However, in the next moment, Cheng Huai’s smile froze on his face. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

The person who opened the door was not Cheng Lie, nor was it Yun Shifei, but Yun Tiancheng.

Cheng Huai was stunned for a moment and then greeted him, "Uncle."

Indeed, Yun Shifei hadn’t lied earlier, Yun Tiancheng really was at home.

Seeing Yun Tiancheng, Cheng Huai, who had been plotting how to deal with Yun Shifei and Cheng Lie, suddenly felt a pang of guilt.

Could it be that Yun Shifei had told Yun Tiancheng about what just happened?

"Cheng Huai, how dare you show your face in my house?" Yun Tiancheng’s face was filled with rage. "Do you need to be taught a lesson? You even dare lay a hand on my daughter?!"

"Uncle Yun, you misunderstand. I just wanted to hang out with Shifei earlier. Who knew Shifei didn’t want to play with me?"

Yun Tiancheng let out a cold laugh. "Who would believe what you’re saying!? I’ve already called your father about this matter, and it won’t end here!"

Yun Tiancheng thought that Cheng Huai had gone too far. If Cheng Guomin insisted on shielding Cheng Huai, he would terminate any collaboration with the Cheng Family immediately!

It wasn’t a big deal—no matter the loss, it was nowhere near as important as Yun Shifei.

He worked so hard to earn money, all so his daughter could live a better life, right?

If his daughter was bullied and he couldn’t stand up for her, then he would be a complete failure as a man.

"Uncle Yun, it’s really not the way you’re thinking."

"Dad, it was him! He wanted to drag me into his room—it scared me to death." A girl’s voice, tinged with sobs, suddenly came from the house.

Cheng Huai’s heart sank as he saw Yun Shifei walk out from the house. She looked utterly pitiful as tears streamed down her face. That helpless look was like fuel to the fire, causing Yun Tiancheng’s rage to burn even hotter.

"Old Yun, what’s going on here?" At that moment, Cheng Guomin pulled up in his car and came straight to the Yun Family’s house, skipping his own, wanting to get to the bottom of things.

Cheng Guomin looked at Cheng Huai with his bandaged head injury, then at the pitifully weeping Yun Shifei, and finally at the furious Yun Tiancheng.

Although Yun Tiancheng hadn’t gone into details over the phone, Cheng Guomin already understood—this wasn’t good!

Yun Tiancheng normally had a very good temper; Cheng Guomin had rarely seen him this angry.

"So, this is what happened." Yun Tiancheng recounted everything Yun Shifei had told him to Cheng Guomin.

He handed a lollipop to Yun Shifei and gently patted her head. "Shifei, don’t be scared. Dad will make sure justice is served for you."

Yun Shifei wasn’t frightened at all. She was at her own home, while Cheng Huai was clearly in the wrong—what reason was there for her to be scared?

However, in order to ensure Cheng Huai faced harsher consequences, Yun Shifei couldn’t help but shrink her shoulders, leaning closer to Yun Tiancheng as she cautiously said, "I’m scared, Dad. If he had dragged me into the room earlier, I can’t even imagine what might have happened."

She had to appear truly frightened and absolutely anxious—only then could the situation escalate further.

Watching Yun Shifei’s pale face, as if she was deeply traumatized, Yun Tiancheng’s fury flared up even more. He directed his glare at Cheng Guomin.

Cheng Guomin immediately stood up and reassured Yun Shifei, "Shifei, your Uncle Cheng will discipline Cheng Huai properly once we’re home. He definitely won’t do such things to you in the future."

Cheng Huai hadn’t anticipated the situation escalating to this extent—he hadn’t done anything at all!

This Yun Shifei, just how timid could she possibly be? Over something like this, she was acting so terrified, yet he was the one with a head injury!

"Uncle Cheng, it’s all thanks to Cheng Lie today for helping me out. If it weren’t for Cheng Huai smashing a vase over Cheng Lie’s head, he wouldn’t have let me go and even tried to hit Cheng Lie." Yun Shifei added.

