NOVPUB
Chapter 552: 542
"Hey, wait a second." As soon as Vice Principal Tao heard that this old lady was coming again, he wished he could immediately plug his ears, but that was just wishful thinking. The haranguing was so incessant that even plugging his ears was futile. He had no choice but to quickly think of a way to pass the buck to Shen Yunfang.
Vice Principal Tao hurriedly stopped Shen Yunfang, who was about to leave, "They said they were your relatives, so I let them eat in the cafeteria for free. You should resolve your family disputes yourself. The school shouldn’t suffer losses because of you, that’s unreasonable." He feared that Yunfang would wash her hands off the matter, and then he’d have to foot the bill for those meals they ate, which, while not a lot, was unnecessary for him.
Shen Yunfang glanced at her watch, thinking it was best to express her attitude to Vice Principal Tao succinctly, "Vice Principal Tao, these people are my in-laws’ relatives, but no one has decreed that because they’re my relatives, I should be responsible for their food and housing. There’s no such rule in our school’s code of conduct. You must know about the conflict I had with them at school yesterday. They slandered me so much, I don’t have the compassion to repay evil with kindness. Besides, they’re not three-year-old children, they’re adults. Since they could all make it to the Capital, their daily needs like eating and sleeping surely aren’t an issue for them. Besides, if they’re really out of options, they can just go back where they came from instead of losing face here. This is my stance on the matter, and it will remain the same in the future. If there’s nothing else, I’m heading to class."
"Sister-in-law, how can you be so heartless? Don’t you think you’re being too cold? I’ve already explained that yesterday’s incident was a misunderstanding, and indeed, my mother did something wrong. I’ve apologized on her behalf. What more do you want? As the saying goes, even killing someone doesn’t involve decapitation. Are you being so relentless just over yesterday’s affair?" Li Hongqi seemed to have reached his limit and shouted at Shen Yunfang as she turned to leave.
"Indeed, Second Sister-in-law, she’s an elderly woman after all, how can you be so ruthless?" Zheng’s mother also chimed in from the side.
Shen Yunfang ignored them and walked away without looking back.
"Son, hurry up, chase that woman back here." Qiu Shuping saw that Shen Yunfang had left, stopped crying, and urgently told her son to go after her.
Li Hongqi wanted to go but only took a couple of steps before stopping, "Mom, this won’t work. If my sister-in-law isn’t willing, there’s no use in chasing her down." He suddenly remembered the kicks from his sister-in-law the day before and dared not pursue her. If he caught up and she gave him another kick, he wouldn’t be able to take it.
"Then, then what should we do? There’s nowhere that can handle her now?" Qiu Shuping was also desperate, since her daughter-in-law was ignoring her, and her throwing a fit was useless.
Li Hongqi and his mother-in-law exchanged glances and understood each other’s intentions: under the current circumstances, they absolutely couldn’t let Vice Principal Tao get away.
"Vice Principal Tao, as a senior leader, you must stand up for us ordinary folks," Zheng’s mother immediately switched to a pitiable expression and clung to Vice Principal Tao without letting go.
"Hey, comrade, what are you doing? We can talk this out, no need for pulling and dragging," Vice Principal Tao said as he saw students looking over their way. If others saw him grappling with an old woman, how would he carry on working?
"But we really have nowhere to turn, you must help us," Zheng’s mother pleaded, holding onto him and refusing to let go.
Li Hongqi nudged his mother, giving her a meaningful look. Qiu Shuping actually got the hint, rushed forward, and started wailing at Vice Principal Tao’s leg.
"Principal, if you don’t help us, then I might as well go to your office door and bang my head to death."
Vice Principal Tao was put in a very difficult position by them, "Hey, stop crying, we can talk it out. If you have grievances, our school will definitely give you a satisfactory response," he tried to calm them as best as he could.
And just like that, Vice Principal Tao, dragged and pulled by the group, ended up back in his office with them. He hadn’t managed to shake them off successfully.
