Chapter 349: Live Well

Chen Rong didn’t answer the call, but the phone kept ringing.

The phone’s ringtone completely ruined the atmosphere. Chen Rong grabbed the phone, about to turn it off, when he saw that the caller was his current wife, Fang Qing.

Frowning slightly, Chen Rong still pressed the answer key and walked outside.

“Chen Rong, where are you now? What are you doing? Why did it take you so long to answer my call?”

Fang Qing had a very bad temper. Normally, whenever she called Chen Rong, he had to answer within five seconds. If he didn’t, she would definitely fly into a rage.

Chen Rong frowned again, simply said that the phone had run out of battery, and then turned it off directly.

At that moment, Chen Rong looked up and saw a young man with white hair standing in front of the minivan. Holding a cleaver, the young man was smirking coldly at him.

“Chen Rong, you were paid five thousand yuan by Qin Gang to come and attack me, weren’t you? What’s the matter? Did seeing your wife and child make you so excited that you forgot your real mission today?” Shui Miao sneered, then patted the minivan and said casually, “It seems your two underlings have already seen ghosts. If you really want to attack me, you’ll have to do it yourself.”

As he spoke, Shui Miao threw the cleaver in his hand toward Chen Rong.

Chen Rong was momentarily stunned, confused, and felt that Shui Miao must be an expert. Had he silently already defeated his two henchmen?

“Big brother, big brother, you’re back!”

Xiaohua, seeing Shui Miao, immediately ran happily to his side. Then she turned around and pointed at Chen Rong innocently, saying, “You’re not my dad. My dad is a good person. You’re not. Big brother is the good one!”

Children are innocent and speak their minds.

Duan Hongmei picked up the cleaver that Chen Rong had previously dropped on the ground and ran out as well, standing protectively in front of Shui Miao. Pointing the knife at Chen Rong, she shouted, “I underestimated you! You’re nothing but a ruffian, a bastard! You’re not even human!”

Seeing his woman and child protecting a stranger, Chen Rong didn’t reflect on his own flaws at all. Instead, he barked at Shui Miao, “What exactly is your relationship with them? Brat, you dare to touch my woman? Watch your back—I’ll kill you!”

Chen Rong’s face twisted with rage.

Shui Miao sneered again, strode straight up to Chen Rong, and pointed at his nose, saying, “A hooligan is always a hooligan. No wonder Duan Hongmei’s parents looked down on you. Your nature is despicable. You’re unworthy of being called a man, not even worthy of being human. If you were truly a man, you should have properly taken care of them back then, supported them with your own hands, and brought them happiness. Instead, you abandoned them and became a son-in-law to a wealthy family. How impressive! And now, you haven’t changed your ways at all. For a bit of money, you’re threatening people with a knife again. Do you even know what a decent life means? Were you raised eating shit?”

Shui Miao scolded Chen Rong so fiercely that he staggered backward, speechless.

Chen Rong, inherently evil, suddenly stepped forward, grabbed Shui Miao’s collar, and held the knife to his throat, roaring, “If my daughter and wife weren’t here, I’d kill you! You dare to touch my woman—I won’t let this go!” After shouting, he pushed Shui Miao aside and stormed toward the minivan.

“Scum! Coward! Go home and kneel on the laundry board for your wife,” Shui Miao, seemingly fearless, followed behind Chen Rong, taunting him. “Oh, and you, a good-for-nothing kept man, you’re not even worthy of Duan Hongmei. You don’t deserve to have a daughter either…”

“Whoosh!”

Provoked, Chen Rong suddenly turned around and swung the cleaver at Shui Miao.

But at that moment, Duan Hongmei pressed the blade against Chen Rong’s throat and shouted, “If you dare to lay a hand on him, I’ll kill you!”

“Bad man, bad man…”

Xiaohua also kept punching Chen Rong’s legs with her little fists.

Shui Miao, unflinching, stared at Chen Rong with a cold smile: “Brother, you’re quite ruthless! To abandon Duan Hongmei, you conspired with that slut Fang Qing and beat her while she was pregnant until she lost consciousness, even causing her mental illness. Do you know how hard their life has been since then? Listen well—you should know they’ve been living like dogs under a bridge, surviving on garbage thrown into trash cans. Do you even know why she kept going? Do you even care how miserable they’ve been?”

Shui Miao, furious beyond control, suddenly slapped Chen Rong across the face, knocking him to the ground.

Not giving him a moment’s reprieve, Shui Miao unleashed his immortal energy, rushed forward, and kicked Chen Rong’s wrist with full force. With a crack, the cleaver flew into the air and Chen Rong’s wrist was broken.

“That slap was for being morally blind.”

“This kick is for harboring evil intentions and randomly attacking people.”

“And this next kick will make you finally wake up and realize what kind of person you really are!”

Shui Miao kicked Chen Rong again, this time on the back, causing him to scream in pain.

“This is just the beginning!”

Shui Miao grabbed Chen Rong, yanked him up by the collar, and began slapping him repeatedly.

“This slap is from Duan Hongmei—for playing with someone’s feelings and shirking responsibility.”

