Sweet slice-of-life love story: Wife, Let's love again
Chapter 214 - 210: I Wish They Were Dead

Chapter 214: Chapter 210: I Wish They Were Dead

Qin Guanglin’s thinking was simple.

He was tough-skinned and fleshed, even if there were many people on the other side, he could only take a beating at most, regardless of what happened afterward, his first goal was to ensure He Fang could leave, to snatch her away before considering anything else.

If the other side really went too far, then he definitely couldn’t let her stay.

"I won’t be running anymore."

"Hm?"

"I’m going to the gym," Qin Guanglin puffed up his not-so-obvious muscles, "to become a muscle king."

"Become what?" He Fang looked puzzled, suspecting she had heard wrong.

"... A beefy guy."

Qin Guanglin touched her delicate little face, wiping away her tears, and nodded towards the restroom, "Go wash up, otherwise your brother might think I’ve bullied you when he sees you later."

After He Fang washed her face and came out, tidying up the empty food containers, she lay on the edge of the bed, holding Qin Guanglin’s hand and gently caressing her face with it.

"Didn’t sleep last night, right?"

"Slept for a bit."

"Come up and sleep some more," Qin Guanglin didn’t believe she could fall asleep, just now when he woke up she was as tired as a knocking beetle but still forcing herself to stay awake.

As he spoke, he made room for her to climb up, and He Fang didn’t refuse, slipped off her shoes and lay down beside him, cuddling into Qin Guanglin.

"If you get hungry tonight and I’m still not awake, wake me up, and I’ll go down and buy you some steamed dumplings."

"Okay, go to sleep."

Qin Guanglin patted her back and quietly watched the ceiling for a while, then closed his eyes to rest.

Who would have thought that meeting a father-in-law could turn out like this? Although such incidents weren’t uncommon in the news, it still felt a bit surreal when it actually happened to oneself.

He slightly bowed his head to look at He Fang’s half-exposed side face, brushed aside her loose hair from her forehead, and scrutinized it carefully until the bedroom door sounded again. Seeing He Shan entering, Qin Guanglin raised his head and made a hushing gesture. He Shan hesitated, nodded without making a noise, and stepped back out.

"Why did you come out again?" Zhao Qing, who was about to enter to pick up the food container, saw He Shan come out and couldn’t help asking.

"Little Fang didn’t sleep all night; she’s resting now. We’ll come back later tonight."

"Why not let her go back to sleep, we..."

"No," He Shan shook his head, "Do you think she could rest easy if she went back? Let’s go and see how Jie is doing."

Zhao Qing didn’t say anything more, quietly went in and packed up the food container, closed the door, and followed He Shan downstairs to the hospital.

"This National Day has really been..."

Getting into the car, Zhao Qing buckled her seatbelt and sighed.

"Things have already happened, we just have to do what we need to do." He Shan held the steering wheel and pondered for a moment, "I seem to remember their faces."

"Hm?"

"I’ll call and ask; a colleague of mine might have handled their case before, it was also for fighting and assault."

...

The sky gradually darkened, and the evening drew near. Qin Guanglin shifted his slightly numb arm, staring at his phone somewhat lost in thought.

Now, he didn’t know how he would get home.

Since it had happened, there was no need to let Qin’s Mom know that he had come to He City and ended up in the hospital—to worry her for nothing.

It seemed he could only stay at He Fang’s place until he recovered. Nowadays, they were basically living together long-term, so if he didn’t go back for half a month or a month... it should be fine, right?

Knock knock knock.

The door was knocked on.

"Come in."

Zhao Qing entered again with the food container, making Qin Guanglin pause, then he instinctively glanced down at He Fang.

Always thinking about going out to buy food and never telling family not to bring meals, he really was in a fluster.

"Still asleep? Time to get up and eat," Zhao Qing placed the lunchbox on the table beside her and nodded toward He Fang snuggled in his arms.

"Thank you, sister-in-law."

With someone else present, Qin Guanglin couldn’t wake his girlfriend in the usual way, so he thanked her and gently shook He Fang awake.

"Hmm? Hungry?" He Fang also didn’t grumble for ages before waking up like before; she stirred twice and was awake, asking as she got up.

"Don’t... Sister-in-law brought food over," Qin Guanglin awkwardly used his hand to block her forehead and turned his face to say.

