Chapter 42 Apology
At the Liu family's house, dinner had just been served, and the fragrant braised pork made everyone's mouths water.
At the dinner table, Liu Xiangyang vividly recounted his experiences at the black market that day, praising Liu Zhixia to the skies.
When talking about the boss who tried to lower the price, he couldn't help but complain: "He actually wanted to buy our goods for three cents a can! The girl was right to retort! 'Why should I work for you for free?' That was so satisfying!"
Liu Xuejun gave a thumbs up: "Sister, you're awesome!"
Shen Hongmei put down her chopsticks and bowl, looking regretful: "Why didn't you agree to such a good deal?"
Liu Xiangyang's smile froze: "We can sell it for five cents, why should we sell it to him for three cents?"
"Are you stupid!" Shen Hongmei said irritably. "Instead of living in fear on the black market, you might as well find a stable buyer!"
Liu Xiangyang glared at him: "What do you know! Vegetables, seasonings, jars—all of them cost money!"
"Aren't these vegetables grown in the mountains? They're so big, how could we lose money!"
Liu Zhixia smiled faintly: "If you think this business is easy to do, you can do it yourself."
Shen Hongmei's face flushed instantly, and she muttered, "I take care of the child every day, how can I have time..."
Zhang Xiuying snorted coldly and added, "So you do know that growing vegetables takes time and effort, huh?"
Shen Hongmei fell completely silent, her face flushed, and focused intently on eating her rice.
The family was enjoying their meal when there was a knock at the door.
"Who is it, coming over at mealtime?" Zhang Xiuying muttered.
Shen Hongmei immediately put down her chopsticks and ran to open the door as if her life depended on it: "I'll go see!"
As soon as the door opened, she saw Li Xuemei carrying large and small bags. Her face immediately fell, and she said in a voice loud enough to be heard throughout the yard, "Oh, isn't this Aunt Li? What brings you to our house?"
Everyone in the courtyard put down their bowls and chopsticks and went outside.
Zhang Xiuying crossed her arms, looked at the meat and vegetables in Li Xuemei's basket, and asked in confusion, "What are they for?"
Li Xuemei was so angry at Zhang Xiuying's arrogant appearance that she gritted her teeth, but she could only force a smile that looked worse than a grimace: "Good sister, I... I'm here to apologize to you!"
"Apologize?" Zhang Xiuying laughed. "Have we had a falling out? I don't remember."
“Today, Huaiyuan beat up Wang Laizi,” Li Xuemei explained with a forced smile. “He was just angry because Wang Laizi had bullied your Zhixia before, so he stood up for her. He didn’t expect that everyone would misunderstand.”
"I heard that your son stood up for Gu Zhiqing?" Zhang Xiuying bluntly exposed, "Don't even think about throwing this mud at my daughter!"
"How could that be!" Li Xuemei quickly waved her hand. "My son is eager to sever ties with that young lady from a bad family background! This time it's really for your Zhixia!"
She looked at Liu Zhixia in the crowd, her voice softening considerably: "Xiaxia, your aunt knows Huaiyuan was in the wrong. You two are no longer engaged, yet he still stood up for you. Your Uncle Lu has already punished him with confinement. Please accept this apology!"
Looking at the meat in the basket, Shen Hongmei's hands trembled. But remembering the lesson from last time, she immediately put her hands on her hips and glared at Li Xuemei: "What kind of tricks are you up to now? Last time, a piece of meat became a dowry, and this time you come to apologize without any formal status. What are you up to? If you're really sincere, then keep your son in check and stop bothering my little sister every other day!"
"You..." Li Xuemei's temper flared up from the retort, "Do you have the right to interrupt when your elders are speaking!"
"Ahem." Liu Zhixia coughed softly, and Li Xuemei swallowed the curse that was about to come out.
She immediately put on a smiling face: "Xia, your auntie really came to apologize, so please make a statement!"
Liu Zhixia looked her up and down, her face innocent: "Auntie, my sister-in-law is right. Wang Laizi didn't bully me at all. Why is your Lu Huaiyuan standing up for me? If I accept this, wouldn't that be admitting that I was bullied?"