“This punch is from Xiaohua—for you are worse than an animal, defiling her image of a father.”

“And this kick is from all the people you’ve hurt!”

Shui Miao delivered a powerful kick to Chen Rong’s abdomen, sending him sprawling to the ground, motionless.

After finishing, Shui Miao turned to Duan Hongmei and Xiaohua, sighing deeply, and said, “Alright, I’ve vented my anger. From now on, forget this man and live your life properly. I’ll do my best to help you. Go back and rest. I’ll sleep elsewhere tonight—you don’t need to worry about me.”

With that, Shui Miao gently pushed the stunned Duan Hongmei and Xiaohua into the shop and closed the wooden door behind them.

Then, without sparing Chen Rong another glance, Shui Miao picked up the cleaver and walked into the darkness.

About fifty meters away, near a private car parked by the roadside, Shui Miao stopped suddenly, jumped up, and plunged the cleaver through the car roof. Then he dusted off his hands and said, “Next time you try to ambush me, the blade will go straight into your head.”

After saying that, Shui Miao turned and disappeared into the night.

Inside the car, Qin Gang was terrified, barely managing to get out, pull the cleaver from the roof, and speed away.

Shui Miao didn’t go far. He stood in the shadows, watching his shop.

According to plan, if everything went as expected, Duan Hongmei would come out of the shop to help Chen Rong.

Sure enough, about four or five minutes later, Duan Hongmei opened the wooden door, tears streaming down her face, and rushed to help Chen Rong up.

Seeing this, Shui Miao sent a text message to Fang Qing, saying he was waiting for her at Chenghe Café.

To get to Chenghe Café, Fang Qing would have to pass through Ghost Street. This was Shui Miao’s next plan—to make Fang Qing witness Chen Rong with Duan Hongmei, to completely ignite their marital conflict, to shatter Chen Rong’s mindset, and to force him into true repentance and transformation.

As expected, Fang Qing, driving her BMW, rushed over in a hurry.

On the way, she just happened to see Duan Hongmei bandaging Chen Rong’s wounds.

Fang Qing immediately recognized Duan Hongmei.

With a sharp screech of brakes, Fang Qing, finally having found the excuse for divorce, stormed out of the car and screamed at the injured Chen Rong, declaring that she would file for divorce the next day and that he was never to step foot in her house again—otherwise, she would hire someone to kill him. After that, she got back into her car and left without a trace of pity for the seriously injured Chen Rong.

Chen Rong, lying on the ground, looked at Duan Hongmei’s tear-streaked face and suddenly became lucid. Tears streamed down his face uncontrollably.

Chen Rong struggled to his feet, murmured an apology to Duan Hongmei, and limped toward the riverside.

Duan Hongmei quickly picked up Xiaohua and followed behind him.

“Why are you still following me? I’m scum, a beast, worse than pigs and dogs…”

Duan Hongmei said nothing, just silently trailing behind.

At the riverside, Chen Rong gazed at the moonlit river surface, tears flowing nonstop. “I was wrong, Hongmei. I’m so sorry. Back then, I was foolish enough to think I could trick Fang Qing’s family out of some money, then come back to you and meet your parents, letting you finally hold your head high. But do you know what? After you were beaten unconscious that day, I was also knocked out. When I woke up, I searched desperately for you for years, do you know that?”

Hearing this, Duan Hongmei couldn’t help but feel a stir in her heart.

Chen Rong turned to look at Duan Hongmei, “After you disappeared, I became a man without a place in this world. Without you, I didn’t know why I was even alive. Gradually… I became numb, living like a walking corpse… Today, I finally realized how evil I’ve been. I’m sorry to you both. If there’s a next life, I hope never to be born again as a human being.”

After saying that, Chen Rong turned and was about to jump into the river.

But Duan Hongmei suddenly spoke coldly, “If you die, I die too. But what about Xiaohua?”

“What?!”

Chen Rong was shocked, “No, Hongmei, you can’t die. Xiaohua is our child!”

“You, as a father, refuse to take responsibility, yet you dare to shift the blame onto me?” Duan Hongmei walked coldly to the riverside, staring blankly at the water, and said emotionlessly, “To be honest, I’ve been tired of this life for a long time. If it weren’t for Xiaohua, I would have died long ago. I’m tired… really tired. If there’s another life, I don’t want to be human again.”

“Mom, don’t die. Xiaohua can find food. Xiaohua can take care of you!”

Xiaohua cried as she tightly hugged Duan Hongmei.

Sighing suddenly, Shui Miao stepped out from the darkness, “You two adults aren’t even as brave as a child. If you’re not afraid of death, why are you afraid of living? Remember the saying: ‘It’s never too late to mend the fold even after the sheep are lost.’ Why not forget the past and start anew? Why not strive to be better people? You should rise up and be role models for your child, learn from your mistakes, and prevent her from experiencing the same tragedy. That’s what you should be thinking about now. As for the person who knocked you both unconscious back then, leave her to me. For now, you can stay in my shop. Trust me—everything will be okay.”

Shui Miao patted Chen Rong’s shoulder, channeling some immortal energy into him to help heal his wounds.