From Evil Sect Leader to Doctor

Chapter 679 - 649: Extremes

Fu Guomin was helpless, hoping Xu Chunliang could come over to help persuade his wife. He would quickly take care of his work in Dongzhou in order to try to return to the Capital City as soon as possible.Xu Chunliang felt quite sympathetic towards Fu Guomin. Others would be overjoyed to be valued by their leaders, but not him. His wife and child were in the Capital City, and living apart was driving him to distraction after only a few days back in Dongzhou.

Fu Guomin didn’t want family matters to become too public, nor did he want the people at the Beijing Office to laugh at him. After much thought, he could only ask Xu Chunliang for help. Xu Chunliang was eloquent and also a colleague at the Culture and Tourism Bureau, and he should be able to calm his wife down.

Xu Chunliang was somewhat reluctant to get involved in others’ family affairs. However, since Fu Guomin was his direct superior and was indeed in a difficult situation, he reluctantly agreed.

Fu Guomin gave him his home address and his wife’s phone number, showing quite a bit of trust in him.

Xu Chunliang had to postpone his plans to return home again and canceled his ticket. As a subordinate, he should help his leader solve problems.

At 7:30 the next morning, Xu Chunliang first called Fu Guomin’s wife, Zhao Xinting.

As soon as the call connected, Xu Chunliang warmly greeted her, "Hello, sister-in-law! I am Xu Chunliang."

"I don’t know you!" Zhao Xinting hung up the phone.

Xu Chunliang wasn’t discouraged by the cold reception. He called Zhao Xinting again, but this time she simply didn’t answer the phone.

From Fu Guomin, Xu Chunliang already learned that his wife had a bit of a temper. With Old Fu working back in Dongzhou and their son being bullied, she must be in a bad mood and might have mistaken him for a scammer.

Xu Chunliang decided to visit her in person. He had to complete the task assigned by Old Fu.

Fu Guomin’s home was not far from the Dongzhou Beijing Office. They bought a second-hand apartment in a building that was over twenty years old, and a family of three lived in a not-so-spacious two-bedroom apartment.

Xu Chunliang carried some nutritional products and arrived downstairs, noticing that the building didn’t even have an elevator. Thinking about the housing prices in the Capital City, he understood that for salary earners like Fu Guomin and his wife, owning their own place in the Capital City wasn’t easy.

He arrived at unit 502, building one, and knocked on the door.

The door opened, and a thin, sallow-faced middle-aged woman appeared before him. She was Zhao Xinting, Fu Guomin’s wife.

Even though Xu Chunliang had seen her photo before, he was still taken aback. Those mobile phone beauty filters were truly deceptive. The woman he saw in the photo shown by Old Fu was a completely different person. No wonder Old Fu was increasingly losing enthusiasm; it couldn’t just be blamed on his health.

Zhao Xinting gazed at Xu Chunliang with suspicion, given they had never met before.

Beaming with friendliness, Xu Chunliang said, "Sister-in-law, my name is Xu Chunliang. I called you earlier. Brother Fu has mentioned me to you, right?"

Zhao Xinting nodded and opened the door wider. Fu Guomin had indeed mentioned Xu Chunliang, more than once.

Xu Chunliang walked in with his things, saying, "I’ve been wanting to visit but couldn’t find the time. Is Xiao Dong at home?" Fu Guomin’s son was named Fu Xuedong.

Zhao Xinting said, "Fu Guomin asked you to come, right? Have a seat."

Xu Chunliang placed the items beside the coffee table and sat on the sofa.

Zhao Xinting went to pour him a cup of tea. "Since Fu Guomin could tell you about our family issues, it shows you two are quite close. They say family scandals shouldn’t be aired, but since he isn’t worried about that, I’ll tell you something."

Xu Chunliang didn’t hear any noise from the rooms, indicating that Fu Xuedong wasn’t home.

Zhao Xinting said, "I was opposed to Old Fu going to Dongzhou from the start. We’ve settled in the Capital City, and his leaving means long-distance separation. Personally, I don’t mind, but my son is in the third year of middle school, about to take his high school entrance exams, a critical time. Yet, he’s busy with work. Does he even care about this home or his son’s future?"

Xu Chunliang smiled and said, "Sister-in-law, it’s not that serious, is it? Brother Fu’s work transfer to Dongzhou was also an arrangement by the leaders. He’s not doing this voluntarily. For the greater good, you must understand his sacrifices."

Zhao Xinting retorted, "I can understand him, but my son was bullied at school. His father came once, and the problem wasn’t solved. My son’s head was injured, and the other family only paid some compensation with an apology, and the school did a symbolic criticism without any punishment. It has only been a few days, and they had people wait outside school to beat my son again. I reported it to the school, and they told me to contact the local police station."

"What did the police say?"

"What else could they say? Days have passed, and they haven’t caught anyone. My son is too frightened to go to school. How can he study under these conditions? We’ve had such a major issue at home, yet the father doesn’t come back? I don’t know how important your work is at the Dongzhou Culture and Tourism Bureau. Is it important enough to abandon a son?"

Zhao Xinting was somewhat agitated. Since Fu Guomin went to Dongzhou, the household burdens fell on her alone, so it’s understandable for her to have emotions.

