An Fu was truly angry, and he deeply regretted remarrying, even more so for having divorced Shi Xiaolan.
You see, when Shi Xiaolan was in his home, she had lived through even harder times with him, yet she had never uttered a word of complaint.
But now, not only does his current wife complain, but she also acts so foolishly... If it weren’t for the lack of silver coins to remarry, he really wanted to divorce her straightaway without any fuss.
Mrs. Gong was slapped by her husband An Fu and, after being rebuked by him, she immediately became docile.
Although the household was becoming poorer, she had never thought about being sent back to her parents’ home through divorce.
An Fu looked at Shi Xiaolan with a complicated gaze, genuinely feeling that she had changed, but he said nothing, instead reaching out to pull Mrs. Gong away, and this time, she obediently let him lead her back home.
With Mrs. Gong gone, there was no more spectacle to watch, and the onlookers dispersed.
It was then that An Jing said with a smile, "Xiao Lan, after this incident, everyone will know that you are not the same Shi Xiaolan as before, and not so easily bullied."
Shi Xiaolan, far from the ferocity she had just displayed, was quite embarrassed, "I did it for Niuniu and Yu Yu. If I lose my reputation, what would become of them in the future?" She paused, then spread her hands, "Look, my palms are all sweaty. Actually, I was very scared. I was even trembling just now."
An Jing comforted her, "It’s normal to have these symptoms the first time." The difficulty lies in taking the first step, but fortunately, her friend had the spirit to do just that.
Once inside the courtyard, seated in the main room of the thatched cottage, An Jing asked, "Where are Yu Yu and Niuniu? I haven’t seen them."
Shi Xiaolan replied, "Sister Dahua took them to her house for safety. Sister Dahua came by earlier to bring me some potatoes. She hadn’t left when Mrs. Gong started causing trouble. Sister Dahua, fearing something might happen, took the children away. She really saved me; otherwise, I was genuinely afraid Mrs. Gong might harm Niuniu and Yu Yu."
The Sister Dahua mentioned by Shi Xiaolan was none other than Niu Dahua, once known as the gossip of Jiuping Village.
An Jing, knowing that the people of Jiuping Village had changed for the better, simply nodded in understanding without saying much.
However, Shi Xiaolan, again embarrassed, said, "An Jing, I was just following your example. I heard about how you dealt with Lin Luye and Pan Shuangquan, and also Mrs. Hongxia. Swearing really works wonders."
An Jing replied, "It works because you believe in ghosts and spirits."
Shi Xiaolan didn’t notice anything amiss in An Jing’s words, instead apologizing self-reproachfully, "An Jing, Brother Xiao, I’m to blame, dragging you down with me. If it weren’t for An Fu still having some conscience, you would have ended up with a bad reputation again."
An Jing couldn’t help but laugh, "You haven’t dragged us down at all. It’s Mrs. Gong who holds a grudge against us for not letting An Fu return to work at the rice shop. She couldn’t bully us, so she came after you. If anything, we should be the ones apologizing to you."
Shi Xiaolan immediately waved her hands in panic, "You’ve helped me so much, and you haven’t done anything wrong. I couldn’t possibly accept your apology. That would be unthinkable, absolutely unthinkable."
"Then you shouldn’t blame yourself either. It’s just Mrs. Gong venting her own frustration; it has nothing to do with us."
It was then that Shi Xiaolan finally smiled and stopped blaming herself.
Just at that moment, Wu Xiaoshan called out urgently from the entrance of the yard, "Xiao Lan! Xiao Lan!"
Hearing her name, Shi Xiaolan quickly got up and went out to see.