B5SB -Chapter 240 Borrowing a Ladder

Gu Yihan yawned as she walked out of the bedroom, glancing at Grandma Gu, who was feeding Haohao.

She muttered, “Grandma, who’s knocking on Chief Zhou’s door so early in the morning?”

“They say it’s Su Nian’s mother-in-law,” Grandma Gu said with a smile after wiping Haohao’s mouth, looking up at her granddaughter.

Gu Yihan froze. Su Nian had only just had a few peaceful days, and now trouble had already arrived.

Judging by the force of the knocking, Zhou Jun’s mother was not someone easy to deal with.

“Here, Haohao, open your mouth.”

Haohao, playing with his tin frog, lifted his head and opened his mouth to eat the egg custard on the spoon at Grandma Gu’s words.

Seeing Haohao obey, Grandma Gu smiled. “Oh, our Haohao is really good.”

Watching Grandma Gu coax Haohao to eat, Gu Yihan frowned slightly. She walked over, took the bowl and spoon, placed them in front of Haohao, and casually took the tin frog from his hand.

Pointing at the egg custard and spoon, she said, “Haohao, eat by yourself!”

Haohao’s big round eyes looked at Gu Yihan’s serious face.

He already knew that no amount of whining or fake crying would make Mommy give in.

His chubby little hands picked up the spoon from the table.

As he scooped the egg custard into his mouth, he looked at Gu Yihan and grinned, “Mommy, eat.”

Gu Yihan watched his little gesture, holding back a laugh, then turned to meet Grandma Gu’s reproachful gaze.

Sighing, she said, “Grandma, Haohao is already eleven months old. He can eat by himself now.”

Grandma Gu glared at her granddaughter, muttering, “It’s egg custard—what a waste if it spills.”

Gu Yihan smiled faintly at Grandma Gu, understanding that the older generation hated to waste food.

She went over and patiently explained, “Grandma, this is to help Haohao develop the habit of feeding himself. Otherwise, once he starts walking and running, it will be tiring for you to feed him with a bowl.”

Grandma Gu was momentarily stunned. She realized her granddaughter was thinking about her well-being. She didn’t argue further and sat beside Haohao. Seeing he was eating slowly, she took the opportunity to feed him one more spoonful.

“The Zhou family marrying you is the worst luck—they can’t do anything right, but they excel at sowing discord,” came a sharp, piercing voice that reached Gu Yihan while she was washing up.

“Doesn’t Chief Zhou’s mother ever get tired of scolding?” Gu Yihan thought, speechless, as she looked at Grandma Gu at the living room door.

Grandma Gu, glancing at Haohao, who could already wobble a few steps, said, “Who knows?”

Creak.

Zhang Xia pushed open the Lu family courtyard gate, peeking her head out to see Gu Yihan chatting with Grandma Gu.

Softly, she said, “I’ll go notify Chief Zhou. Sis, do you want to come?”

Gu Yihan glanced at the quiet Zhou family courtyard. No matter how harshly Zhou Jun’s mother yelled, Su Nian hadn’t come out to open the door.

Shaking her head, she said, “You go. We’ll keep watch here. In case they try to climb over later, we can stop them.”

Zhang Xia thought for a moment. That old lady’s scolding was vicious enough to make Zhou Yan try climbing over, and Su Nian couldn’t handle them alone.

Nodding, Zhang Xia closed the gate and ran off.

At the Zhou family’s entrance, six or seven army wives had gathered, drawn by Zhou mother’s shouting.

“I spit on you, shameless wretch! You dare send little Yan back to her hometown?”

“You useless lazy thing! If it weren’t for my little Yan, you wouldn’t even get warm food!”

“You worthless dog! Only my blind son treasures you; to me, you’re nothing!”

Zhou mother cursed wildly, kicking the courtyard gate with all her might.

An army wife, unable to watch, stepped forward to speak for Su Nian. “Aunt, your words are too harsh. Chief Zhou’s wife has given your family two children.”

Zhou mother, furious that Su Nian wouldn’t open the door, had no outlet for her anger. Seeing someone meddle, she spat at the army wife. “I spit on you! Who’s giving birth?”

“If women didn’t give birth, why would my son marry her? To feed her idle belly?”

“If you’re an old hen that won’t lay eggs, your husband would marry you? Hah! Don’t pretend to be a good person here!”

The army wife blushed under the scolding. She was tongue-tied and could only reason, “When you get old, you’ll need daughters-in-law to take care of you.”

“I spit on that! I have plenty of people to serve me, don’t need her!”

Zhou mother glanced at the onlooking army wives.

Snorting coldly, she said, “You follow your husbands in the army, living well. When your elders get sick, you’ll be of no help.”

The army wives wanted to step forward to argue but were held back by others.

The one beside her whispered, “Such a shrew can’t be reasoned with.”

Seeing Zhou mother’s fierce combativeness, the onlookers gave up even defending Chief Zhou’s wife.

Elsewhere, Wang’s deputy battalion commander’s mother compared herself to Zhou mother. She realized she was still more likable—at least she hadn’t embarrassed her son publicly.

Zhou mother hadn’t eaten breakfast and had come straight from the guesthouse to the family courtyard. After shouting for so long, she was thirsty and hungry.

Seeing the closed gate, she almost wanted to chop it down with an axe, instructing Zhou Yan, “Go borrow a ladder from the neighbors.”

Zhou Yan, seeing Wang’s deputy battalion commander’s mother among the crowd, smiled and called, “Aunt Wang, can we borrow your ladder?”

Wang’s mother sneered at Zhou Yan, her tone mocking, “We don’t have one. Go ask someone else.”

Zhou mother had offended many of the onlookers. If she lent the ladder to Zhou Yan, they would just take advantage and leave. The Zhou family lived in the courtyard long-term.

Zhou Yan’s smiling face instantly turned cold as she knocked on Gu Yihan’s gate.

Hearing the knock, Grandma Gu shouted to her granddaughter in the living room, “Xiaohan, watch Haohao. I’ll go see who it is.”

Gu Yihan quickly set down the bowl and chopsticks and went to the yard, holding Haohao.

Smiling faintly at Grandma Gu, she said, “I’ll go check too.”

Grandma Gu opened the gate and found Zhou Yan standing there, frowning. She said coldly, “Do you need something?”

Zhou Yan: “Grandma Gu, does your family have a ladder…”

“No,” Gu Yihan interrupted coldly before Zhou Yan could finish.

“Even if we do, we won’t lend it to you.”

She pushed Zhou Yan out and shut the gate with a slap.