After walking for a while, Yu Yin began to sense that something was off.
She kept feeling like someone was following her, but whenever she turned around, she couldn’t see anyone.
At first, she thought it was just her imagination, but people can’t always be wrong.
Although she couldn’t hear any footsteps, the feeling that someone was watching her from behind couldn’t be wrong.
Yu Yin frowned. As she passed a fork in the road, she deliberately turned onto a side street.
Although this street was narrow, there were people around, and Yu Yin wasn’t about to risk her safety.
Once she entered the alley, the number of places where someone could hide dwindled.
Yu Yin began to slow down, walking and stopping intermittently, as if she were curiously observing the scenery and architecture of the provincial capital.
Zhang Guihua, who was cautiously following behind her, saw how unsophisticated she looked and silently scorned her: “Just a country bumpkin, as expected—what an embarrassment.”
Zhang Guihua hadn’t yet realized she’d been spotted. Although she’d been careful, once they entered the alley and the crowd thinned out, she began to let her guard down.
When she saw Yu Yin turn into another alley, she followed without a second thought.
The sense of someone close behind her grew increasingly distinct.
Yu Yin knew the person behind her was closing in.
She furrowed her brow, intending to catch them at the next intersection.
At the same time, Yu Yin reached into her shoulder bag and pulled out a fountain pen.
She quietly unscrewed the cap.
“Huh?!”
“Mom, Mom, I think I just saw Sister Yu Yin again!” Zhang Yuan excitedly grabbed Zhang Xianglian’s hand.
“Hmm? Where?”
Zhang Xianglian had the day off today. Seeing that her daughter had been stressed about her schoolwork lately, she planned to take her to see a movie.
She also hoped to see if she could find the young girl who had tutored her daughter in math last time; if so, she really wanted to ask her to tutor her daughter.
As the workload increased, she could clearly feel her daughter’s stress mounting.
She wasn’t asking for much now—she just hoped her daughter could graduate successfully.
As for finding a job, she’d worry about that after graduation.
She never expected to be so lucky—they ran into her the moment they stepped out the door.
Zhang Xianglian was even more excited than Zhang Yuan.
“She’s—she’s at the intersection up ahead. I just saw her turn in there.”
“Mom, should we go over and say hi to Sister Yu Yin?” Although Zhang Yuan phrased it as a question, her eager expression made it clear she was already itching to go.
Zhang Xianglian was just about to tease her a bit before agreeing when, at that very moment, a furtive figure also darted into the intersection her daughter had pointed out.
Zhang Xianglian had served in the military; though she’d left the service over a decade ago, her soldier’s instincts remained sharp.
Seeing that somewhat familiar figure sneaking into the intersection, she suddenly sensed something was off.
She quickly grabbed her daughter, Zhang Yuan. “Yuan Yuan, wait here. Don’t move for now.”
With that, Zhang Xianglian swiftly followed after the figure.
After turning into the intersection, Yu Yin slowed her breathing and gripped the pen hidden in her shoulder bag tightly.
She thought to herself that if the other person had any ill intentions toward her, she would stab them hard in the main artery.
Zhang Guihua had no idea she was being flanked from both sides.
Seeing Yu Yin veering further and further off the path, as if she were about to do something shameful, the words her daughter-in-law, Fang Xiumei, had spoken kept flashing through her mind.
Fang Xiumei had said that Yu Yin had a lover back in the countryside and had even called him to warn him to be careful.
Could it be that Yu Yin, that country bumpkin, was planning to have her lover come to the provincial capital for a secret rendezvous?
The moment this thought crossed her mind, it took root in her brain.
Especially since she’d been staking out Yu Yin for a whole week—and now that she’d finally caught her leaving the house, the suspicion simply wouldn’t go away.
Zhang Guihua’s breathing grew heavier; the caution she’d shown at the beginning was long gone.
All she could think about now was catching Yu Yin in the act, then using threats and inducements to force her to cooperate. She’d make Yu Yin turn the Sheng Siyang household upside down—ideally, so that no one would ever dare marry Pei Zhan again.
Then, the position currently reserved for Pei Zhan’s wife would be her son’s forever.
No, perhaps it wouldn’t just be the position.
Her son was all grown up and married now.
Once they had children, they’d need a bigger house—and the one Sheng Siyang lived in now was quite nice.
She hadn’t taken anything from Sheng Siyang during the family division back then, but taking it back now would be just as valid.
Zhang Guihua’s eyes were filled with greed and ambition—and, of course, an undeniable malice she couldn’t hide.
Zhang Guihua had disliked Sheng Siyang since childhood.
They’d both grown up in the same family compound, both having lost their biological mothers and been beaten and berated by their stepmothers.