Xu Chunliang inwardly lamented that Fu Guomin had given him a tough job. No wonder it’s said that even a fair judge can’t settle family disputes. He really didn’t know how to get involved in their family matters, but since he was there, he thought he should at least say a few words, "Sister-in-law, don’t worry. How about telling me which school Xiao Dong is attending, and I’ll see if I can find some connections to help."

Zhao Xinting habitually looked at her phone. In the class group, the teacher was again @ing her, asking if Fu Xuedong would be coming to school today.

Zhao Xinting was a bit flustered. Her son had clearly gone to school today, right? She quickly checked with the teacher, who confirmed that Fu Xuedong hadn’t gone at all.

Zhao Xinting didn’t even bother to greet Xu Chunliang: "Xiaoxu, I’m sorry, but I have to go and look for him. The kid left at half past six and still hasn’t reached school."

Xu Chunliang knew that the age of fifteen or sixteen was a time when rebellion was most likely to occur. If something went wrong, he might do something drastic. So he immediately offered to go with Zhao Xinting to look for him.

Fu Xuedong was a student at Shuren Middle School. It was just a ten-minute walk from their home to the school, which was why they chose to live there.

Zhao Xinting was about to call Fu Guomin, but Xu Chunliang suggested she wait. Fu Guomin was in Dongzhou, and even if she called him, he couldn’t do anything from afar and would only add to the worry.

The two of them searched along the way and found Fu Xuedong by the small river on the way to school. He was sitting there all alone, with his backpack thrown to the side.

Zhao Xinting shouted his name loudly.

Fu Xuedong heard his mother’s voice. Without even grabbing his backpack, he got up and ran along the riverbank.

Zhao Xinting screamed, "Stop right there, you little brat! What are you doing skipping school and running off here?"

Xu Chunliang thought to himself that this wasn’t good. Zhao Xinting was being too careless. Couldn’t she see that Fu Xuedong was in a bad mood? This wasn’t the time to provoke him. Sure enough, Fu Xuedong turned and rushed towards the river.

Xu Chunliang had anticipated this happening. As Zhao Xinting was shouting, he had already dashed to Fu Xuedong’s side with incredible speed, grabbing the boy by the waist.

Fu Xuedong yelled, "Let me go, let me go!" He was smaller than his peers and couldn’t break free from Xu Chunliang’s embrace.

Xu Chunliang couldn’t let go. If he did, the boy would most likely jump into the river. Although the river wasn’t deep, it would still be troublesome if he jumped in.

Zhao Xinting panicked when she saw her son was about to jump into the river. Luckily, Xu Chunliang stopped him. She ran over, crying, "Son, I won’t say anything to you. It’s my fault. Please don’t scare me... please don’t scare me."

A lot of onlookers gathered, some even pulled out their phones. Xu Chunliang really disliked such nosy people. Pointing at the ones filming, he said, "If you don’t believe me, I’ll throw your phones into the river!"

Evil people are feared more. The few who were filming were intimidated by Xu Chunliang’s presence and put their phones down. Of course, there were still those who weren’t afraid and kept filming openly.

Seeing more and more people gathering, Xu Chunliang said to Fu Xuedong, "Xiao Dong, let’s talk somewhere else. You don’t want to end up on the internet, do you?"

Fu Xuedong pursed his lips, and Zhao Xinting said, "Child, let’s go home." She held onto her son’s arm, afraid he would run off.

Xu Chunliang guarded them as they walked up the riverbank. When he saw someone with a bowl cut still holding up a phone and filming in their faces, he got really angry.

Xu Chunliang slapped the phone out of his hand. It flew down the sloped riverbank, bouncing and clattering.

The guy with the bowl cut was stunned for a moment. When he realized what had happened, he was furious and said, "You bastard..." Before he could finish, Xu Chunliang slapped him again, making stars dance before his eyes.

Xu Chunliang followed up with a kick to his stomach, sending the big guy, who stood over six feet and weighed more than 200 pounds, tumbling to the ground.

Xu Chunliang stepped on his face and pointed at the crowd, "Film it, I dare you! If it were your kid, would you still film? How about sparing some dignity for your own families? Whoever dares to post the video online, I guarantee I can find you. This guy will be your example."

Xu Chunliang stomped harder, making the bowl cut guy cry out in pain, knowing he had run into a tough one.

Xu Chunliang shouted, "Delete it all!"

The girl next to him was so scared she trembled, dropping her phone. Though it didn’t roll down the riverbank, the phone screen shattered completely.

After intimidating the crowd, Xu Chunliang didn’t linger. He picked up the backpack on the ground and quickly caught up with Zhao Xinting and her son.

After walking over a hundred meters, Fu Xuedong forcefully shook off his mother’s hand and angrily said, "Why are you always following me? Aren’t you annoying? I’m not a child anymore."

Earlier, Zhao Xinting was terrified seeing her son almost jump into the river. She trembled, saying, "Son, I won’t say anything. I won’t say anything at all. Can you just come home with me?"

Fu Xuedong said, "I don’t want to go home. I don’t want to see you."

Zhao Xinting was almost in tears, "I’ll call your dad and have him come back."

"What good will that do? Can he solve anything by coming back? I don’t want to see him or any of you."

My son is about to take his college entrance exams. My main task recently is to keep him company, so I can’t guarantee regular updates. I’ll try to post twice a day. Once the exams are over, everything will return to normal.