Chapter 21 - The thought of that put a wrinkly smile on her old cucumber face.
Everyone was stunned for a few seconds then started slamming him.
"Pei. I've seen shameless but never that shameless!"
"What a shameless man. I wouldn't feel bad for him even if they had beaten him to death!"
"That is exactly right. Exactly how old is your cousin, committing such a heinous crime?"
Most people are very simple in this day and age but there was also no shortage of creeps, especially the bums from the villages. It was not uncommon for them to steal women's underwear or peek at women going to the bathroom.
Tong Xuelu sighed and said, "My cousin Tong Yanliang is not even 14 years old yet."
"What? He's already like this at 14? What he is going to be like after he's grown up?"
"If you ask me, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. I am saying that his parents are no good people either!"
Well said, Aunty!
Tong Xuelu gave her a thumbs up silently but she put on a sad look. "True was my cousin Tong Yanliang had already received his punishment. His tool had been damaged and the doctor had said that he might not be able to have children in the future.
"My Grandmother was having an episode at the time so she went to attack those people. Unfortunately she lost that battle and even lost a tooth. You haven't seen her yet. My grandmother now has a swollen face and a missing tooth. I feel so bad for her!"
Oh mi, what an incident!
His tool was damaged?
Oh boy, oh boy. That was a big deal!
How could they not spread the words around?
That being said. It seemed like Old Mrs. Tong's craziness was kind of scary. They should have their children keep their distance from the Tong family.
Tis was the hours when people were coming home from work. The others dispersed after they heard the answers that they were looking for.
Tong Xuelu, too, left with Tong Mianmian and Tong Jiaxin satisfyingly.
Truth was, if she had the choice, she wouldn't want Tong Mianmian to come into contact with the scum Tong Yanliang at all.
Nevertheless, now that Jie Jinhua and the family were over, it didn't make sense not have to Tong Mianmian over there.
She had no choice but to urged Tong Jiaxin once again to never leave his sister's side.
Tong Jiaxin nodded and made his promise.
He didn't find Tong Xuelu's cautiousness odd. He just assumed that she cared too much about their little sister.
After returning to the Tong family.
Those from the home village did not show too much interest in Tong Jiaxin and Tong Mianmian.
Tong Xuelu paid Tong Yanliang particular attention and saw him scanning over Tong Mianmian's little face with a frown.
She wasn't sure whether it was because he was in a lot of pain. He didn't express much interest beyond that.
Tong Xuelu, however, did not let her guard down.
Jie Jinhua crashed onto the bed with her shoes on and gave order to Tong Xuelu. "Go and give Zhenzhen a call. Let her know that we are over and had her come over tomorrow."
Tong Xuelu, "Grandma wants to meet with Zhenzhen?"
Sun Guilan pursed her lips, "What are you trying to say here? The Tong family had raised her for 15 years. Why can't Mom see her now?"
Tong Xuelu, "You have misunderstood me, Second Son-in-law. That's not what I was saying. Truth is, Tong Zhenzhen is locked up in the farm right now and it won't be easy for you to meet."
Tong Zhenzhen was locked up at a farm?
The house went silence for a few seconds after Tong Xuelu had spoken.
Jie Jinhua hopped up from the bed. Her voice was sharp and ear-piercing.
"Why was Zhenzhen locked up in the farm? How come her parents didn't do something about that?"
She didn't like any of the children between Tong Dajun and his wife except for Tong Zhenzhen.
Tong Zhenzhen was a sweet talker and would tell her all about Tong Dajun and his wife every time they met, including the money that the couple had been hiding.
She just didn't know that Tong Zhenzhen wasn't really a Tong's child. But Jie Jinhua was happy all over again when she found out that her parents were government officials.
With Tong Zhenzhen as their real daughter and Tong Xuelu as their adopted daughter, she wouldn't have to worry that the Tong's wouldn't help her sons get employment.
She was, however, dazed when she heard that Tong Zhenzhen had been sent to the farm less than 6 months after she had rejoined the family.
Tong Xuelu sighed and said, "Tong Zhenzhen was upset that I had taken her identity but she did not dare to come at me. She took it out on Mianmian. I got annoyed at her and reported her to the cops. She was then sent to the farm."
The Tong family, "…"
The house went silent once again.
In addition to those from the home town, even Tong Jiaming and Tong Jiaxin were stunned.
Tong Xuelu never told the two of them about what had happened with Tong Zhenzhen.
Tong Jiaxin's lips parted and was about to say something when he was stopped by Tong Jiaming giving him a stare.
Sun Guilan recollected herself and, with a dubious look, "You are not just trying to make yourself look good, are you? Zhenzhen is the Tong's real daughter. Why wouldn't they be on her side?"
Tong Xuelu, "Tong Zhenzhen is, indeed, the Tong's real daughter but I was the one who had been with them for 15 years whereas Tong Zhenzhen had only been with them for a few months. But that's not really the point. Who do you think is prettier, me or Tong Zhenzhen?"
Those from the hometown were silenced once again.
But what did that have to do with Tong Zhenzhen being sent to the farm?
Tong Xuelu did not wait for their response but went on to say, "You can figure out the answer to that one. I am 10 times, no, 100 times prettier than Tong Zhenzhen!"
The Tong family, "…"
They wouldn't even dare to boast to that point back home!
Tong Xuelu, "Precisely because I am pretty like a fairy. That was the reason that the Tong's had chosen me over Tong Zhenzhen. I'm sure you know the reason behind that, right? It's really very simple. With my look, I will always be able to marry into a rich and powerful family!
"Could Tong Zhenzhen? No, she couldn't. Just look at that flat nose and her dark skin. What kind of high official family would pick her? The Tong family picked me because they are smart and know where we stand!"
The Tong family, "…"
They didn't even know who was more shameless, Tong Xuelu or the other Tong family.
Jie Jinhua's face was long like a cucumber with the words "I am not happy" written all over it.
Her nose was flat and she was darker than Tong Zhenzhen. She felt that she had been offended.
Tong Xuelu looked over the crowd with her almond-shaped eyes and said, "So, Grandma, do you still want to visit Tong Zhenzhen?"
Jie Jinhua said with a long face, "Forget about that!"
Nevermind that! Who'd want to go to visit a farm?
Tong Erzhu and the others looked at Tong Xuelu in a new light.
They had only thought of her as something very articulating and didn't pay her much attention. But things had changed. The other Tong had picked her over their own daughter.
It seemed they could not offend her in the future. Quite the contrary, they needed to fawn over her. That was the only way that she would help them get jobs.
Feng Zhaodi's mouth cracked open, bearing her yellow teeth. "It really doesn't matter if we meet up with Zhenzhen or not. After all, you are our niece and part of the family. We will be relying on you for a job, Niece!"
Tong Xuelu turned when she heard that.
Feng Zhaodi was the wife of Tong Sanzhuang. Unlike Tong Erzhu and his wife, Feng Zhaodi husband and wife were not only tools but also very wicked in their ways.
They hid in the back when Tong Yanliang was having conflict with the others but walked ahead when it came time to lunch.
They were the typical selfish people.
Tong Xuelu smiled perfunctorily and couldn't be bother to respond.
Sun Guilan, on the other hand, did not want to fawn over Tong Xuelu.
She tugged her mother-in-law's sleeve and said in a low voice. "Mom, the death benefit. We must get back the death benefit!"
That reminded Jie Jinhua of the death benefit. "When I called the factory the other day, the Plant Manager told me that you had already taken away the death benefit. Where's the money? Hand it over!"
Tong Xuelu, "Grandma, I'd like to talk to you in private."
Sun Guilan was the first to feel unhappy. "What is that we can't listen to? Mom, she's a sly one. Don't fall for it!"
Tong Xuelu frowned and said, "What are you saying, Second Sister-in-law? Do you think Grandma is as stupid as you? Grandma is obviously a smart person. Who could possibly fool her?"
Jie Jinhua gave her daughter-in-law a displeased stare. "If you are stupid then don't say anything. We all know that you are not a mute!"
Sun Guilan, "…"
Wake up, Mom. She already had your wrapped around her little finger!
Without having been told, Tong Jiaming had already walked out with both his sister and Tong Jiaxin.
None of those from the hometown moved an inch.
Tong Xuelu suddenly sighed and gave Jie Jinhua a sympathetic look. "Grandma, I had thought that you are the head of household. Now it looks like you are just old and sad. And that you are not able to make the calls at home. Look, you have just asked them to leave but none of them listened to you."
Old and sad?
Jie Jinhua was almost disgusted by the term!
But what upset her even more was her sons and her daughters-in-law. Were they challenging her authority as the head of household?
Her face dropped and she shouted in a deep voice, "All of you, scram!"
