Chapter 45: Everyone Thinks Zhou Shufen Is Making Big Money

Hearing her say this, Zhang Tingyuan became frightened.

“Alas!” He sighed heavily and said, “Alright, I won’t care anymore. I’m leaving tomorrow. Mom, Weiwei, if it really becomes a hassle, make sure to call me.”

“Okay, we understand. Let’s go back inside.”

Zhang Tingyuan organized his luggage while Lin Bingwei and Li Yurong cooked in the kitchen. Zhang Jianguo sat on a small stool at the door, reading a book.

It was the kind of book for kids, filled with pictures and few words.

Outside, it was very lively; they could hear the commotion from the kitchen, but the content of the conversations was not clear, only occasionally catching a few loud sentences.

However, they didn’t care.

Li Yurong hated Zhou Shufen deeply, and no matter what Zhou Shufen said, she had no intention of letting her in.

Outside, Zhou Shufen cried to the villagers about her situation over the past few years.

“I did take my mother’s money, but I didn’t use it for eating and drinking; I used it to do business. At that time, I thought with Tingyi gone, my support was lost, and I had to survive, right? I had to raise my child, right?”

Everyone nodded.

They were very curious about why she had left and where she had gone.

Zhou Shufen continued, “So, I had to find a way out for myself and for my son. They wanted me to stay home and nurse the baby, and they absolutely wouldn’t let me go out to do business, so I had to leave in that way.”

Someone said, “What you did is wrong. How do you think your parents feel? Jianguo was only three months old; he needs to drink milk.”

Zhou Shufen replied, “I know it’s wrong, but I had no choice. Usually, my mother tightly controlled the family finances; I had no idea how much money we had. That day, she asked me to deposit money, and there was six hundred cash. When I got to the bank, I saw there was a thousand in the passbook. That was my only chance to access money; if I missed it, there would be no next time, so I… I took the money and left, wuwuwu~”

As she spoke, she began to cry.

The crowd suddenly understood; the story they had been curious about was like this.

Those who enjoyed the spectacle didn’t care who was right or wrong; they were just there for the excitement.

However, there were people like Aunt Liu who wanted to watch the excitement and meddle in others’ affairs.

“I know what you’re thinking. With your husband gone and the money in your mother-in-law’s hands, you have to ask her for money even to buy some paper. Seeing her expression, life must be tough. You’re still so young; it’s normal not to want to live like that, always asking for money.”

Zhou Shufen felt she had found an understanding person and nodded repeatedly, “Yes, yes, Aunt Liu, that’s exactly what I was thinking. I didn’t want to live a life of asking for money; I wanted to support myself and my son, so I took the money to do business. But I didn’t expect… wuwuwu, I only found out when I came back that they had transferred my household registration and wouldn’t even let me see Jianguo.”

Hearing her say this, everyone felt that although she had acted wrongly, they could understand her.

No matter what, not letting someone see their child was excessive.

A well-meaning person said, “If you want to see him, just come. After all, you are Jianguo’s mother. Not letting you see your child is unreasonable.”

“But what if they won’t let her see him?”

“Shufen, if they won’t let you see him, just stay here; they’ll have to go out eventually. If not, you can go to the school later. I heard your mother-in-law say they plan to send Jianguo to kindergarten. Regardless, not letting you see your son is wrong.”

These people didn’t know that Li Yurong hadn’t said Zhou Shufen couldn’t see Zhang Jianguo; they merely said she wasn’t allowed to enter the house anymore.

If she wanted to see him, they could set a time and place for her to see him.

Just seeing Zhang Jianguo wasn’t what Zhou Shufen wanted; she was using this opportunity to build her favorability while also discrediting Li Yurong.

Inside the house, Li Yurong said, “Weiwei, do you think Zhou Shufen is talking bad about us?”

Lin Bingwei was also confused, “It seems like she’s saying we won’t let her see Jianguo.”

“Pfft, how can she talk nonsense? No way, I can’t let her speak recklessly.”

After saying that, Li Yurong threw down the fire tongs and walked outside.

She walked to the door and then returned, continuing to use the fire tongs to stoke the fire.

Lin Bingwei asked, “Mom, aren’t you going to check on her?”

Li Yurong replied, “Forget it, let her be. No matter what she says, I’m not going to let her in again.”

“Won’t that lead to misunderstandings with the neighbors?”

“It’s fine, the truth will come out eventually. I’ll explain tomorrow.”

The people below the embankment continued their chatter.

Since Zhou Shufen had mentioned her three years of doing business outside, Aunt Liu asked her about it.

“Shufen, you’ve been doing business for three years, how much money have you made?”

Hearing her question, everyone quieted down to look at Zhou Shufen.

How much money she made was more interesting than the previous matters.

Zhou Shufen awkwardly tugged at the corner of her mouth and said softly, “Aunt Liu, I didn’t make much money.”

Seeing her outfit… Aunt Liu said, “That can’t be true. You’re dressed so stylishly, just like the people on TV; it must have cost a lot, right?”

People in her line of work definitely wouldn’t dress poorly.

Moreover, the overall fashion in big cities was much trendier than in rural areas, so they assumed Zhou Shufen must have made a lot of money to afford such clothes.

Zhou Shufen said, “It’s not much; the whole set cost less than a hundred yuan.”

“A hundred yuan?”

Everyone gasped, a wave of sharp intakes of breath followed.

They overlooked the “less than” part; what registered in their ears was just “a hundred yuan.”

A hundred yuan for a full outfit was something they could hardly imagine.

“Oh my, Shufen, I’m going to get rich!” Aunt Liu was practically beaming, eager to flatter Zhou Shufen.

She was convinced that Zhou Shufen had made a fortune.

Zhou Shufen didn’t dare to tell the truth and felt awkward about it.

“Aunt Liu, I really didn’t make much money; it was just a small profit.”

To Aunt Liu, this sounded humble.

Now, Aunt Liu was already convinced that Zhou Shufen had made a lot of money and enthusiastically said to her, “Shufen, I don’t think they’ll open the door anymore. It’s so late; you can’t really stay here all night. Come on, let’s go to my house. You can stay at my place tonight, and tomorrow I’ll go with you to the Zhang family to ask for justice.”

“Ah? That… wouldn’t that be inappropriate?”

“There’s nothing inappropriate about it. Come on. By the way, where’s your luggage?”

“My luggage is still at the inn in town.”

“Well…” Aunt Liu thought for a moment and then smiled, “It’s fine. Just stay at my house for now, and we’ll sort it out tomorrow. It’s too late for you to go to town alone; it’s not safe.”

Zhou Shufen hesitated for a bit, glanced at the tightly shut door of the Zhang family, and decided to go with her.

Zhou Shufen smiled and said, “Then I’ll trouble you, Aunt Liu.”

Aunt Liu’s face lit up with joy, “No trouble at all! Come on, let’s go to my house for dinner.”