Chapter 193: That woman is not my Jia Zhangshi

Everyone at the scene shouted in satisfaction.

First, Yi Zhonghai backstabbed Long Laotaitai.

Then, Long Laotaitai tore Yi Zhonghai apart.

The many exposed truths shocked the neighbors so much their jaws dropped, and also broadened the neighbors' horizons.

If you don't speak, you won't know.

Saying it once is startling.

The truth is this frightening.

I originally thought Yi Zhonghai plotted against Shazhu out of a desire to support his elders.

The real reason is hatred.

Or it's the most marketable pink scandal among the rumors.

The root of the grudge between Yi Zhonghai and He Daqing is because of a woman.

Everyone became interested.

Even the two streets chose to stand like wooden posts, all wanting to know what kind of woman could make Yi Zhonghai and He Daqing come to blows.

Truly lives up to being the beastly Siheyuan.

Their imaginations are astonishingly vast.

They actually directed their suspicions at Jia Zhangshi.

In the crowd.

No one knows who.

Shouted loudly.

"This person couldn't be Jia Zhangshi, could they?"

Jia Zhangshi, hiding aside to watch the show.

Everyone went numb.

What the heck.

I?

How could that be.

Got anxious.

He jumped and shouted toward the direction of the voice: "You brat, spreading such rumors about my old woman—my old woman in life is a Jia family person, in death a Jia family ghost—you smear my old woman like this; what's your motive?"

"Jia family old woman, if not for Old Jia's mother being strong, you would have abandoned Jia Dongxu and run off with someone; you claim in life you're a Jia family person, in death a Jia family ghost—bah, do you have the face to say that? In the Siheyuan, what is there that my old lady doesn't know?"

The scene erupted in an uproar.

One explosive revelation after another.

The explosive revelation about Yi Zhonghai and He Daqing's grudge over a woman hasn't been digested yet, and another explosive revelation bursts out: Jia Zhangshi originally wanted to abandon her child and remarry.

"Hey, Jia Grandma, this is what you said—'in life a Jia family person, in death a Jia family ghost'—the old lady said you originally wanted to run."

"Don't talk nonsense, Jia Grandma won't run; she sneaked away secretly."

"It's the same."

"Damn, it's the same."

The neighbors' voices flew into Qin Huairu's ears; she is the one most deeply affected, also a widow, also a Jia family widow—why does the old widow make things difficult for the young widow?

In Qin Huairu's mind, she involuntarily recalled some words Jia Zhangshi had said to her.

We are widows, this is fate; you must acknowledge it and stay; Bangeng and Xiao Dang cannot lack a mother; even if you remarry, you must bring them along.

Good fellow.

Actually it's just coaxing.

Not hearing Long Laotaitai say that Jia Zhangshi almost abandoned Jia Dongxu and ran off with someone, it was Dongxu's grandmother who was stronger.

Bitterness surged again in Qin Huairu's heart.

Jia Zhangshi, Jia Zhangshi.

You are making me, Qin Huairu, bear all the injustices you once suffered.

Chastity archway.

Your grandpa.

I curse your eight generations of ancestors, Jia Zhangshi.

The scheming woman's gaze fell on Jia Zhangshi, and she suddenly felt as if Laoqianpo had schemed against her; you are the one who wants to abandon the child to remarry, tell me you'll be faithful to the end.

Pfft.

Jia Zhangshi, her mind in turmoil, seeing Qin Huairu staring straight at her, as a widow who's been through it, how could she not know the specific meaning in Qin Huairu's gaze?

Her thoughts stirred.

She confronted the instigator, Long Laotaitai.

"Old lady, do you think the neighbors believe your nonsense?"

"What the old lady says is fact."

"We also believe the old lady." The neighbors who love a spectacle shouted indiscriminately, "Yi Zhonghai, you're actually competing with He Daqing for Jia Zhangshi."

The character design collapsed.

Dogs biting dogs, feathers flying everywhere.

The eldest uncle is no longer the eldest uncle.

It turned into Yi Zhonghai.

"In this struggle over Jia Zhangshi, Old Yi won, forcing He Daqing to leave the Siheyuan, achieving his goal of monopolizing Jia Zhangshi."

It was originally just a teasing remark.

But someone took it seriously.

He Daqing feuded with Jia Zhangshi and Yi Zhonghai, and Yi Zhonghai drove him away.

Is Jia Zhangshi really that popular?

The head steward of the siheyuan grabbed it.

He Daqing, the inheritor of the Tan family cuisine in the siheyuan, also grabbed it.

Don't say it.

There is also some truth to it.

The reason for imagining the woman as Jia Zhangshi, when argued from a melodramatic angle, really has a hint of nonsensical entanglement.

Yi Zhonghai took a liking to Jia Zhangshi, and Jia Zhangshi also took a liking to Yi Zhonghai; in this baffling misunderstanding, Jia Zhangshi married Old Jia, while Yi Zhonghai married the eldest madam.

