Chapter 158 Sophistry
Sun Yiyi pursed her lips, her tone shocked, "Why are you sending things? Don't you know that Comrade Lin Yuanshu didn't go home for the New Year? She's still in the epidemic area!"
Aunt Wen was stunned for a moment, then showed an incredulous expression. "Huh? No way! Old Zhou's wife didn't tell us about this! She even said she would help us pass on some things. Where did you get this information?"
Compared to Aunt Wen's skepticism, Aunt Hua had no doubts about Sun Yiyi's words at all. She said angrily, "What's there to ask! Comrade Sun Yiyi is not like Old Zhou's wife, who is full of lies. We have definitely been deceived by her. What kind of kind help to pass on things! I think she just wants to keep those things for herself. Anyone can see through her little scheme."
Although Sun Yiyi was pleased with Aunt Hua's trust, she did not give up on explaining herself because of this trust.
She glanced thoughtfully at the Zhou family's door and said confidently, "I went back to my parents' home yesterday and met Comrade Zhou Xiangyang there. We chatted for a bit, and I learned that Comrade Lin Yuanshu didn't go home for the New Year, and that Comrade Zhou Xiangyang isn't planning to go back to the Zhou family home for the New Year either. I suspect that something bad might have happened between them, otherwise Comrade Zhou Xiangyang wouldn't have done such a thing."
If you want your lies to be less likely to be exposed, you have to tell a mix of truth and falsehood. Although she didn't see Zhou Xiangyang yesterday, there are some things she can guess without him saying them.
She didn't want to see Zhou Ma taking advantage of Lin Yuanshu, not because she considered Lin Yuanshu a friend and wanted to curry favor with him, but simply because she didn't want to see Zhou Ma living such a good life.
If people have a next life, she wants to be Zhou Ma's mother-in-law in her next life, so that Zhou Ma can also experience the suffering she endured in her previous life. She feels that Zhou Ma is living too happily now.
The group exchanged glances. Compared to the immoral Zhou Ma, they trusted Sun Yiyi's words more. So they turned around without hesitation and prepared to go to Zhou Ma to get their things back.
After all, they gave gifts to maintain a good relationship with Comrade Lin Yuanshu, not to fatten up Zhou Ma.
Before leaving, the kind-hearted elderly woman made sure to thank Sun Yiyi for the information.
When Sun Yiyi saw them heading to find Zhou Ma in a menacing manner, a gloating smile appeared on her face. Instead of rushing home, she stood in the corridor to watch the show. Such a lively scene was not a common occurrence!
A few minutes earlier, after seeing that Aunt Wen and the others had left, Zhou Ma closed the door without hesitation and excitedly unwrapped the red gift paper.
Inside, there was only a small handful of noodles, a little sugar, and a jar of fruit—a very common gift.
Aunt Zhou was extremely disappointed and grumbled rudely, "Aunt Wen and the others laughed at me for being stingy, but it turns out they're just as stingy. For the New Year, all they give is this little bit of stuff. Only they could afford to give anything decent like cheap stuff. They should at least have given some high-end stuff like malted milk powder..."
Sister-in-law Xue frowned and explained in a low voice, "Mom, they're not for you, they're for Xiao Er's wife. She won't accept anything too expensive. But then again, if Xiao Er's wife isn't coming over for dinner today, I can take these things to her this afternoon. I don't have anything to do this afternoon anyway."
Upon hearing this, Zhou Ma exploded, letting out a sharp voice, "What are you giving me? My second wife and I are family, why are you being so formal? It makes no difference whether she accepts it or I accept it. If you have nothing to do, clean the whole house inside and out. It's not hard to find something to do!"
The food was practically offered to her, how could she not take a bite? Even if Lin Yuanshu knew about it, it didn't matter. By then, she had already eaten it, and the die was cast. Could Lin Yuanshu possibly hit his mother-in-law?
Sister-in-law Xue's expression was complicated. Her mind was racing, trying to find the right words to persuade Aunt Zhou not to do such a thing.