Seeing the people wailing and causing a commotion in his office, Vice Principal Tao grabbed at his thinning hair, full of regret. In the end, with no other choice, he picked up the phone and called the head principal, since he really couldn’t handle these people. Surely he couldn’t be expected to cover their meals for these few days.
Shen Yunfang went to the laboratory building for class. Throughout the lesson, she could feel many classmates looking at her, some openly and some covertly, well aware it was the fallout from yesterday morning’s events. She followed Mr. Cai’s lead with a calm demeanor and completed the class. After packing up the lab equipment and locking the door, she went to the bike shed to get her bicycle, ready to go home.
By the time she reached the bike shed, she didn’t see Li Hongqi and his group but noticed a few girls standing by the entrance. Yunfang didn’t pay much attention and went straight in to get her bicycle.
Unexpectedly, those girls noticed Shen Yunfang and approached her.
Shen Yunfang looked at the several girls in front of her and politely started the conversation, "Do you need something?"
"You are Shen Yunfang, right? We’ve come to talk to you today, mainly to advise you. We already know about the incident that happened yesterday at the laboratory building. We think that even if your mother-in-law is wrong, she is still an elder. As a university student, you should have the magnanimity to be accommodating..." one of the girls began to talk at length in front of her.
Yunfang frowned more and more as she listened. Where did these busybodies come from? So meddlesome about her family affairs—did this person act out of genuine concern, or did she have an ulterior motive?
"Excuse me, could you stop for a moment? I’m somewhat confused. May I ask your name?" Yunfang asked with a still gentle demeanor.
"My surname is Wu." The girl, full of righteousness, seemed puzzled but obediently gave her name.
"Oh, not surnamed Li? I thought you might have some relative connection with my in-laws." She had wanted to say, "Are you my mother-in-law’s illegitimate daughter or something?" but considering people’s acceptance these days, she left the words unsaid.
"So, Miss Wu, it seems to me that you don’t fully understand where the conflict between my husband’s family and I truly lies. To comment on someone’s family matters based just on some messages or a single incident is very one-sided and unfair to me. Of course, I also don’t expect an outsider like you to understand these things. Your kind of enthusiasm, to put it nicely is speaking out for justice, but to be blunt, it’s being nosy. I don’t think our school has come to the point where you have nothing better to do than to meddle in other people’s family issues," Shen Yunfang said, her words not the least bit diplomatic. She had a good temper, but that didn’t mean anyone could just barge into her family affairs. 𝚗ov𝚙𝚞𝚋.c𝚘m
What were you girls, who aren’t even married, doing here stirring up trouble? Aren’t you worried about damaging your own reputations?
"How can you be like this? No wonder people say you’re heartless and unfeeling. It seems to be true," several girls said, faces flushed with anger.
"You needn’t worry about that, better take good care of yourself," Shen Yunfang didn’t bother to argue, she just unlocked her bike and rode off.
"Xiaoqin, look at her. How can she be like this? It’s so infuriating!" one of the girls stamped her foot, expressing her anger at Shen Yunfang.
"Hmph, someone as heartless and unfeeling as her will never find happiness," Xiaoqin said, watching Shen Yunfang’s retreating figure.
"Yeah, I think so too," her statement was met with everyone’s agreement.
"So what do we do now? Are we still going to bother with this?" another girl asked, unsure of what to do next.
"Bother, why not? With Shen Yunfang’s attitude, we must see it through. I want to see if she feels guilty or ashamed when she sees her mother-in-law living a normal life with the help of all of us," Xiaoqin spoke with conviction.
"But how can we help when we barely have enough to feed ourselves?" another girl whispered in retort.
Xiaoqin glared at the girl before saying, "Can’t you be a little less backward in your thinking? Why do you always think of yourself first? How can you progress that way? Besides, there are several of us, if each of us eats one less bite, wouldn’t that be enough for an old lady? Moreover, we can also initiate a fundraiser across the entire school for them." Xiaoqin had grand plans. She decided to use this issue as a starting point, to truly do something significant and show everyone that women are no less capable than men.
