chapter 23 Gossiping neighbors

"What's this?" David looked at the magazine that his wife had just placed in front of him, wide open, halfway through the page. But actually, David had no intention of opening it.

With a faint smile, Fen answered her husband's question. "Fera, your sister's husband was kicked out of her workplace. According to what is written there, she was involved in a drug case. She is shameless, even though they always depend on their parents. If it were me, I would rather not marry her and even get a divorce if already married. It's really troublesome. Surely, you also have to be affected by this problem." Fen grumbled, and his face looked annoyed.

David looked at the magazine, he frowned. "Then, what does that have to do with me? Besides, I also don't want to meddle in his business. If father asks me to settle it, I will definitely refuse him outright."

Fen snorted with a crooked smile. "Isn't that right? He was the one your mother exalted the most, and was the most praised, to the extent that she recognized her favorite son-in-law as a civil servant. That old lady is hilarious." Her tone sounded curt.

David was cornered, he did not answer any of his wife's taunts. Even though they had different mothers, he and Era had the same father, and it was clear that they were the same blood. "You better not have to discuss it in front of me, I can get emotional if I do." He walked away, leaving Fen alone there.

Fen felt victorious after ridiculing her brother-in-law, who was arrogant and pretended to be elegant. The smell of perfume wafted from the direction of her room, Fen immediately headed there and was curious about the scent.

"Geez!" Fen's scream surprised everyone in the house, that was Alvin. He saw an empty perfume bottle in his hand.

He rushed over to his fourth son, pinched him, and even hit him with a bit of force. Of course, he wouldn't be too hard on his son, for some reason this one son was a bit slow in development, even so, Alvin looked smart and his brain was able to grasp everything well.

Impressive!

When Fen realized that she had been too rude to her child, she took Alvin's hand again and hugged him. "I'm sorry, mother, for being too rude to you. It was just emotion. Why did you spill the entire contents of the perfume until it was empty? You know, honey, it's expensive. To the extent that mother couldn't buy milk for you because of that."

Alvin, who were unable to speak yet, smiled happily. He knew his mother was like that and would not be too disappointed by her mother's yelling and pinching earlier. The boy even hugged him back.

Fen melted, his compassion made him give a pack of biscuits, which he actually sold. After all, he sells small items for his son too. "This is for the same brother and sister, too well." A package was given to Alvin's hand, and it managed to make him jump with enthusiasm.

Fen smiled at her son's behavior, she sat on a bench in the corner of the room, and slowly opened the package.

Every corner of the room looks messy. Fen let out a long sigh, after that, he straightened his head ready to finish it.

***

I hear that it's very difficult to beat the handsome man next door, you know! Reportedly he is a lecturer with a master's degree at one of the top universities in this city. Ah, if only I could get him as my husband, maybe I would immediately become rich." Feni's neighbor happened to stop by and chat on the porch of her house with several other socialite women. Most of them are widows. It's not uncommon for them to tease several men and even Feni's own husband became her targets. Of course they were like that, without a life partner everything would not be perfect for them. What's more, some of them turned out to be still married.

"Oh my gosh Mom, remember the children at home, they are already big, what will they say later. What if they don't agree with you getting married again, instead you will be executed directly by your own children."

"That's right, don't just make anyone a husband, later on, the girl will also be fondled by the new husband." their words led to something else. To the extent that Feni was so uncomfortable hearing some chatter that made him lazy to attend to it.

"Hey, that guy's a nice person, so there's no way he'd be like that. You can't see how polite he says to everyone? He's a lecturer, so it's really lucky if a girl marries him. How could he marry an old widow?" -old as we are." One of their members was chattering with his hands on his hips.

"Hey, Feni! Why are you silent? Don't you want to join us here? Come on, it will be really fun if we talk to each other. Share experiences, and others too."

Feni didn't expect her name to be called, she was the one who was initially lazy to serve, in the end she commented while occasionally smiling slightly and almost laughing because the chattering of the widows was so excessive. "If you look for the fallen mangoes there, Mom, you certainly won't lose by tasting the appetizing fruit." Feni tried to divert the attention of everyone standing around him.

"Oh my, why don't you join our good conversation topic. How out of date are you Fen?" said one of them while sitting close to them.

"She's used to being a housewife and doesn't care about other men besides her husband, but make no mistake, her husband spoils her too much even though he looks like a playboy in general."

The atmosphere heated up when her husband appeared at the same time as one of his office friends. "Hey, David is coming. We'd better go back," they quickly left there when David started to approach.

"No, didn't you wait for him to get here? David is also handsome, you know! Who knows he might also be captivated by the facial implants you're wearing." He whispered softly, without being heard by Feni himself.

"Never mind, let's go now. Don't be so outrageous that you have to disturb other people's husbands, let them be happy with their families." Ivone, who was still young at that time, pulled his own mother's hand as soon as he arrived in front of Feni's house.

David stopped his steps right at the entrance to the canteen where his wife used to sell. He raised his eyebrows because he was surprised by the strange behavior of the mothers. "Why? Why did everyone go like that? Am I too scary?" he asked, frowning.

Feni smiled and shook her head. "Usually, ladies like to talk about the problem of finding a mate. Oh yes, it's amazing how fast you come? What's the program?"

David immediately sat down, and conveyed his purpose. "That, we will go monitoring in every school in remote areas, so can you pack food for us. About 30 packs, if you can't get one of the women to help you. This will be quite a fee, because the one who pays the fees our trip is the head office in the province. I hope you can do it on time."

This is truly a fortune that comes suddenly. The booming orders, the opportunity to make money when the husband has not received a salary on that old date. Actually, if you think about doing it yourself, it's a bit chaotic and might not be finished in a short time.

Having a small child who is still a toddler makes him a little rushed, and he is busy managing it so that his work is not too disturbed. While grinding the chilies on the grindstone, Alvin also touched the rock he was holding, causing him to get splashed with chili water.

Good afternoon mother."

"That voice... Chika! Thankfully, she came at the right time. Chika can take care of her two younger siblings while watching on her cell phone." Feni immediately approached her eldest daughter to the terrace room.

Seeing that his face looked gloomy, Feni approached him and immediately asked. "Why are you like that? Have you been scolded?"

Chica shook her head. "No, I lost the pen that I just bought yesterday. And it's expensive, even though I had put it in my bag before. But..." she burst into tears of sadness.

Feni smiled seeing her daughter who was still spoiled. "Lost where? Maybe it fell on the road. Is your bag perforated?" Feni rubbed her head gently.

Chika still didn't answer, she lowered her head, without answering anything.

Feni tried to ask again, so that her eldest child would be honest and tell her what she had hidden from her mother.

"Sorry mom, if I'm honest, won't you be angry?" Slowly Chika raised her head, looking at her mother.

"Say, mother won't be angry if you're honest." Feni was starting to get curious.

Chika sighed, then slowly began to move her mouth word by word until it became a sentence. "Mother's bag was badly damaged. It was torn so big. My friends laughed at me at school. Chiko's bag did the same. Actually, we were a little embarrassed at school because of that. But I'm afraid mom will be mad after this."

gosh! That's right, their bag is over a year old. Here the price of all goods is very expensive even though the quality is very ordinary. This, really made him think hard about it.

Feni thought for a moment, as he walked away from there leaving Chika there. Until her other child also came home, Feni didn't even pay attention to it. As he headed for the kitchen, he remembered. "I forgot, if I can finish all that, I can buy a bag for them after getting paid from the customer." Feni ran back to where her children were, and told them to have lunch.

"Oh yes, after you eat later, please take care of your younger siblings first, okay? Mother has a lot of work to do. Do you understand?"

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