CHAPTER 301: CHAPTER 302 BALANCING A BOWL OF WATER

In the room over here, Zheng Xianghong said to Gao Guoqiang, "When the time comes, we should have Gao Jiazhi and Sun Yuhua move out. Sun Yuhua just won’t change her behavior, and it won’t be few conflicts if they continue to live together."

Zheng Xianghong found it very challenging deep down. Gao Jiazhi was her nephew, and she had raised him like her own son for so many years. But the problem was Gao Jiazhi wasn’t Gao Guoqiang’s son, and although it wasn’t an issue before, now with Sun Yuhua being so unreasonable, any conflicts with Jiaxing and Xia Xiao in the future would certainly displease Guoqiang.

Zheng Xianghong also understood that no matter how well Gao Guoqiang treated Gao Jiazhi, it wouldn’t be the same as his own son. The relationship between the two brothers was good now, but as they each started their own families, given Jiazhi’s fondness for Sun Yuhua and Jiaxing’s for Xia Xiao, if conflicts arose between the sisters-in-law, it could sometimes affect the men, which was Zheng Xianghong’s biggest concern.

Zheng Xianghong certainly didn’t want any conflicts between the two brothers, Gao Jiazhi and Gao Jiaxing, so she wondered whether living separately might reduce tensions. Otherwise, if things kept going like this, with Sun Yuhua unwilling to do anything around the house and Xia Xiao doing most of the work, it was inevitable that Xia Xiao would feel aggrieved over time.

Speaking of favoritism, Zheng Xianghong definitely favored Xia Xiao, but if Sun Yuhua didn’t lift a finger, Zheng Xianghong couldn’t stand it and would definitely help out, which meant she couldn’t be fair in her responsibilities.

Now, Zheng Xianghong conveyed her thoughts to Gao Guoqiang, feeling it would be better if the two brothers lived separately. If they did, Sun Yuhua couldn’t expect others to always do things for her and might become more proactive.

Gao Guoqiang said, "Jiaxing isn’t home often anyway, no need to live apart. Just do less for Sun Yuhua, that’s all. You’re worrying about everything for her, inside and out. Naturally, she doesn’t feel the need to do anything."

Zheng Xianghong replied, "But if I don’t do it, she ignores it. Is that acceptable?"

"Whether it’s acceptable or not is her business. You should interfere less with the affairs of these two rooms. Take care of Weilin when you have time," said Guoqiang. He continued, "Since she’s so fond of cleanliness, she won’t stand it for a few days. You’ve been sweeping the floor for her, tidying her room, doing her laundry, drying her quilts. If you do everything for her, what’s left for her to do? After all, you’re the one enabling her."

Zheng Xianghong thought about it and realized it was true. From the moment Sun Yuhua entered their home, through her pregnancy, Zheng Xianghong had been doing Sun Yuhua’s share of the work. Now that Sun Yuhua had had the child, the work all fell to Zheng Xianghong because she couldn’t bear the mess, and Sun Yuhua no longer had to do anything at all.

"Alright, I’ll stop doing it tomorrow."

Gao Guoqiang said, "You’ll still need to cook. You and your daughter-in-law should take turns cooking. The tasks that need to be done should still be done. But you can’t overindulge them. You’ve got two daughters-in-law now; you need to be fair and not neglect Xia Xiao because you’re closer to her."

In Gao Jiaxing’s room, Xia Xiao had already gone to bed. Gao Jiaxing wanted to comfort her with a few words, to tell her not to take Sun Yuhua seriously, but he ended up just smiling at Xia Xiao’s sleeping face.

He was here worrying about whether she was upset, and yet there she was, sleeping sweetly, without a care in the world.

Actually, Xia Xiao really didn’t take Sun Yuhua’s attitude to heart. She knew what kind of person Sun Yuhua was and certainly wouldn’t bother herself with Sun Yuhua enough to spoil her own mood.

This sleep, Xia Xiao didn’t wake up until over two hours later. By the time she woke up, a major incident had happened outside.

When the news that five people had died in the deep pool in the Red Star Production Team reached the Guangming Production Team, it was already the afternoon, and the news exploded.

On the first day of the Lunar New Year, five people from the Red Star Production Team had died—an incident Liu Haiguo couldn’t cover up. Moreover, not all the people he brought were on his side, and with Liu Haiguo not having a good standing with many people, the news about the incident spread quickly.

Xia Xiao couldn’t believe that in just one day, five lives had been lost in the deep pool. For a moment, she found herself at a loss for words looking at Gao Jiaxing.

Gao Jiaxing said, "It’s not our concern. Don’t think too much about it. I already told Hong Xing—there are a lot of underwater plants there, and if they had listened to Hong Xing, they wouldn’t have entered the water. Moreover, from the rumors, it seems they wanted to catch big fish by diving into the pool themselves, which is asking for trouble."

Xia Xiao remembered the situation from yesterday. If someone had used a knife and caused the fish to bleed, the waters of the deep pool could easily have turned muddy. Once the water became unclear, accidents could happen.

And according to the news she heard, they had used a knife at the bottom of the pool to injure a big fish, causing its blood to spill and dye the waters red.

Once you couldn’t see clearly at the bottom, everyone was swinging knives around, not knowing whether they were spearing fish or accidentally stabbing each other. It was no surprise that an accident occurred.

At this moment, Xia Xiao felt extremely relieved that everyone from the Guangming Production Team had remained safe the day before. As for what happened with the Red Star Production Team, Xia Xiao didn’t want to comment further.

Over at Yang Xuehua’s place, upon hearing the news, she hurried over, "Xia Xiao, the incident with the Red Star Production Team—could it affect us at the Guangming Production Team?"

Xia Xiao nodded, "The two production teams are so close to each other, and the incident was related to the deep pool. There’s bound to be some impact."

"What should we do?" Yang Xuehua was starting to worry.

"It’s okay. This isn’t our side’s fault. If they want to blame us, they have no grounds. Don’t overthink it. The Red Star Production Team is just bad news. Just watch—the Lius’ siblings will get their karma sooner or later."

"How can they think like that over there? Wouldn’t it be better to just work hard and improve productivity instead of causing all these problems? And that Liu Haiguo, doesn’t anyone object to him? How can his position as team leader be so stable?"

Yang Xuehua shook her head in amazement. Over the past few years, incidents from the Red Star Production Team had continually spread to this side. Yang Xuehua was baffled as to how, with such strong resentment among the people, Liu Haiguo’s position as team leader remained so stable. Perhaps Liu Jiefang had that much influence, making everyone prefer to endure their grievances.

Xia Xiao said, "Once power becomes involved, of course the position is secure. But now that the Red Star Production Team’s productivity can’t increase, maybe some team members are passively protesting."

Yang Xuehua nodded in agreement, and Xia Xiao said to her, "Sister Xuehua, now that Liu Haiguo and his group are connected with a man named Wang Xueyong, it’s safer for you to stay within the production team. Don’t go into town anymore. If you want to buy something, my sister can bring it for you."

Xia Xiao explained Wang Xueyong’s identity to Yang Xuehua, who had no direct involvement with him. However, the problem was that Wang Xueyong was connected with Liu Haiguo’s side, so Xuexia had to be cautious of Luo Mingzhe, Liu Yue, and Feng Ying, among others.