Liu Shouren frowned and said, "Lu family, stop trying to smear my daughter's reputation!"
Li Xuemei became anxious and shouted, "Then let's go to the brigade! We'll apologize and clarify things in front of the whole brigade! Is that alright?"
Seeing Li Xuemei's anxious expression, Liu Zhixia immediately understood her intention.
This is an attempt to use her to help Lu Huaiyuan and Gu Mansheng distance themselves from each other.
He was just bragging about getting a job as an accountant in the brigade today, and now he's already getting into a fight with a capitalist's daughter. I bet his dad is running around pulling strings right now.
Thinking of Gu Mansheng hiding in the shadows, she felt that she really should provoke her, lest Gu Mansheng really become obedient, and then how would she get rid of her?
“Okay,” Liu Zhixia agreed readily, “Then let’s go to the brigade and make things clear in front of everyone!”
She said to Li Xuemei, "We're still eating. Go and call everyone first. We'll come over when we're done eating."
"Okay! It's a deal!" Li Xuemei was overjoyed and turned to call for someone.
As soon as the others left, Zhang Xiuying became anxious: "Daughter, why did you help her clear her name? Did all your mother's efforts go to waste?"
Liu Zhixia laughed: "Mother, how is this helping her? We get a basket of meat for free and can also watch a good show. Why not?"
Shen Hongmei also realized what was going on and slapped her thigh: "That's right! Since the Lu family will have to find a way to sever ties sooner or later anyway, why don't we grab some benefits first!"
Zhang Xiuying immediately laughed: "Great! You're such a good daughter! Come on, let's eat first, then we'll take our time."
After finishing their meal, the Liu family strolled leisurely back to the brigade headquarters.
On the way, they ran into Gu Mansheng, who was dragging her tired body and smelling terrible.
Shen Hongmei pinched her nose and exclaimed, "Oh dear, who fell into the latrine? It stinks so badly! Don't you know how to wash yourself? Oh, it's Gu Zhiqing! Well, it's no use washing yourself, since everyone living in the cowshed stinks the same!"
Gu Mansheng walked over smugly: "Shut your dog mouth, or I'll make you stink even more than me."
Seeing that Gu Mansheng was about to pounce on her, Shen Hongmei was so frightened that she quickly hid in Liu Xiangyang's arms.
However, seeing that there were many of them, Gu Mansheng only threatened them and did not actually attack.
Gu Mansheng smiled smugly at Liu Zhixia: "Today, Huaiyuan stood up for me and beat up Wang Laizi. Now the whole brigade knows that I'm his man. Liu Zhixia, you've lost after all!"
Liu Zhixia scoffed: "I live in a clean home and eat hot meals. I don't know how much better it is than you living in a cowshed."
"You just wait!" Gu Mansheng's eyes were filled with resentment. "Once Huaiyuan becomes the Party Secretary, none of your Liu family members will have an easy time!"
After saying that, she swaggered away triumphantly.
The Liu family members looked at each other in bewilderment.
Liu Xuejun exclaimed in horror, "This woman's gentle demeanor was all an act!"
Zhang Xiuying gave him a disdainful look: "You idiot. She almost killed your sister, and you still think she's a virtuous and kind person?"
"Too……"
Zhang Xiuying snorted coldly: "She's not pretending today. I bet she's up to some bad idea again. We need to kick her out of the brigade as soon as possible, or we'll never have a peaceful life again."
Liu Zhixia's lips curled into a cold smile as she slowly said, "Don't worry, Mother. Gu Mansheng's only backer right now is Lu Huaiyuan. If she were to witness firsthand how Lu Huaiyuan would treat her like trash and discard her for his own future, do you think she wouldn't go crazy?"
Zhang Xiuying suddenly realized, her eyes filled with admiration and respect as she looked at her daughter: "That makes sense! If we want to kick this young lady out, we have to provoke her into making a mistake!"
Shen Hongmei chuckled, "Then I'll have to put in a lot of effort and exaggerate later! She and Lu Huaiyuan aren't even officially dating yet, and she dares to act so arrogantly in front of us!"
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