“No, can’t there be a third option?” Zhang Guihua still wanted to haggle.
Director Du had no desire to speak with Zhang Guihua, that venomous woman, and turned his gaze toward Pei Guangyi.
In fact, Zhang Guihua’s position was the same as Pei Guangyi’s; he, too, wanted a third option—preferably to just ignore the whole matter.
This wasn’t really a big deal to begin with—no one had died—and the subdistrict office staff were making a mountain out of a molehill.
But Pei Guangyi waited two seconds. Under Director Du’s increasingly impatient gaze, he finally steeled himself and nodded.
“…Well, then, let’s go over there and apologize.”
“Prepare the apology gift immediately, and come with us right now.” Director Du stood up.
Pei Guangyi was taken aback again and felt a surge of impatience: “Right now? Isn’t that a bit too rushed?”
“Why do we have to bring a gift?” Zhang Guihua’s concern differed from Pei Guangyi’s.
Director Du headed straight for the door: “It seems you don’t want to apologize. Fine, then. Zhang, you go—”
“Wait, wait! We didn’t say we wouldn’t bring a gift, Director Du. We’ll get them right now—we’ll take them over right now.” Pei Guangyi slapped Zhang Guihua’s hand. What was the point of quibbling over money at a time like this?
They’d already lost all face—what good was money now?!
Director Du stopped in his tracks and called out in an impatient tone, “Then hurry up. Let us take a look at the gifts before you take them over.”
Director Du’s meaning was clear: if the gifts weren’t substantial enough, he’d report them to the Public Security Bureau and the Revolutionary Committee again.
It was the first time Pei Guangyi and Zhang Guihua had been threatened like this. They were both frightened and heartbroken. In the end, with no other choice, they had to bring out the gifts their son had received for his wedding. Fearing it wouldn’t be enough, they also added the wedding gift that Fang Xiumei had flaunted on the night of the wedding.
At that moment, Fang Xiumei had no idea her belongings had been taken. When she returned and discovered that the snow cream given by her friend—and the bicycle ticket hidden inside the unopened tube—were missing, she nearly tore the Pei household apart.
Of course, that’s a story for later.
Once Pei Guangyi and Zhang Guihua had gathered gifts that satisfied the neighborhood office, the officials from the office took the two of them there directly.
Meanwhile, Yu Yin hadn’t returned yet. After parting ways with Zhang Xianglian, she hadn’t gone to the small post office near Guiyuan Lane, but had headed straight to the Third Post Office.
There was a large post office near the Third Municipal Palace, so she went there to mail a letter and familiarize herself with the area while she was at it.
Of course, the most important thing was to see if there were any job opportunities.
She’d been in the provincial capital for nearly two weeks; she couldn’t just stay at home forever, relying on the Pei family to support her.
Her relationship with Pei Zhan was an accident, and they would surely part ways in the future; she didn’t want to owe the Pei family too much.
However, jobs in the provincial capital were as scarce as hen’s teeth. Yu Yin scoured the entire area around The Third Palace but couldn’t find a single useful lead, so in the end, she had no choice but to head back home.
Meanwhile, the atmosphere at the Pei family’s main residence was tense. When officials from the neighborhood office first brought Pei Guangyi and Zhang Guihua inside, Sheng Siyang assumed they had come to mediate and reconcile the two families.
After all, the two families had just caused a scene when they both married off their daughters-in-law at the same time, so it was standard procedure for the neighborhood office to pay a visit.
But who could have guessed that once the neighborhood office staff explained the reason for their visit, Sheng Siyang—who was usually meek—would immediately grab a broom and start beating Zhang Guihua with it.
“Ah! Sheng Siyang, what are you doing? How dare you hit me!” Zhang Guihua clutched her head in panic, still managing to issue threats.
“I’m hitting you on purpose,” Sheng Siyang snapped, overcome with rage and acting without restraint. “Why did you bully Yinyin? Why did you slander her? It’s one thing that you bully me all the time, but Yinyin is just a young girl who’s only recently married into our family—don’t you have a shred of conscience?”
Sheng Siyang blocked the emergency exit, cornering Zhang Guihua.
She struck with fierce intensity, as if venting all the resentment and hatred she’d accumulated over the years.
To make matters worse, the broom was a bamboo one used for sweeping the courtyard; after prolonged use, it had worn down to just the bamboo stalks. The blows landed with excruciating pain, as if she were being slashed by countless knives, causing Zhang Guihua to howl in agony.
Seeing that she couldn’t dodge Sheng Siyang’s attacks, Zhang Guihua screamed for help.
