CHAPTER 1374: CHAPTER 1374: IRRECONCILABLE DIFFERENCES

Wang Xiaoxin said coldly, "There’s no need. Right here in front of these neighbors is fine. Some matters need witnesses."

She glanced around at the crowd and continued, "This trip to Mount Tai—was it Yiting who invited you all to go?"

Seeing her cousin’s eyes start darting around again, she added, "You’d better not lie."

He Anmei, her face flushed, replied, "It was Yiting who suggested going to Mount Tai. I thought since our family hadn’t been there before, we might as well go together."

Wang Xiaoxin cleared her throat lightly. "So who paid for the train tickets to Tai’an?"

He Anmei realized there was no escaping. "Was it Yiting’s husband who paid?"

Wang Xiaoxin didn’t bother asking further. "I’m just curious—how much did you all spend on Yiting’s family during this trip?"

He Anmei kept her head down and said nothing as the surrounding crowd began murmuring softly. "Do you think He Anmei was lying when she bragged to us earlier?"

"I bet she was. Look, Yiting’s family members have come looking for them."

"Definitely lying. If she’d actually spent money, she wouldn’t stay silent now."

"Seriously, she must’ve been bragging this whole time. Turns out it’s all been hot air."

Wang Xiaoxin spoke again. "Cousin, say something."

At that moment, He Anmei looked up and saw Lin Zhiming and his two sons at the corner of the street.

She asked, slightly puzzled, "Why are you back at this time?"

She then noticed that her younger son had scratches on his face, while her elder son’s arm was in a sling. Alarmed, she rushed over, exclaiming, "Who in the world did this?!"

Lin Zhiming, sounding exasperated, said, "Enough, just stop talking. They got into a fight at school. The other kids were hurt even worse. I already treated their injuries and brought them home. They can’t go back to school like this. Let’s head home first."

After saying his piece, Lin Zhiming was about to leave when he noticed his cousin and her husband standing coldly to the side, watching his family. He paused, seeming slightly guilty, and said awkwardly, "Cousin, cousin-in-law, why are you here?"

Wang Xiaoxin responded flatly, "I’m here to seek justice for my sister-in-law and her husband."

Lin Zhiming gave his wife a sidelong glance, thinking to himself: I warned her long ago—quit bragging. Would it kill her to stop? And now look, it’s blown up in her face.

Pretending not to know anything, he asked, "Has something happened?"

Luo Qiao thought: These two are really a perfect match.

Wang Xiaoxin asked, "On this trip to Mount Tai, what did you all pay for Yiting’s family?"

Feeling embarrassed, Lin Zhiming replied, "Cousin, cousin-in-law, it’s not convenient to talk about this here. Why don’t we head home and discuss this privately?"

Lu Yixuan, his face stone-cold, interjected, "No need to go home. Cousin-in-law, you’d best answer Xiaoxin’s question now. Exactly how much did you spend on Yiting’s family during this trip to Mount Tai?"

Lin Zhiming forced a fake smile. "How can I explain this now? It’s so embarrassing."

Luo Qiao couldn’t help herself and let out a laugh. "What’s so embarrassing? Are you embarrassed because you spent too little to admit it, or because you spent too much and don’t want to fuss over it? This has to be clarified. Your words really leave people wondering."

Lin Zhiming frowned and glanced at Luo Qiao, thinking: This woman really needs to mind her own business.

Unable to maintain his façade, he was about to answer when his younger son spoke up first. "We treated them to noodles. That was paid with our family’s money."

The crowd burst into laughter upon hearing what Lin Family’s younger son said.

The young boy, feeling he was being laughed at, shouted angrily, "What are you laughing at? So annoying."

Someone asked, "Was there anything else your family paid for?"

The boy, quick to anger, replied, "We paid for the return train tickets ourselves! My mom said their friends were so unthoughtful—they only bought tickets for Yiting’s family."

Although the explanation sounded muddled, everyone grasped the gist. Essentially, the trip to Mount Tai was mostly covered by Lu Yiting’s family. And yet, here was He Anmei shamelessly bragging to everyone—classic case of taking advantage while feigning generosity.

At this point, He Anmei was flustered. "We didn’t just spend that. We paid for our own room on the second night."

Luo Qiao mocked, "So that means Yiting covered your room on the first night?"

He Anmei didn’t deny it.

Wang Xiaoxin spoke again. "Cousin, cousin-in-law, I won’t say much more. Yiting and her husband tolerated you out of respect for me. They covered your train tickets to Tai’an, the first night’s lodging, admission tickets, meals—they paid it all. Out of respect for me, they let it slide.

But what you shouldn’t have done—absolutely shouldn’t—was come back and brag to everyone that it was you who paid for everything. You’ve really disappointed me."

He Anmei stood there, visibly humiliated.

Lin Zhiming tried to keep up the act. "Wait, are you saying this really happened? I’ve been so busy these past few days, I had no idea."

Wang Xiaoxin thought her cousin-in-law was truly shameless. "Enough with the act. Just return what you owe to my sister-in-law."

He Anmei quickly interjected, "Xiaoxin, we don’t have any money, okay? I’m your cousin. You can’t do this to me."

Wang Xiaoxin, furious, retorted, "Now you remember I’m your cousin? Where was this consideration before? You spent my sister-in-law’s money, then came back and dragged her name through the mud. Did you ever think about whether we could still interact in the future, whether we could still face each other? Did you even think about how I’m supposed to get along with my sister-in-law in my in-laws’ house? Now you remember I’m your cousin? Too late."

Lin Zhiming realized that if he didn’t handle this properly today, things wouldn’t end well.

So he said, "I had always planned to return the money when I had it in a few days. I just didn’t expect Anmei to act like this. How about this—I’ll go back now and scrape together the amount we owe to cover those expenses."

Having heard this, Wang Xiaoxin decided not to press further. With so many people present, the story would spread quickly, and her sister-in-law wouldn’t need their begrudging apology.

In any case, it was clear there could be no genuine interaction moving forward. Recovering the money was far more practical than a forced apology.

He Anmei had intended to use this as an opportunity to drag her two sons home, but Luo Qiao stopped her, instructing Lin Zhiming to take the boys away instead.

Half an hour later, Lin Zhiming brought the money over, recounting how he had managed to scrape it together. Laughably, he even deducted the cost of the noodles—never mind the fact that the train meals had been paid for by Lu Yiting’s family.

Wang Xiaoxin found his approach incredibly petty but didn’t bother saying much more. "Alright, I’ll hold onto this money on behalf of my sister-in-law. As for what you owe to my family, cousin and cousin-in-law, I hope you can return that promptly as well."

She glanced at her husband. "Let’s go. Let’s take the money to Yiting."

Lu Yixuan cast a cold look at Lin Zhiming and gave a curt grunt in agreement. "Let’s go."

As they left, the neighbors immediately began discussing the incident.

He Anmei and Lin Zhiming, thoroughly embarrassed, rushed home swiftly.