"Mrs. Mei, what are you saying? The third brother is fooling around with that little widow?"

Mrs. Qian glanced outside, and after making sure the children hadn’t crept over to eavesdrop, she lowered her voice and told Xu Suying, "This happened quite a few days ago, even before Wanqing’s engagement. Back then, Chen Bai heard some gossip and went to the sesame pancake shop, wanting to ask the third brother about it."

At the time, the news about "one girl being promised to two families" had just broken out. Chen Bai simply couldn’t believe that the people at the old residence could be so foolish.

Although Chen Bai had grown distant from the old residence over the years, he was a soft-hearted man. After all, they had raised him, so when something truly happened, he still worried. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

But his timing was off. It was past noon, and as expected, the sesame pancake shop was closed.

Chen Bai was about to turn and leave, but unexpectedly, the door of the shop was pulled open from the inside, and Chen Lin poked his head out furtively.

Chen Bai sensed something was wrong and quickly sidestepped to hide behind a nearby wine jar. In the next moment, he saw a woman with her head lowered, straightening her clothes as she scurried out of the shop. She shot Chen Lin a reproachful glance, then whispered and laughed with him for a moment before quickly disappearing.

Chen Bai recognized the woman; it was the widow from the county. On more than one occasion, when he was alone at the Qian Family’s grain shop, she had sidled up close to him, complaining that her leg hurt, her stomach ached, or her chest or eyes were sore.

Chen Bai was honest, not stupid. How could he not understand what the widow was implying? It was precisely because he understood that he avoided her like the plague.

But this person he avoided like a snake was the very one Chen Lin was having an illicit affair with. And from the looks of it, it wasn’t the first time, and they were far from finished.

Xu Suying’s face filled with rage. "That beast, the third brother! Wining, dining, womanizing, and gambling—he does it all. No matter how bad Mrs. Li might be, she married him and bore him two sons and a daughter. With this behavior, how can he face her?"

Mrs. Qian’s expression grew even stranger. "That Mrs. Li is no saint either!"

Xu Suying slowly turned to her. "Mrs. Li... is also cheating?"

"Not exactly. She wouldn’t dare. She’s a woman, after all. If she dared to do something so improper, the third brother would beat her to death. But she’s not much better. I’ve seen her more than once, flirting with a man while she’s selling soup and rice. That man comes every day to eat her food, and when he gives her the copper coins, their hands linger together."

Xu Suying said, "I need a moment. Let me process this..."

"Sister-in-law, that’s not what I really wanted to talk about today. Someone tipped Chen Bai off that the third brother has been borrowing a lot of money from loan sharks, using the eldest brother’s name. Sister-in-law, this is serious. You have to go back and tell the eldest brother and have him look into it right away. If it’s true, even if you have to break his legs, you must make him pay back the money first. Otherwise, with the interest compounding, it will become a huge debt. If he can’t pay it back, I’m afraid those people will come after you two."

"He’s borrowing from loan sharks? And using my husband’s name?"

"Exactly. My brother-in-law works for the county government now, so he’s a somebody in the county. Years ago, Chen Lin nearly gambled his shop away, and the old matron had to use her coffin money to settle things. The Chen family clansmen were all there at the time. They went to the gambling den and warned them that if they ever let Chen Lin gamble there again, he would have to pay his own debts—the family wouldn’t give a single coin. If they didn’t believe it, they could try collecting the debt from the Zhao Village and see if they could get even half a penny, or if they’d go in standing up and come out carried out horizontally."

In any case, that incident caused a huge uproar. It also coincided with the new County Magistrate taking office, who immediately made his presence felt. His first target was the gambling dens. As a result, all gambling moved underground, and on the surface, no one invited Chen Lin to a gambling table anymore.

But Chen Lin must still be gambling. Otherwise, his borrowing large sums from loan sharks wouldn’t make sense.

What’s infuriating are those moneylenders. I don’t know what they were thinking, but they actually lent the Silver to Chen Lin.

"Sister-in-law, don’t say I’m a conspiracy theorist, but I’ve lived in the county for a long time and have seen all sorts of dirty dealings. What if someone is jealous of my brother-in-law’s position and wants to use this chance to take him down? Or what if there’s some other scheme at play?"

"I just had a baby, so my brain isn’t working right. I can’t think of anything more. But this is definitely not a good thing. Sister-in-law, go back and tell my brother-in-law. Figure out a solution together and see how this can be resolved."

Xu Suying’s face grew solemn. She nodded and said, "Don’t you worry, sister. I’ll take this to heart, so you don’t need to trouble yourself with it anymore. You just focus on your postpartum recovery. When there’s any progress, I’ll come and let you know."