Chapter 256: Chapter 256: Outsiders Speak More Persuasively

Aunt Qin finished speaking and squeezed into the crowd to find her precious grandson.

Fu Xiaoxiao and Wu Yingying were left looking at each other in confusion.

From a distance, Fu Xiaoxiao saw several classmates gathering around Lu Lin, curiously touching his backpack and saying something while pushing money into Lu Lin’s hands, who looked troubled.

Seeing Fu Xiaoxiao, Lu Lin, with no choice, pointed her out to his classmates and said something. Then, he led them toward Fu Xiaoxiao.

"Mom," Lu Lin looked at Fu Xiaoxiao, a bit conflicted.

"Hello, Aunt Lu," the classmates shouted when they saw Fu Xiaoxiao.

"Hello," Fu Xiaoxiao replied with a smile.

"Did you make Lu Lin’s backpack?" one child boldly asked.

"Uh, yes!" Fu Xiaoxiao hesitated for a moment but then realized why they were giving money to Lu Lin.

So they were looking at Lu Lin’s backpack?

"Can you sell me this backpack? I have money, and I can pay for it. Is that okay?" another child raised the money in his hand to show Fu Xiaoxiao they could afford it.

"I’m willing to pay fifty dollars."

"I have a hundred, sell it to me!"

Lu Lin nervously glanced at Fu Xiaoxiao, worried she might agree.

"No, I can’t!" Fu Xiaoxiao declined with a smile.

"Why not?" the boy was a little unhappy.

"Because this is Lu Lin’s exclusive backpack! It even has his name embroidered on it." Fu Xiaoxiao chuckled lightly; it was Lu Lin’s special backpack, and there was no way she’d sell it for money.

Hearing Fu Xiaoxiao’s words, Lu Lin visibly brightened up.

"Goodbye, classmates," Lu Lin waved and said farewell, proactively taking Fu Xiaoxiao’s hand.

Wu Yingying, standing by, looked at Lu Lin’s face; it was so similar to her brother’s. Was he already so... militarized at such a young age?

Yet, she seemed to vaguely sense that Lu Lin didn’t want to sell his backpack to his classmates, no matter how much money they offered.

When Fu Xiaoxiao refused earlier, it seemed like Lu Lin immediately relaxed. He took Fu Xiaoxiao’s hand, and his steps became much lighter as they walked.

She suddenly understood Fu Xiaoxiao’s words; by just observing carefully, she too could sense their emotions.

As the elementary school day ended, so too did the kindergarten’s.

"Mom! Aunt Fu!" Wu Linlin dashed out happily, like a small cannonball, into Wu Yingying’s embrace.

"Mom," Lu Chen came over slowly, with his backpack on his back.

"What’s wrong?" Fu Xiaoxiao could tell something was off about Lu Chen’s mood.

"The bad classmates in my class, they actually tried to steal my backpack!" Lu Chen stomped angrily at the mention of this.

"Huh?" Fu Xiaoxiao was taken aback; did the backpack cause such commotion?

"Their backpacks aren’t as good-looking as mine, so they wanted to snatch it, but they couldn’t beat me; I knocked them all down." Lu Chen lifted his head triumphantly.

"That’s right, Brother Xiao Chen is super awesome," Wu Linlin nodded vigorously beside him, corroborating Lu Chen’s words.

As Lu Chen finished speaking, cries from children wanting the same backpack came from the kindergarten behind them.

"Wah! I want his backpack, I want one like that too..."

"We shouldn’t stay here long!" Fu Xiaoxiao exclaimed and quickly left with Lu Chen and Lu Lin.

Wu Yingying laughed as she picked up Wu Linlin and took Fu Xiaoxiao with her back to her own home to hide for a while.

Returning to Wu Yingying’s house, Fu Xiaoxiao noticed the place seemed to have changed a lot.

The last time she was there, the curtains were drawn tight, and the room was dim and gloomy.

This time, the entire house was much brighter, filled with sunlight.

Fu Xiaoxiao sat down with the two kids, and Lu Chen and Lu Lin were immediately pulled away by Wu Linlin. "Brother Xiao Chen, Brother Xiao Lin, come on, Linlin will show you some treasures."

Wu Yingying smiled as she handed a cup of tea to Fu Xiaoxiao and sat beside her.

"Thanks to you, I talked with my family this morning," Wu Yingying said gratefully to Fu Xiaoxiao. It was strange; she couldn’t take in others’ words, but Fu Xiaoxiao’s words somehow touched her heart. She wanted to listen to her.

"It’s your own effort," Fu Xiaoxiao chuckled. How could it be thanks to her when it was Wu Yingying herself who had mustered the courage to take the first step?

"My dad and brother didn’t say much, only my mom spoke, but having the family sit together again already makes me very happy." Wu Yingying had always struggled with coming to terms with it, yet now she realized the family had long surpassed those hurdles. It was she who was afraid to step out.

Now that the family had opened up to each other, Wu Yingying felt much more at ease.

"Things will get better in the future," Fu Xiaoxiao nodded.

"If I speak up, will it cause another argument..." Wu Yingying looked at Fu Xiaoxiao. She didn’t want her daughter to suffer, so she knew she had to speak.

But it had taken so long to achieve peace, saying something might break that.

Fu Xiaoxiao didn’t know the answer either. "The worry is that without evidence, it could turn into a confrontation, a blame game, doubting each other, and finally breaking the relationship."

"No matter! For the sake of Little Linlin, I’ll do it!" Wu Yingying resolved firmly after looking into Little Linlin’s room.

"Yingying!" Just as Wu Yingying finished speaking, the door suddenly opened, and Mrs. Wu and Wu Jianlin rushed in.

"Mom, Dad, why are you here?" Wu Yingying was startled and quickly stood up to greet them.

"Are you okay? I heard from Aunt Qin that you’ve been wronged! What happened? Is someone bullying you?" Mrs. Wu ran over with Mr. Wu when she heard Wu Yingying was wronged.

Wu Yingying grinned. "Didn’t you let Aunt Qin finish her story?"

"As soon as I heard you were in trouble, how could I care about listening to the rest?" Mrs. Wu exclaimed in a rush. Having just mended their relationship with her daughter, hearing she was wronged, they couldn’t wait a moment longer.

Wu Yingying explained today’s events to Mrs. Wu, after which Mrs. Wu finally breathed a sigh of relief, and Wu Jianlin looked at Fu Xiaoxiao.

"Was it this young lady who spoke up for you?"

"Uncle, Aunt," Fu Xiaoxiao nodded and greeted Mr. Wu and Mrs. Wu.

"Dear child, we don’t even know how to thank you! Since the incident with my daughter, there have been countless speculations. Do you know how hurtful gossip can be? No matter how much we explained, it was seen as covering up, so we stopped." Mrs. Wu sat beside Fu Xiaoxiao, looking gratefully at her.

They wanted to clear Wu Yingying’s name, but their words distorted beyond recognition outside, worsening the misunderstanding.

So eventually they stopped, letting others speculate as they wished.

But in the eyes of outsiders, silence is akin to guilt; damned if you did, damned if you didn’t.

This time, Fu Xiaoxiao speaking out and revealing the truth in front of everyone was immensely more effective than any explanations they could give.

Today, the rumors in the courtyard shifted direction, now sympathizing with Wu Yingying, feeling wronged by being deceived and bullied by that jerk, and wanting to avenge her!

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