Reborn in the 80s, Get Rich by Eating Melons

Chapter 28: Chapter 28 - Fame through Battle

"Little sister, where are you headed?" Li Nuanchun quickened her pace and went downstairs, pulling Tong Yao towards her own room, she hastily explained, "I just went up to the rooftop to dry my quilt."

When Tong Yao heard the footsteps coming from the stairwell, she understood, "Sister-in-law, I just wanted to ask if you know where I can order fresh milk."

On any ordinary day, Li Nuanchun would not be able to resist chiding Tong Yao for her spending habits. But now, out of fear Tong Yao would discover her secret, she vaguely replied: "Yanmei gets fresh milk for Baodan. It gets delivered to the entrance of the residential building every day. If you want, you can just wake up early tomorrow and go tell the milkman."

"Alrighty! Thanks, sister-in-law."

After asking about the milk, Tong Yao went back to her room. Li Meiyu’s room door was closed, and it was silent inside, she must have gone out.

Seeing Tong Yao seemingly oblivious, Li Nuanchun breathed a sigh of relief. She decided she had to be more careful next time; Tong Yao rarely leaves her home during meal times or in the evening, but is fairly active when alone. Luckily, Tong Yao didn’t ask too many questions. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have known how to explain.

But speaking of which, Tong Yao sure knows how to spend money and enjoy herself. Just spent over two hundred and now wants to buy fresh milk. Like she moved to the city to live the life of leisure.

Dr. Si really drew the short straw in his eight past lives getting married to a wife like this.

’Ahchoo’

Tong Yao rubbed her nose, wondering who was talking about her.

After bustling around all afternoon, the milk tea business was nearly half set up, bringing ease to her heart. Tomorrow morning, she would just have to order the milk and buy the honeycomb coal balls. Once her arm was a little better, she could officially start selling milk tea.

Thinking about it made Tong Yao happier, she started doing yoga out of boredom. She had to admit, the previous owner of this body was naturally predisposed for yoga. Flexible like a foam shoe sole, a real dancing genius. Moves that were hard to do in her previous life were easy now. After a half-hour of working up a sweat, she glanced at the clock and saw that it was almost four thirty.

Tong Yao had always lived in the south and had never bathed in a public bathhouse since adulthood, so she found that kind of scene hard to adapt to. Taking advantage of others still being at work, she took clean clothes and headed downstairs for a bath. Afterwards, she felt much more refreshed. Without a hairdryer, she could only towel dry her hair and let it air dry on her shoulders. As she arrived at the stairwell, her foot slipped, causing her body to topple dangerously.

"Be careful."

A deep, magnetic voice sounded from behind her. Once Tong Yao had steadied herself and turned around, she was greeted with a smile.

"Dr. Si."

Si Jun was dazed by Tong Yao’s bright smile and shifted his gaze as he nodded, "Be more careful going upstairs, your arm hasn’t healed yet. Don’t aggravate it."

"I was walking too fast, I didn’t look where I was going." Tong Yao had a good impression of Si Jun. Although he wasn’t as handsome as Si Chen, he was decent and upright. At least he wasn’t irritating like those women who love to gossip behind other’s backs.

Si Jun nodded again and the two of them climbed the stairs shoulder to shoulder. He initially wanted to walk a few steps ahead, but suddenly turned and glanced at Tong Yao, "I heard you and Teacher Li had an argument?"

Tong Yao was surprised, "You know about it too?" People in this residential complex surely loved their gossip. She had only argued with Li Meiyu at lunch time and the news had already reached Si Jun’s ears.

In fact, not only had the news reached Si Jun’s ears, it had also spread throughout the hospital. Tong Yao’s reputation was quickly built on this event.

Everyone was laughing behind Si Chen’s back for marrying a lazy, unkempt ’country bumpkin’ for a wife. They said she made Li Meiyu cry within just two days of being there, acting just like a brash, rural woman.

"..." Si Jun was taken aback by Tong Yao’s straightforwardness, it was hard for him to believe that a sweet-looking girl like her got into an argument with Li Meiyu within just two days. Could all the rumors be true?

Looking at Tong Yao’s bright and friendly smile again, Si Jun figured there had to be more to the story. He casually added, "She’s a teacher and has a brand of arrogance about her."

Tong Yao didn’t avoid talking about it and carried on the conversation in a lively manner, "That’s not just arrogance, that’s bullying. She probably thought that just because I had just moved in, I wouldn’t dare argue with her. She didn’t expect that I’m not an easy target, I stood my ground."

Those who wanted to bully her had another think coming.

Si Jun was amused by Tong Yao’s spirited words, "This is the first time I’ve seen someone describe a fight so vividly." Normally when people bring up a fight they had, they are either fuming, crying and complaining, or professing their innocence. This was the first time he’d seen someone like Tong Yao.

He suddenly understood why Si Chen had married so abruptly. With a girl as interesting as her, if he hadn’t married her, her threshold would’ve been worn down by matchmakers.

Si Chen is calm and composed whereas Tong Yao is lively; their contrasting personalities actually make them a good fit.

"The actual fight was even more exciting." Tong Yao wasn’t foolish. She knew she didn’t have many allies in the hospital and most people would side with Li Meiyu. Given the opportunity to clear her name, she’d seize it, "Yesterday when I bought a fan, I ran into Li Meiyu. She tried to snatch the fan I was going to buy but she didn’t have enough money. Then she accused me of being a shill for the store owner. When she ran into me again today, she wasn’t feeling good and deliberately picked a fight."

"So that’s what happened." Si Jun suddenly realized. He also found it hard to believe that Tong Yao, being so indifferent to what’s right and wrong, would fight with Li Meiyu for no reason at all. This explanation actually made sense.

Although he hadn’t interacted with Li Meiyu much, he had some idea about her temper. Before Tong Yao had moved in, Li Meiyu was the talk of the residential complex. It now appears that they found a successor in Tong Yao.

Chatting brought them quickly to the second floor. Tong Yao said goodbye and went straight back to her room. Chen Yanmei came out of a room holding her son and caught sight of Tong Yao closing her door. Curling her lip, she muttered to her son in her arms, "You can’t find a wife like that when you grow up. She’s like a sows head, good for nothing but eating."

...

Si Chen stayed at the hospital until the end of the working hours. As soon as he put down his medical book and was about to step out the door, he bumped into Yu Shiya, who had come to find him. His handsome eyebrows twitched; his voice was cold, "Can I help you?"

"It’s nothing." Yu Shiya smiled. Her hands nestled nervously in her lab coat pockets and her tone was apologetic, "Dr. Si, actually I came to apologize. I shouldn’t have said those things that day. There’s nothing wrong with you caring about your wife. It’s just I overheard them making fun of you, saying you married a lazy and sloppy country girl. I felt bad for you."

Sensing Si Chen’s mood had darkened, Yu Shiya rushed to speak before he could, "You’re heading out to bring the lunch box to your sister-in-law, right? I won’t take up any more of your time."

Having said that, she turned around and left the office.

Si Chen stood in silence for a moment before he stepped out of the office.