"Oh Lord, when did you arrive? You frightened the life out of my wife just now."
"Hehe, grandma, I’ve been here for a while now, but you were all chatting so enthusiastically that I didn’t dare interrupt. Here, have some sunflower seeds, don’t be shy, what’s going on, who’s got their eye on whom?"
Shen Meng took out a big handful of plain sunflower seeds from her pocket, giving everyone a small handful each. Gossip is a catalyst for human connection, and once the old ladies got their hands on their snack, they popped a seed into their mouths and sighed at its fragrance.
Eating someone’s food obligates you, so naturally Shen Meng was pulled into their circle of gossip, and one kindly grandma even made room for her at the center.
"Who else could it be but Lai Zi? You don’t know, yesterday, during the grain and meat distribution, I noticed those two hadn’t come to postpone, oh my, it was such an eyesore."
"That’s right, Uncle Guai and Juying are such good people, just not lucky. Not only did they end up with a troublemaker daughter-in-law, but they also got a daughter who was returned from an engagement, and now she’s all cozy with someone like Lai Zi. If I had a daughter like that, I wouldn’t want to live anymore."
"What? Who are you talking about? Lu Xiangxiang and Lai Zi?"
The grandma next to her cried out in surprise, quickly pulling her aside and looking around to make sure no one else heard.
"Why are you shouting? You almost let someone else hear. It’s fine just for us to know. Juying got into a fight with her daughter-in-law again yesterday and isn’t feeling well; she’s still resting on the kang. If she hears about Xiangxiang and Lai Zi, she might just die of anger!"
Shen Meng couldn’t help but widen her eyes upon hearing this; it turns out all this hubbub was about Xiangxiang. She thought it was some juicy scandal, but it was just Xiangxiang.
"Grandma, where did you hear this from? Xiangxiang is diligent, beautiful, filial, and sensible. With Lai Zi being such a mess, it would only be if Xiangxiang lost her mind and went blind that she’d have anything to do with him."
Shen Meng decided to first find the source of these rumors. It wasn’t possible for such a story to arise out of nothing; there had to be someone stirring trouble. Xiao Bin and Xiangxiang were doing well now, and getting married was only a matter of time. With her brother as such a handsome, promising young man, it was absurd to think she’d pick a sleazy, foul-smelling old man instead.
"It was Old Lady Wang who said it, she saw everything clearly during the grain distribution yesterday. I didn’t believe it at first either, but she described it in such detail that I couldn’t help but believe."
"That’s right, I saw it myself, Xiangxiang was smiling so happily, and Lai Zi couldn’t take his eyes off her, shining. He was too obvious, Xiangxiang even shot him a shy look. Later on, I heard Lai Zi behind the haystack saying that Xiangxiang is young and shy, and that after the New Year he’s going to propose at the Lu Family, mentioning that Dezi already quietly refers to Xiangxiang as mom. Hearing that made me feel so blocked up. Ah, it wasn’t just me who heard it, several other old ladies in the village heard it too."
"Zhenping’s wife, you’ve always been on good terms with Xiangxiang’s parents, we can’t let them find out about this now, or it might be really bad."
Shen Meng: "...."
If your words are so nice, then why can’t you put away that face that’s enjoying the drama? The sneer in your eyes is practically spilling out.
"Old lady, just yesterday Xiangxiang, along with me, Jinghao, Lianhua, and Xifeng, we were all together. She was clearly mocking Ming Kai. Besides, she can’t stand Lai Zi to the point of disgust, she feels like retching at the sight of him. That’s not being shy or glowering at him, it’s pure disgust. There was a distance of at least two li between them, if not dozens of meters. How can you say you saw them flirtatious over such a long distance? I must say, your eyesight is truly remarkable."
At such an old age, to have 5.0 vision, even if Shen Meng was beaten to death, she’d jump up as a corpse to declare her disbelief.
Sure enough, as soon as Shen Meng said this, people started to realize. Those who saw Xiangxiang yesterday also knew that after she finished distributing the grain, she helped Shen Meng soothe Ming Kai for a bit and then she went back home. When did she flirt with Lai Zi?
"Aunt, old lady, gossiping is okay, chit-chatting is fine too, but you must not slander a woman’s reputation. Director Guo, the women’s director, is not one to be trifled with. Xiangxiang is such a good girl, so many eligible bachelors have broken down her door wanting to marry her. And Lai Zi, that dog, dares to think the toad could eat swan meat? Pah."
"Exactly, I’ve always said that Xiangxiang isn’t that kind of person. Even if she can’t marry, she’d still be looked after by Uncle Guai and Juying. Why would she be so desperate as to fancy Lai Zi? Lai Zi’s family is nothing but a pit of fire. Old lady, you can’t just spout nonsense!"
The very person who confidently spread the rumor about Xiangxiang and Lai Zi now turned pale. Just a few words from Zhenping’s wife, and the wives who had been chatting warmly with her just moments ago were now turning against her. She couldn’t help but feel furious.
"What kind of talk is this? How did I slander Xiangxiang? It’s what Lai Zi himself said. If there’s really nothing between the two of them, would Dezi call her ’mother’ behind her back? Hmph, I won’t argue with you all. Just watch, this matter is most likely true. Believe it or not, don’t confront me here."
Seeing Zhenping’s wife leave with her cane, Shen Meng instructed the other old ladies for a while, then hurried away with her own basket and small bucket. Back home, she didn’t even have time to go into the space to make soymilk. She just dropped the basket and bucket, instructed Mingyang quickly, and hurried to Uncle Guai’s house.
Huang Maochun was standing at the gate, bending over and cursing fiercely into the courtyard, while Lu Xingchang, unable to hold him back, held a crying child in his arms.
"Shameless thing. Your maternal aunt had such good prospects; she would have married you off well, but you ran off to find this piece of trash. Are you blind or is your brain just full of bubbles? And letting people call you ’mother,’ how cheap can you be? I never realized you were such trash before. During the New Year, such an embarrassment. Why don’t you just die, I’m so ashamed on your behalf, how could the Lu Family produce someone as shameless as you..."
"Mao Chun, stop cursing. She’s still my sister. If she wants to marry someone, let her be. Her parents are in charge, aren’t they? What’s the point of making a fuss here? Let’s go, go home!"
Huang Maochun shook off his restraint with a fling of her elbow, and said fiercely, "Didn’t I tell you? If your sister married into my maternal aunt’s family, we could have had two hundred yuan. Two hundred! That’s enough to feed our family of three for a long time. How could you be so thoughtless? If it weren’t for my family ties, I would have wanted to marry in myself. Such a good opportunity, and it might be left to her, Lu Xiangxiang."
Lu Xingchang paused, looking at Huang Maochun in disbelief.