"Ah?"

He Fang, whose attempted kiss had failed, then turned her head to see Zhao Qing snickering on the side, shrugged indifferently. Just a kiss, what’s so funny?

"Quick, eat something," Zhao Qing smirked, obviously understanding how lovey-dovey couples could be during their honeymoon phase.

As the two of them set the table and started to eat, she sat beside them with nothing to do, then thought about it, took out a newspaper from her bag, shook it out twice, and said, "Some of those guys were already in the newspapers before. They like to corner couples in places without surveillance at night, and then make the girls watch while they beat up the guy..."

"That’s twisted?" Qin Guanglin frowned.

"A bunch of scum."

"Because they rarely use serious force, and it happens at night where there’s little surveillance, some people just tolerate it, and it’s difficult for others to find help even if they do report to the police. Often, it just gets forgotten... They’ve been caught twice and both times, they just paid money for settlements."

"Among them are two senior year college students who said it was their first time joining in..."

"Wait, joining in?" Qin Guanglin couldn’t help but look askance, "They said that?"

"...That’s what the parents of those two students said, and they were the most anxious. They hassled your brother all afternoon," Zhao Qing told He Fang, "They must have heard someone say we were trying to turn it into a criminal case, and they panicked. They united the parents of four students, I heard your brother say they collected up to two hundred thousand or so, trying to smooth this thing over."

"They’re that quick to act; you can tell it’s not their first time," He Fang said while eating without looking up, "Ten years of the sage’s teachings producing this kind of scum. What kind of fit would Confucius throw if he knew?"

"It’s not that they became scum after reading the sage’s teachings, it’s that scum happened to have read a few years of books—you can’t blame Confucius for that," Qin Guanglin smiled at He Fang, then turned to Zhao Qing, "Whether it’s a criminal case or not isn’t up to us, right?"

"Your injury... if downplayed, it’s just a superficial wound. If taken seriously... a minor injury is enough to meet the criminal standards; it’s no big deal."

"Oh, then let’s go with a sentence," He Fang said, blowing on the soup in her spoon.

"..."

Zhao Qing was stunned, "They..."

"No settlement."

"..."

Two hundred thousand, in a small place like He City, was more than enough to buy half an apartment. Zhao Qing didn’t expect He Fang, who had only graduated less than half a year ago, to refuse so decisively without blinking an eye.

For an average family, this could be considered a huge sum.

"Four parents? I remember seven or six were the ones beating me last night?" Qin Guanglin asked curiously.

"A few riff-raff with nobody to answer to," Zhao Qing responded, then hesitated before looking at Qin Guanglin, suggesting, "If we put a bit more pressure on them, we might get more..." she gestured with her hand, "mainly those two students’ parents, they’d get the money even if they had to borrow for their children’s sake. It’s not a small amount..."

She was genuinely considering their best interest. Both were recent graduates, and with their help, taking the money to settle was the best solution. With that money, even living in Luo City, their life could improve by at least a notch.

Getting tens of thousands for a slap wasn’t unheard of. After all, people live in society mainly for money, and although getting some air out might feel satisfying, it brings no tangible benefits. She didn’t want the two to be impulsive.

Being young and spirited is great, but one should still take the benefits they deserve.

Qin Guanglin was indeed a bit tempted, but then he remembered He Fang fighting with a knife against several people last night, and that slight wavering instantly disappeared.

If he had been beaten up and gotten money in return, settling would be fine, since the other side had also paid a price. But once He Fang got involved, there was no longer an option for settlement.

The moment they tried to stop He Fang, money became irrelevant.

Seeing that the two were silent, Zhao Qing couldn’t guess what they were thinking and after a brief pause, she continued, "Your injuries will heal in at most two months, it’s not worth holding a grudge..."

"Sister-in-law," He Fang put down her spoon and showed Zhao Qing a smile, "I know you mean well, but... that’s just how it is. If you can’t understand, then think about it this way, what if last night it wasn’t my boyfriend that was with me but my brother? What choice would you make?"

"..."

"Whether the injury is serious or not, it wasn’t because they held back, it was because my boyfriend was lucky, and it was me with the knife that fought back. The injury was on the head, the back of the head, the most vulnerable part. If not for good luck, my boyfriend could have been... gone!"

"I wish they were dead."