Hu Yong’s wife held her child in silence, not afraid of enduring hardships herself, but the thought of her child suffering along with her truly pained her heart.
Zhang Aiqin sneered and jeered at them for a while before finally walking away triumphantly, as if proud of her own wisdom.
After closing the door, Hu Yong’s wife cradled her son tenderly, curling up in a corner of the sofa.
Marrying Hu Yong, she had never regretted. However, she really couldn’t bear to let her son live such a life!
Not long after, there was a sudden barrage of urgent knocking on the door, accompanied by a cursing voice: "Zhang Aiyun, Zhang Aiyun, open the door for me, open it now!"
Hu Yong’s wife, called Zhang Aiyun, hurriedly opened the door to find a fierce-looking woman standing at the entrance.
"Cousin-in-law, what’s the matter?" Zhang Aiyun was somewhat intimidated.
The woman was Hu Yong’s cousin’s wife, who owned a laundry shop where Zhang Aiyun usually helped out.
The woman had a very volatile temper, and although related by blood, she often treated Zhang Aiyun harshly. Cursing was an everyday occurrence, and sometimes, when her temper flared, she would even resort to hitting. Zhang Aiyun was very afraid of her.
Her aggressive arrival that day made Zhang Aiyun even more scared, wondering what had actually happened.
"Did you wash this piece of clothing?" the woman asked angrily, holding up a garment.
"This..." Zhang Aiyun looked at it and shook her head: "It wasn’t me. Sister Three was in charge of washing these small items yesterday afternoon..." For more chapters visıt NoveI-Fire.ɴet
"You’re trying to frame Sister Three!" the woman roared. "I’ve already asked Sister Three, and she said it was you who washed this!"
"I really didn’t wash it..." Zhang Aiyun hurriedly insisted.
"Stop giving me excuses!" the woman shouted furiously: "This garment is worth thirteen thousand, and the customer only wore it once before it got discolored in the wash, and now they’re causing a commotion in the store. I’m giving you until tomorrow to come up with thirteen thousand to compensate and apologize; otherwise, I’ll skin you alive!"
Zhang Aiyun was stunned, pleading, "Cousin-in-law, I really didn’t wash it..."
"If it wasn’t you who washed it, was it me then?" the woman shouted furiously: "What kind of person are you, making mistakes and not even daring to admit it? I’m telling you, if you don’t resolve this matter, I’ll burn down your house!"
After saying her piece, the woman stormed off, leaving Zhang Aiyun calling after her in vain as the woman paid her no mind.
Zhang Aiyun couldn’t catch up and returned home disheartened. Looking at the mess around her, she finally couldn’t take it anymore and collapsed to the ground, covering her face and silently weeping.
She hadn’t resolved her son’s issue, and now this had come up. Thirteen thousand, where could she possibly gather such a large sum of money?
Hu Yong had been drunk until after four in the afternoon. When he awoke to see his silent wife beside him, and their son not far away, fiddling with an Ultraman toy.
"You... why are you all at home?" Hu Yong looked around: "Where’s Su Yang?"
"He’s gone," Zhang Aiyun said with a downcast look.
Noticing something amiss with his wife, Hu Yong hastily said, "You... What’s wrong with you? Why is Xiao Jie at home, didn’t he go to school?"
Zhang Aiyun let out a sigh and recounted the earlier incident.
After listening, Hu Yong couldn’t help but explode with anger, "Cousin-in-law is simply bullying us, she’s trying to extort us!"
Zhang Aiyun sobbed softly, "I know she’s trying to extort us, but what can we do now? I can’t prove that I didn’t wash that dress, and you know her temper. If we... if we don’t give her the money, she really could make our home a living hell!"
"I’ll go and reason with her!" Hu Yong said furiously.
"Forget it!" Zhang Aiyun quickly grabbed Hu Yong, "Don’t forget, her brother is the local thug around here. Old Wang of the Lin Family, who is said to be her uncle, got into an argument with her, and her brother beat him up, breaking several of his ribs, now he can’t even straighten his back. We... let’s not make a fuss with them..."
"But we can’t just let her bully us , it’s too much!" Hu Yong said anxiously.
Zhang Aiyun wiped away her tears, "Old Hu, I know she’s bullying us too much, but you can’t get into trouble. If something happens to you, what... what are Xiao Jie and I going to do?"
Glancing at his son not far away, Hu Yong’s expression immediately softened.
"How about we try to scrape together the thirteen thousand." Zhang Ai Yun said in a low voice, "We still have five thousand at home, if I sell my bracelet I can get another three thousand, that makes eight thousand. We just need to find another five thousand, can you think of any other way?"
After thinking for a long time, Hu Yong suddenly waved his hand, "No need to scrape it together, I will go find Su Yang tonight."
"Find him?" Zhang Aiyun said in astonishment, "Does he have a lot of money? Old Hu, Su Yang looks young, even if he has some money, it... it won’t be a lot. Besides, the young man still has to get married, we... we should try not to bother him, after all, he’s your junior..."
Hu Yong sighed, "I don’t want his money, I just want him to help me deal with this. He and I are comrades-in-arms, if he’s in trouble, I would definitely do my utmost. If I have an issue, he surely won’t refuse to help!"
"How is he going to deal with this..." Zhang Aiyun said anxiously, "Old Hu, don’t make him go and cause trouble with cousin-in-law, he’s still young, don’t let... don’t let anything happen to him..."
"Nothing will happen!" replayed Hu Yong, thinking of Su Yang’s domineering presence at the Qi Family of Wanhu, he felt a surge of excitement. Having a comrade-in-arms with such abilities, he felt genuinely happy.
In fact, Hu Yong didn’t want to trouble Su Yang. But with the situation at home pushing him into a corner, he could only hope that Su Yang would remember their camaraderie.
"By the way, Su Yang said he wanted to invite us to dinner tonight..." Zhang Aiyun said softly, "He told us to come over later tonight. With Xiao Jie back now, I won’t go, you... you should go..."
"We’ll go together!" Hu Yong grabbed Zhang Aiyun’s hand, "No matter how much money that kid has or how capable he is, back then I was the one who took him to the army, I ran around dealing with his paperwork and arranging his accommodation, and I was the one who took him to the restaurant for his first meal. He’s a soldier that came from under my command. You’re my wife, so you’re his sister-in-law, and he should respect you!"
Zhang Aiyun was stunned; when Hu Yong spoke of the old times in the army, his face shone with a light she had never seen before, a confidence and honor.
Just then, the phone rang. After Zhang Aiyun finished the call, she turned, looking shocked, "It’s a call from Su Yang, saying he wants to invite us to Wanhu Manor for dinner tonight..."
"Then let’s get ready and head over in a bit," Hu Yong said.
"Can we... can we not go there..." Zhang Aiyun said with an embarrassed look, "Lili’s boyfriend is taking the eldest sister there for dinner tonight. If we go there, the eldest sister... she might mock us again..."