Out of the hypocrite's affection for the house and its occupants, he took Jia Dongxu as his disciple.

As for the entanglement between Jia Zhangshi and He Daqing,

The neighbors imagined it this way.

Old Jia died, Jia Zhangshi became a widow, pursued by countless people, including He Daqing, whose wife had died, who wanted to partner with Jia Zhangshi to live together.

You're a widow, I'm a bachelor, we're a match made in heaven; we should be together. After marriage, your son Jia Dongxu becomes my son, changes his surname to He, and below we have a younger brother He Yuzhu and a sister He Yushui.

If it weren't for Yi Zhonghai meddling in the middle,

He Daqing would have partnered with Jia Zhangshi to live out their days.

Given that the eldest madam suffered from an internal illness and could not bear children, Yi Zhonghai, unwilling to see the Yi family line die out, could not stand by and let this happen.

In his heart,

Jia Zhangshi could only belong to him, Yi Zhonghai; no one could take her from his grasp, not even He Daqing.

Yi Zhonghai found a way to drive He Daqing away and seized Jia Zhangshi for himself.

This is the inside story of the truth behind He Daqing's departure.

"Old lady, is what they're saying true? Our old man was driven away by Jia Zhangshi's lover, Yi Zhonghai, for Jia Zhangshi's sake."

Shazhu's question.

It made the lively scene fall silent in an instant.

Everyone's gaze fell upon the deaf old lady.

The matter of Jia Zhangshi, Yi Zhonghai, and He Daqing is, after all, their speculation.

"Of course not."

The deaf old lady's tone carried a hint of disdain.

Although Jia Zhangshi's suspicion had been cleared, for some reason she suddenly felt a bit unhappy, and her whole person slumped.

Thinking back then.

I, Jia Zhangshi, am also a beautiful widow known for miles around.

Countless despicable men covet me, Jia the old woman.

"Shazhu, your father He Daqing is the private chef of the Tan family cuisine, though he only handles the explorer dish, which is still a dish worth a thousand gold, your father…."

Accompanying the deaf old lady's narration,

In the minds of countless people,

Such a scene arose.

He Daqing, the private chef responsible for the explorer dish in the Tan family cuisine, was appreciated by a certain person, who, seeing He Daqing's aged appearance, mistakenly thought he was a chef of good character, and thus invited him to his home to cook for his newly taken concubine.

Originally, the two were unrelated.

Over time,

feelings gradually arose.

Nor can we rule out that the concubine might seek revenge under some pretext, using He Daqing as a tool to retaliate against her own husband; on a stormy night, after preparing the dishes, she brought them to He Daqing in the concubine's quarters, where she met him in the dim light amidst a decadent atmosphere, and He Daqing lost himself, engaging with the concubine in acts that should not have been done.

Logically speaking,

This is something that heaven knows, earth knows, you know, I know.

Besides the parties involved, no third person should know about it.

But He Daqing couldn't get past this in his heart; after a drink, he told Yi Zhonghai about it.

Upon learning He Daqing's secret, Yi Zhonghai acted like a petty person and told the master of the household about He Daqing's affair with the concubine.

Enraged, the master wanted to kill He Daqing.

But then the incident of the little devils entering the city occurred.

Among the official little devils, one had eaten He Daqing's food, and thanks to that person's intervention, the matter of He Daqing and the other side's concubine was left unresolved.

Afterwards,

He Daqing heard that the concubine with whom he had been intimate was silenced by the other side.

This is the reason the two became enemies.

"Your father He Daqing cooks well, but his scheming is not as fierce as Yi Zhonghai's; he fell for Yi Zhonghai's scheme and was driven out of the capital by the white widow."

The deaf old lady turned her gaze to Shazhu.

Such a revelation.

There was also a calculating mindset.

The enemy's enemy is one's own friend.

In her own worthless state, she could only seek allies as best she could.

Looking over the siheyuan.

Only Shazhu could catch her eye.

Having a grudge is one aspect.

Not taking Yi Zhonghai seriously is another matter.

Recalling the scenes of her scheming and mutual calculations with Yi Zhonghai, Long Laotaitai couldn't help but feel regret.

It's all due to the burden of supporting the elderly.

By now.

Only now did she truly understand Yi Zhonghai and Shazhu.

Yi Zhonghai is just a hypocrite who must raise the banner of respecting the elderly in order to support his old age.

Although Shazhu is hard to read, Long Laotaitai believes that if she opens her heart to him and corrects her gluttonous habit, Shazhu will surely see her through her old age.

Too bad.

Long Laotaitai placed the eggs in Yi Zhonghai's basket.

Thereafter came the present situation.

Unwilling to accept it.

Why should I, a strong-willed Long Laotaitai all my life, end up like this?

She placed her hope for revenge on Shazhu.

