The atmosphere instantly became a bit awkward.
Wang Jie’s beady little eyes darted back and forth, but after a long while, he still couldn’t think of a reply, so he looked pleadingly at his cousin.
“Hey, let me take a look.” Wang Juan pretended to glance at the photo, then exclaimed, “Oh dear, I took the wrong one, took the wrong one! This is… this is my cousin’s coworker. That day I came back in a hurry and didn’t look closely. I just brought the photo home, and Dad snatched it away.”
She pushed the photo forward a bit. “But Shu Yi, look, my cousin and his coworker, they don’t look that different, do they? Don’t you think so?”
“Heh, heh.”
Shu Yi was nearly amused. The person in the photo had a nose that was a nose, eyes that were eyes.
But Wang Jie?
His nose looked like a clove of garlic smashed by a crotch, and his eyes were about the size of mung beans. If you didn’t look carefully, you’d think it was a pig from someone’s house sneaking out in its owner’s clothes.
Wang Juan realized her sister-in-law wasn’t happy, so under the table, she patted her on the side and leaned in to whisper, “Dad is very satisfied.”
Wow, bringing Dad in to pressure her?
Shu Yi thought her eldest sister-in-law and eldest brother were a perfect match—both were typical self-serving types.
Being a little selfish wasn’t wrong, but they couldn’t drag her down with them.
Shu Yi couldn’t be bothered to deal with her sister-in-law. She put on a cold face and looked out the window, thinking about how to make the Wang siblings suffer a little setback.
Wang Juan saw that Shu Yi still wasn’t talking and thought she was just holding back, so she hurriedly introduced with a smile, “Brother, you’ve seen my little sister-in-law. She’s truly beautiful. Honestly, she’s even prettier than those movie stars.”
Wang Jie nodded vigorously, his gaze fixed on Shu Yi, nearly drooling. Shu Yi really was beautiful—not to mention her fair and delicate skin, her big eyes, and those fluttering eyelashes that made his heart itch.
Wang Juan shot her brother a look, signaling him to take the initiative.
“Heh heh.” Wang Jie grinned at Shu Yi, unable to help himself. He hadn’t been nervous before, but with Shu Yi being so pretty, he felt a bit guilty.
Just then, the server came to bring the dishes. He picked up a few bites, his mouth shining with oil.
“That… uh, Shu Yi, my situation, your sister-in-law must have told you. My best quality is that I’m devoted to my wife, you can be sure of that. Once we’re married, I’ll hand over my salary every month!”
Wang Jie was very excited. As soon as he started talking, saliva sprayed everywhere. His previous wife had died three years ago, and he’d been without a woman ever since. He’d always wanted to remarry, but couldn’t bring himself to marry someone too poor, and those who were a bit better wouldn’t agree to marry him. After going back and forth, it dragged on until now—he was almost thirty.
Wang Juan nodded vigorously at the side, her face animated as she added, “That’s right, Shu Yi! My cousin makes nearly a hundred yuan a month and lives in an apartment building with two bedrooms and a living room. When it comes to conditions, no young man can compare! You’re still young and don’t see the long-term. When it comes to real life, you’ll know that money is more important than anything.”
“Yes, yes,” Wang Jie chimed in.
The two exchanged a glance. Seeing that Shu Yi still didn’t say anything, Wang Juan became anxious. “Shu Yi, what are you looking at? Is there something interesting outside the window?”
She also looked out the window. There were two street vendors selling things, and she even recognized one—it was the youngest son of the Wang family from the alley, selling fish balls. She curled her lips and muttered, “Such a good-for-nothing. His dad wanted him to apprentice at sea, but instead, he’s doing these little speculative trades.”
The Wang family had a lot of people, and Old Wang’s health was poor. The family used to rely on Wang Chaoyang’s mother’s job to support everyone.
Later, as the Wang children grew up, they gradually found work and started their own families, but none of them improved the family’s situation. Those with some ability moved out. Now, only Old Wang and his wife, along with the unmarried youngest son, Wang Chaoyang, were left at home.
Back then, people looked down on those who did business—especially people like Wang Juan and Wang Jie, who had official jobs.
Shu Yi and Wang Chaoyang had been classmates before. For a while, the two of them often went to and from school together.
Some people said Wang Chaoyang liked Shu Yi.
Later, Wang Chaoyang was held back a grade, and they ended up in different schools, so they drifted apart.
Wang Chaoyang looked pretty good—clean and bright, a nice young man. He used to be fair-skinned, but after selling fish balls for a month, he’d gotten much tanner, though he looked even more spirited now.
