“Fine then!”
“Tomorrow, I’ll go with you too. Perfect timing—we’ll clear everything up once and for all. And if this turns out to be nonsense, Meng Yu, just you wait!”
There was a chill in Meng Yao’s voice as she stared directly at Meng Yu.
Meng Yu had no idea how Meng Yao could still act tough when death was practically knocking at her door. She wanted to see exactly how Meng Yao planned to explain herself tomorrow during the confrontation.
Listening to the sisters arguing, Meng Zhihong couldn’t help frowning.
“Meng Yao, you really…”
“Dad, Mom, since Meng Yu already claims she has evidence, then let’s wait until tomorrow.”
Beside them, Zhao Meilan watched the increasingly explosive atmosphere between the two sisters, unable to understand how things had developed to this point.
The next morning—
At daybreak, the villagers of Meng Family Village saw the family of four leaving together.
Some villagers greeted them, but Meng Zhihong and Zhao Meilan both looked deeply troubled.
Everyone in the village wondered what the family was doing heading into the county together.
As the sun rose higher and the morning mist gradually disappeared, the family finally arrived in the county town.
Meng Yao took money from her schoolbag and bought several large meat buns from a nearby shop, handing them to Meng Zhihong and Zhao Meilan.
Even until this morning, the two elders had still been disappointed in Meng Yao.
But along the journey, seeing how calm and open she appeared—not nervous in the slightest, as though she truly hadn’t done anything shameful—their feelings gradually began to change.
Their eldest daughter was cheerful, capable, and managed both the household and outside work efficiently.
How could she possibly do such a thing?
Perhaps there really was some misunderstanding.
Meng Zhihong’s expression softened slightly as he accepted the buns from her. Seeing this, Zhao Meilan accepted hers as well.
They had only eaten a few coarse grain pancakes that morning. Now, holding soft white-flour meat buns in their hands, their stomachs practically growled with hunger.
One bite released the rich aroma of meat mixed with fluffy steamed bread, satisfying both their taste buds and empty stomachs immensely.
Meng Yao hadn’t visited the county with her parents in a long time, so she bought five buns in one go.
Two for her father.
Two for her mother.
One for herself.
None for Meng Yu.
Knowing the sisters were still angry at each other, Zhao Meilan tried handing her bun to Meng Yu.
Meng Yu had long since become hungry. Smelling the fragrant, soft bun now, she felt her mouth watering uncontrollably as she reached out to take it.
But Meng Yao immediately slapped the back of her hand away.
Hungry and furious, Meng Yu snapped,
“What are you doing?!”
Meng Yao sneered.
“Didn’t you say I’m being kept by some old man? Maybe this money came from him too. Since you’re acting so righteous, can you still stomach eating it?”
Meng Yu was enraged.
“You—”
“Then don’t eat it. Who cares? Let’s see how you explain things later!”
Seeing Meng Yao about to flare up again, Zhao Meilan quickly stopped her.
“Enough arguing for now. You’ll just make people laugh at us outside.”
Meng Yao glared at Meng Yu before finally falling silent.
Zhao Meilan no longer dared hand the bun over to Meng Yu either, afraid the sisters would start fighting again. Right now, the most important thing was figuring out what had actually happened.
So Meng Yu could only watch helplessly as the three of them finished their buns contentedly while she didn’t even get a scrap.
Looking at Meng Yao’s composed expression, she even began doubting herself slightly.
Could it really all be a misunderstanding?
But then she remembered the hair clip and the man she had seen at the residential compound that day, strengthening her suspicions once more.
Maybe Meng Yao had already coordinated her story with that man beforehand, which was why she seemed so calm now.
She could fool their parents, but she couldn’t fool her!
Once they arrived in the county, Meng Yu took the lead in finding the place.
The other three followed behind.
Meng Yao looked at the familiar streets and familiar alleys until Meng Yu finally stopped in front of the residential compound entrance.
Secretly, Meng Yao curled her lips upward.
