Chapter 294: “you’re Pretty Sly”
Meng Jiusi: “……”
Seeing with his own eyes a person from the staff dormitory whose reputation was still decent change his face, for him, was truly an effective and direct template to dissuade remarriage.
Lin Zhao withdrew her gaze and caught the complexity on her youngest brother’s face, chuckling stealthily.
“What are you laughing at?” Meng Jiusi cleared his throat.
“Nothing, the weather is really nice.” Lin Zhao made something up casually.
Meng Jiusi looked helpless, shifting his gaze to his brother-in-law’s face. “Cheng Huai, control Zhaozhao a bit.”
Gu Chenghuai spread his hands. “No method, can’t control her.”
Lin Zhao leaned back, her eyes and brows full of smugness.
She patted Gu Chenghuai’s shoulder. “We… couple!”
Meng Jiusi was speechless and turned away.
“Tired? If tired, close your eyes for a bit. The child is under my watch.” Gu Chenghuai held his daughter-in-law’s hand, speaking warmly.
Lin Zhao didn’t answer but asked back, “How much longer until departure?”
Gu Chenghuai raised his wrist, glanced at the time, his voice low and slow. “Ten more minutes.”
“The car is packed full…” Lin Zhao muttered.
The small car had no empty seats, the aisle crammed full, even when the car started, braking and accelerating emergently, the standing people would surely stand like wooden posts, unmoving.
“A few more people can squeeze on.” Gu Chenghuai said, “No method, few cars, miss this one and you’d have to walk back.”
“No ox cart?” Lin Zhao turned to look at him.
“Oxen are precious, such a long distance, those brigades with oxen wouldn’t bear to waste them like that.”
Lin Zhao: Humans are inferior to oxen series.
She found a comfortable position to lean in, closed her eyes, and said, “I’ll nap a bit, watch the kids and things, don’t let anyone snatch them away.”
Gu Chenghuai said, “I’ve got it, what are you worried about, sleep, I’ll call you when we arrive.”
Lin Zhao squeezed the man’s hand, faced the window direction, and began brewing sleepiness.
She was comfortable, but Su Yuxian next to the driver’s seat, whose face was squished crooked, revealed jealousy and hatred in her eyes.
She had finally squeezed onto the car, why did Lin Zhao have a seat, not even needing to watch the kids and things, comfortably sleeping!
The hatred in her heart wrapped around her like vines, tightening her neck, almost unable to breathe.
She kept squeezing Lu Baozhen’s hand harder.
Lu Baozhen endured for a long time, finally couldn’t hold it, lifted her pale face, and said very softly, “Mom, my hand hurts…”
Su Yuxian was immersed in her emotions and didn’t hear.
Most people on the car were from the various brigades below, speaking loudly, everyone spattering saliva freely, the car noisy.
Lu Baozhen tried to pull her hand back, but her strength was too small, unsuccessful.
Gradually, her movements alerted Su Yuxian.
Su Yuxian squeezed her hand even harder and scolded, “Can you stop fussing, this is on the car, no one holding you, if the car moves and you fly out, what then, annoying or not, you this child.”
Others hearing this thought the little girl was ignorant, and all chimed in to persuade.
“Your mom is for your own good, obey her obediently!”
“Yeah, kids your age don’t understand anything, completely unaware of danger, without an adult holding you, can you stand steady? Sooner or later you’ll fall flat on your face!”
……
Lu Baozhen was flustered, aggrievedly lowering her head.
She wasn’t fussing, her stepmother was pinching her hand so painfully.
Why couldn’t the adults’ eyes see?
No one could see her stepmother bullying her.
Lu Baozhen wanted to cry, but feared Su Yuxian would settle accounts with her later, so she held it in.
“About to depart, everyone stop chatting, hold on and stand steady, the road is uneven, don’t fall.” The car ticket seller shouted loudly.
As her words fell, the people spattering saliva stopped in unison, grabbing whatever they could, holding on with both hands.
“Hiss, you grabbed my hair!” A seated passenger’s hair was pulled, a spot on her scalp stinging like a needle, she couldn’t hold back and shouted.
The aunt holding the seat back quickly withdrew her hand, her words apologetic. “Sorry, really sorry, I didn’t notice.”
Noticing this person was quite old, Su Yuxian, in the rare quiet moment on the car, spoke without thinking. “This aunt is pretty old, shouldn’t the young comrades carry forward our nation’s fine tradition and give the aunt a seat?”
There were many young people on the car; to grab seats, they had given up a lot of time wandering around.
Su Yuxian’s words truly made people unhappy.
“The rule is first come first served for seats, latecomers none, I came early, why can’t I sit!” The hot-tempered female comrade said displeased, “You feel sorry for the aunt being old, come early yourself, give up your seat, what skill is generosity at others’ expense…”
With someone leading, there was no shortage of people arguing for her.
