Neighbors 04

A moment later, Fang Wanwan opened the door, but only a crack, looking warily at the woman outside.

Li Juan had originally wanted to come in, but seeing Fang Wanwan's expression, her face showed some awkwardness.

"Xiaoli suddenly has a fever. We... we have no money at home. Could you lend me some?"

It matches!

Fang Wanwan felt her hands and feet turn cold. That dream was real!

"I'm begging you!" Seeing Fang Wanwan silent, Li Juan pleaded repeatedly.

Fang Wanwan's mind was in turmoil. She wanted to close the door, but Li Juan swiftly shoved her hand into the gap. The door clamped on her hand, and she let out a sharp cry: "Miss Fang! Miss Fang! Please help me, I'll kowtow to you!"

The next moment, the door was suddenly pulled open. Fang Wanwan looked at her sister in surprise.

Fang Zaolao looked down at the woman before her. "The New Year hasn't even come yet, and you're already asking for red envelopes?"

Li Juan looked up. This woman wasn't the one from yesterday...

Unlike Fang Wanwan, Fang Zaolao looked like someone not to be trifled with.

"Get lost. Why should my sister take care of your son? I'll count to three. If you don't scram..."

Li Juan hesitated. Would she actually hit her? But then she thought, if she does, I'll just demand even more money!

To her surprise, Fang Zaolao simply plopped down on the floor. "Outrageous! Robbery!"

The sudden wail startled Li Juan. She didn't understand why this woman had suddenly started this.

The early morning hallway had people; those going to school or work were leaving at this time. The sudden cry attracted them, and immediately someone came over to look.

"Come and see! This woman comes to my door first thing in the morning demanding money! She even threatened to kowtow herself to death right here if I didn't give it!"

Seeing people approach, Li Juan panicked. She cared about her reputation; otherwise, she wouldn't have covered up the signs of her husband's domestic violence. Li Juan immediately stood up, forcing an awkward smile. "How could that be? Don't talk nonsense. Miss Fang, is this your friend? How... how can she slander me like this?"

Fang Wanwan also felt a bit embarrassed now. Her sister was still the same, always going for the extreme.

"This is my sister."

She quickly pulled her sister inside, habitually apologizing to Li Juan, and then closed the door.

"You apologized to her? For what?!" Fang Zaolao was furious.

Fang Wanwan also realized and said with a bitter face, "Habit..."

"You, you... you..." Fang Zaolao rolled her eyes. "Anyway, starting today, I'm staying with you. I want to see how that whole family dies!"

"Sis..."

"It's decided! If you're scared, you can..." Fang Zaolao paused. "No, you're not going anywhere. You're sticking with me."

"I still have to go to work."

"Go to work then. I'll take you and pick you up!" Fang Zaolao planted her hands on her hips, striking a pose like a mother hen protecting her chick.

Fang Wanwan couldn't help but laugh.

Outside the door, Li Juan, having been shut out, looked very displeased, especially when she saw people pointing and whispering. She went straight back to her own apartment, closed the door, her face full of resentment.

"All talk about helping me, my foot! Bitch!" Looking at her feverish son, she went over and touched his forehead. "Son, you must be okay. Blame that Fang Wanwan next door! It's all her fault!"

She never once considered her husband's issues or her own. Instead, she blamed everything on Fang Wanwan, who hadn't helped her. The more she thought about it, the more wronged she felt, and she began to sob quietly.

Her complaints woke up Zhang Xi, who had been carousing all night and was particularly irritable. "Stupid woman, crying first thing in the morning! What are you crying for? My bad luck at gambling is all because of your crying! Jinx!"

Without another word, Zhang Xi got up and started hitting her. Li Juan's resentful expression instantly changed. "Husband, I was wrong! No, it's... it's Xiaoli who's sick. Xiaoli has a fever!"

Zhang Xi looked fierce. "A fever is just a fever. He won't die from it!"

Seeing she was about to be hit again, Li Juan suddenly thought of Fang Wanwan next door.

"I went to borrow money from Fang Wanwan next door. She wouldn't lend it to me, and she even cursed at me. I couldn't help but cry."

"What?" Zhang Xi was puzzled. That girl next door? He'd seen her a few times. Nice figure, pretty face, but she always looked at him like he was a virus.

"Wasn't she pretty nice to you? She even invited you for meals." Zhang Xi remembered his wife often brought back leftovers from next door, and he'd benefited too.

"I don't know. A really fierce woman came to her house, seems to be her sister."

Zhang Xi snorted. "I told you long ago not to hang around with those people. You think they pity you? They look down on you! It's that, that thing people often talk about, right, a sense of superiority. She looks at you and feels superior, you know?"

"Is that so?" Li Juan was somewhat doubtful. Turning to see her son's flushed face, she grew anxious again. "But... but Xiaoli is sick now. What do we do? There's no money at home..." She didn't dare say the money had been lost by Zhang Xi gambling, and just started crying again.

Zhang Xi glanced impatiently at Zhang Xiaoli. "No money? Don't you know how to borrow? Stop crying here. If you disturb my sleep again, I'll beat you to death!"

Li Juan shut her mouth.

Borrow? Where from? She'd borrowed from all her colleagues and hadn't paid back a cent. The neighbors weren't on good terms with her because of Zhang Xi. Now, the only neighbor willing to help her, Fang Wanwan, had a fierce woman at her place.

Seeing her son's fever wouldn't break, Li Juan was out of options. She could only cautiously knock on the neighbor's door again.

Fang Wanwan had already gone to work. Fang Zaolao was tidying up at home, her mind troubled. Would her sister really die? She wanted to tell their dad, but he had disappeared somewhere.

Just then, the door was knocked. Fang Zaolao opened it to find the woman with the bitter face standing outside.

"Get lost."

She tried to close the door directly, but Li Juan quickly stopped her, forcing a smile uglier than crying. "Um, your surname is Fang too, right? Miss Fang, I'm Fang Wanwan's neighbor. I helped her a lot when she first moved in."

Fang Zaolao looked at her. In the dream, she had helped, but she'd also taken plenty. Her foolish sister had given her many things. But looking at Li Juan's expression and thinking about how she could kill the only person willing to help her, a thought arose in Fang Zaolao's mind.

"Oh? Is that so."

Seeing the atmosphere soften a bit, Li Juan quickly nodded. "Yes, Wanwan and I are very close. My son always calls her sister."

"And then?" Fang Zaolao looked at her, several times wanting to slap her, but she held back.

Li Juan smiled unnaturally. "Our family is having difficulties. My son is sick now, and I wanted to borrow some money to take him to the doctor... Um, is Wanwan not home?"