Chapter 354 - 352: The Solution

Chapter 354: Chapter 352: The Solution

Zhang Dazhuang wore a complicated expression. "If we aren’t careful, the people on this list will be exposed, even if we destroy it right now. But what if Xu Banxian decides he has nothing left to live for and, out of sheer desperation, tries to take a few people down with him? Forget everyone else for a moment—the lives of those dozen or so women would be ruined."

His words were followed by a period of silence. Everyone furrowed their brows, deep in thought.

That was something Xu Banxian was indeed capable of doing.

It was Wen Xiu who finally broke the silence. "Yesterday, your father and I agonized over this for a long time. We barely slept all night, but we still couldn’t come up with a good solution. We can’t rest until this is brought to light. The Zhang family absolutely cannot keep a person like Guo Xiuying. And if her son really isn’t one of ours, she must take him with her when she leaves. If she hadn’t been so difficult all these years, if she hadn’t raised her child to be the way he is, maybe we could have found it in us to tolerate them. But now, I simply can’t stomach it if we let her stay;

But if we bring this all out into the open, it won’t be just one or two families that get destroyed. There’s a saying: better to tear down a temple than to ruin a marriage. Those women certainly did wrong, but your father is right—not all of their sins are unforgivable. Some of them might have just been momentarily foolish and fallen for that Xu Banxian’s trap. It’s not as if they couldn’t have regretted it later..."

"It truly is a dilemma."

Song Yong looked at the others, then stepped forward to be the first to share his idea. "But in my opinion, we need to distinguish between those who made a one-time mistake and those who are habitually foolish. As the saying goes, don’t do to others what you wouldn’t want done to you. Our family can’t stand someone like Guo Xiuying, and it’s likely other families can’t either. Why don’t we start by having someone investigate everyone on this list? We can see if there are any others who are completely shameless like Guo Xiuying. Then, we can give them a simple, private warning and a chance to change their ways. If they’re truly unrepentant, then as a last resort, we can discreetly tip off their husband’s family. We wouldn’t have to spell it out."

The more Song Yong spoke, the more fleshed out his idea became. "I don’t think we even need to bring up Xu Banxian. We’ve already taught him a lesson, haven’t we? He won’t be able to cause any more trouble. Once he’s paralyzed, we can quietly spread a rumor that it was divine retribution for all his evil deeds—for using the name of the heavens to line his own pockets. After that, his believers will dwindle, and we won’t have to pursue the matter with him any further. And we’ll still be able to punish the people who deserve it."

"We thought of that idea before, but in the end, wouldn’t it still lead people to suspect the women who had contact with Xu Banxian?" Wen Xiu shook her head, rejecting Song Yong’s proposal.

"That’s right. We considered that as well, but ultimately decided it wasn’t safe enough," Zhang Dazhuang added with a nod.

"I actually think this plan will work," Zhang Wei Qiang declared, making the final decision. "We don’t need to consider anything else. Let’s go with this."

"But..." A look of pity crossed Zhang Dazhuang’s face.

"Dad, Mom, your earlier concerns were correct. We really shouldn’t publicize what Xu Banxian did. But the fact that he’ll be paralyzed after taking that medicine is retribution enough. A life worse than death is probably more agonizing than a quick end, so there’s no need to drag him into it further and make things even bigger."

Zhang Wei Qiang was firm. "But people who do wrong—whether it was a moment of foolishness or a pattern of it—can’t just walk away without paying a price. They deserve some form of punishment. As long as we don’t make it a public affair with irrefutable evidence, that should be enough. We don’t need to do more, nor is it our place to be so considerate of their situation. After all, there’s no such thing as a perfect secret. Since Xu Banxian was involved, it’s impossible that absolutely no one noticed anything. But without proof, the resulting scandal won’t be too big."

"That’s right. Big Brother is correct," Zhang Minzhen added, nodding in agreement. Lin Qin and Song Yong nodded as well. At last, Wen Xiu and Zhang Dazhuang also nodded their approval. As for Gu Nuan Nuan, Zhang Su, and Zhang Kai, they were just there to listen. They knew they didn’t have a say in the matter, so they all listened obediently.

Zhang Dazhuang said, "Then it’s settled. We won’t need our original plan to make this a public spectacle. In a bit, we’ll go confront Guo Xiuying and bring Laidi straight here. She must have a guilty conscience over what she did. Don’t bring up divorce yet. When the time comes, Qiangzi, you’ll take these three vials of blood to be tested. Once we have the proof, we’ll talk directly with Guo Xiuying’s family."

"What about Third?" Wen Xiu asked.

"Don’t say anything to him for now. Wait for the test results. If, by some chance, Tianci is a child of the Zhang family, we’ll have Third divorce her and find him another wife. We won’t have to go to the trouble of taking Tianci away; we’ll just have to warn Guo Xiuying to stay away from him."

A look of disgust crossed Zhang Dazhuang’s face. "That boy is wild and spoiled, just like his mother. It wouldn’t be so bad to leave him with a stepmother to be disciplined for a while. Who knows, he might learn some sense. We’ll see how he turns out. If he behaves, we’ll help him out. If not, or if he ends up hating us for this, it doesn’t matter. He’s not our only grandson, after all. If he grows up well and wants to be close to us, we’ll be happy. If he doesn’t, that’s fine too; there’s a generational gap anyway. Each generation is responsible for the next. His own father doesn’t even discipline him, so why should we overstep? How many more years can we spend worrying about him? In any case, he’ll never get near the inner circle of the Zhang Group. So even if he’s as self-destructive as his mother, he’s just a nephew. He can’t affect Qiangzi and Minzhen much."

What Zhang Dazhuang said was ruthless, but no one present, not even Wen Xiu, interjected or wasted any excess sympathy to disagree.

’Gu Nuan Nuan silently lit a candle for Zhang Tianci in her heart. Being born truly was a matter of luck. Having a mother like that was one thing, but the real tragedy was that he was the spitting image of his unreliable mom. People could say "he’s just a kid, he doesn’t know better," but the truth was, very few people in this world could unconditionally tolerate another person’s child—especially a terribly misbehaved brat.’

With the solution decided, Zhang Dazhuang’s hesitation vanished and his thinking cleared. He continued to lay out the plans he had turned over in his mind during his sleepless night. "If Tianci isn’t a child of the Zhang family, then everything is even simpler. He can go with Guo Xiuying back to her family, and they can be the ones to worry about him. As for Third, let’s not mention Xu Banxian to him. We don’t want him flying off the handle, making a scene, and getting some crooked idea about demanding compensation. His brain, and Second Brother’s for that matter, have never been focused on doing things the right way."