Chapter 202: Malicious Slander

Chapter 202: Chapter 202: Malicious Slander

Besides, she had been the one to come knocking on his door.

The director first poured her a glass of plain water before he spoke.

"What’s wrong? If you’re having difficulties, just take your time and tell me."

He placed the glass beside her hand, steam wafting gently upward.

"He hit me! He really hit me!"

He Wei covered her right cheek with one hand. Red marks were visible between her fingers, and her right cheek was badly swollen, the skin a bluish-purple.

The director saw at a glance that this was beyond simple mediation. His brow furrowed, and he immediately raised a hand to summon the orderly from outside the door.

"Go, get Yang Lei here at once. Tell him to come to my office immediately."

The moment Yang Lei entered, the director’s brow twisted into a knot.

"Mr. Yang, why don’t you tell me what on earth is going on here?"

"Do you think you’re some kind of street punk? How dare you lay a hand on your own wife?"

"Quite the man, aren’t you! Strong fists, and even stronger nerves!"

"If you’ve got so much strength, why don’t you use it on the training grounds? What kind of man takes it out on his own family? You’ve brought shame upon the entire unit!"

Yang Lei was so ashamed that the tips of his ears burned.

Without a word, he moved to grab He Wei and drag her away.

But this was the director’s territory. The officer standing at the door immediately put out a hand to stop him.

"What do you think you’re doing?"

"Did what he just said go in one ear and out the other? Stand still and wait for the director to speak!"

He Wei shot up from her chair. One of her heels had gone askew, but she paid it no mind.

She rushed to the director’s desk, her hands gripping the edge tightly.

"Director Cheng, you saw that with your own eyes! Right under your nose, he still wants to hurt me! I can’t live like this anymore!"

"A divorce! I want a divorce today! Whoever wants to put up with this can, but I’m done! I’m not putting up with it anymore!"

She slammed the desk as she sobbed.

He Wei’s words made Yang Lei so furious that veins throbbed on his forehead and his temples pulsed. He clenched his jaw so hard it went taut, holding it in for a long moment before roaring out a reply.

"Fine, a divorce! Whoever doesn’t sign is a son of a bitch!"

The moment the words left his mouth, He Wei’s sobs caught in her throat. She stared blankly at Yang Lei.

She stared at Yang Lei in a daze, her mouth opening and closing.

"I knew it! I knew you had your eyes on that shameless hussy! You couldn’t wait for me to ask for a divorce, could you?"

She rushed over and grabbed his collar, twisting the fabric into a crumpled mess.

"You, Yang! Has your conscience been eaten by a dog? I was with you when I was twenty-one, and I gave birth to both our children! I handled everything at home—the pots and pans, the kids’ diapers—I shouldered it all! You just sat back and enjoyed the fruits of my labor, and it still wasn’t enough? Now you’ve found some homewrecker and you’re ready to kick me to the curb?"

Director Cheng’s anger flared. He grabbed her by the wrist.

"That’s enough! Have you no shame?"

"Do you think this is a public market?"

BANG! BANG! BANG!

The director’s fist slammed on the desk, the sound heavy and loud.

"You are both veteran Party members, senior cadres! And you’re leading the way in making this kind of spectacle?"

"If you really don’t want to stay together, I’ll write the report for you myself! Pack your things and go argue at home!"

After that, He Wei didn’t dare to wail anymore, though her shoulders continued to shudder.

The director straightened up in his chair, his back ramrod straight. He paused for a few seconds before asking,

"Alright, quiet down. What is this really about?"

With that, he looked at Yang Lei.

"Yang Lei, you first."

"Why did you hit your wife?"

Yang Lei kept his head down. His lips moved a few times and his Adam’s apple bobbed, but he couldn’t force out a single word.

The director sighed.

"You weren’t this thin-skinned when you were hitting her, were you?"

This finally squeezed a sentence out of Yang Lei.

"You... you should ask her what she did!"

"What did I do?"

He Wei immediately shot back, leaning forward.

The director raised a hand to stop her.

"You don’t speak yet."

Only then did Yang Lei speak, his voice muffled.

