I hadn't expected Yangyang to have a gun on him.
The one he had before had long been lost somewhere, but now, seeing how skillfully he held it, my heart skipped a beat.
It looked like he'd spent quite a bit of time practicing with it behind my back.
The tall officer's expression turned much uglier when Yangyang aimed at his head.
Suo Tian glanced at the two of them before speaking, "What's between me and Captain Gao is none of your business. You two dogs from B Team aren't qualified to come here and posture. If you don't know your place, I'll take your lives."
His tone wasn't calm—there was clear anger in it.
The sudden situation, along with the attitudes of the tall and short officers, had obviously pushed his patience.
The tall one frowned, wanting to say something, but didn't.
Behind him, the two women were trembling in fear, not daring to even breathe loudly.
I began to understand—this wasn't about seeking justice for the women at all.
These two had simply used the situation as an excuse to come here and throw their weight around.
But they had overestimated themselves—and underestimated Suo Tian's patience.
It had been obvious from the start that Suo Tian and that Captain Gao from B Team didn't get along, just like at the bar before, when Suo Tian had even pulled a gun on him.
After the tall officer lowered his gun, Suo Tian glanced at him, then released the knife from the short officer's temple.
Turning back, he pressed down Yangyang's still-raised arm and said to the four of them, "I don't have time to waste on you. This is the only warning. Next time, have your captain come collect your bodies."
The tall officer stiffened, then cupped his fists and said, "Lesson learned."
He turned and walked out angrily.
The short one and the two women hurried after him.
At last, the house fell silent again.
Watching Suo Tian sheathe his knife and return to the sofa to calmly drink tea, I took a deep breath and said, "Sorry."
Everyone around me froze—even Suo Tian paused mid-sip and looked over.
Uncle Gazi asked, "What are you apologizing for?"
Lowering my head, I said, "No matter what, I was the one who started it. They were about to leave—if I hadn't lost my temper, it wouldn't have turned into such a mess."
Before I could finish, Lili grabbed my arm. "What are you talking about? After the things those women said, were we supposed to just take it? And if we're talking about starting it, I was the one who grabbed her skirt first! And that slap you gave? It was satisfying! What's there to apologize for? Don't!"
I nudged her to stop, but Xu Shu chimed in as well, "If I had been there, I would've fought too. People like that—you can't outshout them. The only thing that works is force."
"Exactly!" Han Xue agreed.
"They throw around nasty words like it's nothing. If you argue, you'll just get angry. There's a saying—if you can fight, don't argue! Action is the ultimate truth!"
"There's no such saying," Uncle Gazi corrected.
"Oh, whatever—it still makes sense!"
"Putting that aside," Shen Feng said thoughtfully from the dining table, "that woman wasn't entirely wrong about one thing. We've been living here for half a year, doing nothing but eating and resting. It does sound a bit… unreasonable."
He turned to Suo Tian. "Hey, brother—if there's anything we can help with, let us. Better than sitting around all day and giving people something to gossip about."
Suo Tian set down his teacup and looked at him. "You can join the headquarters. C Team."
"Really?! Really?!" Yangyang instantly rushed over, eyes practically sparkling.
"We can join the black-clad team too? Use guns? Go on missions with you?"
Suo Tian pushed his face back slightly. "There'll be a training period. During that time, you'll have your own tasks, but you'll still be under C Team."
"I can do it! I can! Can I?!" Yangyang leaned in again, completely ignoring me.
Suo Tian pushed him back once more. "If Chen Yang agrees, then yes."
Only then did Yangyang seem to remember he had a sister.
He paused, glanced back at me for just a second, then immediately turned back and whispered something into Suo Tian's ear.
Suo Tian glanced at me, pressed his lips together slightly, and nodded.
"Alright."
Seeing this, Chen Pu, Jundi, Zhou Wen, and Shen Feng all gathered around Suo Tian.
It seemed that the past half year of stifling, idle life had long made them restless.
Men always needed something more in their world.
I glanced at Yangyang, whose face was full of excitement—he wasn't a kid anymore, almost twenty.
Back when our parents were twenty, they were already married with me.
If Yangyang really wanted to go out and follow Suo Tian to make his mark, I would agree.
Taozi, however, shot an unhappy look at Zhou Wen, who had left him behind, and walked over to us, puffing up in frustration. "I think he doesn't love me anymore."