“Yeah yeah, why, we wandered half an hour, an hour less, finally got seats, wanting to comfortably get home, you flap your lips and want us to give up seats, easy to say standing.”
“Ridiculous.”
People with seats weren’t unwilling to give up to the elderly, it was just that the car was way too too too crowded.
They couldn’t even get out, how to give up?
Many gazes of dissatisfaction, watching the drama, or accusing fell on Su Yuxian; she was embarrassed, toes curling, wishing to dig a hole under the car and disappear.
“I… I didn’t mean that.” She struggled to defend.
“Then what did you mean?” The girl who retorted first glared angrily, unrelenting. “Are you saying all our ears here have problems?”
Su Yuxian felt herself sinking lower, this person pressing step by step.
She wasn’t one to reflect, but instead resented Lin Zhao.
“I wasn’t targeting you.” Su Yuxian’s gaze vaguely glanced at Lin Zhao and others. “I just feel that some people with families are taking too many seats.”
Yu Bao and others perked up their ears to eat melon, not expecting to become the melon planters.
“Lu Baozhen’s stepmother, are you talking about us?” Heng Bao knelt on the seat, straining to look at Su Yuxian, saying loudly.
His voice was loud like carrying a loudspeaker.
Su Yuxian choked, in a dilemma, whatever she said wouldn’t end well.
Before she could react, Yu Bao said, “Silent, that means Heng Bao hit the mark.”
The car was noisy, to make sure Su Yuxian heard clearly, Yu Bao’s volume was a bit higher than usual.
“You’re saying my family.” Yu Bao emphasized again.
“I asked my father and my uncle, they both said… riding the car has no limit on numbers. Don’t believe me, ask the ticket seller sister.”
The little friend’s voice was clear and polite; the ticket seller was dazed by his “sister.”
“There is no limit on numbers.” She smiled brightly.
“Thanks sister for answering my question.” Yu Bao nodded to the ticket seller, politely thanking.
Looking at Su Yuxian again.
“Aunt Su, you heard that, right? No limit on numbers, we can have seats.”
Yu Bao’s brows and eyes serious, stabbing into Su Yuxian’s heart like a needle. “Don’t envy us having seats, come early next time, you can have too.”
Su Yuxian was retreating step by step.
“What do I have to envy.” She stiffly changed the topic. “I’m not like your mom, with tons of time all day to go out shopping…”
Hearing her trying to splash dirty water on Lin Zhao, Mao Dan’er suddenly stood up.
“Aunt Su, your malice toward Aunt Lin is huge!”
Su Yuxian’s face instantly stiffened.
Dryly saying, “You this child, what are you saying, how could I, we’re from the same place, grew up together since little, how could I have malice toward her.”
Jing Mo stood next to Mao Dan’er. “There is, of course there is, we felt it, everyone on this car felt it. You saying give up seats was also targeting my aunt, you can’t fool us, nor the smart adults.”
Who wants to admit they’re not smart!
The hot-tempered girl who had been cornering Su Yuxian earlier looked approvingly at the back row, strongly supporting them. “Indeed can’t fool! I was wondering why suddenly talk about giving up seats, the car is squeezed like this, not even a piece of paper can squeeze through, let alone people…”
Realizing she went off topic, she quickly pulled it back.
“No wonder suddenly bringing up giving up seats, turns out you wanted to use us as guns.” She looked at Su Yuxian. “You’re pretty sly.”
Su Yuxian: “……”
“You misunderstood… I said it casually, no heart in it.” She explained stiffly.
Unfortunately, no one believed.
Gu Chenghuai looked at his two sons with satisfaction in his eyes.
“Not bad, know to protect your mom.” He ruffled each son’s hair top as reward. “Be like this from now on.”
After praising the sons, he praised Mao Dan’er and Jing Mo. “You have heart.”
Jing Mo waved his hand. “That’s my aunt, of course I have to protect her.”
His dad always said he had only that one sister, they all had to protect her a bit.
Mao Dan’er also said, “I’m my dad’s son, upright and strong, when encountering injustice, definitely stand up.”
Moreover, he liked Aunt Lin as an elder, of course couldn’t watch her being bullied.
Gu Chenghuai messed up the boy’s short hair, seeing the irritable little emotion on his face, laughed out loud.
The car hit a dirt road, suddenly starting to bump, standing people unsteady, bodies like saplings hit by strong wind, blown swaying east and west.
Su Yuxian was leaned on by the elderly aunt, almost unable to breathe.
“Aunt, can you move over there a bit?” She couldn’t help asking.
The aunt glared. “Road bumpy like this, go over and come back, why so troublesome.”
