Chapter 86: A Lesson You Won’t Forget!

“So it’s you, the pathetic wretch who can’t even sleep with his own wife. Let go!”

When Zhang Pingbang saw who was gripping his wrist, his expression darkened. He’d heard of the Chen family’s useless son-in-law before. He tried to wrench his arm free from Su Zheng’s grasp, hoping to break loose, but to his shock, Su Zheng’s hand was like an iron clamp, locking his arm in place so he couldn’t move an inch!

This sudden realization made Zhang Pingbang’s face change, a trace of panic flickering in his eyes. He glared at Su Zheng and demanded, “What… what do you want?”

“I want you to calm down first,” Su Zheng replied coolly, his gaze icy. “If you keep going on like this and something happens in my house, things could get ugly. My father-in-law kindly called you over to collect your painting and calligraphy. Although you didn’t get them today, you’re leaving with your life intact—that’s a better bargain, isn’t it?”

“What do you mean by that?” Zhang Pingbang’s voice quivered with fear as he looked into Su Zheng’s intimidating eyes. “Are you threatening to kill me?!”

“Let go at once! How dare you lay hands on Director Zhang?” Chen Jianguo finally came to his senses and shouted in terror at Su Zheng. Though Su Zheng had just helped him, he felt no gratitude; this act was just pouring oil on the fire. By holding onto Director Zhang’s arm and not letting him go, Su Zheng was humiliating him further, only adding to his anger.

“I have no grudge against you—why would I kill you? You must read too many internet novels, always thinking of murder at every turn. No, I just want to make a deal with you,” Su Zheng said, finally releasing Zhang Pingbang’s hand and speaking with calm indifference. “Give my father-in-law a chance to be rehired, and I’ll cure your illness.”

Everyone was stunned by these words, their faces filled with confusion as they looked at Su Zheng, then back at Zhang Pingbang with suspicion. Did Zhang Pingbang have some kind of illness?

“Cure my illness?” Zhang Pingbang echoed instinctively, obviously surprised.

“That’s right. Your sclera are yellowing, your cheeks look dull—you’ve probably been having frequent diarrhea lately, right? I bet you’ve also been feeling a fullness and pain in your abdomen, trouble urinating, and you’re often thirsty and have a runny nose?” Su Zheng looked at him confidently and unhurriedly. “It’s not a fatal disease, but because of your work, you must often attend banquets and drink heavily. Alcohol plus intestinal stagnation can easily trigger coronary heart disease. You need treatment.”

Chen Jianguo and Chen Muxue listened in awe to Su Zheng’s analysis, their hearts filled with anxiety. After all, Su Zheng had demonstrated medical skill before at the Li family, and perhaps he really had spotted Director Zhang’s illness. A faint hope began to rise in their hearts. If Su Zheng could cure him, Chen Jianguo might just have a chance to be rehired.

But what Chen Jianguo didn’t expect was Zhang Pingbang’s furious outburst.

“Nonsense! It’s you who’s sick, damn it! For your information, my digestive system is just fine—I eat well and sleep soundly! I just had a check-up a few days ago. The doctor said, apart from high blood pressure, there’s nothing wrong with me!”

“So you don’t feel any discomfort in your lower abdomen?” Su Zheng sneered, his expression disdainful. “In that case, it could be a hidden condition, even more serious. Try pressing your thumb hard just below your navel—you’ll find a burning pain there, and your legs will feel numb…”

“Press your head, damn it! Get lost!” Zhang Pingbang was sure Su Zheng was cursing him on purpose. In a rage, he spun around and pointed at Chen Jianguo, shouting, “Chen Jianguo, just you wait! Not only will I never rehire you, but I’ll see to it that you’re blacklisted from the whole industry! Don’t ever think about getting back in!”

With that, he stormed out.

Chen Jianguo went weak at the knees, nearly collapsing, only saved by Chen Muxue catching him. Panic and anger filled her voice as she called after him, “Director Zhang…”

But by then, Zhang Pingbang had already slammed the door behind him.

“Useless! You… you’re nothing but a jinx!” Chen Jianguo trembled with rage, jabbing a finger at Su Zheng, then clutching his chest as his lips turned blue and his face drained of color.

“Su Zheng, you’re truly shameless!” Wu Chenghao also shouted at him. “You could see Director Zhang was furious, yet you deliberately provoked him. What’s your motive? Do you want my uncle to be blacklisted from the entire industry?”

He knew very well that Director Zhang’s anger was really because of the fake painting he’d brought. At first, he’d been thinking of how to shift the blame, but Su Zheng had jumped right in himself—so he was only too happy to push all the responsibility onto him.

Sure enough, Chen Jianguo’s fury only grew, his body shaking uncontrollably as he pointed at Su Zheng and screamed, “Get out… out… out! Don’t ever come back!”

Wu Chenghao was secretly delighted and quickly joined in, “Su Zheng, get out now! Look what you’ve done to Uncle!”

“Shut up. I only spoke the truth—he does have an illness,” Su Zheng replied coldly, his tone full of disdain for Wu Chenghao.

“Su Zheng, why don’t you step outside for now?” Chen Muxue suddenly interjected, her voice gentle and her eyes signaling to Su Zheng.

Seeing this, Su Zheng said nothing more and walked out, understanding that Chen Muxue wanted both him and her father to calm down, and that she would try to smooth things over.

“He’s been living with us for long enough—you know what he’s like. Why get so angry?” Lu Hongmei came over with a glass of water, trying to comfort Chen Jianguo.

“Mom, Su Zheng meant well,” Chen Muxue defended him. “Besides, Director Zhang got angry mostly because of the painting. Su Zheng warned Dad earlier it was a fake, but Dad didn’t listen.”

Wu Chenghao’s face darkened as he heard this. He realized that this whole incident had left Chen Muxue with a bad impression of him; he needed to defuse the situation.

“Muxue, you’re right. I understand—it’s all my fault,” Wu Chenghao said with an exaggerated sigh, putting on a show of remorse. “I’ll see if I can pull some strings, maybe persuade Director Zhang to forgive us.”

“It’s no use. I’ve really offended him this time,” Chen Jianguo sighed deeply, waving his hand in despair.

“Muxue, while that good-for-nothing is out of the house, let me say this—divorce him!”