The Bystanders Have Logged Off

This program was produced by Tomato Listening. Episode 36: The Bystanders Have Logged Off.

When Dong Tiantian saw that the visitor was her younger sister, she was somewhat surprised. "How did you get in?"

"Weren't you scared of bugs and unwilling to come inside?"

Dong Mimi looked excited and gestured for her to keep quiet before loudly saying, "Sis, you don't know this—Zhang Yanqiu was inside badmouthing Zhao Xianglan. Guess what she said about Sister Xiangwan?"

Dong Tiantian looked completely confused. "Say it. Oh, I don't even know how to put it. Anyway, she meant that Sister Xiangwan was two-timing—acting close with Brother Xiangbei on the surface while secretly fooling around with Brother Wang Yang."

She deliberately shouted those words toward Li Xiangwan's side.

"Really?!"

Dong Tiantian cried out in shock.

Lin Yuzhu, who was sitting at her doorstep, slowly turned her head and looked at Li Xiangbei, whose expression was gradually darkening. She was speechless. Were the female supporting characters in this novel all this fierce?

They were going at it so openly?

Naturally, Dong Mimi did not care what Li Xiangbei thought of her. Her target was not Li Xiangbei. She only wanted to plant a seed of suspicion in his heart and wait for it to take root one day.

It would be even better if he believed it outright. That would give her sister a better chance.

Looking around, aside from Li Xiangwan, her sister was the prettiest. No, there was also Lin Yuzhu—but she had heard Lin Yuzhu had a terrible personality. How could someone from such a small place possibly be worthy of Li Xiangbei? Brother Xiangbei probably would not be interested in her.

Dong Mimi's thoughts were a mess. By then, Li Xiangwan had already come out of the house. Dong Mimi had practically shouted loudly enough for the whole village to hear; how could Li Xiangwan not have heard it inside? Li Xiangwan's face was dark as she strode straight toward the front courtyard.

Li Xiangbei followed close behind her.

Wang Yang awkwardly scratched his head, thought it over, and decided to follow. After all, he was one of the main characters.

Wang Xiaomei came over to Lin Yuzhu carrying a kitchen knife, her eyes wide with gossip. "What happened? What happened?"

"What's going on?"

"Li Xiangwan and Wang Yang are having an affair." Lin Yuzhu stared at the kitchen knife in Wang Xiaomei's hand, afraid Wang Xiaomei might get worked up and fling it out, hurting someone. Staying on guard, she asked, "Should we keep cooking, or go take a look?"

"Oh, what are we waiting for? Of course we're going to watch!"

Wang Xiaomei was already impatient.

Lin Yuzhu reached out and snatched the kitchen knife from Wang Xiaomei's hand. Waving a knife around like that was terrifying. She got up, tossed it into her own room, and said, "Come on, come on, let's go take a look. Life's already miserable enough—I'm tired as a dog and still want some gossip."

"Remember, that kitchen knife is mine."

Lin Yuzhu rolled her eyes at Wang Xiaomei. Did she look like someone who would covet a kitchen knife?

When they arrived, Li Xiangwan had just entered the house. Zhou Nan, who had been sitting in the courtyard, put away the newspaper in his hands and got to his feet as well.

Wang Xiaomei muttered quietly, "This rented male comrade loves gossip too—he's here to watch the fun!"

Lin Yuzhu said nothing, her eyes fixed on the newspaper in Zhou Nan's hand.

Zhou Nan happened to glance at Lin Yuzhu. His cool voice drifted over. "These newspapers are all old. Do you want to read them?"

Wang Xiaomei looked at Zhou Nan, then at Lin Yuzhu, and silently marveled, Goodness, Zhou Nan is handsome too.

Lin Yuzhu smiled. "Do you have extra copies?"

Zhou Nan nodded. "Then when you're done, can you lend them to me?"

Zhou Nan nodded again. "Thanks."

Zhou Nan nodded once more.

Lin Yuzhu was speechless. The atmosphere turned a little awkward as she spoke.

From inside the house came Li Xiangwan's low, questioning voice. "Zhang Yanqiu, which eye of yours saw me being unclear with Wang Yang?"

When Li Xiangwan entered with Li Xiangbei, Zhang Yanqiu was already a little stunned, a bad feeling rising in her heart. Faced with Li Xiangwan's questioning, she panicked. She had only wanted to casually say a few things and spread the lies she had made up through Dong Mimi's mouth.

Once they spread gradually, even lies would become truth.

By then, how could Li Xiangwan possibly be in the mood to track down the source? She would probably be scrambling to explain herself to Brother Xiangbei.

She just had not expected Dong Mimi to expose everything directly in front of the person involved almost immediately.

"I-I-I never said that!" Zhang Yanqiu stammered in panic. She could not think of any explanation at all and could only keep denying it.

Dong Mimi, who had been following behind and enjoying the spectacle, would not stand for that. She stepped forward and shouted, "How could you say you didn't? If you didn't say it, did I?"

"You clearly called Sister Xiangwan a vixen, saying she lived so well only because she hooked up with men everywhere. Sister Xiangwan was sitting right there listening!" Zhao Xianglan, who was still sitting beside the kang chair, gave an awkward smile and looked meaningfully at Dong Mimi. Without blushing or panicking, she said, "It was just idle talk. Zhang educated youth didn't mean it that way. Maybe you misheard."

Dong Mimi refused to let it go. "Hey, Sister Xianglan, you're close with her, but you can't protect her like this! Sister Xiangwan treats you well normally. You can't eat someone else's food and then help another person fool them!"

