Zhang Xianglian knew better than anyone that Pei Guangyi was the one calling the shots in his family.
Precisely because she knew this, when the conflict arose between the main Pei family and the younger Pei family over their weddings being scheduled for the same day, she instructed the neighborhood office staff not to get involved.
Thinking of this, Zhang Xianglian felt another headache coming on.
She feared that this recent stalking incident might also be connected to Pei Guangyi.
In any case, she would first take her team to the Young Pei family to talk some sense into them. If that ungrateful Pei Guangyi was involved in this matter, she would certainly have to pay a visit to the Health Management Station.
Rumor had it that Pei Guangyi had recently set his sights on the position of retired department head in their department…
Zhang Guihua had no idea that disaster was looming over her, nor did she realize that her actions had nearly cost Pei Guangyi his chance at a promotion.
She fled all the way home; the panic and fear on her face didn’t fade as she moved away from Yu Yin—instead, her fear only grew.
As the door slammed shut with a “clang,” she collapsed onto the floor.
“That was… that was terrifying.”
“Crazy people—they’re all crazy!”
“What on earth are you doing?” Pei Guangyi had just been about to fall asleep when he suddenly heard the loud noise and, thinking a burglar had broken in, came out of his room to investigate.
To his surprise, he found Zhang Guihua there, pale-faced, drenched in sweat, and muttering to herself.
She looked so hideous in that state that he looked away after just one glance, but his reproachful voice didn’t stop.
“You’re making such a racket—do you want me to take a nap or not?”
“You’re still taking a nap! You still want to sleep? Do you have any idea I was almost killed by that country woman just now?”
“Who tried to kill you? That new daughter-in-law at my older brother’s house?”
“That’s exactly who.”
“I’ve been keeping an eye on that place these past few days. I finally spotted that country woman heading out and followed her. But she caught me, and she actually tried to stab me with the tip of a fountain pen.”
“I was almost killed by her!”
There was a bit of exaggeration in that statement, and Pei Guangyi didn’t quite believe it.
Mainly, he didn’t believe a woman from the countryside would have the guts to kill someone.
Pei Guangyi asked, “Did you do something to her?”
Zhang Guihua shrieked, “What could I possibly have done to her! You’re the one who told me to look into that matter. Just now, when I finally saw her leave and sneak off to a secluded spot, I thought…”
Little did she know she’d be so unlucky—not only did she fail to find any incriminating evidence against the country woman, but she was also discovered by her and nearly killed.
Thinking of that sharp pen tip, Zhang Guihua couldn’t help but shiver again.
She didn’t seem to be lying, so Pei Guangyi furrowed his brow. “You’re her second aunt—how dare she!”
“No, you go find my eldest sister-in-law and tell her about this, so that this country bumpkin doesn’t take her frustrations out on our Pei family whenever she’s unhappy. “My eldest sister-in-law has a mentally disabled daughter at home, and the child A-Yan left behind is still so young. What if she accidentally hurts them?”
In the past, Zhang Guihua might have stormed over to pick a fight in a fit of rage. But Zhang Xianglian had caught her red-handed while she was following Yu Yin—and it seemed Zhang Xianglian was even considering turning her in to the police. Going there now would be like walking into a trap.
Zhang Guihua didn’t dare.
She remained silent.
Hearing no response, Pei Guangyi’s brows knotted like a rope as he urged, “Hurry up and go! What are you still standing there for?”
“…I—I’m not going.”
“You’re not going? Aren’t you the one who loves picking fights with my older sister-in-law the most? You’re not going to take advantage of such a great opportunity?”
Zhang Guihua glared at him. How could this be the same now?
“Anyway, I’m not going.” After shouting that, Zhang Guihua finally regained her strength and tried to stand up to go back to her room.
She felt miserable all over now; she wanted to go back to her room and lie down for a while.
However, she hadn’t taken more than a few steps when the sound of several bicycle bells rang out at the front door.
Within seconds, there was a knock on their front door.
“Zhang Guihua, Pei Guangyi, are you home?”
“If you’re there, open the door right away.”
Zhang Guihua’s steps came to an abrupt halt; her pupils trembled slightly as guilt washed over her.
Zhang… Zhang Xianglian had actually come looking for her?
She wasn’t really planning to turn her in to the police station, was she?
Zhang Guihua hurried toward her room. After taking two steps, she noticed that Pei Guangyi was actually trying to go answer the door, so she ran back and grabbed his hand tightly.
She was incredibly strong, and her grip hurt Pei Guangyi.
