Chapter 1068: Was This His Son?

Chapter 1068: Was This His Son?

Su Bing had always wanted to spar with his father, and now—finally—an opportunity had presented itself. While he lacked Su Li’s natural talent for martial arts, he was by no means weak. His sweeping kick had been praised by Su Shen himself.

With a deep breath, Su Bing focused, then launched his attack. His leg shot out in a flawless arc, aiming to take his father down.

And yet, the moment his strike made contact, it was as if he had kicked a mountain. Su Shen remained completely unmoved, standing firm like an immovable force of nature.

Su Shen barely looked impressed. “Now, go sweep your brother. Su Li, if you fall, you’ll obediently continue your weighted horse stance training.”

Su Bing turned to Su Li, who barely had time to react before Su Bing’s leg struck. A split second later—bam!—Su Li was sprawled on the ground.

As if that weren’t enough, a terrible crash followed. The unmistakable sound of breaking pottery filled the air. Su Li’s eyes widened in horror.

“Dad… you’re done for.” He scrambled up and pointed at the shattered pieces beside him. “Mom’s rosemary pots! Two of them! Mom, listen—it wasn’t me! Dad made Brother kick me, and when I fell, I accidentally knocked them over!”

In one smooth motion, Su Li shifted from defeated to whistleblower. Su Bing, ever the strategist, quickly pulled Su Le along. “Come on, let’s go play with Big Yellow,” he said, exiting the scene before he could be implicated in any way.

Su Shen turned slowly, his gaze landing on the doorway, where Gu Zi now stood. Her delicate brows furrowed as she took in the carnage—two shattered pots, soil and broken ceramic littering the ground. She inhaled sharply and said, “Su Shen, do you realize I’ve been tending to that rosemary for more than half a year?”

Su Shen froze. In his entire life, he had never known fear—until now. He stepped forward hastily. “Gu Zi, I swear, I didn’t mean to—”

But before he could finish, he moved his foot slightly—crack!—another pot toppled over. Then another.

Gu Zi let out a sharp gasp. “Su Shen! My rosemary!”

Su Shen stood rooted to the spot, as rigid as a soldier awaiting his final verdict. When Gu Zi turned on her heel and disappeared into the house, he knew—his fate was sealed.

Outside, just as Xu Sheng was about to leave for a walk with his father, he stopped in his tracks at the sound of the commotion. He dashed back to the scene, his eyes widening. “Dad, what happened to Aunt Gu Zi’s plants?”

Xu Fan surveyed the disaster and chuckled. “Silly boy, you must learn to see the deeper truth. It’s not just the plants that broke—it’s Uncle Su’s heart shattering into pieces.”

Inside the house, Gu Zi sat fuming on the sofa, arms crossed. Those rosemary plants were supposed to be harvested soon—she had planned to use them for steak! And now? Ruined.

And then, as if things couldn’t get any worse, Su Li trotted up, ever the innocent troublemaker. “Mom, I swear I didn’t mean to knock them over. And Dad, well, he’s just careless! Actually, I warned him earlier—I said, ‘Dad, don’t train here! If you do, Mom’s plants will get knocked over, and she’ll be sad. And then I’ll be sad, too. I even water them and remove bugs every day, Mom! I take such good care of your plants…'”

Su Shen had barely stepped inside when he heard this blatant attempt at turning the tide against him. Good heavens, this child was his own son, right? And yet, Su Li’s words dripped with calculated innocence. Su Shen felt his fists clench. Clearly, the boy’s training wasn’t rigorous enough.

Gu Zi, however, was already softening. Her anger subsided slightly as she looked at Su Li’s earnest face. Then her gaze landed on Su Shen, and her irritation reignited. She glared at him but said nothing.

Knowing better than to dig his own grave, Su Shen wisely decided to retreat. “I’ll, uh, go check if lunch is ready.”

An hour later, Gu Zi sat down at the dining table, still a little miffed, when her eyes landed on Su Shen’s thumb. A deep gash ran across it, and blood was still seeping from the wound.

“How did you cut yourself?” she asked, startled.

“It’s nothing,” Su Shen muttered. “It’ll stop bleeding soon. Gu Zi, after lunch, let’s go to the market together. We’ll buy new pots and replant everything.”

Gu Zi took his hand, inspecting the wound. For all his years of butchering pigs and handling knives, Su Shen would never cut himself over something as simple as chopping vegetables. Which meant… he must have been distracted. Thinking about her rosemary plants.

Just like that, her irritation melted away. Oh, well. They were just pots. They could always buy new ones.

With a sigh, she went to fetch the first aid kit and began wrapping his finger. “I’m not mad anymore, but you need to stop getting distracted. You’re a grown man. Cutting yourself like this—what kind of example are you setting?”

Su Shen hummed in agreement, though the corners of his mouth twitched upward as she carefully bandaged his hand. He stole a glance at her beautiful fingers holding his, and for the first time that day, he felt victorious.

Meanwhile, at the other end of the table, Su Li leaned toward Su Bing and whispered, “Brother, doesn’t this remind you of one of the Thirty-Six Stratagems?”

Su Bing coughed lightly and replied in a hushed tone, “Indeed. This is the classic ‘Injury as a Ruse’ tactic. Mom never stood a chance.”

And sure enough, after lunch, Gu Zi had dolled herself up and was happily heading to the market with Su Shen.

Su Li, on the other hand, was left behind. His father had thoughtfully arranged a one-and-a-half-hour weighted stance training session just for him. Watching his parents’ retreating figures, he nearly burst into tears.

That old fox! When all was said and done, he was the only true victim of today’s events!

If you find any errors ( Ads popup, ads redirect, broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.