“Song Jinhe! Qingying is my brother’s widow. It’s my duty to take care of her and Ya Ya. Why must you be so unreasonable and drive people to their deaths!”
“Brother Guoheng, don’t blame Sister-in-law. It’s my fault. If I hadn’t asked you for help, she wouldn’t have misunderstood us…”
Song Jinhe’s consciousness had just returned when she heard the familiar, accusatory voice and froze.
Hadn’t she been forced to pull out her own oxygen tube and end her life? Why could she still hear the voices of that wretched pair?
She frowned and looked up, only to see Lu Guoheng glaring at her with a face full of fury, and Liu Qingying, who was sobbing with grievance.
Both of them looked disheveled, as if they had just been pulled out of the water.
A jolt went through Song Jinhe as she remembered this scene.
Back then, after she married Lu Guoheng, he often went to Liu Qingying’s house under the pretext of helping his brother’s widow.
Song Jinhe pitied Liu Qingying for being widowed so young and raising a daughter on her own, so she tolerated it time and time again.
But her forbearance only made the two of them push their luck.
Liu Qingying found excuses to seek help more and more frequently, and the time Lu Guoheng spent helping her gradually stretched from half an hour to an entire day.
Unable to bear it any longer, Song Jinhe argued with Lu Guoheng, but he just said she was too suspicious and not magnanimous enough.
After enduring it countless times, to be met with such a remark naturally left her feeling wronged and furious.
This time, Lu Guoheng had stayed out all night to take care of Liu Qingying and her daughter. She couldn’t stand it anymore and cornered the two at the village entrance, loudly cursing them for their shamelessness in spending the whole night together.
When the other villagers heard, they also began to criticize Liu Qingying for not upholding a widow’s virtue and for monopolizing another woman’s husband.
Song Jinhe’s original intention was to force them to break off their relationship and never see each other again, but Liu Qingying had tearfully jumped into the river to prove her innocence.
Shocked and enraged, Lu Guoheng had hastily rescued her before loudly questioning Song Jinhe.
Liu Qingying, on the other hand, played the part of a pitiful white lotus, sobbing and taking all the blame on herself in a feigned retreat.
The scene before her was too real. Song Jinhe secretly pinched her own thigh.
It hurt.
Could it be that she had been reborn?
Before she could think it through, the aggrieved and sobbing Liu Qingying spoke again.
“Sister-in-law, I know you’re upset with me for always asking Brother Guoheng for help, and you don’t want to hear my explanation, but for the sake of my reputation, I must say a few words.”
“There’s really nothing between Brother Guoheng and me. Yesterday, Ya Ya had a high fever that wouldn’t go down, and I had no other choice but to ask him for help.”
“Ya Ya is still lying in the county hospital right now. If you don’t believe me, you can go and see for yourself.”
As she spoke, her eyes were red-rimmed, and large tears streamed down her cheeks, making her look utterly pitiful.
It made it seem as if Song Jinhe was the one bullying her.
But in reality, Liu Qingying’s pitiable state had absolutely nothing to do with her.
Song Jinhe sneered, “Liu Qingying, you use Ya Ya as an excuse every time, claiming you had no choice. I’ve been patient with you in the past, but that doesn’t mean I’m a fool.”
“I could overlook it when you asked Guoheng for help before. But this time, your own elder brother came to visit you and still hasn’t left.”
“Ya Ya had a high fever, yet you didn’t go to her own uncle. Instead, you ran to find Guoheng in the middle of the night. Is Guoheng’s relationship with you and your daughter closer than your own brother’s?”
“Or did you simply not know that calling Guoheng away from home late at night would make me unhappy?”
Water was still dripping from the ends of Liu Qingying’s hair. Hearing this, she snapped her head up and stared at Song Jinhe in utter shock.
How did she know her brother came yesterday?
No one had seen him when he arrived last night.
Seeing her flustered expression, Song Jinhe sneered inwardly.
