Chapter 18: Everyone’s Own Thoughts

The women of the Wei family weren't fools. With just a little thought, they quickly understood the deeper implications.

Aunt Wei gave a cold snort. "Hmph, I'm not afraid of them."

Declining the offer to stay for dinner, Yunyi agreed to meet them the afternoon after tomorrow to handle the paperwork, then excused herself and left.

Why not go tomorrow?

Simple. First, she needed to give the Wei family time to scrape together the money. Second, once she officially handed over the position with Wei Hongyan present, Sun Xiaoyan—who had been playing stand-in—would be kicked to the curb.

Also, Yunyi wanted to enjoy a bit of peace before heading to the countryside… and give Sun Xiaoyan a lovely surprise.

By the time she returned home, Sun Xiaoyan was no longer lingering at the gate.

She entered the courtyard, unpacked the vegetarian buns she'd picked up from the state-run restaurant, and prepared to eat and rest before heading out later that night.

Over at the Sun household, gloom hung heavy in the air.

The eldest daughter-in-law, Ma Guiqin, scowled deeply. "The third one had a good life and still went out messing around. I'm not borrowing money to bail him out."

The second daughter-in-law chimed in, "The trouble he's caused is huge. Even if we sell everything, I doubt there'll be a way out. We've got so many mouths to feed — are we all supposed to starve?"

Old Madam Sun, fuming, barked back, "You heartless things! Eldest, second, he's your brother! What do you think we should do?"

Sun Jianming, the eldest son, clutched his head. "Ma, it's not that we don't want to help… but how are we supposed to?"

The second son, Sun Aiming, cleared his throat. "If we want to save Third, we'll have to go back to Chu Yunyi."

Standing quietly to the side, Sun Xiaoyan felt torn. Yunyi's cold demeanor today had shaken her. She wanted to help her third brother, but she feared Yunyi's wrath even more…

At that time, with just one word from her, not to mention formally taking over the job, even the current temporary replacement position might fall through.

Madam Sun glanced at her daughter:"You all heard what Yanzi said earlier. I'm afraid Chu Yunyi already knows the truth about the third son's arrest. She won't buy it."

Mr. Sun's face was clouded with gloom:"We don't have any other options now. We have to give it a try. We can't just sit by and watch the third get ruined."

Right now, there were only two paths before them:One, scrape together 500 yuan and pull some strings.Two, count on Chu Yunyi stepping in to help — and it had to be fast.

Otherwise, it wouldn't just be a matter of losing his job. He might be dragged out and publicly criticized too.

But before they could act, Su Aiyu's family showed up at their door.

Maybe out of fear of embarrassment, the whole group didn't make a scene outside. They simply pushed the door open and walked in.

Madam Sun disliked the Su family, but under the circumstances, she could only hold back her temper:"What are you doing here?"

Father Su's face was cold:"If we didn't come, your bastard son might be eating bullets by now."

The Su family had a relative with some connections to the Revolutionary Committee. Originally, Father Su had planned for his daughter to insist she was the victim and shift all the blame onto the third son of the Sun family.

But unexpectedly, his useless daughter was already pregnant with the third son's child. That forced him to change plans.

He briefly explained the situation:"I called in a favor. Told them the two were dating and planning to get married soon, and that things got out of hand — that's how we managed to suppress the incident for now."

Madam Sun anxiously asked:"Then where's my third son? Why didn't he come back with you?"

(End of chapter)