The day Sun Cuifen was released from the detention center, the sky was overcast, the same color as her face.
Fifteen days. She felt as though she had been stripped of a layer of skin in there. Not only had she completely lost face, but she had also been fined a large sum of money—the betrothal money she had prepared for her son, Su Jianguo, to get engaged.
When she returned to the small rented courtyard in town, she was greeted not by concern from her children, but by Su Jianguo’s furious questioning and Su Lan’s venomous glare.
“Mom! Where’s the money? What happened to the money you promised for Xi Juan and me to get engaged? You squandered all of it!”
Su Jianguo was practically jumping with anxiety. The stable job that had been almost within his grasp was about to slip away.
“You still have the nerve to say that! If you weren’t so useless and hadn’t failed to secure that excellent marriage with Gu Changfeng, would I have had to suffer all this?”
Unable to contain her anger, Sun Cuifen dumped all her frustration on her daughter.
“You’re blaming me? Who came up with that rotten idea in the first place? And who found that barefoot doctor? The medicine was given wrong, and that little bitch ended up benefiting from it!”
Su Lan refused to back down and shrieked in response.
The whole family descended into chaos. Cursing, crying, screaming, and the sound of things being smashed could be heard clearly even through the walls.
Su Qiao sat in her bright, spotless living room, holding a glass of lemon water she had taken from her space, complete with ice. It was cold, refreshing, sweet, and sour.
She didn’t need to press her ear against the wall. Sun Cuifen’s exceptionally loud voice was the best live broadcast imaginable.
She sipped her water leisurely, her expression calm.
Wait? Wait for them to come up with another underhanded scheme to deal with her?
Sorry, but the word “passive” did not exist in Su Qiao’s dictionary.
Ten years in the apocalypse had taught her the most important survival rule of all—
Either don’t make a move at all, or when you do, uproot the threat completely and eliminate it at the root.
Over the next two days, Su Qiao didn’t leave the house, but the gossip about her throughout the family compound didn’t diminish in the slightest.
She deliberately sighed now and then while chatting with Sister-in-law Wang and the other neighbors.
“Sister-in-law Wang, I really can’t feel at ease.” She furrowed her delicate brows, looking deeply worried. “My aunt originally wanted to snatch the betrothal money Changfeng gave me and have her daughter take my place. And now that all this has happened, I’m really afraid she might do something else…”
She stopped halfway, deliberately leaving the rest unsaid and allowing others to fill in the blanks themselves.
Sister-in-law Wang was the type who was always eager to defend others, and she immediately exploded.
“She’d better not! Qiaoqiao, don’t be afraid. If she dares come again, I’ll drive her out with a broom myself!”
That was what she said, but once a rumor got started, it grew legs of its own and ran in every direction.
And that was exactly what Su Qiao wanted.
She spent another two yuan to buy more detailed information from “Haozi,” the small-time hoodlum from the black market whose network of informants covered the entire town.
Su Jianguo and Wang Xi Juan, the daughter of Director Wang of the Supply and Marketing Cooperative, had already reached the final stage of discussing marriage.
Director Wang and his wife had only one precious daughter. They cared deeply about appearances and placed the greatest importance on a man’s family being upright and his character being respectable.
They had taken a liking to Su Jianguo because the matchmaker had described him as a quiet, honest, and simple young man.
“Honest and simple?”
Su Qiao nearly laughed out loud when she heard those four words.
Her cousin was lazy, gluttonous, and stupid—he had three terrible qualities. His only redeeming feature was that he knew how to pretend.
A plan quickly took shape in her mind.
She didn’t choose one of the high-tech listening devices. They were too easy to expose.
She searched through her space for a long time before finding something that fit the characteristics of this era and would be much less suspicious—a small, wind-up pocket music box.
The music box had been scavenged from an antique shop before the apocalypse. It was exquisitely crafted, with a brass exterior covered in intricate patterns.
She spent an entire afternoon dismantling its original mechanism and replacing it with a miniature sound-activated recording module and a battery the size of a grain of rice.
From the outside, it still looked like an ordinary music box.
Only Su Qiao knew that as soon as the surrounding sound exceeded a certain volume, it would automatically begin recording.
The next day, she went to see Old Madam Zhang, who lived next door to Sun Cuifen.
Old Madam Zhang was quite a character. She and Sun Cuifen had been neighbors for decades—and bitter enemies for just as long.
The two of them could spend half an hour cursing each other over something as trivial as a scallion or a clove of garlic.
When Su Qiao arrived, Old Madam Zhang was picking green beans in the courtyard.
“Grandma Zhang.”
Su Qiao put on her sweetest, softest smile, the one she was best at, and carried a packet of egg cakes wrapped in wax paper.
Old Madam Zhang looked up and froze for a moment. Then she forced a smile.
“Oh, it’s Changfeng’s wife. What a rare visitor.”
“I know you and my aunt don’t get along, so I figured I was… coming to the right person.”
Su Qiao didn’t beat around the bush. Her straightforwardness made Old Madam Zhang regard her with a little more respect.
Su Qiao pressed the egg cakes into her hands, then pulled the exquisite brass music box from her pocket.
“Grandma Zhang, I’ve been feeling uneasy these past few days. You know what my aunt is like. She was detained because she hired people to harm me. I’m afraid she hasn’t given up and is plotting something else at home. I happened to get this thing by chance. Look, as long as you wind it up…”
In front of her, Su Qiao twisted the music box’s key, and a clear, pleasant melody began to play.
“…it can make sounds. But it has a little problem. Sometimes, even when it’s fully wound, it won’t play. Someone has to speak loudly nearby before it starts.”
