After four years of living alone after marrying far away, he went back to his parents' home and

Lan Yujuan didn't even have time to hang up the phone before rushing over to open the door.

The moment she saw Chen Mo, before he could even open his mouth, tears streamed down her face.

"What's wrong?"

A flicker of panic crossed Chen Mo's eyes. Without bothering to close the door, he stepped forward and gently embraced her.

"Were you and Xiaoman getting impatient? It's my fault."

"It's the weekend, and there was a bit of traffic, so I'm late," Chen Mo explained in a low voice, his voice filled with concern and self-reproach.

Lan Yujuan shook her head, took the tissue Chen Mo handed her, wiped away her tears, and looked up to question him:

"Chen Mo, tell me the truth!"

"The flowers I received on the day we got our marriage certificate, and the flowers and gift I received this morning—were they from you?"

"Was it really you who invited me to dinner here tonight?"

"Also, why didn't you answer my calls during the day?"

This series of questions made Chen Mo, who was already a man of few words, even more silent.

Their eyes met, and she saw the answer in Chen Mo's eyes.

Before Chen Mo could explain, a series of hurried footsteps came from outside the door and stopped abruptly at the entrance of the private room.

"What are you two doing? Let her go!"

Liu Zhiyuan, who rushed over, was holding a large bouquet of red roses. He stood in the busy passageway and shouted angrily.

"Lan Yujuan! How dare you cheat on me!"

Enraged, Lan Yujuan grabbed a fire extinguisher from the corner of the private room and prepared to rush over.

Seeing this, Chen Mo quickly stopped her, took the fire extinguisher from her hand, put it down, and coaxed her in a low voice:

"Watch the child, leave the rest to me."

He then turned and walked out, shielding the mother and daughter behind him.

"Liu Zhiyuan, for the sake of the child, we won't hold it against you."

"Please leave immediately and don't disturb our family's meal!"

"Otherwise, don't blame me for not warning you. This is Xiangnan, not your Xiahe Village."

The commotion gradually attracted a lot of onlookers, and some even took out their phones to secretly record videos.

Upon hearing this, Liu Zhiyuan's face began to contort.

"You want me to leave? Don't get in the way of your family's meal? Are you out of your mind?!"

Liu Zhiyuan pointed angrily into the private room and began to speak hysterically:

"Are you kidding me? My wife and my children are sitting inside right now!"

"What business is it of yours if my husband and I are arguing? What does it have to do with you?"

After Liu Zhiyuan finished speaking, he rushed inside without regard for anything else.

"Get out of my way!"

"Lan Yujuan! Stop hiding in there pretending to be dead! Get out here right now!"

As soon as he reached the door, Chen Mo pushed him out.

Liu Zhiyuan's eyes were red with anger, veins bulging at his temples. He pointed angrily at Chen Mo's brow and roared:

"I'm warning you, get out of my way!"

"Don't think I'm afraid of you just because I haven't made a move!"

"If you dare stand in my way again, if you dare flirt with my wife right in front of me, I'll beat you up!"

Chen Mo stood in the doorway, staring intently at the other person with a deep gaze, without even raising an eyebrow.

"You keep saying that the person sitting inside is your wife and your child."

"Then I'd like to ask you, do you have any evidence?"

"Have you obtained a marriage certificate? What is your child's birthday?"

"My child has a mole behind his ear. Is it behind his left ear or his right ear? Is it red or black?"

"If you can produce a marriage certificate and answer these questions correctly, I'll let you in."

Liu Zhiyuan fell silent, his face alternating between pale and flushed, before finally managing to squeeze out a weak sentence:

"Although we didn't get a marriage certificate, we had a wedding banquet in our hometown, so we were in a common-law marriage for four years!"

He seemed to gain confidence after saying this, and continued:

"From dating in college to getting married and having children, almost eight years have passed!"

"All our relatives and friends know that she is my wife, and my blood flows in our children's veins!"

"Doesn't all of this, the real life we've shared, speak volumes about our relationship more than a piece of paper?"

Unexpectedly, Chen Mo responded with a single sentence:

"Of course not!"

As Chen Mo spoke, he stared at the other person while slowly reaching into his shirt pocket.

Liu Zhiyuan watched all this, clutching the bouquet in his hand, his heart filled with trepidation.

"What are you taking out?"

The slower Chen Mo moved, the more nervous Liu Zhiyuan became.

This eerie atmosphere even began to spread among the onlookers.

Even the diners who were quietly watching the video recording nearby began to whisper among themselves:

"That man looks respectable; he probably wouldn't be carrying a knife if a fight broke out, right?"

"When it comes to matters of the heart, it's easy to act impulsively and get carried away, so it's hard to say..."

Upon hearing this, the other onlookers began to back away.

They were afraid of not getting a good spot to watch the excitement, and also afraid that if the two men got into a fight, the onlookers would suffer undeservedly.

Liu Zhiyuan also heard these discussions. He secretly sized up the tall and muscular man in front of him, and subconsciously recalled the shadow of being dragged and beaten all the way from the third floor to the first floor by another man of similar build. A chill ran down his spine.

So he swallowed hard and slowly took half a step back, but his mouth remained unyielding:

"Hmph, I'm telling the truth. Do you dare to lay a hand on me in front of so many people?"

Even if you beat me to death today, you can't change the facts of the past!

Chen Mo paused for a moment, his expression seemingly unconcerned.

"Everyone has a past. What matters is the future."

As he spoke, Chen Mo took out a red booklet from his shirt pocket and showed it to everyone.

"What good will it do for you to say anything more?"

"No matter what you say, you're nothing more than a useless ex who schemed against women, cheated on them for years, and was even fired from her former company."

"Look carefully: I am now her husband!"

"It doesn't really matter whose blood the child has. What matters is who gave birth to the child, whose surname the child will take, and who will raise the child. And who will the child call 'Dad' in the future!"