Zhan Kaiyang naturally couldn’t bear to see his own grandson being wronged, so upon seeing the situation, he spoke up:
"Regardless, hitting people is not acceptable, and the way you hit him was so severe! Moreover, Qiao Jing has already hit my grandson more than once! This time, we must have an explanation!"
Upon hearing Zhan Kaiyang’s words, Qiao Jing slightly raised her elegant eyebrows.
"Old Mr. Zhan, I think you need to know the whole story before you make your decision. Your two grandsons openly spread rumors that I was unfaithful, and even said that my child isn’t my own. Do you think I should just tolerate it?"
She paused, her gaze sharp as an ice blade, piercing straight towards Zhan Bei, and let out a scoff.
"Additionally, your two grandsons also boasted about wanting to keep me, ha!"
With every word Qiao Jing said, Zhan Qipei and the others’ expressions darkened.
Zhan Kaiyang frowned, glancing at Zhan Nan and Zhan Bei.
If it truly was as Qiao Jing said, it seemed that their problem was indeed larger.
As he thought this, Cao Rushan suddenly spoke up.
"So what? I’ll have them apologize to you later. Isn’t that the end of it? And it’s not the first time you’ve hit my two sons, either. Almost every time, you’ve hit them! According to seniority, they are your younger brothers. Why do you like to be so petty with children?"
Qiao Jing looked up at Cao Rushan, nearly laughing out loud at her words, and said coldly:
"Children? Twenty-something-year-old babies?"
She truly didn’t know how Cao Rushan had the nerve to accuse her of being petty with children.
Zhan Nan and Zhan Bei were simply reaping what they sowed, yet this family had the nerve to think she was the problem.
Cao Rushan was at a loss for words after Qiao Jing’s retort, unable to find words to argue back.
At the side, Zhan Yuanshan, after hearing the whole story, hummed in approval.
"Good! You did well! Jing Girl, if you hadn’t hit them and I found out, I would have done it for you,"
After he said this, he turned to look at Zhan Nan and Zhan Bei, his expression instantly reverting to its previous grimness.
"Zhan Nan and Zhan Bei, you two have such nerve? You actually dare to spread rumors about Jing Girl?!"
Zhan Qipei’s face became extremely grim, as if dark clouds were gathering upon it, his gaze fixed intently on Zhan Nan and Zhan Bei.
"Spreading rumors about Qiao Jing? Who gave you the audacity?"
The two of them shivered from Zhan Yuanshan’s scolding, then felt a chill down their spines from Zhan Qipei’s piercing gaze.
Zhan Nan and Zhan Bei initially didn’t want to answer the question, but they also didn’t dare not to answer, so they stammered a response.
Zhan Nan’s eyes shifted, quickly throwing the blame on another person.
"It wasn’t us who spread the rumor about Qiao Jing. It was Qiao Mengtong who told us that Qiao Jing was unfaithful and carrying someone else’s child. My brother and I were just planning to teach Qiao Jing a lesson,"
Upon hearing this, Zhan Bei hurriedly nodded in agreement:
"Right, right, right, this has nothing to do with us two. We were misled. We will apologize to Qiao Jing right now!"
It’s all Qiao Mengtong’s fault! She practically got them killed!!
After hearing what the two said, Zhan Qipei cast a doubtful look at Qiao Jing.
Qiao Jing nodded slightly.
"Indeed, it was Qiao Mengtong who said it first,"
Seeing Qiao Jing acknowledge it, the brothers thought they had a chance to clear their names, and hastily said:
"That’s right, this really has nothing to do with us. We are also victims, deceived as well!"
"Exactly, Qiao Jing, you also heard it was Qiao Mengtong who first talked to us, deliberately deceiving us, right? Then why don’t you trouble her instead of troubling us?"
Qiao Jing’s lips curled up, but there wasn’t a trace of amusement in her eyes.
"I’ll handle her side on my own. After she said that, you believed her without any hesitation, didn’t you?"
She was curious to see what excuses these two brothers could come up with now.
Zhan Qipei pursed his thin lips and, without expression, made a request without letting Zhan Nan and Zhan Bei off the hook.
"Apologize to Qiao Jing."
No matter what those two said, at the very least, they had to apologize to Qiao Jing first.
He wouldn’t allow his wife to suffer the slightest grievance.
By his side, Zhan Yuanshan furrowed his brows upon hearing that Zhan Qipei’s demand was simply this.
"Qipei, this is too lenient," he said.
His precious Jing Girl, whom he would protect at all costs, had been insulted so horribly by these two ignorant brothers. Could a mere apology resolve the matter so easily?
Su Manhan also felt that such a punishment was too light and spoke up:
"Qipei, you can’t let them off so easily!"
Zhan Qipei gave each of them a look of reassurance, indicating that he would handle the matter appropriately.
Zhan Nan and Zhan Bei, realizing that an apology might be sufficient to resolve the issue and fearing that Zhan Qipei might retract his demand any second, simultaneously exclaimed:
"Qiao Jing, we’re sorry!"
If only they had known that Qiao Jing wasn’t driven out in the first place, why would they have said those things?
It was all Qiao Mengtong’s fault! But they definitely wouldn’t dump Qiao Mengtong right now; they still had their anger to vent on her!
Cao Rushan straightened her back in speech after seeing her children apologize.
"That resolves it, right?" she asked.
Zhan Kaiyang, seeing this, also came forward to smooth things over.
"My grandsons have apologized, and there’s nothing else. We’ll be going now," he said.
He was aware that his family was at fault in this matter, but his two grandsons hadn’t made things clear at the time, claiming they were injured by Qiao Jing, prompting them to bring the men over directly.
However, now that the situation had developed to this point, they would turn the page with an apology.
Zhan Qipei’s eyes narrowed slightly; his tone left no room for disagreement.
"I told you to kneel and apologize, not to stand. Starting today, Zhan Corporation will terminate all partnership with Second Grandpa’s family."
His wife had been wronged, and it certainly wasn’t something that could be simply resolved with an apology.
Hearing Zhan Qipei’s words, Zhan Kaiyang paused, frowning as he looked at him.
"Qipei, you’re being unreasonable," he said.
Cao Rushan hadn’t expected Zhan Qipei to say such things. She was already angry at the first half of his statement, but the second half left her stunned in place.
Terminate all partnerships with Zhan Corporation?!
Several important partnerships at home were with Zhan Corporation, and they were promising and profitable.
If those were terminated, wouldn’t her family suffer a significant loss?
Zhan Qipei looked indifferently at Zhan Kaiyang and said coldly:
"Compared with what they have said, I don’t think I’m being unreasonable."
After saying that, his gaze fell on Zhan Nan and Zhan Bei. His thin lips parted slightly, and he slowly uttered three words.
Zhan Nan and Zhan Bei were naturally unwilling, but as they met Zhan Qipei’s gaze, their knees went weak.
Zhan Bei had already been beaten by Zhan Yuanshan to the point of barely standing; now, having managed to stand with much difficulty, his knees gave in once more, and he fell to the ground again.