"Then tell me, those two! Could it be..."

Before Xiaohong's mother could reply, the older woman next to her spoke up first: "Is that even a question? A lone man and a lone woman, so late at night, what else could they be doing?"

"Yes, I think so too. Otherwise, why would they meet so late? And Yi Zhonghai even said he would deliver grain to the Jia family."

My husband told me they searched the whole yard, but couldn't find any grain. Tsk tsk tsk.

Xiao Hong's mother also shared her own insights.

Just as Xiaohong's mother was thinking of something to say, the person next to her suddenly coughed.

Xiao Hong's mother, somewhat confused, continued, "You know, Yi Zhonghai is really something, how could he do this? Qin Huairu is still his apprentice."

Everyone used to say he was good to his wife, so why has he changed like this now?

"I think it's probably because there are no children causing the trouble."

“I think so too, it just doesn’t work for two people without kids. Hahaha,” Xiaohong’s mom and the others laughed.

The person coughing next to them was almost coughing up blood; how could these people still be chatting?

It was only then that the women realized what was happening and looked behind them. Good heavens, Yang Cuihua was staring intently at them!

"Oh, I've finished washing my clothes, I'm going home now," Xiaohong's mom said, leaving first, followed by the others who also made various excuses to leave. It was so awkward.

They were watching them talk behind their backs, and about such a sensitive topic at that. I hope Yang Cuihua won't do something rash.

Actually, Yang Cuihua felt inexplicably sad. "Old Yi, how could you do this? I know you have a good relationship with the Jia family..."

I thought you were with Jia Zhangshi, but I didn't expect you to be with Qin Huairu. Qin Huairu is your apprentice, how dare you?

In fact, Yang Cuihua knew every time Yi Zhonghai sneaked out in the middle of the night, but she always felt guilty for not being able to give Yi Zhonghai a child or two, and silently endured it.

She's confused now. What should she do? Can anyone tell her what to do?

Yang Cuihua walked into the deaf old lady's room, full of doubt.

The old lady chuckled when she saw Yang Cuihua: "You're here."

Don't let the old lady's constant complaints about being hard of hearing fool you; her hearing is better than anyone else's.

She heard the arguing in the yard last night, but the old lady was too lazy to go out. It was none of her business.

"Well, old lady, what should I do?" Yang Cuihua looked at the old lady with a sorrowful expression.

"Oh, child, just make do. That's how we women are. Maybe this is our fate!" the old lady quickly comforted her.

Yang Cuihua is still useful, so I need to appease her.

The old lady spoke lightly, but in her heart she was cursing, "Yi Zhonghai, you shameless bastard! You told me you were using Qin Huairu to lure Zhu!"

Well, Yi Zhonghai, you're not even going to use bait anymore, you're even hoarding it all for yourself? You're really ruthless.

But that's all.

The old lady thought for a moment, and realized that this wasn't such a bad thing after all.

Thinking of this, the old lady quickly said, "Cuihua, you must believe me, Zhonghai isn't that kind of person."

Although Yang Cuihua felt increasingly distressed as she listened, she still nodded in agreement.

She's a submissive person, having endured so much for years. She sought out the old lady, simply wanting someone to confide in, someone to share her feelings with.

The old lady knew Yang Cuihua's personality well. After Yang Cuihua left, she said, "You chose this path yourself, so you have to accept your fate!"

After Yang Cuihua left, the deaf old lady began her plan: Yi Zhonghai, you are heartless, so don't blame me for being unjust.

But while Yang Cuihua could tolerate the people in the courtyard so openly discussing her family affairs, Jia Zhangshi couldn't stand it.

When Jia Zhangshi saw Yang Cuihua timidly go to the old lady's room, she smiled disdainfully to herself. Serves her right; she can't even control her own husband.

You deserve to live such a pathetic life; it's time for you to take matters into your own hands.

Thinking of this, Jia Zhangshi first drank a few sips of water at home to moisten her throat before swaggering into the courtyard.

He immediately started cursing: "Which brainless bastard is spreading rumors about our Jia family?"

You damned bastards, are you jealous of the Jia family? If so, just say so! What kind of skill is it to gossip behind our backs? Huh, if you're so capable, come out and fight me one-on-one!

Believe it or not, I'll have Old Jia take you away. If I hear anyone babbling about this again...

Believe it or not, I'll make sure your whole family has no peace. Let me tell you, even though my Jia family consists of orphans and widows...

But we're not so easily bullied. If I hear anyone spreading rumors about the Jia family again, I won't let them get away with it. If our family is in trouble, you won't have any peace either.

Madam Jia yelled and cursed in the courtyard for a long time, but everyone hid inside and no one dared to come out.

Jia Zhangshi is like a toad; she doesn't bite, but she's annoying. Nobody wants to mess with her.

Those who have nothing to lose are not afraid of those who have something to lose; it's always been that way. Besides, Jia Zhangshi is cunning; she's been running around the three courtyards, cursing everyone she can.

Seeing someone lift the curtain and come out, she turned around and went to the next courtyard to continue cursing. She was also afraid that a group of people would gang up on her and beat her up.

As for the machine repair shop, Manager Liu never contacted Ma Hua again and lost his previous enthusiasm for him.

MCA members are happy with their carefree and easy lives; who would want to be a 996 (9am-9pm, 6 days a week) corporate slave? Now that they're working at the machine repair shop, they're practically nobody.

Ma Hua doesn't have the skills for the work in the machine repair shop; he can't do it.

It wasn't that MCA didn't want to do the work in the machine repair shop's kitchen; it was that the kitchen staff were scrambling to do it because they were afraid MCA would stay at the repair shop.

Seeing this, MCA was quite pleased. It has to be said that this is a true reflection of the lives of workers in this era. MCA is also reflecting on whether he had been too dedicated to his work before.

The machine repair shop is such a dilapidated place, it's not that big, and what if there are some confidential locations there? What if they set a trap for me, making me look like I'm storming into the White Tiger Hall with a knife?

So Ma Hua chatted with Nan Yi, who was equally bored, in the small canteen of the machine repair shop.

Ma Hua gradually became acquainted with Nan Yi. Well, what a coincidence! They shared common interests.