Chapter 539: Chapter 365 Suspicion Between Husband and Wife
It was the first watch of the night.
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Uncle Gangshun sized up his stubborn wife, shaking his head as he walked toward the house. “You say one thing but an another. If I’m not in front of you to make you nervous, then you’re bound to panic.”
Fat Aunt rolled her eyes. “What’s there to panic about? I’d be glad if you didn’t hover around all the ti, so I could go to the city with Yulan and Baohe to see our daughter.”
“Go ahead, I approve of your leave,” Gangshun’s head popped out from the eastern room, smiling at his wife, “as long as you’re confident leaving alone at ho, you should go.”
“If I leave, you’d probably go find a young and pretty thing to fool around with, right? … Oh, yeah …” Fat Aunt turned to Lin Baohe, “Which wheat field did he take you to?”
Sensing sothing ominous about the question, yet unclear about what exactly, Lin Baohe who was sitting next to Uncle Gangshun humd and hawed, looking towards Uncle Gangshun for so hints.
The problem was, Uncle Gangshun was also clueless about the trap in his wife’s question and could only shake his head silently at Baohe… Left with no choice, Lin Baohe told the truth, “We went to the field at Si Jing.”
“Oh…” Fat Aunt responded before continuing, “You went through the alley by Jianfeng’s ho, didn’t you?” As her words fell, she flashed to the doorway of the eastern room, just in ti to catch the scene of Lin Baohe seeking Uncle Gangshun’s advice with his eyes. She let out a cold snort and glared at them discontentedly, “You still dare to say you’re not guilty of anything? Gangshun, don’t use Baohe as your cover. If you tell the truth now, I might let it slide. Otherwise, you know my temper. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
Lin Baohe hastily explained, “Sister-in-law, I’m not covering for Gangshun. It’s just that the tone of your voice seed off, and I was afraid of misspeaking and causing trouble between you two.
Honest to goodness, we just went to the field to check on the wheat sprouts, and then, we headed back. Oh!” said Baohe, slapping his forehead suddenly, “Also, on our way back, we ran into Uncle Qianbao, Uncle Jinghua, Brother Jianning, the Jianbao Brothers, Guang Jian…”
Fat Aunt interrupted him, “Ran into just n, did you?”
“Yeah…” Lin Baohe seed to catch on to sothing, wanted to laugh but didn’t dare, his mouth twitching,” Fat Aunt glared at him, “Are you laughing at ?”
“No, no, no…” Lin Baohe quickly waved his hands in denial.
Luo Xiaoqiong tugged Chuxia forward to quietly scrutinize her mother’s complexion. Honestly, as her own daughter, she really couldn’t tell whether her mother was angry or joking; the expression seed angry. Could it be that so problem had arisen between her parents while she and her brother were away?
Chuxia blinked her big eyes, scrutinizing Uncle Gangshun from top to bottom. Although she didn’t say a word, her face clearly expressed a line of thought, “Uncle Gangshun, are you involved with another woman?”—In fact, what she was thinking was, “Uncle Gangshun actually has a mistress?”
Originally not feeling guilty at all, Uncle Gangshun started to look uncomfortable under Chuxia’s gaze. “Chuxia, Uncle Gangshun isn’t that kind of person. Your aunt’s just being paranoid,” he explained.
“Oh,” Chuxia responded, retreating back to the main room.
Uncle Gangshun felt an itching sensation, as if scratching over a boot, an awkward discomfort, but he was at a loss for what to say. He could only sigh and sulkily sit on the kang, flicking his tobacco pipe.
“What on earth is going on here?” Having observed the scene with a cold eye, Zhao Yulan couldn’t stay put any longer. She got up, took Fat Aunt by the arm, and headed to the western room. Chuxia and Luo Xiaoqiong tried to follow, but the two mothers quickly shut them out with a “bang.”
Exchanging glances, Luo Xiaoqiong pouted her mouth and returned to the eastern room, “Dad, which woman are you close with that’s caused mom to overthink so much?”
“Daughter, don’t you believe your dad either?” Uncle Gangshun asked gloomily. Without waiting for Luo Xiaoqiong to answer, he turned to Lin Baohe, “Baohe, do you believe ?”
“Dad, I believe you, but I also think you must have done sothing that made mom overthink,” she replied.
Lin Baohe nodded in agreent, “Yeah, I think so too. Cha Xiang isn’t the type to make a fuss over nothing; if she’s saying all this in front of us, it must be because you’ve done sothing that doesn’t sit right with her.”
“Chuxia, what do you think?” Uncle Gangshun could only seek help by looking towards Chuxia.
“Uncle, I believe you!”
“Chuxia, you understand your uncle…” Uncle Gangshun didn’t even have ti to finish feeling touched when Chuxia continued, “But it’s no use if I believe you, uncle. You have to make Fat Aunt believe you, that’s what matters. She’s the one who knows you best.”
Daughter, it’s not right to scare people like that. This still ans you don’t believe , right?…
Chuxia quickly added, “Uncle, you’re not saying anything but asking us if we believe you, how are we supposed to answer that? You must know why Fat Aunt is unhappy. Tell us, so we can help you analyze the situation. Many hands make light work, right?”
“It’s just…” He paused and waved his hand, “Nothing happened.”
