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Just then, an old lady came trotting past Bi Chunliu. Chunliu hurried alongside and asked,
“Auntie Qiu, what’s going on?”
Most people had already forgotten her after so long, but she remembered this old lady very clearly. Auntie Qiu was from the neighboring courtyard. Together with Auntie Liu and Auntie Zhang from Chunliu’s own courtyard, the three of them were nicknamed the Gossip Trio. Around here, there wasn’t a rumor or secret they couldn’t dig up.
Auntie Qiu glanced at her, tiptoeing as she peered toward the liveliest part of the crowd while squeezing in.
“Oh my, isn’t this Chunliu girl? You don’t know? Something big seems to have happened up ahead!”
Chunliu asked in surprise,
“What big thing?!”
“It’s too long to explain in a word or two. See if someone else can fill you in—I’m heading in first.” With that, Auntie Qiu had already pushed two or three people deeper into the crowd.
Chunliu: … Wow, Auntie Qiu’s pretty agile for her age.
She too craned her neck, tiptoeing to get a look inside.
“You’re talking complete nonsense! I told you it’s impossible. Don’t believe your own son and daughter-in-law, but you’ll believe some nonsense from outsiders?!” A woman in her forties or fifties jabbed a finger at another woman, whose face was flushed red.
Who’s this now? Chunliu wondered, trying to figure out what had happened to get her cursed at like that.
She asked a woman squeezed up beside her,
“Sister, what’s this about? Who’s that woman yelling?”
The woman replied,
“See that one crying? The one yelling is her mother. The one red in the face is her mother-in-law. That much I figured out. As for this ‘not believing your son and daughter-in-law but outsiders instead,’ I don’t quite follow either.”
“Big Sis, what’s going on? What happened?” Chunliu turned to see Bi Qiuguo and the others had returned. All the little kids were tiptoeing and craning their necks to peek in too, their faces full of curiosity.
Chunliu: … This love of watching drama must be in the blood. She remembered seeing a video comment in her past life: anywhere in the country, if there’s a commotion, people will gather and refuse to leave until it’s over—never missing a spectacle.
At this moment, a little girl walking beside Qiuguo whispered,
“That’s Aunt Zhang Yu from our courtyard.”
The woman who had just explained to Chunliu brightened instantly and asked,
“Little girl, do you know why they’re fighting? Did it just start today, or have they been arguing for days?”
“I don’t know… I don’t think they argued yesterday?”
Qiuguo asked excitedly,
“Cai Xiaorong, if you find out tonight, can you tell me?”
Cai Xiaorong nodded,
“Okay. I’ll ask my grandma later—I just saw her standing way inside.”
“Great, great.” Qiuguo nodded eagerly.
Chunliu: … Who knew our fourth sister actually had such a hobby.
The scolding woman was truly furious, shouting while jabbing a finger at her daughter’s mother-in-law.
“She knows perfectly well what shameful thing she’s done! Hmph! I’m embarrassed even to say it out loud. You did wrong and still act so righteous? I’m not afraid of you! Instead of yapping at me, why don’t you ask your precious daughter? Ask her what she’s done! Huh?! My son hasn’t been home in over a month—how exactly did she get pregnant? With which wild man’s child, huh?!” The mother-in-law grew angrier as she spoke.
“I’ll fight you for this! Forcing my son to wait on you and your daughter like servants was bad enough, but now you’ve gone and put a green hat on him!” The mother-in-law, her rage now fueled by both new and old grudges, lunged forward. Though her words targeted her daughter-in-law, she was still rational enough not to risk harming the baby—whether it was her grandchild or not, causing a miscarriage would make her the guilty one. So instead she went after her in-law, shoving her so hard she tumbled to the ground.
The onlookers pulled back for a moment, then quickly leaned in again, exchanging looks. Whoa… these people know way too much about each other…
“You… you’re full of crap!” The scolding woman instinctively glanced at her daughter, who had been crying silently the whole time. First she looked shocked, then a bit guilty—but she forced herself to believe her daughter couldn’t be like that. Even though she wasn’t from the textile factory compound, the city wasn’t big. With this kind of filth thrown at her, how could her daughter and son-in-law continue to live here? It would affect her unmarried daughters’ futures too. And now, having been shoved to the ground, her fury doubled.
“I’ll fight you too! How dare you slander my daughter! You shameless old hag!”
Admit it? Impossible! How could she? If she admitted it, how would they show their faces again? Besides, whatever child her daughter bore would be her grandchild no matter what—who cared whose blood it was? But of course, she couldn’t say that out loud. Even if her daughter really had someone else’s child, she could never acknowledge it in front of everyone.
“I’ll make you pay for ruining my family’s name! I’ll shut your filthy mouth!”
The crowd watched as the two women clawed, shoved, and scratched at each other. No one dared step forward to break it up.
Qiuguo whispered,
“Big Sis, I noticed everyone fights the same way, huh? These two aunties fight just like our Third Aunt did last time.”
Chunliu: … She thought the same. A fight usually just boiled down to scratching, clawing, pinching, and if desperate, biting. There wasn’t much variation at all.
“Hey, which courtyard are they from? Is the courtyard elder here? Someone should stop this. What if someone gets killed?”