Chapter 27 Rumors are like knives, each one wounding.
Lu Jingyan did not return home all night, but Su Wantang's days were not peaceful as a result.
The wind was blowing from the mouths of a few gossipy women in the compound.
In the Ye family's small building, Ye Manrou smashed her most beloved crystal glass, her chest heaving violently. The humiliation of being crushed at the ball was like a thorn, piercing her and making her unable to eat or sleep.
"That vixen! What makes her so special!"
Zhao Linlin chimed in, "Exactly! A capitalist's daughter from a place like Shanghai, she exudes a slutty vibe, how can she compare to you, Sister Manrou!"
Liu Sisi, the girl who always stayed on the sidelines without saying much but with the sharpest eyes, slowly picked up her teacup and blew away the foam.
"Competing with her in dancing or talent shows is a misconception," Liu Sisi said, raising an eyelid. "That's not what she's best at."
Ye Manrou and Zhao Linlin both looked at her.
Liu Sisi sneered, "Think about it, her father was just arrested, her family is ruined, and she immediately started dating Lu Jingyan. What kind of tricks wouldn't a woman like that use? It's a bad idea for us to confront her head-on."
"Then what do you suggest we do?" Ye Manrou asked anxiously.
“To deal with her, we have to use a soft approach.” Liu Sisi put down her teacup, her voice extremely low. “Her background is her greatest original sin. A woman who brings misfortune to her father and family, and who rose to power through seductive means—do you think these uncles, aunts, grandfathers, and grandmothers in the compound, who value family tradition the most, can tolerate her?”
Zhao Linlin's eyes lit up: "I understand!"
Liu Sisi gave her an approving look: "Linlin, you're the most suitable person to handle this. Isn't your mother in the publicity department? She's quick-witted and well-liked."
Zhao Linlin patted her chest and took full responsibility for the task: "Don't worry! In less than three days, I guarantee Su Wantang won't be able to lift her head in the compound!"
The action was faster than expected.
The next day, the winds shifted throughout the entire military compound.
Inside the supply and marketing cooperative, Zhao Linlin pretended to chat with someone, but her voice was loud enough for half the room to hear.
"Hey, have you heard? Chief Lu's new wife, she's from Shanghai, and I heard she's incredibly unlucky! Her mother died young, and now her father is in jail too. Anyone who gets involved with her is doomed. She's brought bad luck to the entire Su family!"
At the cafeteria food window, she was making faces at people again.
"I've heard that her father is a scoundrel who engages in speculation and profiteering. What kind of good person could she be? She's just using her looks to do all sorts of dirty things in Shanghai. Otherwise, how could Chief Lu possibly be interested in her? She probably used some shady methods!"
Even next to the communal water tap in the family quarters, several military wives washing clothes were whispering to each other.
Rumors, like centipedes with legs, crawled into every corner of the courtyard and into the cracks of every household's door.
The Kevlar family.
A capitalist's daughter.
A vixen.
She did not uphold the virtues of a woman.
Every word was like a poisoned knife, each one aimed at Su Wantang.
The military wives who had previously only shown curiosity and observation towards her now looked at her with completely different eyes. There was disdain, rejection, and a strange, self-righteous sense of superiority.
As Su Wantang stepped outside, she could clearly feel the gazes that clung to her from behind.
Even the sentries standing guard at the main gate looked at her with more scrutiny and less respect for the family of a high-ranking official.
The main residence of the Lu family.
After listening to her mahjong partner embellish the rumors, Grandma Lu was so angry that she pushed the mahjong tiles over in her hand.
"Outrageous! Absolutely outrageous!"
She grabbed the phone and dialed directly into Old Master Lu's office, her voice filled with rage: "Old man! I don't care what method you use, get Jingyan to get rid of that menace right now! Our Lu family can't afford to lose face like this!"
Su Wantang seemed oblivious to all of this.
She got up early as usual and practiced a set of health-preserving boxing techniques she had learned from the spatial library in the courtyard. Then she went out to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy some daily necessities.
She needs some needles and thread, and some fabric to make clothes.
