Chapter Sixty-Seven: I Overestimated You!

Zheng Yangling’s husband was named Yuan Jiqiang, a textbook example of an honest man—he worked in a government office, had a slightly balding head, was rather short, and was thoroughly henpecked. Right now, he didn’t even dare to utter a word.

Shen Guodong felt a twinge of sympathy for this poor fellow. His wife had cheated on him, and yet he didn’t dare utter a single objection; meanwhile, Zheng Yangling showed not the slightest intention of offering any explanation.

“If you’ve got nothing to hide, why are you so worked up?” Shen Guodong sneered, thinking that all those insults Zheng Yangling had hurled at him were perhaps better suited to herself. It was always the fragile-hearted who used their own weaknesses to attack others.

“You—!” Zheng Yangling was momentarily at a loss for words, but after thinking it over, she realized she had nearly let herself get dragged into his verbal trap. With a cold smile, she looked at Shen Guodong and said, “Am I wrong though? Useless trash like you, with no real skills, just knows how to hit his wife and can’t even support himself—drowning in debt! Your wife running off with someone else is only a matter of time. This car of yours—who knows where you stole it from? Otherwise, someone who can't even afford to eat could never buy a car like this. Don’t make me laugh!”

Her sense of superiority was so overwhelming that Shen Guodong actually found it amusing.

“Tsk, tsk. Sorry, I may not have much to boast about, but my daily income is more than your monthly salary,” he replied, playing along since she was intent on showing off.

Truthfully, he didn’t have much money at the moment—maybe ten thousand or so on him. But as soon as the words left his mouth, Zheng Yangling burst into wild laughter, as if she had just heard the funniest joke in the world. Was he insane, saying something like that to her? That his daily income was more than her monthly earnings?

Teachers’ salaries weren’t high compared to other jobs—about eighty-odd yuan a month—but it was a stable job for life. Factory workers earned about the same, with much more hardship.

By now, the argument had been going on for some time, and many passersby had gathered around, most of them parents who had just dropped off their children and were familiar with Liu Yueru and Zheng Yangling.

“Isn’t that the most notorious teacher from No. 1 Middle School? She’s not much good at teaching, but she’s an expert at stirring up trouble—everyone at school knows it. My kid tells me that when Liu was their homeroom teacher, everything was fine, but once Zheng took over, the teaching quality plummeted and everyone's grades dropped.”

“I’ve heard that too. Now Zheng is giving Liu trouble again. How could someone like her exist? She’s unbearable from every angle.”

“Exactly! What’s the point of such a woman in this world? I just don’t get it.”

“Liu is too gentle, so it’s no wonder she gets bullied. But what’s this all about anyway…”

The crowd buzzed with curiosity, and more people clustered around. Zheng Yangling’s reputation was already in tatters, so she didn’t care what others thought. With her relationship with the principal, no one could get her fired.

She raised her voice even higher: “Everyone, listen to this! This guy claims his daily wage is more than my monthly salary. Sure, my income isn’t high, but I still make eighty-three yuan a month. That would mean he earns over two thousand a month! What job pays that much? I just can’t believe it!”

Earning over eighty yuan a day? That meant more than two thousand a month. At current living standards, that was astronomical. In these times, even being a “ten-thousand-yuan household” was rare and reserved for the rich. By Shen Guodong’s claim, he’d earn two and a half times that in a year!

For ordinary people, this was unimaginable—no one would believe it. Most assumed Shen Guodong was just bragging.

Even Liu Yueru couldn’t help but doubt whether her husband had exaggerated. He had earned some money recently, but it was still short of what he claimed. She couldn’t understand how he could say such things.

But then again… Shen Guodong wasn’t one to boast. Suddenly, her heart began to pound—could he really be telling the truth? Maybe it was possible after all!

“This? It seems impossible—eighty yuan a day? He doesn’t look the part.”

“If he was that rich, he’d have bought a motorbike, not be riding a bicycle. He’s probably just bragging. Nowadays, poor folks like to pretend they’re rich, while the wealthy act low-key.”

“Just like a friend of mine, who has tens of thousands stashed away but acts like he can’t scrape together a few hundred. Can you believe it?”

“I don’t buy it. I’ve heard about Liu’s husband—idle, does nothing, up to his neck in debt. Who could believe a word out of his mouth?”

The crowd chimed in. Hearing these comments, Zheng Yangling beamed; this was exactly the result she wanted, and it couldn’t have been clearer.

“See, no one believes you! Aren’t you embarrassed? Liu must have the worst luck to have married someone like you,” she said, her pride practically radiating from her face.

Liu Yueru was beginning to feel embarrassed herself.

“Guodong, let’s not argue with her. You should head home. I’m almost at the school anyway; it’s nothing.”

Shen Guodong sighed. “I didn’t want to show off. I actually thought being a teacher would pay a lot more than what my wife makes, especially after you put in so much ‘exercise’ with the higher-ups. But your salary is so low! I guess I overestimated you.”

“What do you mean by that?” Zheng Yangling frowned, unable to grasp what Shen Guodong was getting at, momentarily at a loss.