With everyone watching, having her own fiancé harass another woman was essentially like pressing Lin Ran’s face into the dirt and stomping on it.
Lin Ran screamed in denial. “Lin Xi, stop talking nonsense!”
“I’m talking nonsense?”
Lin Xi snorted and walked over to Lin Ran.
She was half a head taller, so when she looked down at Lin Ran, there was an unmistakable hint of contempt in her eyes.
Lin Xi said, “Those aren’t my words.”
“Here.” Lin Xi lifted her chin toward Zhao Mingze.
“Your fiancé just said it himself. He said he’s marrying you only because you shamelessly climbed into his bed and forced him into marriage. He had no choice!”
“What?”
The crowd immediately exploded upon hearing this.
“She climbed into his bed and forced him into marriage?!”
There was no concept of premarital cohabitation in this era.
If a family’s daughter lost her virginity before marriage, the entire family would be subjected to gossip and judgment.
Several aunties all turned toward Lin Ran, their expressions shocked.
“Who would’ve thought Old Lin’s daughter would be capable of something like that!”
“What do you know? It’s called being willing to sacrifice a little to get what you want. Without some tricks, how could she marry into Commander Xiao’s family?”
“No wonder! There wasn’t a single word about the marriage beforehand, and then they suddenly came to propose yesterday.”
“I always hear Li Yufen bragging about how wonderful her daughter is. Who would’ve thought she’d be this shameless?”
“Oh, please! It’s not like she’s only been shameless for a day or two. She already lost her shame the moment she started coveting the Bai family’s property.”
“And now look at her. She seduced him by climbing into his bed, only for him to refuse to marry her. What a joke!”
The women saying these things were the biggest gossips in the neighborhood.
Normally, if anything embarrassing happened in someone’s family, it would become common knowledge within half a day once it reached their mouths.
How could they possibly miss out on today’s live spectacle?
Disdainful remarks and mocking laughter came one after another.
Surrounded by everyone, Lin Ran’s lips had gone pale.
She trembled all over and shouted, “Lin Xi is lying!”
“Shut up, all of you! Defaming the family of a military officer is a serious offense! I’ll have all of you arrested!”
“Zhao Mingze! Say something!”
In her desperation, she looked to Zhao Mingze for support.
A dignified company commander had just been drenched in an entire bucket of filthy wastewater in front of everyone.
Zhao Mingze was so furious he could have killed someone. How could he possibly care about Lin Ran’s dignity now?
He said nothing.
Auntie Wang, however, had plenty to say.
“Well, look at that! Such a big attitude. A military officer harasses a woman in broad daylight and then wants to arrest us?”
“Go ahead! Let me see how powerful you people really are!”
She spat toward Zhao Mingze.
“You got caught red-handed and you’re still trying to argue!”
“Before you start arguing, why don’t you think about how you ended up covered in sewage?”
“Maybe nobody else saw it, but I saw everything clearly. This hooligan was chasing Lin Xi the entire time!”
Yesterday, the marriage proposal had been something to be proud of.
Today, it had become the laughingstock of the entire neighborhood.
Lin Jianguo’s temples throbbed.
“Lin Xi!”
“Why are you calling me?” Lin Xi looked over leisurely.
“You and I have already cut ties. Unless there’s something important, stay out of my life.”
“Cut ties?”
Another bombshell.
The aunties were shocked once again.
One of them asked Lin Xi, “When did that happen?”
Lin Xi answered, “The day before yesterday, after he signed the IOU.”
Lin Xi turned to Auntie Wang.
“Auntie, you don’t need to worry about me. I’m better off living on my own than getting tangled up with this whole family.”
As she spoke, she glanced at Lin Jianguo and the other two members of his household, then looked at Zhao Mingze.
“Tsk.”
Lin Xi said, “It’s rare for these four people to find kindred spirits in the same foul-smelling ditch after crossing a vast sea of humanity just to meet each other.”
The aunties burst out laughing.
Everyone had heard of “high mountains and flowing water” as a metaphor for kindred spirits.
But this “low mountains and filthy waters”…
Everyone simultaneously glanced at the sewage covering Zhao Mingze.
