Chapter 117 Rumors of Being a Wife-Killer
A corner of the scrap yard.
Several middle-aged women were rummaging through old newspapers while chatting about the latest gossip.
"You wouldn't believe it, those two middle-aged women were fighting so fiercely! Their children came to help too, and both sides were covered in black eyes, with hair all over the place. It was a terrible sight!"
"This is really rare. It's been so long since we've seen two families get into a brawl in this area!"
An older woman, with a unique perspective, asked the probing question, "Oh my, what does that old man look like? Is he some kind of handsome fellow?"
The women fell silent.
An older woman in a blue-black cotton-padded jacket thought for a moment and tentatively said, "It has to be something like the male fox spirit in the opera to make two older women fight over it."
"My goodness, he's so handsome!" Another round-faced woman's eyes lit up, and she excitedly said, "Why don't we go for a stroll around the area near number 35 sometime? Maybe we'll run into this handsome old man?"
"Okay, okay, it's settled then!"
Cheng Jiajia: "..."
Her lips twitched, and she glanced speechlessly at a group of middle-aged women gathered not far away, talking animatedly and spitting as they spoke.
She knew it, she knew this day would come.
She knew that news of the fight between the Qin and Bai families would spread sooner or later. After all, it was a rare occurrence within a ten-mile radius, and it would surely be the talk of the town.
Cheng Jiajia really didn't expect the rumors to go so far.
It was clearly Aunt Yan who started the fight with Bai Xiaohui over a wool coat, so how did it become a story that she and Aunt Bai were fighting over Qin Weimin, an old man, and that their love turned to hate?
And Qin Weimin is handsome?! Almost like a male vixen?!
Outrageous! Absolutely outrageous!
Qin Weimin's honest, square face couldn't be said to be very similar to a male fox spirit; it was more like a mismatch.
To be honest, he's not bad-looking, otherwise Bai Zhenzhu wouldn't have seduced him, but no one would ever think of him as a male fox spirit.
Cheng Jiajia's expression was strange. This was probably the first time Qin Weimin had been compared to a male fox spirit.
I wonder if he'll be happy or upset when he finds out?
The scrap metal recycling station where Cheng Jiajia works is located in a residential area. There are houses in front of and behind the recycling station, and the neighbors often come to sell some scrap metal and exchange some waste newspapers.
Over time, she became acquainted with several elderly women who frequently came to buy waste newspapers to start fires.
These middle-aged women all possessed the finest qualities of Chinese people: a love of gossip and a desire to join in the fun. Coincidentally, Cheng Jiajia shared the same traits, so she got along quite well with them.
Sometimes they would even share gossip about their own lives.
This added a lot of fun to Cheng Jiajia's free time outside of work. After all, it was just her and Old Man Wang at the scrap yard, and they would eventually run out of things to talk about, so it was actually quite boring.
Today, a few middle-aged women had finished most of their chores at home, so they arranged to come to the recycling station to chat with Cheng Jiajia.
When people were talking about the big gossip that had happened around them recently, one auntie mentioned this strange thing that happened in the No. 35 compound.
Just as Cheng Jiajia was hesitating about whether to confess that she lived in compound number 35, before she could even interject, the aunties suddenly changed the subject and started talking about other gossip.
Hey, have you guys heard?
"What?"
An older woman said mysteriously, "The director of our local supply and marketing cooperative, that guy surnamed Xu, has found someone new and I heard they're getting married soon."
The other middle-aged women were initially puzzled and confused. Then, the woman in the blue cotton-padded jacket quickly seemed to remember something and tentatively asked, "Is it the one who looks presentable and is dressed decently?"
The older woman, Aunt Wu, clapped her hands and exclaimed, "Who else could it be but him!"
Everyone fell silent.
The women's expressions immediately turned strange, and upon closer inspection, there was even a hint of apprehension.
Cheng Jiajia raised an eyebrow. Oh, something's fishy here.
Otherwise, why is everyone so secretive about a supply and marketing cooperative director dating? It's a perfectly normal thing.
The director of the supply and marketing cooperative... Cheng Jiajia searched her memory and confirmed that she had never seen this person before.
She was very curious, "Aunties, is there anything wrong with this director dating? Is there something special about him?"
Her question elicited even stranger expressions from the older women.
The group exchanged glances, and it was Aunt Wu who spoke first.
"Hey, Xiao Cheng, you married into this family late, so you don't know. His name is Xu Dongliang. Well, he's not a bad person. He's good-looking and successful in his career. He's quite promising at a young age."
Hearing this, Cheng Jiajia was a little puzzled. "If that's the case, then this person should be a popular choice in the marriage market, so why is he single?" Moreover, everyone is keeping his relationship a closely guarded secret.
Aunt Wu whispered again, "He married two wives, and neither of them lived long after they married him, and their deaths were not very dignified."
As if they had thought of something terrifying, the expressions of the other women became somewhat wary.
Cheng Jiajia's eyes widened slightly. "How is it disgraceful? Did he beat you to death?"
Having been bombarded with all sorts of modern social news, this was the first possibility that came to Cheng Jiajia's mind.
