Chapter 127: Shifting the blame

Zhang Xiuying looked at him with disgust: "This is called being greedy and not knowing what's good for you! You can't even blame Shen Hongmei for this, because the stuff was stolen from my house! If you keep making trouble, we'll report you to the police station for theft! Even if the formula is fake, the theft is real! You just admitted it yourself, and everyone heard it!"

Upon hearing the word "theft," Lu Xiaohui's legs went weak, and she knelt down in front of Zhang Xiuying with a thud.

"Auntie! I was wrong! Please don't sue me! I... I just had a craving, I didn't mean to make such a big deal out of it! It's all Gu Mansheng's fault! She insisted on doing business, which forced us to do so much! I don't blame you, please don't sue me!"

Li Xuemei panicked and quickly seized the opportunity: "Yes, yes, yes! It was all Gu Mansheng's idea! We just wanted to make two jars to try it out, but she forced us to go all out by giving us money! She should bear the losses herself!"

Gu Mansheng was stunned, pointing at the mother and daughter in disbelief: "You...you didn't beg to do this business yourselves?!"

Li Xuemei grabbed her arm and pleaded in a low voice, "Daughter-in-law, you have money, consider this loss as feeding the dogs. If this really goes to the police station, you won't escape either! The whole village is laughing at us now. If your father comes back and sees this mess, he'll skin us alive!"

Gu Mansheng was trembling with anger, but she also knew that Li Xuemei was right.

We must clean up this stinking pile of jars before Lu Jianping returns!

She glared at Liu Zhixia through gritted teeth, her eyes filled with venom: "Fine! I'll remember this! Liu Zhixia, you just wait!"

Liu Zhixia blinked innocently: "Instead of keeping accounts every day, you should learn some real skills. Don't look down on things from the countryside while secretly trying to learn them. It's just pickled vegetables, right? Even a three-year-old in the countryside can make it. How come you guys turned it into a swill bucket?"

"Hahaha!"

The surrounding villagers burst into laughter again.

Hearing the piercing laughter, Gu Mansheng clenched her fists so tightly that her knuckles turned white, and the sparks in her eyes seemed to burn the Liu family down.

Gu Mansheng and the others had just finished dealing with that pile of stinky jars when Lu Jianping rushed home in a hurry.

He was in a state of utter distress at the commune when he heard from the villagers that his family had made a fool of themselves again. He almost fainted on the spot.

"What on earth happened?!"

Before the person even entered the courtyard, the furious roar made the roof beams tremble.

Hearing the noise, the people inside the room felt a chill run down their spines and lowered their heads guiltily.

Lu Jianping stormed into the room, pointing at Li Xuemei and roaring, "Tell me! What's going on here now?"

Li Xuemei's hand trembled, forcing out a smile that was more like a grimace: "Honey... we just wanted to learn from Liu Zhixia and make some pickled vegetables for ourselves, but who knew our daughter-in-law would see it and insist on starting a business..."

She resorted to her old tricks and unhesitatingly shifted the blame to Gu Mansheng.

After all, Lu Xiaohui is their own daughter, and at this time, protecting one of them is the best they can do.

Lu Xiaohui nodded vigorously in agreement: "Yes, yes, yes! I already said to try making a little bit first, but my sister-in-law wouldn't listen and insisted on going all out. We had no choice..."

Upon hearing that it was Gu Mansheng's idea, Lu Jianping was stunned for a moment, and swallowed the curse that was about to come out.

The police station's work still depends on this big shot; they can't afford to offend him.

So he turned and vented his anger on the mother and daughter: "She's a city girl who doesn't know how to make pickled vegetables, and neither do you?! Have you been eating for decades for nothing? Wasting so much grain, and making a scene that everyone knows! Do you know what the commune is saying about me? They're saying I've been corrupted by capitalism and that my thinking has gone astray!"

Although Gu Mansheng wasn't scolded, she was still indignant and snorted coldly, "This recipe was stolen from Liu Zhixia by your daughter! I don't know if it's real or fake, but these two have been cooking all their lives and they can't tell the difference? They made me lose face so much, this debt should be held against them!"

Seeing Gu Mansheng's arrogant attitude, Lu Jianping was filled with anger and had nowhere to vent it, so he finally took it all out on Lu Xiaohui.

"Smack!"

A resounding slap made Lu Xiaohui see stars, and her cheek swelled up instantly.

"You jinx! There hasn't been a single day of peace in this house since you came back! If you don't behave yourself, get back to the Li family!"

Lu Xiaohui covered her face, staring incredulously at her father's distorted expression.

Although her parents favored her younger brother, they had never been so indiscriminate in their treatment of her before.

This time, it was actually for Gu Mansheng, an outsider!

The hatred in Lu Xiaohui's eyes erupted instantly, and she stared at Lu Jianping with resentment.

"Our family's troubles started the moment this woman started clinging to Huaiyuan! You're too scared to mess with her, so you take it out on me? You're just as stupid as Huaiyuan! You're still dreaming that she'll arrange a job for you? You're barely keeping your position as the brigade leader, why would the police station want you?"

"Fine! I'll watch! Let's see how this woman ends up getting you all arrested!"

After yelling, Lu Xiaohui, with red eyes, covered her face and rushed out of the house.

Seeing that things were going wrong, Li Xuemei, fearing she would be the next one to get beaten up, quickly made an excuse to chase after them.

As soon as Lu Xiaohui left, Gu Mansheng's heart began to pound.

The Lu family treated her like royalty, all for the sake of the police station's work.

But how could she possibly have such extraordinary abilities?

The situation is escalating, and if we don't get a definite answer soon, those two old foxes will definitely become suspicious. Once the lies are exposed... thinking about how I've been bossing Li Xuemei around these past few days, the retaliation will be more fierce than a storm.

Gu Mansheng shivered, but forced herself to remain calm as she reassured Lu Jianping, "Dad, calm down. Everything is being arranged. I'll go to the city tomorrow to urge my uncle again. As for the brigade... please keep things stable for now."

Upon hearing this, Lu Jianping's anger subsided considerably, and a fawning smile spread across his face: "Daughter-in-law, the future of the Lu family depends entirely on you! As long as the matter with the police station is settled, I won't have to put up with those bastards from the commune anymore. They'll have to be subservient to me!"

He was so angry at the sight of the commune leaders' sour faces today.

Gu Mansheng was startled, fearing that Lu Jianping would turn against the commune at this moment and end up with nothing. She quickly tried to salvage the situation: "Dad, the police station is going to follow up. We must not fall out with the commune, lest we be retaliated against."

Lu Jianping slapped his thigh, still shaken, and said, "Yes, yes, you're right! Sigh, you're the most sensible person in this family! Go back to your room and rest. I'll clean up this mess today. Tomorrow when we go to the city, please urge them to hurry up for me!"

"Okay! I'll go back to my room now!"

Gu Mansheng felt as if she had been granted a pardon and fled back to her room as if her life depended on it.

...

On the other side, the Shen family.

The farce that happened in the neighboring brigade reached us in the evening.

Mother Shen returned from outside in a daze, and as soon as she entered the door, she was dragged into the kitchen by Old Master Shen.

"Mother, are the pickled vegetables ready? Shouldn't we open the jar?"

Shen Lao Er also came closer, and as soon as his nose got close to the mouth of the jar, he frowned at the strange smell: "Is this the right smell? It wasn't this strong when we used to pickle vegetables at home."