Not long after Fu Yucheng left, Xu Runli's cursing voice came from outside the courtyard gate, sharp as fingernails scraping against glass: "Yun Tangyin, you bitch! Get out here!"
Yun Tangyin paused in her accounting, and Jiang Jianhua was so startled that he dropped the needle and thread in his hand: "Why...why is she here again?"
"She's just offering herself up." Yun Tangyin closed the ledger, got up and walked out. "It'll be a good opportunity for her to see that the Fu family isn't a place where anyone can run wild."
Jiang Jianhua quickly followed, saying, "I'll go with you."
As soon as the two entered the courtyard, Xu Runli burst in through the half-closed gate. Her hair was disheveled and her cloth jacket was stained with oil, clearly indicating that she had come without tidying herself up.
Jiang Zhicheng followed behind her, his face ashen, but he didn't stop her.
"Yun Tangyin, make Fu Yucheng apologize to me!" Xu Runli pointed at Yun Tangyin's nose, spitting everywhere. "Why did he have Yu Xia kick me out? I'm a daughter-in-law of the Jiang family, it's only natural for me to visit the Fu family! Why did he abuse his power to kick me out of Northeast China?"
"Visiting relatives?" Yun Tangyin laughed, crossing her arms and leaning against the doorframe. "Bringing your man to the Fu family to curse, you call that visiting relatives? Xu Runli, is this how your relatives visit each other?"
Jiang Zhicheng stepped forward, his voice heavy like a storm brewing: "Runli spoke sharply, but she was just angry. What happened yesterday..."
"What happened yesterday?" Yun Tangyin interrupted him, her eyes as cold as ice.
"When she was stuffing the complaint letter into the suggestion box yesterday, why didn't you say she was angry? When she was urging her sister-in-law to change the accounts yesterday, why didn't you say she was angry? Jiang Zhicheng, if you can't figure things out, don't come along and embarrass yourself!"
Jiang Zhicheng's face turned purple, and he clenched his fists, unable to speak.
Seeing this, Xu Runli threw a tantrum, sitting on the ground and wailing, "Everyone, come and see! The Fu family is bullying us! The capitalist's daughter is acting like a tyrant after marrying a military officer! They're even trying to kill off our relatives!"
Her outburst drew attention, and the wives of several military families next door peered over the wall, their whispers and pointing drifting into the courtyard.
It has to be said that this does resemble the image of Xu Runli in Yun Tangyin's memory.
Before, Yun Tangyin thought she had changed her personality.
So it turns out they just couldn't keep up the act anymore.
Jiang Jianhua, standing nearby, was so anxious he kept stamping his feet: "Runli, get up! What kind of behavior is this!"
"I won't get up!" Xu Runli cried even louder. "Unless Yun Tangyin kowtows and apologizes to me, I'll die in the Fu family courtyard!"
Yun Tangyin bent down, picked up a pebble, and held it in her hand like a child tossing pebbles, throwing it at Xu Runli one by one: "Is that all?"
Xu Runli screamed in pain and sat up abruptly: "You dare hit me?!"
"So what if I hit you?" Yun Tangyin took two steps forward, looking down at her. "You caused trouble in the Fu family compound and slandered military families. According to the rules, I could have tied you up and taken you to the security department. I haven't tied you up yet because I'm giving Jiang Zhicheng face. Don't push your luck."
"I'm shameless?" Xu Runli glared at her, her eyes filled with resentment. "You, Yun Tangyin, are the shameless one! Back then, you..."
"What did I do back then?" Yun Tangyin suddenly raised her voice, deliberately letting the military wives on the wall hear her. "Back then, my mother donated her entire fortune to the front lines like water flowing out of the ground. I am the daughter of a hero! Unlike some people who live off what others have left over and complain all day long!"
She pointed at Xu Runli's nose: "Do you think no one knows about your filthy thoughts? You're jealous that I married well, jealous that the Fu family treats me well, so you want to bring me down. Too bad, you don't have the ability. All you can do is howl here like a mad dog!"