“Pei Guangyi, Pei Guangyi, what are you doing? Hurry up and pull your sister-in-law away! Do you want to watch her beat me to death before you’re satisfied?!”
Hearing her say that, anyone who didn’t know the situation would think Sheng Siyang was the one bullying her.
Pei Guangyi instinctively wanted to step in to help, but the moment he moved, Director Du—who had been sitting calmly in the Pei family’s living room as if he hadn’t even noticed the fight—shot him a glance.
Pei Guangyi immediately backed down, pretending nothing had happened as he lowered the foot he’d raised.
Zhang Xianglian saw it all. Her eyes were filled with sarcasm, and she felt pity for Zhang Guihua, but she didn’t intend to step in either.
It was just a couple of slaps—it wasn’t like anyone was going to die.
Besides, in the years since Pei Guangyuan had left, Zhang Guihua had bullied Sheng Siyang time and again. If it weren’t for Sheng Siyang having a kind older brother and sister-in-law, plus her own popularity and the neighbors who looked out for her, Zhang Guihua would have bullied her to death long ago.
Zhang Xianglian silently looked away.
The two Party members from the neighborhood office who had accompanied her saw that neither the director nor the deputy director intended to intervene, so they too silently looked up at the sky or down at the ground, refusing to watch the scene of the beating.
Zhang Guihua had it coming.
So when Yu Yin returned, she found Zhang Guihua looking utterly bedraggled—her face bruised and scratched.
Yu Yin: “……”
She accepted this apology.
*
“Comrade Yu, you’re back!” Zhang Xianglian was the first to spot Yu Yin and greeted her.
Yu Yin nodded in response. Just as she was about to call out to someone, she noticed Sheng Siyang’s pale face and purple lips as she sat in the main seat. Startled, she rushed over.
Anxiously clutching Sheng Siyang’s hand to check on her, she asked, “Mom, what’s wrong?”
She then touched Sheng Siyang’s forehead and felt that her face was as cold as ice. Her heart sank. “Mom, are you feeling unwell? Do you have a headache? Did you catch a chill? Wait here—I’ll go get you some medicine.”
Yu Yin anxiously stood up, but Sheng Siyang grabbed her. Her voice was weak. “I’m fine. I’m just upset.”
“Yin Yin, why didn’t you come home and tell Mom when you were being bullied?”
Yu Yin furrowed her brow. She hadn’t expected mother sheng to be so angry, so she hurried to reassure her: “Mom, I’m fine. I happened to run into Director Zhang at the time, and she said she’d give them a stern talking-to. I wasn’t wronged.”
To spare Sheng Siyang any worry, Yu Yin deliberately downplayed the incident.
Zhang Xianglian and Director Du exchanged glances, thinking to themselves, “The Pei family really made a good choice in this daughter-in-law.”
She’s sensible and considers the bigger picture. Most importantly, none of them had noticed that Sheng Siyang wasn’t feeling well, but she saw it the moment she walked in—which shows she truly cares about Sheng Siyang.
She’s not heartless at all.
“Comrade Yu, go get the Baoxin Oil and rub some on your mother’s temples first. Let her rest a bit, and then we’ll talk,” Zhang Xianglian said, bringing the conversation back on track.
Yu Yin nodded and quickly fetched the Baoxin Oil, rubbing it onto Sheng Siyang’s temples and the center of her chest.
After applying the oil, Yu Yin brewed a cup of brown sugar water for Sheng Siyang to drink.
Sheng Siyang’s current symptoms strongly resembled those of physical weakness caused by insufficient blood supply.
Of course, there could be other causes as well. It seemed she would have to find an opportunity to take Mother Sheng to the hospital for a thorough checkup.
After drinking the brown sugar water, Mother Sheng’s body gradually warmed up, and her complexion finally lost its pallor. Only then did Yu Yin breathe a sigh of relief.
“Director Zhang, you don’t need to bring people along just to lecture me, do you?” Yu Yin snapped, taking her frustration out on her.
She turned to ask Zhang Xianglian, but her eyes were fixed on Zhang Guihua.
Her gaze was icy. Zhang Guihua, who had been gritting her teeth in suppressed anger, wilted the moment she met Yu Yin’s eyes—like a tiger with its teeth pulled—and cowered behind Pei Guangyi out of sheer fear.
Zhang Xianglian hadn’t expected Sheng Siyang to be in such poor health either, and she apologized sheepishly, “I’m sorry, Comrade Yu. I had intended to have Zhang Guihua and the others come over to apologize, but I didn’t expect—”
“Yin Yin, it’s my own fault—it has nothing to do with Director Zhang,” Sheng’s mother said, pulling her back, afraid she might offend the neighborhood committee leader by losing her composure.
