Zhao Yulan excitedly entered Chen Hui’s room:
“Jiajun, are you telling me that by just driving for them, you can make thirty-five thousand a month?”
“How can the salary be that high?”
Lin Jiajun scratched his head:
“Eldest Aunt, big companies do pay well, but it’s not easy either. I have to be on call 24 hours a day, ready to go out whenever there’s work.
“Sometimes I have to drive out in the middle of the night.”
Zhao Yulan wasn’t interested in that. She only heard the thirty-five thousand salary.
She grabbed Lin Wanyi’s wrist:
“Did you introduce Wenbin like I asked you? Why hasn’t anyone called him to start work yet?”
Lin Wanyi immediately replied:
“I was actually going to find you, but Huihui just got out of the hospital.
“Eldest Aunt, Ren Zhi said he already spoke to HR. He told Wenbin to just submit his resume normally.
“HR will prioritize him when they see it.”
“Prioritize?”
Zhao Yulan didn’t understand:
“Why does he still need to submit a resume? Shouldn’t it be as simple as you saying the word?”
“Eldest Aunt,”
Lin Wanyi explained patiently,
“This is a proper company. Everything has to follow company procedures.
“Even Jiajun got in through the normal process. Eldest Aunt, just tell Wenbin to submit his resume.”
Zhao Yulan wanted to say more, but Li Suhua pulled her out:
“Sister-in-law, don’t disturb Huihui while she’s resting.”
As soon as Zhao Yulan got home, she called Lin Wenbin.
Then, fuming, she said to Lin Yuantang:
“I can tell Lin Wanyi never really intended to help Wenbin. She didn’t put her heart into it at all.”
Lin Yuantang didn’t see it that way:
“She said she put in a word, so just tell Wenbin to submit his resume.
“He’s got a real degree—what’s there to fear? As long as there’s a suitable position, they’ll definitely give him priority. What more do you want?
“You want them to make him general manager on the spot?”
“That’s not what I meant.”
Zhao Yulan pursed her lips:
“I just can’t figure out how their family got hooked up with that big boss.
“Yuantang, have you ever asked them why they suddenly got so rich?”
Lin Yuantang shot her a glare:
“What does their money have to do with you? I’m telling you, aside from Wenbin’s job, don’t you go gossiping at their house.”
With that, Lin Yuantang left. But Zhao Yulan couldn’t stop wondering.
In just half a year, how had their family turned upside down?
A big house, luxury cars, a great job.
Who wouldn’t be suspicious?
People in the village were suspicious too.
Some had even started spreading rumors.
When Li Suhua took Wang Keke out for a walk, she overheard some nasty talk:
“Suhua, I hear your divorced daughter has latched onto another rich man. Can you tell us which big boss it is?”
“Yeah, right after her divorce, she finds a new sugar daddy, and a rich one at that. Your Wanyi’s really got skills.”
“Looks really do pay off, huh. A second-time bride can still land a good man. Meanwhile, our innocent daughters can’t find anyone decent.
“This world—I just don’t get it.”
“What are you talking about? Do you even know?”
The village gossip He Jingchun laughed loudly:
“At her age, divorced, with a kid—what normal man would want her, let alone a rich one? They’re not that stupid.
“If you ask me, she’s gotta be some rich guy’s mistress. A kept woman.”
Her words drew nods from the others:
“Exactly, that’s what I think too. What rich man would be dumb enough to settle for an old divorced woman with a kid?”
“Right, with all those young girls out there, why would he pick her?”
“Haha, Suhua, I guess your family’s been poor so long you’d let your daughter do something so shameful.”
“That’s right, Wang Keke, aren’t you embarrassed that your mom’s a mistress? Aren’t you afraid the real wife’s kids will come beat you up?”
Wang Keke started crying. She shouted loudly:
“No, you’re lying! My mom’s not a mistress, and Uncle Liu isn’t some old man.
“You can’t talk about my mom like that!”
He Jingchun burst out laughing:
“What do you know, little brat? Do you even know what a mistress is, and you’re already denying it?
“Let me tell you, your mom is a mistress, definitely a mistress.
“Look, your grandma doesn’t even dare to speak up. She can’t deny it, she—”
Before she could finish, Li Suhua slapped her.
Li Suhua, furious, landed a slap on her face:
“He Jingchun, you gossipmonger! I’ve been putting up with you for days. All these rumors in the village started with you, didn’t they?
“Come on, let’s settle this face-to-face. You say my daughter is a mistress—tell me, whose mistress is she?
“Which big boss’s mistress? Who’s the real wife? Say it! Go on!”
Stung by the slap, He Jingchun was livid:
“Li Suhua, who do you think you are? How dare you hit me?
“In all my decades, no one but my husband has ever laid a hand on me. Who do you think you are?”
She lunged at Li Suhua, but Li Suhua wasn’t afraid:
“Come on! Hit me! Today, I’m going to show you what happens when you run your mouth!”
Just as they were about to come to blows, other villagers stepped in to calm them down:
“Come on, come on. We’re all neighbors. Don’t actually fight.”
“Yeah, Suhua, don’t get so angry. We were just talking—nobody really said Wanyi is a mistress.”
“Right, right. Calm down, everyone.”
But Li Suhua couldn’t let it go. She’d heard these rumors for a long time.
She had held back, because no one had dared say it to her face.
But today, He Jingchun had spouted nonsense in front of Wang Keke, and she wasn’t going to let it slide.
She shouted at He Jingchun:
“My daughter is dating normally, getting engaged normally. You have no right to slander her.
“What, just because she’s divorced and has a kid, she’s not allowed to remarry? What kind of logic is that?
“He Jingchun, let me tell you—my daughter did find a good man, a young, rich, good man.
“Yeah, how does that make you feel? Bet it burns you up!”
He Jingchun refused to believe it. She wouldn’t budge.
She insisted Lin Wanyi was a mistress:
“Mistress! She’s a shameless mistress!
“A divorced woman like her is only good for being a mistress. No normal man would want worn-out goods like her.”
The argument escalated, and Wang Keke ran home frantically to find Lin Wanyi:
“Mom! Mom! Grandma’s in a fight!”
Lin Wanyi couldn’t believe it. In her mind, Li Suhua was always gentle—the only time she’d ever fought was with Liu Chunlan. She had never clashed with anyone else before.
How could she be in a fight?
As she walked, she asked Wang Keke:
“What happened? Why is Grandma fighting with someone?”
Wang Keke said angrily:
“Mom, they said you’re a mistress. Grandma got really mad and started fighting them.”
Lin Wanyi immediately understood why Li Suhua was so furious.
She grabbed Wang Keke’s hand and rushed toward the fitness center.
But before she got there, she heard someone shouting from a distance:
"Something terrible has happened! Suhua has fainted! Call an ambulance, quick!"
