CHAPTER 38: CHAPTER 38 WHAT SIN HAVE I CREATED

Sun Jianming wiped the sweat from his face. "Ruiming, Ruiming is going to the Northwest."

The enamel cup in Mr. Sun’s hands fell straight to the ground, spilling water all over him. "Just yesterday I asked around. No one mentioned him going to the Northwest. How did this happen?"

Sun Jianming’s face was troubled. He stepped into the inner room, poured himself a glass of water, and drank it. "I had to slip someone a pack of cigarettes to find out. Ruiming was involved in some shady dealings with scrap materials at his workplace and got exposed."

Mr. Sun collapsed onto the stool behind him. "It’s over. Now there’s really no saving him."

Mrs. Sun’s face was pale. "Why did it have to get exposed right at this particular time?"

Sun Jianming ran his hand through his hair in frustration. "The night before last, those guys he usually hung out with were caught committing a crime. One of them couldn’t take the pressure and ratted him out too."

Mrs. Sun’s mind was sharp this time. "He already got into trouble the day before yesterday. How is this related to him?"

Sun Jianming was about to speak when Mr. Sun interrupted him. "Enough! What’s the use of discussing this now, at a time like this?"

Mr. Sun looked up at his eldest son. "When is he leaving?"

Sun Jianming glanced at Mrs. Sun, who was unsteadily holding onto the table. "I’m afraid he’ll have to leave very soon."

Mrs. Sun swayed and sank to the floor. Sun Jianming, startled, hurried over. "Mom, are you alright? Are you feeling unwell anywhere?"

Just then, the eldest son’s wife returned from outside. "Even if she feels unwell, what can be done? She just has to endure it."

Sun Xiaoyan, who had been silent in the room, was simmering with anger she couldn’t vent. "Eldest Sister-in-law, what do you mean by that? Is that any way for a daughter-in-law to behave?"

The Sun Family’s eldest daughter-in-law, Ma Guiqin, was livid. "I worked so hard to get that temporary job, and this morning, I was told I don’t need to go anymore. What do you *think* I mean?"

As soon as she said this, everyone in the room turned to look at her.

Sun Jianming stared at her. "You lost your job?"

Ma Guiqin threw down what she was holding. "Many people were already eyeing my job. Now, thanks to that ’good’ brother of yours, I’ve been forced to give up my position for someone else."

Mrs. Sun couldn’t bear to hear her eldest daughter-in-law speak about her third son like that. "You just said it yourself—many people were eyeing your job! Who knows who you might have offended outside? Stop trying to pin the blame on my third son!"

Ma Guiqin was infuriated by her mother-in-law’s words. "Why don’t you go out and find out for yourself how badly Sun Ruiming has ruined the Sun Family’s reputation! Even now, you’re still defending him. Let’s see how long you can protect him!"

Indeed, just as the eldest daughter-in-law, Ma Guiqin, had predicted, by noon, the couple from the Second House also returned, their faces full of anger. Without exception, they had all been ostracized by their colleagues at work.

Sun Aiming’s expression was grim. "If it weren’t for my usually good relationship with Section Chief Feng, I probably would have been reassigned. Even so, everyone looks at me like they want to stay ten miles away. I’m afraid I’ll just be idling away my days from now on."

Mrs. Sun slapped her thigh and burst into tears. "What terrible sins did I commit in a past life for my entire family to be ruined like this?"

Just then, Sun Xiaoyan chimed in, "Isn’t it all because my Third Brother is so disappointing? Why couldn’t he just behave? He had to try and play both sides. Now that he’s capsized his own boat, he’s dragged all of us down with him!"

Mrs. Sun, thinking of her third son’s actions, glared at Mr. Sun. "It’s all Su Aiyu’s fault! If she hadn’t seduced our third son, our Sun Family wouldn’t have been disgraced like this!"

Yunyi didn’t care how much the Sun Family argued. As long as things didn’t end well for them, that was enough for her. She considered this as having avenged the original owner of her body.