Chapter 43 The Discarded Pieces
When the Liu family arrived at the brigade headquarters, they saw a huge crowd of people.
Li Xuemei was very efficient; she not only summoned half the members of the brigade, but also had Wang Laizi, who had a bruised and swollen face, brought over.
She cleared her throat, seized the opportunity, and announced loudly, "I ask everyone to be my witnesses today! My son Huaiyuan hit Wang Laizi, it was all a misunderstanding! He thought Wang Laizi was bullying Xia, so he acted impulsively! Now that the misunderstanding has been cleared up, I would like to apologize to Xia on behalf of my ignorant son!"
Her words immediately sparked a flurry of discussion among the crowd.
"Wait a minute, wasn't it supposed to be for Gu Zhiqing?"
"It's about Wang Laizi and Gu Zhiqing's affair..."
Zhang Xiuying immediately exploded, hands on her hips, and confronted Li Xuemei: "Li Xuemei, stop with the innuendo! Your son and my daughter broke off their engagement a long time ago. What right does he have to stand up for my daughter? The way you're talking makes it sound like my daughter and he have an affair!"
Li Xuemei quickly smiled apologetically, adopting an extremely humble posture: "Good sister, please let me finish! The two children are no longer related now, but my son regrets it! He still has feelings for Xia and wants to marry her again, which is why he was so angry today!"
Gu Mansheng, who was standing not far from the crowd, turned pale upon hearing Li Xuemei's words, and began to tremble uncontrollably.
What's the meaning?
Has Lu Huaiyuan regretted it? Does he want to marry Liu Zhixia?
Then what is she? A pawn that's been used and then discarded?
She frantically searched around, but couldn't find Lu Huaiyuan anywhere.
Why wasn't he there at this crucial moment?!
A terrible thought plunged her into an icy abyss.
Now, even Lu Huaiyuan wants to sever ties with her!
Li Xuemei stood in the center of the crowd and announced loudly, "Everyone! My son Huaiyuan knows that Xia has been wronged, so he specially asked me to bring something to apologize! I invited everyone here today to be our witness!"
"So grand? Is there something else going on?" someone teased ambiguously.
All eyes were on Liu Zhixia.
Gu Mansheng, who was not far away, had her heart in her throat.
Liu Zhixia stepped forward, her expression calm: "I invited everyone here today mainly because I was afraid that some people would misunderstand that I have something going on with Wang Laizi. It's not what you all think."
Gu Mansheng secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
"As for my relationship with Lu Huaiyuan," Liu Zhixia changed the subject, "please stop speculating."
She walked up to Li Xuemei and readily took the basket, saying, "Aunt Li, I'll accept this as an apology."
Li Xuemei was overjoyed: "Good, good, good! You are such a considerate girl!"
She held Liu Zhixia's hand, becoming more and more satisfied with what she saw.
Despite having done a lot of farm work, Liu Zhixia's face was even more radiant than that of the other educated youth in the village. She had a clean and delicate face with exquisite features. In particular, her pair of dark and bright eyes looked especially intelligent.
Today she finally understands why her son started to regret breaking off the engagement.
Compared to Miss Gu Mansheng, Liu Zhixia has now completely outshone Gu Mansheng in both background and appearance.
"Xia Xia," Li Xuemei's tone was gentler than ever before, "Auntie knows our family wronged you in the past. If you're still willing, the doors of the Lu family are always open for you!"
These words caused an uproar in the audience!
Even someone as picky as Li Xuemei has accepted Liu Zhixia.
Many families with sons have changed their way of looking at Liu Zhixia: she is beautiful and capable, her family has paid off its debts, and her family dotes on her. She is the best candidate for a wife!
Liu Zhixia carried the basket back to her parents' side. She looked up and met Gu Mansheng's venomous gaze.
She raised her eyebrows defiantly, her gaze sweeping between Li Xuemei and Gu Mansheng.
The meaning couldn't be clearer.
She has already won over her future mother-in-law, and her life in the Lu family will only go smoothly. Gu Mansheng, on the other hand, not only hasn't won over Li Xuemei, but an even bigger obstacle is Lu Jianping trying to get rid of her, and now Lu Huaiyuan seems unreliable as well...
Gu Mansheng trembled with anger, her knuckles turning white as she clenched her fists, and she squeezed out a few words through gritted teeth: "Liu Zhixia... don't be so smug!"
Liu Zhixia was too lazy to even glance at her again, and said directly to Wang Laizi beside her, "You didn't lay a hand on me, but you still got beaten up for nothing. You're really pathetic."
She took an egg out of the basket and handed it over, then pulled it back a second before Wang Laizi could reach for it.
"No, you tried to take liberties with me a few days ago. You have no right to have these eggs."
She glanced at the talisman around his neck and sneered, "Wang Laizi, it seems your talisman isn't very effective. My grandmother is watching from heaven; this beating is just a reminder."
No sooner had Liu Zhixia finished speaking than a strong wind unexpectedly blew up.
While ordinary people felt refreshed, Wang Laizi felt as if he had fallen into an ice cave.
He was so scared and embarrassed that he wet himself and ran away as fast as he could!
After the farce ended, the Liu family returned home laden with their spoils.
Liu Zhixia put the things sent by the Lu family in the kitchen, picked up the empty basket and came out, smiling at Zhang Xiuying: "The Lu family is really rich and powerful."
Zhang Xiuying curled her lips: "It's all because that old woman from the Lu family was cunning when she was young and swindled a lot of good things from your grandmother. If it weren't for the fact that she saved your grandmother's life back then, your grandmother wouldn't have bothered with her."
Liu Zhixia touched her wrist, thinking of the bracelet's spatial storage. Her grandmother must have used it back then, but she still passed away from illness. It seemed that this spiritual spring water ultimately couldn't save someone who was on their last legs.
She snapped out of her reverie, handed the empty basket to her mother, and said sharply, "Mother, the brigade job is a lucrative one. While our relationship with the Lu family is still 'ambiguous,' we need to get my eldest brother in there as soon as possible!"
Upon hearing this, Shen Hongmei excitedly rushed over and hugged her, saying, "Good little sister! Your sister-in-law has been so good to you!"
Liu Zhixia chuckled twice: "This is called striking while the iron is hot!"
Liu Xiangyang laughed upon hearing this, jokingly saying, "I didn't expect that going to the black market would actually teach you a lot."
Liu Zhixia patted her chest: "Of course. Now that I've decided to start a business, I think it's better to learn some knowledge first. After Xuejun finishes his exams, I'll go to him to learn to read."
Liu Xuejun said proudly, "Great, then my third sister will be my first student!"
Seeing how united the children were, Zhang Xiuying's eyes narrowed into slits with a smile.
"Okay, I'll go find Li Xuemei to return the basket and sound her out while I'm at it."
A short while later, Zhang Xiuying returned happily and said to them, "It's done! Not many people signed up for squad leader this time. Li Xuemei told me that the few who signed up are not as good as Xiangyang. Even without using connections, Xiangyang is definitely going to be the squad leader!"
Shen Hongmei clasped her hands together and danced with joy: "Thank our ancestors! Our Liu family's days are finally getting better!"
Liu Xiangyang grinned foolishly at Liu Zhixia: "Thanks to you this time, little sister! Big brother will heat up your bath water later! You should rest well, and we'll go sell pickled vegetables again tomorrow."
Liu Zhixia nodded vigorously: "Okay! Thank you, big brother."
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