"It’s the same thing over and over again. It’s about that old apartment. She said it’s a prime spot and insisted we move in."

"Didn’t Director Li just move in there?"

Director Cheng frowned, a note of confusion in his voice.

"Exactly! She turned on me because of that."

As he spoke, Yang Lei glanced at Director Cheng, his eyes filled with both urgency and a sense of being wronged.

"She said that since we’re all directors, how come he gets an apartment when he doesn’t even have kids, while our two children are already in elementary school and we get nothing?"

Director Cheng’s eyebrows knitted together tightly.

"That matter was settled ages ago! How many times did Director Tang talk to each of you? Once the housing is allocated, it’s allocated. Crying and complaining won’t change anything."

"If we started allocating apartments based on who shouts the loudest, wouldn’t this whole family compound descend into chaos?"

He looked up and stared at Yang Lei for a couple of seconds, his tone laced with disappointment.

"It’s one thing if your wife doesn’t understand, but you’re a veteran cadre. How can you not understand a simple rule like this?"

He Wei couldn’t sit still after hearing that.

"Director Cheng, aren’t you being a bit too harsh?"

"What do you mean by ’making a scene’?"

"My family is in a genuinely difficult situation! We have two kids, one in third grade and one in first. They need to be taken to and from school, fed, put to bed, helped with homework... They need someone watching them for everything!"

Before her words could even land, Director Cheng cut in.

"Which family here doesn’t have children?"

"Which director-level cadre’s family isn’t raising three or four kids?"

"But Director Li’s family doesn’t have a single one right now!"

He Wei blurted out, her tone full of self-righteousness.

Director Cheng’s eyelid twitched.

"His wife is already showing. She’s only in her early twenties. If she has one, is she not going to have a second? Does using the fact they don’t have children *right now* as a reason really hold any water?"

He Wei opened her mouth to argue again, but Director Cheng raised a hand.

"Say no more. I will repeat this one more time: the military doesn’t care who shouts the loudest. It only recognizes the rules."

"If you feel you’ve been wronged, you have two choices: either request a transfer or grit your teeth and endure it. Throwing tantrums, crying injustice, and shouting your lungs out are all useless here."

He enunciated the last few words with crystal clarity.

He Wei’s face instantly paled.

"Besides, if you two really do get a divorce, the organization won’t stand in your way. I can advise you against it, but if you have a divorce report to submit, Mr. Yang can just hand it in as usual."

After speaking, Director Cheng released his fingers from the edge of the desk and slowly sat up straight.

At these words, He Wei’s lips went dry.

’She was convinced the military was just being biased.’

"Fine. The apartment, we’ll chalk it up to bad luck, to losing the draw. But what about the job?"

"Director Li’s wife’s job—wasn’t that arranged by you all?"

She took a step forward, her voice sharp and accusatory.

"She comes in right on time and leaves the second she can. She works for three hours and takes the rest of the day off, but still collects a full salary. Didn’t you approve that, too?"

Director Cheng’s expression darkened.

"Comrade He Wei, you can’t just say things like that. If you’re going to make such an accusation, you need to present concrete evidence. Otherwise, the military can countersue you for malicious slander."

He Wei was taken aback for a moment, then quickly tried to backtrack.

"Even if it’s not being a no-show employee, people have definitely seen her arriving late and leaving early, right?"

Director Cheng was blunt.

"If you have irrefutable proof, take it to her work unit and file a complaint. It’s no use coming to us."

"But you were the one who recommended her for the job! Why does she get to work in the headquarters’ logistics department while we have to settle for being temporary substitute teachers at the dependents’ school?"

He Wei’s voice suddenly rose to a higher pitch.

Director Cheng raised a hand to stop her.

"One last time, job arrangements have nothing to do with the military. If you keep talking nonsense, you’re just smearing the organization’s name. You’d better consider the consequences yourself!"

"As for your personal marital affairs? If you can’t make it work, the organization respects your choice. When the report is written, I’ll accept it anytime."

With that, he turned slightly to the side, picked up his teacup, and blew on it.

The message was clear: it was time for them to leave.