Before they knew it, the two little ones had started school. The supplier that Ji Xiao had introduced them to had been secured, and they had been very busy for a while. Xia Liang finally had some time to rest and thought she would buy some groceries to cook a nice meal for the two children.
As I walked into the alley, I saw people who often chatted and gossiped there, mending clothes and sewing shoe soles. The old ladies were chatting under the trees as usual. One of them said, "I always said her private life wasn't simple. Otherwise, how could someone from the countryside have such ability to win over that young Gu?" Another old lady sitting next to her rubbed a sewing needle in her hair before speaking, "That's right. Those shady men often come to her house, and those two even live there." "Tsk tsk tsk, that young Gu is really unlucky. Such a handsome young man, with a bright future, and he found a wife like that." She shook her head, spitting out sunflower seed shells, her face full of regret and disdain.
Hearing this, Xia Liang would be a fool if she still didn't realize they were talking about her. She stepped forward with a smile and asked, "What are you ladies saying?" The old women were startled by the voice behind them; anyone would be frightened if the person being spoken ill of stood behind them!
The old lady who had just been eating sunflower seeds chuckled and asked, "Xia, where are you going?" The old lady tried to change the subject, but Xia Liang didn't want to give her the chance and continued to ask her, "Aunt Qi, what did you just say about Gu Yanxiao's bad luck because of the kind of wife he found?" The old lady who was eating sunflower seeds was surnamed Qi, and everyone around called her Aunt Qi. Aunt Qi had never seen such a person before. She had a smile on her face, but her mouth was sharp.
The older women nearby also felt somewhat uncomfortable. Although they hadn't said anything bad about Xia Liang, they secretly agreed with what she had said. Now that they'd been caught red-handed, they felt guilty. The woman who had been sewing shoe soles, however, was displeased. She said sarcastically, "What? You have the nerve to do it, but you won't let others talk about it?" She felt that what they said was true; they were just telling the facts. What right did Xia Liang have to question them here?
The old woman who sewed shoe soles was married to a woman surnamed Wang. Xia Liang wasn't afraid of her and looked directly at her, saying, "I don't know what shameless thing I've done, Aunt Wang, why don't you tell me so I can find out!" Seeing that Xia Liang was becoming more and more arrogant, daring to be so self-righteous after doing something shameless, Aunt Wang was determined to expose her and see if she would dare to be so arrogant again!
She held her chin high, pointing her nose at Xia Liang: "You've been involved with those men in all sorts of shady dealings. Marrying into the Gu family is already a stroke of good luck. Your affair with the Ji family boy is ambiguous, and strange men are constantly coming and going from our house. That's nothing compared to the two other men you're keeping as lovers." As she spoke, her expression grew increasingly smug, as if she had caught Xia Liang red-handed. Xia Liang sneered: "Aunt Wang, yesterday I saw you talking to Uncle Zhou, who sells eggs at the market. Were you planning to go somewhere? You two seemed so secretive, talking behind each other's backs. Is there some kind of secret?" Xia Liang winked at Aunt Wang, looking playful, which made Aunt Wang blush with anger.
With her stern face, Aunt Wang, ignoring the stares of others, spat at Xia Liang, saying, "You little slut, don't make false accusations! When did I ever have a secret with Old Zhou?" Xia Liang chuckled, "I saw it with my own eyes! Aunt Wang, how dare you do it but not admit it?" Although Xia Liang was smiling, the other women felt a chill; they inexplicably felt a bit cold!
Xia Liang wasn't going to let anyone off the hook. She turned her attention to Aunt Qi, who had just been eating sunflower seeds, and said with her usual smile, "Aunt Qi, what were you and Uncle Qi doing in the alley up ahead the other day? You kept stuffing things into Uncle Qi's pockets, and he couldn't refuse. I didn't realize you were going to such lengths for him!" "And another thing," Xia Liang continued, turning to Aunt Zhu, who had just been sewing, "Aunt Zhu, you're also quite close to the shoemaker, Uncle Zhao! Every time I see Uncle Zhu go to work, you go to Uncle Zhao's to get your shoes repaired, always when Uncle Zhu isn't home. Are you afraid Uncle Zhu will misunderstand?" Xia Liang started making things up too. It was all just rumors; as long as it could slander someone, who cared whether it was true or not!
Xia Liang wasn't about to let them off the hook: "Oh dear! You gentlemen are really unlucky! Marrying wives like you is the worst luck imaginable! Tsk tsk tsk." She even mimicked their expressions, just like the old ladies had gossiped about her earlier. The old ladies' blood pressure spiked instantly at Xia Liang's words. Pointing at her, they shouted, "You little slut, who are you slandering! What utter nonsense! Who's having an affair with Old Man Zhao?" The first to speak was Aunt Zhu, her face flushed red, whether from anger or embarrassment, it was hard to tell.
Two of the women who had been with the group of older women whispered to each other, "You know what, I actually saw Zhu's wife getting her shoes repaired while the head of the household was away. Could it really be what Xia Liang said?" Hearing this, Zhu's blood pressure soared even higher. She pointed at her two companions and yelled, "What nonsense are you two spouting? You're the one having an affair with so-and-so, don't think I don't know!" As she spoke, she reached out to grab the two older women's hair.
Aunt Qi and Aunt Wang weren't going to let Xia Liang off the hook either. They stepped forward to pull her hair, but were bumped into by Aunt Qi Zhu and another woman who were fighting behind them. Instantly, the old ladies rolled around in a chaotic mess. Xia Liang was practically dying of laughter. "So you've been gossiping!" she thought. "I'll see who dares to talk behind my back again. I'll catch them and slander them, making them taste the bitterness of having their reputations ruined."
Xia Liang happily went to buy groceries and hummed a tune while cooking for the two children. When the two little ones came home from school and saw their mother so happy, they couldn't help but feel happy too, even though they didn't know why they were happy! They just felt inexplicably happy.
When the families of those elderly women got home from get off work that evening, they expected to find a hot meal waiting for them. However, when they arrived home, the old woman was not there. They didn't know where she had gone. They looked for her under the big tree where they often gathered, but there was no one else there. They knocked on the neighbor's door, and before they could even ask anything, the neighbor spoke first: "Why are you still here? Your husband is in the hospital right now!"
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