After returning to the dormitory, Old Mrs. Xia kept thinking about her sister. The quarrel just now had no effect on her at all.
She lay down on the bed with mixed feelings. Before she could figure out a solution, the dormitory door was kicked open by someone. The person who came in seemed to be a little angry.
But Old Mrs. Xia felt that it should have nothing to do with her. She has always been a loner. In the past, they would at most say bad things about her behind her back, but never said anything to her face. They simply ignored her.
Even now that Qiao Yi was trying hard to integrate her into the small group in the dormitory, Old Lady Xia had never had any direct conflict with any of them. No matter how she thought about it, this anger could not be directed at her, so she closed her eyes with peace of mind.
"Comrade Xia."
Damn it, he came here to find her. Old Mrs. Xia sat up in confusion, "Looking for me?"
It was Fang Yingdi who came in. She was furious as if Old Lady Xia owed her a lot of money. "Comrade Xia, can you please think of us when you cause trouble next time? You may be divorced, but the three of us are still single. Your living in our dormitory was already a big deal for us, and now you've made such a big fuss. Comrade Xiao Xiang and I have been pointed at and criticized. Who will compensate us for this?"
Old Lady Xia: "What did I tell you? What did I do?"
Seeing Old Lady Xia's confused look, Fang Yingdi became even angrier. "What else could it be? Your presence in our dormitory is affecting our reputation."
She recalled how, after work, the man she'd initially had a crush on suddenly jokingly asked if their dorm would be full of tigresses. She didn't know where to put her face. The three of them had originally lived together in harmony and friendship, but ever since she moved in, the atmosphere in the dorm had changed.
Old Lady Xia opened her eyes wide. "Did I affect your reputation? What reputation?"
Fang Yingdi: "Of course, how could it not have an impact? When people outside see you moving in, they'll definitely think we're being influenced by you and won't be the kind of people who live virtuous lives anymore. I'm so unlucky, why do I have to share a dormitory with you?"
Old Mrs. Xia took a deep breath and said, "Then you should move out."
After hearing this, Fang Yingdi really couldn't understand how someone could be so shameless. She was the first one to move into this dormitory, and it was Comrade Xia's bad reputation that implicated them. But Comrade Xia not only didn't feel embarrassed, but instead asked her to move out with a clear conscience. Why?
"Why?" Fang Yingdi's voice was twice as loud as before. "You are the one with the problem. Why should I move out?"
Old Lady Xia: "What's wrong with me? I have no problems. I have no problems at all. Comrade Xiao Fang, the problem is of course with you. It's you who can't stand me, not me who can't stand you. Why don't you just ask Director Yuan to move out? Besides, my reputation is excellent, while yours is so bad that I don't even want to say anything about you."
Fang Yingdi rushed to Old Lady Xia's side, grabbed her hand, and insisted she explain herself. "Tell me, what's wrong with me? I respect my parents, love my brother, work hard, and am diligent and frugal. No one can endure hardships like me. What's wrong with me? I'm the most glorious worker."
Old Mrs. Xia was already preoccupied with something, so she had no time to chat with her. Fang Yingdi was being unreasonable. This dormitory belonged to the factory, not her home. Since the factory allowed her to live here, she was of course confident enough to do so.
Just now, I thought they wouldn't say anything to her face, but now they're saying it out loud and putting the blame on her. If they can't get married in the future, will everyone blame her? Fang Yingdi loves to gossip about others behind their backs and say she has a bad reputation. Could her reputation be worse than Fang Yingdi's own?
Speaking of Fang Yingdi, the way she treated her parents and brother was no less than that of her second daughter-in-law, Dong Chunmiao. She burned herself out for her brother, living frugally herself, scrimping and saving every day to buy her brother nutritional supplements, candies, biscuits, clothes, and shoes, without feeling any pity at all.
She dressed worse than Old Lady Xia, and bought things for her brother like an eighth-grade worker. Old Lady Xia wasn't talking nonsense, but many people were saying behind her back that marrying someone with her personality would be like a swarm of locusts, emptying her in-laws' house to support her brother.
Although Old Lady Xia didn't know if it was such an exaggeration, she knew that other women were indeed sought after by many families, but it was hard to say about Fang Yingdi, although those men were not good people either.
Old Mrs. Xia didn't want to say it so harshly. If the other party couldn't accept it and started crying, making a fuss, and even threatening to commit suicide, she would be called in for a talk with her leader again.
So, Old Lady Xia just said vaguely: "Do you really need me to tell you? Don't you know what people say about you behind your back? Otherwise, go and find out for yourself. If you really can't get married, it shouldn't be my problem."
Fang Yingdi's heart skipped a beat when she heard this. Could someone be saying something bad about her behind her back? Who was it, Qiao Yi? Yes, it had to be her. She'd been so close to Comrade Xia these past few days, so who knew what she was talking about? Otherwise, how could Comrade Xia, who wasn't even in the same workshop as her, know what was being said about her?
But thinking about Qiao Yi gossiping about her behind her back, she became even angrier and immediately got stuck in a dead end. "Comrade Xia, if you have the guts, tell me what they said about me. Is there anything about me that's worth saying?"
Old Mrs. Xia hesitated.
"Why don't you say anything? Are you trying to scare me or just to fool me? You don't dare anymore, do you? You're just talking nonsense."
Old Lady Xia opened her mouth, "You..."
Fang Yingdi: "What do you mean by 'I'? Just tell me, I'm not afraid of those rumors. I'm upright..."
Old Lady Xia: "They say that if they marry you, they marry your whole family. You may not be the daughter-in-law of your husband's family, but your husband will definitely be the workhorse of your mother's family."
Fang Yingdi's face suddenly turned pale, and her body seemed to be shaky. How could they say such things about her behind her back? She was educated and sensible, and they were also reasonable people. How could they say such things?
Her younger brother is a good student and will have a bright future. What's wrong with her, as an older sister, helping him occasionally? Many men support their younger brothers and sisters after they get married. Why can't women support their younger brothers and sisters when it's their turn? They are so selfish.
Her parents raised her well, so what's wrong with her giving back occasionally? Getting married doesn't mean she's severing ties with her parents' family. As her husband, what's wrong with him occasionally going to her parents' home to help with some chores?
She married into the man's family and worked like a slave, so why would she be unhappy if her future husband occasionally went to her parents' home to do some work?
Seeing her face was dark red, Old Lady Xia asked, "Can you still sit upright?"
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