Heavenly Dragon Doctor Son-in-Law-Chapter 50 - 51 Happy Zhang Meilan!

"Aunt, Uncle."

Realizing he’d been found out, Li Mingjie took off his gas mask. He forced an embarrassed smile that revealed a set of white teeth. He looked absolutely mortified.

"Mingjie, what’s going on here?" Tang De asked, utterly bewildered as he examined Li Mingjie closely. "Weren’t you promoted? Weren’t you supposed to go to the Lin’an District to be an inspector?"

"Why are you at a dog kennel... shoveling..." Zhang Meilan was also extremely puzzled, her eyes wide with disbelief.

Li Mingjie wanted to find an excuse to brush it off, but the thought of Qin Long’s power stopped him from trying anything foolish.

"Aunt..." he said quietly, his head lowered in embarrassment. "I made a mistake. My superiors told me to reflect on my actions... so I came here to train."

Tang De and Zhang Meilan couldn’t make any sense of it. They didn’t know if he was in charge of the Lin’an District or not, but it was clear he was now earnestly shoveling dung. Hadn’t he claimed this job was meant for Qin Long? Why was he the one experiencing it firsthand?

"Aunt, Uncle, what brings you here?" Li Mingjie asked, wiping a foot stained with dog droppings. He wished he could offer them a cup of tea, but where could they possibly sit around here?

"Oh, it’s nothing important. Your aunt was just passing by and wanted to check on you," Zhang Meilan explained solemnly, though inwardly she was about to burst with laughter.

To think of the proud Li Mingjie from yesterday and now see him shoveling manure! Talk about divine retribution! Still, I can’t laugh out loud while he’s still here.

"I’m doing fine," Li Mingjie said, scratching his head.

"Seeing that you’re fine gives us peace of mind. We’ll get going, then," Zhang Meilan said, turning to leave. Just then, she saw Tang De about to hand Li Mingjie the bottle of Fenjiu they had brought.

SWISH!

Zhang Meilan snatched the black leather bag from Tang De’s hand. "Mingjie, your aunt has other matters to attend to, so we’ll be leaving now." She gave Tang De’s thigh a sharp twist before departing with a smile.

"Alright, take care." Li Mingjie clenched his jaw, then mustered the courage to shout after them, "Aunt, please tell Qin Long and Xuewu something for me. I only now realize that you and Uncle are good people. Please, help me apologize to Brother Long. I never should have looked down on him."

"Alright," Zhang Meilan called back with a smile, waving her hand.

The moment they were in the Buick, she burst out laughing. "Old De! Did you see that? Look at him with all his shoveling gear and that gas mask! What a complete clown, hehe! I’m in a great mood today, so I’ll give you a treat!"

With that, Zhang Meilan beckoned seductively to Tang De and plopped herself onto his lap.

Seeing her antics, Tang De wanted to curse. "Meilan, don’t mess around! We’re in the car, people will see us."

But Zhang Meilan couldn’t be bothered. They say a woman in her forties is a force of nature, ravenous enough to leave a man utterly spent.

About fifteen minutes later, the Buick, which had been rocking steadily, finally fell still. Their tryst was over.

"Old De, you’re not the man you used to be!" Zhang Meilan said with a hint of resentment as she finished dressing. "But fine. I’m in a good mood today, so let’s go. I’ll even cook a few special dishes myself tonight!"

Though Zhang Meilan wasn’t entirely satisfied with Tang De’s performance, she was still in high spirits.

「Five o’clock in the afternoon.」

After a busy day, Tang Xuewu finally made her way home. She slipped out of her work clothes, took a quick hot shower, and changed into pajamas. But even then, she couldn’t shake the feeling of unease. The things Wang Ming and Madam Zhao had said had completely destroyed her trust in Qin Long.

"Xuewu, about today... I overslept after my acupuncture session and was late to pick you up," Qin Long began to explain.

But Tang Xuewu simply raised a hand, cutting him off, her expression one of complete mistrust.

"Xuewu, what’s wrong?" Qin Long frowned and moved toward her, intending to take her hand.

She heartlessly flung his hand away.

"Don’t touch me!" she snapped. "What’s wrong with me? Do you even really care? Sometimes, I think Grandpa was right. I was so foolish. You don’t even have a single yuan for bus fare! And I actually believed you were changing. How stupid. I’m such a fool."

Tang Xuewu shook her head helplessly, her beautiful eyes glistening with tears of disappointment.

"Xuewu, you..." Qin Long was completely bewildered. Just that morning, she had been so concerned about him. How could she be so repulsed by him now?

Could it be because of Li Mingjie? Did he interfere with her business?

"Was it that son-in-law from your uncle’s family causing trouble again?" Qin Long’s eyebrows twitched, his tone turning icy.

"You have the nerve to bring up Li Mingjie?" she retorted, her anger flaring. "He already admitted he was drunk and went back on his word, yet you were so merciless. I thought you had some real power, but reality has proven you have nothing! What can you do besides fighting? What good comes from offending officials? Will that help you get back on your feet? Putting on a brave face when you’re in over your head—don’t you see how pathetic that is?"

She had never felt such heartache. She had been trying to accept Qin Long, but he had deceived her so badly. More than anything, she hated being deceived.

"I won’t listen to you, I won’t listen..." Tang Xuewu said coldly, turning to leave.

Just then, Zhang Meilan’s excited voice rang out from the doorway. "Xuewu! Xuewu! Come out, we’re having a feast! Hurry and help your mom, I’m exhausted from carrying all this! We absolutely must have a good drink to celebrate!"

As she spoke, she and Tang De came in, carrying bags with more than a dozen delicious takeout dishes.

"What’s the special occasion?" Tang Xuewu asked, a confused look on her pretty face.

"It’s not about us. It’s about Li Mingjie," her mother said, beaming. "Xuewu, Li Mingjie really is working as a manure shoveler, hehehe!"

Hearing this, Tang Xuewu trembled and froze on the spot. She suddenly recalled the moment Qin Long had warned Li Mingjie. Back then, Qin Long had threatened him with this exact punishment. He had told him, "Even Lord Jiang thinks you’re suited for shoveling manure."

Not long after that, Li Mingjie and her uncle had come to their door with expensive gifts to apologize. Qin Long had warned him then too: "Keep running your mouth, and you won’t even have the right to shovel manure."

At the time, Tang Xuewu had just thought it was a clever comeback. But thinking back on it now—on Qin Long’s incredibly domineering attitude and Li Mingjie’s constant groveling...

There’s definitely more to this story...

Tang Xuewu slowly looked up at her mother, her expression full of doubt. "Mom, are you telling the truth? Are you sure you’re not mistaken?"

"No mistake!" Zhang Meilan said, covering her mouth as she laughed and arranged the dozen dishes on the table. "I was worried Li Mingjie would try to sabotage you behind your back, so your dad and I bought two bottles of commemorative edition Fenjiu and went to ’check up’ on him. And as luck would have it, when your dad stopped to ask for directions, he ran right into Li Mingjie shoveling dog poop! Haha!"