"mom……"
Sister-in-law Xue had just opened her mouth, before she could even finish speaking, when her mother interrupted her sternly, "You child, how can you be so insensible! What your mother-in-law is saying is unreasonable. Just listen to her obediently, she wouldn't harm you, would she? You and Comrade Lin Yuanshu are all family, why distinguish between you, me, and her!"
Zhou's mother nodded in full agreement; finally, someone understood her.
Seeing this, Aunt Xue moved closer to Aunt Zhou, revealing a fawning smile, her tone tinged with longing, "Mother-in-law, your family's life is getting better and better. You even think such good things are cheap. In my eyes, this is already top-notch. Since you don't like such cheap things, why not give them to me? I won't mind."
Zhou Ma rolled her eyes at Xue Ma and said condescendingly, "You bring home anything, whether it's fragrant or smelly, of course you don't mind."
She couldn't help but feel disgusted when she thought about the scene of her visiting the Xue family for the New Year a few years ago. The Xue family was too messy, with things scattered everywhere, no different from a garbage dump.
Xue Ma didn't care at all about Zhou Ma's disdain. If she cared about her reputation, she wouldn't be called a miser. She continued to flatter Zhou Ma, making Zhou Ma beam with joy.
Sister-in-law Xue: "..."
This was the first time she had ever realized how sharp-tongued her mother was; she couldn't even find a chance to interject.
Zhou Ma was quite pleased with Xue Ma's flattery. Although she was Lin Yuanshu's mother-in-law, she didn't really gain any benefits or receive any flattery from the neighbors. Instead, she was ridiculed by them.
She guessed it might be because everyone knew she couldn't make decisions for Lin Yuanshu, and Lin Yuanshu rarely went back to her parents' home, so their relationship was obviously strained, and naturally they weren't very polite to her.
"If you continue to behave this well, it's not impossible for you to take a bag with you when you leave," Zhou Ma said smugly.
Aunt Xue's smile froze instantly. It was just one package! Aunt Zhou was quite stingy too.
However, she could flatter Zhou Ma for a few minutes, but she couldn't keep doing it. She found Zhou Ma's proud expression quite annoying.
They weren't giving her anything; she intercepted Lin Yuanshu's things. What's there to be proud of?
Just as Xue Ma was hesitating whether to continue flattering Zhou Ma for the sake of the gifts, there was a knock on the door.
As Zhou Ma walked to the door, she was about to open it when she suddenly thought, "What if the person knocking on the door is Lin Yuanshu? Wouldn't I be at risk of getting infected?"
She turned and waved to Sister-in-law Xue, instructing, "You open the door. If it's Xiao Er's wife outside, bring in what she brought. They shouldn't come in. I don't know if they'll get sick, and I don't want to catch it."
Upon hearing this, Aunt Xue subconsciously took a few steps back, keeping a safe distance from the door. She hadn't even thought of this. Aunt Zhou, on the other hand, had a better perspective. She was thinking about how to get Lin Yuanshu to agree to help without facing him directly.
Seeing this, Sister-in-law Xue couldn't help but roll her eyes. Her mother-in-law really wanted both, and didn't treat Lin Yuanshu as an outsider or a human being.
She opened the door expressionlessly. The person knocking on the door was not Lin Yuanshu, but Aunt Wen and others.
"Didn't you just leave? Why are you back?" Sister-in-law Xue asked in confusion.
Aunt Wen and the others did not answer. Instead, they pushed Aunt Xue aside and went straight into the living room, where they saw the opened gifts on the table.
Aunt Hua, hands on her hips, said angrily, "Old Zhou's wife, you're getting more and more shameless as you get older! You opened the things we gave to Comrade Lin Yuanshu like this, and then lied to us, saying you'd help us pass them on. This is how you passed them on."
Zhou's mother wasn't embarrassed at all about her actions. She said matter-of-factly, "Once it's opened, it can't be handed over! I'm doing this for my daughter-in-law's own good. I'm just checking to see if you've given her anything inappropriate."
