Film and Television: The Villain's Life Begins with Joy of Life

Chapter 106 discusses the greatest truth.

Zhuang Chaoying, with a stern face, pushed the door open heavily and quickly scanned the room.

Huang Ling was not there; only Zhou Cheng and Zhuang Xiaoting, the brother and sister, were present.

Zhuang Chaoying breathed a sigh of relief when she didn't see Huang Ling.

He wasn't worried that Huang Ling would stop him from disciplining his son; he was worried that Huang Ling would take leave specifically to protect his son.

It should be noted that the cotton mill where Huang Ling works had recently renovated a small alley and was planning to allocate it as employee dormitories.

The housing allocation list has not yet been announced, and all the factory workers are doing everything they can to get a spot. Some are using connections, some are using their fists, some are using underhanded tricks, and some are even resorting to cheating. They are going to great lengths to squeeze in a single spot.

Although Huang Ling was a long-time employee of the cotton mill and was recognized as a production pacesetter every year, she should have been allocated a set of clothes based on her seniority, qualifications, professional title, and family circumstances.

But as long as the list hasn't been posted and published, they can't let it go in their hearts.

After all, I hadn't given the leader a gift, nor had I gotten any prior confirmation, so I really didn't have much confidence.

So lately, Huang Ling has been trying her best to perform well, afraid of making any mistakes. She is even nervous about her normal days off, let alone asking for leave.

Zhuang Chaoying didn't see Huang Ling at home, so he knew that his daughter-in-law knew what was important.

"Xiaoting, you and Tu Nan go outside and wait." Zhuang Chaoying stood in the middle of the aisle with a stern face.

The little girl looked at her second brother with a worried expression, then at her father whose face was as black as the bottom of a pot, and slowly moved forward.

When she reached Zhuang Chaoying's side, she looked up and pleaded timidly, "Dad, please don't hit my second brother, okay?"

Zhuang Chaoying snorted coldly: "If we don't teach him a lesson, your second brother will think he's invincible!"

After saying that, he took the little girl to the door and instructed Zhuang Tunan to look after his sister.

Zhuang Tunan knew how much anger Zhuang Chaoying had been holding in since last night.

He wanted to plead for Zhou Cheng, but after opening his mouth, he could only hold his sister's hand and didn't dare to speak.

Actually, he felt that his younger brother had gone a bit too far last night.

After all, it's Grandma's birthday banquet. No matter how angry you are, you can't just flip the table!

Zhuang Chaoying closed the door, blocking her eldest son and daughter's view.

He never laid a hand on his three children, no matter how many mistakes they made, how many quarreled, or how many troubles they caused in the past.

But this time, Zhou Cheng simply couldn't take it anymore.

Having witnessed Zhou Cheng's ability to run away twice, Zhuang Chaoying knew that this little guy was incredibly fast at making a run for his life.

Fearing that Zhou Cheng would slip away again, he made sure to lock the door after closing it.

That way, even if he doesn't catch the guy right away, he'll have to unlock the door before he can leave. If he still can't catch him after that, he might as well find a block of tofu and smash his head against it.

Seeing Zhuang Chaoying lock the door, Zhou Cheng suddenly stood up from beside the table.

"Dad, is it necessary to close the door?"

Seeing Zhou Cheng's posture, Zhuang Chaoying assumed he was scared and felt a surge of satisfaction at finally gaining the upper hand: "What, scared now? Too late!"

Zhou Cheng watched Zhuang Chaoying approach step by step, feeling somewhat speechless.

He was afraid, but the reason he was afraid was completely different from what Zhuang Chaoying was thinking.

"Jingcheng, do you realize your mistake?"

Although she had made up her mind to discipline the child, Zhuang Chaoying still asked one more question as usual before actually doing so.

Zhou Cheng retorted, "What did I do wrong? If you think I did something wrong, then did Grandpa and Grandma do something wrong?"

Zhuang Chaoying choked: "Although Grandpa and Grandma had their faults..."

Zhou Cheng cut him off: "Dad, it seems you know Grandpa and Grandma are wrong. If I'm wrong, you beat me, but why don't you beat Grandpa and Grandma when they're wrong?"

Zhuang Chaoying's face flushed with embarrassment: "How can that be the same?"

"You discipline the child when they make a mistake, but you can't discipline the parents when they make a mistake?" Zhou Cheng tilted his head, his tone seemingly sarcastic. "Dad, you're so hypocritical."

Zhuang Chaoying had never heard the term "double standard" before, but in this context, he instantly understood its meaning.

His face instantly turned red and then purple, a surge of shame, anger, and resentment welling up inside him, which he could no longer contain.

"Double standards! I'll teach you to be double-standard! I'll be double-standard today!"

As Zhuang Chaoying spoke, she reached out to grab Zhou Cheng's arm. Zhou Cheng simply turned slightly to the side, and she missed.