Seeing that Jie Jinhua had lost her temper, her sons and daughters-in-law exchanged a look and finally her sons walked out with their wives in toll.
The people in the compound were having dinner in the courtyard when they suddenly heard a loud roar and were startled.
They then saw the Tong family being kicked out of the house with door slamming shut behind them from the inside.
Old Mrs. Tong's craziness certainly seemed bad!
Sun Guilan and the others felt both angry and embarrassed being kicked out of the house.
Sun Guilan saw that her son wasn't comfortable sitting on the ground and wanted to borrow a stool for him. "Sister Cai, do you still remember me?"
Seeing her walking toward her, Aunty Cai splashed the water in her hand right in front of her and said, "No!"
She then turned and went insider her house without so much as looking over at her.
? ?
Sun Guilan was stunned for a while.
What had she done? Aunty Cai was quite friendly the last few times they were over?
Sun Guilan was so angry that her face turned beet red when she recollected herself. She was going to find out from the other families what was the problem with Aunty Cai.
Lo and behold, as though on cue, all of the others said they didn't remember and started to leave before they were even finished talking.
Oh, that had upset her so!
Feng Zhaodi, too, was planning to network some with those in the courtyard but, having witnessed what happened to Sun Guilan, she quickly gave up on that idea.
"I can't shake this feeling that something was very off. Daddy of the child, you go ask around some tomorrow and find out whether Tong Zhenzhen has really been sent to the farm."
Tong Sanzhuang picked his ear with his hand before stretching his hand out in front of her. "I will need money for the car ride."
Feng Zhaodi gave him a stare and said in a low voice. "Lower your voice. I'll give you the money in a little bit!"
Her mother-in-law and Sun Guilan were two idiots who put their money inside their luggage. That had cost the family to lose several hundred yuan.
She lied when she said that her money, too, was in her luggage. She had sew them into her pants and it was all still there!
Inside of the house.
Tong Xuelu sat next to Jie Jinhua and said with an affectionate look, "Grandma, I feel so close to you the minute that I saw you. I felt as though I have seen you in the past. I think that's what the tie of blood and flesh is all about."
Jie Jinhua didn't care about what Tong Xuelu was saying. She pursed her lips and said, "Stop with the nonsense. Where's the death benefit?"
Tong Xuelu found her reaction a little odd, but she didn't put too much thought into that. "Grandma, I can't give you the death benefit yet."
Jie Jinhua's eyes widened, making her look like a frog. "What do you mean by that? Do you plan to pocket the money?"
"Shhh, Grandma! I didn't pocket the money. I have taken them to make more money!"
"Make money? What do you know about making money at your age?"
"I don't know anything about it but my adoptive parents do!" said Tong Xuelu proudly. "My dad is the Director of the PLA Logistics Fuel Department. The Fuel Department also controls the Agricultural and sideline production and materials. You have no idea how much money is exchanged every day!"
"Then what did you father use the money for? How much money can he make?"
Jie Jinhua had no idea what the Fuel Department did but he understood "Director". All in all, it's a high-ranking official title.
"Well, it's best that you don't ask, Grandma. That's confidential. Knowing that won't do you any good. But." Tong Xuelu suddenly lowered her voice and said in a mysterious way, "We will be able to double our money in a little bit."
Jie Jinhua let out an "Oh!" Her mouth dropped open and the lit of greed came out of her eyes. "How much are we talking about?"
"The death benefit is 1,000 yuan. Doubling that will be 2,000."
Jie Jinhua gave her a dubious look. "The death benefit is just 1,000 yuan? Are you lying to me?"
Tong Xuelu put on an aggrieved look. "That such hurtful words, Grandma. You are my grandmother. Why would I lie to you? Besides, you can find that out by just asking the factory. What is the point of me lying to you about that?"
Jie Jinhua, too, felt that she would not have the audacity to lie to her. "What is up with your Plant Manager? Dajin had saved two of his sons in the past and that was all he gave us? Pei! What an unconscientious one!"
Seeing that there was no sadness at all in Jie Jinhua's eyes when she talked about Tong Dajun but was very concerned about the death benefits, her earlier speculation occurred to her once again.
Jie Jinhua's sole focus was on the money. "When will we be able to get the money?"
Tong Xuelu recollected herself. "In a couple of weeks. They will give us both the principal and the profits. Once I get my hand on the money, I will give them all to you, Grandma!"
That's better!
Her words made Jie Jinhua found her less annoying.
Tong Xuelu went on to say, "But we need to keep this in the downlow. Not only can we not let any outside know, we can't even let my uncles and aunties find out about it."
Jie Jinhua said casually, "Don't worry. I won't say anything."
Tong Xuelu shook her head. "Not only can we not tell anyone, you must tell others that you've already got the money from me, Grandma. Otherwise uncles and aunties would get suspicious.
Jie Jinhua wasn't that stupid. She shared at Tong Xuelu with her triangular eyes and said, "What are you trying to pull here? What if you don't pay me later? How am I going to get the money then?"
"You can go look for the Plant Manager, the cops, or my adoptive parents!" Tong Xuelu said very definitively. "We are family. Will I try to trick you? You might not trust me, but what about my adoptive parents? They are government officials. Do you think they are about such chump change?"
Jie Jinhua were already 80 – 90% convinced. She quickly said, "You have such a poor temperament, child. What have I said, huh? Alright. If you have already given the money to your father, we will just leave it there for the time being."
Who could resist a temptation like 1,000 in interest?
As for it being a scam. Jie Jinhua did not think that Tong Xuelu would have the courage to scam her.
Even travelling required recommendation letters in this day and age. She wouldn't be able to go anywhere without a letter. If the other Tong family dare take their money, she had no problem going and making a scene at their unit!
Tong Xuelu figured she should stop while she was ahead. She handed 30 yuan over to her grandmother and said, "Here's some money for you. You can spend as you see fit when I get the money back."
Jie Jinhua's money had been robbed and, even though the cops said they would do their best to get them back, it still pained her.
Thirty yuan wasn't a lot of money but, she would have 2,000 yuan in hand in just two more weeks. She would be the richest old lady in the compound by then!
The thought of that put a wrinkly smile on her old cucumber face.
Chapter 22 - All of them were enraged: Who did that?!
Tong Xuelu opened up the door to let the others in after she had convinced Jie Jinhua.
As soon as the door opened, Sun Guilan was the first to come running inside. "Mom, what did that brat tell you? Did she give you the death benefit?"
Tong Xuelu turned and looked at Jie Jinhua when she heard that.
Noticing Tong Xuelu's look, Jie Jinhua pointed at Sun Guilan's nose and started shouting at her, "Why you have so many questions? Of course she gave me the death benefit? Who else would she give that to?"
Sun Guilan, with all the spittle on her face, almost puke out dinner. "Mom, you know that isn't what I meant. I only worry that you will be swindled. Say, how much money did we get? Show us, Mom."
As soon as she said that, Feng Zhaodi and the others all turned and looked over at Jie Jinhua.
Jie Jinhua roared angrily, "What is there to see? Are you the head of household or am I? Scram! Looking at you irritates me!"
"…"
Being yelled at for no reasons. Sun Guilan was so angry that her nose was crooked.
Hearing Jie Jinhua's roaring noises, those in the compound, once again, reaffirmed that she had lost her mind.
They quickly told their children to not go over to the Tong's in the next few days and to avoid the Tong family from the village as much as possible.
Tong Xuelu left the house, feeling reassured, when she saw that Jie Jinhua did not share what they had talked about.
Tong Mianmian and Tong Jiaxin were over at Aunty Cai's and Tong Jiaming was sitting in the yard all by his lonesome.
When he saw Tong Xuelu walking out, he walked up to her and asked, "What's the story on Tong Zhenzhen?"
The sky was already completely dark by now and, his face hidden in the darkness and the shadows, was difficult to make out.
"I'll tell you what happened with Tong Zhenzhen after I have taken care of the gang from the home town," said Tong Xuelu as she looked over at Tong Jiaming. "Oh right. Have you ever met our grandfather?"
Tong Jiaming had no idea why she brought up Grandpa all of a sudden but he still nodded and said, "Yes, I've seen him before. What's the matter?"
"Did our father look like Grandpa?"
Tong Jiaming frowned a little and said, "Yes. Dad looked like Grandpa but not Grandma."
If they looked alike, that meant that Tong Dajun was still a child of the Tong's. Could it be that…
"Had Grandpa gotten married before Grandma? I mean, could it be that our dad is not Grandma's child?"
Tong Jiaming shook his head, "No. Grandpa only had one wife."
He had his suspicions back when he was 7 or 8 years old and even asked around secretly when he returned to the village. He was disappointed and that his father was a born to his grandmother.
Tong Xuelu, too, was disappointed when she heard that.
