Li Guizhi said, "What kind of family do you think you are? We're next-door neighbors, how could I not know? I give you a couple of vegetables, and you return a whole basket. Only someone who got their head slammed in a door would make up a rumor like that."
Yang Liying nodded. "Exactly. I think they're just jealous of Lin Lan."
Li Guizhi laughed self-deprecatingly. "That's right. When my family started a stall selling fried potatoes, Zhang Yazhen went around telling everyone I was a bootlicker, a suck-up shamelessly fawning over Lin Lan."
Lin Lan patted Li Guizhi's shoulder. "Sister Li, why waste your time on people like her? As the saying goes, a close neighbor is better than a distant relative. When you do well, I do well. That's how we all prosper!"
Li Guizhi nodded repeatedly. "Exactly. I couldn't stand them having nothing better to do than stir up trouble, so I started keeping my distance."