Hearing that, Han Xue immediately burst out laughing. "Are you trying to make people hate you on purpose?"
Taozi froze for a moment, then said, "I'm serious. It's been a long time—he's always spacing out. When I talk to him, it takes forever for him to respond, or he just goes up to the rooftop alone. He doesn't even want to spend time talking with me anymore."
Lili patted Taozi on the shoulder. "Zhou Wen's a man—a real one. After all this time, following us around every day cleaning floors, wiping tables, talking about kids, and then going back to his room and still having to deal with you… that's definitely not the life he wants. Anyone could live like this at eighty. So… let him go find himself again."
I gave Lili an approving look and added, "Exactly. Living isn't just about surviving—we need to find our own value. Otherwise, what's the difference between being alive and being dead?"
"Right! That makes sense!" Taozi suddenly looked inspired.
"Tomorrow let's all go out and wander around. We should find ourselves too!"
…The rest of us exchanged speechless looks.
Clearly, he hadn't really understood what we meant.
Back in the room, Suo Tian was showering.
I lay on the bed, replaying the words those two women had said.
Thinking about it carefully, some of what they said did make sense.
And from the way they spoke, it seemed like people in their area all saw us the same way…
That thought made me feel a bit discouraged.
All this time, we had only interacted with the few households around us.
They were friendly, yes—but that didn't mean everyone else would be.
I punched the blanket in frustration.
Sometimes I really overthink things.
Just imagining that we'd been judged and talked about like that for so long made me feel irritated all over again.
The bathroom door opened.
Suo Tian walked out, water still dripping from his hair, and glanced at me. "What's wrong?"
I shook my head, grabbed a dry towel from the side, climbed over, and pulled him down to sit.
I rubbed his hair vigorously before letting out a heavy sigh and pulling the towel away. "I feel… suffocated."
Suo Tian pulled me to sit beside him.
After a pause, he said, "You know how to protect yourself. That's not wrong."
"But…" I pouted, "thinking about it carefully, it feels like I've caused everyone a lot of trouble."
He didn't respond immediately, seeming to be thinking.
After a moment, I poked him with my elbow. "What are you thinking about?"
"I'm thinking… so you actually know you're troublesome."
…
It took me a second to process what he said, and then my face twisted in annoyance as I glared at him.
"Do you even know? When a girl—especially a pretty girl—admits she's wrong in front of you, you're supposed to immediately say she's not wrong! That's how you win a wife!"
I said it jokingly, really just dodging the topic because I didn't know how to respond.
Since he answered in a teasing way, it at least meant he hadn't taken it seriously.
The moment I finished speaking, something flashed in his eyes.
He suddenly turned and pinned me down onto the bed, leaning over me with a faint smile.
"I really didn't know."
My face flushed red again.
I quickly protested, "Move—move! I haven't even showered yet!"
...…..
The next day was Xiao Hu's monthly check-up.
Since we rarely went out, I usually walked him there myself.
Occasionally Xu Shu and the others would come along, but this time Shen Feng and the others had gone out early with Suo Tian, and Uncle Gazi was left at home to look after the kids and handle cooking.
So I had to take Xiao Hu by myself.
The villa district wasn't too far from the building where the check-ups were done—if you walked straight there, it would only take about an hour.
But along the way, we passed the river I had seen before.
Whenever Xiao Hu and I walked along the riverside path and came across stone steps, we'd run down to play in the water for a bit.
There were tons of fish in the river, and you could often see people fishing along the banks. Xiao Hu was especially fascinated by it—whenever he spotted someone fishing, he insisted on watching for as long as he could before leaving.
During one of those stops, an elderly man, amused by Xiao Hu squatting beside him with his chin in his hands watching intently for half an hour, happily gave us two big fish he had caught earlier.
He even packed them up in a cloth bag for us.
I was thrilled—after politely declining a couple of times, I accepted them.
When we arrived at the courtyard, I was still happily admiring the fish in the bag.
As we passed through the lobby, Xiao Jie at the front desk called out to me with a grin, "Chen Yang, did you pick up gold or something? Look at that big smile on your face."
"You're the one with wrinkles all over your face," I shot back jokingly, waved at her, and headed toward the elevator.
Since I came here often, I was already quite familiar with them.
Sometimes, when Xiao Hu's check-up took a long time, I'd come upstairs to chat and pass the time with them.
— The end of the Chapter–