In her previous life, she hadn’t known this. Faced with Liu Qingying’s pitiful act, she had been helpless and had even been branded with a reputation for being malicious and jealous.
It wasn’t until a short while later, when Liu Qingying’s brother got drunk and boasted about it to others, saying his sister was capable and had her methods, that Song Jinhe found out.
At that time, she had been so angry she went home to argue with Lu Guoheng, but he completely refused to believe her. Liu Qingying had also subtly insinuated that she was so consumed by jealousy she was talking nonsense.
A score she couldn’t settle back then could now be settled with Liu Qingying.
The way the surrounding people looked at Liu Qingying gradually changed, their expressions turning somewhat contemptuous.
Panicked, Liu Qingying’s face immediately took on an even more aggrieved look.
“Sister-in-law, I know you’re unhappy, but you can’t slander me like this.”
“If my brother had been back yesterday, why would I have troubled Brother Guoheng?”
Lu Guoheng looked at her wronged expression, frowned, and stepped in front of her, turning a cold gaze on Song Jinhe.
“Song Jinhe, even if you’re unhappy, there’s no need to make up such a lie.”
Qingying was not the kind of person who lacked sense.
Song Jinhe was rolling her eyes furiously on the inside, but her face was calm as she said directly:
“Whether I’m lying or not, we’ll know if we just send two men to Liu Qingying’s house to check.”
“You can’t go!” Liu Qingying shouted hastily.
Lu Guoheng, who had been about to speak up for her, paused and looked back at her.
Liu Qingying knew her reaction had been too extreme. Her face paled, and in the next second, she was crying and about to kneel.
“Sister-in-law, my brother was indeed at home yesterday, but he was staying in the side room. I was too anxious at the time and forgot about him, so I went to find Brother Guoheng.”
“I denied it just now because I was afraid you would misunderstand and think I have ulterior motives toward Brother Guoheng.”
“If you’re really that angry, I’ll kneel for you, alright? I just beg you to stop making things difficult for me.”
Liu Qingying’s explanation was flimsy, so flimsy that even Lu Guoheng could hear it.
A complex feeling stirred in Lu Guoheng’s heart, but seeing Liu Qingying about to kneel, he still quickly reached out to stop her.
He turned his head to Song Jinhe and reprimanded her in a cold voice:
“That’s enough, Song Jinhe. No matter what, Qingying has already apologized. Stop being so aggressive.”
Haggling over such a small matter, wasn’t she afraid of being laughed at?
Song Jinhe laughed in anger at his words.
“Lu Guoheng, are you sick in the head?”
“This is clearly Liu Qingying’s fault, but just because she flaps her lips and plays the victim, I’m the one being aggressive?”
“One of you plays the good cop, the other plays the bad cop. Anyone who didn’t know better would think you two were the married couple!”
As soon as Song Jinhe finished speaking, Lu Guoheng’s face instantly darkened.
“Song Jinhe, what nonsense are you spouting! I see you’re getting more and more out of line!”
A glint flashed in Liu Qingying’s eyes as she secretly glanced at Lu Guoheng.
It was true that she liked Lu Guoheng, but since Song Jinhe and Lu Guoheng hadn’t separated yet, she certainly couldn’t reveal her feelings.
She reached up to wipe her tears, lowered her eyes, and bit her lip as she said:
“Sister-in-law, I really only looked for Brother Guoheng for Ya Ya’s sake…”
As she spoke, her body swayed as if she were too weak to stand.
Seeing this, a few of the older women, as if they couldn’t bear to watch any longer, quickly supported her and then turned their fire on Song Jinhe.
“Jinhe, what you just said was really too much. We all watched that child Ya Ya grow up. She’s sick, so it’s only right for your Guoheng to help out. Why must you be so aggressive?”
“Exactly. What’s that saying? You help me, I’ll help you. That’s how it should be.”
“Your Guoheng is so caring toward his brother’s widow; he must be good to you as well. You should be thankful you found such a good man.”