"Who knows what kind of background that family has, buying so many things," one person gossiped.
"Who cares about their background? With such a spendthrift wife, that family will fall to ruin sooner or later. There’s nothing to be envious of."
"I wonder if her mother-in-law knows she’s squandering money like this."
"Hmph, you can tell at a glance that money burns a hole in her pocket. Her husband will teach her a lesson eventually."
Bai Jiu couldn’t hear their sour remarks. Even if she had, she wouldn’t have taken them to heart. After all, jealousy had a way of turning people incredibly ugly.
Because Aunt Xu was looking after Zhengyang and Xiuxiu, her courtyard gate had been left open all day. From afar, they spotted a figure pushing a bicycle down the path.
"Zhengyang, look! Is that your mom?" Aunt Xu’s little grandson, Xu Shukang, had sharp eyes. He pointed at the approaching figure and asked.
Zhengyang looked in the direction Shu Kang was pointing. "It’s my mom!"
After declaring that, Zhengyang dashed over at top speed. "Mom! Mom!" He even completely forgot about his little sister.
This was the first time the siblings had spent an entire day at a stranger’s house. Naturally, they weren’t entirely used to it. Even though Grandma Xu had placed all the best food into his and his sister’s bowls during lunch, Zhengyang still felt uncomfortable. It was especially tough when the older boy, Shu Kang, had burst into tears earlier.
Xiuxiu was startled by the commotion as well. She had been rolling yarn beside Aunt Xu, but upon hearing her brother’s shouts, she immediately dropped the ball of yarn and ran outside.
As Bai Jiu got closer to her home, her strength dwindled. When the little rascal Zhengyang threw himself at her, she nearly toppled over along with the bicycle.
"Why are you running? Step aside quickly, Mom is running out of energy!" Bai Jiu stumbled back two steps, terrified, and immediately shooed Zhengyang away. She was afraid that she would lose her grip and let the heavy load crush him.
"Mom, let me help you!" Hearing his mother’s words, Zhengyang immediately tried to show off his manliness. "I’m strong!"
Fortunately, Aunt Xu, who had been sitting in the courtyard, was quick to react. Seeing the two children run out, she immediately followed them. She noticed Bai Jiu struggling and, without a second thought, rushed over to help steady the bicycle.
"You child, how could you buy so many things?" she exclaimed, noticing that the bicycle tires were flattened by the weight.
"I went to pick up my parcels," Bai Jiu explained. "The things sent from my hometown arrived. I only found out they were delivered when I went to ask. I can’t keep troubling others every time, so I bought a bicycle and used it to bring everything back."
She made sure to explain the origin of the goods so that no one would be suspicious.
The old lady was speechless for a moment.
Bai Jiu unlocked the gate and pushed the bicycle into the courtyard.
It wasn’t Aunt Xu’s first time entering, but seeing the environment inside again still took her by surprise.
"You’ve cleaned up this courtyard so beautifully," the old lady said enviously.
The flowers and plants in the front yard were truly lovely. Unfortunately, her own family didn’t have the luxury of such leisurely pursuits. Although three people in her household worked, they had many mouths to feed—a total of eight people, big and small. With the elderly needing care and the young needing to be raised, everything required money.
"If you like it, Aunt Xu, you can come over to hang out more often." After parking the bicycle securely, Bai Jiu checked on her children. Their clothes were perfectly clean, and their faces were beaming with smiles, proving that Aunt Xu had taken excellent care of them.
Outside, seeing Aunt Xu go in, some of the bolder onlookers had followed her inside.
"Good heavens, how much did all this cost?" An uninvited old lady began circling the items Bai Jiu had brought back.
"She really throws money around. It’s truly different when you don’t have a mother-in-law breathing down your neck," a younger woman chimed in, her voice dripping with jealousy.
"Look, this is an electric fan!" Another woman stepped forward and started rummaging through the goods.
Bai Jiu never expected there to be such nosy gossips and crazy hags here.