Obviously, he swallowed back what he’d intended to say.
Chuxia and Luo Xiaoqiong exchanged a glance and stood up to leave; they could tell that Secretary Luo was being considerate of the two won, or perhaps, only between n could hearts be truly opened.
“Do you think my dad would really be nice to another woman?” Sitting by the stove, Luo Xiaoqiong asked with worried concern.
“Based on what you know about Uncle Gangshun, do you think it’s possible?” Chuxia countered with a question.
“I find it impossible, but my mom isn’t one to believe rumors without proof. Her bringing it up in front of all of us ans she’s taking it seriously.”
“Don’t worry about it. Aren’t my mom and dad separately talking with your mom and dad? They’ll surely sort things out clearly, I guess, and I’m just guessing here, it’s very likely so woman from the village asked Uncle Gangshun for help. Then, being the good-hearted man he is, he helped, and this help, most likely, was at her ho, and that’s how the rumors started. You know what the gossiping wives in the village are like, it must have been twisted more and more into sothing real, and that’s why Fat Aunt believed it.”
“Then do you think my mom asked my dad about it before?”
“Definitely, and Uncle Gangshun must have denied it. Today, it seed like she was trying to force Uncle Gangshun to make a public statent in front of us.”
Feeling that Chuxia’s analysis made a lot of sense, Luo Xiaoqiong nodded, “So people are always looking to push my dad out of his position as village secretary. This incident is most likely their doing.”
“Do you know who it is?” Chuxia asked.
“I do,” sighed Luo Xiaoqiong. “Don’t you?”
“?” Chuxia quickly racked her brains to rember. After all, she didn’t inherit the original owner’s mory, which was really… A light bulb went off in her head, “My eldest uncle?” The words blurted out.
“Don’t you get involved in this. I’ll go settle the score with him,” Luo Xiaoqiong said, heading for the door. “While my brother and I weren’t around, with mom feeling alone, he plays these underhand gas—just watch beat him.”
“Xiaoqiong…” Chuxia hurriedly held her back, “Don’t rush into anything. If we got the wrong person, we won’t be in the right. Don’t look at like that, you know how I get along with his family, I can’t possibly speak up for him. I just don’t want you to make a mistake and put Uncle Gangshun in a difficult position, or what if this isn’t what we think it is? If we cause a commotion now, given what Eldest Uncle’s Wife is like, won’t she spread it around even more? Then it would be impossible for Uncle Gangshun to clear his na. At the very least, we need to understand the whole situation before deciding what to do, right?”
“You’re right, why do I beco so impulsive the mont I return to my hotown?” Luo Xiaoqiong said with an embarrassed smile, walking to the west room and pressing her ear to the door. After a while, she sat down disappointedly by the stove, “All I hear are muffled voices, I can’t make out what’s being said.”
“Fat Aunt brought it up in front of us, clearly she wasn’t planning to keep it from us. She just didn’t feel comfortable telling us herself. Once my mom cos out, I’ll ask, then we can decide what to do. Don’t worry…” Chuxia said as she peered into the stove, pulling out two baked sweet potatoes, “Eat up, you’ll need strength if you’re going to beat soone up.”
Luo Xiaoqiong: “…” Did I say I was definitely going to beat soone up?
The two finished their sweet potatoes, and Zhao Yulan and Fat Aunt ca out from inside. Seeing Fat Aunt’s red-rimd eyes, it was clear she had cried, and cried quite sadly at that.
Truth be told, Chuxia was puzzled. When she saw Fat Aunt the day before, she seed perfectly happy, even that morning she seed normal. How co as soon as Luo Gangshun returned, things blew up so quickly? Although she had only known Fat Aunt for about a year, she was one hundred percent sure the latter was not one to suffer in silence.
“Mom, keep an eye on the fire.” Luo Xiaoqiong seated Fat Aunt by the stove, and with Chuxia pulling from one side, they dragged Zhao Yulan back to the west room, “Auntie, what exactly happened? Tell us.”
“It’s nothing.” Zhao Yulan smiled and waved her hand, “You kids shouldn’t pry, it’s really nothing.”
“As if!” Chuxia pouted, “Fat Aunt’s eyes are almost swollen to the size of peaches, does she look like nothing’s wrong? Mom, she kicked up that fuss with Uncle Gangshun in front of us and let us drag you in here because she ant for you to tell us. She was just too embarrassed to say it herself. Please, just tell us.”
Luo Xiaoqiong looked expectantly at Zhao Yulan, “Auntie, you know my mom’s temper. If she hadn’t intended for you to tell us, she definitely would have stopped us from bringing you in here.”
…
Although the old Lin couple has always lived at their eldest son Lin Baojiang’s place, the relationship wasn’t very good, and for the past six months, they had been having breakfast separately and their disagreents were non-stop.
But early this morning, Zheng Sanqiao unexpectedly ca to the old couple’s room early, “Dad, Mom, don’t bother making breakfast. I’ve cooked millet porridge and stead stuffed buns, the buns are from yesterday when I brought them back from my mom’s place, with your favorite cabbage and pork filling.”
(To be continued. If you like this story, please co to Qidian (qidian) to cast your votes of recomndation and monthly tickets, your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please go to m.qidian to read.)
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