Chapter 337: Applying Eye Drops

Chapter 337: Stirring the Pot

"You alright?" Su An shifted her gaze from the book to Zuo Zuying on the hospital bed.

Zuo Zuying clutched his head and glanced around. "The hospital?"

Su An nodded. "I found you in the deepest part of Wenhua Alley. What happened? You look beat up."

Zuo Zuying sighed. "Ah, forget it. Almost lost my life last night."

Since they were familiar with each other, Zuo Zuying didn’t hide anything from Su An and briefly explained the mess at home.

"After that old bastard exposed me last time, that young punk has been hounding me. It hasn’t even been long since the last time they jumped me, and I thought they’d at least lay low for a while. But last night, my shop caught fire."

Recalling the incident, Zuo Zuying broke into a cold sweat. If he hadn’t acted decisively and dragged Zhao Gang out the moment things went south, both of them might’ve been locked inside the burning shop.

Su An thought of his shop full of appliances and comforted him, "Stuff can be replaced—you’re what matters."

Zuo Zuying twisted his stiff neck and said darkly, "Most of the stock’s gone, but they weren’t after the goods—they wanted my life."

"If it weren’t for Gang Zi—"

"Wait, where’s Gang Zi?"

"When you found me, did you see Zhao Gang? The guy who helped you move goods last time you came to my shop?"

Su An shook her head. "No, I only found you."

"If they were targeting you, he’s probably fine. Don’t worry too much. Besides, City A’s pretty safe. This isn’t the south—even if someone wanted to do something, they wouldn’t dare go too far. At most, they’d act in secret."

Ji Qingqing’s face was thunderous. They say the wicked live forever, and that old bat was tough as nails. After all that, the old bat still wouldn’t croak! Why couldn’t she have just been knocked dead by the collision?

With a face like thunder, Ji Qingqing carried a lunchbox upstairs, fuming at the thought of Lin Zhaodi lying in the hospital bed. When she looked up, she happened to see Su An coming downstairs.

A thought flashed through her mind, and she immediately blocked Su An’s path. She wasn’t born yesterday—she knew Su An had something to do with the scandal at Jiao Jiao’s banquet.

Her brother had told her: if Su An hadn’t fed them lies, they wouldn’t have acted that way.

"Su An, is this what Wang Xiaocui taught you? To ignore your elders?"

Su An glanced at the obvious slap mark on Ji Qingqing’s face and smirked. "Wow, caught with your pants down? How’d you end up beaten like this?"

She sneered. Without waiting for a response, she stepped past Ji Qingqing and walked away.

When Lin Zhaodi was carried into the hospital, it caused such a commotion that crowds gathered to watch. Su Jianjun had made a spectacle of himself in the hospital lobby, publicly beating Ji Qingqing. In the same hospital, doctors and nurses couldn’t stop gossiping—Su An couldn’t avoid hearing about it.

Ji Qingqing stiffened, fury choked her, grinding her teeth audibly.

If Su An and Su Ping hadn’t run away from home, Lin Zhaodi wouldn’t have fallen to her to take care of. Su Ping and Su An were Lin Zhaodi’s own grandchildren—why do they get to skip out while she has to serve that old bat?

At that thought, Ji Qingqing ditched the lunch and turned to follow Su An.

Su An glanced back and taunted, "Hah, keep chasing me, loser. Eat my dust."

At noon, Ji Qingqing prepared a couple nice dishes and some alcohol. When Su Jianjun returned from work, she rushed to pour him water and hand him a towel, putting on the dutiful-wife act.

......

Su Jianjun thought about how his family had been the subject of neighbors' gossip and ridicule yesterday. He’d kept his cool, but his face was still tight.

"Jianjun, you've worked hard. Come, sit down. I cooked up your favorite pork head meat."

"Jianjun, are you still mad? I really didn’t mean it~" Seeing Su Jianjun's expressionless face, Ji Qingqing spoke in a pitiful tone.

"You know what your mother is like. Even if she dislikes me, now that she’s in this state, would I dare lay a hand on her? Now I’m like mud stuck in my pants—even if it’s not shit, everyone thinks it is."

"Jianjun, I’m not deliberately stirring things up. You know how your mother treated us compared to how she treated Jianguo’s family. If yesterday’s situation had happened at Su Jianguo’s place, do you think she would’ve smeared feces everywhere?"

"She’s pulling this crap just to spite us. Just imagine—if you were here yesterday, could you’ve kept your cool?"

Su Jianjun knocked back the liquor on the table in one gulp, his frustration growing as he thought about all the family troubles.

Being his wife, Ji Qingqing knew from Su Jianjun’s expression that her words had struck a chord.

"Jianjun, back when the cannery’s security department mediated, we agreed to take turns every six months. Now it’s our turn, and we even signed an agreement with witnesses. We can’t weasel out of this—it’s on paper, with witnesses. But your mother clearly has it out for us—she’s hell-bent on making trouble."

"Just look how much drama she’s stirred up already. Do you think we’ll have any peace from now on? You heard what your mother yelled yesterday—you know exactly what she’s plotting."

Su Jianjun’s eyes darkened, veins bulging at his temples. Yesterday, Lin Zhaodi had cursed at them incoherently in front of the doctors, but both he and Ji Qingqing understood her meaning.

She accused Su Jianjun’s family of being heartless, trying to torment her to death. She threatened to report them to the police for elder abuse. She demanded to go back to the second son’s house, insisting Su Jianjun pay 30 yuan a month for her meals and let the second son’s family take care of her.

*Bang!* Su Jianjun slammed his glass onto the table.

"That confused old lady wouldn’t know any of this—it must be the second son and his wife putting her up to it. Thirty bucks a month? The nerve!"

Seeing his anger redirected, Ji Qingqing chimed in indignantly.

"Exactly! Thirty bucks! Like we’re made of money! They must’ve seen how well Jiao Jiao married and how promising your career is—that’s why they’re pulling this shady move."

"Otherwise, why didn’t they send her over three months ago when it was our turn? They waited until after Jiao Jiao’s wedding, then suddenly demanded thirty yuan a month. Jianjun, they’re here with a plan—to bleed us dry."

"Your mother never favored you, and now she still wants to suck you dry to feed Jianguo’s whole damn family. Sometimes, I wonder if you were even her real son—maybe she just picked you up from a ditch."

Ji Qingqing kept needling him, fueling his rage, and he drowned his rage in booze, one shot after another.