Zhou Shi lifted her head and spoke, "Second Sister-in-law, He'er, I know you are all right, but this time is different from last time. Last time it was truly only what my elder brother did, but this time I was also somewhat at fault. When Li Ping offered to help me with things, I should have known that a widow's door attracts all sorts of talk, and I should have refused outright. Now it has turned out like this, harming Hongxia and harming myself. The villagers are all talking about this matter, and I truly have no face left to show anyone." As she finished, she cast an apologetic look toward Hongxia.

Hongxia was not an inherently vicious person. At the scene yesterday, fueled by He Shi’s agitation and some of her mother’s words, she had indeed felt resentment. But after calming down and reflecting, she realized the matter wasn't entirely Third Sister-in-law’s fault; if it had been her, she might not have handled it any better. Moreover, shortly after returning home, she heard that Third Sister-in-law had attempted suicide, which terrified her so much that she dropped everything and rushed over. She was the first to arrive; when she got there, only Xiaoshan and Li Ping were in the room.

Seeing Zhou Shi speak this way, Hongxia knelt by Zhou Shi’s bedside and said, "Third Sister-in-law, it is my fault. I shouldn't have felt resentful yesterday, which caused Mother to lay hands on you. I didn't know at first; I only realized after Eldest Sister-in-law came and told me. I truly didn't mean to; I just wasn't thinking clearly at the time. Please don't hold it against me, okay? I know you had your difficulties in this whole affair; we are both widows, and I understand."

Hongyun, sitting on the other side of the bed, chimed in, "Yes, Third Sister-in-law, we were wrong yesterday. We shouldn't have blamed you; this really had nothing to do with you. Don't dwell on the things we said; we didn't mean them. It’s a blessing that you are fine, or how could we ever face Xiaoshan and Xiaoyun? If you had gone, we would have had no choice but to end our own lives to apologize."

Hearing Hongxia and Hongyun, Zhou Shi's nose tingled, and the tears she had managed to stop began to flow again. She choked out, "Hongxia, Hongyun, please don't say that. This is not your fault; it has nothing to do with you. I was thinking I couldn't withstand the villagers' talk and thus thought wrongly. This absolutely does not concern you; please do not blame yourselves."

Lin He listened to Zhou Shi and her mind began racing. When Zhou Shi arrived at her house today, she didn't know others were discussing the matter. She only found out after arriving at Lin He's place, and the distance from Lin He's home back here was not far. She just said she couldn't bear people's words, which is why she attempted suicide. Could it be that someone said something? Could He Shi have said something again? He Shi and Zhou Shi had left at roughly the same time. If that were the case, He Shi truly could not be spared; to drive one's own kin to this extent.

Lin He spoke up, "Third Mother, don't mind what others say. What they say is their business; we live our own lives, why care about it? Besides, very few people in the village have been saying anything. Did you hear anything unpleasant when you came home today?"

"Yes, you returned with Eldest Sister-in-law and the others today. Did she say anything harsh again? If so, tell us. If Eldest Sister-in-law is truly being that excessive, perhaps we need to arrange for someone to teach her a lesson," Huang Shi said with some indignation.

"No, this time you've wronged Eldest Sister-in-law. It has nothing to do with her. After I left Huang Shi's house yesterday, Eldest Sister-in-law saw me at the door and was about to say a few words, but Yu'er pulled her away hard, so she didn't say anything. Zhou Shi was indeed feeling wronged and sad when she went home, but it hadn't reached the point of wanting to end her life. She was thinking it wasn't too late, and Xiaoshan would be back for dinner soon, so she hurried back to cook for Xiaoshan and the others. Who knew that when she reached the entrance of her own home, she ran into one of their collateral sisters-in-law—that is, Tie Zhu's wife."

Tie Zhu's wife saw Zhou Shi and, without saying much, immediately began to curse: "You inauspicious woman! It's bad enough your man is dead; as a widow, you should stay home quietly and raise your children. If you have work to do, do your chores. Why must you go flirting with men, and even strange men at that? You make everyone laugh at our entire Lin Clan; it's exhausting for you and for us."

Zhou Shi was at first confused, as she had no previous grievances with Tie Zhu's wife. It shouldn't be that Tie Zhu's wife would suddenly curse her, but upon clearly hearing what she was cursing about, Zhou Shi's expression changed, and she retorted, "Tie Zhu's wife, who are you cursing?"

"Who am I cursing? You know perfectly well. Whoever is flirting with men, whoever is a widow—that's who I'm cursing. Whoever from our Lin Clan branch I’m cursing—why are you feigning ignorance?" Tie Zhu's wife said with a sarcastic sneer.

Zhou Shi was trembling with rage, but she knew she wasn't Tie Zhu's wife's match in a shouting match. She originally didn't want to deal with her and turned to go home, but Tie Zhu's wife wouldn't let her go, blocking her way. She said, "Hey, Zhou Shi, there are other widows in this village, why are you the only one who can't stand the loneliness? You keep stirring up trouble like this, making us unable to hold our heads up because of the talk, and you still want to live? You have such a thick skin, but then again, if your skin weren't so thick, you couldn't do such things."

Zhou Shi saw Tie Zhu's wife blocking her path; she had nowhere to go and couldn't evade her any longer. She responded, "What do you want? Even if such things happened, it's my private matter. When did it become your business to meddle? What filth are you spewing from your mouth?" Zhou Shi, having been cursed at like this by Tie Zhu's wife, naturally had no polite words left.

Tie Zhu's wife, hearing that Zhou Shi dared to curse her, raised her voice and shouted, "Zhou Shi, you still dare to curse people here? If I were you, I wouldn't have the face to live. Do you know how nasty the villagers are saying things about you? Even if you don't think about yourself, you should think about your two children! With a mother who runs around provoking men, they will probably be laughed at their whole lives! Hey, everyone, come out and look! Look at this shameless woman! She's sleeping around and now she’s cursing me!"

Tie Zhu's wife’s voice was loud, and quite a few villagers came out to watch the commotion. Zhou Shi's matter had indeed been discussed by some in the village these past few days. With Tie Zhu's wife making such a loud scene, many busybodies came to watch, and some stood by making nasty remarks.