Zhao Xianglan put on a troubled expression, looking at Li Xiangwan, then Zhang Yanqiu. Like the peacemaker she was, she said, "It's a misunderstanding, all a misunderstanding. We still have to work this afternoon, and we've been standing around all morning. How about we talk about this later—"

Li Xiangwan could not be bothered to waste words with these people. With her lips pressed tightly together, she stepped forward and swung a slap across Zhang Yanqiu's face. A sharp smack rang out. Zhang Yanqiu was instantly stunned, and everyone held their breath. The room fell silent.

"This slap is to tell you that I'm not someone you can bully, and I won't tolerate you making things up about me behind my back."

"You know how important a girl's reputation is, don't you?"

"If there's a next time, it won't just be one slap."

Li Xiangwan spoke coldly, her face like ice.

"And if you want to die again, you'd better find another method. You already injured one leg. Who knows whether someone will still be there to save you if you jump into the river again? Don't accidentally throw your life away."

After saying that, Li Xiangwan looked at Zhang Yanqiu with utter mockery.

"Even if you really die, I won't be scared!"

Zhang Yanqiu stared at Li Xiangwan in disbelief, trembling all over. It took her a long while to recover before she snapped angrily, "What gives you the right?"

"What gives you the right to hit me?"

"What do you mean?"

"Last time, she staged that river jump to commit suicide!"

Before Zhang Yanqiu could finish, Wang Xiaomei exploded again. Her brows drew together as she glared at Zhang Yanqiu through gritted teeth.

Li Xiangwan's gaze darkened. Thinking Wang Xiaomei was not quite that foolish, she slowly said, "On the train here, Zhang educated youth specifically bragged about her glorious deed of going into the river to save someone!"

After speaking, she looked at Wang Xiaomei again. "The neighborhood office even gave her a red flower for it."

When Wang Xiaomei heard that, she was so furious she seemed to grow taller. "You bitch! You made the whole village curse me! I'm going to skin you alive today! Who would believe a liar like you, with nothing but nonsense pouring from your mouth?"

With that, she rolled up her sleeves and lunged forward.

Lin Yuzhu rolled her eyes dramatically and went up to hold her back.

Wang Xiaomei had already lost her head to rage. She struggled desperately, cursing as she shouted, "Let go of me! I'm going to beat her until even her mother can't recognize her!"

Lin Yuzhu was nearly dragged into a fall by Wang Xiaomei. She had no idea how this little runt was so strong; Lin Yuzhu was practically using all her strength, yet still could not hold her back. Annoyed, she let go. This teammate is impossible to carry. Forget it, I can't control her. I've done my best.

The instant she let Wang Xiaomei go, Lin Yuzhu felt completely relaxed. The whole world became peaceful.

Only then did Lin Yuzhu notice Li Xiangwan looking at her. For some reason, a sentence popped into her mind: When you gaze into the abyss, the abyss also gazes into you.

Their eyes met, and the calmness in their gazes was strangely unsettling.

Lin Yuzhu was baffled by Li Xiangwan's stare. She could only think, If you look at me, I'll look at you. Why should I back down?

After watching for a moment, Li Xiangwan withdrew her gaze. She had always thought she could see through Lin Yuzhu: cold-tempered, unwilling to suffer losses, highly guarded, not someone who casually opened her heart to others. People like that were not good friendship material. It seemed she had misjudged Lin Yuzhu.

Could Lin Yuzhu really treat someone like Wang Xiaomei with a measure of sincerity?

But that did not seem right. The indifference radiating from Lin Yuzhu's bones could not be hidden. Otherwise, Lin Yuzhu would not have let go so quickly.

The reason Li Xiangwan had stared at Lin Yuzhu just now was simply to see whose side she would take. Clearly, Li Xiangwan had been too full of herself.

Hmph. Li Xiangwan did not like Wang Xiaomei, and she certainly would not hesitate to use her. Since they were dogs biting dogs, Li Xiangwan was quite happy to watch what was happening.

There were still plenty of smart people among the crowd.

Look, the moment Li Xiangwan said that, many people had already figured it out.

Li Xiangwan did not actually dislike Lin Yuzhu. She had even considered getting to know her.

But seeing Lin Yuzhu and Wang Xiaomei getting closer, that thought had faded.

Now that Lin Yuzhu had chosen Wang Xiaomei's side, there was no point trying to befriend her.

Everyone thought Wang Xiaomei would rush forward and give Zhang Yanqiu a severe beating after breaking free. However, she did not.

Wang Xiaomei only climbed onto the kang, grabbed Zhang Yanqiu by the collar, and shook her hard while cursing weak insults like "shameless" and "liar."

She repeated the same few lines over and over. Lin Yuzhu had the urge to cover her face.

Zhang Yanqiu struggled weakly, with little effect. Her face was deathly pale and bloodless, as if she might faint at any moment.

Lin Yuzhu was afraid Zhang Yanqiu might actually faint. Then Wang Xiaomei might mistake her for Zhuang Yun and go slap her twice. How unfair would that be?

Everyone's attention was on Wang Xiaomei. Even Li Xiangbei had gone unnoticed.

Zhou Nan stared coolly at Li Xiangwan, as though he were looking at something through her.

After all that commotion, Lin Yuzhu's stomach growled with hunger. She stopped watching the excitement, turned on her heel, left the front courtyard, and returned to her room.

After working all morning, she was nearly tired to death.

For lunch, she simply steamed some rice, bought a bottle of beef sauce from her space, and mixed it with the rice. She did not have the energy to stir-fry any dishes.

After taking her first bite of beef sauce mixed rice, Lin Yuzhu felt like she had come back to life.