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Chapter 560: Chapter 550 Looking for Trouble
As Zheng Guilin spoke these words, the seemingly jovial atmosphere previously filling the room vanished.
Madam Zheng looked towards Li Hongqi; this matter ultimately required the son-in-law to take the lead.
Qiu Shuping also prioritized her son, "Son, do we still need to seek out your second sister-in-law?"
Li Hongqi’s face was overcast as he looked at them, pausing for a moment before he said, "Of course we need to. She insulted us so much, do you think I’m going to let it go just like that? Impossible. Even if we now have enough money and don’t need to ask her for it anymore, I still have to go and have a talk with her, let everybody know what kind of person she is." In any case, he couldn’t swallow his pride, having been kicked twice for no reason, he had never been humiliated like this in his life. Originally, because he wanted to extract money from her, he had to endure the indignity, but now that he didn’t have to ask her for money, he was even more confident. Anyway, he wanted to visit a few more schools around here, these kinds of activities are usually finished by noon, and hanging around in the afternoon was just passing time. If he didn’t take this chance to bring calamity upon Shen Yunfang, it would be difficult to soothe the hate in his heart.
"That’s right, we can’t let her get off easily. I’ve never seen a daughter-in-law who forces her mother-in-law to kneel," Madam Zheng firmly stood by her son-in-law on this. Moreover, with her own daughter’s housing money nearly settled, if they pushed a little more, they might be able to get seven or eight hundred yuan back, which could spare her daughter from worrying about money for the next ten years or so. Why then should she curry favor with her second sister-in-law? Let there be a fight, the bigger the scandal, the better. In her heart, whether it was Shen Yunfang or Qiu Shuping, one less of those two would be one less headache; she would be happy regardless of who suffered or lost out.
"Hmm, mother, you’re right. I will also seek retribution from her for my child’s woes," Zheng Guilin wasn’t just opportunistically joining the winning side like her mother; she was firmly opposed to Shen Yunfang.
Madam Zheng’s gaze shifted as she turned to Qiu Shuping, "What do you say, in-law?" It was still necessary to stoke her ire because they needed her effort in this matter.
"I have nothing to say; I disown her as my daughter-in-law. When my second son comes back, I’ll definitely make him divorce that woman." Qiu Shuping was indignant about having to kneel to her daughter-in-law, causing her great loss of face. The thought of having to encounter such a disrespectful daughter-in-law made her feel stifled.
"Heh, I’m not saying I don’t trust you, mother-in-law, but your second son is no ordinary man. The two of them are now family. Will your words be heeded by your second son?" Madam Zheng was dubious. If a daughter-in-law dared to confront her mother-in-law like that, she must have had her husband’s full support. Men around the world are all the same—as long as he’s well looked after body and soul, he won’t care about his parents.
"Hmph, if he dares not to listen to me, he can forget having me as a mother," retorted Qiu Shuping, her resolve hardened. She was firm in her decision not to tolerate this second daughter-in-law any longer.
"What about your grandchildren then?" Madam Zheng asked a critical question. A mother can drive away a daughter-in-law, but what happens to the children?
"What about them? What do you mean? Let it be, they are grown up already, they don’t need to be breastfed. Can’t they live without their mom or what?" Qiu Shuping was dismissive.
"Heh, fine, when the time comes I’ll see just what you’re capable of," Madam Zheng’s expression was half-mocking, half-disbelieving, which to Qiu Shuping indicated a lack of faith in her abilities.
Just as Qiu Shuping was gearing up for a detailed retort, Li Hongqi interjected impatiently, "Enough, mother. We’ll discuss this later. Let’s go out for lunch now, and if we have nothing else this afternoon, we’ll seek out the person."
"Good, that’s good. Hongqi, you’ve had a tough day today; you should have a good meal at noon to replenish yourself," hurried agreed Madam Zheng.
The group left the guesthouse amidst chatter and laughter and went straight into a nearby restaurant. There were privately-owned restaurants that didn’t require food coupons but were slightly more expensive than state-owned ones.
Li Hongqi and his companions, now basking in newfound wealth, ordered four extravagant dishes and feasted to their heart’s content. After lunch, they returned for an afternoon nap and didn’t set out for Shen Yunfang’s neighborhood until past two o’clock.
"That’s it, I saw her park the car here and enter this unit," Li Hongqi was sure he had found Shen Yunfang’s building.
Qiu Shuping slowly looked up from the first floor, speechless, "She, she actually lives in such a nice house, how is she worthy of it?"
"Hmph, whether she’s worthy or not, as long as second brother dotes on her, that’s enough," Zheng Guilin said with a hint of sarcasm. She didn’t feel it before, but now that she truly knew Shen Yunfang lived in an apartment here, a sense of unfairness surged in her heart. Why should she, also a daughter-in-law of the Li Family, live in an old house in the countryside while Shen Yunfang got to live in an apartment? Why could Shen Yunfang have a son and a daughter while she couldn’t save any of her three children? At this moment, Zheng Guilin’s feelings towards Shen Yunfang were not only of hatred, but also of extreme jealousy.
"Tsk, all this belongs to our old Li family. Xiaolan, if your belly delivers, all this will belong to your son in the future," Qiu Shuping said bitterly.
This remark once again stirred Zheng Guilin, if she could have children in the future, she wouldn’t be envying others right now.
"Mother-in-law, that’s all in the future, you should think about how to find out on which floor your second daughter-in-law’s family actually lives," Zheng’s mother quickly changed the subject, afraid that her daughter couldn’t take it and might accidentally blurt out the truth and ruin everything.
"Son, on which floor does that woman Shen Yunfang live?" Qiu Shuping had no idea and directly turned to ask her youngest son; Hongqi was the smartest and would definitely come up with a way to find out.
Li Hongqi also looked over the entire building, a total of five floors. "We just need to knock on a door on the first floor to ask, she’s been in the Capital for two years now; these neighbors must know which floor she lives on."
Convinced by Li Hongqi’s reasoning, everyone followed him into the stairwell.
When they knocked on the door of a household on the right side of the first floor, it went as Li Hongqi predicted, and they found out Shen Yunfang’s exact address. But the process was not that smooth.
Given the heightened vigilance of the people now, the lady who opened the door was very suspicious of these strangers asking for Shen Yunfang’s residence. She asked for their names, where they were from, their relationship to Shen Yunfang, what they wanted with her, and even checked their introduction letters and so forth. Before they managed to get Shen Yunfang’s specific address, they almost had their ancestry interrogated by the old lady.
Li Hongqi, with the sweetest tongue, represented everyone to answer the old lady’s tricky questions. He first put forward Qiu Shuping, saying that she was Shen Yunfang’s mother-in-law, which would be the most convincing.
The old lady looked at Qiu Shuping with suspicion, uncertain in her heart; she had seen the man from Shen Yunfang’s family, who didn’t look a bit like this old woman.
She considered that Shen Yunfang was currently living alone with two children and security was a must, so the introduction from this mother-in-law was not satisfactory.
With no other option, Li Hongqi took out his work permit in the hope of proving the innocence of his group. He was already prepared in his mind; if the old lady kept being difficult, then he would stop asking – they could just knock on each door, as one of the units in the building had to be Shen Yunfang’s.
Fortunately, during this period, introduction letters and work permits were more effective than facial recognition. After being interrogated and left in a disheveled state by the old lady, who was comparable to a criminal detective, they finally obtained Shen Yunfang’s specific address. However, the old lady was very responsible; she followed them to the third floor, ready to see if they were truly relatives of Comrade Shen Yunfang, as they had claimed.