Wang Juan noticed her sister-in-law kept staring at Wang Chaoyang and grew uneasy. She tugged on her arm. “Shu Yi, stop looking. Eat up.”
“Yes, Shu Yi, eat something!” Wang Jie spoke with his mouth full, and when he opened it, several grains of rice sprayed into the dishes.
Shu Yi put down the chopsticks she’d just picked up. She had no appetite for this meal.
Before leaving, Shu Yi had something she just had to say. “Brother Wang, you say you’re the most devoted husband, but how come I hear you beat your wife?”
“Cough, cough!”
Wang Jie choked on his food, his face turning bright red. “Who… who the hell is spreading such rumors?”
“I’ve heard it from a lot of people,” Shu Yi said.
Her father only cared about Wang Jie’s money and nothing else. Shu Yi wasn’t someone who would just sit and wait for things to happen. As soon as her eldest sister-in-law brought up Wang Jie, she’d asked around everywhere and pieced together all sorts of opinions.
The final conclusion: most of Wang Jie’s neighbors said he beat his wife.
“Shu Yi, don’t listen to gossip.” Wang Juan hurriedly explained. “It’s all just people making things up. Couples argue and bicker sometimes, that’s normal. Look at me and your big brother—we argue too, don’t we?”
“Has anyone in the alley said my brother-in-law beats his wife?” Shu Yi swept a cold glance at her sister-in-law, then stood up and left.
Her gaze was so icy that Wang Juan couldn’t help but shiver.
By the time Wang Juan snapped out of it, Shu Yi had already walked out of the state-run restaurant. She hurriedly ran after her.
Wang Juan grabbed Shu Yi’s hand, put on a stern face, and said, “Shu Yi, don’t you have any manners? Walking out like that—aren’t you afraid of what people will say about you?”
“What should I be afraid of? Shouldn’t it be you who’s worried, sister-in-law?”
Shu Yi knew her sister-in-law didn’t like her, but she hadn’t thought she’d actually try to push her into a pit. “Tell me, you brought back the photo but didn’t even look at it—who would believe that? You just wanted to lure me out, then coax Mom and Dad into agreeing, so you could pressure me.”
She paused, then sneered, “Sister-in-law, what did your family promise you that you’re so desperate to marry me off to a man who beats his wife?”
“Shu Yi! Don’t be so ungrateful!”
Wang Juan’s little scheme had been exposed, and her face turned red. “What benefit could I possibly get? It’s just that Mom and Dad said the house is getting crowded, and you’re of age now, so they want us to help you look around. When it comes to conditions, my cousin’s job is better than anyone else you’ll be introduced to.”
“And what about him?” Shu Yi pressed. “I heard your cousin’s wife was beaten to death by him.”
“Nonsense! She clearly couldn’t take it anymore and wanted to jump…” Wang Juan abruptly stopped, instinctively glancing back.
Shu Yi had just been fishing for information, but she hadn’t expected there really was something fishy. “Jump what? Into the river?”
Seeing her sister-in-law speechless, Shu Yi decided to get ahead of things. “Our dad, he favors sons and is a typical male chauvinist. But he wouldn’t just watch his daughter be sent to her death. You’d better think about how to explain this when you get home, because I’m going to tell him everything.”
Without lingering any longer, Shu Yi turned and left.
This time, Wang Juan really panicked.
“Juan, did your sister-in-law just leave like that?” Wang Jie paid the bill and came out, only to see Shu Yi’s distant figure. He was unhappy. “I ordered so many dishes, and she didn’t eat a single bite before leaving. What, she likes the guy in the photo but not me?”
“No, brother, my sister-in-law…”
“What about her?” The beauty he almost had slipped away, and Wang Jie was full of anger. “This is all your fault, showing her the wrong photo to trick her into coming. I told you, after the meal, you leave first, and then I’d grab her hand and settle things. Now look, she’s gone—whose hand am I supposed to grab?”
He’d taken a liking to Shu Yi. Frankly, not just in his circle, but in the entire Mechanical Factory, there wasn’t a girl prettier than Shu Yi.
Now Wang Juan was caught between a rock and a hard place. She was fuming inside, afraid her little sister-in-law would go home and complain, but also worried her cousin would badmouth her to her own family. She felt miserable. “Brother, how can you blame me for this?”
She hadn’t expected her sister-in-law to be so uncooperative, leaving before even finishing the meal.
Wang Jie snorted but wasn’t ready to give up. “I was too impulsive. Don’t blame me, you know I’m just like this—always straightforward.”
