Witty Wife, Better Life
Chapter 429 - 419: Who is this, lacking virtue for 8 generations

Chapter 429: Chapter 419: Who is this, lacking virtue for 8 generations

"Dad, why are you out in the yard in such cold weather, can your legs handle it?" Li Xianghe had just entered the yard when she saw Old Man Li squatting and smoking.

"Xianglian has arrived, Dad’s fine, my leg has long since healed," Old Man Li smiled when he saw his eldest daughter, but as she came in alone, he looked around the backyard, "How come you’re the only one here, where are Jianjun and the kids?" They usually all came as one big family every year.

Li Xianglian smiled uneasily and said, "There’s a bit of an issue at home today, they couldn’t make it, so I came alone."

Old Man Li was startled for a moment, then smiled awkwardly, trying to laugh it off, "Oh, something came up, huh? No problem, we live so close, there’s no need for formalities, anytime is fine for a visit."

"Mhm," Li Xianglian murmured in a low voice.

"Come inside quickly, your mom has been thinking of you all morning," Old Man Li urged his child to hurry into the house.

Li Xianglian didn’t believe what her dad said, but obediently walked towards the house anyway.

As she entered the house, she saw three women arguing so fiercely their faces were red and their ears were hot.

"So you do know to come back, what time do you call this? I thought you’d died at the Liu family’s place and couldn’t make it back," Qiu Shuping vented her anger, fueled by her daughter-in-law and youngest daughter, at the sight of her eldest daughter, the instigator, without a second thought.

Li Xianglian pursed her lips and didn’t talk back, simply placing the two paper-wrapped packets she was carrying onto the kang, "Dad, I’ve got things to handle at home, so I won’t be staying for a meal today. I’ve brought these as a tribute to you, it hasn’t been a good year for us, so please don’t disdain them. When I have the time later on, I’ll come and visit you again." After finishing her speech, she didn’t even glance at the others in the room and turned to leave.

The few people in the house fell silent.

"What kind of crap is this, thinking I’d fancy this little stuff? If you’re so capable, don’t you ever set foot in my house again," Qiu Shuping threw the paper packets on the ground, causing them to burst open, and the steamed buns rolled everywhere.

Li Xianglian paused at the doorway when she heard her mother’s words, then resolutely opened the door and walked out.

She was done with this home, she had no such maternal home, only her younger brother remained.

Her face might have been streaked with tears, but inside, Li Xianglian was resolute.

She had tried to convince herself that perhaps her mother genuinely didn’t have the money to lend her, so she couldn’t force her to "sell blood," but after hearing that her mother had bought her younger brother a bicycle, those self-deceiving thoughts no longer had any ground to stand on.

This morning, Hongjun had had a frank conversation with her. He would no longer be the Li Family’s son-in-law, he said, and would rather die poor than ever set foot in the Li Family’s house again.

Like her husband, Li Xianglian too wished to never set foot in her parental home ever again, but she still had her old father. No matter what, she still cared about her father, which was why she had come alone today. Unlike before, when she used to bring whatever she could from home, she had been hurt too deeply by her mother and grew cold. Therefore, she only brought two packets of pastries from the supply and sales agency to have a glance at her family home.

Drying the tears on her face, Li Xianglian forced a smile. She needed to go home, to work more, as there were still many debts outside to be settled. She was determined to pay them off as soon as possible, including the debt to her younger brother.

After the second day of the new year had passed, Li Hongjun went back to school.

Only Shen Yunfang remained at home with the kids.

Thinking it over, since there wasn’t much to do at home, she decided to take the kids to the courtyard houses.

When selling the house, she often scavenged junk at the collection station. After bringing it back, she left it in the west wing without sorting through it, mainly due to lack of time. Now with some free time, she thought of checking it out with the kids.

Thinking thus, she dressed the two kids in their cotton jackets and put on their hats and gloves. Then, one child in each hand, she went downstairs to fetch the bicycle.

When the three of them arrived at the courtyard on the bicycle, Shen Yunfang was almost knocked over by what she saw.

No one obstructed the gate this time, but someone had smeared a lot of feces on the walls of their own house’s courtyard. It was an incredibly shameless act.

The weather was cold, and the yellowish-black substance on the walls and the base was frozen solid, thankfully not giving off too much of a stench, but it was still utterly repulsive.

Shen Yunfang’s first thought was of Shen Yunxiu; she was sure this was her doing.

