Chapter 59: The Request of Mi Tao's Mother

"Honey, how did you end up looking like this?"

Ever since Zhou Chen left, Nan Li had been deeply worried, sitting in the living room and waiting for him to return. Seeing him come back covered in bruises and injuries, she let out a startled gasp and quickly ran over to him.

"Shh, keep it down. Don't wake Huanhuan and Chaochao."

Nan Li immediately lowered her voice. "What happened? Did you really get into a fight with Yan Peng?"

Pulling Zhou Chen over to the sofa in the living room, she saw the cuts and bruises on his face, feeling both frightened and heartbroken.

"Honey, it must hurt badly. Wait here, I'll go get the first aid kit and put some medicine on you."

"Hiss, hiss..." Zhou Chen winced repeatedly.

"Honey, what on earth happened between you two? Why did it actually turn into a physical fight?" Nan Li asked while applying the ointment.

Zhou Chen replied, "What's so surprising about it? I treated Tian Yulan that way. As long as he still has any feelings for her, there's no way he would let it go. It's like if any man dared to bully you, I'd definitely fight him to the death. Don't look at me like this, Yan Peng got it even worse than I did."

"You're in this state and you're still acting tough."

Nan Li gave Zhou Chen's shoulder a slap, making him let out a miserable yelp that startled her.

"What is it? Are you hurt on your body too?"

With that, she lifted Zhou Chen's shirt, and sure enough, his back was covered in bruises and contusions.

"Just how vicious was this fight of yours? You're covered in injuries from head to toe."

Zhou Chen sighed and said, "If it were just getting hurt, that would be one thing, but this fight completely destroyed our friendship. I've broken ties with him; we won't have any contact from now on. Sigh."

Nan Li didn't know what to say because she knew how close Zhou Chen and Yan Peng used to be. Now, to have their relationship cut off over these matters, he must be feeling very unhappy inside.

"Don't go out for the next few days. Looking like that, you'll just scare people."

"Yeah, I know."

Early the next morning, when Huanhuan and Chaochao saw what their father looked like, they were both frightened and almost burst into tears. It took a lot of comforting before they stopped being scared.

Let alone the two children, even Zhao Nana, who came over early in the morning to drop off breakfast, was thoroughly startled upon seeing Zhou Chen's battered and bruised face.

"Xia Junshan, how on earth did you manage to get yourself into this state?"

Nan Li gave her mother a full explanation.

"Breaking off relations is for the best. Though fighting wasn't the right way to handle it—no wait, they threw the first punch, we couldn't just stand there and not defend ourselves. However, the way that video was handled was brilliant. A family like that deserves to be treated that way."

Learning that the video of Tian Yulan had been orchestrated by Zhou Chen, Zhao Nana happily gave him a thumbs-up. If she had possessed Zhou Chen's methods back in the day, that old mistress wouldn't have been able to act so arrogantly. Previously, she had thought this son-in-law was somewhat incompetent, but now it seemed she had truly misjudged him. Recently, this son-in-law of hers had been growing rather rapidly, and his capabilities were clearly on the rise.

"Since things have already reached this point with that family, don't have anything to do with them anymore. In the past, I didn't object to you going over there because of your father. But now it seems that old man has truly lost his mind. Instead of helping his own flesh and blood, he goes out of his way to help that old mistress's daughter."

At this point, she asked with renewed anxiety, "Li Li, what are you going to do? What about your job? You finally managed to get promoted to that position, and now you've been demoted. What a tragedy."

Yesterday, she had spoken with her daughter on the phone and learned that her daughter's career was in trouble—and all because of Cai Juying and her daughter. It had made her curse with fury.

"Mom, you don't need to say anymore. I've already decided to resign and start a business with Xia Junshan."

"You resigned?"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Nana immediately panicked and said, "How could you resign? Start a business together—what kind of business?"

Nan Li said, "Mom, listen to me, we are planning to..."

"Open a tutoring agency? Is that reliable?"

Worry was etched across Zhao Nana's face. She knew her son-in-law was capable now, but when it came to business ventures, she still felt deeply concerned.

Nan Li reassured her, "Mom, don't worry. We already have a plan and have started putting it into action. The storefront has already been rented. It's just that we might still have to trouble you with picking up and dropping off Huanhuan and Chaochao in the future."

Zhao Nana replied, "What kind of hardship is that? As long as the two of you can do well and make money, everything else is fine."

Although worried, she still trusted her daughter. With the couple starting a business together, even if they didn't make a huge fortune, her son-in-law was also writing novels, so daily life would definitely be secure.

"Mom, we know what we're doing."

As they spoke, Nan Li's phone suddenly rang. "It's Dad."

After answering the call, Nan Li walked out to the balcony to chat with her father, Nan Jianlong.

Meanwhile, Yan Peng packed up and moved Tian Yulan away from their residential compound. After what had happened, they could no longer continue living in that neighborhood, leaving them with no choice but to move back to Yan's family villa.

Yan's parents didn't know what had happened, but seeing their son and daughter-in-law come back to live with them made them very happy. Although they noticed that Tian Yulan's state of mind seemed a bit off, they figured she always had a sour expression anyway, so they didn't pay much mind to it.

In another household, however, an argument was ongoing. The two participants in this fierce debate were the elderly couple, Nan Jianlong and Cai Juying.