He stepped closer. “Didn’t my parents promise you twenty yuan as a reward? Go home and try to persuade your sister-in-law again. If this marriage works out, I’ll give you another twenty yuan myself. How about it?”
Forty yuan in total—more than Wang Juan’s monthly salary.
Money makes the world go round. If you asked Wang Juan what she liked most, it was money!
“Well… I’ll give it a try.”
“Heh heh, I’ll leave it to you. If you pull it off, my whole family will thank you.” Wang Jie imagined Shu Yi’s pretty little face and couldn’t help but smile.
Wang Juan saw her cousin’s lecherous grin and thought, All men are the same. Since he still wants it, I’ll try to persuade her again.
But she’d taken half a day off and didn’t even get to eat. Wang Juan thought for a moment. At home, her father-in-law had the final say, and it was still early before he got off work. She patted her stomach. “Brother, if I go home now, there probably won’t be any food left for me.”
Wang Jie immediately understood. “That was careless of me. Go order two more dishes to take home, and let Yu Ling have a taste too.”
Yu Ling was Wang Juan’s daughter, three years old and already in kindergarten. Wang Juan adored her daughter, though she still wished for a son someday.
Since Wang Jie said so, Wang Juan didn’t hold back and ordered a serving of boiled squid and another of lychee pork.
Wang Jie felt the pain when paying, but thinking it was for the sake of winning a beauty, he gritted his teeth and handed over the money.
There were many people in the Zeng family but few who earned money, so they might only have meat once a week. Wang Juan carried the oily paper packages home, swallowing her saliva all the way.
As she approached the alley entrance, she saw a group of old men and women sitting there. She’d wanted to show off the food she brought home, but they all looked at her with disapproving eyes.
Among them, Liu Xiwang, who had the sharpest tongue, waved a palm fan and scolded, “Wang Juan, you’re the eldest sister-in-law. You live with your in-laws, and they haven’t said anything, so how can you not tolerate your sister-in-law?”
Once someone spoke up, others chimed in. “That’s right, Wang Juan! Good deeds bring good rewards, bad deeds bring bad ones. You can’t bully people like this!”
“I think Shu Yi is just too easygoing. Her father’s biased, and now the second daughter is back in the city with her child, so they want to marry off Shu Yi casually.”
“But even so, you can’t marry your daughter off to a murderer! No matter how biased Zeng Qingliang is, he wouldn’t do that. I think someone’s stirring things up for their own benefit!”
Everyone took turns speaking, making Wang Juan’s head buzz.
They were all neighbors in Wutong Alley. Normally, you’d see each other every day. If something happened in anyone’s family, these old men and women would gossip about it seven or eight times.
They wouldn’t stop until everyone knew.
Wang Juan’s head was pounding. It must have been Shu Yi, that wretched girl, spreading rumors!
They lived in the alley, and reputation was important. Now that everyone was criticizing her, how was she supposed to carry herself in the future?
Wang Juan’s eyes turned red. “Uncle Liu, Aunt Zhang, maybe there’s been a misunderstanding. I swear to God, I have nothing against Shu Yi. I was just being kind and introducing her to someone—how could that be wrong?”
As she spoke, her nose twitched. Shu Yi must have been badmouthing her. If she didn’t clear things up, these old folks would spread even nastier rumors.
Liu Xiwang eyed Wang Juan up and down. “Was that a real introduction? If we hadn’t kept asking, Shu Yi would still be covering for you. Your cousin did something so evil that in the old days, he’d have been dragged out for criticism! He only got away because things are better now!”
“That’s right! He should be criticized!”
“A man who hits women isn’t a man at all!”
“I bet his ex-wife was driven to death by him!”
The old men and women started denouncing her with righteous indignation again.
Wang Juan covered her head and face, unable to fend them off. She thought, I’ll have to get Shu Yi to clear this up herself, and hurried home.
The Zeng family lived in the first house at the entrance of Wutong Alley, just a few steps away. Wang Juan arrived at the door.
At this time, everyone who should be at work was out, and those who had things to do were gone. Only the housewife, Lin Jia Zhen, was home—Wang Juan’s mother-in-law.
As soon as Wang Juan entered the living room, she heard intermittent sobbing from inside. It was Shu Yi speaking.
“Mom, sob… If you and my sister-in-law really want to drive me to death, I… I won’t make things hard for you. I’ll just go find a place where no one is around and end it myself…”
Wang Juan: …That wretched girl is putting on another act!