Who would have thought that the old cucumber Jie Jinhua could give birth to such a good-looking son?
But favoritism to that point was still odd. Her father, too, favored her stepsister before she had transmigrated and she had felt very aggrieved over the years.
Compared to Jie Jinhua, however, her father wasn't half bad after all.
When it came bed time, not everyone could fit inside the house. As such, Tong Xuelu suggested for the women to sleep inside the house and the men to sleep outside.
Tis was summer and it was cool outside so the men from their home town did not object to that suggestion.
The next day, Tong Sanzhuang, with the fares from both his wife and his mother, took a car ride over to find out news on Tong Zhenzhen.
Tong Erzhu stayed in the compound to find out from others about Tong Xuelu's relationship with the other Tong family.
They learned that Tong Zhenzhen had really been sent to the farm and that the other Tong family was very nice to Tong Xuelu. When Tong Xuelu when over to the city, she brough back a lot of stuff with her.
That was a relief for Jie Jinhua.
As such, she confirmed the Plant Manager that Tong Xuelu had given her the death benefit when asked.
Huang Xianglan had taken time off from the government-operated restaurant and went over to visit her cousin in the city.
Tears rolled down her cheeks when she saw her cousin. "Your husband….. is an animal!"
Su Xiuying was beaten again after she had returned from the hospital. Her entire face was swelled up.
Huang Xianglan checked and make sure there none of the He's were around when she said to her cousin in a low voice, "Cousin, Comrade Tong say she can help you. She asked me to deliver a message to you."
She repeated what Tong Xuelu had said to Su Xiuying.
Su Xiuying's eyes beamed after she listened to Huang Xianglan but was quickly troubled again.
"Cousin, I think Tong Xuelu's method will work. What are you struggling about? Do you really still think that your husband might change?"
Looking at her cousin, even someone as weak as Huang Xianglan felt that Su Xiuying needed to help herself.
She had looked forward to getting married in the past but, seeing how her cousin was now, she starting finding marriage intimidating.
Su Xiuying shook her head lightly. "No, I don't think that anymore. I don't even know why I still can't make up my mind."
Her life was a mess. She only worried that she would be in a worse situation if she left.
Huang Xianglan wanted to say some more but she heard footsteps from the outside and stopped herself.
He Baogen came from the outside and shouted at her, "How much longer are you going to stay in bed, hmm? How many days have you worked this month? How much do you think you will make this month at this rate?"
He only noticed Huang Xianglan after he had finished shouting. Regardless, that did not make him feel embarrassed at all.
Hearing his shouting, Su Xiuying's whole body started shaking uncontrollably. "I, I'll go in this afternoon."
It wasn't that she didn't want to go but that her back was injured from being kicked and it was so painful that she'd break into cold sweat every time she tried to stand up.
Besides, she didn't want all the bruises on her face to bee seen by others.
He Baogen sneered and said, "Stop with the acting already. Get up and make dinne!"
Having said that, he didn't even greet Huang Xianglan before he turned and left.
Huang Xianglan was so angry that she was shaking. "That, that was outrageous!"
Tears rolled down Su Xiuying's cheeks.
He would at least hold back a little in the past. But when he saw that her family never stood up for her, the beatings had been getting worse.
There was silence in the house and even Huang Xianglan didn't know what else to say.
Su Xiuying worried that He Baogen would yell at Huang Xianglan too so she quickly said to her, "You be on your way now. I will give it some thought!"
Huang Xianglan sighed and left.
Su Xiuying watched her cousin took off and her hands, resting on both sides of her, started clenching into fists.
Over the next few days, the members of the Tong family from the old village could not have been happier.
They had fish and meats every day and would head over to the government-operated restaurant from time to time. They made all the other people in the compound jealous.
They had talked about taking over the two positions at the factories immediately at the beginning but Tong Xuelu told them that they should take a break first. They would not be able to take time off once they started working.
Sun Guilan figured that make sense. The positions, after all, belonged to their family and nobody could take that away from them anyway.
They had lived such a rough life in the village. It was only right for them to enjoy themselves a little now.
What still baffled them was why did the others in the compound didn't like hanging around with them.
The women and children, in particular, would turn and run away when they saw them.
Those from the home town enjoyed a few happy days.
Tong Xuelu's plan was to wait for a couple more days before she acted but she saw Tong Xuelu with Tong Mianmian in his arms as he stroked her on her face when she returned from the factory.
Her face dropped immediately.
She dashed over, reached out her hand and said to Tong Yanliang, "Give Mianmian back to me!"
Tong Mianmian struggled when she saw her Big Sister but Tong Xuelu refused to let her go.
Tong Xuelu enunciated every word of hers, "I said to give Mianmian back to me."
Tong Yanliang finally looked up at her and said with a cloying smile on him, "Sister Xuelu, what are you doing? Why can't I get close with little sister?"
Tong Xuelu was short of throwing up. She said to him coldly, "You better give her back to me right now before I break your family jewels!"
Tong Yanliang frowned slowly and stared at Tong Xuelu viciously, still not letting go of Tong Mianmian.
The little bun, startled, struggled even more. Big drops of tears came out of her eyes. "Big Sister, I want Big Sister!"
Hearing the ruckus, Aunty Cai ran out of her house. "What's the matter, Xuelu? Is someone bullying you?"
Mother Xu too came out quickly as well.
Seeing that there were more and more people gathering around, Tong Yanliang finally let go and pushed Tong Mianmian toward Tong Xuelu, "Here."
Tong Xuelu quickly picked up the little bun who cried so much that her face was beet red and comforted her gently, "It's alright. Big Sister is here."
Aunty Cai pointed at Tong Yanliang's back and shouted, "How is he like that at his young age? He is rotten from the inside out!"
Mother Xu spit behind him. "What kind of person would grope a woman on her butt? I need to talk to the manager at the factory. We can't keep someone like that in our compound!"
Mother Xu's words made Tong Yanliang stumbled and he almost did a faceplant.
He turned his head angrily, "* !#)), what did you just say? Be careful I beat you up!"
Mother Xu wasn't' scared of him. She rushed up with her spatula in hand. "Oh yeah? Hit me! Hit me then! You brat who can't have children. You deserved to have your family jewelry broke!"
"…"
Tong Yanliang was so angry that he almost spit out blood!
He felt that Tong Xuelu must have been the one spreading the words. He wanted to settle his scores with Tong Xuelu but Mother Xu was hitting him repeatedly with the spatula.
He didn't pay close enough attention and got smacked right on his nose. His nose ached so much that tears came out of his eyes.
"You better #!* #!) stop now or I am going to burn your house down tonight with your whole family inside!"
What he said enraged everyone around.
What vicious thought was that!
They only had an altercation and he wanted to burn someone house down with their entire family inside of it?
Not to mention that in a compound like this, when one house was on fair, it would quickly spread to other houses. That would affect a lot of people!
A few of the quick-tempered housewives also ran with their spatulas and rained them down on Tong Yanliang.
Tong Yanliang whimpered under the severe beating.
By the time Jie Jinhua, Sun Guilan and the others returned from the CSMC carrying all of their bags, Tong Yanliang already had bruises all over his eyes and nose.
The two felt awful for him and ran over and shouted outside of Mother Xu's house.
"You !# ! old woman c'mon out. You dared to beat up my grandson? I am going to report you to the police!"
Mother Xu shouted back at her door with her hands on her waist. "You crazy woman go right ahead. It might be your grandson who is going to end up in jail!"
Mother Xu wasn't worried. Many heard Tong Yanliang saying earlier that he was going to set fire and kill people. If Jie Jinhua was to file a police report, it's hard to say who will be the one end up in jail!
Jie Jinhua and Sun Guilan were aware of that as well, which was why they did not head to the police station.
They were still upset though. But their only recourse was to come over and shouted outside of their house.
Jie Jinhua was so angry that she was jumping up and down like a grasshopper in winter. "Oh yeah? You don't think I will? I am going right now! You wait right here!"
Mother Xu stuck her chest out like a proud rooster. "You think I'm afraid you go? Go right ahead!"
"I am going right now. Don't you run away!"
"I will be waiting right here. What are you still here?"
"I am going right now! You wait right here!"
"I will be waiting right here. What are you still here?"
The two went back and forth for over 2 hours and only stopped after the sky had turned dark.
Returning to the house, Sun Guilan pointed at Tong Xuelu's nose and started shouting, "You brat. My son would not have been beaten up if it wasn't for you!"
Tong Xuelu flung her hand away. "Scram!"
She turned and left after she said that.
Sun Guilan gritted her teeth in anger. "You come back here, you brat!"
Inside the courtyard.
Tong Jiaxin kept his head lowered, looking distressed. "I'm sorry, Second Brother. I didn't leave Little Sister behind on purpose. I only went to pick up some firewood."