Just as she suspected.
At some point, Meng Yu must have seen her come here before and secretly followed her. Then after discovering the hair clip in her room, she naturally assumed she was being kept by an older man.
Honestly, it really was easy to misunderstand.
Stopping in place, Meng Yu pointed toward the second-floor landing.
“Dad, Mom, it’s right there. We’ll know the truth once we go up and ask.”
The group quickly arrived outside the second-floor apartment.
Meng Yu knocked on the door.
A few seconds later, the door opened.
Ye Lei looked at the people outside in confusion.
“You are—”
Then his gaze landed on Meng Yao, and he smiled.
“A Yao, you’re here?”
Meng Yu immediately revealed an expression of triumph, as if saying I knew it!
Meanwhile, Meng Zhihong and Zhao Meilan’s faces instantly darkened.
Sensing the strange atmosphere, Ye Lei looked completely baffled.
“A Yao, who are these people?”
Before Meng Yao could speak, Meng Yu shouted first.
“Dad! Mom! It’s this man! He looks decent on the outside, but Meng Yao has been fooling around with him!”
“Now the witnesses and evidence are all here. Meng Yao, what else do you have to say?”
Her voice was sharp and piercing.
“You’ve completely disgraced our parents!”
At this moment, Meng Yu felt unbelievably satisfied.
She had caught them red-handed.
Originally, she had worried that the two of them might pretend not to know each other, forcing her to question them carefully. But who would’ve thought this idiot of a man would immediately call her “A Yao”?
Wasn’t that basically a direct confession?
Nearby neighbors returning from grocery shopping stopped to watch, carrying their vegetables while whispering among themselves.
Fangxiu, Ye Lei’s wife, was the women’s committee director and had seen all kinds of drama before. After hearing Meng Yu’s accusations, Ye Lei quickly pieced together the misunderstanding unfolding before him like some melodramatic soap opera.
Realizing the other party had misunderstood completely, he hurriedly explained,
“Uncle, Auntie, you must be A Yao’s parents, right? A Yao and I are only teacher and student! She helped my wife before, and since I’m a high school teacher, I decided to tutor her!”
They had definitely rehearsed this beforehand—that was Meng Yu’s first thought.
“How disgusting. Using tutoring as an excuse to do shameless things. Who knows if you’re lying?” Meng Yu continued loudly toward her parents. “Dad, Mom, do you really believe her? If it were only tutoring, then why didn’t Meng Yao dare tell us?”
“And if it were only tutoring, why would someone give her that hair clip worth over two hundred yuan?”
Meng Yu’s voice was so harsh and unpleasant that even the normally good-tempered Ye Lei frowned.
“How can you slander people like this? Do you have any evidence before spewing nonsense here?”
Meanwhile, Meng Zhihong and Zhao Meilan no longer knew who to believe.
Throughout all of this, Meng Yao merely stood coldly to the side, watching Meng Yu jump around wildly.
She wanted to see just how enormous a crime Meng Yu planned to pin on her.
One of the nearby neighbors spoke up in defense.
“Exactly! Teacher Ye is a teacher, and his wife is pregnant. You can’t casually spread rumors like this!”
“I’ve seen this young girl come here several times already. She really is just here for tutoring!”
“Isn’t this complete nonsense?”
Most of the crowd sided with Ye Lei.
After all, Ye Lei’s family had lived in the compound for many years. Everyone knew them well, especially since Fangxiu was the women’s committee director. There was simply no way Ye Lei would do something like this.
Realizing the misunderstanding had grown far too large, Ye Lei quickly opened the door wider and spoke to the two elders.
“A Yao’s parents, let’s go inside and talk first. There’s definitely some misunderstanding here.”
Meng Yao also felt it was inappropriate to continue discussing things outside.
Even if they were innocent, this still wasn’t a good scene to create publicly.
Turning to Meng Zhihong and Zhao Meilan, she said,
“Dad, Mom, let’s go inside first and talk things through slowly.”