She had not offended anyone in the Capital, except Shen Yunxiu.

Looking at the unidentified substance on the gate, Shen Yunfang’s hand, which was pushing the door, just couldn’t proceed.

In the end, she stamped her foot and turned the car around to head to the Ma Family.

She didn’t plan to make a fuss, knowing that even if she reported it to the police, without catching someone in the act, having a suspect would be useless. But she couldn’t let it go either; it was as if someone had defecated on her head. If she could tolerate that, she would truly be a pushover.

When she reached the Ma Family, all three members were present, and Shen Yunfang told the couple what had happened.

One was a police officer and the other had connections, so with this matter in their hands, it wouldn’t be long before they could confirm who was behind it.

The couple was also angry upon hearing it. Mu Huazhen, especially, was jumping in rage, cursing the bastard who did it and calling them inhumane.

However, once she calmed down, she regained her police officer’s sharpness, told Shen Yunfang to stay at home with the children, and went out with Ma Liguo to investigate.

It wasn’t until the afternoon that they returned.

"I inquired with the neighbors around your place; the feces on your fence were thrown on New Year’s Eve. Nobody saw anything during the day, but by the morning of the first day, it was discovered. However, no one knows exactly who did it," said Mu Huazhen.

"I’ve had someone take care of it for you, thankfully it’s winter now, or it would’ve been a real hassle," Ma Liguo said, rubbing his red hands from the cold.

"I guess it must have been Shen Yunxiu. I’ve been in the Capital for half a year and haven’t made any enemies, except for Shen Yunxiu. And my uncle passed away just before this happened; the timing seems too coincidental," Shen Yunfang shared her suspicion.

Mu Huazhen and her husband both nodded; her guess seemed very plausible.

"What do you plan to do, file a report? I can help you with that," Mu Huazhen offered. But even if they caught the person, they wouldn’t be locked up for long.

"I do need my sister-in-law’s help, to find out who actually did this. But I won’t file a report; I think I’ll wait for Li Hongjun to come home, and then we can discuss it further," Shen Yunfang replied.

Of course, Shen Yunfang knew that even if they reported it and caught the perpetrator, it would only result in a brief detention at most, which would mean nothing to some people. She wanted to come up with a good plan to properly deal with Shen Yunxiu, to make her fear Shen Yunfang and dare not provoke her ever again.

"No problem, that’s exactly what I do. Give me three days, and I’ll have it figured out for you," Mu Huazhen assured.

Indeed, with the help of her colleagues, Mu Huazhen staked out Shen Yunxiu’s home and the quadrangle for three days. On the third night, they finally saw Fang Chengjian and Shen Yunxiu secretly carrying a bucket to the quadrangle, and once again splashing Shen Yunfang’s fence with manure.

The following morning.

"Sister Mu, it’s really that couple you mentioned. We saw with our own eyes that they went out in the middle of the night to pour manure on someone’s property. Tell us what to do, Sister Mu, should we arrest them?" a young police officer approached Mu Huazhen to report.

"Are you sure of what you saw?" Mu Huazhen didn’t expect them to act again so soon.

"We’re certain, we followed them all the way from that Fang guy’s house," another young officer confirmed.

"Alright, you don’t need to handle this," said Mu Huazhen. After checking to make sure no one was around, she took out two envelopes from her pocket. "Here’s one for each of you – a little compensation for your hard work in this cold, I can’t let you work for nothing on my account."

"Hey, Sister Mu, what are you doing? What’s our relationship? This little matter isn’t worth all this," the young officer said as he pushed the envelope back without even looking at it.

"Hey, hey, there are lots of people around; don’t push it back and forth. It wouldn’t look good if someone saw," Mu Huazhen insisted, nudging the envelopes back into their pockets. "This isn’t from me; I’m not that rich yet. It’s from a friend of mine, the owner of that quadrangle. She’s giving you this as a token of appreciation. Take it, and in the future, if Sister Mu needs your help, you’ll be there for me."

This time the two young officers did not refuse. "Sister Mu, just give a shout if you need anything. Your friend is our friend. Don’t worry; we’ll get it done for you," they assured.

"Great, I appreciate it. As for this matter, just act as if you don’t know about it," Mu Huazhen reminded them once more.

Once Mu Huazhen had left, the two young officers finally opened the envelopes, taking in a sharp breath at the sight. Wow, such a generous gesture, there were ten large ’Great Unity’ bills in each envelope, plus a hundred yuan in Remittance Coupons.