Chapter 153 Heartache for the Eldest Son

After a thorough check, fortunately, both children only suffered superficial injuries and were nothing serious. However, Xia Yan was still uneasy and prepared to take them to the clinic first for a proper examination.

"You three! Follow me right now!"

Taking a few steps, Xia Yan looked back at the three children who were covering their mouths. It was not that she was afraid of Qian Yuxiang coming to make a scene at her home; she simply did not want to make things difficult for Lin You.

She still remembered the incident with Liu Xiuying, which had ultimately resulted in Zhao Ming applying for a transfer.

"We are not going with you!"

Zhu Daqiang's missing front teeth were exposed to the wind, making his speech unclear, and blood was still seeping from his mouth as he spoke.

"Suit yourselves!"

Seeing her kindness treated like a donkey's liver and lungs, Xia Yan could not be bothered anymore. She would deal with it when Qian Yuxiang came looking for trouble; right now, her own sons' wellbeing came first.

When they arrived at the clinic, Zhu Yan happened to be there. Looking at the two little ones with painted faces, she was surprised. "They were completely fine yesterday. How did they end up like this early in the morning?"

"They got into a fight, of course."

Xia Yan patted her youngest son's head. Lin Hongzhuo held his head high, proudly showing off the brothers' battle record. "Aunt Zhu, my brother and I fought the three of them—Zhu Daqiang and the others. Zhu Daqiang even lost his front teeth."

"Zhu Daqiang?"

Zhu Yan clearly did not recognize the name, but Xia Yan reminded her, "Qian Yuxiang's son. Her husband is the one who just got promoted to deputy battalion commander of the third battalion at the commendation ceremony."

"Qian Yuxiang? The one who picked a fight with you at the family quarters entrance the other day? That woman is completely unreasonable. You've gone and offended her again, unable to stay out of trouble for even a second."

Zhu Yan recalled the scene at the compound gate that day.

She remembered very well how unreasonable Qian Yuxiang was. That woman had tried to make Xia Yan a laughingstock at the commendation ceremony. Now that the two little boys had beaten up all three of their kids, there was bound to be quite a commotion.

Still, those people were really something else, popping out children one after another.

Since one of Zhu Yan's hands was still inconvenient for medical tasks, she called Liu Xiaohong over to clean the children's wounds. As the disinfectant was applied, Lin Hongzhuo winced and bared his teeth in pain.

"Now you know it hurts? Why didn't you think of that when you were fighting earlier?"

"Aunt Zhu, they started it! They said my mom is a wicked stepmother, and then they cursed and called us doomed wretches whose parents won't live long!" Lin Hongzhuo said indignantly, his face flushed with anger.

Neither Zhu Yan nor Xia Yan had asked for the reason behind the fight earlier, but now they understood. Those three brats truly deserved a beating; their mouths were just as vile as Qian Yuxiang's.

"Then they definitely deserved it!"

Hearing this, Zhu Yan instantly flew into a rage.

Xia Yan, on the other hand, looked down at her eldest son, knowing how deeply the tragedy of losing his parents had impacted him. She walked over to Lin Hong哲, crouched down, and called out softly, "Xiao Zhe."

Lin Hong哲 kept his head lowered. From Xia Yan's angle, his expression was somewhat obscured, but the very next second, two teardrops fell, causing a sharp pang in Xia Yan's heart.

Zhu Daqiang's words had deeply triggered him.

"There, there. If you want to cry, just let it out."

Xia Yan stood up and pulled Lin Hong哲 into her arms. In her embrace, Lin Hong哲 sobbed continuously, holding back his voice without letting out a single cry.

"We cannot let this matter rest like this! We need Lin You to step in and ask Zhu Pengfei how he teaches his children!" Zhu Yan's temper flared up as well.

With a cold expression, Xia Yan regretted her earlier kind impulse to bring those three brats to the clinic. Looking back now, she really had been overly sentimental and soft-hearted.

