Boom—

The scene erupted into an uproar.

Shorty Tiger’s father, Ai Donggua, who had been inside the house, walked out with a face as dark as thunder after hearing Chen Qing’s words.

He was only one and a half meters tall!

This was a lifelong humiliation!

In an effort to improve his genes and ensure his children wouldn’t inherit his height, he had specifically spent a hefty sum of eighty-eight yuan to marry a wife who was one meter sixty-seven centimeters tall.

After marrying her, she gave birth to two sons, which satisfied him. But if this woman dared to fool around outside or even dared to look down on his height, she shouldn’t blame him for being ruthless!

Li Hehua’s face turned deathly pale: “Don’t talk nonsense! When have I ever liked Director Yang?”

“So you’re admitting you tried to scheme against your own son just to divorce Shorty Tiger’s father, huh?”

Chen Qing innocently spread her hands.

Ai Donggua clenched his fists, his nostrils flaring with rage.

Li Hehua knew all too well the power of her husband’s fists and trembled in fear. She screamed at Chen Qing, “Shut up! If you say another word, I’ll rip your mouth apart!”

Chen Qing’s small face instantly turned pale, and she looked at Li Hehua helplessly, her eyes gradually reddening.

“I was just telling the truth. Why are you yelling at me?”

A beauty with reddened eyes always evoked pity. Compared to Li Hehua’s aggressive demeanor, many couldn’t help but believe that Li Hehua truly looked down on her husband!

Li Hehua was frantic: “I’m not interested in anyone else! Don’t you frame me!”

“I understand everything. I know you like Director Yang. To support you two, even though Director Yang has been endlessly attentive to me, I’ve never been kind to him. Really, everyone here can vouch for me!”

Chen Qing looked at the people around her.

Everyone: “???”

Upon careful recollection, it did seem true.

Chen Qing had always responded to Yang Xiujin’s advances with a haughty attitude, like a proud peacock.

Could it really be for Li Hehua’s sake?

The crowd’s eyes filled with suspicion, and they couldn’t help but glance at Ai Donggua’s head, feeling like it was looking a bit green.

Ai Donggua lived up to his name—short and stout, with drooping features and layers of fleshy horizontal fat. Though he was short, his presence was intimidating: “Li Hehua!”

He called out her name in a sinister tone.

Li Hehua’s pupils trembled as she turned to explain, “I didn’t! Believe me, I really didn’t!”

“Brother Donggua, don’t be angry. Love is free nowadays, you know,” Chen Qing said with a smile.

Everyone: She’s blatantly adding fuel to the fire!

Ai Donggua felt like green hats were stacking up on his head one after another, and his face was turning green with rage!

Just as he raised his foot to take action, Chen Qing added, “If you two really want to fight, could you first compensate me for my money? You’re not putting on this fight just to get out of paying me those five mao, are you?”

Chen Qing directed the question at Li Hehua.

Her eyes curved into a smile, making her look exceptionally pretty.

Li Hehua was practically fuming with rage. She knew it—Chen Qing was doing this on purpose!

“Dream on if you think I’ll pay you back!”

“Well, next time you ask me to reject Yang Xiujin, I’ll have to raise my price~”

“I don’t like him!” Li Hehua shrieked.

Chen Qing waved her hand dismissively: “Alright, I get it.”

She winked at her.

Playful and lively.

As if chatting with a close girlfriend.

Sensing her husband closing in, Li Hehua’s survival instincts kicked in, and she immediately said, “It’s just five mao, right? I’ll consider it charity for a beggar!”

She quickly went back inside, grabbed five mao, and tossed it to Chen Qing.

Chen Qing swiftly took the money and stuffed it into her pocket. Seeing the crowd gathered so completely, she smiled and said, “Actually, my main purpose in coming here today wasn’t just to collect money. We’re all neighbors—who would fuss over just five mao?”

Li Hehua: “!!!”

What nonsense are you spouting?

You went so far as to fabricate a lover for me just to get five mao, and now you have the nerve to act all righteous!

The crowd was also speechless.

Her audacity was truly something else.

Chen Qing’s smile vanished, replaced by a cold tone: “Right now, those children only have me as their family. Besides me, they have no one else to rely on. For the past six months, I’ve been terrified that I might die too, because my parents, my sister, and my brother-in-law all passed away suddenly.”

The entire crowd froze.

Her words seemed to carry a hidden meaning.

Upon closer thought, it was indeed chilling. Although Chen Qing’s parents died in the line of duty, her brother-in-law also sacrificed himself, and her sister passed away soon after. It had initially been attributed to bad luck, but the way she phrased it now hinted at something more sinister.

Even He Yuxiang, hidden in the crowd, straightened his expression.

Seeing that she had their attention, Chen Qing continued, “After my sister died, I kept thinking that I must train my niece and nephew to be self-reliant. If something were to happen to me one day, they need to be capable of supporting themselves.”

He Yuxiang was stunned.

Is beating and abuse what she calls “self-reliance”?

How could someone be so shameless?!

While some in the crowd remained skeptical, others began to half-believe her.

As Chen Qing had said, if she were gone one day, the two children would have no other relatives. Self-reliance would be their only way to survive.

Chen Qing cast a cold glance at Shorty Tiger: “Even if I’m training them, that doesn’t mean anyone can bully them while I’m still alive. They are the family of martyrs. If children who sacrificed for their country can be called ‘jinxes,’ then I would seriously question the loyalty of anyone who says that.”

With that, Chen Qing said no more. She picked up the kitchen knife, found her little niece, took her thin hand, and walked home.

The onlookers felt that Chen Qing seemed changed, though they couldn’t quite pinpoint how. Still, many parents went home and warned their children not to bully He Yuxiang and He Yuting!

They were the orphans of martyrs.

It might not be a big deal if no one made an issue of it.

But if someone decided to pursue the matter, the whole family could end up in labor reform!

In this particular era, everyone knew what could and couldn’t be said—they all had a sense of balance.

Although Chen Qing had left, and those who had followed her to watch the drama should have dispersed, another scene was about to unfold.

Ai Donggua slapped his son: “You little troublemaker! Always causing trouble outside!”

Shorty Tiger was knocked to the ground, his ears ringing.

Li Hehua, after all, was his biological mother. Her heart ached, and she rushed forward to shield her child. “If you want to hit someone, hit me instead… Ow… my tooth…”

A tooth fell out, and blood immediately stained the scene. Shorty Tiger was terrified, lying on the ground, crying hysterically with his face to the sky.

The compound manager, immediately stepped in to calm the situation: “Donggua, don’t take it out on your wife. You two should just live peacefully together. Look at Hehua—she handles everything inside and outside the house. How many wives are as pretty and hardworking as yours?”

After placating the husband, she turned to the wife with earnest advice: “Hehua, you too. Donggua is such a good man—his salary is high, his job is respectable, and the benefits are great. Don’t let your thoughts wander elsewhere.”