The big sisters and aunts in the courtyard gathered together all day with nothing to do: "Hey, do you think Lyu Juncheng is regretting his decisions now?"
"That’s for sure."
"He only has himself to blame, and it’s no use regretting it now."
"He really gave up a watermelon and picked up a sesame seed."
"That wasn’t just any sesame seed; it was a jinx. Ever since Yao Hui married in, Lyu Juncheng’s nearly been fired, and their days have been chaotic."
"The three kids Juncheng has are really hard to manage; they’re always going against Yao Hui, and she’s about to lose her mind."
"That’s why kids need to be your own. Even if it’s a close aunt, you can’t hit or scold them. That Lyu Xiangyang is such a tough nut even at a young age and simply refuses to be disciplined."
"Speaking of which, Yao Hui’s been married for a few months now. Shouldn’t there be any news by now?"
"Haven’t heard anything."
"Dealing with those kids every day would tire anyone out. If she has another child, life would just get even harder."
"Yao Hui really has her eyes covered with muck. A fine young lady, and she insists on marrying her brother-in-law. She could’ve had a good life, but she chose otherwise and now she’s suffering."
"You guys don’t know this, but some days ago, their family went back to their hometown. They were attending Lyu Juncheng’s sister���s wedding. Guess what happened?"
"Hurry up and tell us!"
"I happened to be at the Tian Family on business that day, and overheard their conversation. It seems the couple took the three kids back home for Juncheng’s sister’s wedding, and they ended up fighting on the day they came back.
Juncheng’s family wanted them to give a big gift for the sister’s dowry, but given Juncheng’s current state, he can’t even take care of himself, let alone afford that. When they returned, Juncheng’s sister insulted them both; from what Yao Hui implied, it seems things got very awkward."
"No wonder Yao Hui was borrowing money all over the housing unit before. Maybe it was for this."
"Could be."
"If they didn’t have the money, they should’ve just refused. Pretending to be rich didn’t do them any good."
"You’ve got it wrong. It’s not like they wanted to give the gift themselves. I heard Juncheng’s mom and sister called specifically to demand it."
"With Juncheng living like that, they’re really shameless. Having family like that is just bad luck."
"Smart girl, that Xinyan. She got out while she could. Otherwise, she’d probably be stressed to death right now."
"Oh, by the way, have you heard? Xinyan found her biological father."
"Really? Who told you that?"
"Recently the admission letters have been arriving. I heard from the Zhang family that a letter arrived a few days ago for Han Xinyan. The teachers thought it was a mistake until the principal clarified that her biological father’s surname is Han."
"Seems like her biological father is someone important, otherwise why would she change her last name?"
"It’s possible. Normally changing a surname would be a big deal, but not in this case it seems."
"Now, Juncheng must be regretting even more. That Xinyan not only excels in studies and got into a university in the Capital, but also found such a capable biological father. If they hadn’t divorced, Juncheng could’ve shared the glory."
"Too bad that wasn’t his fate."
"But, I heard that girl’s dating Director He?"
"Yeah, I heard that too."
"Oh dear, so now that she found her dad and got into such a good university, is she going to dump Director He?"
"Hmm, very possible."
"Then wouldn’t that make Director He quite pitiful? He’s not young, and if this relationship falls through, it will be even harder to find someone."
"Yeah, even if Director He is a bit cold, he’s actually a nice person."
"What good is being nice if his luck is bad?"
"Hey, that’s mean. Why do you think Director He’s unlucky? Don’t make stuff up."
"I’m not wrong. At his age, with two stepkids, it’s hard enough to find someone. If he gets dumped now, it’ll hurt his reputation even more. What decent girl would marry him then?"
"Come on, it’s not like you want to marry your niece to him and got rejected. No need to ruin his reputation. What, thinking of messing up his reputation and marry your niece, huh?"
"Don’t accuse me! What do you mean, you’re trying to ruin my niece’s reputation! I’ll fight you."
"Hey, hey, hey, stop fighting! How did a nice chat turn into a fight?"
"Quick, quick, pull them apart. This gossip has gone too far."
Just then, He Jinxuan arrived with the security team: "What’s going on here?"
When the women saw who it was, someone nudged the two fighting: "Director He is here, you better stop."
The fighting pair quickly separated, straightened their clothes, fixed their hair, and acted as if nothing happened when looking at the security team.
When they got closer: "Explain, what’s going on?"
The others all waved their hands: "Nothing, just fooling around."
How could they say it was because of Director He that they started fighting?
He Jinxuan gave them a cold glance. Since the people involved said it was nothing, he wasn’t going to bother. Besides, he didn’t want to waste time here; Yanyan should be back soon, and he had to go to the station sign to pick her up.