Chapter 147 Rumors "I just want to talk to him about literature, nothing else...

Wang Yongren looked into the alley. It was getting off work, and there were cars and people coming and going in the alley, but he didn't see Du Jianguo.

"I didn't see it. Did you see where he turned?" Wang Yongren asked.

"I saw him go into the alley," Wang Hui said as she got on her bike. "I'll go in and look for him."

Wang Yongren had no choice but to follow Wang Hui in.

This area was a gathering place for people who fled to Beichong from other places during the war a long time ago. It was not well planned when the houses were built, and the alleys inside are interconnected like a maze. After Wang Hui and his daughter entered, they wandered around and around but couldn't find Du Jianguo, and almost got themselves dizzy in the alleys.

The father and daughter finally returned to the alley entrance. Wang Hui said bitterly, "He must have slipped out through another exit!"

"Maybe you saw it wrong." Wang Yongren said.

"It must be him! I'd recognize him even if he turned to ash!" Wang Hui grew increasingly angry. "Dad, I'm not going home today. I'm going home right now."

Wang Hui got on her bike and left. Wang Yongren wondered whether he should go with her to see what was going on, but then he thought better of it and went back home with a sigh.

When Wang Yongren got home, Li Fengju asked him, "Why are you so late today? Is there another machine malfunction?"

"No, Huihui, wait for me after get off work, she said she wanted to buy a TV..." Wang Yongren told Li Fengju what happened after get off work.

Li Fengju said, "Didn't you tell her not to jump to conclusions? She argued with Jianguo without any evidence or arrests."

"Will it be useful to talk to her?" Wang Yongren said.

Li Fengju didn't say anything. With Huihui's personality, it was impossible for her to keep the secret.

"Forget it, let them be. We can live with them forever! Let's have dinner." Wang Yongren said, "Next time you go to Yingzi's house, ask her mother-in-law about the TV. We can buy one too."

When Wang Hui got home, she found that the whole family was already having dinner and Du Jianguo was also sitting at the dinner table.

"Where have you been? Why are you back so late?"

As soon as Wang Hui entered the room, Du Jianguo asked her.

"I was just about to ask you, what did you do after get off work!" Wang Hui looked at Du Jianguo coldly.

"I came back right after work, where else could I go?" Du Jianguo said, "Why are you standing here? Why don't you come for dinner?"

"Still pretending! I saw you."

"Huihui, what are you talking about? Jianguo comes home as soon as he gets off work, but you don't go home after get off work. Where have you been?" Sun Qiaoling said from the side.

"You and your son are of the same mind, so you will definitely speak up for him." Wang Hui snorted coldly and turned away. "I'll go to the entrance of the alley to ask when he came back and see if anyone saw him."

Du Jianguo slammed his chopsticks on the table. "Wang Hui, you don't want a peaceful day, do you? You have to embarrass me completely before you're done."

Huanhuan was frightened by Du Jianguo, and her tears fell into the bowl.

"Your daughter is here, why don't you ask her? See when I'll be back!" Du Jianguo didn't even notice that Huanhuan was crying.

Wang Hui glanced at Huanhuan and said, "Who knows if you coaxed her or pushed her beforehand? I feel bad for my daughter. I won't make things difficult for her. It's hard for her to be caught between the two. Huanhuan, don't cry. Mom won't ask you."

Huanhuan cried even harder, but she was just shedding tears, and even her sobs were very quiet.

The Du family felt like they had seen a ghost. Normally, they would take a bite of a chicken leg themselves before giving it to their daughter, but at this moment, they suddenly acted like human beings and felt sorry for their daughter.

Du Jianguo glanced at Huanhuan and then noticed that she was crying.

"Look at you, you make a fuss as soon as you come back. Your daughter is crying, and you still don't come to eat! Huanhuan, don't cry." Du Jianguo said.

Sun Qiaoling held Huanhuan on her lap and coaxed her, saying, "Huihui, I don't know what you heard or what happened, but Jianguo did come home as soon as he got off work, maybe just a few minutes later than usual. You're going out and asking right now, it's really putting us in a difficult position."

