"Alright, stop kidding around, the young lady hasn’t even married yet." Someone said, and the group of old ladies finally quieted down.
No sooner had the chatter ceased than Wang Jinzhi walked in. Whichever spot she took, she would start mocking An Hao in a loud voice, "Wow, Boss An is doing quite well in business! Not only is it going well, but she’s also really good at business!"
A few village women saw Wang Jinzhi arriving and scooted over to the side, making room for her.
Zhang, the widow, had just bought some Snowflake Cream, "Village chief’s wife, what brings you here? Are you also here to buy Snowflake Cream?"
Wang Jinzhi glanced at the item in Zhang’s hand and sneered, "I can’t afford that fancy stuff. Nowadays, I can’t even afford clam oil."
Hearing her sarcastic tone, the widow Zhang became a bit displeased, "What do you mean by that, village chief’s wife?"
"I don’t mean anything else. All my money’s been borrowed out. What would I buy Snowflake Cream with?" Wang Jinzhi’s words were loaded with implication.
Seeing the village chief’s stance, widow Zhang immediately thought of An Hao borrowing money and it made her uncomfortable: "Village chief’s wife, what exactly do you mean by that? We’re all confused here!"
An Hao, listening to this conversation, suddenly remembered the day when Bai Yanjiao came back after borrowing money, her hesitant attitude. She had a premonition that Bai Yanjiao definitely borrowed money from the village chief’s wife and may have said who knows what.
"Auntie Wang, just say what you want to say." An Hao was still upset from that time she and Bai Xue had arranged for her to have a blind date with the village idiot behind An Hao’s back.
Seeing her, An Hao was merely being polite, yet far from enthusiastic.
"Alright. Since you asked me to speak plainly, I won’t hold back. Tell me, wasn’t your family too poor to afford surgery? Begging for money all over the place! Now, just a few days later, I hear you’re selling Snowflake Cream? And not just one or two boxes, but dozens. I’d like to know, where did you get the money from?"
An Hao felt a sinking feeling, no wonder the village chief’s wife was so angry; she thought An Hao was using that borrowed money for business.
This matter had to be cleared up; she couldn’t let the village chief’s wife continue with this misunderstanding, and what’s more, she couldn’t let the folks keep misunderstanding the situation.
So An Hao explained, "You’ve got it wrong. This Snowflake Cream business started before my dad injured his leg. We scrimped and saved a little money in the house to try and start a small business to earn some extra cash for the family."
"Who would believe that?" retorted Wang Jinzhi with arms folded across her chest and rolling her eyes at her.
"The people in the village all know about it," spoke An Hao calmly in her explanation, "If you don’t believe it, you can go and ask Big Sister Li. That day when I came back, everyone was sitting at the bridgehead."
Big Sister Li slapped her forehead and hastily said, "Oh, if you hadn’t mentioned it I would’ve forgotten. That day when you came back from the city after selling Snowflake Cream, you were going to show us the products, and I was the one who told you about your dad’s broken leg."
"Yes. Village chief’s wife, we were all there that day. We can vouch for An Hao; you’ve really wronged her," the crowd of old ladies began their clamor in support.
Seeing the turn of events, Wang Jinzhi knew she had wronged An Hao in this matter.
However, this wasn’t why she had come over; her purpose was to get back the money that had been borrowed.