Meanwhile, Zhu Daqiang and the other two returned home covered in bruises. Luckily, Zhu Pengfei had not yet left for the regimental headquarters. Ever since his promotion to deputy battalion commander, he found life much more leisurely than when he was a company commander.

The three boys went straight into the house and headed for their room, terrified of being discovered.

"You three, stop right there!"

With his sharp eyes, Zhu Pengfei immediately spotted the abnormality in the three boys.

"Dad."

Frowning, Zhu Pengfei walked over. Seeing the blood at his eldest son's mouth and the swollen eyes of the other two kids, his face darkened. "What is the meaning of this?!"

The three younger ones stammered and remained silent.

The other two both looked toward Zhu Daqiang.

"Daqiang, you tell me!"

"We got into a fight."

"I know very well that you got into a fight! I'm asking you, who did you fight with, and why?!"

"With Lin Hong哲 and his brother."

Hearing this, Zhu Pengfei's face grew even darker. "The three of you ganged up on two and still got beaten up like this? You are a complete disgrace to me!"

Had Xia Yan been present, she surely would have remarked that people who act alike truly belong together; instead of taking the injured children to the clinic first, he was only worried about how they had embarrassed him.

"They had sticks and brought a dog!"

"So what if they did? That Lin Hong哲 is three years younger than you, and you still couldn't beat him!"

"Didn't you fail to beat their dad too?" Zhu Daqiang muttered under his breath. Under normal circumstances, he would never have dared say such a thing, but today, the anger from being beaten had fueled his boldness.

"What did you say?!"

"What? Am I wrong?" Zhu Daqiang simply gave up caring and started shouting back at Zhu Pengfei.

"You!"

Furious, Zhu Pengfei raised his hand and delivered a slap across the face, causing Zhu Daqiang's already swollen cheek to puff up even more.

Qian Yuxiang, who had been busy in the backyard, hurried over upon hearing the commotion inside the house. Seeing her eldest son's condition, she rushed over and said distressingly, "Are you out of your mind, child's father? Beating the boy into such a state!"

"I beat him into this state? Why don't you ask him!"

Zhu Daqiang shoved Qian Yuxiang away. "Leave me alone!"

With that, he bolted out of the house. Consumed by anger, he directed all his resentment toward Lin Hong哲 and that woman, Xia Yan!

Fuming with rage, he stormed toward Lin You's house.

In winter, many households piled firewood in their backyards. Because Xia Yan had built an indoor fire pit, their family had stockpiled much more firewood than the neighbors.

At that moment, only Lin Ling and Nuannuan were at home. "Nuannuan, I wonder how your brothers are doing? Should we go and take a look?"

"Mmm-hmm."

Just as Lin Ling was helping Nuannuan put on her padded jacket, she suddenly noticed a plume of thick smoke drifting into the house.

Panicking, she scooped up Nuannuan and dashed outside. Upon reaching the courtyard, she saw that the thick smoke was billowing from their own backyard. "Fire! Someone help, there's a fire!"

In the family quarters, most of the men were currently at the military unit, leaving only the women behind.

Hearing cries of a fire, everyone rushed out to help extinguish the flames. After all, the houses were connected in a row; if one caught fire, the others would inevitably suffer.

At the regimental headquarters conference room, Lin You was still speaking when the door was suddenly pushed open. "Battalion Commander Lin, your house is on fire!"

"What?!"

Hearing this, Lin You immediately bolted out of the conference room. Rushing outside to take a look, he realized the smoke was indeed coming from his direction. "Li Guoxiang!"

"Sir!"

"Call the brothers from the battalion and put out the fire!"

"Yes!"

Lin You ran madly toward his home, his heart pounding as he silently prayed that his wife and children were safe.

At the clinic, Xia Yan had just stepped outside with the two children when she saw numerous soldiers carrying buckets rushing toward the family quarters. "What's going on?"

"Sister-in-law, you're here! Hurry back and take a look, your house is on fire!"

"What?! My house is on fire? Nuannuan and Xiao Mei are still inside!"