Chapter 563

Lou Xiaoe appeared in the Siheyuan today.

It's not that she's putting on a show of returning home in glory; she mainly came for Qin Jingru.

Can be considered having a grudge.

Initially Qin Jingru, to get into the city, resorted to somewhat unscrupulous means, deliberately letting herself be slept with by Xu Daming, using pregnancy as an excuse, forcing Xu Daming to divorce Lou Xiaoe; but when Xu Daming learned of his own infertility, Qin Jingru's plot came to nothing, until Qin Jingru threatened harshly, saying if Xu Daming didn't marry her she would report him to the relevant authorities for violating women's wishes, making him take the fall.

Xu Daming, left with no choice, divorced Lou Xiaoe and married Qin Jingru.

The couple quarreled and went on for over ten years.

However, because Xu Daming belonged to Deputy Factory Director Li's faction, and also due to Lou Xiaoe returning to the Capital City to invest, etc., Xu Daming never showed up in the Siheyuan.

Jia Zhangshi, angry that Xu Daming didn't help the Jia family, spread the rumor that Xu Daming was in jail.

Qin Jingru believed the rumor, went to the neighborhood office to pull strings, applied for this absent divorce with Xu Daming, married the current husband, and shamelessly moved into Xu Daming's room.

These things were said by Xu Daming to Lou Xiaoe after drinking last night, and Yu Li also provided related corroboration.

Listening to these events, which actually happened in the Siheyuan though Lou Xiaoe wasn't present, they felt rather melodramatic.

They came specially to watch Qin Jingru's joke.

Xu Daming's house in the Siheyuan, nominally still under his parents' name, actually belonged to him; when he left today, he also wrote a transfer deed for Lou Xiaoe, stating in black and white that he sold the house to her for a certain amount of money.

Qin Huairu is not Qin Jingru, so Lou Xiaoe naturally wouldn't go to their house for the so-called heart-to-heart.

Just look at Jia Zhangshi's face.

Not even enough to disgust Lou Xiaoe.

She smiled, refused Qin Huairu, and with the sentence "No need to brew tea; this time I came to the Siheyuan just to see my former house," instantly extinguished Qin Huairu's unrealistic fantasy.

To make Qin Huairu give up, Lou Xiaoe added another sentence.

"I'm quite busy now; later I have many important matters to discuss, reclaiming the Hou Yuan house, so I'm in a hurry to leave."

Lou Xiaoe's words.

Spoken very bluntly.

Very busy!

No time to play games with that scheming bitch Qin Huairu.

That said.

Lou Xiaoe is a billionaire with assets of roughly a hundred billion; this time she returned, many people wanted to discuss work-related matters with her.

Even Factory Director Yang of Yagangchang, who must give Lou Xiaoe face, a squad leader who sweeps the workshop area at Yagangchang, is considered nothing.

To speak bluntly, as long as Lou Xiaoe says to have Qin Huairu leave Yagangchang, Factory Director Yang will surely comply without hesitation.

They all say "repay kindness with kindness, repay resentment with straightforwardness!"

But Qin Huairu's previous schemes against Lou Xiaoe, even colluding with Qin Jingru to sabotage Xu Daming and Lou Xiaoe's marriage,

just for those things that were sorry to Lou Xiaoe, Lou Xiaoe won't give Qin Huairu face; what can Qin Huairu do?

Actually, Qin Huairu can't afford to lose Lou Xiaoe's face either.

Seeing Lou Xiaoe ignore her, Qin Huairu strode toward the Hou Yuan; just now she felt she had encountered a golden thigh and deliberately brushed off Shazhu, but now she again valued Shazhu.

She lifted a wrinkled face and stared straight at Shazhu.

The moment that face entered Shazhu's field of vision, Shazhu felt a surge of nausea and suddenly wanted to vomit.

Truly, time makes people old.

Qin Huairu, who is only two or three years older than me, looks so aged.

That makes sense.

In this life, without my help, Yi Zhonghai died early, Jia Zhangshi remained as lazy and gluttonous as ever; under the burden on her shoulders, it's no wonder Qin Huairu isn't old.

Seeing Shazhu silent, Qin Huairu initiated conversation.

"Shazhu."

Shazhu gave Qin Huairu a cold glance.

For the first time I realized Qin Huairu doesn't know how to behave; given my current status and position, you calling me "Shazhu" makes you Qin Huairu seem noble?

Seeing Shazhu's expression change, Qin Huairu perhaps realized she misspoke, quickly addressed him as "Master He" and subtly shifted the topic to Lou Xiaoe.

"What's wrong with Lou Xiaoe now? We're neighbors in the same Dayuan; I saw her return, kindly invited her for tea, yet she gave me a cold shoulder—what kind of person is she?"