"That's not it!"
The older women glanced at Cheng Jiajia speechlessly. This little Cheng has quite the imagination.
However, no one wanted to say how Xu Dongliang's two wives died.
Cheng Jiajia had no choice but to give up and thought about going back to ask Aunt Cao for information.
The woman in the blue cotton-padded jacket, also known as Aunt Sun, pursed her lips and said, "Because of this, everyone secretly says that he's a jinx to wives, and no girl dares to marry him. Families in this neighborhood with daughters turn hostile as soon as they mention him. That's how famous he is."
"Sigh, I wonder which unlucky girl has gotten together with him."
Cheng Jiajia thought to herself, "She's really an unlucky girl. She's either blinded by good conditions or blinded by this man's good looks."
Cheng Jiajia wasn't superstitious, nor did she think Xu Dongliang was a jinx to his wives, but both of his wives had died undignified deaths, so she felt that this man had some problems and wasn't a reliable person to entrust her life to.
However, she said, "Hey, this is a new society now, we don't follow feudal superstitions anymore. Maybe the two of them just like each other and have a deep affection for each other, so they don't care about these things."
Aunt Wu sighed, feeling quite sorry.
"I heard that girl's parents both work in a food factory, and her father is even a director. She and her younger brother are the only two children in the family, and they're not poor. Tell me, wouldn't it be great if she could be introduced to my nephew? How could she be so blind as to fall for that wife-killer Xu Dongliang?"
Old Wang chuckled and hit the nail on the head, "Xu Dongliang is the director of the supply and marketing cooperative, and he has a bright future ahead of him. Who knows if that woman is after him?"
Aunt Wu fell silent. It was unclear whether she agreed with Old Man Wang's words, or if she was embarrassed to speak up because her nephew's circumstances weren't very good.
Cheng Jiajia blinked.
Wait, why does that "poor girl" sound so familiar?
I'm not sure, let me ask again.
So, Cheng Jiajia asked casually, "Aunt Wu, do you know that woman's last name?"
Aunt Wu said uncertainly, "I think her surname is Dong or something? I heard Xu Dongliang call this woman that, that's the pronunciation."
Cheng Jiajia: "..."
Great, confirmed.
The woman who was dating the thrice-married director of the supply and marketing cooperative was indeed her stepsister, Dong Siwei.
In other words, the couple she and Yu Junsheng encountered kissing in the alley yesterday after leaving the tailor shop were them.
That makes it difficult to evaluate.
Does Dong Siwei know that this man has had two wives who died? And judging from what these older women are saying, both of his ex-wives died tragically.
...
The morning passed quickly while I gossiped with a few middle-aged women, and soon it was lunchtime.
The family ran out of vegetables, so Cheng Jiajia was going to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy some.
Cheng Jiajia was quite lucky; there were fresh bean sprouts available today. These were a common sight on the dinner table in later generations, but they were a rare treat in the winter of the 1960s. She planned to buy a pound or two to take home and stew with cured pork when Yu Junsheng returned.
Just then, a young man came down from the second floor. Cheng Jiajia didn't pay any attention to him at first, but when she heard the saleswoman call the man "Director", Cheng Jiajia paused in her picking out vegetables and began to carefully examine the young "Director".
He looked to be around twenty-eight or twenty-nine years old, dressed in a cadre uniform with a pen clipped to his breast pocket, and certainly looked very much like a cadre.
Importantly, he looked somewhat familiar.
The man glanced at his watch, then strode out, seemingly heading to dinner.
A young female saleswoman chased after him with a lunchbox, calling out shyly, "Director Xu, Director Xu, I brought an extra meal. Please take it."
The man smiled gently, reached out and took it, praising it.
"Xiao Zhang, thank you. You are such a virtuous and good comrade. Whoever marries you will be very lucky."
"Director Xu~"
The saleswoman blushed, glared at him, and quickly ran away.
Xu Dongliang remained standing there, a smile on his lips, watching her retreating figure with deep affection.
Cheng Jiajia: "..."
Cheng Jiajia shook off the goosebumps all over her body.
Good heavens, Dong Siwei, that stepsister, is truly blind to have fallen for someone like that.
...
Cheng Jiajia quickly bought the groceries and hurried away from the supply and marketing cooperative, otherwise she was afraid she would lose control of her composure.
Unexpectedly, another good show unfolded when they returned to the compound.
Bai Zhenzhu and her daughter, along with Qi Baifan, stood behind, while Qin Weimin, carrying a large hen, confronted Aunt Yan and the Qin siblings.
The two families were hurling insults at each other, spitting at each other, while the hen kept clucking and flapping its wings. Anyone who didn't know better would think they were arguing with the chickens.
Cheng Jiajia: "..."
"Wait, what's going on?"
The phrase "chaos ensued" perfectly describes this scene.
"Hey, they're at it again, huh? It's the same old story!" Aunt Cao popped up from behind, cracking sunflower seeds.
Cheng Jiajia patted her chest, gave Aunt Cao a complicated look, and said seriously, "Auntie, next time please don't suddenly jump out from behind people, okay?"