Her expression dissatisfied. “You mentioned giving up seats earlier, I thought you were filial to elders and young, but this… not even willing to let an old person lean, you’re indeed sly.”
Su Yuxian’s face instantly darkened.
“I’m sly… if you dare, don’t lean on me, lest you get stained black, go farther away!” She said irritably, wishing to kick this person off the car; the people on the car had finally forgotten this!
The aunt got angry too. “You this girl, how do you speak! You look unfamiliar, you’re from out of town, right, here to accompany the army? I’ll find your leader…”
“I’m not.” Su Yuxian denied quickly.
Because of the letter to Meng Jiusi’s original unit, the military region leaders’ impression of her and Lu Yizhou dropped to the bottom; her man said if she caused more trouble, he’d send her back to hometown.
No way.
How could she go back to hometown!
Not daring to provoke the aunt with amazing combat power anymore, Su Yuxian turned her back, not daring to heed what the aunt said, nor how she leaned on her, all endured.
Su Yuxian bit her teeth hard, expression forbearing.
……
This scene was seen by Lin Zhao, her expression indifferent.
Without the female lead halo’s protection, Su Yuxian was like possessed by a jinx star, her luck worse than ordinary people.
“Why not sleeping?” Gu Chenghuai pinched Lin Zhao’s neck for her.
“So bumpy, how to sleep.” Lin Zhao could endure noise, not bumps.
“Endure a bit more, almost there.” Gu Chenghuai had no method, unless roads were paved, travel was always like this. “Dizzy? I’ll peel an orange for you?”
“Good.” Lin Zhao agreed.
Quietly opened the cloth bag she carried, to look at the meeting gift Juan’er’s mom gave her.
It was an extremely exquisite ornament, half an arm long, square with pretty patterns on both sides, touch uneven, seemed embroidered.
“This is embroidered?” Her lips pressed to Gu Chenghuai’s ear, whispering.
“Mm.” Gu Chenghuai slightly tightened his grip on Lin Zhao’s hand. “Like it?”
“Better looking than that one from the brigade who embroidered, I want to keep it.” Lin Zhao liked collecting such exquisite artworks.
Gu Chenghuai knew who she meant, the wife of the brigade neighborhood committee captain Zhang Yongqiang.
“Want to keep then keep.” Gu Chenghuai said. “Hide it well.”
Lin Zhao blinked. “You know, I’m good at hiding things.”
Gu Chenghuai obligingly praised. “Impressive.”
His wife was impressive no matter what.
Eating the sour orange, Lin Zhao felt better, her whole person spirited.
“Mom, you’re awake?” The clingy Yu Bao twisted his head hard, almost hanging his little body on the seat back.
“Sit properly.” Lin Zhao poked her son’s little hand. “Sit properly in the car, what I taught you, you forgot again.”
“Didn’t forget, want to see you.” Yu Bao said.
“…Look when we get back.”
The car stopped and went, some got off, some got on, swaying, Lin Zhao and others got off.
Su Yuxian had the same destination, also getting off here.
Having eaten a silent loss on the car, she didn’t want to stay in the same place as Lin Zhao for the short term, so pulled Lu Baozhen and left quickly.
“Why walk so fast, guilty? Or want to spread our family’s badmouthing?” Heng Bao stared at Su Yuxian’s back, frowning his little brows.
“Definitely up to no good!” Jing Mo huffed.
Lin Zhao looked at him. “Did she provoke you? Why do I feel your resentment is heavy.”
Jing Mo smiled.
This smile looked weird no matter what.
How could it not be heavy, Lu Baozhen’s stepmother’s one letter called his mom here, making his dad the protagonist of others’ gossip, even more making his family a spectacle, all her fault; if not for dad instructing him not to act rashly, Su Yuxian would at least end up in the outhouse!
Meng Jiusi feared his sister probing deeper, spoke up. “Let’s go, talk at home.”
Interrupted like this, Lin Zhao forgot what she wanted to ask.
“Let’s go.”
The family returned to the military region, to the family courtyard.
Under the lush thick big trees, a few people were talking.
Seeing Lin Zhao and others, they suddenly fell silent.
Lin Zhao’s expression unchanged, bluntly said, “What chatting about, why stop when we come.”
She said in a joking tone, “Not talking about me, right?”
Adults talking, how direct like this; Lin Zhao’s one sentence dumbfounded everyone’s brains.
“No… we were just chatting casually, didn’t mention you.” Zhang Saozi, who talked to Lin Zhao yesterday, piled smiles on her face.
Wang Saozi glanced at someone in the crowd with heavy makeup, excitement of watching drama flashing in her eyes.
Conflicted, conflicted, this has to erupt?!