Qin Huairu was very displeased.

In her heart, she felt great dissatisfaction with Lou Xiaoe's recent attitude.

Some things are facts; Qin Huairu did things back then that were sorry to Lou Xiaoe.

But many years have passed; Lou Xiaoe has become wealthy, a lofty figure—how can she still hold a grudge, clinging to events from long ago?

It gets spread around.

She isn't afraid of being laughed at, said to be as narrow-minded as Qin Huairu.

Shazhu saw Qin Huairu's little thoughts, let out a cold snort, turned and walked toward Yan Fugui, whom he hadn't forgotten had called him to the Siheyuan.

"Putting a warm face on someone else's cold butt."

After Shazhu left, Jia Zhangshi mocked Qin Huairu; as her mother-in-law, she naturally knew what Qin Huairu was plotting.

If the two hadn't fallen out, Jia Zhangshi might still have had to help Qin Huairu.

After the falling out, not dragging Qin Huairu down already counts as giving her enough face.

The better Qin Huairu fares, the worse Jia Zhangshi's mood, the more she wants to see Qin Huairu reduced to ruin—that mindset of "if I'm bad, you must be unlucky too" is at work.

Rolling her eyes, she glared at Jia Zhangshi, then turned her gaze toward the Hou Yuan, hesitating whether to go there to have a look.

Lou Xiaoe's recent words reminded Qin Huairu of some past events.

Thinking back to how she had matched Qin Jingru with Xu Daming, yet Qin Jingru turned hostile and refused to acknowledge it—not only did she not help Qin Huairu, she also coldly mocked her, saying Qin Huairu would just put on airs in Qin Family Village.

Her mood grew even worse.

Lou Xiao'e is scum, Qin Jingru is even worse scum.

Qin Huairu's words were laced with anger.

You just said Lou Xiao'e remembers things from so many years ago; doesn't she also remember that Qin Jingru married Xu Daming, ungratefully refusing to help herself?

She's truly a scheming bitch, a double-standard to death.

I can do things that wrong you, but you mustn't hold a grudge; if you do, you're petty, you're an adult who nitpicks with this petty person, and you'll lose face.

If you do something excessive to me, I'll remember it for a lifetime, because you show no neighborly help whatsoever.

Qin Huairu is extremely depressed!

She tried to cling to a powerful patron but failed; they outright refused to give her any face.

Jia Zhangshi saw it again and relentlessly mocked Qin Huairu's self-inflicted suffering behavior.

……

Hou Yuan

Lou Xiao'e went straight to Xu Daming's house.

Having already heard the commotion, Qin Jingru, who knew Lou Xiao'e had returned, initially thought that someone like Lou Xiao'e would have some reservations.

But she didn't expect Lou Xiao'e to completely disregard the usual routine.

As if she hadn't seen Qin Jingru standing in the courtyard, she walked toward Xu Daming's house.

Finding a house nowadays is extremely difficult; Qin Jingru knows this, and with little money and her household registration still in the countryside, she has no eligibility to buy a place, so she shamelessly moved into Xu Daming's room—even though Xu Daming warned her verbally last night, she didn't take it to heart.

As Qin Huairu's sister, although she isn't as bad as Qin Huairu, she also inherited some of Qin Huairu's practices, such as being shameless.

She schemed to use shameless means to take over Xu Daming's room.

Upon hearing that Lou Xiao'e had returned.

She intended to repeat her old tricks.

Lou Xiao'e, you are Xu Daming's ex-wife; I, Qin Jingru, am also Xu Daming's ex-wife. I live in my ex-husband's room—what does it matter to you, Xu Daming's former ex-wife?

With that thought, she directly stood in Lou Xiao'e's way.

"Who are you? How can you just barge into someone's room? Believe it or not, I'll treat you like a thief and arrest you!"

Qin Jingru deliberately refused to acknowledge Lou Xiao'e's identity.

Yet in her heart she envied Lou Xiao'e immensely; Lou Xiao'e's clothes, the leather shoes on her feet, the jewelry she wore—all stimulated Qin Jingru's senses to the utmost.

Her heart suddenly felt unbalanced.

Both are Xu Daming's ex-wives—take a look at Lou Xiao'e, then take a look at yourself.

"I am Lou Xiao'e; you may not know me, but I must tell you one thing: the room you are living in now is my room."

"On what basis? Just because you say it's yours doesn't make it yours."

Qin Jingru sized up Lou Xiao'e from head to toe.

Just one thought.

Not moving out.

What can you do to me?

"Just because I bought this house from Xu Daming."

"You say you bought it, but where are the paperwork?"

This is Qin Jingru's reliance; she thought Lou Xiao'e couldn't produce the relevant documents, but she underestimated the current situation.

