This was the first time since her marriage that Lin Wanying had been tracked down at home by someone, and she couldn’t help comparing it to her life with Xu Youcheng, she really had been torturing herself back then. Good thing that was all in the past.
The next round came quickly. Breakfast hadn’t even been finished yet when He Jinzhi came storming over demanding an explanation, saying her doorstep had been covered in manure, that she’d stepped in it and fallen that very morning, and that Lin Wanying should compensate her.
“Someone saw two fifteen or sixteen-year-old boys sneaking around suspiciously, must have been your two. Isn’t Liansheng a policeman? Go interrogate them right now.”
The moment Gu Liansheng heard this, he knew this had his own brothers’ fingerprints all over it, and glared, about to lecture them, when Lin Wanying spoke up first.
Lin Wanying also glared at the two brothers, scolding them in a low voice: “You two idiots, how did you get seen? Couldn’t one of you dump the manure while the other kept watch? Absolutely do not admit to anything, you never did it, understand?”
The two brothers saw her as their role model and backer, nodding hurriedly, leaving Gu Liansheng standing there stifled. He grabbed his wife’s arm: “Wanying, they’re growing up, lying isn’t good.”
Lin Wanying shot back: “You’ll believe whatever someone says? If that awful woman had solid proof, she’d have gone straight to the police already. Family squabbles are none of your business, go to work.”
The two brothers, proud as little roosters, followed Lin Wanying out to do battle, heads held high, leaving Gu Liansheng with a headache. Better just go to work.
…
Lin Wanying scolded He Jinzhi speechless in just a few sentences.
“Tell me who saw them, and we’ll go confront them right now. Gu Liansheng’s a policeman, he’ll know instantly if it’s perjury. Just because your attempt to sabotage me and Gu Liansheng’s relationship by coming over last night didn’t work, don’t go blaming my two brothers for dumping manure at your door. Your family’s so ungrateful, you’ve surely offended plenty of people, why not go door to door and try, maybe you’ll flush out whoever really did it.”
Last night the little wife had been quietly stifled, how had she turned into such a shrew today?
Worse, this little shrew had a sharp mind, she’d caught He Jinzhi with no proof and no confession extracted.
But it was so infuriating, she’d smelled something foul last night and paid it no mind, then this morning opened the door and stepped right in it. She’d asked the neighbors and no one had seen anything, so she’d come over to try and scare a confession out of this honest family.
She didn’t expect Lin Wanying, this fierce little shrew, wouldn’t fall for it. He Jinzhi slunk away.
…
The brothers still needed teaching, though. Lin Wanying made them both hold a horse stance to correct their posture.
Then she said: “Your brother is a policeman, all the more reason for us to obey the law. You’re still young, and since dumping the manure is already done, I won’t say anything more about it, but next time you have a bad idea, think about whether it might drag the family down with it. Don’t ever do something you absolutely shouldn’t. I don’t want to be the one arresting you, your brother would have to.”
Gu Shuisheng’s legs were sore from squatting, and he nodded hurriedly: “Sister-in-law, I’ll listen to whatever you say.”
Lin Huinan was used to this, he was smart enough not to get caught doing anything. Last night nobody had seen a thing at all, that awful woman was obviously just bluffing.
Only he and his sister had seen through it. No wonder this family hadn’t thrived before he and his sister showed up.
Good thing they were here now, things could only get better.
…
Lately both her mother-in-law and the brothers had been well-behaved. Her mother-in-law’s health had recovered well, already able to walk on her own. Lin Wanying went out to look around, wanting to prevent Gu Liansheng from dying young.
Here’s how it went: in her past life, she’d learned much later that not long after Li Qiuzhen’s ex-husband got divorced, he died as a sacrifice to a criminal’s revenge attack.
Lin Wanying didn’t want to be a widow, she was going to build a good life with Gu Liansheng, and she wasn’t going to let him die.
According to the bits of information she remembered from her past life, she took a job doing odd chores at a small restaurant near where the incident had taken place, only working half-days, nine in the morning to three in the afternoon.
The owner wasn’t too keen on that, wanting full-time help. But then, coincidentally, a local hoodlum came in to eat for free, and she punched him out with one blow, the owner instantly agreed to her terms, settling on fifteen yuan a month with lunch included.
…
Right after settling this, she got home to find Gu Shuisheng with a bruised face, clearly injured, and probably not lightly either.
She wanted to check his clothes for injuries, but Shuisheng jumped away, saying, “Sister-in-law, I’m fine, it’ll heal in a few days.”
Still able to jump around that nimbly, must not be too serious. Lin Wanying asked, “How did you get hurt? Who hit you?”
Lin Huinan, annoyed at how slow he was, explained for him: “He saved up two yuan of pocket money and bought several dozen popsicles, went to sell them at the market by Lion Bridge. Hadn’t even started selling yet when the popsicle vendors there smashed his stuff. I told him we couldn’t win, we should run, and he blamed me for lacking loyalty. I called him a reckless fool for overestimating himself.”
Lin Wanying cut off Lin Huinan and told them to lead the way: “Can you still recognize who hit you?”
“I’d recognize them even burned to ashes. But sister-in-law, what are you going to do about it? Even if you can beat them, you’ll get my brother in trouble.”
Lin Huinan called him stupid: “Don’t think my sister’s as dumb as you. With my sister stepping in, forget about selling popsicles, no one in that whole market would dare mess with you, whatever you’re selling.”
That much was true, brute strength alone wasn’t enough, you needed brains too. Lin Wanying bought twenty popsicles wholesale and headed to the market at Lion Bridge, telling Gu Shuisheng to keep selling.
When trouble came knocking, they got a taste of hitting a brick wall head-on.
