“Where?” Fang Xiumei instinctively frowned the moment she heard the word “country woman.”
“Over there. I just saw her go into the 24-hour service center. What do you think she’s doing in there? She isn’t calling her lover, is she?”
“I’ve heard that women in the countryside start sleeping around in the rice paddies when they’re just teenagers. Do you think your sister-in-law has done that too?”
“Don’t talk nonsense. Who’s her sister-in-law anyway?” Fang Xiumei’s face darkened with disgust.
She had intended to leave, but after hearing her friend’s remarks, she felt extremely uncomfortable.
It was as if her friend already knew that Yu Yin had rolled around in the rice paddies with someone—as if she were a loose woman.
If that were the case, what would happen to her reputation?
After all, she was now a daughter-in-law of the Pei family, and that country bumpkin had even gotten married on the same day as her.
If any nasty rumors got out… it would surely drag her down with it.
The more Fang Xiumei thought about it, the more upset she became. “Let’s go check it out.”
“Okay, why don’t we just go inside and find her? We might even catch some juicy gossip,” her friend said excitedly.
Fang Xiumei didn’t say yes, but she was already heading toward the service center.
Yu Yin had no idea that she’d run into someone she knew this far away—and that she was being slandered.
After entering the service office, she got in line, filled out a form, and began making a call.
The phone rang for a long time with no answer. Just as Yu Yin was about to hang up, there was a “click”—the receiver was picked up.
“Hello, who are you looking for?”
Yu Yin instantly grew nervous. She quickly swallowed, “Excuse me, Hello, I’m looking for Pei Zhan. Is he there?”
“Are you looking for Commander Pei?”
“Who’s this?”
“Commander Pei is out on a mission, and we don’t know when he’ll be back. If you have something to discuss, I can take a message and pass it on to him when he returns. How does that sound?”
“…No, I don’t know when he’ll be back.” Yu Yin couldn’t quite put her finger on how she felt, but she was definitely deflated. “Well, never mind then.”
No sooner had the words left her mouth than she felt a pang of reluctance.
She thought to herself, since she’d come all this way, what kind of person would just walk away like this?
“Excuse me, I—I still have something to tell Pei Zhan.”
“Go ahead.”
“I’m Pei Zhan’s wife. If he comes back, please tell him to be sure to stay safe and take care of himself.”
On the other end: “……Is… is that all?”
“That’s all.”
“Well, all right. I’ll pass on your message exactly as you said.”
“Thank you for your help. I’ll hang up now.”
‘Beep-beep-beep—’
She hung up the moment she said she would.
The security guard who had answered the call was completely baffled. He held the phone—now disconnected—with a bewildered and confused expression.
“What happened? Who was that?”
“Hurry up—I still have a meeting to attend.”
The guard from the Second Regiment had noticed that Le Peng had said he was going back to get some documents but hadn’t returned. After waiting a while and still not seeing him, he came over to look for him.
But as soon as he stepped into the First Regiment’s office, he saw Le Peng holding the receiver with a dazed expression on his face.
Getting no response, he slapped him across the face. “Say something! What are you doing holding the phone? Hurry up and get those documents—we’ve got a meeting to attend.”
“I just… got a call from our regiment commander’s wife.”
“She said to tell our commander to be sure to stay safe and take care of himself.”
The 2nd Regiment guard: “……???!!!”
“What did you say?” His hometown accent slipped out.
“Who called?!”
“Crazy Pei actually managed to get married!!!”
“Get lost!” Le Peng slapped him back. “Why can’t our regiment commander get married?”
“But how could our regiment commander possibly get married?”
“He was clearly just a crazy guy nobody wanted when he left last time…” The second half of the sentence was so soft no one could hear it.
But the news that Pei Zhan’s wife had called exploded through the unit like a bomb—
“Have you heard? Pei Zhan actually got married!”
“Who would marry Crazy Pei? You’ve got to be kidding me?!”
“It’s true. I heard from the Second Regiment that Crazy Pei’s wife was worried he’d get hurt, so she specifically called to tell him to be careful and take care of himself.”