Pei Guangyi shook off her hand and shouted, “What are you going crazy about now?”
“Pei Guangyi, if you’re home, open the door right now.” Zhang Xianglian, standing outside the door, had already heard their voices and added, “Zhang Guihua, I know you’re in there too. If you don’t open the door right away, I’ll send you exactly where you want to go.”
“Where?” Pei Guangyi was taken aback by Zhang Xianglian’s words and looked at Zhang Guihua suspiciously. “What have you done now?”
“Hurry up and open the door,” Zhang Xianglian urged again. Paying no heed to Zhang Guihua, whose face had turned pale, Pei Guangyi hurried toward the door.
“Don’t open it!”
But it was too late; Pei Guangyi had already opened the door.
As soon as the door opened, Zhang Xianglian led the staff from the subdistrict administrative office inside.
There were quite a few of them. In addition to Zhang Xianglian and two Party members who frequently visited Guiyuan Street, there was even the director of the administrative office—a man nearing retirement who rarely handled day-to-day affairs anymore.
When Pei Guangyi saw Director Du from the administrative office, his brow twitched violently. Realizing something might have gone wrong, he hurried forward to greet him.
“Director Du, Deputy Director Zhang, what brings you here?”
“Has something happened?”
Director Du had a very approachable appearance. Perhaps because he frequently engaged in ideological work, he didn’t seem sharp at all, making it easy for people to let their guard down.
“Let’s talk about it inside.”
Pei Guangyi recalled Zhang Guihua’s expression just moments ago and hesitated: “Well—”
“If you want to talk right here, that’s fine, but don’t say I didn’t warn you. Don’t blame me if you end up making a fool of yourself.” Zhang Xianglian, however, lacked Director Du’s affability. Probably due to her military background, her manner was crisp and stern; when she spoke with a stern expression, she was quite intimidating.
At the very least, Zhang Guihua—who had been trying to flee from the living room—was thoroughly terrified. She tried to lift her foot to run away, but it simply wouldn’t budge.
Pei Guangyi was also startled and hurriedly ushered everyone into the living room.
The living room in Pei Guangyi’s home doubled as a dining room; it wasn’t large, but it was big enough to seat everyone.
As soon as everyone sat down, Zhang Xianglian banged on the table. “Zhang Guihua, come here!”
Zhang Guihua’s whole body went rigid, and cold sweat kept pouring down her face.
“If you don’t come over right now, I’ll send you to the police station this very minute!”
“No, please don’t. Director Zhang, I haven’t done anything wrong.” Panicked, Zhang Guihua ran to Zhang Xianglian and the others, nearly dropping to her knees.
Zhang Xianglian stared coldly at Zhang Guihua. “You haven’t done anything wrong yet? Then what were you doing sneaking around and following Comrade Yu Yin?”
“I—”
“Don’t try to make excuses. I saw everything.” It was precisely because she had seen it that Zhang Xianglian felt hesitant and guilty, feeling she had let Comrade Yu Yin down.
“Zhang Guihua, let me tell you this: if anything happens to Comrade Yu Yin today because you were following her, it doesn’t matter whether you meant to harm her or not—you won’t be able to escape responsibility.”
“I mean, you’re an old woman—can’t you just behave like a decent human being? Just because of some petty disagreement, you go and follow her, scaring that young girl?”
“Have you no shame left?”
Zhang Xianglian unleashed a torrent of abuse right from the start.
Standing nearby, Pei Guangyi finally understood why they’d been summoned. He silently cursed Zhang Guihua as an idiot—how could she get caught by Zhang Xianglian just for tailing some country woman?
However, Pei Guangyi didn’t take it to heart; he figured it wasn’t a big deal and that a casual apology would suffice.
Pei Guangyi secretly breathed a sigh of relief and was just about to brush it off when Zhang Xianglian suddenly fixed her gaze on him and asked, “Pei Guangyi, do you know that your wife was following Comrade Xiao Yu?”
Feeling guilty under Zhang Xianglian’s piercing gaze, Pei Guangyi blinked and feigned confusion: “I didn’t know. Could this be some kind of misunderstanding?”
“Director Zhang, you know Comrade Yu is Ah Zhan’s wife—and our nephew’s wife, too. Even if we have a minor disagreement, we wouldn’t go so far as to harm anyone, wouldn’t you agree?”
“Guihua has a quick temper. Maybe she just wanted to have a little chat with Comrade Yu. She happened to be heading upstairs, and you just happened to see her, which is why this misunderstanding arose?”
