When She Stops Being Dramatic

Chapter 21: Chapter 21: The 1950s’ Chaff Wife

After dinner, the women helped clear the dishes. They chatted for a while before each taking their husbands and children home.

The only ones who hadn’t left were Wu Quanquan, who was still stumbling about and giggling foolishly; his aunt, Aunt Li; Guo Meiyun, who was still passed out; Lin Jin and her husband, who had stayed out of concern for their friend; and Chu Shenyu and Zhu Yun, whose faces were like ice.

After shutting the main gate, Aunt Li pulled Wu Quanquan into the seat of honor in the main hall. Her face fell as she said, ”Mr. Wang, your wife was the one who brought Guo Meiyun here, wasn’t she?”

”Now my nephew has been taken advantage of while drunk. So tell me, how are we going to resolve this?”

”I’ve lived a long life, and I’ve never seen a woman throw herself at a man like that. Couldn’t even be pulled off him. Heh. We’ve all had a drink before. We all remember what it feels like to be drunk, don’t we?”

”I don’t buy that ’I was drunk and don’t remember anything’ nonsense. What’s true is that a drunk man’s words are a sober man’s thoughts, and that alcohol gives you liquid courage.”

Lin Jin shivered. She looked in disbelief from Wu Quanquan, his greasy hair a mess, to Zhu Yun, who was smirking nonstop. Her head was spinning. ”Auntie, what are you talking about?”

”Meiyun was drunk, yes, but Classmate Zhu was the one who helped her into the room. How could she have ended up with your nephew?”

Zhu Yun scoffed. ”Guo Meiyun, drunk? Who do you think you’re fooling? She probably got some drug from who-knows-where to use on me, and ended up falling into her own trap.”

”Then she came up with a new plan on the spot, grabbing me and trying to shove me into the inner room.” She pulled up her sleeve, revealing terrifying, purplish bruises on her fair, smooth arm. ”If I hadn’t been quick-witted, I’d probably be the one locked in there, waiting for you to call everyone in to ’catch the adulterer’!”

Chu Shenyu couldn’t help but glance at the bruises before quickly looking down, feigning indifference. His mind couldn’t help but drift to the preserved egg and tofu from dinner, and his expression grew three parts colder.

For Tan Zhiming to be respectfully called Mr. Tan without a university degree, he definitely had a sharper mind than his peers. He thought for a moment, understood the key point, and said coldly, ”I only followed because I saw Wang Xianbing pull someone up and start walking.”

He was indirectly corroborating Zhu Yun’s story: the couple, Lin Jin and Wang Xianbing, had indeed been planning to ”catch the adulterer.”

The ball was easily kicked back into her court. Lin Jin’s hands, hidden in her sleeves, clenched into fists, but her face was pale as she said, ”I heard Classmate Zhu’s voice and was worried something had happened to Meiyun. I was also afraid I’d get bumped in the stomach in a crowd, so I called for Xianbing.”

”If it was like you say, and we did this on purpose, then we would have pushed our way in before Classmate Zhu called for the other wives and aunties, leaving you with no excuse to cover things up.”

”Heh. If you weren’t afraid of Guo Meiyun’s reputation stinking to high heaven, and if you weren’t afraid of her coming after you with a kitchen knife, you probably would have been the first one to charge in!” Zhu Yun said bluntly, raising an eyebrow.

”All right,” she said impatiently. ”It’s already happened. I’m the victim here and I haven’t even said anything. Is there any point in you two arguing about all this? Let’s skip this part. The two of them were found in an embrace, they’ve had intimate contact. So either you settle this privately, or they get married.”

”You think we all have a ton of time to sit here and listen to you drag this out?”

Her one sentence shattered the emotional buildup that both Lin Jin and the Li family’s aunt and nephew had been brewing.

Aunt Li was also direct. ”Either five thousand yuan, or they get married. We won’t accept any other terms!”

This time, Lin Jin was genuinely angered, and a sharp pain shot through her belly.

Not only had she failed to help Guo Meiyun get together with Chu Shenyu, but now she was being strong-armed by this family.

’Everyone knew the wife of the production department’s vice director was a real piece of work. Once she latched onto you, you couldn’t shake her off without losing a layer of skin.’