"I was a few minutes late because I had something to finish," said Du Jianguo.

Wang Hui suddenly sneered, and without going out to ask, or saying anything else, she filled a big bowl of rice and started eating.

Seeing that Wang Hui didn't chase him, Du Jianguo breathed a sigh of relief. He was really unlucky. On his way home from work today, he accidentally bumped into a female comrade. When the woman got up, he found out that she was his classmate. He sent her home. Unexpectedly, he bumped into Wang Hui. When Wang Hui saw him, he also saw Wang Hui and her father.

Wang Hui was difficult and unreasonable, so Du Jianguo didn't want to talk to her about this. Moreover, he had some ulterior motives. He felt that this female classmate seemed to have had some interest in him in the past, and he didn't want Wang Hui to make a fuss and then find her and cause trouble for her.

The couple didn't say a word to each other that night, and Wang Hui really didn't ask Huanhuan when Du Jianguo would return home.

The next day, after get off work, Wang Hui walked to the factory gate and saw Wang Yongren waiting for her.

Old Wang was worried and wanted to ask Wang Hui about what happened yesterday, but it was not convenient to ask at the factory gate, so he asked Wang Hui to go home for dinner.

Wang Hui went home with Wang Yongren.

After arriving home, Li Fengju asked Wang Hui, "What happened to Jianguo?"

"I don't know. He won't admit it anyway," Wang Hui said. "It doesn't matter. Let him be."

"You can't just be indifferent. You have to see whether it's true or not. If it's true, you have to make plans early," said Li Fengju.

"So what if it's true? Du Jianguo is a wimp. He only gets hard once every 800 days and each time lasts for three seconds. How dare he take off his pants in public? Let him be! At most, he'll just give him a blowjob." Wang Hui said very bluntly.

Wang Yongren was drinking tea. When he heard Wang Hui say this, he almost spit out a mouthful of tea.

Li Fengju was also speechless and glared at Wang Hui: "If he is like this, you two will not be able to handle it!"

"What should we do? Divorce?" Wang Hui said.

If Wang Hui really wanted a divorce, Li Fengju and Wang Yongren would definitely not agree.

Wang Hui still had a last glimmer of hope in her heart, that is, Du Jianguo might become rich in the future, and then she would enjoy the good life with him.

"Let's go to the hospital again, or go to a hospital in a big city," said Li Fengju.

"No, it's not my fault." Wang Hui no longer had any feelings for Du Jianguo. If Du Jianguo had not become rich in her previous life, she might have divorced him.

Li Fengju sighed, not knowing why Huihui and her husband ended up living like this. Thinking about Yingzi and Yunsheng, they were so happy.

Before New Year's Day, another batch of televisions arrived at the Wujiaohua Store. This time, there were quite a lot of them, and both the Wang family and the Du family bought one.

Wang Ying's family bought a washing machine. Washing clothes in the cold weather was a real pain, so a washing machine made it much more convenient. Chen Xiuqin wasn't the type to be reluctant to use something; as soon as the machine arrived, she took off the sheets and pillowcases to wash them.

On New Year's Day, Wang Ying and her family of three returned to their grandparents' home. This was Yueyue's first time at her grandmother's since she was born. Mainly because Wang Ying was busy with work and Li Fengju was always at Wang Ying's, she hadn't thought about bringing the child back.

It was Chen Xiuqin who brought it up this time. If she hadn't said it, Wang Ying really wouldn't have noticed that he had never brought Yueyue back home once.

Li Fengju and Wang Yongren were both very happy. They bought meat and killed chickens.

At eleven months old, Yueyue can babble a few simple repetitions of words. She is timid and afraid of falling. When asked to learn to walk, she just says "scared". If you put her on the ground, she won't take a single step, though she can crawl very fast.

The weather was fine, and Zhao Yunsheng and Wang Ying stood in the yard, teaching their daughter to walk.

