Chapter Thirty-Eight: How did you two run into each other?
Upon hearing this, Zhong Xiaoxiao's chubby little face flushed bright red, as if she had been slapped hard.
She was so angry that she was trembling all over, her chest heaving, and she glared at the gossiping women with wide eyes.
"What nonsense are you spouting!" The little girl's voice was sharp with anger. "I went to ask Teacher Song for help with my homework! Teacher Song is my teacher; she teaches me how to solve all kinds of difficult problems!"
"How can you people have such filthy thoughts! Everything you see is dirty!"
"Oh, Xiaoxiao, you sure know how to talk a good game." The Zhou family's wife said sarcastically, "You said you went to ask for advice, so you went to ask for advice? Who knew that you, a little girl, would sneak into a single man's house behind his back and do something so shameful?"
"You!" Zhong Xiaoxiao's eyes reddened with anger. She pointed her little finger at the Zhou family woman, her finger trembling.
"You people are the ones whose hearts are truly filthy!" She was so angry that she blurted out words in an attempt to prove her and her mother's innocence.
The little girl stiffened her neck, puffed out her chest, and shouted loudly as if she were going to throw caution to the wind: "I'm telling you! My dream is to have Teacher Song as my stepfather! I'm not as despicable as you think! Teacher Song is a good person! My mom is a good person too!"
After these words were spoken, there was an eerie silence at the entrance of the alley for a moment.
Immediately afterwards, the gossipy women looked at each other in bewilderment, then burst into a deafening roar of laughter.
Hahahaha!
Aunt Liu laughed so hard she almost fell over, tears welling up in her eyes. She clutched her stomach and pointed at Zhong Xiaoxiao, "Oh my, I can't take it anymore... What did this little brat say?"
"She said she wants Secretary Song... to be her stepfather? Hahahaha!" Aunt Li laughed so hard she couldn't stand up straight, slapping her thigh. "What a toad trying to eat swan meat, what a pipe dream!"
The Zhou family woman laughed with utter contempt, wiping away tears of laughter. "I'm telling you, Xiaoxiao, why don't you take a piss and look at yourself in the mirror? And your mother, Zhang Chunxue!"
"What kind of person is Secretary Song? Young and promising, an educated man, a state cadre! He has a bright future!"
"What kind of young, unmarried woman can't he marry? What kind of city girl can't he find?"
The woman from the Zhou family drawled out the last syllable, her eyes filled with disdain and mockery: "He would even look at your mother, that widow who brings bad luck to her husbands? And a widow with four of you as burdens!"
"So what if she's a widow!" Zhong Xiaoxiao was so angered by these hurtful words that she could no longer hold back her tears, which rolled down her cheeks like beads from a broken string.
She wiped away her tears, her neck stiff, her voice trembling with sobs, yet she stubbornly retorted, "So what if my mother is a widow!"
"My mom is the best person in the world! She's hardworking, capable, kind, and warm-hearted! She deserves Teacher Song! Teacher Song likes my mom too!"
Upon hearing this, the women laughed even harder, as if they had heard something utterly unbelievable.
"Hahaha! You're worthy?" Aunt Liu laughed so hard she could barely breathe. "You little brat, you've got quite the nerve!"
Aunt Li chimed in, "That's right! Secretary Song is a figure from heaven, what is your mother compared to him?"
The Zhou family woman leaned forward even further, a mischievous smile on her face, deliberately provoking, "Alright, since you put it that way, then we'll all keep our eyes peeled! We want to see what incredible skills your mother, Zhang Chunxue, has, and what seductive tricks she'll use to win over Song Xingzhi, the village's most precious and coveted 'high-mountain flower'! Let's hope she doesn't end up with nothing but shame and become the laughingstock of the whole village!"
Several women mocked each other, exchanging gloating glances, then swayed their hips contentedly, laughing and talking as they walked away, leaving behind bursts of grating laughter echoing at the alley entrance.
Zhong Xiaoxiao stood there all alone, her small fists clenched tightly, her nails digging deep into her palms, causing a sharp pain, but it was nothing compared to the surging anger and grievances in her heart.
What alarmed her even more was that she actually shouted in front of so many people that she wanted Teacher Song to be her stepfather!
Oh my god!
She didn't even ask her mother's opinion!
If Mom finds out, will she think she's meddling?
Won't you think she's shameless, a little girl worrying about adult matters?
What if Mom didn't mean it that way at all? Wouldn't she just be causing trouble for Mom and making her feel embarrassed?
Zhong Xiaoxiao became increasingly frightened as she thought about it, her face turning red and then white. She needed to sound out her mother first.
In the evening, the fire in the stove in the kitchen was burning brightly, making Zhang Chunxue's busy face flushed, while Zhou Mingli helped her pick vegetables.
Zhong Xiaoxiao sat on a small stool, adding firewood to the stove intermittently, but her eyes kept glancing at her mother. Her heart was pounding, like she had a rabbit in her chest.
The pot was simmering with fragrant cabbage and tofu, the steam rising gently, carrying a simple, comforting warmth.
As Zhang Chunxue added a spoonful of water to the pot, she seemed to suddenly remember something and said to Zhou Mingli, "Oh, right, Mingli, I ran into Secretary Song in town today."
Zhou Mingli paused slightly as she picked vegetables, then looked up and asked, "Mom, did you go to town?"
“Hmm,” Zhang Chunxue wiped the sweat from her forehead and said in a casual tone, “I was thinking of looking around for you to see if there was any suitable work. Secretary Song is a very helpful person. He said he would also keep an eye out and see if he could find you a job in town or a nearby factory.”
"Huh?" Zhou Mingli suddenly raised her head, her eyes first flashing with disbelief, then bursting with joy.
"Secretary Song... he... he really said that?"
Her voice trembled slightly. If she could have a job, that would be wonderful!
"Really?" she asked again, as if afraid she had misheard, or as if afraid it was just a dream.
“Of course it’s true?” Zhang Chunxue smiled. “Clerk Song is an educated man, and he keeps his word.”
Zhong Xiaoxiao listened from the side, her ears immediately perking up like an alert little rabbit.
Teacher Song?
Why would her mother talk to Teacher Song about her second sister-in-law's job?
Something's up here! Something's definitely up!
The little girl's inner radar started beeping, and her big, dark eyes gleamed.
She blinked her big eyes and casually interjected, "Mom, what's this about Teacher Song? How did you two run into each other?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