Lou Xiao'e, as an overseas Chinese investing patriotically in her hometown, although she hit a snag at Yagangchang and was rejected by those old-timers who refused her proposal to take over Yagangchang, other factories were eager to receive her capital injection.

Ten years of wind and rain.

Things remain, people have changed.

Some factories can't even maintain normal operation of their most basic production lines; those that can operate have production equipment far behind foreign counterparts.

Updating and replacing is inevitable.

Even a clever woman cannot cook without rice.

Without money, how can we update the equipment?

Lou Xiao'e thus became the god of wealth in those people's eyes.

Jiēdào heard that Lou Xiao'e had bought the room she once shared with Xu Daming, and hurriedly rushed to the Siheyuan.

This also had Xu Daming's contribution: he found Factory Director Yang at Yagangchang, completed the procedures to retain his salary while off-duty, then suddenly thought of the house matter, used Factory Director Yang's office phone to notify Jiēdào, stated his identity, and briefly recounted the house-buying process.

Director Wang then personally led people to appear in the Siheyuan.

Just then they happened upon Qin Jingru confronting Lou Xiao'e and demanding documents.

He immediately stepped forward and identified himself.

He took the house transfer document from Lou Xiao'e's hand, confirmed Xu Daming's signature and seal on it, verified it was genuine and valid, then gave Qin Jingru a final explanation.

"Qin Jingru, this is my work ID; I am Director Wang of Jiēdào. Before coming, we received a call from Comrade Xu Daming, who said she had transferred the left side room of the rear courtyard of Red Star Courtyard to Comrade Lou Xiao'e for one thousand yuan. We have just verified the transfer document's correctness; the room you now occupy belongs to Comrade Lou Xiao'e, who has the right to ask you to move out. Starting now, you have three days; if you haven't moved out after three days, we will take compulsory measures."

Qin Jingru was completely dumbfounded.

She was thus forced to leave.

The key is, where will I live?

In order to move to the city, she schemed without scruples against Xu Daming; after divorcing him, she married her current man, who treats her well but has no place to live.

She moved out.

Where will she live?

She can't just end up on the streets, can she?

"Director Wang, I can move, but where will I live?"

Qin Jingru's tone carried a hint of sobbing.

She looked at Director Wang, tears dripping.

She then felt she should ask Lou Xiao'e for help; seeing Lou Xiao'e's attire, she knew Lou Xiao'e was not short of money, so she set her sights on Lou Xiao'e.

"Lou Jie, I know you hate me, but I still want to beg you—please show mercy and give me a way to live."

"I don't have a sister like you, and I wouldn't dare to have a sister like you."

"That matter was my fault; I shouldn't have ruined your marriage with Xu Daming. Indeed, this matter was Qin Huairu inciting me from behind—it was Qin Huairu, all her."

Qin Jingru then seemed to grasp at the last straw, placing a chamber pot on Qin Huairu's head.

As for whether what she said is true or false.

Most of the onlooking neighbors believed it.

After Qin Jingru married Xu Daming, Qin Huairu kept running toward the back courtyard for a while; according to the answer given by someone with an agenda, it was said that Qin Huairu was borrowing money and goods from Qin Jingru.

Everyone in the Siheyuan knows the Jia Family are like pixiu— they only hear about borrowing, never about returning.

This borrowing is tantamount to a demand.

What kind of person is Xu Daming?

He's a pure scoundrel; how could he let Qin Huairu take advantage of his family? He spoke harshly to Qin Jingru, saying that if Qin Jingru dared to aid Qin Huairu, he would divorce Qin Jingru.

Qin Jingru therefore never aided Qin Huairu.

Qin Huairu and Jia Zhangshi, seeing they could not exploit Xu Daming through Qin Jingru.

All over the Siheyuan, the neighbors said Qin Jingru was a white-eyed wolf; without Qin Huairu's help, how could this country girl have married Xu Daming? They said that after Qin Jingru married Xu Daming, she turned her back on people, refusing to acknowledge Qin Huairu, this poor relative.

Past cause.

Present result.

Who could have imagined that the earlier words calling Qin Jingru a white-eyed wolf would now become evidence proving Qin Huairu's sabotage of Lou Xiao'e and Xu Daming's marriage?

And yet, Qin Huairu ended up hearing those words.

Seeing the Street Director arrive, Qin Huairu wondered whether she should bring up the rental matter; just now Yan Fugui had clearly conveyed Shazhu's words to Qin Huairu—Shazhu's two rooms would not be rented to Qin Huairu, causing her to give up hope.

Qin Huairu had no choice, so she turned her thoughts to Director Wang; just as she arrived in the back courtyard, she heard those reproachful words from Qin Jingru.