”This is Meiyun’s business. Let’s wait for her to wake up to discuss it. The truth of the matter isn’t just whatever you say it is. In the end, it’s the woman who suffers most. We can always take this to the police station. Auntie, you wouldn’t want your nephew to face a firing squad, would you?” Lin Jin said, gritting her teeth.

”Then let’s go,” Aunt Li said, unafraid, sticking her neck out. ”My Quanquan is the most obedient and sensible boy. He doesn’t have the devious mind of you women from the arts troupe, daring to cook up schemes to create an irreversible situation like this.”

”Anyway, my family is not at fault. Do you think the comrades at the police station would really go against their conscience and make a wrong judgment? If it comes to that, we’ll be asking for a lot more than just five thousand.”

Zhu Yun nodded as well. ”Right. I also feel I’m a victim here. We should take Guo Meiyun for a drug test while it’s still soon after the incident. They might be able to detect some kind of sedative or aphrodisiac!”

”That way you can’t try to falsely accuse me later, leaving me unable to defend myself.”

Lin Jin’s body tensed. ’An uncivilized shrew isn’t scary. What’s scary is a shrew with a brain.’

She didn’t know if the drug Guo Meiyun had taken would show up on a test, but they couldn’t take that risk. If something was found, given Zhu Yun’s and Aunt Li’s personalities, they would surely blow the matter up and wouldn’t rest until they had squeezed every last advantage from the situation.

At that point, it wouldn’t just be her and Meiyun in trouble; Wang Xianbing’s job and reputation would likely be dragged into it as well.

Aunt Li was difficult, but she wasn’t without strategy. Seeing that Zhu Yun’s bluff had intimidated Lin Jin, she had already guessed most of what had happened.

Hearing Zhu Yun’s words gave her an idea. She said coldly, ”Five thousand yuan is no small sum. I doubt Guo Meiyun’s family would be willing to pay that much. Besides, this happened in front of so many people. No one’s a fool. Don’t pay the money only to find that Guo Meiyun’s reputation is still ruined, and then turn around and blame us for it.”

”It would be better for the two young people to just get married. Our Quanquan is a high school graduate, had good grades, and is already a permanent employee. With his uncle looking out for him, his future prospects are excellent.”

”He’s the only boy in his family, with five older sisters all ready to support him. How could their life together be anything but good?”

”As long as they get married, you won’t have to pay the five thousand. In fact, we’ll even offer a generous bride price. Think about it.”

”Everyone here is a witness: it’s Mr. Wang’s wife who doesn’t want to go to the police. Don’t wait until the evidence is gone and then try to turn this back on us!”

With that, she helped Wu Quanquan up and left.

The same words Aunt Li had used to pitch Wu Quanquan during his one-sided blind date with Zhu Yun were now being used for Guo Meiyun.

Truly, what goes around comes around.

Lin Jin glared at Zhu Yun with hatred. ”You’ve ruined a woman’s life. Doesn’t your conscience hurt?”

Zhu Yun burst out laughing. ”Oh, come on, Lin Jin. It’s easy for you to say, isn’t it? It was clearly the two of you ganging up on me. No, wait, it was me and Mr. Chu.”

”Do you take everyone for fools? Who doesn’t know Guo Meiyun is in love with Mr. Chu and is willing to sacrifice herself for love? But don’t you dare drag me into it. Her scheme failed and now she’s tasting her own medicine. All I feel is glee; there’s certainly no heartache.”

”What, were you two coming at me with a knife, and I was just supposed to stick my neck out and wait for it? So because I ducked, you ended up cutting your own feet, and now it’s my fault for not stopping you?”

Lin Jin clutched her stomach and cried out, ”Ouch!”

Wang Xianbing rushed to support her, glaring at Zhu Yun. ”Zhu Yun, Lin Jin and Guo Meiyun are good comrades! They don’t have the kind of twisted mind you’re imagining. Don’t judge others by your own standards!”

”Guo Meiyun was drunk. You were the one who helped her into the room. How much strength could she have had? Your story doesn’t hold water.”

”If anything happens to Lin Jin or the baby in her belly, you just wait.”