"After your father He Daqing was schemed against and fled by Yi Zhonghai, Yi Zhonghai turned his attention to you two siblings, deliberately deducting the living expenses He Daqing mailed to you. When you could no longer bear the hunger, he would appear as a savior, letting the neighbors see his act of sending charcoal in the snow, using your father He Daqing's money to support you, and you would then curse your father He Daqing. This is the tactic of the Head Steward of our siheyuan."

Everyone felt doubtful.

He Daqing and Yi Zhonghai are rivals.

Why must the living expenses be mailed to Yi Zhonghai?

They cannot be mailed directly to Shazhu or the other neighbors of the siheyuan.

"Yi Zhonghai threatened He Daqing with the lives of Shazhu and Yushui; if He Daqing didn't mail the money to him, Yi Zhonghai would find a way to kill the Shazhu siblings."

Long Laotaitai changed her tone.

"It's a pity Shazhu is too sharp; he saw through Yi Zhonghai's scheme and leapt out of the trap Yi Zhonghai set. Shazhu, you probably don't know that when your father He Daqing left, he had already arranged a job for you: you would take over his post and work as a formal employee, a head chef at the Yagangchang. It was Yi Zhonghai who found the then cafeteria chief, and with two packs of Daqianmen cigarettes as a bribe, persuaded him to let you continue as an apprentice for another year. But you unexpectedly quit the next day to work at the scrap yard, causing Yi Zhonghai's scheme to backfire."

The scene fell silent as silk.

The matter back then.

It happened right before the neighbors' eyes.

Sixteen-year-old Shazhu brought along seven- or eight-year-old He Yushui.

Besides the two ancestral homes.

They were utterly destitute.

Back then, someone whispered in private, doubting whether Shazhu could support He Yushui; sixteen-year-old Shazhu was himself just a half-grown child.

Sigh.

The inside story left the neighbors unable to accept it.

They also couldn't accept it.

Long Laotaitai's revelation dealt the greatest possible blow to the subjective impression they had formed over the past decade or so.

Yi Zhonghai, who always wore a kindly old-man facade, turned out to be a scoundrel full of petty schemes, constantly plotting against people.

"Yi Zhonghai schemes against everyone for his old age, but you don't know that he constantly longs to have a child of his own."

Long Laotaitai's gaze.

It shifted to Qin Huairu.

Qin Huairu instinctively panicked.

Who made her do such a wicked deed?

The scheming vixen probably didn't realize that her panic only made Long Laotaitai more convinced that Yi Zhonghai and Qin Huairu were involved, turning her suspicion into solid proof.

A depressed heart.

It had its moment of glory.

So this is actually your secret, Yi Zhonghai.

You, as a teacher.

You and your disciple's wife!

Heaven has opened its eyes.

Letting me know this kind of secret.

"Yi Zhonghai has always wanted a child of his own."

"Old lady, wanting a child of one's own isn't exactly abnormal, is it?"

The eldest aunt who had remained silent all along.

But she jumped out at this moment.

She looked at the Long Laotaitai before her, and a flash of resentment crossed her eyes.

"What do you want to say, old lady? Say that our Old Yi, in his desire for a child of his own, has gone berserk, lost all shame, and disregarded human ethics."

A heated counter-question.

It left Long Laotaitai momentarily speechless.

In her heart.

The eldest aunt is also a miserable soul; because Yi Zhonghai contracted a foul disease, she could not support herself, and because of his disease, the child in her womb lost the chance to be born.

Yi Zhonghai is the chief culprit.

Long Laotaitai is the mother of the chief culprit.

Why did Yi Zhonghai go to the Eight Great Alleys? Why did he get sick? Isn't it just the result of Long Laotaitai stirring things up behind his back?

"What do you want to say? What kind of shit bucket are you trying to put on Old Yi's head?"

"Old Yi's wife, you."

"Why am I helping Old Yi? Old Yi initially went to the hutong, but it was your mother-in-law's idea, and it was your mother-in-law who gave the money; Old Yi got a foul disease, killing the child in my womb, making me unable to be a mother; we keep asking ourselves in our hearts—is the root perhaps in your mother-in-law?"

The neighbors became increasingly numb.

They knew that Yi Zhonghai's illness had made the first big mom unable to be a mother.

But they didn't know that Yi Zhonghai's going to the hutong was actually instigated by Long Laotaitai, who even voluntarily gave money.

They hadn't even thought of that.

The first big mom was pregnant.

He turned around in a circle.

It circled back to Long Laotaitai again.

Shazhu's gaze fell on Yi Zhonghai; he discovered that Yi Zhonghai at that moment was caught in a strange contradiction.

Could it be that Yi Zhonghai doesn't even know that the first big mom is pregnant?

Otherwise, Yi Zhonghai wouldn't have this expression.

"What are you saying?"

"You didn't hear clearly? Let me tell you again: the child in my womb, because of the foul disease, couldn't come into the world."

"Child, you have a child? How could I not know?"