Chapter 14: Oh No, Trouble Right After Arrival

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“I live alone in the east wing, and I’m used to it. You and your brother can stay in the west wing. There are two beds in those two rooms, so you can divide them as you wish. The bedding is ready, but it needs to be aired out before use. I’ll take them out for you; you just handle it yourself. I’m going out for a bit and will be back soon.”

After handing over the two sets of bedding to Lin Wei, Lin Xiaomeng quickly left the small courtyard.

Lin Wei knew where Lin Xiaomeng was headed. With such a big matter as their father’s death, no one had informed her. Once she found out, she would definitely try to get information from acquaintances.

Sure enough, a call was made to Uncle Liu.

As soon as Uncle Liu heard it was Lin Xiaomeng calling, he immediately hung up and found a public phone booth to call back.

“Xiaomeng, Weiwei has arrived at your place, right?”

“Yes, Brother Liu. Did you know she was coming? And what exactly happened to my brother? No one informed me of such a huge event. They buried him before I even got home; that’s really outrageous.”

Uncle Liu remained silent for a while, then asked cautiously, “Is there anyone around you?”

Lin Xiaomeng didn’t understand why. When the siblings arrived, they had luggage with them, and the neighbors already suspected they were there to take over the house. If she made a call from the small store and someone overheard that her brother had died, the rumors would be confirmed.

So she was making the call from a public phone booth outside.

“No one. I’m using a public phone. Brother Liu, what exactly is going on? Weiwei isn’t very clear either. I only know she came to protect Yuanyuan’s life and sought refuge with me. Is it really that serious? Could it be the kids are overthinking?”

“No overthinking. It’s all true.” Uncle Liu sighed heavily.

“Don’t blame those two kids. The whole thing with your brother was arranged by Ni Fang. I said we should inform you, but the moment I mentioned it, she scolded me. If it weren’t for the need to bury Dongliang, she’d have kicked me out on the spot.”

Uncle Liu heard that Lin Wei hadn’t told her much, so he only said, “I can’t say more here. It’s best not to say too much. But please tell Weiwei after you return that there’s a serious incident at Ni Qingguo’s mother-in-law’s place. They probably won’t remember their visit for a while, but no one can be sure. Better for them to be cautious. If anything happens, I’ll call her.”

After saying this, Uncle Liu hung up.

Lin Xiaomeng already had many doubts, and now she was even more confused.

Her intuition told her there was something behind all this, but she knew clearly neither Uncle Liu nor Lin Wei would tell her the whole truth.

Lin Xiaomeng was somewhat angry, but what she saw upon returning to the courtyard made her even more furious.

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The very same Xiao Wang who had quarreled with her earlier was blocking her door and arguing again.

“Neighbors, come take a look. This little girl is way too much. What kind of things is she saying? She’s a university student, but does a university really produce such ill-mannered students? Which school are you from? I’m going to file a complaint.”

“Don’t try to scare me with complaints. I’ve done nothing wrong and am not afraid to make a fuss. You’re just unhappy because I paid you back earlier, and since my aunt wasn’t here, you came looking for trouble. You insulted my aunt while she was airing bedding outside, and now you’re saying the same about me inside the house. What, do you really think our family is easy to bully and just look for trouble every day?”

“Let’s be reasonable. I was airing bedding in my aunt’s yard. The gate was closed tight, but after my aunt left, this guy stuck his neck in from outside the yard, staring inside and kept making lewd remarks to me.”

“Oh, I see. So it’s not because you were upset about the money earlier, but because you wanted to act like a scoundrel, right?”

“You shouldn’t have settled with money earlier. You should have been locked up. You dirty scoundrel. You looked so comfortable just now, peeking at several girls airing bedding through their yards.”

Lin Wei fired back line after line, while Xiao Wang couldn’t get a word in.

Instead, under the onlookers’ dawning realization, he turned red in the face and became defensive.

“I didn’t! Don’t talk nonsense. Don’t listen to her lies!” Xiao Wang hurriedly protested.

“Lies? If I were lying, why would you be blushing? Clearly, you’re guilty as charged.”

“Actually, I’ve caught Xiao Wang sneaking peeks into other people’s yards several times. At first, I thought he was trying to steal something...” The neighbor on the left, reminding everyone, “but now it turns out... oh dear.”

With that hint, everyone suddenly understood.

“Oh, I’ve encountered that before.”

“Me too.”

“Xiao Wang, since we’re colleagues and neighbors, seeing each other all the time, if you keep this up, it’ll be impossible to get along.”

“Exactly. I never thought you were this kind of person. Seems like the yard walls aren’t tall enough.”

Lin Xiaomeng squeezed into the crowd and glared at Xiao Wang. “Even if the walls were higher, it wouldn’t help. I had mine raised before and thought it was safe, but now I realize that apart from making airing bedding inconvenient, anyone with ill intent can still see everything.”

“Sis Meng, it’s a misunderstanding, just a misunderstanding. The little girl is overthinking.”

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“Whether it’s a misunderstanding or not, my niece will be studying in Jiangcheng and will come here often. Our house will have a young lady from now on. If you keep looking like this, don’t blame us for making things unpleasant for you.”

The commotion outside the courtyard gradually died down under the scrutinizing gazes.

Inside, Lin Wei asked, confused, “Aunt, why didn’t you have him locked up? It’s clear he’s not the first to cause you trouble.”

“Locking him up won’t help; it would only make the grudge worse,” Lin Xiaomeng explained. “His uncle is the deputy director of the adjacent Cotton Spinning Factory No. 3. Small disputes like this get you locked up for only a few days, or not at all if the case isn’t serious. But once Xiao Wang gets out, he retaliates immediately.”

Mentioning Xiao Wang gave Lin Xiaomeng a headache. “He’s thick-skinned and fears nothing.”

“But you said before to call the security team...”

“That’s because he already has two reprimands. Another one and he’d be fired. He was expelled from the Cotton Defense Factory before coming here. He’s worried about being scolded by his uncle, but if he’s fired, he’ll act even more recklessly.”

Lin Wei understood. “Oh no, Aunt, I just got here and already caused you trouble.”

“It’s nothing. This kind of thing isn’t trouble. Almost every household in this area has had quarrels with him. Having such a neighbor is just our bad luck.”

Perhaps suppressed by his embarrassment, nearly every neighbor returning home wore a smile.

Especially the family on the left.

“Oh, you didn’t see it, but Xiaomeng’s niece is really something. When she faced off with Xiao Wang, she wasn’t intimidated at all. Her words were like... like throwing knives. Xiao Wang couldn’t get a word in.”

“Yeah, really. If that little niece moves in here, Sister Meng will suffer a lot less.”

“And that Xiao Wang, just now I was in the yard, and the things he said... were so blatant I was embarrassed to listen. I thought the girl would be shy hearing it, and I was ready to scold him, but the girl’s mouth just...”

[End of text.]