They were out of firewood at home and those from their hometown never lift a finger. He thought a little while would have been fine.
Tong Jiaming's lips were shut tight and, looking unhappy, he said, "I am not the one that you should be apologizing to."
Tong Jiaxin kicked his toes on the ground and, before he said anything, Tong Xuelu walked over to them.
His lips parted and he wanted to apologize but he couldn't get the words out.
Tong Xuelu didn't look at him. She looked straight at Tong Jiaming and said, "Come with me."
Tong Jiaming had Tong Jiaxin went to watch out for Tong Mianmian before he turned and left with Tong Xuelu.
The moon was hazy and the moonlight casted down on the roofs creating a lot of shadows. Crickets in hidden corners making annoying noises.
Tong Xuelu finally stopped in front of the main entrance.
She took a look outside and, after making sure that there was nobody there, said, "We will make our moves tonight. What I need you to do is…"
After listening to her plans, Tong Jiaming had a peculiar look on him. "That… doesn't sound right?"
The tear-like mole under the corner of her eye looked even more bright and charming under the moonlight. "Nothing is not right about it. Just do as I say."
She will take care of all those from the Tong family tomorrow all at once!
Tong Jiaming went silent for a little while and finally nodded. "Alright."
That night.
A silhouette appeared in the cloth-drying spot of every family and moved around quickly.
The sun was bright the next morning.
When Aunty Cai went to collect her clothes from the previous day, she noticed that her newly purchased floral underwear was gone!
She looked around but didn't see it anywhere.
Aunty Cai, "That's odd. It wasn't even windy last night. How did it go missing?"
Mother Xu, "We are missing an article of clothing too."
Grandma Lin, "Our family as well…"
Aunty Cai, "What is it that you are missing? I am missing my newly-purchased floral underwear."
Mother Xu, "Mine isn't new, but it's an underwear…"
Grandma Lin, "Me too…"
Big Sister Wang, "Me too…"
All of them were enraged all of a sudden: Who was it who did that?!
Aunty Cai had a loud voice and, with her yelling, the rest in the compound also found out what had happened shortly.
There were a lot of discussions surrounding it.
"This is so strange. Nobody had ever lost an article of clothing before!"
"Right? And it wasn't even windy yesterday. You think maybe someone's child picked them up using them as toys?"
In order to get to the bottom of the matters, everyone went home to check with their children. But the naughtiest of all children knew better than that. Fabric was very expensive at this day and age.
Besides, why would it only be underwear that had gone missing?
Old Mrs. Lin was infuriated. "I am going to kill whoever it is when I find out! I have had that floral underwear for years. So what if there were two holes in the back? I'm already used to it. This # *!() thief!"
Everyone else, "…"
Looking at Old Mrs. Lin's wrinkly face and age spots, everybody questioned the thief's choice.
Tong Xuelu walked out of the house with a wearied look. "What's going on, Aunty Cai?"
When Aunty Cai was baffled when she saw Tong Xuelu. "How come you didn't go into work, Xuelu? Oh, mi. You don't look well at all. Are you ill?"
Tong Xuelu nodded weakly. "I had a terrible headache when I woke up this morning, so I had to have Jiaming took the day off for me. Oh, right, Aunty Cai, what are all of you gathered around?"
For the sake of her looking bad enough to take the day off, Tong Xuelu had stayed up all night and she was very tired right now.
Aunty Cai talked to her a bit about her condition and angrily told her about the missing underwear. "I wonder what kind of immoral person did that. Why would they steal underwear?"
Tong Xuelu put on a shocked look, "Are all of the ones missing women underwear or both men's and women's?"
After thinking the question over some, Aunty Cai smacked her thigh and said, "Oh mi! I didn't notice that until you asked. All of them are women's underwear. We have a creep in our compound!"
Mother Xu, too, reacted quickly. "Could it be that Tong's boy who did it?"
Everybody else looked unhappy when they heard that.
Chapter 23- Her hand hurt. She shouldn't have hit him so hard earlier.
Everybody knew everybody in this compound and there had never been previous incidents where women's clothing were stolen or peeping toms. As such, that idea hadn't occurred to anyone.
Once Tong Xuelu had brought it up, things didn't seem fine anymore.
A creep in the compound would mean a lot of troubles in the future.
Old Mrs. Lin jumped up and shouted, "We don't even need to speculate it. He has to be the culprit! None of us had ever lost an article of clothing before and it happened right after his arrival. Who else could it be?"
Mother Xu, for once, saw eye to eye with Old Mrs. Lin, "You are right. I'm sure he was retaliating after we had beaten him up yesterday!"
That made a lot of sense to everyone.
"We can't just let this go. We must go to the police!"
"And report it up to the leaders and have the entire Tong family sent back to where they came from!"
Tong Xuelu put on a look of disbelief, "I don't think that's the case. My cousin Tong Yanliang might have groped some woman's butt but he already knew that that was unbecoming. I'm sure it wasn't him!"
Mother Xu said, "Aiyo, we had almost forgotten all about that had you not brought it up. If that *&( could do such a thing, then for sure he was the one who stole our underwear!"
Tong Xuelu looked a little nervous, "No, no. Listen to me, everyone. My cousin Tong Yanliang is not someone like that…"
Aunty Cai said, "Xuelu, I know that you are a kind one but you need to learn to read people better.
"Ever since those came from your hometown, they had been bossing you around like a landlord back in the old society. I will need to reflect that to our leaders at the factory as well!"
The others all agreed with Aunty Cai.
"They are either eating meat and fish everyday or going to the government-operated restaurant. That's exactly like a landlord!"
"Exactly. And they are spending Tong Dajun and his wife's death benefits. They didn't care to spend them all but none of the children got anything out of it!"
The more they talked about it, the angrier they became. They quickly talked about who would go and report that to the leaders at the factory and who would go to the cops.
The efficiency of the old aunties was nothing to sneer at. They immediately carried out their assignments once they had divided up the labor.
Tong Xuelu made an erkang hand, "No, don't go, aunties. Please listen to me…"
Photo: erkanghand
Source:
Aunty Cai waved her hand at Tong Xuelu. "Go and get some rest, Xuelu. We will take care of this."
Having said that, she turned and left without looking back.
The two little dimples crept on Tong Xuelu's cheeks after everybody left.
Yep, go head and make a scene. The bigger the scene, the better.
A bunch of rowdy women arrived in his office and the president of the union got a headache from their noise level alone. "Could you have mistaken? I heard that that child was just 14 years old. I don't think he had the guts to do that."
"Oh, he has a lot of guts!" Aunty Cai yelled loudly. "Four of the families in our compound had their underwear stolen. This had never happened before he came!"
The union president's lips twitched violently when he heard "underwear". "Alright, alright. Stop with the ruckus. I will have a couple of workers follow you back."
When the two administrative staff from the union and the cops arrived at the compound, the Tong family from the old town was just coming back from having breakfast at the government-operated restaurant.
The group walked inside rubbing their bellies like they were some rich men.
Sun Guilan was picking her teeth with a toothpick. "Mom, that meat bun today was so good. Let' go again tomorrow."
Tong Erzhu, however, said, "It gets tiring having meat buns every day. Let's have dumplings tomorrow."
Jie Jinhua said generously, "What's there to talk about? We can just order both!"
Tong Xuelu would flow her more money once they ran out anyway.
Besides, she was about to get 2,000 yuan. Jie Jinhua felt that she did not need to tighten up her belt like she used to.
Truth was, Tong Dajun and his wife had been spending half of their income home every month and the Tong family's standard of living had always been better than the others on the production team.
Unfortunately, greed knows no limit. They had always been unhappy about Tong Dajun and his wife not giving up their positions to them.
These words, fallen upon the ears of those in the compound, turned into proofs that they were very corrupted people!
A male cop frowned at the scene and shouted, "Which one of you are Tong Yanliang?"
The Tong family finally noticed all the people standing around in the courtyard after they heard the shout. And two of them were cops.
All of the Tong family were shocked. Tong Yanliang, in particular, had turned pale.
He thought that Mother Xu and the others had reported his threat of wanting to burn the house down from the night before. His legs became shaking uncontrollably.
Tong Erzhu said, "Brother Cop, why… are you looking for Tong Yanliang?"
Brother?
The male cop took a look at Tong Erzhu's dark and not-so-young face and looked even more unhappy. "Are you Tong Yanliang?"
Tong Erzhu, "No, I am not."
The male cop frowned right away. "Then why are you talking? Tong Yanliang? Which one of you are Tong Yanliang? Identify yourself now!"
Tong Yanliang's hands shook, as was his entire body. He shook like a leave on a tree in autumn that was about to fall off.
