Ch 38: Gossipmonger

From a restaurant outside the residential area, they ordered four dishes, including meat and vegetables, and six boxes of rice. Xiao Wenxing also bought a bottle of Baijiu. The two of them carried their things and walked back.

Passing a gazebo in the residential area, several middle-aged and elderly women were sitting there, gossiping about the murder case from two days ago.

A fat woman slapped her thigh, describing the scene with a grimace, “…Oh my, I heard that the intestines were all ripped out, blood everywhere. He died on the spot before the emergency services arrived, his eyes didn’t even close. I heard that the medical personnel forcibly closed his eyes. It was a tragic death.”

Xiao Yao’s hand trembled, and the boxed lunches she was carrying fell to the ground. She stared blankly in the direction of the gazebo.

She knew these people were exaggerating and spreading rumors. Although her father had multiple stab wounds in his abdomen, none of them were severe enough to cause his intestines to spill out. But the phrase “eyes didn’t close” made her heart ache suddenly. She seemed to see the scene again, as if a sudden blow knocked her to the ground.

Only five or six steps away, Xiao Wenxing, with a gloomy face, was about to walk over, but Xiao Yao grabbed his arm.

She held Xiao Wenxing’s arm tightly, as if to stop him from leaving, and also as if to support herself from falling.

Woman B said: “This Zhao Er is too cruel. He killed someone because of a few words, and he will probably be sentenced to death. It was so impulsive, it wasn’t worth it. What about the orphans and widows he left behind? I heard that his daughter Zhao Rui just got engaged, and this happened suddenly, the other party immediately called off the engagement.”

“Oh, right, I heard that Zhao Rui and the daughter of the murdered man were classmates. Otherwise, how could she know so clearly?”

The fat woman slapped her leg again, leaning closer to a few people and whispering: “You must keep a close eye on your daughters, girls are not as free as boys. If their reputations are ruined, and their bodies are ruined…I heard Zhao Rui say it’s because of too many miscarriages, she couldn’t carry the baby to term. A woman who can’t have children…in the future she won’t be able to marry, and will also bring shame on her parents. Her father must be a tragic death.”

“Exactly, if her father didn’t feel ashamed, why would he fight with Zhao Er because of this? He was even killed. This daughter is a jinx, a harbinger of misfortune!”

Xiao Wenxing could bear it no longer. He broke free from Xiao Yao’s grasp and strode towards the gazebo.

The women who were gossiping were all slightly stunned when they saw the young and handsome man suddenly barge in.

“Excuse me, Madam,” Xiao Wenxing forced a cold smile on his grim face, “Do you know the reason behind the murder a few days ago?”

The fat woman thought he was here to inquire about the matter, and immediately became interested, “Of course we do. We’re talking about it now!”

“I think you don’t know the full story. Let me tell you, this happened because of malicious gossip and spreading false rumors. I advise you to control your tongues. Cruel people aren’t just Zhao Er, don’t think you have a long life to waste.”

“Hey? Young man, what are you talking about?” The fat woman disagreed and was about to stand up, but was pulled by someone beside her, who pointed towards where Xiao Yao was standing.

The fat woman immediately understood, but she was still angry at being publicly scolded by a younger person. She got up and pretended to leave, but paused, taking two steps back, and humming twice towards Xiao Yao, she said sarcastically: “If you want to keep a secret, you must keep it to yourself. Don’t do things then stop people from talking about it, what’s the difference between that and being a hypocrite? Hurting oneself and others is really not worth it. I also heard that you recently got married. I advise you not to ruin this young man…”

“You’re a goddamn liar!” Xiao Wenxing, his temples throbbing with anger, clenched his fist and lunged at the gossiping fat woman.

Suddenly, Xiao Yao’s sharp cry came from a distance, almost breaking her voice: “Brother!”

Xiao Wenxing stopped abruptly and turned to look at Xiao Yao. In the sunlight, her face was almost transparently pale. Xiao Wenxing’s heart sank, he glared fiercely at the fat woman, and quickly went to Xiao Yao’s side to support her.

“Yaoyao, are you alright?”

“Don’t fall for it, she did it on purpose,” Xiao Yao leaned on Xiao Wenxing, as if the previous shout had exhausted all her strength, “As long as your hand touches her clothes, she’ll fall to the ground, and you won’t be able to leave without paying tens of thousands of yuan.”

Xiao Wenxing sneered, “Extortion?”

“It’s common. You’re from out of town and don’t know her character. Let’s go, Third Uncle is waiting for dinner.”

“But these people are spreading rumors!”

“Let them talk. Anyway, it’s not true about me,” pausing, Xiao Yao recalled the Zhao Rui that those people mentioned. She didn’t have a classmate named Zhao Rui in her memory. What benefit could she possibly gain from slandering her like this?

“Let’s go, Brother.”

Xiao Yao rarely called Xiao Wenxing “Brother.” Because they were about the same age, they had grown up fighting and playing together since childhood. Xiao Yao always yelled at him like, “Xiao Wenxing, are you crazy? Xiao Wenxing, are you looking for death?”

This soft “Brother” made Xiao Wenxing feel very uncomfortable. He missed Xiao Yao calling him like before; it felt more intimate.

On the way home, they met many neighbors who lived in the same building.

When they saw Xiao Yao, they avoided her from afar, with faces full of disgust or aversion, as if she were the murderer.

Xiao Yao didn’t know why she had become like this. Before, some uncles and aunts liked her very much, and some even wanted her to be their daughter-in-law. Now they all avoided her.

She hadn’t done anything wrong. She lived a clean life, but because of one person’s rumors, her reputation and her happy family were ruined.

Zhao Rui, at this moment, Xiao Yao really wanted to meet this person, to see what kind of person she was.

She wanted to ask her, what she had done to offend her that she would harm her like this?

Unfortunately, on the day Zhao Er had the accident, Zhao Rui and her mother never came back, and the police came several times but couldn’t get in.

But this matter certainly couldn’t be let go like this.

Zhuang Lingyun, after learning about this, remained silent at first.

Later, he sued all the gossiping people in the residential area, demanding compensation for Xiao Yao’s losses totaling 700,000 yuan. The final result was a victory.

Although those people were very unwilling, under the court’s order, they had to pay compensation.

Not long after, Zhao Er’s verdict came down: death sentence, suspended for two years. At the same time, he had to pay 1.3 million yuan in compensation to the victim’s family, which would be paid from Zhao Er’s assets.

However, Zhao Rui and her mother disappeared with Zhao Er’s assets, and the court was searching for them.

Zhuang Lingyun took care of all these matters for her. Now, Xiao Yao’s biggest concern was her mother’s state.

After several months of recovery, Xiao Yao slowly recovered, but Jiang Lufang became more and more depressed and always in a melancholic state.

Although her parents often quarreled, Xiao Yao knew that their relationship was very good. With one gone, the remaining one would naturally be the most painful.

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