It really was an amazingly accurate description!
More and more people gathered to watch.
Unable to bear being pointed at and whispered about, Zhao Mingze became furious. Yet there was nothing he could do.
With a dark expression, he shoved his way through the crowd and ran off.
He left without saying a single word.
And the person left in the most humiliating position was Lin Ran.
“Daughter of a mistress.” “Bad family morals.” “Shameless.”
Insults surged toward her like a tidal wave.
“Shut up!”
Naturally, no one listened.
In the end, Lin Ran had no choice but to run back inside crying and slam the door shut.
Only after the main parties had left did the alley finally return to peace.
After witnessing such an entertaining spectacle, the aunties didn’t return home. Instead, they pulled Lin Xi over to the base of the big tree to sit in the shade.
Auntie Wang was a little worried about Lin Xi.
“Xiaoxi, now that you’ve completely fallen out with them, won’t you be in trouble when you go home tonight?”
“If there’s trouble, it’ll be their trouble.”
Lin Xi’s indifferent tone first put Auntie Wang at ease and thanked her for worrying.
Then she told her, “The house belongs to me now. I’ll make them move out in the next couple of days.”
Kicking one’s own father out of the house was easier said than done.
Although the aunties could be sharp-tongued, they were kind-hearted.
After hesitating for a moment, they reminded Lin Xi, “If they bully you after you separate from them, and you need help, just call for everyone.”
“Don’t worry.” Lin Xi waved her hand. “No one can bully me.”
With those slender arms and legs, the auntie sitting beside Lin Xi glanced at her and felt that the statement wasn’t very convincing.
“Living on your own isn’t easy, Xiaoxi. You should still find someone soon. Having a man in the household to stand up for you will give you some security!”
The social structure and educational background of the era were different.
During this period, because every household needed labor, people naturally believed that a family could not manage without a man.
The aunties genuinely meant well.
They were worried that after the family split up, Lin Jianguo would come over and cause trouble every few days.
Lin Xi thanked them and said, “All right, then I’ll find someone soon.”
Auntie Wang thought of what had happened that morning and asked Lin Xi, “I think the Yu family is actually pretty good. Their son is an only child, and they’re a high-ranking cadre family. Either way, he’s better than Zhao Mingze.”
Lin Xi gave a mocking laugh.
“Thanks, Auntie.”
“But they’re both pieces of trash, so there’s really no need to compare them. I genuinely don’t want to go looking for a man in a garbage bin.”
The aunties burst out laughing again.
It was hot. Even sitting beneath the tree, the hot breeze still made everyone sweat.
Lin Xi stood up.
“Aunties, wait here for a moment.”
“What are you going to do?”
Lin Xi waved her hand and walked over to the small shop nearby.
Three minutes later, she returned carrying a bag.
Inside were ten cream popsicles and some malt candy wrapped in brown paper.
Lin Xi handed the popsicles to the aunties one by one.
“I interrupted your afternoon nap because of my troubles. I’m really sorry. Have some popsicles to cool off.”
“Take the malt candy home for your granddaughters and grandsons.”
They were neighbors, after all.
The aunties were always the first to come running whenever there was some excitement in the neighborhood.
This was the first time they’d ever received a thank-you gift for it.
“You’re too polite, girl.”
Lin Xi smiled.
“It’s not much, but it’s the thought that counts. I hope you don’t mind.”
At the entrance to the alley, there was a burst of laughter and cheerful conversation.
Meanwhile, over at the Xiao family home, there was a wedding to prepare for.
Xiao’s mother had specifically taken a day off work and was decorating the wedding room with Auntie Fang.
When Zhao Mingze walked through the door covered in a foul smell, the two women were in the courtyard putting up red wedding decorations.
Seeing Zhao Mingze covered in filth, Xiao’s mother was horrified.
“What happened?”
Auntie Fang hurried into the house to heat up some water.
“Jingwen! Mingze was bullied!”
Bullied?
Xiao Jingwen looked toward the courtyard.
As a soldier, his powers of observation were sharp. He immediately noticed the injuries on Zhao Mingze’s face.
Judging by the shape and point of impact, they were about the size of a woman’s fist.