Suddenly, his mind went blank, and he made a very stupid decision––
He turned and dashed toward the entrance.
The male cop was taken aback a little before he gave chase right away. "You stop right there!"
Tong Yanliang was tackled and pinned onto the ground by the male cop before he even reached the entrance.
Tong Xuelu was stunned silent by Tong Yanliang's stupidity.
With his series of stupid actions, having her spend time to come up with a trap for him was a total waste of her time.
All of the Tong family were stunned and none of them dared to move.
Finally, Sun Guilan's motherly love overcame her fear and she walked over, shaking, "Comrade Cop, why, why are you arresting my son?"
The male cop asked unhappily. "Is your son Tong Yanliang?"
Sun Guilan nodded, "Yes."
"Good then. Those from this compound reported that he stole women's underwear and claimed that he was going to set fire and kill people!"
Tong Yanliang was angered. "No, I didn't!"
Male cop, "Then why did you run? Obviously, you had something to hide!"
The others in the compound gathered around.
Mother Xu nodded violently. "That's exactly right. Why else would he run if he had nothing to hide? He had to be the one who stole the underwear!"
"Shut up, you #*#$*) old woman!"
Seeing that it was Mother Xu who spoke and recalling how he was beaten up the day before, new beef piling onto old ones, he could kill Mother Xu right now.
Mother Xu lifted her chin up and said, "You heard it, Comrade Cop, this person had beef with me. He said he is going to burn my house down and kill my entire family last night. Many here heard him said that!"
Tong Yanliang denied it reflexively. "No, I didn't!"
"Comrade Cop, he's lying. I heard him said that yesterday too!"
"Me too…"
Everyone from the compound spoke up and chimed in that they had heard him.
Tong Yanliang's face turned green, as did the faces of the rest of the Tong family.
Tong Xuelu walked over and put on a genuinely concerned look. "Liangliang, the law will be lenient to you if you are being honest. Why don't you just tell everyone the truth?"
The term "Liangliang" instantly made Tong Yanliang's certain area hurt with a throbbing pain as soon as he heard that.
A female cop who was taking statements to one side said, "This female comrade is right. The law will be lenient to you if you are being honest. I suggest you tell the truth, little comrade. It will be worse when we find out the truth by ourselves later on."
When she heard that things would be worse, Sun Guilan quickly said to her son, "Yanliang, why don't you just tell them the truth?"
Tong Yanliang stammered. "Yes, I did say that. But I wouldn't have had she not accused me of groping some woman's butt. I only said that to scare her!"
Mother Xu bounced up three feet high like a grasshopper. "I accused you? You did grope a woman's ass!"
Tong Yanliang gritted his teeth in anger. "No, I didn't. You *#& old woman. You keep spewing out untrue things, I am going to take care of you!"
Sun Guilan jumped out to help her son, "He's right. If you keep spewing out untrue things, I am going to have you arrested by the comrade cops!"
Mother Xu, "Everything that I have said is true and I am still going to say the same things at the police station. Your son groped a woman's butt and that was why he was kicked and his family jewels damaged!"
"…"
The male cop, "Quiet down, all of you! His groping a woman's behind had nothing to do with our current investigation. Don't nobody bring that up anymore! Tong Yanliang.
Tong Yanliang did not look happy, "It wasn't me!"
Even if he was to steal underwear, he wouldn't have stolen them from a bunch of old women!
He wasn't out of his mind!
Mother Xu, "Comrade Cop, he is lying again. He also denied that he said he would burn down my house and kill my family earlier then he changed his story. He's a wicked one!"
It looked like the two were going to get into another argument and the male cop interrupted them. "We need evidence. We are going to perform a search now!"
The Tong family did not object to that.
Neither did Tong Yanliang. He did not commit any crime; he had nothing to worry about.
For the sake of being fair, the search would be performed by a female cop and two administrative personnel from the union.
They were able to find four floral underwear from a travel bag, one of them with a big hole in the back, matching Old Mrs. Lin's description perfectly.
They walked out with the travel bag and asked the Tong family, "Who does this bag belong to?"
The Tong family looked at each other but nobody said anything.
Tong Yanliang's heart pounded, and his instinct told him that something had gone very wrong.
Suddenly, Tong Jiaxin stepped out from the crowd, pointed at Tong Yanliang, and said, "That belongs to my cousin! He brought that bac from the CSMC just a couple of days ago!"
Tong Yanliang gritted his teeth and wanted to jump up and give him a beating!
Being stared at by two cops, however, he had no choice but nodded and admitted to it, "Yes, the travel bag belongs to me."
The female cop called him shameless before pulling out the four pairs of underwear from inside the bag. "Come take a look and see if these are the ones that you are missing."
Old Mrs. Lin's underwear with holes was the most distinctive one. With her underwear in hand, she was as emotional as she had just been reunited with a long-lost family member.
"This one is mine! And you just said you didn't steal them. How did it end up in your travel bag if you didn't steal it?"
Tong Yanliang was so mad that he could vomit blood. "Why would I steal…"
Before he could even finish his sentence, someone ran in front of him and, without any further exchange, SLAP SLAP SLAP, Tong Yanliang were slapped multiple times across his cheeks.
"Why did you do that, Liangliang? You have disappointed me so!"
Tong Xuelu shouted out from the bottom of her heart while holding her hand over her chest.
Tong Yanliang could see stars in front of his eyes from the slapping. His ears rang and his cheeks stung.
That *(**), surely, she did that on purpose!
He wanted to lung at her, but his arms were held tight by the male cop.
He wanted to say something, but the cop didn't give him another chance to speak.
The male cop said, "Take him and the evidence away. Save the talking for later!"
Tong Yanliang panicked. He couldn't pay attention to Tong Xuelu anymore. "Mom, Dad, help me!"
"Comrade Cop, my son is innocent!"
Sun Guilan chased after them with tears and snots streaming down her face.
Tong Erzhu gave Tong Xuelu a stare and also ran after them.
Tong Xuelu shook her hand gently as she watched Tong Yanliang being taken away.
She shouldn't have slapped him so hard. Now her hand hurt.
Jie Jinhua was your typical bully at home.
She was scared chitless when the cops were there and just watched her oldest grandson being taken away.
When everybody else was gone, she quickly recollected herself. Pointed at Tong Xuelu, she scolded, "You ()*&^, why did you slap Yanliang earlier?"
And repeatedly no less. Who did she think she was!
Tong Xuelu put on a pained look again. "Grandma, I was just so disappointed earlier. My cousin is the oldest grandson of the Tong family, and the Tong family's future patriarch but look what all he had done ever since he had got here!
"Nevermind about all the fighting. Then he threatened to set fire and kill people here. Now he was even stealing underwear. What would be next at this rate? I only slap him because I wish that he would wake up. Doesn't Grandma wish cousin well?"
Jie Jinhua jumped up and down in anger. "Bull! He's my grandson, of course I want him well! I am asking why you slapped him!"
Tong Xuelu looked aggrieved, "Grandma, I only did that cousin and for the entire Tong family! Picking quarrels, provoking troubles, insulting women. Every one of these flout the country's laws and regulations. At this rate, nevermind about just a denunciation, he could even receive the death penalty!"
The words "death penalty" made Jie Jinhua's knees weak and she collapsed onto the ground.
Feng Zhaodi and Tong Sanzhuang didn't look much better either.
Chapter 24 - "Comrade Tong, the suspect Tong Yanliang accused you for setting him up. What do you have to say?"
Frowning, Tong Xuelu said, "Cousin had committed such a horrible crime. Wouldn't you want to clearly criticize him and state your stance? Did you want to be critiqued and receive the death penalty with him?"
All of the Tong family members dared not breath too loudly anymore. "…"
Tong Xuelu glanced over all of the Tong's. "I only slapped him to put on a show for the comrade cops. We needed to show that we are good citizens and would not commit crimes the way our cousin would!"
"…"
Jie Jinhua was going to ask Tong Xuelu to ask the other Tong family for help. Her lips parted and closed, and she couldn't form any words.
It wasn't that she didn't want to save her oldest grandson, but she was scared.
When someone else was critiqued in the past, she joined in and spit on them and threw rocks. That was fun at the time. Now she couldn't help but shuddered when she put herself in their shoes.
Aunty Cai spit in Jie Jinhua's direction and said, "Look at how much Xuelu had done for you all and you turned around and yelled at her. What a family of white-eyed wolves!"
Mother Xu, "They are white-eyed wolves for sure. Who said the night before that her grandson will never be arrested? Welp, he is arrested now. Good. We don't need people like him staying here!"
Jie Jinhua gave Mother Xu a deadly stare but she, nevertheless, dared not to be as arrogant as she was the day before.
