A Beauty in the 80s Goes on a Blind Date with Her Child, Captivating the Military Compound - Chapter 51

“Why look for a passerby? Let me take a look…”

A woman dressed in a stylish light brown Western-style suit and mid-calf boots walked gracefully into the courtyard. She looked to be in her early fifties, with eyes that bore a striking resemblance to Gu Chengfeng. Her skin was radiant, and her entire aura was bright and modern.

In the 1980s, this outfit was a “celebrity look” that would turn heads on any street. Furthermore, the woman carried herself with the elegant posture of a dancer. Her temperament was truly outstanding.

“This is…”

Sisi’s intuition told her this was a relative of Gu Chengfeng, but which one?

Gu Chengfeng naturally took Shen Sisi’s hand and led her toward the woman. “Sisi, this is my paternal aunt, Gu Changmei. She’s the director of the Provincial Cultural Troupe.”

Shen Sisi was stunned. So this was Gu Chengfeng’s aunt—she looked incredibly young! One might easily mistake her for his elder sister.

Gu Chengfeng paused, his tone becoming exceptionally solemn: “Aunt, this is my newly wedded wife—Shen Sisi.”

“Sisi… she’s truly beautiful,” Gu Changmei said, liking Sisi at first sight. “This look is no less impressive than the star performers of our troupe.”

“Aunt, you flatter me,” Sisi replied.

“I mean it,” Gu Changmei added with a look of regret. “If I had met you earlier, I definitely would have recruited you into the troupe for specialized training!”

At those words, Shen Sisi felt a sudden pang of nostalgia. Years ago, she did have a chance to enter the Cultural Troupe. But her mother had fallen critically ill, causing her to miss the interview, and her life had taken a completely different path. That spot had been hard-won by her mother, only to be taken by Chen Ting, who went to the interview in her place.

Actually… Sisi wasn’t lacking in talent. She played the violin well and had a lovely singing voice. If she had seized that opportunity back then, she surely would have shone on stage.

Bitter memories flooded back, but she suppressed her loss. “Aunt, please come inside and have a seat.”

“Alright,” Gu Changmei agreed, but she remained standing at the door, facing Xu Hongying. “Sister-in-law, long time no see.”

Seeing her, Xu Hongying acted like a mouse seeing a cat, suddenly becoming much more subdued. “Why are you here?”

Gu Changmei smiled brilliantly. “What, am I not welcome? With such big things happening in the family, shouldn’t I, as his aunt, come to see? Besides, Chengfeng invited me specifically to discuss the wedding arrangements.”

She turned her gaze back to the old lady. “Honestly, sister-in-law, you’re quite useless. You can’t even handle a wedding; you have to rely on me.”

Xu Hongying was silenced by the barrage of insults and could only shoot a resentful glare at Gu Chengfeng.

“What? You want to try and intimidate Chengfeng in front of me?” Gu Changmei stood her ground like a protective mother hen.

“Fine, you’re the boss. I can’t win against you,” Xu Hongying grumbled.

Like a victor savoring her win, Gu Changmei curled her lips. “By the way, weren’t you looking for someone to read this? I’ll read it for you.”

She snatched the apology letter from Sisi’s hand. After a quick scan, her expression darkened instantly. She gripped the paper so hard her fingers nearly tore through it. “These gossiping hags! They actually dared to spread ‘yellow rumors’ (lewd scandals) about Sisi!”

“What? Yellow rumors?” Xu Hongying was shocked. As a woman, she knew exactly how devastating such slanders could be.

Gu Changmei’s voice trembled with rage. “Sister-in-law, can you please learn to read a few words at home? It’s written right here in black and white. This… Yang Qiuxia and another named Zhang Xiuhong teamed up to spread rumors that Sisi had a lover on the outside!”

“There was such a thing…?” Xu Hongying’s eyes grew frantic. “What actually happened?”

At the mention of it, Shen Sisi felt a wave of nausea. “Gu Chengfeng, you tell them. Otherwise, she’ll think I’m adding oil to the fire or distorting the truth.”

Gu Chengfeng nodded and, with a dark face, explained the whole ordeal. By the time he finished, both Xu Hongying and Gu Changmei were fuming. Sisi had just arrived and hadn’t provoked anyone, yet she was being smeared with such filth. This was beyond endurance!

“Those shameless hags! I’ll tear them apart!” Xu Hongying’s cursing was reckless; “grace” was a word that simply didn’t exist in her dictionary.

Gu Changmei was equally livid, fine lines of anger appearing on her well-maintained face. “This is too much. Do they think the Gu family has no one to back her up? This isn’t over!”

Sisi wasn’t surprised by her aunt’s fury, but Xu Hongying’s intense reaction was quite unexpected.

“Yes, I admit, I didn’t like you,” Xu Hongying said, surprisingly blunt. “What mother wants to see her son marry an unmarried woman with a child? It felt like jumping into a fire pit. Me not liking you is a private family matter behind closed doors. But her? An outsider? Who is she to bully you?”

Xu Hongying was double-standard to the core and proud of it. “Today in the black market, I felt like dying from being falsely accused for a minute, let alone having rumors spread about my virtue. One could really be driven to jump into the river over that! Those two rotten-hearted women… using your reputation as a plaything. I curse their ancestors!”

“Especially that Yang Qiuxia! Daring to lie to me, taking advantage of my illiteracy to trick me into stealing that letter. I won’t let her off!”

Xu Hongying was like a string of firecrackers, exploding with a stream of profanities. Surprisingly, it was quite cathartic to hear. Sisi thought she would just grumble behind closed doors, especially since she had been as timid as a quail in the black market.

Unexpectedly, the old lady was a woman of action. She stomped into the yard, grabbed the brush used for scrubbing chicken droppings, and charged out with murderous intent. Before the others could react, she had vanished.

Soon, from two houses over, a rapid pounding on a door echoed. “Yang Qiuxia! Get out here!”

Yang Qiuxia was in the middle of lunch. Holding her bowl, she walked out into her yard with a smirk. “Auntie Hongying—”

The fawning smile was still on her face when the foul-smelling brush was shoved directly into her mouth. The accuracy was lethal, the speed like lightning. Yang Qiuxia was caught completely off guard.

Her mouth was instantly filled with a bizarre, pungent taste. She let out a gagging wail. “What is this… yue…”

It was more disgusting than words could describe. What made her collapse even further was that she had actually swallowed a tiny bit.

“What is it? It’s the twin of that foul mouth of yours! You piece of trash, spraying filth everywhere, daring to spread rumors about my daughter-in-law and even trying to play me for a fool! Did you think I was some kind of idiot?”

“You dare provoke me? Today, if I don’t leave you covered in filth, my name isn’t Xu Hongying!”

She raised the brush and went for a second round, shoving it toward Yang Qiuxia’s face again. “Eat your fill!”

Yang Qiuxia’s eyes bulged. Her heart sank as the pungent, fishy stench registered. Is this… chicken poop?