Chapter Fifty-Six: I invited Clerk Song to dinner tonight.
Zhong Xiaoxiao pouted and muttered softly, "Mom, I know I was wrong..."
She looked up, her eyes still a little red: "I was so angry with them back then. They...they kept saying that I was being disrespectful at such a young age and trying to seduce Teacher Song...I couldn't stand it, that's why I said those things..."
Upon hearing the word "seduce," Zhang Chunxue's face instantly darkened, and her eyes turned cold.
"These gossipy old women!" Her voice was filled with barely suppressed anger. "To spread rumors about a girl who's only a teenager, they really have no shame!"
She took a deep breath, suppressed her anger, looked at Zhong Xiaoxiao, and her tone became serious.
"Xiaoxiao, you better remember this!"
"Next time you encounter such a foul-mouthed, filthy person, don't bother explaining yourself to them!"
Zhong Xiaoxiao blinked, somewhat puzzled: "Not explaining? Won't they just start spouting even more nonsense?"
Zhang Chunxue sneered: "If you try to explain to them, you're doing them a favor! The more you explain, the more they'll think you're easy to bully, and the more they'll think they're right and have you under their control!"
"To deal with these kinds of people, you have to be even tougher than them!"
"If they dare to talk nonsense again, you go up to them and yell at them! Give them a good dressing down until they dare not utter another word!"
Zhong Xiaoxiao listened in a daze, her small mouth slightly open.
Zhang Chunxue continued, "Don't they know in their hearts that they are making things up? They know it very well!"
"But why do they still say it?"
"Isn't it just that they want to see you blush and get angry when they make fun of you, to see you feel wronged, helpless, and furious?"
"The more you act like you care, the more smug they become!"
"So, as long as you don't let them get their way, and don't give them the reaction they want to see, they'll lose interest on their own."
"Either ignore them or give them a good scolding and let them know you're not someone to be trifled with!"
Zhong Xiaoxiao's eyes grew brighter and brighter as she listened, her previous grievances and unease long since forgotten.
She looked at Zhang Chunxue with admiration: "Mom! You're amazing! You know all this!"
Zhang Chunxue simply smiled faintly and said nothing more.
She thought to herself, "I've been reborn, after all. What kind of filth haven't I seen in my past life?"
She would never let herself and her children suffer that kind of humiliation again in her life.
The mother and daughter, holding Zhong Hongqing's hand, chatted as they walked, and soon arrived at the tofu shop at the west end of the village.
Zhang Chunxue picked out the freshest piece of soft tofu, weighed out some bean sprouts, and then paid.
By the time I got home, it was already getting dark.
Zhang Chunxue placed the tofu on the kitchen counter and began rolling up her sleeves to prepare dinner.
Zhong Xiaoxiao obediently followed along, helping out by picking and washing vegetables, her little face once again filled with anticipation and excitement.
A little while later, Zhou Mingli also came home from get off work.
She was carrying a paper bag and said with a smile as soon as she entered the door, "Chunxue, I passed by that deli at the street corner and saw that their braised pig's head looked pretty good today. It smelled delicious, so I bought some to add to my dishes."
Zhang Chunxue took the oil paper package, smelled it, and indeed found it to be very fragrant. She smiled and said, "You bought it at just the right time. I've invited Secretary Song over for dinner tonight."
Upon hearing this, Zhou Mingli's eyes lit up, and a delighted smile appeared on her face as she nodded repeatedly, "Of course, of course!"
"Secretary Song has helped our family so much, helping me find a job. We should treat him to a good meal! This pig's head is perfect, it goes well with the drinks!"
Zhang Chunxue placed the pig's head on the cutting board, and before she could even bring down the knife, she casually said, "By the way, Mingli, Chengren is back."
Zhou Mingli was taking off her coat when she heard this, she paused, her smile faded, leaving only a faint shadow on her face.
She responded softly, "Is...is that so..."
Zhang Chunxue glanced at her, then cut the tofu into thick slices. "You have your own job now, you have a salary to support yourself, what are you afraid of him for? Why do you care about him?"
"Mom, I don't care." Zhou Mingli bit her lip and nodded vigorously. "From now on, I'll live my own life."
Zhang Chunxue nodded in satisfaction, poured the bean sprouts into the basin of water to soak, and said no more.
As dusk settled outside the kitchen window, a ray of sunset slanted in, casting a reddish glow on the cutting board.
Suddenly, footsteps sounded outside the door, followed by Zhong Xiaoxiao's low, surprised exclamation: "Teacher Song!"
When Song Xingzhi pushed open the door, he was wearing a light gray shirt and looked exceptionally energetic. He was carrying a paper bag and two bottles of wine, as well as two large food boxes from state-run restaurants.
"Wow, you're here so fast!" Zhong Xiaoxiao's eyes lit up, and she ran over to help take the things.
Song Xingzhi smiled and handed her candy: "Sister Chunxue, Mingli, are you both alright?"
Zhou Mingli quickly wiped her hands clean and came out to greet him. Before she even got close, her voice had already softened: "Secretary Song, it's been a long time!"
When Zhang Chunxue saw that he had brought so much stuff, her eyebrows immediately shot up. "What are you doing? Didn't you say we were just having a home-cooked meal, and that just the people coming would be enough? Why did you buy all this?"
Song Xingzhi placed the gifts on the table and replied unhurriedly, "How can you go to someone's house for a meal empty-handed? That's the rule."
The two looked at each other, one with a smile on his lips, the other pretending to be angry, but neither of them looked away.
The air seemed to be filled with steaming heat, even more intense than the soup simmering in the pot.
At that moment, the door to the main room was pushed open, and a gust of wind swept in.
Zhong Chengyi walked into the yard, dusting himself off as he called out, "Mom, I'm home!"
As soon as he stepped into the kitchen, he saw Song Xingzhi and froze, instinctively frowning as he asked, "Huh? Why is... Clerk Song here today?"
Zhang Chunxue glanced at him, her tone calm yet authoritative, "I'm inviting Secretary Song to dinner, is there a problem?"
Zhong Chengyi quickly waved his hand, leaned his schoolbag against the wall, and said, "How could I dare to have any objections! You're the one who makes the decisions in the family. I'm just wondering..."
He paused here, then added, as if to be clever, "Come to think of it, it makes sense. We should invite her. After all, this situation is only possible because the clerk helped my second sister-in-law find a job!"
He forced a fawning yet awkward smile at Song Xingzhi, then craned his neck to look at the box of braised dishes on the kitchen stove. His nostrils twitched slightly, and the aroma made his stomach rumble.
“Secretary Song, why don’t you come sit in the main room for a while?” Zhong Chengyi leaned closer and nudged Song Xingzhi with his elbow, muttering in a low voice, “Men should chat amongst themselves. Don’t always hang out with the women. It doesn’t sound good if they think you’re too talkative.”
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com