"Aunt, I'm looking for my uncle. Something bad happened in my family. I need him to help me..." Fang Jingtong cried and tried to squeeze into the yard.
"Don't come in!" Her aunt stopped her, her voice as sharp as a needle. "How dare you come here? Everyone in the village knows that you seduce other men, your husband embezzles public funds, and one of your sons has killed someone and the other is in the hospital? You have brought shame to our Fang family!"
At this time, cousin Fang Jianguo rushed out of the house, holding a pipe in his hand, his brows furrowed so much that he could kill a mosquito: "Get out of here! I don't have a niece like you!" After that, he slammed the gate shut, making Fang Jingtong's ears buzz.
Unwilling to give up, she went back to her second aunt. She used to love her the most and had always secretly given her candy when she was little. But the door to her second aunt's house was tightly shut. No matter how she banged on it or cried, there was no sound from inside. Instead, her third sister-in-law from next door poked her head out, folded her arms, and sneered, "Oh, isn't this a lady?"
Fang Jingtong's face burned, tears streaming down her cheeks, mixed with the dust. She wandered around the village, and anyone remotely related to her either refused to see her or hurled harsh words at her through the walls. One distant uncle even chased her away with a broom, "Get away! Don't bring your bad luck to my doorstep!"
On the village's dirt road, a few children returning from school spotted her and pointed at her, shouting, "Vixen! Wicked woman!" Stones were thrown at her, hitting her legs and causing pain. She crouched by the roadside, covering her face and crying. Passing villagers either skirted around her or stopped to point and criticize.
Fang Jingtong also saw a discarded newspaper, dated that day. Although the front-page photo was blurred, she recognized it instantly, wearing the knockoff dress she'd worn a few days earlier and her torn hair. The headline was even more jarring: "The Fall of a Vain Wife: Unsatisfied with Her Brother's Financial Support, She Infidelity Leads to the Destruction of Her Family."
The article also described in detail how she lived off Fang Zhiyi's family, how she signed up for a class for wealthy women to act like a rich lady, how she hung out with the cooking teacher, and even the details of Wu Tian's embezzlement of public funds. At the end, it also mentioned that "his eldest son was suspected of intentional homicide and his youngest son was critically ill, which might be due to a lack of family education."
It felt like the news writers were watching her every day. Fang Jingtong almost thought of her eldest brother. It must be Fang Zhiyi's doing! The more she thought about it, the more certain she was that he had been planning this all along! Deliberately favoring his youngest son, introducing him to that club, and finding a job for Wu Tian!
The more she thought about it, the more it made sense. She even stood up excitedly. But after a long while, she sat down dejectedly again. What was the point? Who would believe it?
Fang Jingtong felt like crying.
What made her even more desperate was that a lawyer's letter was delivered to her that afternoon. The envelope had the logo of Wu Tian's company printed on it. When she opened it, the content inside made her eyes go dark: Wu Tian embezzled a total of 870,000 yuan of public funds, and the company demanded compensation within a time limit, otherwise his spouse would be held jointly liable and the couple's joint property would be auctioned to pay off the debt.
"Eight hundred and seventy thousand..." Fang Jingtong slumped on the cold concrete floor, the lawyer's letter in her hand fluttering to the ground. Where did she even have that much money? She'd originally borrowed the money from Fang Zhiyi, but her vanity had already blew it all on jewelry, bags, and beauty treatments... Now, it was practically nothing left... And to save face, those things were mostly imitations, so they wouldn't sell.
Soon after, news came from the hospital, urging her to pay the child's hospitalization fees as soon as possible. Fang Jingtong was completely devastated. She had no choice but to find a job in the labor market. Because she had become quite famous recently, many people recognized her and started teasing her. Some people even spat at her, which made her feel that life was worse than death, and she could only run away with her head down.
As a last resort, she could only shamelessly ask for help from her former "sisters," the ladies from the high-class club. But they either ignored her calls or, when they did, offered sarcastic, "Fang Jingtong? I don't know you. I don't have a friend like you." One woman, Mrs. Zhang, who had once complained about others with her, even blacklisted her.
How could she know that the so-called "ladies club" that Fang Zhiyi found for her was actually a mistress club?
Fang Jingtong watched her youngest son being transferred to the general ward. Fortunately, Wu Xiaobao was strong and managed to survive, but he was still in a coma. This was the best news Fang Jingtong had heard recently.
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