Chapter 78

Isabella Sullivan trembled with rage.

She rarely spoke harshly to others.

"Barbaric" was the strongest word she could muster.

Linda Moore didn't care, planting her hands on her hips with a cold laugh. "You call this barbaric? You haven't seen real barbarism!"

"You admit it? It was you?" Isabella Sullivan was incredulous.

Linda's eyes darted shiftily. "Watch your words. Admit what? Do you have proof?"

"Even if I did it, so what? Call the police! They won't even file a report for damages under five thousand. Think I don't know that?"

Isabella Sullivan was too furious to speak.

David Sullivan quickly stepped in front of his wife. "Linda, that's enough! Our wisteria didn't do anything to you. We're neighbors. Why be like this?"

Sophia scanned the yard.

Shattered wisteria blossoms littered the ground.

The trellis near the shared wall was snapped, hanging precariously.

The entire courtyard was a mess.

"You say it didn't bother me?" Linda rolled up her sleeves, encouraged by David's intervention. "Your flowers blocked the sun from my vegetables! They grew poorly and attracted bugs. That's not bothering me?"

"These frames," she pointed at the wreckage, "face my window directly. They ruin the feng shui. That's not bothering me?"

David laughed bitterly. "The central area is common ground. You're not supposed to grow vegetables there. Your plot attracts mosquitos. Did we say anything?"

"The trellis is in my yard, not encroaching on the common area. Professor Hao's trellis faces your window too. Why don't you go tear hers down?"

Professor Hao was famously short-tempered in the faculty housing complex.

Linda didn't dare provoke her.

She was purely a bully.

Linda sneered. "I just don't feel like tearing hers down. It's you I have a problem with. So what? Planting all these flowers, putting on airs! Buy a villa if you're so capable! Then you can have a front and back yard to plant whatever you want. No need to fight me for space. Right, Professor Sullivan?"

"You—"

"Poor man's fate, rich man's diseases. Disgusting!"

David wasn't a fighter. A few sentences left him fuming.

Isabella Sullivan couldn't get a word in.

Sophia wasn't good at arguments either.

But she walked to the corner and picked up the mop used yesterday.

David had just washed it. It was still damp.

"Auntie White, the mop from the restroom didn't teach you a lesson yesterday. Let's continue—"

Without giving Linda time to react, Sophia swung it.

"What are you doing?! Ah—" Linda shrieked.

She stumbled backward, landing flat on her back.

"Pfft—" Isabella Sullivan couldn't help but laugh.

David was already a pro. "Oh dear, Linda, so sorry. The child is willful. Are you hurt? If you fell by yourself, calling the police won't help. They won't file a report."

Sophia smiled.

When it came to intellectual comebacks, her father was the master.

Turning her own words against her. Perfect.

Linda's face turned ashen.

David added, "Oh, and this mop was just used to clean the toilet. It hasn't been rinsed. But it should be fine. Our squat toilet isn't very dirty. No big deal. You don't mind, right, Linda?"

As if she wouldn't mind!

"Dad, did you forget…" Sophia chimed in, "I poured yesterday's leftovers down the toilet. I flushed, but it's still greasy…"

"Auntie White, do you smell like garbage water?"

Father and daughter tag-teamed, saying whatever was most disgusting.

Linda's smug expression instantly darkened.

"You— you—" Her nose twitched, as if she actually smelled it.

"You just wait!"

She spat the words and hurried away.

A shower! She needed one immediately!

In that moment, Sophia felt like the "Ancient Greek goddess in charge of mops"!

Isabella Sullivan felt vindicated but disapproving. "...A young lady, waving a mop around. It's unseemly."

"But she's so hateful…" Sophia looked at the ruined wisteria, her heart aching.

David silently began cleaning up. "When the weather clears, I'll re-nail the trellis and move it further into the yard."

He preferred to avoid trouble.

He could bear the委屈, but he didn't want Isabella Sullivan to experience it again.

Sophia was silent for a moment. "Dad, people will keep pushing if you give them an inch."

Linda dared to do it today. She would dare again.

As she said, under five thousand, the police won't intervene. There's no way.

David sighed. "What else can we do? We've been neighbors for decades. I know what she's like. Living here, we see each other constantly. Constant arguing is bad."

Isabella Sullivan also劝道, "Forget it. She's made trouble before. Let's keep the peace. We can be the bigger people."

"Then…" Sophia thought for a moment. "What if we didn't live here?"

Isabella Sullivan and David dismissed it as a child's fancy.

Not live here?

Live where?

Move?

They didn't dare think about it!

No. 2 High School was in the most expensive part of the city. Property prices were sky-high.

Their savings might only afford a small two-bedroom in the suburbs.

David's commute to school would be nothing like the convenience of the faculty housing.

...

Early morning, the fourth day of the New Year.

The snow that fell all night had stopped.

Golden sunlight broke through the clouds.

Sophia woke up early.

By the time David and Isabella Sullivan got up, a hot breakfast was on the table.

Yam and oatmeal porridge, pan-fried buns, corn sandwiches.

"Delicious!" David gave a thumbs-up. "Almost as good as me!"

Isabella Sullivan rolled her eyes. "Our daughter's cooking is much better than yours."

David said, "Well, she inherited my talent! Natural skill!"

Isabella Sullivan, "...Right, right. You always find a way to praise yourself."

The family finished breakfast.

After cleaning up, Sophia suggested her parents accompany her for a walk outside.

David, always restless, agreed immediately.

Isabella Sullivan loved the peaceful winter sun.

Their daughter hadn't been home in a long time. The three of them strolled along the river near their home.

Sophia subtly guided them onto a different path.

By the time the couple realized it, their daughter had led them to the sales office of a trendy new development.