Upon entering the supply and marketing cooperative, the previously buzzing room instantly fell silent.
All eyes immediately turned to her.
Su Wantang looked straight ahead and walked directly to the fabric counter.
"Comrade, could you please give me two feet of Dacron?"
The saleswoman, a woman in her forties, glanced at me dismissively and slowly went to get the fabric.
A sharp sound rang out at that moment.
"Oh, isn't this the young mistress of the Lu family? What, Chief Lu didn't come with you?"
Zhao Linlin, accompanied by several girlfriends, swaggered up to block Su Wantang's path, arms crossed and chin held high.
Su Wantang didn't even bother to lift her eyelids, simply staring calmly at the scissors in the salesperson's hand.
Her disregard completely enraged Zhao Linlin.
"I'm talking to you, are you deaf?" Zhao Linlin raised her voice, attracting everyone to gather around. "That's right, young ladies from capitalist families like you have no manners from a young age. Your fathers are in jail, and you still have the nerve to come out and stroll around. You have such thick skin!"
These words were extremely malicious, and the military wives watching the commotion all gasped in shock.
This is an insult directed at someone's face.
Everyone was waiting to see Su Wantang's reaction. Would she run away crying, or would she fight with Zhao Linlin like a shrew?
Either way, it's a good show.
However, Su Wantang's reaction exceeded everyone's expectations.
She finally turned her head and looked at Zhao Linlin, who was stiff-necked like a fighting rooster, her face flushed.
There was no anger, no embarrassment, not even a trace of emotional fluctuation.
She just looked at her quietly, her eyes as calm as a bottomless ancient well, without the slightest ripple.
Then, she suddenly laughed.
The corners of her mouth turned up slightly, forming a very shallow, yet very beautiful, curve.
There was a hint of...pity in that smile?
Yes, it is compassion.
It's like watching a clown jumping around, putting on a great show, but ultimately being incredibly ridiculous.
"Comrade, is the cloth torn up yet?"
She turned back and asked the sales clerk again, her voice cold and indifferent, as if the vicious humiliation she had just suffered was nothing more than a passing breeze.
Zhao Linlin had prepared a whole host of sarcastic remarks, but they were stuck in her throat, neither coming out nor going down.
She felt as if she had punched a ball of cotton with all her might.
No, it's even more painful than hitting cotton.
It's that kind of extreme humiliation where you think the other person will fight you to the death, but they don't even care about you and won't even bother to look at you.
The military wives watching the commotion around them gradually developed subtle expressions.
I initially thought Zhao Linlin was a straightforward girl who had stood up for the compound. But now, looking at her, Su Wantang had been quiet and reserved the whole time, while Zhao Linlin was all talk and no action, which made her seem a bit... petty.
The sales clerk felt a little uneasy under Su Wantang's gaze, so she quickly tore the cloth and handed it over.
Su Wantang paid the money and cloth coupons, took the items, and turned to leave.
He didn't give Zhao Linlin a single glance from beginning to end.
"Stop right there!" Zhao Linlin shouted angrily, trying to grab her.
Su Wantang didn't stop walking, but as she passed by her, she whispered something only the two of them could hear:
"Give my regards to Miss Ye. Tell her that she should refrain from such low-class tricks in the future."
After saying that, she walked out of the supply and marketing cooperative without looking back.
Zhao Linlin was left alone, frozen in place, her face turning pale and then red, as if she had been stripped naked in public, feeling extremely embarrassed.
In the evening, Su Wantang returned to the small building.
While retrieving the mail from the mailbox at the door, my fingertips touched a hard piece of paper.
She took it out and saw it was a piece of paper torn from a notebook, with four large characters scrawled on it in ballpoint pen:
Get out of the compound!
The writing was so forceful that it almost tore through the back of the paper.
Su Wantang held the note, her face expressionless. Out of the corner of her eye, however, she caught a glimpse of a familiar figure flashing past on a street corner not far away, running away in a panic.
It's Zhao Linlin.
Su Wantang's lips curled into that sweet yet cold smile once again.
It seems some people won't learn their lesson unless they're punished.
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