“Are you saying I saw it wrong?” ” Zhang Xianglian couldn’t help but marvel at Pei Guangyi’s ability to say one thing to one person and another to another. If she hadn’t seen it with her own eyes—and witnessed Yu Yin acting in self-defense—she would have believed his nonsense.
“I’m not saying you saw it wrong; I’m saying it was a misunderstanding. Guihua, come talk to Director Zhang. Just explain things clearly,” Pei Guangyi hinted.
Zhang Guihua caught on immediately, her surprise and excitement mingling as she prepared to explain.
The next moment, Zhang Xianglian coldly cut her off: “If you’re saying I misunderstood or saw things wrong, fine. Then I’ll report this to the police according to the victim’s wishes. I’m sure the police, with their years of experience, will be able to investigate and clarify whether Zhang Guihua was following her to harm her or simply wanted to chat with Comrade Yu.”
“Don’t report this to the police—for heaven’s sake, don’t report it to the police.”
“I was wrong, I really was wrong,” Zhang Guihua knelt down, pleading with Zhang Xianglian. “Director Zhang, I really was wrong. I didn’t mean to harm her; I just wanted to follow her to see if that country bumpkin was seeing some other man—”
“Zhang Guihua!” Pei Guangyi snapped.
But it was already too late.
On top of stalking and endangering someone, she now faced an additional charge of slander.
Now it wasn’t just Director Zhang Xianglian whose face darkened; even Director Du, who had remained silent all along, intending to play the role of a figurehead, now looked grim.
Yu Yin was a newlywed, having just moved to the provincial capital to marry Pei Zhan, a military officer. She hadn’t even had time to get to know the area yet when Zhang Guihua—her second aunt-in-law—accused her of having an affair.
A woman’s reputation is so important—if this were to succeed, how could she possibly live in this society?!
“So, are you and your wife trying to ruin Comrade Yu’s reputation?” Director Du asked.
Director Du’s normally gentle voice now carried an inherent air of authority, and beads of sweat began to form on Pei Guangyi’s forehead.
He explained, “I didn’t. Director Du, it’s all a misunderstanding—it’s all a misunderstanding.”
Director Du said, “Whether it’s a misunderstanding or not, you need to set the record straight. Otherwise, we won’t care about the neighborhood’s reputation—we’ll report this to the public security bureau today and have the Revolutionary Committee come investigate.”
If that were to happen, not only would Zhang Guihua’s reputation be ruined, but Pei Guangyi could forget about ever getting by in this area again; they might even be sent down to a farm for re-education.
Pei Guangyi was so terrified his limbs went weak; he dared not make any more evasive excuses and hurriedly explained the whole story.
However, after hearing everything Pei Guangyi had to say, the crowd’s opinion of the two of them did not improve; on the contrary, their disgust only grew.
“Just because of a phone call you couldn’t hear clearly, you’ve been surveilling and following Comrade Xiao Yu for over a week?” Zhang Xianglian was so furious her hands and feet were trembling.
Perhaps because they were all women, they understood how difficult it is for women in this society. Especially for women without their husbands by their side—rumors can be deadly.
Zhang Xianglian herself was a woman without a husband by her side; she knew what kind of future Yu Yin would face if the rumor that “Yu Yin has a lover” were to spread today.
“Director! ” Zhang Xianglian turned to Director Du. If she hadn’t retained a shred of reason, she would have sent this disgusting couple straight to the police station right then and there.
Director Du gestured for Zhang Xianglian to calm down and not act on impulse, then said to Pei Guangyi, “We have two options right now.”
“First, report it to the police and escalate the matter to the Revolutionary Committee for them to investigate. If it’s a misunderstanding, everything will be fine; but if—”
“Let’s not report it to the Revolutionary Committee, Director Du. This was just a misunderstanding to begin with—we were all listening to one side of the story and jumping to conclusions. There’s no need to make such a big deal out of it, don’t you agree?” Pei Guangyi interrupted anxiously.
“Then here’s the second option: the two of you come with us to apologize to Comrade Xiao Yu. If Comrade Xiao Yu forgives you, this matter will be considered settled. If she doesn’t, we’ll proceed with Option One.”
Pei Guangyi: “……”
Zhang Guihua: “……”
No matter how you look at it, he still wants to report this to the Public Security Bureau and the Revolutionary Committee, doesn’t he?
Author’s Note:
I’m sorry—I’ve been adjusting my work schedule recently. Once that’s settled, I’ll be able to post more frequently.