…
From then on, every day after three, Lin Wanying went to the market where Shuisheng and Huinan sold popsicles. By now they’d added balloons and candy to their stock, and the two boys were earning fifty to sixty cents a day between them, well over ten yuan a month, quite happy about it.
Around Lion Bridge, everyone knew: don’t mess with those two boys’ sister, she could really fight.
Once, she’d tied up six young punks and hung them from a tree. After that, no one bothered Gu Shuisheng or Lin Huinan anymore. Lin Wanying went by every other day just to reinforce her presence.
But things soon spiraled beyond control. More and more vendors started coming to her to settle disputes. Once you went to her, you had to follow the rules she set, this was, after all, a spontaneously formed wild market, and within a month it had completely transformed, doubling in size and drawing the attention of the local street office, which set up a management office and brought the market into some order.
But she and Gu Liansheng clashed over how to discipline the brothers. Gu Liansheng said her methods were wrong.
Lin Wanying didn’t think she was wrong at all, and argued back firmly: “Don’t lecture me with useless principles. If you think my methods are wrong, manage them yourself. If you can’t manage them well, then look at the results of my method versus yours, mine’s better, so don’t question it.”
Gu Liansheng had nothing to say back. Although they had this disagreement, at least they didn’t go cold on each other, they still talked when they needed to talk, ate meals together, but at night they no longer did that sort of thing, each sleeping separately.
…
While Lin Wanying was busy at the restaurant where she worked, Gu Liansheng brought a coworker over. She glanced over and asked normally, “Eating?”
Gu Liansheng nodded and sat down, saying, “Just fry us up a couple of dishes.”
Lin Wanying pointed at the menu: “That’s not how this works. Do I know your budget? What you like to eat? There’s a menu right here, is ordering two dishes such a hassle?”
Gu Liansheng had no choice but to order twice-cooked pork and garlic sprouts with cured meat. Lin Wanying wrote up the order and handed it to the owner in the kitchen.
Lin Wanying came back to set out bowls and chopsticks, and Gu Liansheng said pleasantly, “We just went over to Lion Bridge for some business, and it went smoothly. Someone even called me ‘big brother.’ Have you been recruiting followers over there?”
Lin Wanying gave him a look: “No, that’s just what they call themselves. And even if I had, recruiting followers isn’t against the law, is it?”
“You’re not breaking the law, but what if they break the law and say you put them up to it?”
Lin Wanying scoffed: “Aren’t you a policeman? Is it framing or instigation, don’t you investigate before deciding guilt? Did you come here to eat, or to argue with me?”
Gu Liansheng sighed quietly to himself. “Came to eat.”
Lin Wanying nodded. “You said it yourself, things went smoothly at Lion Bridge, and now you come here to blame me for it. Think about whether that makes sense.”
Gu Liansheng hurried to say: “I’m not blaming you. You said we should communicate about things, not go cold on each other, so I said something, you shouldn’t get mad about it.”
Lin Wanying wasn’t that worked up anyway, no point talking if they weren’t on the same page. She said “Oh, I see,” turned around, opened two bottles of soda, and set them on the table for Gu Liansheng and his silent coworker: “On the house.”
…
Gu Liansheng glared at his coworker, who was busy just drinking his soda: “I brought you along to help mediate, why aren’t you saying anything?”
Yan Qizong laughed: “Mediate what? Your wife’s attitude is fine, she even gave us free soda.”
Gu Liansheng thought back to that wonderful, harmonious night, felt like something out of a dream. He glanced back at his busy little wife and lowered his voice: “It’s been a month without… you know, and of course she’s upset, but the problem is I don’t even know what she’s upset about. Just like today, we talked, but it feels like nothing was really said at all.”
That did sound like a serious problem, Yan Qizong stopped joking around.
“Probably you two just aren’t on the same wavelength, so she doesn’t want to talk. You think from your professional angle, she thinks from her everyday-life angle, you think you mean well, but her perspective isn’t wrong either, why should she listen to your lecturing? You can’t understand her, so your wife doesn’t bother explaining. Shuisheng’s caused a lot less trouble than before, and since your remarriage you haven’t taken a single day off work to deal with family matters, that’s all thanks to your wife.”
Gu Liansheng suddenly saw the light, realizing how to communicate with his wife, and laughed: “You’re the one in the department with the most loving, harmonious family, I knew bringing you along would help. Lunch is on me today.”
…
Not long after Gu Liansheng and his coworker left, Lin Wanying noticed a customer in the corner who’d only ordered a bowl of fried rice, left a whole yuan on the table, then walked off with a torn cloth bag.
Paying several times the price for a bowl of fried rice, that was very unusual. Lin Wanying hurried after him.
She really couldn’t remember exactly which day, or what kind of person, had gone to take revenge on the police station in her past life, she only knew it was not long after Gu Liansheng’s divorce, that he’d used his body to shield people from a blast wave, and along with him, several other officers had died.
Later investigations revealed that the owner of a nearby small eatery, “One Bowl,” recalled a customer sitting in the corner with a dazed, abnormal expression. Today, Lin Wanying had finally caught him.
She followed him the whole way, and sure enough, the man headed straight toward the police station next door. He’d already climbed the steps and was opening his bag.
Lin Wanying rushed forward in one bound, grabbing at the bag in his arms, shouting sharply: “What are you sneaking around for?”
The man suddenly struck a match, looking half-crazed: “I’ll take you all down with me!”
Was Lin Wanying going to let him do that? She threw a punch straight at his face, sending him staggering, the match falling to the ground, the bag already in her hand. Inside the open bag, sure enough, was exactly what she’d feared, something with the potential to cause massive damage!