots, arranged them properly, and washed away any traces in the courtyard before tidying up.

She planned to step outside to see what was happening since the noise was becoming too disruptive.

When she opened the main gate, she saw a crowd had already gathered outside. After closing the gate behind her, she walked over.

Someone noticed Luo Qiao approaching and greeted her warmly, "Professor Luo, staying in today?"

Indeed, before summer break, Luo Qiao had obtained her title as full professor. Hearing people address her this way didn’t feel strange anymore.

She smiled and nodded, "Taking a break today. What’s going on here?"

The woman who greeted her replied, "The Zhou Family—Zhou Jipu, who divorced his wife more than twenty years ago, has come back. He says he’s staying for good this time, wanting his sons to provide for his old age."

Unable to make sense of the situation, Luo Qiao listened to bits and pieces from different people nearby until she pieced the whole story together.

It turned out that for the past twenty-some years, Mother Zhou had been raising her two sons and a daughter on her own. Luo Qiao recalled overhearing once from a neighbor that the Zhou Family’s man, Zhou Jiwen, had abandoned his wife and kids more than twenty years ago.

What had happened then was that he found a new partner, dissolved his marriage with his original wife, moved into the new partner’s household, and started raising someone else’s wife and kids.

As compensation for leaving, Zhou Jiwen gave up the house to his original family. Back then, Mother Zhou—stubborn and deeply hurt—had forcefully accepted the arrangement, even signing an agreement that neither she nor her children would have any further contact with Zhou Jiwen until death.

Now, after falling ill and becoming immobile, the children from the other family sent Zhou Jiwen back, reasoning that he had biological children who were obligated to care for him.

When Zhou Jiwen abandoned the family, his eldest son Zhou Lin was eight, his second son Zhou Sen was six, and his youngest daughter was just three. All three children were raised solely by their mother Yoo Lixia. Since leaving, Zhou Jiwen hadn’t contributed a single thing.

Having been cast off by his other family, Zhou Jiwen returned, claiming his biological children had filial obligations.

However, both the eldest, Zhou Lin, and the second son, Zhou Sen, refused to accept him. They justified their stance by saying their mother was still alive, and they didn’t want to see the scoundrel who had abandoned their family.

Now, members of the local neighborhood committee had arrived to mediate the situation.

After understanding the details, Luo Qiao thought to herself, karma truly visits everyone in the end. In his younger years, he raised another’s children; now, unable to care for himself, he expects his estranged biological children to provide for him—it was outrageous.

And as for the children from that other family, their consciences must have been eaten by dogs. Raised to adulthood, they now decide someone else’s children should bear responsibility? They were downright shameless.