Seeing that he still dared to dodge, Zhuang Chaoying became even more furious, took a step forward, and swung her arm to grab him fiercely.

This time, Zhou Cheng didn't dodge.

He's not going to hide anymore!

Do you really think he'll lose his temper just because he became someone else's son?

Zhou Cheng took a half step back to create distance, and with a flick of his fingers, he grabbed Zhuang Chaoying's wrist.

Zhuang Chaoying never expected that Zhou Cheng would dare to resist, and subconsciously put all her strength into struggling back.

To his astonishment, despite his two attempts to break free, the small hand held his wrist firmly, like an iron clamp.

"Wow! This is really outrageous!"

Zhuang Chaoying roared and grabbed her other hand to slap Zhou Cheng.

Before that hand could even fall halfway down, Zhou Cheng raised his other hand and grabbed it.

His two hands were being held straight by a nine-year-old child, unable to break free or pull back.

Zhuang Chaoying was completely dumbfounded.

He lifted his hands upwards simultaneously, while Zhou Cheng pressed his hands down.

To Zhuang Chaoying's disbelief, his adult-sized arms were gradually pressed down by those small arms.

Zhou Cheng's strength was naturally inferior to Zhuang Chaoying's, but in just one week since arriving in this world, he had already cultivated a trace of energy within his body that was similar to true qi, thanks to his "new human" talent.

With the support of that energy, his grip strength and arm strength surpassed Zhuang Chaoying's.

Zhuang Chaoying looked as if he had seen a ghost. Keep in mind that Zhou Cheng's body was only nine years old, barely reaching Zhuang Chaoying's chest.

It would be quite a story if word got out that someone could be overpowered by such a tiny little guy.

Zhuang Chaoying was a teacher, so his strength was naturally not as good as that of a manual laborer, but no matter what, he was still a grown adult in his prime.

He exerted every ounce of strength he had, his face contorted in rage, his glasses tilting upwards, but he could only desperately feel his strength firmly held down by his opponent, unable to turn the tide in the slightest.

"Dad, have you made enough of a scene?"

Zhou Cheng said something, and before Zhuang Chaoying could react, he suddenly let go of her hand.

Zhuang Chaoying couldn't stop in time and stumbled backward, taking several steps before she managed to steady herself by grabbing the edge of the bed. She almost fell backward to the ground.

He stood up in shock and anger, bracing himself against the edge of the bed. He looked at Zhou Cheng and found that the other man was looking at him with a helpless gaze.

That feeling of helplessness was like watching an unreasonable child, as if Zhuang Chaoying was the son being disciplined.

Zhuang Chaoying steadied herself, still shaken, her chest heaving, her eyes filled with a mixture of shame, anger, and a hint of fear she was unwilling to admit: "What's with this strength? You—you're really Jing Cheng?"

Zhou Cheng looked at Zhuang Chaoying with a helpless expression, knowing that his behavior had frightened her.

But so be it if he's scared; he's not going to just obediently take the beating anyway.

Although Zhuang Chaoying is his father in this life, in terms of actual age, he is already the grandfather of the other party's grandfather.

"Of course I am Zhuang Jingcheng, your son."

Zhuang Chao's voice still carried a hint of lingering fear: "Then where did you get that strength?"

Zhou Cheng naturally couldn't tell him the truth, but casually said, "Dad, haven't you heard of 'extraordinary talent'?"

Zhuang Chaoying was stunned.

Zhou Cheng continued, "People are different. I learned a poem in school that mentioned Xiang Yu, the Hegemon-King of Chu. The teacher said that Xiang Yu was exceptionally gifted and strong enough to lift a tripod. I can't say about other aspects, but in terms of strength, if I lived in ancient times, I might be Xiang Yu."

Decades from now, most people will think Zhou Cheng is talking nonsense when they hear this.

After all, a child's height, weight, muscle density, and bone strength are all inherent to their physical condition. No matter how gifted they are, it's impossible for a nine-year-old to compete with an adult.

But in this day and age, people still dare to claim they receive extraterrestrial energy and can cure all diseases just by wearing an aluminum pot on their head. Even though Zhuang Chaoying has a vocational school diploma and is a proper teacher, she still has a faint belief in her heart.

He believed that there were indeed gifted individuals in the world.

If you were to go even further and deceive him a bit more, he might even start believing in qigong and special abilities.

He simply couldn't accept that his son, who had always seemed so ordinary, was actually as gifted as Xiang Yu, the King of Chu.

He could hardly imagine it without experiencing it firsthand.

Zhuang Chaoying took a while to ask, "Were you always this strong?"

Zhou Cheng said, "I used to eat less and didn't have much strength. It's only recently, after eating more, that I've noticed I'm getting stronger."

Zhuang Chaoying knew that Zhou Cheng's appetite had increased dramatically recently.

