Chapter 49 Rumor-Refuting Team
Taking a deep breath, Gu Qiuyue tried hard to suppress the mixed feelings of confusion, turned around and went back to the car with Xie Shiyu. After a while, they returned to the family compound. Xie Shiyu asked her to go in and rest for a while, and he would come back to cook after returning the car.
Gu Qiuyue walked slowly towards home. When she passed by the small playground, several sisters-in-law who usually gathered under the locust tree at the intersection and loved to gossip about the Zhang and Li families were now huddled together. Their voices were very low, but their eyes were like searchlights, with a complex light mixed with contempt, excitement and alienation, frequently sweeping towards the direction of Sun Juan's house next door.
She paused, her heart skipping a beat. Those gazes suddenly retreated when she approached, but then started to stick to her again from behind. The whispers were like mosquitoes. Although she couldn't hear them clearly, they made her feel uncomfortable.
She quickened her pace and just as she pushed open the gate of her yard, a figure ran towards them. Gu Qiuyue dodged to the side, but the figure stopped three meters away from her.
Gu Qiuyue looked up and saw Sun Juan standing there with her mouth covered and her eyes red.
"Sister Sun?" Gu Qiuyue's heart tightened. She quickly walked over, holding her slightly trembling shoulders, and asked with concern, "What's wrong? What happened?"
Sun Juan's eyes were swollen and red like peaches, tears still streaming down her face, and her lips trembling. It took her a long time to squeeze out a broken accusation: "Qiuyue...they, they all said...that I had an affair with a janitor at the lumber mill outside..." The huge humiliation made it almost impossible for her to continue. She took a sharp breath and cried out, "They said...the baby in my belly...is not Lao Li's! It's a bastard!"
Gu Qiuyue felt a surge of anger rushing to her head. Sun Juan had just gotten pregnant with her second child and was suffering from severe pregnancy reactions. Old Li had been stationed in remote outposts with harsh conditions for many years. It was already hard for her to raise her eldest daughter alone. This vicious rumor was a devastating blow to the reputation of a military family member!
She instantly recalled the "gossips" that her mother-in-law Wang Xiulan had mentioned angrily yesterday. It turned out that this evil trend not only failed to be stopped, but became even worse, directly throwing dirty water on people!
"Bullshit!" Gu Qiuyue blurted out, her voice rising with anger. "Who is this black-hearted, rotten-mouthed person? Sister Sun, don't be afraid, don't be anxious. Come to my house first. The innocent will be innocent. We can't just let this go. We have to find the person who spread the rumors and tear her mouth apart."
Her resolute tone was like a shot of adrenaline, which slightly stopped Sun Juan's desperate sobs. She looked at her with tearful eyes, holding a glimmer of hope: "Qiuyue... can you really find out?"
"Yes!" Gu Qiuyue's eyes were firm, and a sense of chivalry arose spontaneously. She patted the back of Sun Juan's hand soothingly, and took her to push open the gate and go in.
In the next few days, Gu Qiuyue, who was almost five months pregnant, took action without delay. She secretly contacted three or four sisters-in-law, including Mrs. Zhang and Mrs. Chen, who were decent, well-informed, and had a good relationship with Sun Juan.
She explained the situation concisely. When the sisters-in-law heard it, they were filled with indignation and immediately formed a temporary "rumor-busting team."
"Mrs. Zhang, please go quietly around the lumber mill and see if the other person involved in the rumor has done anything unusual recently, or if he has whispered about this to anyone." Gu Qiuyue calmly divided the work.
"Sister-in-law Song, you're new here and have good relationships with people. Find out where those gossips came from and who the source is."
"Sister Zhao and I will keep an eye on Aunt Li (Sun Juan's mother-in-law)." Gu Qiuyue took on the most difficult part herself. Sister Zhao and Sun Juan lived in the same building, so she must have heard more than others.
She had a vague guess in her mind, but needed evidence. She recalled that a few days ago, she accidentally caught a glimpse of Aunt Li coming to the Propaganda Department to find Sun Juan. Her eyes were not concerned, but stared at Sun Juan's belly, with a kind of resentment and calculation in them that she did not care about at the time.
The investigation was carried out in a tense and secretive manner, and time slipped quietly towards the end of the year in the busyness.
One evening, the postman delivered a telegram. When Gu Qiuyue opened it, a smile instantly broke out on her face - parents, mother-in-law Wang Xiulan, and brother Gu Qiuhan, the 25th day of the twelfth lunar month is coming, let's celebrate the New Year together in the army!
This news was like a warm breeze, blowing away the tense atmosphere of days of investigation.
The courtyard became lively again. The Gu couple saw that their daughter had a rosy complexion, the house was tidy and clean, and her mother-in-law Wang Xiulan was busy running around in high spirits. They were so pleased that they couldn't stop smiling.
Wang Xiulan and her in-laws Xu Qin were as close as sisters who had been separated for many years. One was busy frying New Year's goods, while the other was busy sewing a small quilt for the baby in Gu Qiuyue's belly. They worked together in perfect harmony. The arrival of Gu Qiuhan was like a refreshing breeze, carrying the youthful vigor, which instantly lit up the entire yard.
The festive atmosphere at the end of the year is getting stronger and stronger. The aroma of fried meatballs and stewed meat wafts from every household, and bright red window grilles are posted on the windows. But Gu Qiuyue is always worried about Sun Juan. The information from the rumor-busting team is gradually summarized to her, and the direction is becoming clearer and clearer.
Mrs. Zhang found out that the person who spread the rumors about the lumber mill was an old widower named Wang. He was so angry when he heard the rumors that he jumped up and down and swore that he had never even approached Sun Juan's house. He has been avoiding suspicion even more recently.
Sister-in-law Song got the key to the point: the initial source of the rumors among the sisters-in-law all pointed to the same person—Sun Juan's mother-in-law, Aunt Li! They also mentioned that Aunt Li had recently become particularly close to Zhang Lianni, a young woman who had recently moved in and whose husband worked in the car company. As they whispered, they seemed to hear Aunt Li saying things like, "I can't have a grandson," "I've given up on the dream," and "You have to be cruel."
All the clues are connected and point to the old man who seems to care about his daughter-in-law.
Gu Qiuyue did not alert the enemy directly. She joined forces with several prestigious Sister Lis in the military family compound and Aunt Mo from Political Commissar Zhou's family. With the collected solid witness testimonies, she blocked Aunt Li who had just returned from buying groceries one afternoon.
Faced with Sister Li and Aunt Mo's harsh questioning and irrefutable evidence, Aunt Li's forced composure completely collapsed.
She collapsed to the ground, slapping her thigh and sobbing, finally revealing her chilling motive: "What can I do! My Dazhuang (Old Li's nickname) is the only child in three generations. Sun Juan gave birth to a girl as her first child, and now she's finally pregnant again, but she's saying she's in poor health and busy with work, and she refuses to keep the child. She's determined to have an abortion. Isn't this going to end the lineage of our Old Li family?!"
Her cloudy old eyes gleamed with resentment. "I just want everyone to know she's a slut. I want my son to despise her and divorce her. Then I can find someone who can give birth to a big fat boy. That Xiao Zhang is young, has a big butt, and looks like he's good at giving birth..."
The truth came out and everyone in the room was shocked.
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