Zhao Yunsheng put Yueyue on the ground. She curled up her legs and refused to put her feet on the ground, saying, "I'm scared, I'm scared."

"Don't be afraid, let's go to mom." Zhao Yunsheng said.

Wang Ying squatted more than a meter away from the father and daughter and clapped her hands at Yueyue: "Come here, Yueyue, come to your mother."

Yueyue wanted to go but was afraid to get off the ground. She was so anxious that she kept calling "Mom, Dad, Papa".

Wang Yongren laughed beside him: "Who does this little Yueyue take after? Why is she so timid? Come, come to grandpa."

Wang Ying said: "When he was about nine months old, he insisted on standing and walking. He fell twice and after that he was not sure how to walk anymore."

"This little girl is quite smart." Wang Yongren said with a smile.

Little Zhao Xiyue was naturally cautious and was determined not to take a single step. No matter how hard Wang Ying and his wife tried, it was all in vain.

Li Fengju was washing vegetables at the door and said, "She's not even a year old yet, so it's not too late. There's no rush. It's better to wait until her legs are longer and stronger before she can walk. It's just that there aren't any kids her age to play with. If there were, she'd just watch them walk and walk right away."

Wang Ying thought her mother was right. Children also need playmates, so she said, "If she still refuses to leave after the New Year, take her to the factory nursery where there are lots of children."

"She's almost one year old. Let's see what she grabs for her birthday." Wang Yongren said with a smile, "Huanhuan grabbed her mother's vanishing cream when she was one year old. She wants to be beautiful when she grows up."

"Huanhuan is pretty, prettier than both his parents. All the spiritual energy in the whole family is embodied in her," said Wang Ying.

"Yueyue is pretty too." said Li Fengju.

"Yueyue is still young, you can't tell." Wang Ying walked over to Zhao Yunsheng and held her daughter in her arms. She didn't really care whether her daughter was pretty or not, as long as she wasn't ugly.

After lunch, Yueyue fell asleep. Zhao Yunsheng went out to play with his father-in-law. Wang Ying and Li Fengju sat at the door, peeling peanuts in the sun.

The mother and daughter were chatting about family matters. Li Fengju told Wang Ying the story of Wang Hui and Du Jianguo, sighing as she spoke.

"I think Huihui and Jianguo will probably not make it to the end," said Li Fengju.

"She said she wanted a divorce?" Wang Ying asked.

"That's not the case," Li Fengju said. "But it's definitely not going to work this way. I don't know what to do. I've managed to get her to work, and she's doing fine at work, but she and Jianguo argue every day."

"That's just how some families live," Wang Ying said. "Some people quarrel all their lives. If you insist on worrying about her, you'll never stop worrying.

"I don't worry about it anymore. I don't even go to her house very often." Li Fengju said, "You don't know what she said that day..."

Li Fengju and Wang Ying chatted about family matters, shelling peanuts with a clatter of their lips, looking like a mother-daughter couple with a warm affection. But Li Fengju knew in her heart that there was still a layer of distance between her and Yingzi, and no matter how hard she tried to win her back, Yingzi would only be able to stay like this with her.

Li Fengju thought, forget it, at least he is willing to bring the child back on his own initiative, that’s enough.

After New Year's Day, Wang Ying started to get busy again. She had various meetings to attend and summary reports to write at the end of the year. She also had plans to add flavors to the entire product line. Her life was busy and fulfilling every day.

A few days after New Year's Day, Zhao Yunsheng received good news: his novel "New Life" was going to be reprinted. Not only was "New Life" going to be reprinted, but Zhao Yunsheng also had another novel serialized in a newly released magazine.

Perhaps God saw how well Zhao Yunsheng was doing—with a happy family, a successful career, and his dreams fulfilled, free from worries—and wanted to give him a little surprise. Ten days before the Lunar New Year, Zhao Yunsheng was writing documents at work when he was told someone was looking for him in the mailroom. It was a woman who claimed to be his friend.