"What do you think you’re doing?" Seeing them lay their hands on her things, Bai Jiu immediately shouted a reprimand. "Who let you in?"
She was never one to wrong herself, much less swallow this kind of grievance. Did these people have no manners?
"What on earth are you all doing?" Aunt Xu hadn’t expected them to be so out of line, either.
"What’s wrong with taking a look? You bought it all just to show it off anyway, didn’t you?" The two women rummaging through the items showed no signs of stopping.
Bai Jiu wasn’t about to indulge them. She marched up and yanked the two away. "Even if I did, it’s not for you to look at."
Seriously, what kind of people were they? They clearly weren’t afraid of embarrassing their husbands.
"What’s the big deal about taking a look? It’s not like your things will lose a piece of flesh!" The two women who had been shoved aside were instantly riled up. In this neighborhood, no one had ever disrespected them so openly.
"Whether it loses flesh or not is none of your damn business! These are my things. I’ll show them to whoever I want, and I don’t want to show them to you. Get out!" Bai Jiu seethed.
"TCH! What’s so great about it? You’re only acting like this because your mother-in-law isn’t around. If she were here, let’s see if you’d still dare to be such a spendthrift. I don’t know what your husband even sees in you. What a spendthrift woman!"
Since all pretenses were dropped, the two women abandoned all politeness.
"Exactly! If someone like her lived in our village, nobody would want her even if you gave her away for free! Does she really think she’s some sort of precious treasure?"
Bai Jiu laughed in sheer exasperation. Had she invited them in or something?
"I don’t need you to worry about me. Since you have so much free time, you’d be better off going home and asking your own husbands why they’re so useless that they can’t afford to provide for you. Now, get out of my house immediately! You are not welcome here." If she hadn’t just moved to the area, she would have definitely given them a taste of her true temper.
"You—" Seeing Bai Jiu outright kicking them out, the two women lost all face. They pointed fingers at her before finally storming off in bitter resentment.
Of the three uninvited guests, two had left. Just now, after Bai Jiu lost her temper, the old lady had obediently stepped off to the side. Seeing the other two get kicked out, she was actually secretly thrilled.
With so many things here, as long as she stayed put, Bai Jiu would surely be too embarrassed not to give her a little something. Even if it was just an item or two, it would still be a win.
Bai Jiu was oblivious to her greedy calculations. She turned her gaze to Aunt Xu, silently asking with her eyes who this old woman was.
"I say, Lin Po, what are you still doing here? Don’t you have children to look after at home?" Aunt Xu, understanding Bai Jiu’s silent inquiry, immediately spoke up.
This person lived diagonally across from Bai Jiu, their front gates facing each other.
"Oh my, listen to you. I just saw that this girl had a lot of stuff, so I wanted to stay and help," Lin Po said without the slightest hint of embarrassment, preemptively defending herself.
Bai Jiu’s mouth twitched. "No need, thank you, ma’am."
She really didn’t need anyone’s help, not even Aunt Xu’s. She knew exactly how many things were inside. Human nature was unpredictable, and they weren’t close enough for that kind of trust yet.
"There’s quite a lot here, so I’ll wait for the children’s father to come back and help me sort it out. Some of his things are in there, too. If you’re busy at home, ma’am, you should head back first." She was just short of telling her to get lost.
Seeing that Lin Po hadn’t made a move to leave, Aunt Xu sighed.
"Alright, since you’re back, the kids can stay with you. I’ll take Shu Kang home now. It’s getting late, and I still need to cook for my husband," Aunt Xu said. With that, she walked over to Shu Kang, gently took his hand, and led him out.
Now, it was truly impossible for Lin Po to stick around.
"That’s right, I need to go back and cook, too," she said, though inwardly, she was cursing Old Mrs. Xu. She cursed her for being so unperceptive and leaving at a time like this. She also cursed Bai Jiu for not recognizing good intentions.
If Bai Jiu knew what she was thinking, she would have definitely thanked her.