"I really didn't bully anyone." Sister-in-law Wang unconsciously raised her volume when nervous, but to the military spouses, it seemed like a sign of guilt.
Seeing everyone silent, Sister-in-law Wang grabbed Wang Mei, who was closest, and said, "Little sister, tell these sisters-in-law and younger sisters about what happened just now."
Wang Mei didn't expect Sister-in-law Wang to grab her and hesitated, biting her lip.
Sitting nearby, Gu Fuqiao saw everything clearly; Wang Mei, the "white lotus," probably knew how to skate around issues.
Now everyone thought her sister-in-law was in the wrong, yet she was too cowardly to explain.
"Little sister, why aren't you saying anything!" Sister-in-law Wang grew anxious when Wang Mei stayed silent, quickly pinching Wang Mei's arm, saying, "Sister-in-law isn't asking you to lie, just state what happened before!"
Sister-in-law Wang spoke these words in front of so many people, leaving Wang Mei no choice but to speak.
She looked at the people by the door and then turned to Gu Fuqiao, saying, "Sister-in-law Gu, today's matter was indeed our fault, my sister-in-law was too impatient, I apologize on her behalf."
Sister-in-law Wang was stunned to hear Wang Mei apologize as soon as she spoke.
This was when Gu Fuqiao chimed in.
She slowly smiled and said, "It's nothing, just a minor incident. As neighbors, harmony and unity are most important, aren't they? Besides, it was my unintentional action that hurt Sister-in-law Wang first."
Upon hearing Gu Fuqiao's words, the military spouses at the door saw her differently.
Though they initially thought Gu Fuqiao was aloof and hard to greet, they didn't expect her to be so understanding.
Gu Fuqiao, glancing at a bottle of Mercurochrome on the table nearby, reached for it and handed it to Wang Mei, saying, "I'm not feeling well, so I can't apply the medicine to Sister-in-law, sorry to trouble you."
Wang Mei stared at Gu Fuqiao intently before quickly retracting her gaze.
She reached out to take the Mercurochrome, saying, "Thank you, Sister-in-law Gu. Sister-in-law and I will go to the clinic together to apply the medicine."
"There's no need." Gu Fuqiao immediately waved her hand.
Go to the clinic?
She definitely did not want to go to the clinic with these two troublemakers, who knows what might happen on the way or afterward.
It's better to stay away from them in the future!
Sister-in-law Wang might be mindless, but Wang Mei—she wasn't sure about her yet, so it's better to stay away for now.
"But Brother Yan told us you weren't feeling well and wanted us to accompany you to the health center." At this point, most of the people at the door had left, having no drama left to watch.
Wang Mei, listening to Gu Fuqiao, bit her lip, feeling somewhat aggrieved.
Her misty eyes appeared genuinely concerned for Gu Fuqiao.
This made it even more suspicious, and Gu Fuqiao certainly wouldn't go!
She waved her hand, saying, "It's fine, walking even tires me out, I might collapse before reaching the clinic, where we'll be in trouble then."
Wang Mei initially wanted to say something more, but seeing Gu Fuqiao's firm stance, she could only nod and say, "Then Sister-in-law Gu, we'll head off first."
"Hmm." Gu Fuqiao nodded.
After Wang Mei and the others left, Gu Fuqiao smiled, looking at the door direction.
This type of door was something her family used when she was young, though she didn't expect to use it today to deal with someone.
After a moment of silent contemplation, Gu Fuqiao discovered a problem.
"Rumble, rumble, rumble."
The sound was rhythmically like a symphony.
She looked down and realized her stomach was hungry.
"It's only around eight or nine, I used to skip breakfast regularly—why am I hungry so quickly?" Gu Fuqiao patted her stomach.
She then noticed her figure was extraordinarily good.
Though she was slightly short, she had a C cup, flat stomach without fat, slender legs...
"Seems like this female supporting role's figure is almost as I imagined in my novel, no wonder they're all captivating and charming, but aren't captivating ones supposed to be around 1.7 meters? Could it be they feared I couldn't adapt to that condescending feeling?" As Gu Fuqiao pondered, her stomach suddenly growled.
She sighed and turned into the kitchen.
Perhaps the arrangement of this house was tailored to Yan Zhen Guo, as even the greasy kitchen remained clean and tidy.
Gu Fuqiao found rice and noodles in the rice bucket; as a Southerner, she was accustomed to eating rice, yet she wouldn't steam rice using such a primitive stove, so she opted to take out some noodles instead.
Inside the rice bucket, there were still quite a few big eggs left; she picked two to prepare egg noodles.
After the eggs were beaten, Gu Fuqiao found a serious issue.
This kitchen had the old-fashioned stove, near it a box of small matches.
"Is this to start the fire?" Gu Fuqiao sighed lightly, looking at the stove.
Though her family was poor, they had never used such a primitive stove, how was she supposed to cook?
Gu Fuqiao glanced at the eggs in a white porcelain bowl, sighed again, and walked behind the stove to search for firewood.
She lodged a wrist-sized piece of wood under her arm, freeing a hand to take some matches.
Fortunately she knew how to use matches; after a quick strike, the match ignited.
She aimed the flame at the wood, but found it couldn't catch fire.
"What's going on?" Gu Fuqiao frowned, continuing to use matches on the wood, but soon the match burned out, leaving a slight burn on her hand!
"Ah!" Gu Fuqiao exclaimed instinctively, tossing the nearly burned-out match onto the ground.
She looked at her fingers and noticed a slight redness from the burn.
"It's all because these matches are too short, not able to burn enough!" Gu Fuqiao angrily struck another match on the wood.
——
Yan Zhen Guo entered the house and found it filled with smoke; his dense black eyebrows twisted as he quickly headed into the kitchen.
He waved his hand to disperse the white smoke, saying, "Gu Fuqiao, what are you doing?"
"I'm here!" From the depth of the smoke, came a timid voice.
Yan Zhen Guo frowned, walked in to find Gu Fuqiao sitting behind the stove, her polyester shirt considerably blackened, and her fair face smudged with dirt.
"What on earth are you doing?" Yan Zhen Guo asked.
Gu Fuqiao hadn't expected lighting a fire would be this troublesome.
She looked up at Yan Zhen Guo, thinking that this burly man might not be any better at this than she was.
Recalling the earlier bullying and nearly being crushed onto the bed and gnawed on, Gu Fuqiao tilted her head, snorting, "Doing great deeds!"