She won't clear her name; she'll throw away all the scum.

Chen Xianghong retorted sharply, "I thought you were a reasonable person, Uncle Yu, but I didn't expect you to be even worse than those villagers when I was sent to the countryside. You can't think of any other way to criticize me, so you bring up my background. Uncle Yu, as a leader, do you look down on us working class?"

Yu's father was caught off guard and was suddenly accused of a serious offense. If you really think about what he said, he did look down on workers and ordinary people. Although he genuinely looked down on them, he absolutely couldn't have said it like that. For a moment, he didn't know what to say. It had been a long time since anyone had dared to put such a direct accusation against him.

Yu's mother became anxious, "You heartless girl, do you think you can just make your Uncle Yu bear a crime for nothing with such a casual remark?"

She became increasingly determined not to let Chen Xianghong be with her son. She couldn't even say such a thing at home, because what if someone overheard and reported her?

Chen Xianghong: ...You've thrown the question at her again?

"You keep talking about my status, this kind of status, right? May I ask what my status is, and how am I unworthy? Do you dare to say it?"

Yu's father: "I don't mean you're not good enough for me, it's just that you two aren't a good match?"

Chen Xianghong: "What's wrong with us? What standards are you using to say we're not suitable? What kind of standard would be suitable?"

Yu's father thought to himself: Of course, it's only suitable to marry someone of equal social standing, but he had just been accused of something he shouldn't say now. This girl is really hard to deal with.

"Your aunt and I have been through this before, and we can tell at a glance that you two will have a very difficult time together. You grew up in different environments and have different lifestyles, so you're bound to argue in the future. How can you possibly be a good match?"

Yu Hongzhen suddenly grasped Chen Xianghong's hand and said firmly, "I like her, she likes me, we're a good match. I don't even know what my lifestyle habits are. I've eaten raw rats and crawled through mud pits during missions. I can adapt to any kind of environment or food. How could we possibly argue about this?"

Yu's mother shrieked in a low voice, "Aren't you two ashamed? Holding hands in front of your elders? Don't you have any manners? Let go of each other right now!"

Yu Hongzhen not only didn't let go, but gripped it even tighter. "Mom, when you asked me to meet Uncle Li's daughter before, you practically wanted to push her into my arms. Did that mean you could disregard the rules? Are rules based on social status?"

Yu's mother was rebuffed, and her face flushed red. "You child, you really don't care about anything now, you can even make up such things."

Yu Hongzhen turned to Chen Xianghong and said, "I'll take you to see Uncle Li's daughter tomorrow. Then you'll know whether I made this up or not. Eleven out of ten things my mother says are lies. You don't need to care what she says. She's just a...liar."

He spoke the last three words very softly, but the room was only so big that Chen Xianghong heard them, and his parents heard them too.

Yu's mother's neck is now red.

She always considered herself elegant and dignified, but she never expected that her image in front of her son would be... that of a liar?

This was something she couldn't accept, and she was on the verge of tears. This was her only child, and Yu Qingqing, who had gone mad, was no longer considered her child. She was filled with grievance, "Azhen, how can you say that about your mother? When has your mother ever harmed you?"

"When you were injured on a mission before, who took care of you day and night?"

Yu Hongzhen: "Aunt Wu from your grandfather's family."

Yu's mother felt a pang of guilt, then said with deep emotion, "The person who worries about you the most when you're injured is your mother. Every time I see your wounds, I can't sleep because of the heartache. I wish these wounds were on me instead. I am a mother, your mother, and the person who wants you to be well the most is me."

Yu Hongzhen: "You didn't care much about Qingqing even when she went crazy. You even thought she was a disgrace to you."

After being momentarily speechless, Yu's mother heard Yu Hongzhen say to Chen Xianghong, "I knew my mother was a liar."

Mr. Yu was also annoyed. "How many people have you said such things to? Don't you have any basic manners of respecting the elderly and caring for the young? Did we teach you to speak ill of your parents like this when you were little?"

Is this child going to be ruined too? If his biological mother is a liar, then what is he?

Yu Hongzhen didn't disappoint him, whispering closer to Chen Xianghong, "My dad's a hypocrite. He seems nice on the surface, but inside..."

When Yu's father heard this, his vision blurred. He stopped Yu Hongzhen from saying anything more bad about him and instead slapped him across the face.

Yu Hongzhen didn't dodge, but instead pulled Chen Xianghong back a little.

He received a solid slap to the face, eliciting a gasp from Chen Xianghong.

"Get out of here! All of you get out of here!"

Yu Hongzhen lowered his voice, but his tone was extremely fierce. He looked exactly like the hypocrite Yu Hongzhen had described. Even at this moment, he was still suppressing his anger and didn't want the people next door to hear him get angry.

Yu Hongzhen laughed, "Dad, should I cover my face? Otherwise people will say you're a snob, a heartbreaker, and that you'd even lay a hand on your son to break us up."

Satisfied to see his father's face darken, Yu Hongzhen pulled the man away.

Yu's father looked out the window of the house. If this brat really went around hitting him, he would rush out to stop him immediately.

Yu's mother had stopped crying and started to heat up the untouched dishes on the table. There was a lot of food on the table that the two of them couldn't possibly finish, but she placed a bowl of white rice with some green vegetables on top in front of Yu Qingqing's door. As for the meat, they would rather throw it away than give it to the daughter who had embarrassed them.

This... is their punishment for Yu Qingqing's unauthorized departure from their control.

Yu Qingqing's bedroom door remained closed. She usually ate her food late at night after her parents had fallen asleep, by which time the food was already cold, but she didn't care. She simply couldn't bear to eat a hot meal while looking at her parents' faces.

However, every time Yu Hongzhen came home, he would hide some snacks in certain places. After he left, Yu Qingqing would secretly find them and hide them in her room. Otherwise, according to the way Yu's parents raised her, she might have starved to death long ago.

Chen Xianghong's meeting this time was a complete mess. Looking at Yu Hongzhen's face with some concern, she muttered to herself as they walked, "Are you really alright? Shouldn't you go to the hospital to put some medicine on your face? And your parents...?"

Yu Hongzhen reassured her the whole way, but when they arrived at Chen Xianghong's dormitory, he suddenly stopped. "Xianghong, if I were to move into your family home and become your son-in-law, would your mother agree?"

Chen Xianghong: ...Huh?