25. The Father Appears

Jun Lengche lowered his head, his expression somber. "This is none of your business. Please leave."

Mo Chuchu was taken aback, having never expected to be dismissed so bluntly. She had always known him to be a cold and reticent man, but she had assumed he was that way with everyone. Only now did she realize there were exceptions. He was capable of protecting someone, but that person, unfortunately, was not her.

Feeling deeply aggrieved, Mo Chuchu’s performative sadness finally turned into genuine tears as she covered her face and fled.

*This girl is too naive,* Tong Zhenzhen thought, judging Mo Chuchu for failing to understand a man’s heart. How could a man as self-assured as Jun Lengche, who was accustomed to being in control of everything, be unable to distinguish truth from falsehood—especially when it concerned his own flesh and blood?

"Xiao Che, you... sigh..." Old Madam Jun approached him, sighed, and then left the hospital room.

Jun Lengche walked her out.

"Jun Lengche, let’s get a divorce!" Tong Zhenzhen threw off the covers, making a move to get out of bed.

"Try getting out of that bed and see what happens. Do you want to find out if I’ll strip you bare?" Jun Lengche, who had reached the door, spun around and barked viciously. "Stay in bed and behave! I have a surgery to attend to; we’ll talk about this later!"

Having already experienced his overbearing nature, she hadn't expected to encounter such shamelessness as well. Tong Zhenzhen felt like a slave from a bygone era, stripped of her human rights. Still, his beast-like, icy gaze was intimidating enough. She had no choice but to shrink back into the bed, venting her frustration by throwing a pillow.

Jun Lengche left the room, closing the door with a sense of satisfaction. Hearing Tong Zhenzhen’s curses from behind the door, he found that, for some reason, his mood wasn't bad at all.

Once the room was empty, Tong Zhenzhen cursed for a while, but without an audience, she quickly lost interest. She lay back down, staring blankly at the ceiling, and began to map out her next plan.

*You have to lose the bait to catch the wolf, I suppose.* Well, this was certainly a turn of events—she was now Jun Lengche’s wife. It had been easy to get married, but if she wanted to divorce later, it would be quite troublesome. A military marriage wasn't something one could simply walk away from.

However, nothing in this world was absolute. Otherwise, how had her parents' marriage dissolved?

At the thought of her parents’ marriage, Tong Zhenzhen’s hatred surged.

Her parents’ union had been a classic "hero saves the beauty" trope. A wealthy heiress kidnapped by villains was rescued by a heroic special forces soldier; they fell in love and tied the knot.

As a child, Tong Zhenzhen had believed her parents were the model of a happy marriage. She remembered her father often looking at her mother with a doting smile, his gaze as if glued to her. Her mother would still act shy and blush under his scrutiny.

Unfortunately, an unexpected mistress had cruelly severed that happiness.

To this day, Tong Zhenzhen could not understand why her father would abandon her noble and elegant mother to choose a rigid and cold weapons expert. *Hmph,* Jun Lengche’s cold demeanor was exactly like his mother’s.

Tong Zhenzhen quickly pushed aside the memories of her mother’s heartbreaking breakdown, her grandmother’s death from a heart attack upon learning of the divorce, and the blood-and-tear saga of her and her mother moving to a foreign country to start over. She focused instead on how that military marriage had ended.

*Right,* the divorce petition had been filed by her father.

Although her mother had done everything possible to save it—causing scenes at the military base, even attempting suicide—the end result was still a separation.

Years later, Tong Zhenzhen noticed something suspicious: why had the military remained silent when her parents were fighting for a divorce? Shouldn’t they have sent someone to provide counseling? What had really happened?

Just as Tong Zhenzhen was questioning that long-ago divorce, her phone rang.

*It’s that person!* Her heart skipped a beat when she saw the number. She answered immediately.

"Tong Zhenzhen, not bad. You have your ways. To have captured Jun Lengche’s heart and married into the Jun family so quickly... I really didn't misjudge you." The voice on the other end was filled with indescribable smugness.

"Hmm." Tong Zhenzhen responded softly, though she felt very strange. How was that person so well-informed? Still, considering that person’s methods, she suspected she might have been under surveillance all along.

"Don't let your guard down. The Jun family isn't easy to enter. Be careful. If necessary, I will help you." With that, the person hung up.

Tong Zhenzhen had always found her encounter with that person to be mysterious and bizarre. That person seemed like someone sent by fate.

When her parents first divorced, her mother fell into a severe depression and couldn't sleep a wink.

Concerned for her mother’s condition, her grandfather decided to send them abroad, and Tong Zhenzhen, having just finished middle school, resolutely followed.

Once abroad, the change in environment helped her mother’s condition improve. Not wanting to live off her grandfather’s money, her mother decided to make some local investments, but they fell victim to a scam and lost every cent her grandfather had given them.

When her mother contacted her grandfather’s family for help, she was rejected.

Mother and daughter fell into poverty, evicted from their rental and forced into a dark, damp basement. Every day, Tong Zhenzhen went to the community charity to collect food and daily necessities.

Her mother’s mental state deteriorated once again.

Once, when Tong Zhenzhen left the house and realized she had forgotten something, she returned to find that her mother had slit her wrists. She had managed to save her life just in time.