Seeing that Jie Jinhua dared not talk back, Mother Xu lifted her head and stuck her chest out like a hen that had won a battle.
Tong Xuelu lowered her eyes slightly, her thick eyelashes covered up the smile in her eyes.
Befriending the Xu family was, indeed, a very good move on her part.
With Mother Xu's help in rebutting Jie Jinhua, that had saved her so much work.
After Tong Xuelu was taken away, the two other administrative staff quickly returned to the factory to make their reports.
The reported back everything that they had seen in details, including how the Tong family had been dining at the government-operated restaurant every day; not helping out with any work and having Tong Xuelu and her sibling take care of all of the work; and, on top of them, caused troubles left and right.
When the president of the union heard that, his brows furrowed so much that he could kill a fly between them. "Ridiculous. They are being too ridiculous. Their behaviors were that of capitalists!"
Plant Manager Yu, too, frowned. "Tong Dajun was so different from his brothers."
Tong Dajun and his wife were very hard-working people. They had never got into a tiff with anyone during their 10+ years of working at the factory."
How were his brothers and nephew like that? That was, indeed, mindboggling.
The president of the union picked up his ceramic cup and took a sip of water from it. "Lao Yu, you need to watch out when the two Tong brothers want to work at our factory. People like that could affect the morale of the entire factory."
Plant Manager Yu went silent for a little while and nodded. "Don't worry. I'll watch out for that."
Tong Dajun and his wife and saved the lives of both of his sons and he was very appreciated of that and had, therefore, arranged for them to work at the factory.
After the accident, he was the one who helped with funeral matters and did the legwork for their death benefits.
If he must say, he had repaid the couple already. He wasn't going to put the entire factory at risk just to show his appreciation.
He would need to give the officials over that factory a heads up and tell them to not sign off immediately when the Tong brothers wanted to work there.
With the Tong Yanliang incident, the atmosphere at the Tong's were gloomy. Even the young children dared not make any noises.
Some background on the Tong's family:
Tong Genlai, Tong Jiaming's grandfather, had two brothers and one sister. Both of his brothers died from illnesses before they were of age and his only sister remaining also died later on.
Tong Genlai's parents died early and, with no elders at home and being utterly poor, no girls from the village were willing to marry him. It wasn't until he was 30 years old that he was finally able to marry Jie Jinhua, who was too ugly to find herself a husband, through the introduction of others.
Jie Jinhua might be a little ugly, but she was fertile. She had a son the first year into their marriage and then two more after that. That allowed her to have speaking power at home.
Jie Jinhua had given birth to three sons, Tong Dajun, Tong Erzhu, and Tong Sanzhuang.
Tong Dajun married a girl from the village and had two sons and two daughters.
Tong Erzhu married Sun Guilan from the neighboring village. Sun Guilan's father was the team lead of the production team and had given birth to the oldest grandson immediately after they had gotten married. As such, she was Jie Jinhua's favorite daughter-in-law.
With the exception of Tong Yanliang, they had two more daughters. The youngest one is just 6 years old.
Tong Sanzhuang married Feng Zhaodi from the same village. Feng Zhaodi's mother named the four sisters Zhaodi, Pandi, Laidi, and Qiudi,* and finally had a son on her fifth try.
Feng Zhaodi, much like her mother, gave birth to two daughters. That made Jie Jinhua very unhappy with her.
In other words, with the exception of Tong Dajun's two sons, the old Tong family only had one more grandson, which was Tong Yanliang.
Sun Guilan, with her son, had always been rubbing that into the third brother's family's face. As such, the two branches had never gotten along well with each other.
Now that Tong Yanliang had been arrested, Feng Zhaodi and Tong Sanzhuang were not worried at all. In fact, they were secretly pleased.
Jie Jinhua, however, was genuinely worried about her grandson.
Once she had calmed down, she thought about it long and hard and did not want to give up on the option of asking the other Tong family for help. "You will head over to your adoptive parents' place and tell them to get Yanliang out one way or another."
They owed them that much.
They had raised Tong Zhenzhen for them for 15 years. If it wasn't for them, Tong Zhenzhen would have been long gone!
Tong Xuelu said to her, "I am not going, Grandma. I am firmly drawing the line between myself and someone who holds the national laws and regulations in contempt and undermines social order. If you want to go, Grandma, be my guest!"
Jie Jinhua was so angry that her face turned green. "Yanliang is your brother. Do you have a conscience?"
Tong Xuelu placed her hand over her chest and said, "I do have a conscience, Grandma. You shouldn't praise me like this all the time. It will get to my head."
Jie Jinhua almost died from frustration from her shamelessness. "…" I wasn't praising you!
"Oh, and, Grandma, I phoned my adoptive parents this afternoon. They said that my cousin's situation is very dire and there was no way they would interfere. And that if you dare go and talk to them, they will report you to the police right away."
"…"
Jie Jinhua had a headache from anger and grunted in bed.
Sun Guilan and Tong Erzhu only returned after it was dark outside.
Tong Xuelu felt for certain that they would make a scene with her when they returned. Lo and behold, when Sun Guilan saw her, she got down on her knees right away.
"Big niece, your Aunty is begging you. Please go and talk to your adoptive parents and have them help out Yanliang. Please. I will kowtow to you!"
As she spoke, she kowtowed to Tong Xuelu making loud slamming sounds with her head on the ground.
Tong Xuelu was surprised that Sun Guilan would do that.
Nevertheless, she would not be helping Tong Yanliang. Not in this lifetime.
Tong Xuelu returned to work like normal the next day.
She was quickly taken to the police station by a comrade cop.
She put on a worried look on her way there. "Comrade Cop, have I done something wrong? Why are you taking me to the police station?"
Seeing that Tong Xuelu was only the age of her daughter and was looking pale, the comrade cop who came looking for Tong Xuelu couldn't help but felt compassionate toward her.
"There's nothing you need to worry about. It's all just formality. All you need to do is to cooperate with us! That being said, your cousin is accusing you of setting him up on the underwear stealing incident. You should be prepared for that."
Translator's notes:
Di = younger brother. Zhao, Pan, Lai, Qiu – all have meanings like hoping, praying, welcoming, etc. You get the idea.
Tong Xuelu let out an "Oh" with a look of disbelief. "Why would he say such a thing? I have no grudge against him, so why would I want to set him up? I have always thought of him as my own brother. Him saying that is very hurtful!"
The female cop comforted her quickly. "Don't cry, Comrade. We will not wrong a good person. If you haven't done that, we will for certain get down to the bottom of this."
The female cop didn't really believe in what Tong Yanliang had said.
The female comrade in front of her was decorous, respectful, and polite. It was said that she used to belong in the Literary and Art Troupe. So why would someone like her set anyone up?
Tong Yanliang, on the other hand, just looked like a crook!
Besides, he started running as soon as he saw them. Not to mention his earlier words on burning houses and killing people.
As such, this female cop was not the only one who thought that he was just spewing out gibberish.
Tong Xuelu rubbed her eyes and said emotionally, "Thank you, Comrade Cop. I am relying on you to prove my innocence!"
Being looked at by Tong Xuelu so trustingly, the female cop suddenly felt a sense of responsibility. She felt that it was her duty to clear Tong Xuelu's name.
Arriving at the police station.
Tong Xuelu saw Tong Yanliang.
After one night, Tong Yanliang looked extremely disheveled. There were big dark circles under his eyes and his hair was a mess.
When Tong Yanliang saw her, he was aggravated. He lunged at her with his fists swinging. "You # *&(!, you are the one who set me up!"
The ($#&( went around spreading rumors that his family jewels were broken and that he groped a woman's backside. As such, she must also be the one behind the underwear incident.*
What he didn't understand was why did she do that. But it didn't matter that he couldn't figure that out. One way or another, he would not let her off the hook so easily!
Tong Xuelu threw herself at the female cop when Tong Yanliang lunged at her. Trembling from fear, she said, "Comrade Cop, I'm so scared. He is going to kill me!"
The female cop quickly defended her. "Don't worry. He won't be able to with us here!"
Tong Yanliang had yet to touch Tong Xuelu when he was grabbed by the male cop behind him.
The male cop did not look any happier than the female cop. Frowning, he shouted at him, "Sit down! You try anything else, we will just toss you in jail!"
Tong Yanliang turned pale when he heard that. "Comrade Cop, I, I wasn't going to hit her. I just want to ask her why did she set me up!"
The Comrade Cop did not look any happier. He shouted again, "Who set you up? That's just what you are claiming to be the truth. SIT DOWN!"
Tong Yanliang quickly sat back down on the chair. He didn't dare to stare at Tong Xuelu anymore.
Tong Xuelu whimpered in the female cop's arms for a while before she finally sat down in a chair on the other side of the room.