Why was it that, in the end, Sheng Siyang was the one pulled out of that quagmire by the discharged army brother?
They were clearly supposed to be the same.
No, they didn’t need to be the same anymore.
Zhang Guihua’s wrinkled, aged face broke into a vindictive smile.
She was living better than Sheng Siyang now, and she was sure to be even better off in the future.
Suddenly, Yu Yin shuddered.
She sensed the malevolence coming from behind her, and the veins on her hand, gripping the fountain pen, bulged.
One step, two steps, three steps—and just then—
Yu Yin spun around abruptly: “Who are you? Why are you following me?!”
“Stop right there!” No sooner had Yu Yin’s words fallen than a shout rang out from the intersection.
Zhang Guihua’s overflowing malice was cut short; terrified, she hurriedly clutched her head.
Zhang Xianglian, who had just run in, quickly pushed past Zhang Guihua to get close to Yu Yin. While keeping the suspicious figure from approaching Yu Yin, she asked, “Are you okay?”
Yu Yin shook her head nervously, her gaze falling back on Zhang Guihua, who was still clutching her head.
What she saw next was shocking.
Zhang Guihua?!
So it was her who had been following me all along?
Zhang Xianglian also recognized the suspicious figure and, surprised, furrowed her brow. “Zhang Guihua? How could it be you?”
Zhang Guihua: “……”
She wanted to ask the same thing, didn’t she?
Why was Deputy Director Zhang from the Street Administrative Office here, too?
And it seemed like she’d spotted her…
Zhang Guihua’s voice trembled as she hurriedly defended herself, “I didn’t do anything, Director Zhang—I was just taking a stroll.”
“And by ‘stroll,’ you mean you’ve been following me all the way from Guiyuan Street?!” Yu Yin showed her no mercy. “I suspect you have ulterior motives toward me, and I intend to report this to the police.”
“Comrade, can you vouch for me?” Yu Yin asked Zhang Xianglian.
“Are you out of your mind? I’m your second aunt.” Zhang Guihua never imagined Yu Yin would say such a thing, and she continued to protest loudly: “Besides, I didn’t do anything. What right do you have to send me to the police station?”
“Because you’ve been sneaking around following me the whole way. I suspect you’ve been harboring a grudge ever since our conflict on my wedding day, and now you’re tailing me to get back at me.”
“That’s bullshit,” Zhang Guihua roared, though her eyes clearly betrayed her guilt.
“Whether I’m talking nonsense or not, we’ll find out once we see the police.”
“Let’s go. Don’t force me to tie you up and drag you there.” Yu Yin finally pulled her hand—which she’d been hiding all along—out of her shoulder bag.
In her hand was an army-green fountain pen; its sharp nib glinted coldly in the sunlight.
Everyone present was terrified.
If no one had stopped her just now, would Yu Yin have stabbed her with that pen…?
Zhang Guihua realized this too and, panicked, scrambled backward.
But she was so terrified that she tripped over her own feet and fell flat on her back.
“You—what do you think you’re doing? Are you trying to kill me?!”
“It’s just self-defense. Are you going to the police station or not?” Yu Yin raised the pen tip toward Zhang Guihua.
Zhang Guihua took two more steps back.
She realized more than ever just how dangerous Yu Yin was; she must have been out of her mind to even consider working with someone like this.
This woman is a lunatic!
Just like Pei Zhan—they’re both crazy.
Zhang Guihua finally couldn’t take it anymore. She scrambled to her feet like a dog and bolted headlong out of the alley.
“Ah!” Zhang Yuan had just cautiously approached when she nearly collided with Zhang Guihua, who had suddenly burst out.
“Yuan Yuan!” Zhang Xianglian frowned as she ran to Zhang Yuan’s side, breathing a sigh of relief when she saw she was unharmed.
“Didn’t I tell you not to come over?”
“I, I—” Zhang Yuan cautiously stole a glance at Yu Yin, but just as she did, Yu Yin looked over, so she immediately averted her gaze.
“I was worried about you two.”
Zhang Xianglian paused for a moment, then sighed. “You can’t do this next time. What if there really was danger, and I couldn’t protect you?”
“I’m sorry, Mom.” Zhang Yuan hung her head in guilt.
By now, Yu Yin had probably figured out why Zhang Xianglian was there. So she was Zhang Yuan’s mother—she must have seen Zhang Yuan in danger and rushed in to save her.
Yu Yin finally let down her guard and came over to thank her.
Zhang Xianglian turned to look at her, curious. “You weren’t seriously thinking of taking Zhang Guihua to the police station just now, were you?”
“I really was.”
Zhang Xianglian: “……”
“After all, she is Pei Zhan’s aunt. Now that you’re married into the Pei family—”
“But she was doing something illegal. She was following me, and if you hadn’t shown up just now, who knows what she might have done to me.”