"Who's looking for me?" Zhao Yunsheng asked the messenger.

"I don't know him. He speaks standard English, doesn't sound like a local. Does Team Leader Zhao have friends from other places?"

"No?"

Zhao Yunsheng went to the reception room, full of doubts, and saw a woman in a plaid coat standing at the door. It turned out to be the fanatical book lover he had met in the provincial capital. Zhao Yunsheng recognized her, but decided to pretend not to know her.

When Dai Xiaoyun saw Yunsheng coming, she ran towards him crying.

"Hey, don't run!" The people in the message room hurriedly chased Dai Xiaoyun.

Zhao Yunsheng was so frightened when he saw the man running towards him that he turned around and ran, shouting, "Uncle Liu, who is this? I don't know him. Is he a martial arts madman? If you see me, chase me."

Zhao Yunsheng ran into the office, and Dai Xiaoyun was caught by Uncle Liu in the communication room.

"Let me go, I want to find writer Zhao." Dai Xiaoyun said crying.

"He said he doesn't know you!" Uncle Liu grabbed Dai Xiaoyun and said, "Come with me to the reception room and explain everything clearly, or I'll hand you over to the police."

"How could he not recognize me? We clearly met in the provincial capital, we even had dinner together, and he even signed my book." Dai Xiaoyun took out the book from his bag with one hand.

Uncle Liu understood that this was a fan of Zhao Yunsheng's books. But he couldn't just let him in. There were so many people who liked Zhao's books, so if they all let him in, would the cultural center still be able to operate?

People had come to see Writer Zhao before, but they were all young men. This time, a girl came, and she was not honest. She started saying that she and Writer Zhao were friends.

Zhao Yunsheng really didn't expect that this female book fan could find his workplace. He suspected that the information was leaked by Qiu Zhenhua. Of course, he might not have done it on purpose.

"What's going on!" Zhao Yunsheng sighed and took the initiative to go to his leader to explain the situation first, telling her that this female comrade was Qiu Zhenhua's classmate.

Zhao Yunsheng's leader laughed out loud: "You're just too charming! The girl came all the way from the provincial capital to chase you."

"Oh, Director, please spare me. I was so scared. She just ran towards me like that. It was so scary! Please send someone to take care of her and find out where she came from and where she stayed. It would be best if you send her back to the return bus..." said Zhao Yunsheng.

"Are you so scared?" The director rarely saw Zhao Yunsheng so honest and humble, so he wanted to tease him.

"I'm afraid... I heard that a reader once liked an author so much that when he asked for an autograph, he hid a knife in his book and killed the author."

"Alright, alright, stop saying such terrible things. I'll send someone to take a look. A person of integrity has nothing to fear. You don't need to be so afraid."

Zhao Yunsheng didn't leave, but sat in the leader's office, waiting for the leader to send someone to solve the problem. The comrade sent to solve the problem took a full hour to return.

"How is it? Have they been sent away?" Zhao Yunsheng asked.

"I've never met such a stubborn lesbian. No wonder you're scared. No matter how much you try to persuade her, she won't listen. She insists on meeting you, saying that she has a soul connection with you and wants to discuss literature with you."

“…” Zhao Yunsheng had never been so speechless.

The director said, "Where are the people? How are they arranged? It's not safe for a little girl to go out."

"We sent her to a guesthouse and then called Qiu Zhenhua to try and persuade her. He said he would leave her to her and send her back to her hometown the next day to be handed over to her parents."

Zhao Yunsheng breathed a sigh of relief and said, "I'll go down and tell Uncle Liu. If there are any more readers like this, just tell them that I've resigned."

"Well, that's fine."

Zhao Yunsheng bowed to his leaders and the comrades who helped him: "I'm sorry to have caused you trouble."

Qiu Zhenhua watched Dai Xiaoyun in the guesthouse. He didn't dare leave, fearing that if he left, she would go looking for Zhao Yunsheng again. He felt very regretful, feeling that he had caused Zhao Yunsheng so much trouble.