Seventeen-year-old Tong Zhenzhen sat outside the emergency room, feeling so desperate she wanted to bash her head against the wall.

Unexpectedly, at their lowest point, a turning point appeared.

That person appeared, paid off her mother’s hospital bills, and even gifted them a small shop.

*There is no such thing as a free lunch.* Young as she was, Tong Zhenzhen had learned this truth from her mother’s rejection by her grandfather’s family. At the time, she had asked that person what the price of the exchange would be.

The person’s answer was, "Revenge on the Jun family."

In truth, at that desperate moment, even if that person had demanded her life, she would have agreed—let alone taking revenge on the Jun family, which had plunged her and her mother into such misery.

In Tong Zhenzhen’s eyes, it was the Jun family and her faithless, power-hungry father who had ruined them.

The mistress who destroyed her parents’ marriage was Fang Qing, the eldest daughter-in-law of the Jun family. After her husband died in the line of duty, Fang Qing had never remarried, remaining like a daughter to the Jun family. So, when Fang Qing intervened in her parents’ marriage, the Jun family had disregarded morality and supported her fully.

Therefore, the person’s request was exactly what Tong Zhenzhen had been longing for.

After her mother jumped into the sea, Tong Zhenzhen dialed the emergency contact number that person had left behind, determined to return home for revenge. Even that night she spent with Jun Lengche was that person’s handiwork.

Although Tong Zhenzhen didn't know why that person hated the Jun family, she understood the principle that the enemy of one's enemy is one's friend.

Even without that person’s reminder, Tong Zhenzhen knew the Jun family was not a friendly place. Being Jun Lengche’s wife did not mean she would be accepted by his family.

However, Tong Zhenzhen was not one to back down easily. The battle had begun, and she couldn't call a halt!

Tong Zhenzhen quietly climbed out of bed and walked to the bathroom. Touching her abdomen, she thought of the fetus inside and felt her heart soften. No matter what, the child was innocent. Since heaven had sent this angel, she would treat it well.

The time that followed was very quiet, with no one to disturb her.

Perhaps it was due to the pregnancy, but Tong Zhenzhen fell asleep very early that night. Thus, she was unaware that Jun Lengche had visited.

Exhausted after a long surgery, Jun Lengche sat by her bed, gently holding her hand and pressing it against his face, savoring the rare tranquility and warmth they shared...

The next afternoon, Tong Zhenzhen returned to her room after a stroll in the hospital’s small garden.

As she opened the door, she saw a towering figure standing by the window.

Even without the man turning around, Tong Zhenzhen recognized him: it was her father, Tong Qing.

The light in Tong Zhenzhen’s eyes dimmed inch by inch, as if flash-frozen. "Colonel Tong, what are you doing here?"

Ever since his divorce from her mother, Tong Qing’s career had soared, rising from a mere lieutenant to a full colonel. Because of this, Tong Zhenzhen had always believed he was a shameless social climber, and consequently, that his initial meeting with her mother had been calculated.

Tong Qing turned around. At over fifty, his stature was imposing and his appearance dignified; he looked as though he were only in his forties.

Seeing her father’s prosperous appearance, Tong Zhenzhen became like an ice sculpture, radiating a chill that made her look like a female version of Jun Lengche, impossible to approach.

Years of separation had left Tong Qing’s eyes slightly damp, and the muscles in his face trembled. "Zhenzhen, how have you been all these years?"

"Spare me the pleasantries. If you wanted to know if I was doing well, where were you all these years?!" Tong Zhenzhen still held a grudge over her father’s heartlessness. After the divorce, she had had no contact with him.

Tong Qing hung his head, looking despondent, and muttered, "I’m sorry."

*Sorry?* Such a lightweight word. He should pay with his life! Tong Zhenzhen gritted her teeth and squeezed out a single word: "Don't!"

"Zhenzhen, I failed you both," Tong Qing said, looking up wistfully.

"Enough!" Tong Zhenzhen roared. "You, surnamed Tong, if you have any crap to say, spit it out!"

Tong Qing stared, stunned, at his daughter, who glared at him as if he were her sworn enemy. His lips trembled, and finally, he let out a long sigh. "Zhenzhen, do you hate me that much? Enough to marry Jun Lengche just to take revenge on me?"

*Here we go!* Her father’s appearance made it clear he was here as a lobbyist for the Jun family. However, making this hypocrite uncomfortable was a pleasant prospect.

"Colonel Tong, you overestimate yourself. In my heart, you’re already a dead man. Revenge on you? Am I sick? It’s Jun Lengche who won’t let go. He’s cut from the same cloth as his mother!" Tong Zhenzhen eyed Tong Qing askance, her face filled with disdain.

Tong Qing frowned.

"What, does it hurt? After all these years, have you become a dog guarding its master? Then I’d like to see what kind of ability the Jun family has to turn you into their lapdog!" Tong Zhenzhen’s words grew increasingly sharp.

"You!" Tong Qing’s expression changed drastically, his eyes widening.

"Sorry, I hit the nail on the head, didn't I?" Tong Zhenzhen shrugged. "I really don't know what my mother saw in you back then. You’re clearly just a dog in human skin!"

With a gust of wind, Tong Qing rushed toward Tong Zhenzhen.