NOVPUB
Chapter 561: 551
Having reached the third floor, Li Hongqi was the first to start knocking on the door, "Auntie, we are good people, you’ll know as soon as my sister-in-law comes out." Li Hongqi didn’t dare to offend these old madams, as he often came into contact with these older women at work, each of whom had formidable combat power. They might not look impressive, but when it came down to it, they were really tough, one after another.
Hmm, in fact, there’s no need to look for other examples, the best ones are right in front of him—his mother and his mother-in-law were both experts at making trouble.
The auntie standing on the half staircase of the second floor looked at him with skepticism, "No need to say anything, I hear sweet talk every day. Right now, only facts will do the talking." Well, this old lady was no ordinary person; she could even talk big.
"Alright, alright, once my sister-in-law comes out, you’ll see whether she recognizes me or not." Li Hongqi spoke very skillfully; he knew that given the relationship between the two families, Shen Yunfang wouldn’t be happy to see him, but as long as he could prove to the auntie behind him that he really knew Shen Yunfang and was indeed her relative, that would suffice.
But although Li Hongqi had it all planned out, luck was not on his side—he knocked for a long time, but no one came to open the door.
"Who are you looking for?" A small crack opened opposite them, and Aunt Sun asked from inside.
"Hello, Auntie, is this Shen Yunfang’s place? Do you know where she might have gone?" Li Hongqi quickly turned to ask the auntie from the opposite door.
"Sun Fengzhen, they say they are Xiaoshen’s relatives looking for Xiaoshen. I think Xiaoshen’s not home. Do you know where she might have gone?" said the auntie standing on the second floor.
She and Aunt Sun were old neighbors and, of course, knew Sun Fengzhen’s habits. She also knew that Sun Fengzhen seemed to have issues with Xiaoshen, always watching her and ready to cause trouble, so at this moment, she was certain to know Xiaoshen’s whereabouts.
Sun Fengzhen looked down from her high vantage point at the few country bumpkins at the door (she knew Shen Yunfang had moved from the countryside, so she assumed Shen Yunfang’s relatives were all country bumpkins) before reluctantly saying, "Xiaoshen should be at school attending classes at this hour, and not back yet. You can wait for her downstairs." 𝓃𝓸𝓋𝓅𝓾𝒷.𝒸ℴ𝓂
Zheng’s mother wasn’t very pleased with the neighbor’s attitude, but in a situation where their strength wasn’t clear, she just pulled her daughter aside and stood by.
"Really? My sister-in-law is still at school? I thought she would have an easier time after starting her internship, who would have thought she’d be busier than others," Li Hongqi said, which sounded quite suggestive to those with a discerning ear.
Aunt Sun looked at Li Hongqi with suspicion. His tone didn’t sound like someone who came to visit relatives but more like someone looking for revenge.
"Whether she’s busy or not, I really have no idea." Even though she looked down on Shen Yunfang and often gossiped about her behind her back, in front of strangers, she still had her principles—at least she could keep her mouth shut.
"Heh, they say distant relatives are no better than close neighbors. My second sister-in-law has lived here for such a long time, and we couldn’t come over because we live so far away. Thank you all for taking extra care of her," Li Hongqi instantly switched to sweet-talking mode.
So the two old ladies were sweet-talked with kind words, and together they found a cool spot downstairs to chat about family affairs.
Of course, Li Hongqi was discreetly inquiring about Shen Yunfang’s daily life while introducing his own mother to the two women; then it was through Qiu Shuping’s mouth that complaints about her daughter-in-law Shen Yunfang emerged.
As she spoke, Qiu Shuping began to raise her voice uncontrollably, screeching non-stop curses at her second daughter-in-law. Her main point was that the second daughter-in-law was inhuman, showing no filial piety to her parents-in-law back home, and no kindness to her siblings-in-law. Li Hongqi was very pleased that Qiu Shuping could voice all this, and although he appeared to be stopping his mother from discussing these trivial matters, he was indeed aiding Qiu Shuping in slandering Shen Yunfang.
Sun Fengzhen initially just listened without speaking, but later, she got riled up by a few of Qiu Shuping’s curses, feeling like she had found her tribe, and started sharing some gossip that was circulating about Xiaoshen with Xiaoshen’s in-laws.
"What, you’re saying Shen Yunfang is messing around with others? Oh, dear Lord, I knew I wasn’t wronging her; she just isn’t a decent woman. Let me tell you, we came here several days ago but didn’t know where she lived, so we could only go to the school to find her. And when we went to the school, can you believe it, we saw her messing around with several men, heads together and faces so close, it’s really embarrassing even recalling it now. As a mother-in-law, how could I tolerate her upon seeing my daughter-in-law behaving like that? I went up to scold her, but when I did, she denied everything and turned the tables, attacking my son, who lay on the ground for half a day without getting up," Qiu Shuping exaggeratedly complained, slapping her thighs and stomping her feet in a way that showed extreme hatred for someone.
"Mom, haven’t I explained it to you before? The second sister-in-law was teaching a class," Li Hongqi reluctantly explained on the side, but this did not produce a positive effect. Instead, it made the group of old ladies listening even more convinced of Qiu Shuping’s words.
"Nonsense, I’ve never seen women and men in a class getting so close to each other. What kind of class was that? Could the school actually teach her to be indecent?" Qiu Shuping shouted, glaring.
Of course, what Qiu Shuping said was true; she had never seen such a thing because she had never set foot in a school in her life, living as an illiterate. She certainly had never witnessed it.
"My goodness, if you hadn’t said anything, we really wouldn’t have guessed that Xiaoshen was such a person," Sun Fengzhen said, her eyes almost disappearing with glee as she delighted in hearing the gossip about Shen Yunfang, especially coming from her mother-in-law.
"Humph, this is what they call ’one may know a person’s face but not their heart,’" Qiu Shuping said, unable to hide the smug satisfaction in her eyes from the agreement she saw in others.
"Auntie Sun, you just mentioned that some foreign men were looking for my sister-in-law. Do you know what that was about? I really don’t think my second sister-in-law is that kind of person. She and my second brother have two children; how could she possibly do such a thing?" Li Hongqi was genuinely interested in what Sun Fengzhen mentioned about foreigners looking for the second sister-in-law and tried to coax out the truth.
"How would we know? The man looked just like us, not a blond foreigner, driving a car and waiting for Xiaoshen downstairs. At first, we didn’t think much of it, but then we heard that man speak and realized he spoke a foreign language," Sun Fengzhen said, trying her best to extricate herself from the situation. The true essence of spreading gossip is to not get oneself involved. "Don’t you all agree?"
The surrounding old ladies nodded in agreement, for they had seen such scenarios themselves. After all, in these times, if a car parked inside the community, wouldn’t it attract everyone’s attention?
Subsequently, these people added their own observations and speculations, causing Qiu Shuping to shout indignantly, declaring that their family could not accept such an indiscreet daughter-in-law.
The onlooking old ladies watched her outburst and started consoling her turn by turn, creating quite a lively scene.