Dai Xiaoyun burst into tears after returning to the guesthouse. She cried for a long time before finally stopping and saying, "Mr. Qiu, if you won't let me see Writer Zhao, can you take me to see her lover?"

"No!" Qiu Zhenhua said hurriedly, "My dear aunt, what on earth are you thinking? You don't even know the couple, you're being very offensive!"

"I just want to talk to him about literature, nothing else." Dai Xiaoyun said infatuatedly.

"Then why do you want to see someone's wife?"

Dai Xiaoyun fell silent. Qiu Zhenhua felt overwhelmed and embarrassed to see Zhao Yunsheng and his wife again.

At night, Qiu Zhenhua didn't dare leave, fearing she would run out alone in an unfamiliar area and be in danger. But he couldn't leave her alone either, as being alone with her was not a good idea. He had no choice but to ask someone to send his mother to look after Dai Xiaoyun.

Qiu Zhenhua told his mother to keep a close eye on Dai Xiaoyun and not to leave her side for a moment, and then he went to find Zhao Yunsheng.

When Qiu Zhenhua arrived at Zhao Yunsheng's house, the Zhao family was having dinner.

"Zhenhua is here, just in time for dinner, please sit down." Wang Ying greeted him.

"I'm so sorry, about my classmate's matter..." Qiu Zhenhua really felt embarrassed.

"Come sit down and talk while eating. How is your female classmate now?" Chen Xiuqin asked.

Wang Ying took the chopsticks and filled the bowl with rice. Qiu Zhenhua thanked her and sat down. He said, "She's in the guesthouse. I'm worried about her, so I asked my mother to look after her there. I'll take her home tomorrow."

"It's hard for you." Chen Xiuqin said.

"It was me who caused this in the first place. I wanted to show off to my classmates that I knew Yunsheng, so I brought him into this big trouble."

"You don't know what kind of person she is, so don't say that," said Wang Ying.

Qiu Zhenhua still felt bad: "It's only because the 'movement' has ended now. If it hadn't ended, Yunsheng would have been criticized."

Zhao Yunsheng said, "That's not true. I can't publish my book until the movement ends. Don't mind me. I'll have to trouble you to send her back."

Qiu Zhenhua didn't say anything else. It would be bad to let the whole family keep persuading him, which would be hypocritical.

The next morning, Qiu Zhenhua sent Dai Xiaoyun home. He didn't feel relieved until they got on the train.

Qiu Zhenhua didn't know what his mother had said to Dai Xiaoyun, but she seemed to have calmed down considerably and didn't mention Zhao Yunsheng at all during the entire journey. When they got home, Dai Xiaoyun bowed deeply to Qiu Zhenhua and said, "I'm sorry to have caused you so much trouble. You're a good person, and Zhao Yunsheng is nothing."

"..." Qiu Zhenhua was speechless for a moment. Was this love turning into hate? That's fine, just stop bothering Yunsheng.

Although the cultural center handled the matter of Dai Xiaoyun, there are rumors wherever there are people, and the rumor about Zhao Yunsheng having promiscuous relationships still spread in Beichong.

At first, they said he was promiscuous, then the story spread that Zhao Yunsheng went to the provincial capital for a book signing and slept with a female student. Then, it was revealed that the female student got pregnant and came looking for him...

The rumor spread more and more widely, and within two days almost everyone in Beichong knew about it.

When Wang Hui heard the rumor, she was quite happy. She said that Zhao Yunsheng was dishonest! Now that Du Jianguo had someone else, and Zhao Yunsheng was not much better, she felt much more balanced. It was impossible for her eldest sister to take all the good things and she would never encounter any bad things!

Wang Ying and Zhao Yunsheng both felt that the rumor was a bit strange and suspected that someone was fanning the flames behind the scenes. So, the two of them discussed and decided to catch anyone who spread the rumor, sue him first, and then let the police follow the clues to investigate and see who was behind it.