The cause of the argument was naturally their respective daughters. Cai Juying had received a phone call from Yan Peng last night, went to keep her daughter company, and learned about everything that had transpired. Upon returning home, she immediately burst into tears and complained to Nan Jianlong, claiming that Nan Li and Zhou Chen had bullied her daughter and demanding that Nan Jianlong stand up for her.

However, having been battered by a series of recent blows, Nan Jianlong was no longer as muddle-headed as before. He had immediately called Nan Li and learned the entire sequence of events.

Upon learning that his biological daughter had been demoted and forced to resign, Nan Jianlong was also furious. He was in no mood to comfort Cai Juying; instead, he lashed out at her, telling her that she had no business causing a scene at Nan Li's company, nor should she have condoned Tian Yulan's framing of his daughter.

And so, the two elderly people argued over their respective daughters. The longer they talked, the more heated the argument became, growing increasingly fierce until Cai Juying packed up some belongings and stormed out of the house in a rage.

After dragging on for so long, the architectural design institute finally sent word approving Zhou Chen's resignation. He had to go process the paperwork today, while Nan Li also returned to her company to handle her resignation.

While processing the exit paperwork, Zhou Chen spent a long time chatting with his old colleagues and didn't return home until midday, only to find that Nan Li had arrived back before him.

In the afternoon, Zhou Chen wrote novels at home while Nan Li went out to handle matters concerning the tutoring agency. Although she hadn't been entirely in favor of Zhou Chen opening a tutoring agency initially, once she decided to take charge, she worked harder and more seriously than Zhou Chen himself.

"Huanhuan's dad, excuse me for a moment. There's something I'd like to discuss with you, though I feel a bit too embarrassed to bring it up."

Today, after finishing her work, Mi Tao's mother didn't leave in a hurry. Instead, she walked up to the study door with a slightly embarrassed expression and spoke to Zhou Chen, who was busy inside.

Zhou Chen paused his work and asked politely, "Mi Tao's mother, please go ahead and tell me whatever is on your mind."

With a full expression of embarrassment, Mi Tao's mother said, "Huanhuan's dad, I heard from Teacher Zhong that he has resigned and plans to start a tutoring agency with you. The only reason our Mi Tao went to Zeshui in the first place was because of Teacher Zhong. Now that Teacher Zhong has left, we don't want to stay there either. I wanted to ask if our Mi Tao could also..."

Hearing this, Zhou Chen immediately understood what she meant and nodded without a moment's hesitation. "No problem at all, Mi Tao's mother. A child as exceptional as Mi Tao is someone every tutoring agency would fight to get. Besides, we've known each other for a long time. As long as you're willing to send Mi Tao over, I'll have Teacher Zhong arrange it personally. As for the tuition fees, you don't need to worry either. I can guarantee you that it will definitely be much cheaper than Zeshui."

Nan Li had already told him that since the tutoring agency was just starting out, the tuition couldn't be set too high. Moreover, Mi Tao was indeed an exceptionally brilliant child and an acquaintance, so giving a discount was entirely reasonable.

Hearing Zhou Chen's words, Mi Tao's mother immediately bowed in gratitude. "Then thank you so much, Huanhuan's dad. We're causing you trouble."

Zhou Chen hurriedly moved to help Mi Tao's mother up, but quickly realizing it might look inappropriate, he stopped himself.

"Mi Tao's mother, what kind of trouble is this? Come to think of it, with how dedicated you are when working at our house, you actually save us a lot of trouble. Besides, Huanhuan has often told us that Mi Tao frequently helps her out, and they've become very good friends."

Mi Tao's mother still expressed her gratitude. "I'm still deeply grateful to you both. If there's ever anything I can help with, you must let me know."

Zhou Chen suddenly thought of something. "Actually, there is one thing. That mother-in-law of mine—you've met her before—she lives right across from our residential complex. Nan Li and I originally wanted to hire an hourly housekeeper for her, but we've both been too busy lately and forgot. My mother-in-law happens to be very fond of you. I was wondering if you've been busy lately, Mi Tao's mother, and if you have time to take on some work?"

"Yes, of course I do!"

Mi Tao's mother nodded quickly. Even if she didn't have time, she would squeeze it out, especially since Zhou Chen's family treated her so well.

Furthermore, Tian Yulan's household—where she had been working until recently—had already called her to settle her wages and told her she didn't need to come anymore. She had originally been worrying about finding a new job, but now it was clear she wouldn't need to look any further.

"That's wonderful. You won't even need to go every day, just three or four times a week. Nan Li can go over the details with you later. As for the wages, if the old lady tries to hand you money directly, absolutely do not accept it; just settle the accounts together with us over here."

Mi Tao's mother waved her hands frantically. "How could that possibly work? You've already helped me and my family so much, how could I have the face to take your money? Besides, it's not a big deal; I can just take care of it while I'm there. Really, it's unnecessary."

Zhou Chen insisted, "Favor is favor, and work is work; the two cannot be mixed up. If you insist on not accepting payment, then we wouldn't dare ask you to go over there either. So let's not argue about this anymore, it's settled."

"I just feel so embarrassed..."

"Working to earn money is entirely justified, there's nothing to be embarrassed about. Mi Tao's mother, you're just being too polite."

"Then thank you so much again, for helping our Mi Tao and also introducing me to this job. I'm truly grateful."

"No need to be polite, it's only right. We're just helping each other out, helping each other out."