"You really know how to argue. Comrade Lin Yuanshu hasn't even returned to Beijing, and your son is still in the production team with his mother-in-law. How are you going to hand him over? You don't tell the truth at all," Aunt Hua said bluntly.
Aunt Zhou stared wide-eyed in disbelief. These two really didn't treat them like family. They hadn't even told them about such an important matter. If she had known this would happen, she wouldn't have sent the things to Lin Yuanshu. It was truly a thankless task, and her good intentions were completely wasted.
She gave birth to this son in vain; he was practically born to Lin Yuan, the scholar.
“I can send a package there, why can’t I hand it over to my daughter-in-law? I was trying to help you out of kindness, but I ended up helping the wrong person, and now you’re blaming me for lying to you,” Zhou’s mother argued.
Aunt Hua was speechless for a moment. She didn't know how to refute it and stood there stunned.
Aunt Wen ignored Zhou Ma's sweet talk. She walked to the table, picked up the things she had brought, and said coldly, "Old Zhou's wife, as the saying goes, you should do your own thing. I won't trouble you. I can deliver them myself."
Seeing this, the others, without waiting for Zhou Ma's reply, all went to the table to get their own things.
Zhou Ma went over to stop them, but there were too many of them, including Aunt Wen, and she couldn't stop them all.
She turned to look at Sister-in-law Xue and Aunt Xue, gesturing with her eyes for them to come and help.
Sister-in-law Xue blinked, then glanced at Aunt Xue. Seeing that Aunt Xue was unmoved, she pretended not to understand, lowered her head to look at the ground, and deliberately avoided Aunt Zhou's gaze.
Zhou Ma was furious, but there was nothing she could do. As she watched the things on the table dwindle, her heart ached terribly, and she muttered to herself, "These are all my things!"
Aunt Hua said irritably, "What nonsense are you talking about? This is your stuff! This is clearly our stuff. You really do amaze me every time..."
While others wholeheartedly agreed, they sped up to retrieve their belongings, for only by doing so could they feel secure.
Fortunately, they returned in time. If they had been any later, Zhou Ma would have put these things in her room, making it much more difficult to retrieve them.
After taking their things, they didn't want to stay and face Zhou Ma's old face, so they all left grumbling.
Outside the door, Aunt Wen said with deep regret, "We really made a wrong decision. We shouldn't have taken the easy way out and brought the gifts to the Zhou family. If we had just taken them to Comrade Lin Yuanshu's house, we wouldn't have had so much trouble."
Aunt Hua disagreed, saying, "Don't blame us. Blame Old Zhou's wife. She's getting worse with age. She's capable of such shameless things. We'd better visit the Zhou family less often next time."
Everyone else agreed. As the saying goes, a blessed person will not end up in a place where no one is blessed. That is probably why Lin Yuanshu did not continue to live in the Zhou family!
Although Sun Yiyi was disappointed that they didn't fight, she wasn't too surprised. After all, it wasn't a deep-seated hatred, so it would be difficult for them to fight.
She hadn't expected that Zhou Ma had learned to know when to stop instead of continuing to make trouble unreasonably; otherwise, this matter wouldn't have ended so easily.
After Aunt Wen and the others left, Zhou Ma couldn't help but complain, "What were you two doing? Why didn't you come and help? If you were willing to help, you could have stopped them all."
Sister-in-law Xue retorted softly, "Those are their things after all, we can't stop them, even if Dad comes, he still can't stop them."
Aunt Zhou said irritably, "You're really spineless, afraid of everything."
After saying that, she went back to her room with a cold face. She felt embarrassed and didn't want to talk to anyone. She also didn't want to see Aunt Xue's gloating expression.
Sister-in-law Xue felt wronged, as she was always the one who got scolded.
Aunt Xue stood there thoughtfully, feeling very sad. It wasn't because she couldn't take her things home, but because Lin Yuanshu hadn't returned to Beijing, and her youngest son still hadn't found a job.
She couldn't bear to see her son go to the countryside as an educated youth.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com