After all, Zhou Cheng's quantitative quota used to be only slightly insufficient, but now it is completely insufficient.

He eats several bowls of rice every day and still complains of being hungry; his appetite is even more astonishing than that of his older brother, Zhuang Tunan.

He and Huang Ling almost got into a fight over this.

Huang Ling asked him to reduce the amount of money he gave to the old farmer each month because the child's appetite had increased. He had been agonizing over this for several days.

Zhuang Chaoying stood there, her expression complicated. She was stunned for a long time before she slowly accepted the extraordinary nature of her son.

Here comes the problem.

My son is so strong at such a young age that even I, his father, can't control him. How will I discipline him if he makes a mistake in the future?

If they were to really fight without regard for appearances, and he, as the father, angered his son and ended up getting beaten down, that would be incredibly shameful.

Zhuang Chaoying took a deep breath and tried to soften her tone: "Jingcheng, you have talent, which is a good thing. But you can't use your talent in the wrong way. If you do something wrong, you have to admit it. You can't just rely on your strength to be unreasonable."

Zhou Cheng found it really funny to watch Zhuang Chaoying earnestly trying to reason with him.

Indeed, in any world, the prerequisite for reasoning is still fists.

He curled the corners of his mouth, as if suppressing a laugh: "Dad, stop lecturing me. Grandpa and Grandma wouldn't let Mom sit at the table, and no matter what you say, Grandpa and Grandma were in the wrong first. If you really want me to admit my mistake, then let Grandpa and Grandma apologize to Mom first."

Zhuang Chaoying found it absurd: "What kind of logic is it for an elder to apologize to a junior?"

Zhou Cheng's smile faded, and he said calmly, "If reason also depends on seniority, then is reason still reason?"

Zhuang Chaoying couldn't utter a single word.

Only now has he realized that not only his son's strength, but also the way he speaks is completely unlike that of a child.

After a long pause, he finally managed to speak, trying to make amends: "Grandpa and Grandma are old, and their thinking is different from ours. We have to be understanding of them. They don't let Ah Ling sit at the table because they look down on your mother, it's just that..." Zhou Cheng immediately interrupted him.

"Dad, you finally said something right. Grandpa and Grandma really didn't look down on Mom."

Zhuang Chaoying's expression softened slightly, thinking that Zhou Cheng had finally figured things out.

Unexpectedly, Zhou Cheng continued, "In terms of work, my mother is a workshop foreman in a cotton mill; in terms of contributions, she gave birth to two sons and a daughter; in terms of income, she earns more than 130 yuan a month, which is more than you and more than Uncle Ganmei from the steel mill. As a person, no matter how you look at it, my father and mother should not look down on my mother."

Although Huang Ling's higher salary made Zhuang Chaoying somewhat embarrassed, he felt that Zhou Cheng's words made no problem.

Zhou Cheng continued, "Then do you know why my mother, after working all afternoon, couldn't even stay in the main house and was sent to the kitchen to eat with the two children?"

"Isn't it obvious? The room is just too crowded; there's no room for so many people," Zhuang Chaoying insisted stubbornly.

Zhou Cheng didn't bother mentioning the long table anymore; it was pointless now. He knew what Zhuang Chaoying was deliberately avoiding.

He simply glanced at Zhuang Chaoying calmly: "The reason why my father and grandmother dared to let my mother take me and Xiaoting to the kitchen for dinner was not because they looked down on my mother, nor because they looked down on me and Xiaoting, but because..."

Finally, he said, emphasizing each word, "I look down on you. I look down on my dad!"

Zhuang Chaoying was startled.

"You are the head of the household. They look down on you, so naturally they look down on your wife and your children. They know that you can't distinguish right from wrong and will only unconditionally side with them, which is why they dare to be so unscrupulous."

Zhou Cheng looked into Zhuang Chaoying's eyes, his voice calm yet sharp as a knife, "Such a simple question, do you really not understand?"

These words broke Zhuang Chaoying's defenses. The truth is often the most hurtful, and Zhuang Chaoying was no exception at this moment.

"Shut up!" Zhuang Chaoying roared, and in her embarrassment and anger, she swung her arm again without regard for anything else.

Zhou Cheng looked up and saw no fear in Zi Guangli's eyes, only coldly saying, "Dad, guess how much force I used just now? You closed the door, and the people outside can't see anything. You don't want to get beaten up, do you?"

These words were like a bucket of cold water poured over Zhuang Chaoying's head.

Zhuang Chaoying's raised hand hovered in mid-air, trembling uncontrollably.

"They've rebelled against Heaven! They've truly rebelled against Heaven!"

Zhuang Chaoying's slap never landed.

His remaining rationality told him that if he actually fought with his son, regardless of whether he won or lost, once word got out, his reputation would be completely ruined, and he would never be able to hold his head up again.

