Chapter 42: Movie Night Trouble

Immediately, Xie Xiaojun enthusiastically recounted the events of that day.

“Commander Zhou and Sister Su Yi are fated to be together, Captain Lu, you shouldn’t interfere.”

“Ah, that makes sense. I was wondering why he’d be so kind as to take in a stranger like that.”

The two of them bantered back and forth, leaving Zhou Jinchuan speechless and unable to defend himself.

Once they finished, Zhou finally had a chance to explain, “You’re overthinking it. I didn’t give her mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.”

“Then how did Sister Su Yi wake up?” Lu asked.

Zhou paused for a moment, his face feeling a little warm at the memory. He cleared his throat, “She just suddenly woke up.”

Seeing his embarrassed expression, the two were even more convinced that Zhou was too shy to admit the truth.

They humored him, saying, “Alright, Commander Zhou said it didn’t happen, so it didn’t. Must’ve been my mistake.”

Lu Changzheng waved his hand dismissively, “Fine, fine. I’m clearly not worthy of her, so I’ll drop it.”

Zhou Jinchuan: …

After Zhou Jinchuan left, Su Yi’s life fell into a simple routine of two main places: the dining hall and home. Every day, she spent time either in the kitchen or taking care of the two children. At the dining hall, she rarely showed up at the serving window.

The two main figures in the public gossip seemed to have vanished suddenly, and with the efforts of Aunt Yao and Aunt Zheng to clarify things, the buzz in the courtyard died down considerably over the next few days.

Everyone’s attention shifted to the weekend movie night event.

On Sunday, Ye Xiaowu had already set up three chairs in a row on the playground. After having dinner in the evening, Su Yi packed some sunflower seeds and candies, and took the two children out early.

When they arrived at the playground, they were surprised to see that everyone had come so early!

As soon as they arrived, Xu Xiaoqin ran over from a short distance away.

“You’re here! Did you save your spots?”

Su Yi nodded, and just as she was chatting with Xu Xiaoqin, she heard the sound of Nuanncrying from not far away.

Su Yi quickly hurried over, “What’s wrong?”

Ye Xiaowu clenched his fists and pointed towards Qiang Qiang and Liang Liang in the distance.

Ye Xiaowu said, “I clearly put our three chairs in this spot, but now they’re gone! They must have taken them.”

Qiang Qiang and Liang Liang, hearing Ye Xiaowu’s complaint, turned around and made faces at Su Yi.

“This playground isn’t your family’s. Is there a sign with your names on it here?”

“Lalalalala—”

They looked as though they were intentionally being annoying!

Seeing the two smug faces of the mischievous kids, Su Yi said quietly, “Xiaowu, look at how pitiful they are. Their front teeth are knocked out, they can’t speak clearly, and their smiles are a bit toothless. Let’s just give them the chairs.”

“And you two, be careful when walking in the future. What if you end up with teeth like this?”

Ye Xiaowu nodded, “Alright, we’ll let them have the chairs. They don’t have teeth anyway!”

Nuannuan took a handful of candy and sunflower seeds from her pocket, “If they lose their teeth, how will they eat such delicious candies and seeds?”

Su Yi shook her head, “Good kids, I know you want to share with them, but they probably can’t eat them right now!”

After that, the three of them went to look for chairs further back.

Qiang Qiang and Liang Liang, realizing what had happened, suddenly burst into loud crying, “Mom, I want candy! I want to eat sunflower seeds!”

“Mom, I need to get my teeth fixed! I don’t want to have a toothless smile!”

The two kids cried and complained, drawing laughter from the crowd around them.

Aunt Liu couldn’t sit still and grabbed Su Yi to prevent her from leaving.

Su Yi gave her a cold glance, “Aunt Liu, what’s with the pulling and tugging? Are you trying to give me back my spot? Fine, then you can get up.”

Aunt Liu quickly released her grip.

She then smiled, “Ah, the kids are just being childish. Comrade Su, don’t take it to heart. If I had known this spot was yours, I wouldn’t have taken it.”

“After all, your relationship with Commander Zhou is special. If Commander Zhou comes back and finds out, he’ll definitely give me trouble. How could I dare to take your spot? Come, come, you can sit here.”

Su Yi gave Aunt Liu/ Liu Dajie a faint smile and stared at her for a moment.

It seemed she had finally learned her lesson.

Just when the rumors about her and Zhou Jinchuan had started to die down, Aunt Liu had to bring them up again.

And she did it in front of so many people, clearly prepared.

If Su Yi were too shy to sit down or used the opportunity to take a seat, it would likely be seen as confirmation of the rumors.

Then, no amount of explanation would clear things up.

Aunt Liu, knowing Su Yi was a young girl who might shy away from addressing such matters openly in front of everyone, had become quite bold.

But Su Yi wasn’t someone who would let others manipulate her.

“Aunt Liu, I was initially willing to let this matter go. Since you’re insisting on bringing it up in front of everyone, I might as well take this opportunity to ask you—”

“Have I offended you in some way? Why are you spreading rumors about me and Commander Zhou in the courtyard?”

“Is it because I discovered the way you mistreated Xiaowu and Nuannuan? Or because I replaced you when you took money without working? Or maybe because you were publicly criticized by the authorities after slandering me on the street?”

Aunt Liu had finally seen these issues fade from public memory and was starting to enjoy a normal life in the courtyard again.

She hadn’t expected Su Yi to bring them up publicly today.

Seeing everyone watching her with amusement, Aunt Liu shivered involuntarily.

She pointed at Su Yi, trying to muster up some courage, “You, you—”

“What about me, Aunt Liu? Are you saying it wasn’t you who spread the rumors? There are only so many people in our courtyard. It wouldn’t be hard to trace the source, but you’re probably afraid of the consequences if it turns out to be you.”

Aunt Liu trembled slightly, forcing herself to stay calm as she pressed her lips together, “Stop trying to scare me. I didn’t say anything; I just happened to see Commander Zhou leave the courtyard early in the morning. Everything else is just people’s imaginations!”

Su Yi smiled coldly, “So you’re admitting that the information came from you?”

“I saw it with my own eyes. I’m just stating the facts!”

Su Yi’s smile turned frosty, “Facts? The real fact is that the two children were scared that day. Commander Zhou was simply concerned about them, stayed a bit longer, and brought breakfast for them the next morning. You just happened to see him leaving then!”

“You spread rumors without knowing the facts and kept making trouble for me. I wasn’t planning to argue with you, but you keep pushing me!”

“Since that’s the case, let’s go ask around! There are guards at the dormitory, and Commander Zhou went out early to buy breakfast, so the cafeteria must remember! Let’s go ask right now!”

Saying this, Su Yi grabbed Aunt Liu’s hand and tried to pull her away.

Aunt Liu, already feeling uneasy, realized her mistake as soon as Su Yi’s attitude turned so firm.

She quickly understood that she had made a mistake. Now she wanted to minimize the situation and dared not pursue the verification, fearing it would only make things worse.

“Comrade Su, good girl, it’s my fault. My eyesight isn’t as good due to my age, and I must have seen it wrong! It was all a misunderstanding!”

Su Yi let out a cold snort, “A misunderstanding? You’ve caused such a big fuss in the courtyard, and you think an apology is enough?”

Aunt Liu, steeling herself, said, “I’ll apologize to you! I’ll explain everything clearly to everyone right now.”

With that, Aunt Liu slapped herself across the face and apologized in front of the crowd.

“Comrade Su, is this acceptable?”

Just as she finished speaking, someone in the crowd called out, “Commander Zhou is here!”