CHAPTER 429: CHAPTER 422: PILLOW TALK

In the following days, Sisi led a very leisurely life, sleeping until she naturally woke up and strolling around the county town during the day when she had nothing else to do, returning just in time to cook dinner for Tian Xinhua.

As time went by, she became quite familiar with Su Ping. Apart from Su Ping’s covetous eyes on her belongings, everything else was relatively fine. Su Ping had a straightforward personality and was not two-faced.

Moreover, even if Su Ping coveted her things, she never actively asked for them. If you were willing to give them to her, she would accept happily, but if not, she wouldn’t act like Huang Guixiang, who sent her children to her house every day begging for things.

As expected, just as Su Ping predicted, whenever Sisi cooked dinner, two children would stand pitifully beside her, their four eyes fixated on the meat in her hands like little puppies.

Huang Guixiang simply stayed inside her house and didn’t show herself, clearly indicating she had no intention of dealing with the two children, or perhaps she had instigated the children to come over.

Sisi wasn’t really distressed over a few pieces of meat, but being forced into giving felt uncomfortable. The two children looked thin and small, indeed pitiable, but as Su Ping had mentioned, Huang Guixiang, despite having money, was too stingy to spend it, preferring to let the children develop a habit of begging for food.

Could there really be such bizarre mothers in the world?

Sisi was exasperated. She genuinely couldn’t bring herself to be hard-hearted towards these two children, and could only end up using her chopsticks to give them a couple of slices of meat each time they came over, no longer serving it in a bowl like before, because the bowl from the first day had not been returned yet.

The children were quite sensible too. After eating two pieces of meat each, they would happily return home and didn’t cling annoyingly, which relieved Sisi. She was prepared; if the children were too greedy, then she would have to harden her heart.

The children: We’re not dumb, eating a little each day allows us to continue eating daily. If we eat too much at once, we won’t get any later.

Su Ping always said that Sisi was too soft-hearted, "You are basically raising Huang Guixiang’s children for her!"

Sisi laughed, "It’s just a little meat for two children, I can’t be too harsh on them, and I’m only staying here for a month. Affording a couple of bites each day is manageable."

"You are too generous. Huang Guixiang must be feeling extremely smug!" Su Ping said, frustrated.

Sisi was of course not that generous; after all, she was no Holy Mother Maria. Her actions were motivated, partly because she had a soft spot for children and partly because she wanted to leave behind a good reputation for both Tian Xinhua and herself.

A few pieces of meat a day were no big deal for her, and since she wasn’t going to be here long, just a month, playing the role of the Holy Mother for a month was within her tolerance.

Most importantly, Huang Guixiang’s husband, Li Neng, although only a minor clerk at the town government, was a local with substantial influence in Mijia Town through his family. People generally did not dare to provoke the Li family. When town leaders needed to conduct matters in the rural areas, bringing Li Neng along would ensure smooth proceedings.

Therefore, although Li Neng’s official position wasn’t high, he was always a target for the town leadership to win over. However, Li Neng was quite scheming and slippery, aligning himself with whoever benefited him the most without stability.

The same was true for Su Ping’s husband, Zhu Xianren. Although he was not from Mijia Town, he was from Huangyuan County and, having been a soldier with good physical skills, had quite a reputation in town.

Thus, Sisi felt she could try to win over the wives Huang Guixiang and Su Ping. As long as she got on good terms with these two women, appealing to them might influence their husbands as well.

Sisi has always been a firm believer in the power of pillow talk. Haven’t you seen how Qiao Zhenbang had no choice but to endure three years in the United States under Mu Xiulan’s influence?

"Sister-in-law Su, I bought this hair clip a few days ago. It looked pretty at the time, but now I don’t like it anymore. I think it would look good on you. Wait a moment while I get it for you!"

Sisi took a blue rhinestone hair clip from her room, sparkling and shiny, something she took out from the Space, and there were plenty of such hair clips in the Space.

As soon as Su Ping saw the hair clip, she liked it. Such things were not available for sale in the town, and she guessed it would probably be available only in the county town.

"This hair clip is really beautiful. It must have cost quite a bit of money, right?"

"It’s okay, only about ten yuan." Sisi never shied away from revealing the value of the gifts she gave. Of course, she had to let the others know these things were not cheap, otherwise it was like giving them away for nothing.

Of course, she also compared the prices with the actual prices in the stores at present, and she didn’t just make them up.

Su Ping was even happier upon hearing this and thanked Sisi before generously clipping the hair clip onto her hair. She took a mirror from the house and looked at herself from all angles, very satisfied.

"Not bad, it looks pretty." Sisi complimented.

Su Ping also thought it looked pretty. She didn’t have the heart to take it off right away, but thinking about the price Sisi mentioned earlier, she still felt a little uneasy and tentatively asked, "Sisi, you’ve given me quite a few nice things these days, how am I supposed to repay you?"

"Sister-in-law, that’s not a nice thing to say. Leaving aside our relationship, just based on the fact that Vice Mayor Zhu and my Brother Xinhua work together, it’s only right for me to give you a few small gifts to enjoy. Sister-in-law Su, you shouldn’t always bring it up, it sounds a bit dull," Sisi pretended to scold.

Su Ping smiled brightly, "I misspoke just now, I deserve a scolding!"

"Sister-in-law does deserve a scolding. My Brother Xinhua always tells me how much help Vice Mayor Zhu has been at work, helping him out a lot. Otherwise, being new here, he still wouldn’t know how to go about his work!" Sisi spoke slowly, watching Su Ping’s face change.

Su Ping’s heart skipped a beat, knowing very well that her husband and Tian Xinhua were not on the same side at all. Not only did they not help each other, avoiding tripping each other up was already good enough.

She initially thought this city girl was simple, but now it seemed she had dug a pit for herself, yet she was reluctant to return the previous gifts.

Seeing her expression change unpredictably, Sisi continued, "Vice Mayor Zhu is experienced and capable. With his help, my Brother Xinhua and I are so grateful!"

"Helping each other among colleagues is to be expected, isn’t it? When my husband comes back, he often tells me how capable and promising Mayor Tian is!"

Su Ping quickly chose which powerful figure to support. Secretary Hu was too stingy; he never saw Secretary Hu’s wife giving anything to his family. Instead, they had to give gifts to his family during the holidays, unlike Mayor Tian and his wife, who had already given her gifts worth several tens of yuan in less than half a month.

Moreover, Mayor Tian had backing, and he was sure to rise fast in the future. If her husband could foster a good relationship with him, he might even have a chance to work at the county government in the future!

Su Ping, a resolute person, made a prompt decision to firmly support Tian Xinhua. Every night, she would whisper in Zhu Xianren’s ear, and over time, Zhu Xianren naturally became part of Tian Xinhua’s faction.