He slammed his hand down, his voice trembling with anger and helplessness: "You think you're so great, all grown up and think I can't control you anymore! I don't have a freakish son like you, and you don't have a spineless father like me. From now on, don't expect me to take care of you!"

Zhou Cheng remained nonchalant: "That's great!"

Seeing his nonchalant attitude, Zhuang Chaoying was so angry that a surge of blood rushed to her head, making her dizzy and lightheaded.

He was panting heavily when he kicked the edge of the bed hard.

The double bed against the wall remained motionless, but the force of the bounce made his toes ache terribly, and he gasped for breath, almost jumping up and down on the spot.

Zhuang Chaoying never expected that even her fiercest words would turn out so embarrassingly; her face turned as red as purple and then as black.

He couldn't bear to look at Zhou Cheng anymore. Without saying a word, he turned around, took a few steps, unlocked the door, opened it, and rushed out without looking back.

Zhuang Tunan and Zhuang Xiaoting were still watching longingly at the door, but he didn't bother to look at them again.

Zhuang Tunan and Zhuang Xiaoting stared blankly as Zhuang Chaoying angrily turned the corner and disappeared.

They had been locked out and dared not get too close to the door, only managing to catch snippets of Zhuang Chaoying's words as she roared.

They didn't know exactly what happened, only that Zhou Cheng not only didn't get beaten up, but also infuriated Zhuang Chaoying.

"Jingcheng, what's wrong with Dad?"

Zhuang Tunan walked into the house and looked at Zhou Cheng, who lazily found a stool and sat down as if nothing had happened. Suddenly, an indescribable sense of unfamiliarity welled up in his heart.

This younger brother seems to be completely different from before.

As soon as Zhuang Xiaoting entered the room, she ran to Zhou Cheng, looking him up and down with worry in her eyes: "Second brother, did Dad hit you?"

Zhou Cheng chuckled, not immediately answering Zhuang Tunan's question, but instead reaching out to ruffle his sister's hair: "Of course not. I just reasoned with Dad, and when he realized he was in the wrong, he left grumbling."

The little girl nodded, seemingly confused. She didn't really understand things like reasoning, but as long as her second brother hadn't been beaten, she was relieved.

Zhuang Tunan was somewhat skeptical of Zhou Cheng's words, but as he couldn't think of any other reason why.

It can only be attributed to Zhuang Chaoying's sudden change of heart.

Zhuang Chaoying rode her bicycle to school, the phrase "They don't look down on my mother, they look down on you" echoing in her mind the whole way, to the point that she was so distracted that she almost bumped into a passerby.

Today is Monday. Even though Zhou Cheng finished educating "Empress Xiaozhuang" early in the morning and unlocked the "father-training achievement," when it's time to go to school, he still has to obediently carry his schoolbag and go to school.

Zhuang Chaoying didn't return home at noon. Fortunately, Huang Ling, as usual, left some food in the pot before going to work. The cotton mill operated on three shifts, and Huang Ling started work early and finished early, an hour earlier than the students left school. As soon as she finished work, she rushed home.

There was no one home. She quickly scanned the room; the tables, chairs, pots, pans, and all the furnishings were neatly arranged, showing no signs of a struggle.

She breathed a slight sigh of relief, but she was still afraid that Zhuang Chaoying would beat her son too badly.

She felt uncomfortable sitting or standing in the house for a while before she remembered to start a fire and cook.

I don't know how much time had passed, but the water in the pot still hadn't boiled when I heard the shouts of children playing outside.

Immediately afterwards, a clear, bell-like laugh drifted in through the corridor.

Huang Ling recognized her daughter's voice and rushed out of the kitchen without even putting the rice in the pot. Sure enough, she saw her daughter and two sons returning together.

Seeing her eldest son there, she felt a weight lifted from her heart. Then, she quickly turned her gaze to Zhou Cheng.

There were no marks on his face, and his expression was very natural, showing no sign of fear of going home.

This completely put her mind at ease, which had been hanging in suspense all day.

She lowered her voice and pulled Zhou Cheng aside to ask, "Jingcheng, did your dad see you when he came home this morning?"

"I saw it."

"He didn't hit you, did he?"

"I didn't fight."

Huang Ling was somewhat surprised. Knowing Zhuang Chaoying as she did, Zhou Cheng should have received a severe beating for disrupting the old lady's birthday banquet. Had he actually come to his senses after spending a night at Old Zhuang's house?

"Did your dad really not hit you when he came back?" She was still not quite sure.

Zhou Cheng shook his head, looking completely at ease: "I really didn't hit him. I originally wanted to, but I reasoned with him."

Huang Ling exclaimed "Huh?" and couldn't help but raise her eyebrows: "Oh, what kind of reasoning did you have with your dad?"

Zhou Cheng raised his little fist and chuckled, "Let's talk about the most important principles."