A sharp gleam flashed in Yu Yin’s eyes as she turned and asked, “Then, Mom, why are you letting your health suffer? It’s just an apology—why would that make you feel unwell? At the end of the day, your health really is too poor. Let’s find a time to take you to the hospital for a checkup, okay?”
Sheng Siyang: “……”
Should she agree to this, or not?
There were so many officials watching.
Zhang Xianglian glanced at Yu Yin, a smile in her eyes as she helped persuade her, “That’s right, Siyang. Look how concerned your daughter-in-law is about you. Go get checked out. If there are any minor ailments, we should treat them right away; otherwise, if they get serious, it’ll be a real hassle.”
“You don’t want to trouble Comrade Yu, do you?”
Sheng Siyang didn’t want to be a burden—that was exactly why she’d been afraid to take too many medications in front of Yu Yin, and hadn’t even dared to go back for a follow-up appointment.
But now—
She clutched Yu Yin’s hand tightly and nodded slowly. “I understand. I’ll go get checked out in a little while.”
Yu Yin didn’t agree—wait a while longer?
“Mom—”
“I still have some medicine left over from the doctor’s last prescription. I’ll go back for a follow-up once I finish that.”
“Medicine you haven’t finished?” Yu Yin recalled the large black cloth bag Xiao Kangning had pulled out last time, and her lips twitched.
Could it be that Mother Sheng hadn’t been taking her medicine at all?
Yu Yin took a deep breath. If there hadn’t been outsiders present, she really would have given Mother Sheng a good scolding.
Did she even have any idea what her health condition was like!
Zhang Xianglian sensed the awkward tension between the two and hurriedly changed the subject. “Well, just make sure to go see the doctor. Comrade Yu will keep an eye on you for me.”
Sheng Siyang nodded helplessly.
With that settled, they finally returned to the main topic they’d come to discuss today.
Zhang Xianglian called out coldly, “Zhang Guihua, Pei Guangyi, come here.”
Zhang Guihua hid behind Pei Guangyi and nudged him forward.
Pei Guangyi’s face darkened. He silently cursed Zhang Guihua for being useless while also resenting his older sister-in-law for failing to teach her daughter-in-law properly.
How could an uncle and aunt ever apologize to their nephew’s wife?
If word of this got out, would the Pei family even be able to hold their heads up in public anymore?
However, they had no choice but to go—Zhang Xianglian had called them, and Director Du was staring them down.
If they didn’t go, they might end up spending the night at the police station or in the Revolutionary Committee’s interrogation room.
Gritting his teeth, Pei Guangyi, his face dark with anger, took heavy, deliberate steps forward.
When he was almost in front of Yu Yin and Sheng Siyang, he stopped, took a step back, and pulled Zhang Guihua out from behind him.
“Apologize right now.”
Zhang Guihua’s pupils contracted in terror, and a drop of sweat, born of fear, fell onto the floor.
“I, I—”
“Hurry up and say it. I still have to get back to work,” Pei Guangyi urged loudly.
Zhang Guihua was already terrified of Yu Yin, afraid that she might stab her with the tip of a fountain pen. Now, with Pei Guangyi yelling at her, she was as skittish as a bird startled by a bowstring; her mind went blank, and the words of apology just poured out of her in a fit of fear.
“I’m, I’m sorry. I was wrong. I’ll never dare to do it again.”
“Here, here—take this. It’s all yours.”
Before Yu Yin could react, a large pile of gift boxes was pushed toward her.
Zhang Xianglian explained, “Comrade Yu, you were startled today. This is a token of apology from Zhang Guihua and the others.”
Fearing Yu Yin might refuse, she added selfishly, “Go ahead and take them.”
Yu Yin didn’t say no—especially after seeing the pained expressions on Zhang Guihua and her husband’s faces; she felt she really should accept them.
Yu Yin smiled and took them. “Since Second Aunt has apologized sincerely, I’ll accept them.”
“But if something like this happens again in the future, please wait until I’m home before coming over. My mother isn’t in good health—if she gets upset by this, I wouldn’t know who to turn to for justice.”
Yu Yin was hinting that this matter might not be over yet.
Zhang Xianglian promised, “There won’t be a next time. If it happens again, we’ll do as you say and send them to the police station.”
“That’s good.”
Everyone thought the matter was settled, and Zhang Guihua believed so too; she hurriedly made her escape from Yu Yin.
Just then, the smile on Yu Yin’s lips widened.
“Hold on, Second Auntie. I haven’t finished what I have to say yet.”