"You all know that my family is from the machinery factory's staff quarters. You still remember the Zhang family's affairs at the machinery factory, right?"

It's only been a few months since the incident, and now all the women gathered here are busybodies who must know about the Zhang family's messy affairs.

"How could I not remember? Zhang Changsheng is notoriously heartless and rotten. We women don't need to be rich and powerful in this life, but we must never meet a man like that, otherwise we won't have enough lives to go around."

This statement was met with unanimous approval from everyone.

"Old Liu's wife is the daughter of Zhang Changsheng and his sister-in-law. She used to bully other people's daughters born to the first wife in the family compound. I heard that once she broke someone's head and left the unconscious child at home without caring for her. If the child hadn't been lucky, she would have died long ago."

"Really?"

Jianmin's wife pursed her lips, "Am I the kind of person who likes to spread lies? That's what everyone in the family compound says. You can ask someone if you don't believe me."

"When the Zhang family had a misfortune, Lao Liu's wife and her two siblings were all sent to the countryside by the neighborhood committee. Zhang Yanqing, in order to avoid being sent to the countryside, made up her mind to marry Lao Liu. Lao Liu did not pay a dowry or hold a wedding, and got a wife for free."

The women standing nearby, upon hearing about the Zhang family's "great achievements," all scoffed and said, "Only Old Liu could get such a good deal. If it were us honest folks, we would have brought trouble home."

"That's right. They even dare to hurt their own sisters. If you were to actually take them home as wives, would you expect to have a good life?"

"Tsk tsk, in that sense, Old Lady Liu was absolutely right to tease her daughter-in-law."

After listening to a few words, Gu An'an roughly understood Zhang Yanqing's current life.

He felt no shame whatsoever that Zhang Yanqing was having a bad time. After all, she and her heartless mother had wanted to "sell" the original owner of this body to Lao Liu at a high price. Now, it was simply a matter of getting what they deserved.

Besides, Zhang Yanqing chose Lao Liu herself; it wasn't Gu An'an who set a trap for her. What could possibly happen?

After watching the commotion, Gu An'an was about to leave when suddenly an old woman's voice came from the house, "If you dare to steal money again today, I'll have my son beat you to death! Get out of here! Come back and do your laundry right after you finish shopping. What bad luck has my Liu family had to marry such a thieving and lazybones like you?"

Amidst the cursing, the door opened and closed, and Zhang Yanqing was shoved out, nearly falling to the ground due to her unsteady footing.

Zhang Yanqing picked up the basket that had fallen to the ground in a disheveled state, her face dark with anger, and prepared to go to the supply and marketing cooperative. When she looked up, she saw a face that was all too familiar to her.

"Gu! An! An!"

Gu An'an had no doubt that the other party wanted to tear her heart apart, but so what?

"Zhang Yanqing, it's been a long time."

Seeing Gu An'an smiling and cheerful, Zhang Yanqing couldn't help but take a few steps forward and ask, "What are you doing here?"

Suddenly, as if he had laughed at something, a smile appeared on his dark face. "I know, you must have sneaked back. You wait, I'll definitely report you to the neighborhood committee."

Zhang Yanqing thought she had caught Gu An'an red-handed, and this discovery seemed to bring a ray of light into her despairing life.

But before the light could reach her, it was completely blocked by Gu An'an.

"Zhang Yanqing, you're still as stupid as ever."

"I'm not stupid!"

Her mother said she was smarter than her older sister and younger brother, so how could she be stupid?

"What I just said was wrong, it was both stupid and vicious. Do you think I would dare to come and brag to you if I sneaked back to the city?"

These words struck Zhang Yanqing's already confused mind.

You bitch!

Realizing she had really overthought things, Zhang Yanqing was extremely disappointed. "Then why did you come to see me? To laugh at me?"

"How could that be? I heard you married into the Liu family as soon as I got back, so I came here to congratulate you. Uncle Liu works at the slaughterhouse, so he not only gets a salary but also gets to buy discounted meat. Not everyone has that kind of luck."

Thinking back on the past few months at the Liu family, Zhang Yanqing didn't believe Gu An'an had come to congratulate her at all; it was more like she was mocking her. She was so angry that she forgot she was still outside the Liu family's gate, and she blurted out things she shouldn't have said.

"Good fortune? Do you want this good fortune if I give it to you? Don't try to act all high and mighty in front of me. I know you're here to mock me for marrying an old widower..."

No sooner had she finished speaking than she was slapped across the face by the old Mrs. Liu, who could no longer tolerate it.

"You bastard, how dare you look down on my son? You deserve a beating."

It turned out that when she heard the arguing, Old Mrs. Liu opened the door and stood behind Zhang Yanqing. She couldn't stand seeing a woman she looked down on dare to belittle and trample on her son.

"Ah! I'll fight you to the death!"

Caught off guard, Zhang Yanqing was hit several times. Just as she was about to retaliate, Old Mrs. Liu shouted angrily, "If you dare to lay a finger on me, I'll have my son beat you to death!"

Startled, Zhang Yanqing finally lowered her raised fist.

She had no money on her, so she had nowhere to run away, and she couldn't fight back either. After all, Old Liu had been dealing with pigs for over ten years, and his strength was among the best in the slaughterhouse.

Honestly, she really regretted it. If she had known it would turn out like this, she would have been better off going to the countryside with her sister. Maybe life would have been better there.

Seeing her give in, Old Mrs. Liu felt smug, but she didn't think about letting the other party off the hook.

"Stop embarrassing yourself in public and get back here right now!"

Zhang Yanqing dared not disobey, but her eyes were filled with resentment as she looked at Gu An'an.

If Gu An'an hadn't suddenly appeared, she wouldn't have lost her mind and said those things, and she wouldn't have been unlucky enough to be overheard by that old hag.

But she could do nothing but resentment and hatred.

After watching the excitement, Gu An'an nodded to the woman who had spoken first, "Aunt Qin, I'm leaving now."

"Ah, okay, okay."

After Gu An'an left, everyone started gossiping. When they learned that Gu An'an was the unlucky little darling, their expressions varied.

However, none of this had anything to do with Gu An'an.

As soon as she arrived at the courtyard, she saw a group of people who were overjoyed. "They're all sold out?"

"That's not all! Besides what we brought, we have several other orders that require delivery and have already paid deposits. Oh, and there's another piece of good news."