When Grandma Wu returned home in the evening, the atmosphere at home unexpectedly became more lively, most notably with Wang Huijun.

His head, which he usually kept bowed, was slightly raised tonight, and a strange light shone in his eyes as he stared at Old Lady Wu.

Li Jin'e was also unexpectedly well-behaved. Old Mrs. Wu glanced around the dining table, her face expressionless as she quietly ate her rice.

Huang Mancang was too lazy to care about his daughters-in-law's affairs, and besides, it wasn't his place to interfere.

A few days later, another, even more outrageous rumor spread throughout the compound.

Zhou Pandi hid behind a tree, listening to the conversation coming from not far away, her back teeth almost grinding to powder.

"Hey, have you heard?"

"What?"

"It's about Zhou Pandi fighting with Huang Mancang's two daughters-in-law a couple of days ago."

"I know, but I haven't heard why."

"Oh, I'm so embarrassed I can't even say it..." She glanced around before slowly saying, "It was Zhou Pandi who insisted on competing with Huang Mancang's wife, so she went straight to their door to make a scene. Who knew that Huang Mancang's two daughters-in-law were no pushovers and started tearing each other apart right away."

"My god! I've never seen a mistress dare to go to someone's door and cause trouble. Is Huang Mancang's wife a coward? She even needs her daughter-in-law to stand up for her."

"Tsk tsk tsk, who can disagree? He used to get beaten up by Huang Mancang all the time, and now he's teaming up with other women to jump on his head and stomp on him."

Zhou Pan closed her eyes tightly, her heart filled with rage. A bunch of gossipy women! Did they even find out the facts?! They just spout nonsense.

Her rambling went on and on until her son was dragged into it – how could I tolerate this!

He leaped in front of them in a flash, his eyes bloodshot, his hair bristling with anger, and pointed at them with his short, stubby hand, which trembled as he did so.

"You, you guys!"

The group was somewhat embarrassed as the person they had just been discussing suddenly appeared right in front of them.

"You bunch of bastards!"

Okay, now the awkwardness is over. Someone immediately put their hands on their hips and confronted Zhou Pandi, "What? What business is it of yours what we're saying?"

"What does this have to do with me? You're criticizing me, and I can't even speak up?"

"Ha, we're telling the truth, where did we go wrong?"

"Where did I go wrong!"

"Really? You didn't fight with Huang's daughter-in-law?"

Zhou Pandi's anger faltered for a moment. "They did fight, but..."

Before he could finish speaking, his words were cut off. "Yes, but you shouldn't go to their door to cause trouble. You should go secretly and cause trouble secretly."

"You fart!"

Enraged, Zhou Pandi rolled up her sleeves and pounced on them, yelling, "What are you doing! What are you doing! You dare to lay a hand on me! Sisters, let's attack together!"

The momentum was overwhelming, and Zhou Pandi was immediately surrounded.

Hao Ren, who had just passed by, glanced at this direction curiously. These past few days, it seemed like wherever he went, he was getting into fights.

When he left during the day, he told Zhou Pandi to stay at home. He didn't know if she had caused any trouble, but he couldn't help but speed up.

Zhou Pan watched helplessly as Hao Ren walked past her.

This is absolutely outrageous!

When Hao Ren returned home after going around in circles, he ran into Zhou Pandi, who was walking home. Before he could even say anything to her, her hair was disheveled, and a lock of hair was drooping in front of her eyelids.

His clothes were torn to shreds, making him look like he'd been assaulted. Hao Ren's eyes narrowed, and he was about to ask what had happened when Zhou Pan rushed towards him like a mountain was pressing down on him.

"You bastard! You saw me being beaten by those old women and you didn't do anything about it, are you even a man?!"

Hao Ren couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief and pulled Zhou Pandi, who was still crying, back into the house.

Li Jin'e stood by the window, looking at Zhou Pan's miserable state, and chuckled, which made Huang Xiaomin, who had just arrived home, look at her repeatedly.

When Huang Xiaomin asked her, she leaned closer and told him about how Zhou Pandi had been surrounded and beaten by several middle-aged women.

Why did they start fighting all of a sudden? Li Jin'e raised her hand and punched him. "Are you stupid? She must have offended someone with her mouth again, that's why she got hit."

Huang Xiaomin nodded. Li Jin'e, seeing that he had been away for some time, wondered how he was doing and asked him about it.

"Jobs in this city are all allocated by quotas; one person fills one spot, so they're not easy to find."

"Why don't you ask your second brother and dad to inquire? They work at the factory, so they'll have better information than you."

Without hesitation, Huang Xiaomin glanced at the sky, thought for a moment, and set off to find Huang Xiaofu.

The food processing plant wasn't close to the Huang family's house; it took them half an hour to get there. Before Huang Xiaomin could ask someone to go in and call out, a familiar voice came from behind.

"Third brother? What brings you here?"

Turning around, Huang Xiaomin saw Huang Xiaofu, his cheeks sunken, his skin sallow. In just a few days, he looked like he was possessed by a starving ghost, which startled Huang Xiaomin.

"What's wrong with you? How long has it been since you ate?"

Huang Xiaofu's sallow face flushed slightly, and he subconsciously defended himself, "I can eat. I eat until my belly is round every day. It's much better than at home."

"Yeah?"

'Gurgle, gurgle...' Huang Xiaomin's eyelids drooped. 'Is this what you get from eating so much every day that your belly is round and bulging?'

As he spoke, Huang Xiaomin glanced at the lunchbox in his hand, pressed the tip of his tongue against the inside of his cheek, tilted his head, and said speechlessly,

"Don't tell me you went hungry and gave all the food you got in the cafeteria to Miao Fengying, do you?"

Huang Xiaofu scratched the back of his head. "Fengying has it tough at home. You know her mother; she's never been good to her since she was little."

"I have no idea!"

Suddenly interrupted, Huang Xiaomin glared at Huang Xiaofu with exasperation, forgetting why he had come there in the first place, and turned to leave.

The Huang family really produced a great romantic!

He had only taken a few steps when he turned around and said to Huang Xiaofu in an annoyed tone, "Dad wants you to come home!"

After saying that, he left without looking back, not caring whether Huang Xiaofu followed or not.

She left excitedly, but ran home angrily. Li Jin'e looked at Huang Xiaomin with a cold face, completely bewildered.

Before she could even ask, she caught sight of the figure behind him and froze, "Second...Second Brother?"

No wonder she was surprised; Huang Xiaofu looked completely different from before.

Huang Xiaofu hesitated for a long time before entering the room. Everyone inside was shocked, and Huang Mancang even stood up abruptly.

Huang Xiaofu's eyes were involuntarily glued to the food on the table, and he couldn't stop swallowing.

Seeing his expression, Huang Mancang swallowed back the words that were on the tip of his tongue.

"Let's eat first, we can talk about anything else after we finish eating."

Old Mrs. Wu's words almost made Huang Xiaofu cry. Huang Xiaoqiang patted the stool next to him and told him to sit down.

Most of the dishes on the table ended up in Huang Xiaofu's stomach.

The others ate a little something and watched Huang Xiaofu stuff himself with food. Huang Mancang hesitated for a while, then glanced at Old Lady Wu and asked her how she got into this state.

Huang Xiaofu's eyes flickered, and he was just thinking of what excuse to make up to get out of this.