Neighbor 06

The plot continued to unfold.

Li Juan came home from work and saw her son crouching in the corner of the living room. She was surprised, but following her son's gaze, she saw a woman lying on her own bed. Shocked, Li Juan rushed forward.

"Who are you? Why are you in my house!"

The woman was woken by the noise and frowned. "What are you doing!"

"Why are you in my house! Who are you!" Li Juan lunged at her, trying to grab her.

The woman, Xiaoling, gave her no chance. She grabbed Li Juan's hair and started hitting her. The commotion attracted Zhang Xi, who strode over, grabbed his wife Li Juan by the hair, and threw her aside. Then he looked at Xiaoling with a fawning expression. "Xiaoling, are you okay?"

Xiaoling looked displeased. "Who is she, attacking people as soon as she comes in!"

Zhang Xi glanced at his wife, who was scrambling to her feet. "I told you about her. My old hag."

"Old hag?" Li Juan stood frozen, watching her husband's intimate manner with the other woman, her heart churning with turmoil. "You... you're actually having an affair!"

"Stop your nonsense! Go make dinner now!" Zhang Xi showed her no respect at all, then turned back and spoke softly, "Xiaoling, you must be hungry? I'll have her cook right away."

"Husband..." Li Juan stared at this man in disbelief.

"Still not going! Do I need to invite you?" Zhang Xi looked utterly ferocious.

Li Juan silently walked into the kitchen. That's right, she swallowed it all.

From that day on, Li Juan's life became even more exhausting. Besides working her job and taking care of her son, she now also had to look after Zhang Xi and his mistress.

In the original storyline, Fang Wanwan would come to comfort and advise her at this point.

And that's indeed what happened. Even though Fang Wanwan knew the outcome from her dream, noticing the unusual situation next door, she couldn't help but frown. "Sis, that man is going too far!"

Fang Zaozao cracked melon seeds. "None of your business."

"I, I..." She stammered for a while, but couldn't bring herself to say she still thought Li Juan was pitiful.

Fang Zaozao, however, understood her perfectly.

"Will she listen? Let me tell you, those who are pitiable often have their own hateful flaws. You help her, she'll think it's her due. You advise her, she'll turn right around and tell her husband. Don't believe me? Go ahead and try. I won't stop you."

Fang Wanwan bit her lip.

That afternoon, when Li Juan came to her door seeking help, Fang Wanwan, who was off duty, didn't refuse. Seeing the bruises covering the thin arms of little Zhang Xiaoli weakened much of the resentment in her heart.

"Please, Wanwan, when I go to work, Xiaoli gets beaten at home..." Li Juan wailed, calculating that leaving her son with Fang Wanwan would also score them an extra meal.

Fang Wanwan finally voiced that question.

"Sister Li, why don't you get a divorce?"

"Divorce?" Li Juan was stunned, immediately waving her hands nervously. "No, no, I can't get a divorce. If I divorce, Xiaoli won't have a father."

"He not only hits you, he hits your son. Now he's even brought his mistress into your home to beat your son. And you can still tolerate this?" Fang Wanwan truly couldn't understand her reasoning.

But Li Juan stubbornly kept repeating, "I can't get a divorce. If I divorce, Xiaoli won't have a father, he'll be from a single-parent family..." Her fingernails were almost digging into the flesh of Zhang Xiaoli's arm. Zhang Xiaoli let out a small whimper.

Suddenly, Fang Wanwan was shoved aside. Fang Zaozao appeared at the door with an impatient look.

"How about I fucking chop you in half so he can have a two-parent family, huh?"

Li Juan was stunned. Fang Wanwan was stunned too.

What kind of hellish statement was that?

"Listen up, you can divorce or not, whatever. Just stop lingering at our place. Get lost!" She glanced at the scrawny Zhang Xiaoli and, in one motion, yanked him inside the door. "Also, we can help look after him, but you pay, got it? If you don't, I really will come over and chop you in half."

Before Li Juan could react, the door slammed shut with a "bang" right in her face.

Fang Zaozao and the little boy in front of her stared at each other, wide-eyed. In that dream, this child was the most innocent one. She wasn't about to take things out on a kid.

"Starting today, when you see me, you behave. Understand?"

Zhang Xiaoli nodded repeatedly. As long as he didn't get beaten, he could accept anything. Though right now, he was still pondering that fierce sister's words. Could chopping someone in half really turn them into two people?

Unexpectedly, because Zhang Xiaoli was at their place, the mistress next door actually came knocking.

The moment the door opened, Wang Xiaoling saw the little bastard hiding behind Fang Zaozao.

"So you ran here? Get back home and wash my dress!" She completely disregarded the girl in front of her.

Hearing this, even Fang Zaozao couldn't hold back. Making a five- or six-year-old child wash her clothes?

Fang Zaozao shielded Zhang Xiaoli behind her, her gaze icy as she stared at Wang Xiaoling. "Who the hell do you think you are, daring to cause trouble here? You want a child this small to wash your clothes? Have you no shame?"

Wang Xiaoling flushed bright red from the retort. She pointed at Fang Zaozao's nose and cursed, "What are you? Mind your own business!"

Fang Zaozao gave a cold laugh and stepped forward, closing in on Wang Xiaoling. "I'm minding this business today. If you dare bully this child again, I'll make sure you regret it."

Wang Xiaoling was intimidated by her aura and took two steps back, but her mouth remained defiant. "Just you try touching me. I'll call the police."

Fang Zaozao scoffed disdainfully. "Go ahead, call them. I'd like to see what the police say. You, a mistress, barging into someone's home to bully a child. You think the police will take your side? Look at the bruises on this kid. You did that, didn't you?"

Wang Xiaoling heard this and immediately lost her nerve. She wasn't stupid; she knew what she was doing was wrong and didn't dare actually call the police.

Seeing her back down, Fang Zaozao raised her hand and slapped her across the face. "Consider that a lesson. Addicted to being a homewrecker, are you?"

Wang Xiaoling was stunned by the sudden slap. Fang Wanwan and Zhang Xiaoli inside the room were also stunned. Zhang Xiaoli looked up at Fang Zaozao, his eyes full of admiration.

Wang Xiaoling covered her cheek, trembling with rage, but could only glare at Fang Zaozao, not daring to make another move. Finally, she stamped her foot hard. "You just wait!" She shot another glare at Zhang Xiaoli. "I don't believe you won't come home!"

Seeing her leave, Fang Wanwan stepped forward with concern. "Sis, if you do this... Xiaoli will get beaten again when he goes back."

Fang Zaozao snorted coldly and looked down at Zhang Xiaoli. "Kneel. Kowtow to me."

Zhang Xiaoli was a bit confused, but long-formed habits made him actually kneel down and kowtow three times to Fang Zaozao.

"Call me godmother."

"Godmother."

"Alright. From now on, anyone who bullies you is bullying me!"

Fang Wanwan didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Her sister's way of thinking was sometimes really... hard to describe.

Only Zhang Xiaoli's eyes were sparkling with stars. He secretly decided that from now on, he must become someone just like his godmother.