Aunt Cao rolled her eyes at her, pursed her lips, and began to recount the whole story.
"Didn't the two families have a real fight yesterday? That old man Qin Weimin felt that his darling had been wronged, so today he took that mother and daughter and that pretty boy Qi Baifan to buy a set of clothes and brought back a hen, saying that he wanted to nourish his darling. When the Qin family found out, they were furious, and the two sides started arguing."
She understands the logic, but—
Why are they making a scene in the Second Hospital?
Cheng Jiajia was very puzzled. Both families lived in the Third Hospital, so why didn't they go back to the Third Hospital to argue? Why did they have to make such a fuss in their Second Hospital?
Aunt Cao chuckled awkwardly, "Who knows?" It couldn't be that she stopped Qin Weimin because she saw him carrying clothes and chickens, and that her fussing attracted Yan Xiaocui and the others, could it?
Suddenly, Cheng Jiajia's gaze froze. She grabbed Aunt Cao's arm and excitedly pointed in a direction, "Look!"
She saw it clearly; the chicken had just pooped a huge pile!
Aunt Cao's face immediately darkened, because that place was right in front of her house.
She roared, "Qin Weimin, Bai Zhenzhu, and Yan Xiaocui, you all go back to the Third Hospital and make a scene! Take your lousy chickens back with you to poop!"
Both sides immediately shut up.
It was completely quiet.
Qin Weimin said unhappily, "Old Cao, what do you mean? Can't we stay in this second courtyard anymore? What's wrong with this chicken? It didn't offend you, did it?"
The chicken was specially prepared by Qin Weimin to nourish his son, but Xiaohui reminded him of it, showing how filial Xiaohui is to her mother.
Cheng Jiajia said sarcastically, "Oh, Uncle Qin, you must have saved up a lot of money over the years, otherwise how could you be so extravagant?"
Before Qin Weimin could say anything, Bai Xiaohui jumped out and yelled, "Mind your own business! Does Uncle Qin need to report to you when he buys some things for my mom's wedding?"
"Oh my, it looks like more than just a little. The things you two bought for your second marriage are more than what we young people bought for our first marriage." Cheng Jiajia said with a half-smile. This old man is not honest. His salary has to support his family, and he can't afford to spend like this.
Aunt Cao pursed her lips and said, "That's right, none of the young couples in our neighborhood spend money like you do."
Qin Weimin's eyes flashed. "It's not much. A lifetime's savings for retirement can buy a chicken. You young people need to broaden your horizons, but don't—"
He stopped before he could finish speaking, because Cheng Jiajia's eyes were fixed on the chicken in her hand. She swallowed and said, "Slurp~ What a plump chicken! It would be delicious to make soup with it!"
"Uncle Qin, this chicken is so fat. There aren't many people in your family, so you probably can't finish it, right? You'll definitely be happy to share it with your neighbors, won't you?" Cheng Jiajia blinked her big eyes and asked sincerely.
Qin Weimin suddenly realized that this was the person who could live with the stingy and cunning Yu Junsheng.
He didn't bother to say anything more and warned, "Let me tell you, Xiao Cheng, don't you dare try to take my chickens. I don't even have enough chickens for my family."
Now there was no need for anyone to yell at him. He quickly pulled his darling back home, afraid that if he was a step too late, Cheng Jiajia would bite the chicken in his hand.
Cheng Jiajia's lips twitched. Sure enough, the only thing that could defeat magic was magic itself.
She reflected deeply on whether she hadn't been good enough lately, which was why people thought she was easy to bully.
...
Meanwhile, at the machine factory.
After finishing his work, Yu Junsheng followed Section Chief Liao to the security department.
Yesterday, Yao Qinglin brought news that Deng Guangming wanted to see Yu Junsheng. Yu Junsheng originally didn't plan to go, and didn't think he had anything to say to Deng Guangming. But Yao Qinglin persuaded him, saying that the factory could give Yu Junsheng a suitable reward after the stolen money was found, so Yu Junsheng agreed to go see him, just to hear what else he had to say.
Deng Guangming probably had some idea of who had tricked him, so he asked Yu Junsheng to say a bunch of nonsense.
It was all about his parents' past, how young and promising his father was as an engineer, and how virtuous and capable his mother was. It seemed like he was trying to get closer to the two of them, but Yu Junsheng couldn't figure out what this person was up to.
Yu Junsheng's parents both worked in the factory before they died, so it's not surprising that Deng Guangming knew them. He was too lazy to listen to this man's rambling and got up to leave.
The man suddenly said, "Is it you?"
Yu Junsheng paused, then said casually, "Director Deng, I don't understand what you're saying. To be honest, we're not that close, and I don't know why you want to see me. Since you have nothing to say, I'll be leaving now. I still have a lot of work to do."
Deng Guangming chuckled, "You're just as talented in mechanics as your father, but you're much more cunning."
Yu Junsheng grew impatient and quickened his pace to leave.
Suddenly, a voice came from beside me, "How do you think your dad died?"
Yu Junsheng's heart skipped a beat.
"What do you mean?!"
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