Cheng Huai’s eyes widened with disbelief. When did he ever try to hit Cheng Lie? He didn’t even consider Cheng Lie significant enough in his eyes!

"Don’t make things up! When did I ever say I wanted to hit Cheng Lie?"

If he was in the wrong, he would admit it. But as for something he hadn’t done—he refused to take the blame.

Cheng Huai’s words seemed to startle Yun Shifei as she shrank back further behind Yun Tiancheng and timidly said, "If you say you didn’t, then fine—but please don’t hit me."

Yun Tiancheng assumed Cheng Huai had been trying to intimidate Yun Shifei and shot him a fierce glare. He turned to Cheng Guomin and said, "I almost feel like helping you discipline this boy myself."

He even struggled to hold back his temper from cursing outright.

This Cheng Huai—why had he always behaved so obediently in front of him before?

Suddenly, Yun Tiancheng recalled how, not long ago, when he had gone out for a business trip, Cheng Huai had deliberately assured him he would help take care of Yun Shifei. And this so-called ’care’...

The more Yun Tiancheng thought about it, the colder and angrier he felt, while a powerful sense of dread crept in. Thankfully, nothing had happened to Yun Shifei that time.

Girls were different from boys, especially a sweet and delicate girl like Yun Shifei. He needed to be more careful in the future, to make sure she wouldn’t be targeted by little bastards like these.

Cheng Guomin sternly scolded Cheng Huai, "Ah Huai, sit down!"

"Dad, she’s lying!" Cheng Huai pointed at Yun Shifei, "I said I wanted to hit Cheng Lie, yet I’m the one injured, and Cheng Lie is completely unharmed! How does that make sense?"

"Not only did you say you wanted to hit him, but you also cursed him, calling him a bastard and a mutt," Yun Shifei added another blow.

Cheng Huai was momentarily speechless.

Cheng Guomin had often heard Zhao Haishuang use such insults towards Cheng Lie in the past, so he believed everything Yun Shifei was saying.

Cheng Guomin was always concerned about saving face; otherwise, he wouldn’t have outwardly treated Cheng Lie so well—it was all to avoid being criticized.

At this moment, he realized that the carefully crafted image of his harmonious family was starting to fall apart because of Cheng Huai. His rage intensified tenfold.

He reached out and clapped a hand on Cheng Huai’s shoulder. "You’re coming home with me."

After saying that, he glanced at Cheng Lie, who had been sitting silently in the corner the entire time.

"Xiao Lie, you stay here with Uncle Yun for now."

His tone was unprecedentedly gloomy, and his expression was extremely somber. Clearly, Cheng Huai was about to face a storm like no other when he got home.

Cheng Huai was starting to panic, "Dad, you don’t trust me?!"

"We’ll talk about it when we get home!" Cheng Guomin roared—was family disgrace meant to be aired in front of outsiders?

Cheng Huai was subdued by Cheng Guomin’s authority and obediently followed him out.

Yun Shifei knew that Cheng Huai was in for trouble.

She had worked so hard to prod at Cheng Guomin’s sore spots, even brazenly resorting to lies. If all of this didn’t lead to Cheng Huai facing consequences, then her efforts would have been wasted.

After they left, Yun Tiancheng turned his gaze to Yun Shifei once more. "Shifei, it’s over now. Don’t be afraid—Dad will protect you."

Yun Shifei nodded, feeling warmth spread in her heart.

Having a dad was wonderful, having family members who loved her was wonderful.

Even though her life lacked the completeness of a mother’s love, Yun Shifei felt she ought to be grateful.

She shifted her gaze to Cheng Lie, the boy who sat silently in the corner, as though he was in another world entirely.

Compared to her, Cheng Lie was the one who was truly pitiful.

Living in such a family—it wasn’t surprising that his personality would become warped in the future.

The impact of one’s original family on their development really couldn’t be understated; if Cheng Lie couldn’t grow up in a healthy family environment, there was little chance that his heart would be healthy either.