“Are you out of your mind? What kind of psycho in the unit could possibly beat Crazy Pei these days…”
And so on. Pei Zhan had no idea that, due to time constraints, he hadn’t returned to the unit but had gone straight into a mission—which caused him to miss Yu Yin’s call. From then on, in addition to being called “Crazy Pei,” he earned the nickname “henpecked husband.”
That nickname came out of nowhere.
……
“Xiumei, did you hear what that country bumpkin said? I couldn’t make a word of it.”
“Oh, wait, I think I caught something… ‘Stay safe’?”
“Who was she telling to stay safe?”
“Could she be telling her lover to stay safe so their affair doesn’t get exposed?”
“Xiumei, you’re something else, sister-in-law!”
Fang Xiumei hadn’t actually heard a single word, but as her close friend Chen Cuicui kept repeating it, she felt as if she’d caught a glimpse of something.
Her expression grew increasingly grim, and the eyes she fixed on Yu Yin were as if laced with poison.
“Let’s go!” Fang Xiumei gritted her teeth and turned away.
“Hey, aren’t we going to go expose that country bumpkin?”
“Let’s get out of here first. Even if we were to expose her, do you have any proof?”
“But I heard it all—” Chen Cuicui tried to insist, but Fang Xiumei had already stepped out of the 24-Hour Service Center ahead of her.
Chen Cuicui stomped her foot in frustration, glancing back at Yu Yin’s spot. Seeing her paying her phone bill, she felt a deep sense of resentment.
“Xiumei, are you just going to let her get away with it?” Once outside the service center, Chen Cuicui caught up with Fang Xiumei. “What if word gets out about that country bumpkin’s affair and it drags you down with her?”
“You finally made it as one of the ‘Eight Great Officials,’ married into a family where both spouses work, and have a big house. If that country bumpkin drags you down, what will you do?”
“What else can I do?”
“Don’t forget what my brother does for a living.”
Fang Xiumei’s older brother was currently an investigator for the Lihe District Revolutionary Committee; if anything were to go wrong, there was no way Fang Xiumei wouldn’t find out.
Still, despite her words, Fang Xiumei was thoroughly infuriated.
She hadn’t expected that country bumpkin to be so shameless. Wouldn’t a normal person, having finally married into a high-class family, know to walk on eggshells?
But this country bumpkin—of all people—actually—
When Fang Xiumei mentioned what her brother did for a living, a flash of jealousy crossed Chen Cuicui’s eyes.
She concealed it well, though; her smile was just a bit stiff. “Y-yes, you’re right. Brother Fang has really made something of himself. I heard he’s getting a promotion soon—is that true?”
“Of course it’s true. If my brother says so, it’s true.” ” When speaking of her brother, who made her so proud, a look of smug satisfaction instantly spread across Fang Xiumei’s face.
Just then, Yu Yin happened to come out, so Fang Xiumei immediately dragged Chen Cuicui to hide behind a large tree.
Yu Yin didn’t notice the two of them sneaking around. She stepped out of the ticket office and looked around, intending to head to the department store to buy some paper and pens.
She’d need to write letters in the future; she couldn’t keep using Pei Zhan’s supplies forever.
But after looking around, she didn’t see the department store the post office clerk had mentioned. Instead, not far ahead, across from the movie theater, she spotted a supply and marketing cooperative.
The supply and marketing cooperative would do.
Yu Yin walked over.
“Huh, is she going to the supply and marketing cooperative?”
“But how does she have enough money?”
“Xiumei, she must have stolen money from the Pei family. Should we go check it out?”
Fang Xiumei didn’t even need Chen Cuicui to say anything; she had already followed Yu Yin as soon as she saw her heading toward the supply and marketing cooperative.
A shrewd gleam flashed in Chen Cuicui’s eyes, and a smile played at the corners of her mouth, though Fang Xiumei, walking ahead, didn’t notice.
It was Tuesday, and most workers were still at their jobs. Plus, since it was just past noon, many were still taking their afternoon naps, so the Supply and Marketing Cooperative wasn’t very crowded.
There were only a few people here and there, scattered about.
But even with so few people around, Yu Yin was still bumped into the moment she stepped into the Supply and Marketing Cooperative.
