Chapter 11

Although the weather is hot, not only is there no air conditioning, few families even have electric fans. The sisters-in-law in the family compound get up early every day, and move their work to the morning, whether it is going to the fields or washing clothes. Song Ci is no exception. She no longer reads books at night, but goes to bed early every day and wakes up at dawn. On the 25th, she got up from the bed early in the morning. Li Yannian had left early, and Xiaoshu was still asleep. She yawned, moistened the pot with water, and then picked up the clothes she had changed yesterday and walked to the river. Wang Juan saw her coming and immediately waved to her, “Ci, why are you late today? Come to me, I will finish washing them soon.”

Song Ci took a quick look and saw that wherever there were stone slabs, there were indeed people, so she walked over to Wang Juan. Wang Juan moved aside so that Song Ci could have a place to wash, then she pointed to a woman about three meters away on the left and said, “See?”

Song Ci took a look and nodded, then took the washed clothes in the basin to rinse them in the water.

“Don’t you have anything to say?” Wang Juan whispered.

Song Ci didn’t even raise his head, “What should I say?”

“I heard that she came from Shanghai and came by car. Many people saw her yesterday. She was wearing a bright red dress with a very white upper body and high heels. She looked so majestic. Wow, it’s the first time I’ve seen her like that. I used to think that you and Song Zhen were pretty good, but now I know that you two are really nothing.” Wang Juan said while looking at Song Ci’s face.

Song Ci felt amused, what did this have to do with anything?

Seeing that she didn’t say anything, Wang Juan said, “Just pretend. I know you feel bad.”

Song Ci was helpless and couldn’t help but look up and said, “So, sister-in-law, you came here early in the morning to make me unhappy?”

Wang Juan was amused when she heard this. “Look, I told you what I was saying, but you’re still mad at me. I’m going back now.”

After saying that, she walked back with the basin in her arms.

Song Ci was not really angry. Wang Juan was a bit shameless. If you didn’t react, she would keep talking to you.

She didn’t have much laundry to do, so she finished quickly. As she stood up, she saw Liu Meihua going over to the newcomer.

Just as he was about to leave, he was stopped.

“Song Ci, right? I have a few questions to ask you.” A clear female voice came.

“Who are you?” Song Ci turned around slowly and asked.

“My name is Zhu Yingying, and I just came here the day before yesterday. I’ve been taken care of by Sister Liu these past few days, and I know you used to bully her all the time. I feel really bad, so I wanted to ask you why you bullied her.”

“She told you? Did she tell you that she betrayed me?” Song Ci glanced at the guilty Liu Meihua.

“I didn’t, she didn’t bully me.” Liu Meihua said weakly while standing behind Zhu Yingying. She felt a little regretful. She just wanted to play the victim to gain some sympathy and gain some benefits from Zhu Yingying, but she didn’t expect her to be so reckless and turned around to find Song Ci.

“Sister Liu, you don’t have to be afraid of her. I will definitely get justice for you.” Zhu Yingying said, looking at Song Ci again: “You bullied her, even if she betrayed you, you deserve it.”

“Which eye of yours saw me bullying her? Where’s the evidence? If you have no evidence, you’re slandering me.” Song Ci said coldly.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Yingying turned around and looked at Liu Meihua. “Sister-in-law Liu, didn’t you say that many sisters-in-law have seen Song Ci bullying you? I see that there are quite a few here today. Tell me quickly so I can call her out and confront her.”

Liu Meihua said somewhat guiltily, “Forget it, it’s all over.” After saying that, she quickly glanced at Zhu Ci and lowered her head as if frightened.

Zhu Ci sneered, “She doesn’t have the nerve to call for a confrontation. She was the one who shamelessly followed me around, even volunteering to help me with laundry and babysitting. Most importantly, she’s gotten a lot of good things from me. The clothes she’s wearing were even given to her by me. If that’s bullying, Comrade Zhu Yingying, you better be careful.”

“Is this dress of yours really hers?” Zhu Yingying turned around and looked at Liu Meihua.

Liu Meihua’s face turned pale. Why was she wearing this dress today?

Zhu Yingying was completely confused. Liu Meihua was just like her father’s poor relatives, using flattery to get something. After she figured it out, her expression suddenly turned extremely ugly.

She looked at Liu Meihua angrily and said, “Sister-in-law Liu, how could you mislead me?”

“I, I didn’t…”

Before Liu Meihua finished speaking, Zhu Yingying said to Song Ci, “Sister-in-law Song, I was wrong about this. I shouldn’t have questioned you based solely on Sister-in-law Liu’s one-sided story. I’m sorry, and I hope you can accept my apology.”

Song Ci nodded, picked up the basin and turned away. If she wasn’t afraid of affecting Li Yannian, she wouldn’t let it go so easily.

After she left, Zhu Yingying returned to the river to continue washing clothes, without even glancing at Liu Meihua. Liu Meihua regretted it deeply, thinking that she shouldn’t have said it while Song Ci was around. Not daring to look at the other sisters-in-law, she picked up her basin and ran back crying.

Song Ci had just hung up her clothes when Wang Juan rushed in from outside, grabbed her arm and said, “Ci, come with me quickly, your results are out.”

Song Ci pulled back his hand and said, “Just come out if you want. Your grades won’t go down. I’ll hang up the clothes first and then go check.”

“Why don’t you know how to be anxious? Don’t you want to know whether you passed the exam?”

Song Ci said nothing. After hanging the last piece of clothing on the rope, he took Xiaoshu by the hand and said, “Let’s go!”

As soon as the two of them left the yard, they saw a child rushing over, shouting, “Aunt Song, Aunt Song, I have good news for you. You scored 395 points in the exam.”

“Ah?” Wang Juan opened her mouth in shock.

Many people heard the sound and came out of the yard.

Song Zhen was also inside, looking at Lin Zi with excitement. Could it be that she had performed exceptionally well?

Seeing Song Ci and Song Zhen were both there, Aunt Zhou asked loudly, “Lin Zi, there are two Aunt Songs here. Which one are you talking about?”

Lin Zi, who was just happy, was suddenly stunned. “I don’t know. My mother only mentioned Aunt Song and asked me to call her over.”

Aunt Zhou said, “In that case, let’s all go take a look. Oh my, 395 points, that’s incredible! Last year, my Zhou Jian got into university with only 300 points.”

“Let’s go, let’s go. No matter who it is, it’s a big happy event for our family compound.” Wang Juan said while glancing at Song Ci.

Song Ci didn’t say anything, just smiled and nodded.

Seeing her confident look, Song Zhen felt a little uneasy. However, she quickly realized that even if she didn’t do as well as Song Ci, so what? They were no longer on the same track. She was more than just a scholar.