Chapter 29: An Acquaintance Exposes Ma Yulian? Rumors Abound!

"In the past, whenever he had money in hand, he would obediently hand it over to you right away. Why did he split the money with the children this time? Could it be that he’s found something out?"
"Especially since he’s not even afraid of divorcing you anymore!"

Chen Dazhu believed that Li Junsheng might have discovered the affair between himself and Ma Yulian. But he had no concrete evidence.

Ma Yulian understood his meaning, pondered for a moment, and then decided it was unlikely.
"If Li Junsheng knew about us, how could he possibly stay calm? He’d either go on being spineless or throw me out of the house."
"It probably isn’t that. My guess is he’s got someone else outside, so he doesn’t care if I divorce him!"

The two of them speculated about Li Junsheng for a long time but couldn’t come to any conclusions.

No matter how hard Chen Dazhu racked his brains, it would never occur to him that Li Junsheng had already been replaced by someone else.

Thinking it over, all of Li Junsheng’s strange behavior began after he drank with them that day.

Chen Dazhu immediately asked Ma Yulian, "Yulian, after Li Junsheng drank with us, what has he been doing these past few days? Tell me everything!"

Ma Yulian also started recalling Li Junsheng’s oddities and slowly recounted them to Chen Dazhu.

"Ever since that day, it’s as if he’s become a different person. He doesn’t do any housework and even dares to order me around to serve him, relying on the fact that we need him to handle the paperwork, acting with complete impunity."

"He used to be so meek, but now if he says he’ll teach the eldest a lesson, he does it, and he even yells at me. When the second son’s grandson got sick and asked to borrow money, he actually gave two hundred all at once!"

"It’s like he’s suddenly become much smarter, making the eldest fawn over him—she even brings him his washbasin personally."

Hearing about all this unusual behavior, Chen Dazhu knew something was off with Li Junsheng. Yet he couldn’t figure out the exact reason for his sudden change in character.

All he could do was instruct Ma Yulian, "Something really isn’t right with Li Junsheng. Stay steady at home for now and watch what tricks he’s up to. If anything seems off, tell me right away."

Chen Dazhu sighed. He’d thought buying Li Junsheng’s job and getting the money back through Ma Yulian was a perfect plan. But Li Junsheng refused to play by the rules, and things had only grown more complicated since.

Ma Yulian, for her part, was fully obedient to Chen Dazhu’s instructions.

"Alright, I’ll keep a close eye on Li Junsheng. If he really does have another woman outside, then I’ll use this chance to throw him out for good."

"By then, the house and his money will all be ours. Li Junsheng won’t get a penny, and I’ll have every reason to teach him a lesson."

Ma Yulian wished for nothing more than for Li Junsheng to be caught with another woman. Hearing her words, Chen Dazhu’s eyes lit up.

The house alone was worth over a thousand; if he could get his hands on it, it’d be a windfall.

Chen Dazhu wrapped his arms around Ma Yulian and whispered sweet nothings, coaxing her into a daze.

"Li Junsheng, that fool, with such a good woman at home—if he really is seeing someone else, he doesn’t know what’s good for him!"

"You marrying him was really beneath you. Look at you, taking care of his children, running a whole household. My heart aches for you."

Ma Yulian sighed sincerely, "Thank goodness Li Junsheng’s parents are gone, or I’d still be stuck waiting on those two old things!"

"Li Junsheng is as dense as a wooden block, nowhere near as considerate as you. And your wife doesn’t know how lucky she is either!"

After some tender words, Chen Dazhu went on hypocritically, "Yulian, you’ve really suffered. But don’t worry, I won’t make you wait much longer. Once Zhiyuan is settled and married, we’ll get married too."

"Then we’ll split the household with Zhiyuan, and the two of us can live our own peaceful days, however we please."

Ma Yulian, lost in the beautiful future Chen Dazhu was painting, truly believed he wanted to marry her and build a life together.

Her sturdy figure nestled into his arms, she nodded repeatedly with shy, affected sweetness.

"Alright, once Zhiyuan is married, we’ll have our own little world. As long as I’m with you, I won’t feel wronged!"

Chen Dazhu chuckled inwardly; he’d never met a woman as foolish as Ma Yulian.

"Let’s leave it for now. I need to go back to my parents’ place. I’ll come find you another day—it’s not safe here."

In a narrow alley, someone could show up at any time.

Ma Yulian dared not linger, so she left with Chen Dazhu, one after the other.

Emerging from the alley, she tidied her hair, only to bump into a pair of sisters-in-law who lived next door.

Leading the way was Sister Zhang, the most notorious gossip in the building, and her sister-in-law was cut from the same cloth.

"Well, isn’t this Sister Yulian? What are you doing coming out of this alley? Where are you off to?"

Ma Yulian hadn’t expected to run into these two and, afraid they’d gossip about her, forced herself to stay calm and hide the fact that she’d been meeting Chen Dazhu there.

"I just ran into a thief who snatched my bag and ran into the alley. I couldn’t catch him!"

"Oh, that’s terrible! Let’s go with you to report it to the police."

The sisters-in-law grabbed her, trying to drag her along, but Ma Yulian stammered, "No need, there wasn’t anything valuable in my bag anyway. I have urgent business at my mother’s place, I can’t be delayed!"

With that, she pulled free and hurried off without looking back.

Watching her rush away, the younger woman leaned in to gossip, "Sister, do you really think she was chasing a thief?"

Sister Zhang snorted disdainfully, "Broad daylight—how many thieves could there be? She’s clearly lying. Slipping into that alley, who knows what shameful thing she was up to!"

"Look at her, does nothing all day, dresses herself up so garishly—she’s no ordinary woman, that’s for sure."

The younger one nodded fervently in agreement.
"Pity about Brother Zhang next door, such an honest, decent man. How did he end up marrying a woman like that? Should we warn Brother Li?"

"And how would we do that?"

Chatting as they walked home, the two of them discussed Ma Yulian’s affairs all the way. Downstairs, a few others stood around gossiping as usual.

Seeing the sisters-in-law return, still deep in discussion, someone couldn’t help but ask with a laugh, "What are you two talking about this time? Not gossiping about someone again, are you?"

"Of course not! It’s just that on our way home, we ran into Sister Yulian coming out of the alley. Turns out she’d run into a thief who stole her bag and disappeared into the alley!"

"We offered to go to the police with her, but she refused, said she had urgent business at her mother’s and left in a hurry..."