The person probably didn’t do it on purpose, because—
“My glasses! My glasses! Where are my glasses?” The girl who’d been bumped into crouched down immediately to look for them.
The glasses had fallen right at Yu Yin’s feet from the collision. Yu Yin picked them up and saw that they were split in two; one half was still tied together with a red string she’d used herself. It was clear they’d been broken to begin with.
Yu Yin handed them to the girl, who was still frantically searching. “Are these your glasses?”
The girl instinctively squinted and leaned in, her nose brushing against Yu Yin’s slender fingers. When she saw the familiar red string on the glasses, she smiled. “Yes, they’re mine. Thank you, thank you so much.”
The girl hurriedly took them and skillfully perched the nearly useless glasses on the bridge of her nose.
The world instantly came into focus, and the girl—
that is, Zhang Yuan—clearly saw the person she’d bumped into.
She was a stunningly beautiful girl.
In all her years, having lived in both the north and the south, Zhang Yuan had truly never seen such a beautiful girl before.
Her face flushed red in an instant.
She hurriedly bowed in apology. “I’m—I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to, I…”
“I know, don’t worry about it. By the way, you really should get your glasses repaired,” Yu Yin replied with a smile.
Zhang Yuan’s face froze for a moment, then she began to fume. “I—I was actually going to get them repaired today, but—but—”
The store was closed.
She hadn’t picked up her new glasses either.
Zhang Yuan felt both frustrated and embarrassed, deeply regretting why she hadn’t had her glasses repaired sooner. If they’d been fixed, she wouldn’t have bumped into someone so good-looking.
“You bumped into someone, broke their stuff, and then made them apologize?”
“Just as I thought—a country bumpkin with absolutely no manners or upbringing.”
Fang Xiumei came in right behind her, but because of the distance, she hadn’t seen the whole thing clearly.
When she walked in, she only saw Zhang Yuan bowing repeatedly in apology, while Yu Yin—who had bumped into someone—not only refused to apologize but also told the victim to go fix the damaged item herself.
What kind of person does that?
Fang Xiumei considered herself a champion of justice. She walked over, shoved Yu Yin aside, and lifted her chin—her haughty demeanor made her look like someone trying to imitate a tiger but ending up looking more like a dog.
It was… just plain ugly.
Yu Yin glanced at her briefly, then looked away.
“No, no, I’m the one who bumped into her. It has nothing to do with this lady,” Zhang Yuan hurriedly explained.
But Fang Xiumei only heard what she wanted to hear. “Haven’t you apologized yet? You’re such an embarrassment.”
“And what are you even doing over here?”
“Do you, a country bumpkin, even have money? Do you have a purchase ticket?”
“Don’t go setting your sights on something you can’t afford—you’d bring shame on the Pei family.”
Yu Yin: “……”
Zhang Yuan, standing nearby: “……”
This person—it’s as if she doesn’t understand human speech.
Zhang Yuan was about to explain, but Yu Yin yanked her behind her.
She wasn’t as arrogant as the other woman, nor did she hold her nose in the air like her. She merely curved her lips into a faint smile, yet her demeanor conveyed even more contempt than Fang Xiumei’s.
“Who are you?”
“Snort.”
Someone let out a quiet chuckle, and immediately afterward—as if a switch had been flipped—the onlookers who’d heard the commotion all burst into laughter.
“Is this latecomer blind or something? The owner of the glasses doesn’t even care—she says the other person didn’t bump into her—but here she is, jumping right in?”
“Taking the chance to get even, huh? Tsk, tsk. Young girls these days—”
Fang Xiumei’s face flushed with anger—not because she’d misunderstood Yu Yin, but because of Yu Yin’s attitude.
Just some country bumpkin—what gives her the right to be so arrogant?
And to look down on her, too?!
“Just you wait,” Fang Xiumei growled, then stormed out in a huff.
“Hey, Xiumei, why are you leaving?!” Chen Cuicui was baffled.
Not just Chen Cuicui—even the onlookers who’d come to watch the show were taken aback.
Is that it?
No fight?
A little argument would’ve been fine, at least.