As soon as Hu Chunxiao said this, it was like a bomb going off, and the crowd erupted in a buzz.
Everyone chimed in with their own comments.
"One dollar? Seventy cents for reimbursement? That's outrageous!"
"How shameless! After doing such a disgusting thing, how dare they question others? Where do they get the nerve!"
...
The whispers grew louder, and all sorts of eyes pierced Qiu Chunfang and Li Hongjuan like tiny knives.
Qiu Chunfang was so anxious that she jumped up and down, crying out as if she were being suicidal.
"Hu Chunxiao and Zhou Qiqi are in cahoots! They're always hanging out together! Sister-in-law Wang, don't listen to her nonsense! That's not true at all."
At that moment, another military wife stepped forward from the crowd.
“I can vouch for what she said! I went to the city last Sunday and saw them setting up their stall with my own eyes. I heard them telling people that spider plants were one yuan a pot! Many people thought it was too expensive and didn’t buy any!”
This sister-in-law just arrived in the military dependents' area last week and has no contact with Zhou Qiqi and the others at all.
When she speaks up at this point, the evidence is truly irrefutable.
Qiu Chunfang and Li Hongjuan's faces turned deathly pale instantly.
"You two heartless bastards! I'll beat you to death!"
A piercing cry came from outside the crowd.
Then, Granny Wang stumbled in, leaning on her cane.
The old lady was so angry that she trembled all over. She raised her cane and swung it at Qiu Chunfang and Li Hongjuan without any regard for their safety.
"Ouch!"
Qiu Chunfang was so frightened that she screamed and, forgetting all about her tantrum, covered her head and hid to the side.
Li Hongjuan reacted even faster, awkwardly shrinking back to avoid the blow, but the tip of the cane still grazed her arm, causing a burning pain.
"Grandma Wang! Please calm down!"
Several older military wives nearby rushed over and quickly helped the trembling old lady to her feet.
"Don't stop me! Let me beat these two heartless ingrates to death!"
Grandma Wang was in tears, struggling to keep moving forward.
"I was blind! I believed your lies! I entrusted my perfectly good business to you!... And you just ruined it like this! Have you all given your hearts away?!"
Seeing the old woman's condition, all the onlookers fixed their gazes on Qiu Chunfang and Li Hongjuan like nails, and began to curse them vehemently.
"No wonder Qiu Chunfang's house smelled delicious with meat the other day! Turns out she's making money hand over fist!"
"Pah! Shameless!"
"Those two are really scoundrels!"
The insults and accusations, like a surging tide, completely overwhelmed Qiu Chunfang and Li Hongjuan.
They hunched their necks, their faces flushing red and then turning pale.
Qiu Chunfang was at her wit's end, so her legs gave way and she collapsed to the ground with a thud, covering her face and wailing.
Li Hongjuan stood there frozen, her body trembling slightly, her eyes vacant.
Lin Yao and Xu Zao, standing on the edge of the crowd, also looked grim. Seeing the two in such a miserable state, they were both shocked and afraid, fearing that the fire would spread to them.
But the military wife with the toothache spotted them immediately and pointed at them.
"And these two too! They probably think a public reprimand isn't enough, so they dare to come out and distort the truth!"
She was a reckless person to begin with, and she rolled her eyes.
"This isn't over! I'm going to report this to Director Lin right now!"
As he spoke, he walked straight toward the military region's office area.
These words reminded Granny Wang, and she grabbed Qiu Chunfang and Li Hongjuan's arms and left.
"Let's go too! Let's report this! This isn't over! Now that Director Zhou is gone, let's go report this to Political Commissar Lei!"
When the old lady came out earlier, she was using a cane and walking with difficulty, but now she had a lot of strength. She grabbed the two women's arms and dragged them forward.
Seeing this, many onlookers rushed to help.
The square, which had been bustling just moments before, suddenly became much quieter.
Zhou Qiqi watched the departing figures of everyone and chuckled to herself.
"This old lady, didn't she say she wasn't in good health? She has Sister Wang taking care of everything for her, how come she's so energetic?"
Deng Cuixiang raised an eyebrow.
Whether it's good or bad, it's all up to the old lady's decision...
Zhu Yingying was amused by them and covered her mouth to laugh.
Compared to their relaxed demeanor, Xu Zao looked pale and sickly.
"Sister-in-law, what should we do? They're going to report you! Will we be fined?"
Despite the cold autumn weather, Lin Yao was covered in sweat, but she was more resourceful than Xu Zao and forced herself to speak.
"What are you afraid of? Let's go find Director Zhou! She can back us up!"
Xu Zao nodded hurriedly.
"Yes, yes, let's hurry up and go! Let's go find Director Zhou ahead of time!"
As they spoke, the two linked arms and walked toward Zhou Shuhua's house.
However, when passing by Zhou Qiqi, Lin Yao didn't forget to grit her teeth and throw down a remark.
"Hmph! Zhou Qiqi, let me tell you, this isn't over!"
Zhou Qiqi rolled her eyes.
"No, what does it have to do with me if someone reports you? Are you a mad dog? Biting people indiscriminately!"
Qiu Chunfang and Li Hongjuan have really run into a brick wall this time.
Grandma Wang was no pushover. Despite her advanced age, when she went to Political Commissar Lei's place, she cried and made a scene, wiping her snot and tears all over his clothes.
Political Commissar Lei acted swiftly and decisively, immediately sending people to investigate, and found that it was indeed the case.
They immediately called the two men over and told them to stop working and sort out their wives' problems first.
In the end, the two of them each wrote a self-criticism and each paid Granny Wang thirty yuan to settle the matter.
Thirty yuan isn't a small amount, but compared to the self-criticism, it's nothing.
With this self-criticism, Director Liao and Battalion Commander Jiang can forget about promotions for the next two years, and their year-end bonuses are also gone.
The two men were furious. They went home and had a huge fight, each wanting to send the two women back to their hometowns.
Qiu Chunfang stormed off that very night, taking Zhao Yaozu with her and leaving the four adorable children behind.
This is deliberately meant to provoke Zhao Yi.
On Li Hongjuan's side, Director Liao was even more ruthless, directly wanting to divorce Li Hongjuan. However, unexpectedly, Li Hongjuan said she was pregnant at this time, so the matter was temporarily dropped.
Director Liao still felt it was too embarrassing, so he told Li Hongjuan to go back to her parents' home for a while.
As for Lin Yao, just as Xu Zao had predicted, she was fined a month's salary, which broke the hearts of the Xu family, who scolded Zhou Qiqi quite a bit.
This incident caused quite a stir throughout the military dependents' area.
It took several days for things to calm down. Zhou Qiqi was busy with work and didn't pay much attention to it.
Everything was ready on the production line she had contracted, and it was time to produce the first batch of products.
But she ignored them, while Wang's wife and mother-in-law came to her door on their own initiative.
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