Chapter 27 : It’s hard to persuade the damned ghost with good words

Jiang Yu and He Feiyan exchanged a glance, silently vowing to keep their distance from the pair in the future.

Just as this thought flickered in their minds, they spotted Yan Wenxuan’s figure.

He was with a decent-looking woman, who seemed to exude a cool demeanor.

Yan Wenxuan was beside her, smiling with an obvious attempt to please.

Jiang Yu was all too familiar with this kind of expression.

She thought to herself that this man was quite shameless, he had just been swindled by her yesterday and seemed to have learned nothing.

The three of them hadn’t been watching for long when Jiang Yu’s eyes widened.

“Zhang Xiyue is here!”

In an instant, Zhang Xiyue rushed forward at lightning speed, grabbing the woman’s hair and slapping her face back and forth.

He Feiyan frowned. “Why does that woman look familiar?”

Xie Fei fei and Jiang Yu immediately looked at her, sensing a shared recognition. He Feiyan thought their expressions were similar to those of a hungry animal.

After a moment of thought, He Feiyan finally recalled who she was. “Isn’t she the daughter-in-law of Aunt Xu?”

Jiang Yu raised an eyebrow. “Aunt Xu’s family?”

Could it be Xu Lihua from the same courtyard as her?

Soon, He Feiyan confirmed, “Yes, from my courtyard. You must have seen her at your sister’s wedding. Both Aunt Xu and Aunt Sun lost their husbands in a fire at the cotton mill years ago. Their jobs were taken over by their sons. Aunt Xu’s situation was worse, her son died just a year after getting married in an accident while working.”

Naturally, her daughter-in-law, Lin Rui, who had been married for less than a year, was now a widow.

After her son’s death, Lin Rui took over his job.

But Lin Rui didn’t know how to do machinery repairs. Eventually, she managed to get transferred to a secondary school as a teacher.

“This Teacher Lin rarely goes out, so I’ve only seen her a couple of times. That’s why I didn’t recognize her right away.”

He Feiyan thought that since Lin Rui was already a widow and had no children, it was only natural for her to seek another partner.

What was strange was why she would choose such an unreliable man.

Zhang Xiyue was openly dating Yan Wenxuan, and her actions were nothing short of an intrusion, she deserved to be hit.

He Feiyan pondered, “Do you think I should go help?”

Xie Fei fei shook her head. “What could you do? Yan Wenxuan is protecting her, isn’t he?”

With how Yan Wenxuan acted like a lovesick puppy around Lin Rui, he quickly shielded her.

“Xiyue, you’re mistaken! Teacher Lin is my colleague, we teach the same grade. Don’t you remember?”

Zhang Xiyue scoffed, “I haven’t forgotten! I know exactly who she is, and that’s why I didn’t expect you to betray me for a widow! Didn’t you say when you pursued me that you would love me for a lifetime? What happened to that?”

Yan Wenxuan’s face turned pale as he angrily shouted, “My relationship with Teacher Lin is completely innocent! You can slander me, but don’t ruin her reputation! Even if I were cheating, I wouldn’t choose a woman from the same office!”

Zhang Xiyue coldly questioned, “Then what are you two doing here? I’ve been following you since you left school, watching you give her money and buy her things! You have no relationship, so why are you giving her gifts?”

Lin Rui bit her lip, on the verge of tears.

“Comrade Zhang Xiyue, you’re really mistaken. Teacher Yan is helping me because my family is in trouble. If we had something to hide, we would keep it secret, not be so open about buying things!”

She turned to Yan Wenxuan, a clear tear sliding down her cheek, giving her an unspeakable sense of heartbreak.

“Teacher Yan, take these things back. I know you’re kind, but let’s keep our distance in the future to avoid misunderstandings.”

Yan Wenxuan watched her walk away quickly, wanting to chase after her.

But thinking of Zhang Xiyue, he resisted the urge to follow.

Instead, he firmly stated, “Comrade Zhang Xiyue, I’ve always believed that whether in a relationship or in marriage, there should be mutual trust. But today I realized you don’t even have basic trust in me! How can I dare to be your revolutionary partner for life if you don’t believe in me? Since you don’t trust me, let’s end it here.”

With that, he strode away.

Jiang Yu initially thought that with things said to this extent, Zhang Xiyue would surely break up with him.

But to her surprise, Zhang Xiyue chased after him, apologizing profusely.

“I’m sorry, Wenxuan, I was wrong! I care too much about you! I believe you’re innocent, I absolutely trust you!”

Jiang Yu: “…”

Xie Fei fei clearly wasn’t surprised, letting out a helpless sigh.

“Now you know, it’s hard to convince a stubborn person!”

Zhang Xiyue was willing to put up with it,  if you tried to persuade her to leave, she would turn around and scold you.

Jiang Yu looked at He Feiyan with a hint of concern. “You wouldn’t have been like this back then, right?”

He Feiyan quickly distanced herself from the comparison. “What are you looking at me for? I wasn’t like that, naive and foolish.”

Jiang Yu pouted. “You’re not foolish, you got tricked out of 130 yuan.”

“Enough! My aunt is taking me to the restaurant today, I need to leave.”

This was Yao Xiangling’s routine, going out for a meal once a week.

She had a high salary and didn’t mind spending.

Jiang Yu followed her, regardless of anything else, the food was definitely good.

The state-run restaurant served generous portions, two or three dishes were enough for the two of them.

While chatting, they mentioned Yan Wenxuan and Zhang Xiyue.

Yao Xiangling wasn’t familiar with Yan Wenxuan but knew about Zhang Xiyue.

“She’s also a silly girl. Her parents do prioritize sons over daughters, that’s undeniable. You should know her brother is a bit slow. Previously, her parents arranged a match for her, a city man, but he had lost his parents and was supposed to move into the Zhang family.”

“This man had a job as a sewage worker. Zhang Xiyue’s dad said he could try to get him transferred to another department for a more decent job. When he retired, he would leave his position to Zhang Xiyue, with all the money and house going to her. But Zhang Xiyue refused outright.”

Jiang Yu rested her chin on her hand. “Why wouldn’t she want to?”

Yao Xiangling chuckled. “She said she wanted to love freely and didn’t want an arranged marriage. To put it bluntly, she looked down on him for being a sewage worker, thinking it was undignified. Additionally, her dad wanted them to have a child, regardless of gender, to adopt to her brother for future care. She saw her brother as a burden and wasn’t willing.”

However, Zhang Xiyue’s stance couldn’t be simply labeled right or wrong.

It’s only natural for a young person to refuse an imposed burden, you can’t force someone.

“If she didn’t want it, her parents couldn’t force her. They ended up finding a country girl for her brother and said they’d leave the job to the daughter-in-law.”

And then Zhang Xiyue caused a ruckus, unhappy with her parents’ decision, feeling that her job was being taken by her sister-in-law.

But, you know, it’s impossible to have it all, one can’t monopolize all the benefits.