Zhou Xiaoling tugged excitedly at Lin Xiaoxiao's sleeve. "Look, look! Geng Aiguo and Lin Hongyan actually know each other!"

Lin Xiaoxiao was just as surprised. She never imagined Geng Aiguo would be acquainted with Lin Hongyan. But how old was Hongyan? Was Geng Aiguo really that depraved? The man was utterly despicable!

Unable to resist, Zhou Xiaoling crept a few steps down for a better view, watching like it was street theater as Geng Aiguo and Lin Hongyan conversed. Lin Hongyan pointed toward the jewelry counter. After a few more words, Geng Aiguo pulled out his wallet and bought a gold ring.

When a man took a woman shopping for gold rings, their relationship was obvious without another word.

Having seen enough, Zhou Xiaoling pulled Lin Xiaoxiao upstairs, chattering as they went. "Well, I never. Lin Hongyan's got some tricks up her sleeve—hooking up with Geng Aiguo? The Geng family is in for some drama."

Mentioning Geng Aiguo still made Zhou Xiaoling's blood boil. They'd gone too easy on him last time. And his mother was no saint either. She'd love nothing more than to see the Geng family humiliated.

Her only regret was for Luo Anran. "Xiao Ran got the worst of it from that family. How's she ever going to move on?"

Lin Xiaoxiao, however, was more concerned with how to warn Cheng Mingzhong. She figured she'd wait until the afternoon, take the child to the small plaza, and bring it up if she ran into Li Jing.

She dragged Zhou Xiaoling up to the third floor to look around, only to realize how naive she'd been. A good wool coat cost two or three hundred yuan. Her hundred-plus yuan wasn't even enough for one high-quality coat.

After looking around, Zhou Xiaoling also found the prices steep. "Let's just go across the street. You can get a whole outfit over there for twenty yuan."

Lin Xiaoxiao glanced back a few times before looping her arm through Zhou Xiaoling's. "When you get married, I'll buy your dress here. Whatever you like, we'll get it."

Zhou Xiaoling clicked her tongue. "Don't say that! It almost sounds like you're saying I'll never get married."

Spending a thousand yuan here just like that was beyond extravagant. The two ended up buying clothes and fabric across the street at Xidan, grabbed a quick bite at the food court, and finally headed home with their purchases.

As luck would have it, they ran into Li Jing just as they entered the compound. She was carrying a vegetable basket, returning from the community store. Spotting Lin Xiaoxiao, Li Jing greeted her warmly. "Xiaoxiao, been out shopping?"

Lin Xiaoxiao smiled. "Yes, just picked up a few things. Why are you buying groceries so late?"It was just after lunch—the hottest part of the day.

Li Jing sighed. "The vegetables are cheaper now than in the morning, and they don't short you on the weight. With so many mouths to feed, what choice do I have but to be careful?"

Before Lin Xiaoxiao could respond, Zhou Xiaoling cut in. "Is Lin Hongyan still staying with you? Has she found a job yet?"

Li Jing looked even more glum. "A job? If jobs were that easy to find, would I have been stuck at home all these years? That girl, ah..." she trailed off.

Zhou Xiaoling feigned innocence. "We just saw Lin Hongyan at the women's department store buying a gold ring. Didn't know you were so generous with her—giving her that much pocket money."

She wasn't trying to warn Li Jing to keep an eye on Lin Hongyan to avoid future trouble.

She was deliberately leaking the information so Li Jing would discover what Lin Hongyan was up to and go make trouble for Wang Suyun.

Lin Xiaoxiao understood Zhou Xiaoling's little scheme perfectly. It saved her from having to bring it up herself.

Li Jing's smile instantly stiffened. She'd been watching Lin Hongyan like a hawk, terrified she'd steal money or food stamps from the house. Lately, Lin Hongyan had been going out every day and sometimes didn't even come home at night.

It made Li Jing deeply uneasy. A young girl running around all day—if something happened, Lin Yushan was sure to come cause trouble for them.

She'd been nagging Cheng Mingzhong to send Lin Hongyan back where she came from to avoid gossip in the compound and protect their family's reputation.

It seemed her worst fears were coming true. If Zhou Xiaoling saw Lin Hongyan buying gold rings outside, the money had to have come from something shady.

Li Jing lost all interest in chatting. "Oh, I'd better not keep you. I've got water boiling on the stove at home. I'll be on my way. Xiaoxiao, Xiaoling, feel free to drop by sometime." Clutching her vegetable basket, she hurried home.

Zhou Xiaoling watched Li Jing's retreating figure with a gleeful chuckle. "Seems your aunt-in-law is pretty sharp."

If she looked into it, she was bound to discover Lin Hongyan's affair with Geng Aiguo. Then the real show would begin.

Lin Xiaoxiao looked at Zhou Xiaoling, equal parts amused and exasperated. "You're quite the clever one. Come on, let's get home."

Lin Hongyan was still too young to be discreet. In less than three days, Li Jing caught her and Geng Aiguo together in bed.

When Li Jing made a scene, she was anything but quiet. By lunchtime, the whole compound knew Geng Aiguo was having an affair with Cheng Mingzhong's niece—and that they'd been caught in the act.

Geng Aiguo was filled with regret. He'd never really been interested in Lin Hongyan, a country girl who was average-looking and average in figure—just young and... unrestrained.

But these things were addictive. One time led to a second, and then to many more.

With Luo Anran giving him the cold shoulder lately, he'd been looking for an outlet and had started seeing Lin Hongyan more frequently. Who could have predicted it would end like this? Now a divorce seemed inevitable.

Wang Suyun was also furious, hitting Geng Aiguo in her anger. "What is wrong with you? Are you out of your mind? Did you start this, or did she seduce you?"

Li Jing, standing nearby, wasn't having it. "That's not fair, sister. What do you mean 'seduced'? How old is he, and how old is Hongyan? If anything, he took advantage of a naive young girl. You need to give us a solution, or I'll telegraph Hongyan's father and let him come make a scene for you."

Though she was disgusted beyond words, she still had to stand on Lin Hongyan's side to resolve this.

Wang Suyun was also fuming. She'd always looked down on someone like Li Jing—uneducated, jobless, and thoroughly petty-bourgeois. Now that she was related to the Zhou family, she'd gotten even more smug.

Seeing her try to pawn the girl off on them, Wang Suyun sneered. "What? Does she want to be his concubine? Nobody has two wives nowadays. Causing a scene won't help. At most, they'll send Aiguo to jail."

Li Jing refused to back down. "Fine, you said it. I'm going to the Women's Federation right now. Let's see if they'll handle this or not."

The two argued relentlessly until finally, Old Man Geng and Cheng Mingzhong arrived to mediate, pulling everyone apart and sending them home before some semblance of quiet returned.

But after this incident, in mid-August, Geng Aiguo and Luo Anran finalized their divorce.As for whether Lin Hongyan would end up marrying Geng Aiguo... Li Jing was still working on it.