The male cop started asking questions. "Comrade Tong, Tong Yanliang, our suspect, stated that you were the one who stole the underwear and planted them on him. What do you have to say about that?"
Tong Xuelu gave a hurtful look. "I have no idea why he would say such a thing. I did not grow up with the Tong family and this was the first time we met each other. I have no grudge against him at all!"
The female cop nodded and jotted that down: No motives. No past conflicts.
Tong Xuelu carried on to say, "And, we need evidence for everything. He said I was the one who stole them. What kind of proof did he have?"
The male cop, "He said you spread rumors that he groped a woman's backside and that his… certain male anatomy was broken. Is that true?"
Tong Xuelu nodded. "Yes, I have said that. But I wasn't spreading rumors. My grandma was the one who told me that!"
Tong Yanliang gritted his teeth in anger, "You are just making things up. Grandma would never say such a thing!"
Tong Xuelu, "But she did tell me that. Why else would I say such things about you?"
Tong Yanliang, "…"
He wanted to figure that out too, alright?
As the words from the two conflicted with each other's, Jie Jinhua was quickly brought to the police station.
Translator's rambling:
*Ding ding ding. Not entirely an idiot.
Chapter 25 - She is so smart!
Jie Jinhua was carried to the police station by her son, Tong Sanzhuang.
She had collapsed to the floor and wet herself as soon as she heard that the fellow comrade cops wanted to speak to her!
After she was seated and saw how Tong Yanliang looked, her heart ached all of a sudden. "Ooooh, Grandma's precious little boy. Whatever happened to you?"
Tong Yanliang wasn't in the mood for that. Pointing at Tong Xuelu, he said, "Grandma, she said that you were the one who told her that I groped some woman's bottom and that my family jewels were broken. Have you said that to her?"
Jie Jinhua was taken aback a little. She then turned and scolded Tong Xuelu. "You *#(!, when did I say such a thing?"
Tong Xuelu frowned and looked aggrieved. "Grandma, have you forgotten already? You told me after you booted everyone out the other day!"
Jie Jinhua was infuriated. "You ) *#(, I am going to beat you to death. That ought to teach you…"
"Stop with the shouting already!"
The female cop had always been shouted at and beaten by her grandmother when she was a child. Seeing that Jie Jinhua had been yelling at Tong Xuelu since she had stepped inside the room, she sided with Tong Xuelu even more.
Jie Jinhua shuddered from that and collapsed into the chair. "Comrade Cop, she is lying. I have never said such things!"
Tong Xuelu's brows furrowed. "Grandma, I think your memory is getting worse. It has only been a few days. How do you not remember that already?"
Having said that, she looked up at the two comrade cops and said, "The day my grandmother arrived at Capital City, they ended up in the hospital because of a fight at the train station. I went with my brother to pick them up and took them to the government-operated restaurant for lunch.
"When we arrived home, Grandma booted all the others out and asked me for the death benefits. After I gave her the money, she told me about the incident at the train station. She said that my cousin was kicked in his family jewels because he groped a woman's bottom. Grandma cursed the family to have no offspring and the death of the entire family!"
Jie Jinhua, "…"
Tong Yanliang, "…"
Jie Jinhua was so angry that her nose was crooked. "You *# )*, when did I say such things? Besides, you never gave me the death benefits!"
Tong Xuelu's eyes widened. "Grandma, what are you talking about? If I hadn't gave you the death benefits, how were you able to dine at the government-operated restaurant and shop at the CSMC everyday?"
Jie Jinhua choked for a second and said, "You gave me that money!"
Tong Xuelu nodded. "Exactly. I gave you that money!"
Jie Jinhua, "…"
Wait, why did she feel that something was not right here.
Tong Xuelu, "You've all heard it, right, fellow comrade cops. My grandmother's condition is getting worse. One minute she said I didn't give her the money; the other minute she said I did."
The female cop jotted that all down: Material witness was not making any sense, possible mental issues.
Tong Xuelu carried on to say, "I had given the death benefits to my grandmother that day. Plant Manager Yu at the fabric factory can attest to that as can those in our compound, at the government-operated restaurant, and at the CSMC!"
Jie Jinhua was so angry that she could puke out blood. "…"
Quickly a bunch of people were brought over.
Chen Dani from the government-operated restaurant was brought over.
Seeing that Tong Xuelu was being bullied, she was angry instantly. "Comrade Cop, I can attest to that. This grandmother and her grandson had been coming to our government-operated restaurant everyday and asked for meat with every meal!"
The salesperson at CSMC, "I can attest to that as well. This lady bought clothes, three jin of milk candies and snacks, and this young man bought a travel bag and cloth shoes."
Aunty Cai and Mother Xu both nodded. "We, too, can attest to that…"
Lastly, it was Plant Manager Yu. "Yes, Comrade Jie Jinhua did tell me that she had already received the death benefits."
"…"
Their words made Jie Jinhua's face turn beet red. She was nervous, nervous, nervous.
"I did not receive the death benefits. I only said that because this # *)) told me that she had given the death benefits to her adoptive father. Her adoptive father is a higher-up government official. Oh right, he is some sort of director. She said she had given him the money and that we would be able to double that in half a month and end up with 2,000 yuan. She told me not to tell that to anyone else!"
After she had said that, everybody looked at Jie Jinhua as though she was a fool.
Tong Xuelu, "Grandma, I think your illness is affecting your mind! Nevermind that you were just changing your statements casually earlier, now you are just making up stories! My adoptive father, as the Director of the Oil Department, had always been an upright and selfless person. He would never bend the law for his personal gain. Even if he is, how is he going to be able to make so much money for you?"
Aunty Cai and the others nodded.
That was crazy talk. A thousand yuan in two weeks. There was no such thing under the sun!
The comrade cop didn't believe in Jie Jinhua's words at all. The Oil Department did, indeed, control the buying and selling of munitions of the military but money did not pass through their department.
Besides, if there truly was anyone who'd bend the laws for personal gain, an amount like that would have been discovered a long time ago. It would never have gone on for so long.
Jie Jinhua was even more frantic, noticing that nobody believed her.
Suddenly, an idea came to her. She recalled what happened before their trip to Capital City.
A son of someone from the Production Team had returned from Capital City at the time and was wondering why they were still in the village after Tong Dajun and his wife had passed away. That was when she learned of Tong Dajun's accident.
They immediately went to the office of the Production Team to call up the factory. The factory told them that Tong Jiaming had notified them a long time ago. She was infuriated at the time and had planned to teach that brat a good lesson after she arrived in Capital City.
Lo and behold, after they had arrived at Capital City, they were robbed, starved for a day, and Tong Xuelu had promised her 2,000 yuan. She had completely forgotten about the other matter.
Now that she remembered it, she started shouting right away, "You (* ))!, you had this planned all along. Plant Manager Yu, do you still remember when I called you a while back? We never received the call from the brat Tong Jiaming. We would have come over a lot sooner and never waited for two weeks."
Plant Manager Yu gave Tong Xuelu a look when he heard that and nodded at the two cops. "That was true. I asked Comrade Tong about it the next day and she said that was because Comrade Jie had lost her mind and couldn't remember things very well."
When Jie Jinhua heard Mother Xu called her a crazy woman, Jie Jinhua had assumed that Mother Xu was only saying that in the spur of the moment. As it turned out, Tong Xuelu had been spreading rumors about her.
She turned white and red and wanted to lunge at Tong Xuelu and hit her. "You brat. All you do is spread untrue rumors all the time. Watch me tear up your lips!"
Tong Xuelu covered up her face in fear. "Don't hit me, Grandma!"
She was very scared.
It was all feigned, of course.
Before Jie Jinhua could touch Tong Xuelu, the female cop had already grabbed her arm. "You try to hit someone again, we will lock you up too!"
Jie Jinhua was too angry right now to be afraid of the cop. She did, however, rein it in some. "Comrade Cop, you heard it just now. She set us up from the very beginning. Arrest her now!"
Tong Xuelu had an aggrieved look. "Jiaming called you immediately after my parents' accident. You were the one who answered the phone at the time, Grandma. Have you forgotten about it already?"
"Q)! #0 #*)!"
Jie Jinhua couldn't be any angrier.
The male cop said, "That won't be difficult to find out. We just have to give the Production Team a call and see if they had received a call from Capital City."
Jie Jinhua, "That's right. That's right. Hurry up and make that call, Comrade Cop!"
Tong Xuelu's eyes lit up when he heard that as well. She turned and looked at Tong Xuelu complacently. "**& , you are going down!"
Tong Xuelu looked very calm on the outside but, where others couldn't see, her hands were clenched tightly.
That was an act committed by Tong Jiaming and he wasn't very thorough at the time either.
If she had done it herself, she would for certain had placed a call to the Production Team. Nobody would know she did or did not say over the phone.