Xu Runli's face turned pale and then red after being spoken to. Suddenly, she lunged forward to tear Yun Tangyin's hair, but Jiang Jianhua held her back tightly: "Runli, are you crazy!"
"I've gone mad!" Xu Runli screamed as she struggled. "This woman has driven me insane! Jiang Zhicheng, what are you standing there for? Help me!"
Jiang Zhicheng stood still, looking at Xu Runli who was throwing a tantrum. He felt a sense of unfamiliarity towards her, and for the first time, he even showed disgust in his eyes.
The military wives on the wall started gossiping even more fiercely: "This woman is just outrageous!"
"The Fu family's new daughter-in-law is too polite. If it were me, I would have slapped her across the face long ago."
Yun Tangyin coldly watched all this, then suddenly raised her voice and said, "Xu Runli, didn't you say I had something shameful to do? Tell me now! Let everyone hear what heinous things I, Yun Tangyin, have done that made you slip me a whistleblower in the middle of the night and come here to cause a scene during the day!"
Xu Runli's voice stopped abruptly, and she stood there with her mouth open, unable to speak for a long time.
She had no real evidence; those were just things she made up to make Yun Tangyin suffer.
"Can't say anything?" Yun Tangyin sneered, "Because you're just spouting nonsense! You think you can ruin me by spreading rumors? Let me tell you, Fu Yucheng trusts me, the Fu family trusts me, and everyone in the group knows that I, Yun Tangyin, am upright and honest. Your little tricks can't even fool a three-year-old!"
Yun Tangyin looked at Xu Runli's face and patted her pocket: "Since you don't care about your reputation, why don't you... just return the money to me?"
Of course she still keeps the IOU.
It was written by Xu Runli's biological mother, Xu Rong, stroke by stroke.
The moment Yun Tangyin pulled it out of her pocket, Xu Runli's face turned pale.
The IOU rippled in the morning light, and Xu Runli's pupils constricted. She jumped up like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, but was held down firmly by Jiang Jianhua.
"You...you still keep this?" Xu Runli's voice was shaky, her fingertips trembling like leaves in the autumn wind. "That was written by Xu Rong, it has nothing to do with me!"
"Oh?" Yun Tangyin slowly unfolded the IOU, pointing to the name at the bottom of the document. "Xu Rong, your mother's name, written in black and white. What, are you saying Xu Rong isn't your mother?"
The discussion on the wall suddenly erupted.
Xu Runli's face instantly turned ashen, and she struggled to snatch the IOU: "You forged it! Yun Tangyin, you liar!"
Yun Tangyin dodged to the side, holding the IOU even higher: "Forged? Should we go find Xu Rong now? A comparison will tell us if it's real or fake!"
These words struck Xu Runli like a blow to the head. She slumped to the ground, looked at Jiang Zhicheng's ashen face, and suddenly burst into tears: "Jiang Zhicheng, look at her! She's trying to extort money from me with a piece of torn paper! Please help me tear it up!"
Jiang Zhicheng acted as if he hadn't heard, staring intently at the IOU. His Adam's apple bobbed for a long time before he suddenly raised his foot and spat in front of Xu Runli: "Xu Runli, you're really something!"
He turned to look at Yun Tangyin, his voice hoarse as if sandpaper had been rubbed against her: "If this money is really owed by her, I will pay it off for her."
After saying that, he grabbed Xu Runli from the ground and left, refusing to let go no matter how much she struggled.
Jiang Jianhua watched this scene from the side, glancing at Xu Runli, then at Yun Tangyin...
She couldn't understand it at all. She had made all the plans, thinking that she would have a good life once Jiang Zhicheng and Xu Runli arrived.
But now it seems like these two are both incredibly unreliable...
Jiang Jianhua closed her eyes in disgust. Forget it, she should protect herself first. She absolutely couldn't let Yun Tangyin equate her with Xu Runli.
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