Zhang Xianglian instinctively replied, “She might not have…”
“You only get one life—there’s no such thing as ‘might not.’ If she really had done something to me, would I even have a future?”
In truth, Yu Yin was just making excuses. Judging by Zhang Guihua’s reaction after she was discovered just now, there was no way she would have done anything to Yu Yin—at the very least, she couldn’t have hurt her.
But—
Zhang Guihua had gone and stalked her, of all things.
Zhang Xianglian felt a headache coming on; she felt an unprecedented loathing for Zhang Guihua, that troublemaker.
The old man at the phone booth was right—Zhang Guihua really was a troublemaker.
At her age, couldn’t she just live out her twilight years in peace?
Zhang Xianglian’s eyes betrayed her disgust, but she couldn’t bring herself to have Yu Yin take Zhang Guihua to the police station.
Setting aside the question of whether the police would actually detain Zhang Guihua if she were taken there,
once Zhang Guihua was brought to the police station, there was no way to hide the fact that she had been stalking Yu Yin with the intent to harm her. And then, what would become of their neighborhood office’s reputation…
Zhang Xianglian was truly at her wits’ end.
Just as Zhang Xianglian was thinking about how to persuade Yu Yin to think twice before acting, Yu Yin had already sensed Zhang Xianglian’s dilemma.
In fact, she knew that taking Zhang Guihua to the police station wouldn’t accomplish much; she’d only intended to scare Zhang Guihua at first.
After all, Zhang Guihua had been scaring her the whole way.
Later, when Zhang Guihua revealed Zhang Xianglian’s position, she thought she might be able to use that to her advantage.
By leveraging Zhang Xianglian’s status as the neighborhood office director, she could make Zhang Xianglian understand what kind of people Zhang Guihua and her family really were.
That way, if a conflict ever arose between their two families in the future, Zhang Xianglian would know exactly which side to take.
Yu Yin deliberately kept Zhang Xianglian in a difficult position for a while before pretending to notice her dilemma and asking, “Are you saying you don’t want me to take her to the police station?”
Zhang Xianglian looked awkward. “She… she is, after all, Pei Zhan’s second aunt…”
“I understand. I’ll let her off this time. But if there’s a next time…”
“There won’t be a next time. I’ll take some people over right now to reprimand and educate her.”
“I think you’ve probably guessed my identity. I promise you, there absolutely won’t be a next time.”
Yu Yin smiled. “Well then… thank you for your help, Director Zhang. If there’s nothing else, I have to run.”
Yu Yin nodded to Zhang Xianglian, then gave a nod to Zhang Yuan—who still had no idea what had just happened—before saying her goodbyes and leaving.
Zhang Yuan was very reluctant to see her go, but in the end, she didn’t try to keep her there and could only watch Yu Yin leave with a sense of regret.
Zhang Xianglian actually felt regretful as well. She hadn’t expected that the “sister who’s really good at math” her daughter had mentioned was actually the new country-born daughter-in-law the Pei family had recently married into the family.
If only she’d known sooner—
Zhang Xianglian sighed and took Zhang Yuan’s hand, leading her toward the neighborhood office.
As they walked, she apologized to Zhang Yuan, “Yuan Yuan, I can’t go to the movies with you today. I’ll make it up to you next time, okay?”
“No need to make it up. Mom, if you have things to do, just go ahead.” After a pause, Zhang Yuan hesitated for a moment before asking, “Mom, how are you going to talk to that person from earlier? Did she really mean to harm Sister Yu Yin just now? If so, will she really never do it again?”
Zhang Yuan was very worried.
“There won’t be a next time. I’ve worked at the neighborhood office on Yuanfeng Road for so many years; I know exactly what kind of person Zhang Guihua is. She has plenty of petty schemes and is always taking advantage of the fact that there’s no man at home in the Pei family. But when it comes to doing something truly unconscionable, she wouldn’t be capable of it.”
Or rather, she doesn’t have the guts to do it.
Zhang Guihua isn’t exactly a thoroughly evil person—at most, she’s like a rat in a sewer: just a nuisance and a pain.
“Besides, Mom knows exactly who can keep her in check.”
“Who?”
Zhang Xianglian smiled but didn’t answer.
Her daughter was still young and didn’t understand that within a family, there are strong and weak members, and those who take the lead.
Don’t be fooled by Zhang Guihua’s arrogant and domineering exterior—if her husband, Pei Guangyi, really decided to rein her in, she wouldn’t dare make a peep.
[1]I’m a lil sick, so if there are any mistakes do let me know, I will check them later when im all better. Thank you jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_2966442_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_2966442_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });
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