I Returned to the Day He Brought His First Love Home-Chapter 45: There’s No Need to Be Too Normal

"You haven’t been back much lately. Those busybodies just have nothing better to do. They’re foul-mouthed gossips, so don’t take anything they say to heart. If it really gets to you, just tell me. Mom and I will go tear their mouths to shreds."

Lily Callahan, worried that Grace might be affected by their words, deliberately raised her voice.

"The Winslow family’s daughter sure is something else. I heard you got a divorce over some trivial little thing. Grace, care to tell us what it was really about?" A woman from the apartment next door had already opened her door and was poking her head out, smiling at Grace.

"Grace, I watched you grow up, you know. Listen to an old neighbor’s advice. It’s not a good look for a woman to be divorced. If you want to marry another good man, it won’t be so easy," another older woman chimed in.

"I have a nephew on my side of the family. He’s a decent guy, just a bit older and not much of a talker. He’s already forty and hasn’t found a wife yet. Grace, he’d be a perfect match for you. He definitely won’t go fooling around on the side."

"Grace, you could also consider my younger brother. He’s a little on the older side and divorced, too, but older men know how to take care of a woman."

The women chattered on, all talking at once.

Lily was so angry she was trembling and about to let them have it when she heard Grace speak up. "Ladies, I’m not like you."

"You can’t live without a man. But me? I’m educated, I have a job with a monthly salary of forty yuan, and my work unit even provides a dorm."

"Even if I do get remarried, there’s no way I’d marry one of the rejects from your families."

"Mrs. Lowell, aren’t you a widow? Mr. Lowell has been dead for twenty years, hasn’t he? Why don’t you marry that relative of Mrs. Zane’s from the countryside? You know what they say: ’A bride three years older brings a fortune in gold.’ Or in your case, ’A bride thirty years older brings an entire kingdom.’ I’m sure he wouldn’t mind."

"And Mrs. Zhao, that brother of yours... I remember him visiting before. He’s nearly fifty, isn’t he?"

"The story I heard is that he didn’t get a divorce. He got drunk, beat his wife to death, and threw her body in a cesspool."

"A murderer like that... if someone were to report him, you think he’d end up facing a firing squad?"

"One shouldn’t be so foul-mouthed. You ought to build up some good karma for yourselves. Wouldn’t you agree?"

With just a few simple sentences, Grace had managed to offend every last one of them.

Mrs. Lowell was so furious she slammed her door shut.

Mrs. Zane huffed in anger and forcefully slammed her door as well.

The rest of them went home, muttering curses under their breath.

All at once, the entire building fell quiet.

Grace couldn’t be bothered with them. She took Ryan’s hand and went straight home.

"What was all that noise outside?" Irene Lynch asked, glancing out the door as she opened it.

Lily then recounted everything that had just happened, down to the last detail.

By the end of the story, she couldn’t help but laugh. "Mom, you should have seen them. The looks on those women’s faces were priceless."

Irene Lynch laughed along with her. "Serves them right. Those people have no filter. It’s about time someone taught them a lesson."

"Our Grace is a high school graduate, after all. She has a sharp tongue; she won’t let anyone push her around."

"Mom, they must have given you and Dad a hard time while I’ve been away, haven’t they?" Grace wasn’t thinking of herself.

’I don’t even come back that often. I only get two or three days off a month, and at most, I stay for a couple of days. How much of their idle gossip could I possibly hear?’

’But Mom and Dad live here. They probably have to listen to this stuff every day. I can only imagine how awful it must make them feel.’

"Harass us? What harassment? Your mother is no pushover. It’s your dad who’s not quick with comebacks. Anyone who dares to talk trash in front of me, I’ll rip their mouths to shreds."

"Don’t you pay any mind to what other people say. If the marriage isn’t working, then a divorce is the right thing to do. Are you supposed to just suffer and tolerate him cheating on you?"

"You can never compromise on matters of principle."

Irene Lynch waved her hand dismissively, completely unconcerned.