Su Qiao explained half-truthfully.
“If you hear my aunt shouting and cursing at home again, just put this thing near the base of her wall and come back. Consider it… helping me listen in on what’s happening. Once it’s done, I’ll bring you two pounds of meat.”
Two pounds of meat!
Old Madam Zhang’s eyes immediately lit up.
She looked at Su Qiao’s face, which was filled with apparent sincerity, then glanced at the music box in her hand. She immediately understood and smiled knowingly.
“Good girl, don’t worry. Leave it to Grandma! Your aunt is a terrible woman! I’ve disliked her for years!”
Over the next few days, everything remained peaceful.
But throughout the entire town, stories about the “glorious deeds” of Sun Cuifen’s family spread like wildfire.
Version One: Sun Cuifen coveted her niece’s betrothal money and wanted her own daughter, Su Lan, to take her place, but the scheme was exposed.
Version Two: Sun Cuifen was vicious and cruel. Not only did she want to steal the money, she even hired two hooligans to ruin her niece’s reputation, only to be caught red-handed and thrown into detention.
Version Three: Her son, Su Jianguo, was no good either. He watched his mother do all those wicked things without saying a word, simply waiting to enjoy the benefits and get himself a wife!
In an era with limited access to information, rumors were the deadliest weapon.
Naturally, the Wang family at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative had heard the gossip.
Wang Xi Juan had never been particularly satisfied with the dull and awkward Su Jianguo. She had only thought he was honest.
Now that she had heard all these rumors, she immediately felt uncomfortable.
Director Wang and his wife were even more alarmed.
An improper family background was a serious problem!
So Director Wang decided to have his daughter and wife go to the Su family for one final “inspection.”
That day finally arrived.
Wang Xi Juan and her mother carried some pastries and entered the chaotic little courtyard of the Su family.
Sun Cuifen and Su Jianguo immediately became extremely nervous. They hurried around serving tea and water, their faces covered in ingratiating smiles.
In the neighboring courtyard, Old Madam Zhang was hanging quilts out to dry when her eyes suddenly lit up.
She quietly returned to her house, took out the brass music box, wound it up fully, then tiptoed over to the wall the two families shared.
She shoved the music box into the weeds at the base of the wall and quickly slipped back into her own courtyard, straining her ears to listen.
At first, everything inside was still perfectly pleasant.
But Wang Xi Juan’s mother was no ordinary woman.
She took a sip of tea before speaking slowly.
“Future in-law, there have been some rumors going around lately. They’re… rather unpleasant. Our Xi Juan is a sensitive girl. If she marries into your family carrying this kind of reputation, how is she supposed to live with it?”
Sun Cuifen’s face immediately stiffened.
“Oh, those are just filthy rumors spread by people with nothing better to do! It was that little bitch Su Qiao! She was the one who behaved improperly and seduced her own husband, and now she’s turned around and slandered our family! Our Jianguo has been honest and decent since he was a child. He wouldn’t even step on an ant!”
The moment Su Qiao was mentioned, Sun Cuifen couldn’t contain her anger, and her voice unconsciously grew louder.
“And that Wang Xi Juan! If she can marry our Jianguo, that’s a blessing she earned over eight lifetimes! If it weren’t for the fact that you’re Director Wang’s family, our Jianguo wouldn’t even look twice at a girl like her!”
She was so caught up in insulting them that she completely failed to notice the expressions on Wang Xi Juan and her mother’s faces changing from pale to green, then from green to black.
At the base of the wall, the tiny music box faithfully recorded every single one of those vicious and insulting words.
The “inspection” naturally ended in complete disaster.
Wang Xi Juan and her mother practically slammed the door behind them as they left.
That very afternoon, Old Madam Zhang returned the music box to Su Qiao, her face overflowing with excitement.
After listening to the recording, Su Qiao nodded in satisfaction.
She carefully wrapped the music box in wax paper and attached another note.
Written on it in crooked left-handed handwriting were several words:
“Your future mother-in-law’s true feelings.”
That evening, Haozi, the small-time hoodlum, took advantage of the darkness and tossed the wax-paper package neatly into Director Wang’s courtyard.
After dinner, Director Wang went outside to take out the trash.
He immediately spotted the package by the wall.
Curious, he picked it up and opened it.
Inside was a rather exquisite little brass box.
He casually twisted the key.
The next second, Sun Cuifen’s shrill, shrewish voice rang throughout the entire quiet family compound.
“…That Wang Xi Juan should consider it a blessing earned over eight lifetimes that our Jianguo would even marry her!”
“…A girl like her? Our Jianguo wouldn’t even want her!”
Director Wang’s face turned green on the spot.
His wife trembled with rage, while Wang Xi Juan burst into tears.
The marriage was completely ruined.
Not only was it ruined, Director Wang even publicly declared that he and the Su family were now sworn enemies!
Sun Cuifen’s family became the laughingstock of the entire town.
Su Jianguo lost the good job he had been counting on. Su Lan’s reputation was ruined as well, and Sun Cuifen became so furious that she fell ill on the spot.
From then on, the entire Su family was plunged into endless arguments and chaos, with constant turmoil and no peace.
Su Qiao sat in her own little courtyard and brewed a pot of fine Longjing tea.
Listening to the faint sounds of arguing drifting over from the neighboring area, she leisurely took a sip.
Mm. The tea was rich and mellow, its fragrance refreshing.
In her excellent mood, she decided to send a little “surprise” to Gu Changfeng, who was far away.
She looked at the empty space around her wrist and suddenly felt that there was something missing from a man’s bare wrist.
She should give him something to wear.