Chapter 374: Eighty's Gourmet System (12)

At 5:30, Yi Chuangkou of the Da Shitang closed early because the food prepared for the day had sold out.

Xie Yang returned to the Tube Building carrying a stack of four lunchboxes.

The Courtyard at dusk was at its liveliest time of the day:

Some male workers were showering shirtless; some female workers were rushing to wash the dirty work clothes they had worn today while it was still light; family members who didn't have to work were sitting on benches shelling beans, picking through beans, or chopping wood; others were crushing Coal Balls to mix with water and press into honeycomb briquettes; and children around the same age as Shuisheng were running around the Courtyard playing a game of catching spies...

Xie Yang's arrival made many people stop their work and look at her one after another.

"Mom!"

"Mom!"

At this moment, Shuisheng stood on the third-floor corridor, stood on tiptoe to wave at her, then took his younger brother's hand and hopped downstairs to greet her.

When they reached the second floor, they ran into Hu Laotai, who had opened her door and was coming out to go to the public kitchen downstairs to boil water.

"Oh my! You two little brats! You almost knocked me over! Are you running so fast to go get reincarnated?"

After speaking, the corner of her eye caught Xie Yang walking up the stairs with long strides, and she sneered:

"Oh, so you were going to welcome your stepmother. Tsk tsk tsk, you two heartless little things, your biological mother is still alive, yet you're already being filial to a stepmother. Watch out, she might take all the valuables in the house and dump you, and in the future, you'll only be able to scavenge for food in the trash heaps..."

"Slap!"

An exceptionally loud and crisp slap.

"Hiss—Xie Dani, how dare you hit me!"

"So what if I did?"

Xie Yang withdrew her hand and looked at her coldly, saying:

"If you don't want your mouth, go donate it; don't just sit here releasing foul air!"

"Ah—ptui! Ahhh! My tooth!"

Hu Laotai clutched her right cheek, which had swollen up instantly as if it were being inflated, and was in so much pain she was just about to start cursing.

Feeling something hard in her mouth, she spat it out.

Unexpectedly, what she spat out was her tooth.

And it was one of the few remaining healthy teeth she had.

"God-killer! My tooth! My tooth was knocked out by the crazy daughter-in-law of Zhang Pozi's family!"

"Aqiang! Aqiang Xifu! Come out quickly! I'm being bullied!"

The other members of the Hu family, who were still eating inside, heard the noise and ran out.

"You damn bitch, how dare you hit my mom! See if I don't deal with you..."

Hu Baosheng opened his mouth and earned himself the same treatment as his mother.

"Slap!"

Xie Yang neatly and efficiently rewarded him with a slap as well.

This time she used her right hand.

He was a grown man, after all, so he should have a higher tolerance.

But she had overestimated Hu Baosheng.

A casual slap not only sent him staggering back a few steps, but he also fell onto his backside, nearly shattering his pelvis.

Seeing this, Hu Baosheng's wife let out a howl: "Why are you hitting people for no reason! I'm going to call the police! You can't just bully people like this!"

"Go ahead." Xie Yang nodded, then pointed at the Hu mother and son, "It just so happens I want to report them too: bullying, spreading rumors, intimidation, and slander—that's enough to constitute picking quarrels and provoking trouble."

"..."

"The Women's Director is here! Everyone make way! Don't crowd around!"

It turned out that Liu Shen had heard the commotion downstairs and quickly had Daniu run to the neighborhood office to fetch the Women's Director.

The Women's Director was specifically responsible for mediating family disputes and neighborhood conflicts.

But the scene at this very moment put her in a difficult position.

The blood that came out when Hu Laotai spat out her tooth was splattered on the ground, and her swollen right cheek looked like a steamed bun that had fermented too much and been stained with red medicine.

Hu Baosheng was clutching his highly swollen face with one hand and rubbing his backside with the other, groaning in pain.

Looking at this scene alone, it did indeed seem worthy of calling the police.

But upon careful inquiry, A Li's wife hadn't actually done much.

It was clearly you Hu family members who were rude first, and she just couldn't take it anymore and gave you a big slap.

If it were someone else, maybe they would have had a fight or a shouting match, and usually, both sides would have their own losses and wins.

But it just so happened that A Li's wife was strong; one slap had swollen Hu Laotai's face and knocked out her tooth.

One slap had also sent Hu Baosheng falling to the ground.

It was a completely overwhelming victory.

But who can you blame for that?

It didn't seem like you could blame A Li's wife either.

If the Hu family hadn't provoked her, wouldn't everything have been fine?

The Women's Director had a headache.

Xie Yang didn't make things difficult for the Women's Director: "Director, if you're in a difficult position, then call the police. I don't deny that I hit their faces; I'll accept the fines and detention. But one of them bullied my children verbally and made up rumors about me out of thin air; the other slandered and intimidated me, causing great psychological trauma to me and my children. I want to sue them for slander and picking quarrels and provoking trouble. With multiple crimes punished together, let them be sentenced for however many years they deserve. I will absolutely not accept mediation."

"..."

Before the Women's Director could say anything, the Hu family got anxious:

"Ptui! You want to send us to jail just for saying a few things about you? In your dreams!"

"Exactly! I think you're the one who should go to jail! Beating us like this... Ouch! Director, you have to stand up for us! I had a tooth knocked out, and now I whistle when I talk; you have to make her compensate me with a job!"

"My butt hurts so much I can't walk; she has to pay me an extra three hundred yuan!"

These words made the other neighbors present who were watching the drama unable to listen any longer, and they said one after another:

"Aunt Hu, you all have gone too far. Dani didn't do it on purpose. If both sides take a step back, this matter will be over."

"Exactly, Aunt Hu, isn't it just that you have your eye on A Li's job and want to swap your son into that position? Wouldn't it be fine to just discuss it properly with A Li's wife? Why make such a scene?"

Xie Yang raised her eyebrows.

This Hu Laotai had come to find the original owner back when the Zhang family mother and son hadn't even been buried yet, wanting to spend three hundred yuan to buy that job of Zhang Li's.

The original owner didn't agree.

Three hundred yuan couldn't even buy the position of an Ordinary Workshop Worker, yet she wanted to buy a skilled worker position?

She was dreaming.

It was likely from that time on that Hu Laotai held a grudge against the original owner, bad-mouthing her behind her back at every turn and seizing every opportunity to sow discord in front of the two children.

This person was more than just ordinarily bad.

Xie Yang spent points to have the Main System perform a temporary background check.

She didn't expect that it would actually turn up some useful information.

She sneered: "Hu Baosheng slacks off at work, gambles after work, and even flirts with women at the gambling den. Congratulations, Hu Laotai, you'll have another grandchild to hold soon!"

"You're spouting nonsense!"

Hu Baosheng opened his mouth to refute, but his shifty eyes betrayed him.

His wife let out a howl and lunged at her husband, claws bared:

"Is what she said true? Are you really messing around with someone outside? No wonder you've been going out every night lately and not coming back until after midnight. A few times, your clothes even had the stench of a woman on them... You bastard Hu Baosheng! How dare you cheat on me behind my back!"

The neighborhood conflict instantly transformed into a family dispute, and one of the kind most exciting to outsiders: a spouse cheating.

The neighbors watching the drama gathered in even greater numbers.

They surrounded the Hu family, three layers deep inside and out.

Xie Yang actually wanted to know the aftermath of this drama, but this drama was rotten and not suitable for the children to consume.

She took the two children, squeezed out of the crowd, and went upstairs to go home: "Let's go! Time to go home and eat!"

The Women's Director: "..."

Well! One of the parties involved had already gone home to eat, yet she still had to stay behind to continue the mediation.