“Yes.” Zhai Sheng admitted. “I will go back to take a look.”

  tas

  “Do pay more attention to it.” There was nothing that Qiao Nan could say. Now that this was out in the open, it meant that Brother Zhai had not helped cover up for Wei De. After Sister Zhai Hua was reprimanded by Chief Zhai, she might be so enraged that she pushed all the responsibility to Brother Zhai.

  Qiao Nan was worried for Zhai Sheng now that things had developed to such a stage.

  The Qiao family might have a lot of issues, but those were conflicts and issues within the four of them. They would not have any impact on others.

  It was different for the Zhai family. Given the Zhai family’s status, any problem within the family would have a far-reaching impact and had to be dealt with seriously.

  Just as what Qiao Nan was worried about, by the time Zhai Sheng reached home, his family had broken out in quarrels.

  Zhai Sheng had not agreed to Zhai Hua’s request to cover up for Wei De.

  In the end, one of the soldiers reported the issue to the political commissar.

  It was reported that Wei De had an unusual relationship with a battalion commander in the army. During the mission, Wei De made a big mistake and implicated his platoon leader. The latter landed in the hospital and was in critical condition.

  The battalion commander concerned had the intention to cover up for Wei De. The battalion commander did not intend to mete out any punishment to Wei De and wanted to promote him instead. The soldier hoped that the higher-ups would investigate the matter thoroughly and give an explanation to the soldiers.

  The political commissar knew that this could be a serious matter.

  There were only a few battalion commanders in the army, and the political commissar had heard that things were going on between Zhai Hua and Wei De.

  \r \r \r

  From the report, it was obvious who the battalion commander that covered up for Wei De was.

  Everyone was smart, so some things did not need to be spelled out clearly. The political commissar had figured out what Zhai Sheng’s attitude toward this matter was.

  Since Zhai Yaohui was not around, Zhai Sheng was the person in charge in the camp.

  Now that things had been blown up, it was impossible that Zhai Sheng was kept in the dark. Zhai Sheng did not give any instructions when he left the camp. It was obvious that he had no intention to cover up this matter.

  The political commissar thought about it and decided to make a phone call to Zhai Yaohui to know his views on this matter.

  It was as if somebody had set off firecrackers at the Zhai family’s residence.

  For the past twenty years or so, Zhai Yaohui rarely disciplined his children and he rarely spent time at home. These days, he finally had more time to stay at home. However, his children had grown up into good-tempered and well-behaved adults. There was no need for him to lecture or discipline them.

  But everything had an exception. Without a word, Zhai Yaohui punished Zhai Hua to kneel down.

  At the request of Old Master Zhai, there was a room in the Zhai family’s residence that was empty except for the painting of Chairman Mao.

  Zhai Yaohui made Zhai Hua kneel in that room. “Zhai Hua, you have grown up and have learned to use your surname to bully people. Is this how you treat your revolutionary comrades in the army?”.

  Zhai Hua bit her lips. “Dad, I didn’t want to bully them. It’s just that things had happened. Even if someone is to be held accountable for it, it is a fact that the platoon leader has lost his leg forever. I just want to minimize the impact done and hope for the best outcome for everyone.”

  Even if Wei De was punished, the platoon leader could neither save his leg nor stay in the army in the end.

  On the contrary, if the platoon leader decided not to take issue, she would give him all her savings and made sure that he was awarded military achievements for his mission. He would be able to receive subsidies and other practical help. This was considered a good outcome for him.

  Everyone would be happy!

  “Satisfactory result? Are you referring to the platoon leader who lost his leg or Wei De and you? You are a soldier. I am surprised that you have learned to use your authority to overpower others. What is more shocking is that, to you, everything can be resolved using money. Zhai Hua, how did your way of thinking become so corrupted?” Zhai Yaohui had a chilling look, his tone turning solemn.

  “That’s not true.” She did not say that everything could be solved in the world.

  “Then, let me ask you. If you are implicated by others and have lost a leg and I give you 100,000 yuan instead of 10,000 yuan, will you accept the money happily and leave the army?”

  “How could it be……” Zhai Hua looked upset. She might be a woman, but she had become one with the army. It was sheer torture to ask her to leave the army.

  “Why don’t you continue your sentence? Do you realize that you are in the wrong?” Zhai Yaohui snorted. “You are unwilling to leave the army, yet you want other people to smile and accept your unfair treatment? Zhai Hua, when did you start to have this wrong mindset? The Zhai family will never bully others because we have the power and connections. Zhai Hua, I am so disappointed in

  you!”

  “Disappointed? Of course you are. Zhai Sheng is the only one whom you are proud of.” Zhai Hua was so furious that she let slip of the words that she had been feeling deep down inside her heart.

  Zhai Sheng, who came back at the right time, heard Zhai Hua’s words. His footsteps halted and he frowned. He had never thought that Zhai Hua would have this mentality. He used to think that she was just joking.

  Zhai Yaohui and Zhai Hua heard footsteps and turned to see who was there.

  Zhai Hua pursed her lips when she saw Zhai Sheng walk into the room. She turned sideways stubbornly, refusing to look at him. Her words might be harsh, but it was the truth.

  Zhai Yaohui let out a sigh. “When did you start feeling this way? Or have you been harboring such thoughts since a young age?”

  “I……” Zhai Hua hesitated. “Since a young age, I feel that grandpa values Zhai Sheng more than

  me.”

  But back then, she did not feel as disgusted and unjust over the way she was being treated.

  The smile on Zhai Yaohui’s face turned colder. “Since you harbor such an idea from a young age, why didn’t you say so? Even if you didn’t want to tell us, what about your behavior? As a child of the Zhai family, why didn’t you strive to be the best and do better than Zhai Sheng if you feel unjust? If Zhai Sheng achieves second-class merit, you should go for the first-class merit. If Zhai Sheng has been given ten merits, you should work hard to be given fifteen merits!”

  “Why do I have to work so hard?” Zhai Hua was unconvinced.

  “Because you are a girl, because we did not place our hopes on you, because you are not as good as Zhai Sheng. For these three reasons, you should know that you are disadvantaged by birth and therefore should work harder. If not, your political status will not be higher than that of Zhai Sheng. What’s wrong with

  it?”

  “What about it? You know that you are not as important to us as Zhai Sheng, but when Zhai Sheng achieves second-class merits, you will achieve third-class merits; when he is given ten merits, you will only work to achieve eight merits. You joined the army two years earlier than Zhai Sheng, but you did not make use of the two years to widen the distance between the two of you. On the contrary, it was only when Zhai Sheng joined the army and had brilliant performance did you buck up and display better performance.”