Me! A high-ranking official!

Upon seeing her, Zhao Jianguo felt a glimmer of hope. After all, Cao Wenting was a leader in the Discipline Inspection Commission and someone who cared about her reputation.

Although Cao Wenting usually disliked him and always protected Xu Qingqing, she couldn't possibly continue to protect her daughter who had done such a scandalous thing.

"Mom!" His voice was trembling as he struggled to stand up, but the excruciating pain in his stomach forced him to half-squat on the ground. He pointed at Xu Qingqing and the man, his voice shaking.

"Look what your daughter has done! She's at home with this strange man..."

"Alright, alright, I got it."

Cao Wenting waved her hand, frowned slightly, and glanced around the living room. Seeing the clothes scattered on the floor and the overturned tea, her expression was not one of shock or anger, but rather one of annoyance at how things had gotten so messy again.

She walked over, closed the door, turned around and glared at Xu Qingqing and the man named Qi Xiongwen. Her tone was reproachful, but it sounded more like a parent complaining about their child's lack of thoroughness.

"I've been telling you to be careful, but you still can't give me a moment's peace of mind!"

Upon hearing Cao Wenting's words, Zhao Jianguo was instantly stunned.

He had expected Cao Wenting to fly into a rage and severely reprimand Xu Qingqing, helping him, her son-in-law, to seek justice, since she was the deputy secretary of the Discipline Inspection Commission and a prominent leader in the county.

Even if she usually looked down on Zhao Jianguo, she couldn't possibly side with her daughter on such a matter of face. Who knew Cao Wenting would say something like that, especially her tone...

"Why is he still such a worry?"

"He's a real headache"?

What does this statement mean?

This means it's not the first time.

This means she already knew.

He slowly stood up from the ground in shock, his back still bent, one hand clutching his stomach, his eyes fixed on Cao Wenting, and asked incredulously:

"Mom, you...you knew about this all along?"

Cao Wenting turned to look at him, her eyes indifferent, filled with condescending and undisguised disdain.

"So what if it is?"

His mind went blank, as if a thousand bees had simultaneously sprung up in their hive.

"Let me introduce you!" Cao Wenting stretched out her hand and pointed to the man with the buzz cut:

"This is Qi Xiongwen, the son of General Manager Qi of our county's construction group. You know the construction group, right? It's a major taxpayer in the county, with an annual revenue of over 200 million yuan. He and Qingqing have been together for a long time, even before he knew you."

Even before he knew him? Zhao Jianguo turned to look at Qi Xiongwen, whose face was full of mockery, and felt a chill in his heart.

"If it weren't for certain reasons, I would have no choice but to let Qingqing marry you! Do you think I would even look at you? You're just a country bumpkin, earning only three thousand yuan a month, not even enough to buy a house. Do you think you're worthy of marrying my daughter, Cao Wenting?"

These words were like knives, stabbing Zhao Jianguo's heart again and again, making him feel like a clown. His mother-in-law was the deputy secretary of the Discipline Inspection Commission, and he had always thought that he had won Cao Wenting's favor through hard work and diligence.

From the day he got married, he carefully tried to please this family, Xu Qingqing, and Cao Wenting, thinking that as long as he worked hard, was dutiful, and obedient, he would eventually be accepted by this family.

He thought that although Cao Wenting was a bit harsh in her words, she still approved of him as her son-in-law. Otherwise, she wouldn't have married her daughter to him and even helped him get promoted to deputy section chief. Those harsh words were just encouragement for him, and she felt that he could do better!

Now it seems that they never treated him like a human being from beginning to end.

He was just a pawn, a tool, a fool who had been used for two years without even realizing it.

His face turned crimson, and the veins on his neck bulged: "If you look down on me, why did you marry your daughter to me? What are you after?"

Cao Wenting sneered, as if mocking a naive fool who had never seen the world.

"As I said, for some reasons, I have to let Qingqing marry you."

She paused, her gaze sweeping over Zhao Jianguo's face: "As for the reason, you don't need to know. Now that you've found out, just tell me the truth."

She put her bag on the sofa, sat down, crossed her legs, and placed her hands on her knees. Her posture suggested she wasn't there to discuss business, but rather to deliver a message.

"You should get a divorce from Qingqing. I bought the house and it's in my name. I also bought the car for Qingqing and it's in her name."

Cao Wenting listed them out one by one, clearly and logically: "In the two years since you and Qingqing got married, although you've handed over your salary card, that money has all been spent on your daily expenses as a couple, so there's not much left..."

"You will leave with nothing."

Leave with nothing!

Upon hearing these four words, Zhao Jianguo was so angry he laughed instead:

"Xu Qingqing did something like this, and you want me to leave with nothing? She did this kind of thing with this other man in our home, and you want me to leave with nothing? Aren't you afraid I'll spread this around and ruin your reputation? You're the deputy secretary of the Discipline Inspection Commission, a leader in the county. Your daughter is having an affair, and you're helping to cover it up. If this gets out, can you still sit in this position?"

Cao Wenting remained calm and confident, and slowly began to speak:

"Zhao Jianguo, get this straight. It was you who cheated on her and contracted AIDS and syphilis. Qingqing is just a victim. You were unfaithful to your marriage and harmed Qingqing. It's perfectly reasonable for her to divorce you. What does it have to do with me?"

Zhao Jianguo froze, as if he had been slapped in the face.

"Do you think people will believe you or me if you tell them?"

Cao Wenting stood up, looking down at him with a mocking, all-powerful gaze:

"You're just a lowly clerk with a sexually transmitted disease, and you're saying the deputy secretary of the Discipline Inspection Commission is protecting his daughter's extramarital affair? Do you think anyone would believe that? Even if someone did, do you think anyone would dare to say it?"

Zhao Jianguo felt his worldview was collapsing; the absurd plots he had only ever seen on TV were actually happening to him.

He finally understood that Cao Wenting knew everything. Xu Qingqing had contracted a disease and infected him. Cao Wenting knew this too, and might even have known all along that Xu Qingqing had a man outside and what disease Xu Qingqing had, but she had never reminded him or said a word about it.

For the past two years, he's been treated like a blindfolded donkey pulling a millstone in this family, manipulated however they want and slaughtered whenever they want.

"You..." He trembled with rage, pointing at Cao Wenting, then at Xu Qingqing: "You mother and daughter, you're in cahoots, a den of snakes and rats! Are you even human? You..."