Unfortunately, she returned too late and what had been done had been done. She had no choice but to insist that it had, indeed, happened.
One way or another, Jie Jinhua had almost admitted to accepting the death benefits and the evidence of stealing underwear pointed to Tong Yanliang. Worst case scenario, others would just condemn them for not making the call.
There was a telephone at the police station. They placed the call to the Production Team immediately after they got ahold of their number.
Chen Xiaolian of the Production Team was the one who answered the call.
She was normally the only one at the office and the one responsible for answering the calls and informing the others to come to the phone.
Lo and behold, around the time when Tong Dajun had passed away, she was not there at the office all the time like she was supposed to. She was busy cheating with her brother-in-law!
There may have been a call from Capital City and that she had missed it. Nevertheless, if she said that, that could drag her in and expose her affair with her brother-in-law.
She gritted her teeth and made up her mind. "Yes, it was the 7th of last month when I received the call from the Tong family. I then had Jie Jinhua came to answer the call. I don't what they talked about on the call as I went to take care of the accounting books at the time."
The male cop told everyone what Chen Xiaolian had said after he hung up the phone. Both Jie Jinhua and Tong Xuelu were stunned when they heard it.
Jie Jinhua: Hot dang! That Chen Xiaolian was setting her up!
Tong Xuelu: ? ? ? Really? Something so awesome could happen for real?
Tong Xuelu had no idea why the other person was helping her out but she wasn't complaining about it.
Jie Jinhua jumped up and shouted. "That Chen Xiaolian was lying! I had scolded that seductive woman in the past, so she is setting me up!"
The male cop's face dropped and he said sternly, "You said there was no calls before. Now that we have proof that it had taken place, you refused to believe it! You said you have taken the death benefits, then you said you didn't. What can we believe?"
Jie Jinhua's knees buckled, intimidated by the male cop. She fell back, once again, onto the chair, "I… I…"
Tong Xuelu cut her off, "Grandma, this is considered perjury and that's illegal! And, you had just accused my adoptive father of corruption. That's openly framing a military personnel. This is very serious once they had gotten down to the bottom of it all."
The female cop also nodded. "Perjury, framing a military personnel. With those two combined, you could be sentenced up to 7 years of imprisonment. If it is more serious, it could also get you death penalty."
Death! Penalty!
Jie Jinhua felt moisture. She had wetted herself once again.
She loved her grandson, but she didn't want to die!
Seeing that Jie Jinhua had peed herself, Mother Xu had a crooked smile on her. "Oh boy, oh boy. How are you still peeing yourself at your age? You really are ill!"
Ill?
That's right! She's ill!
Jie Jinhua suddenly shouted out, "I'm crazy I'm cray I'm crazy! Everything that I had just said were all crazy talks…"
As long as she was crazy, then nothing that she had said would count!
She is so smart!
Everyone, "… …"
Even Tong Xuelu was stunned by Jie Jinhua's approach.
She didn't think that Jie Jinhua would be so easily intimidated, or that she would pretend to be crazy just to skirt away from responsibilities.
That was, of course, great news for Tong Xuelu.
Chapter 26 - "What happened? How did she go crazy just like that?"
Tong Yanliang was about to blow up from anger. "What are you talking about, Grandma?! Quick, tell the comrade cops that you are not crazy. Everything was done by Tong Xuelu to set us up!"
If Grandma was "crazy", who else could attest that the * )#* Tong Xuelu was setting him up?
He could not allow for that to happen!
Tong Sanzhuang, too, was shocked. "Mom, when have you gone crazy? How come I didn't know that?"
Jie Jinhua: I didn't know that either!
Mother Xu suddenly let out an "Eh" and whispered to Aunty Cai, "I thought she was crazy before but then she didn't really look it. Other crazies would laugh and cry and drool. Some would even hit themselves. But look, she didn't do any of those. She didn't look crazy to me."
Jie Jinhua's body stiffened when she heard that.
She smiled like an idiot the very next second. Then, after a little while, she started to weep. Drool came out of the corners of her lips.
The way she looked…... was very difficult on the eyes.
This was the path that she had chosen, she must follow it all the way through even if she had to crawl down it on her knees.
Everyone, "…"
This craziness seemed so arbitrary.
As Jie Jinhua had gone "crazy", she was no longer qualified as a witness.
Truth was, even if she hadn't gone crazy, with the way that she was back and forth with her words and constantly denying what she had said before, she would not have become a witness anyway.
Because Jie Jinhua had fallen, Tong Yanliang's accusation could not be established.
There was, however, evidence that pointed toward him stealing underwear and threatening Mother Xu that he would kill and burn houses down.
Tong Yanliang was locked up right away.
His hands were clenched into fists with their veins showing when he was taken down.
Giving Tong Xuelu deathly glares, he mouthed the words to her, "Just you wait, # ()*!"
Meeting his eyes, Tong Xuelu felt that she was being stared at by a cold and poisonous snake. It gave her goosebumps on her arms.
She did not back down, however: Okay, I'll wait.
She was able to send Tong Xuelu to prison this time partly because of luck but also mostly because of the special political situation during this era.
It's a pity that this is not the period of the crackdown in 1983. At this time, the crime of hooliganism had not been written into the criminal law. In Tong Yanliang's case, he would be sentenced to two or three years at most.
He would be a headache all over again in 2 ~ 3 years.
Jie Jinhua bawled when she saw her precious grandson being taken down. Tears and snot kept coming out of her.
When Sun Guilan, waiting outside, found out about it, her eyes rolled and she passed out.
Finally, Tong Sanzhuang carried Jie Jinhua, who had wet herself earlier, back home. Tong Erzhu also carried his wife on his back after he gave Tong Xuelu a stare.
Witnessing the scene, Chen Dani asked worriedly, "It looks like your Grandma and your uncles are very upset at you."
Tong Xuelu said with her eyes reddened. "My siblings and I were so happy when we learned that they were coming. My parents are gone and they are our only family left. I have no idea how all this happened…"
Chen Dani was worried when she saw Tong Xuelu crying, "Don't cry. This is not your fault!"
Aunty Cai, too, came over to comfort her. "She is right. This is not your fault. You have been so nice to your grandmother and the others. We have all witnessed that. If anyone dares to say one bad word about you, I will be the first to unleash on him!"
"Exactly, you and your siblings had been waiting on them hands and feet day in and day out. They turned around and committed such shameless crimes and tried to pin that on you. They were the shameless ones!"
Mother Xu was very appreciative that Tong Xuelu had sold them the stevedore position to them for cheap. Now that they were able to swap positions, her daughter-in-law would be starting in the fabric factory in a few days.
They would have two workers at home by then and that would greatly alleviate their financial pressures. All of this was Tong Xuelu's credits.
Mother Xu turned and looked at Plant Manager Yu as she spoke, "Plant Manager, we all request to have Jie Jinhua and her family removed from our compound!"
Aunty Cai nodded as well. "She is right. Those of us at the compound have always been friendly and helpful to each other. Yet, ever since this family has arrived, they have talked about burning down houses and killing people, then underwear was stolen. How would we be able to sleep with them there?!"
Plant Manager Yu went silent for a little while, then said, "Okay, I understand. I'll have a meeting at the plant when I return and have this figured out."
He turned and walked out of the police station when he was done talking.
Tong Xuelu looked back and said to the others. "We should head out as well. I feel so bad taking up so much of your time."
Chen Dani waved her hand. "You have nothing to feel bad about. That being said, it is getting late, and I should be going."
She left quickly after that.
Aunty Cai and Mother Xu didn't need to go to work but they had a lot to take care of at home. They were all important tasks.
Tong Xuelu needed to return to her work at the plant. She would be traveling in the same direction as Aunty Cai and Mother Xu, so the three of them walked out together.
By the time they got to the door, a man in cop uniform walked up to them.
The man had thinly trimmed hair, his features prominent, and he was stocky. He looked to be around 1.85 meters.
Seeing Tong Xuelu, the man's look landed on her face. Not the creepy kind of look but the kind when one saw something beautiful and couldn't help themselves.
Tong Xuelu, standing in between Aunty Cai and Mother Xu, stood out even more than a crane standing among chickens. The man spotted her right away.
He, however, didn't think much of it but walked right past them.
Tong Xuelu, too, looked over at the man as she walked past him. She, too, didn't think much of it and returned to her laborious job at the plant.
Pu Jianyi walked inside the office, saw the male and female cops gathering up their witness statements, and asked casually, "You guys are done already?"
The female cop clicked her tongue and said, "More or less. The brat did steal the underwear! And he had the audacity to accuse someone else! His cousin is a pitiful one.
"She was kidnapped when she was young. When she was found, she was returned to the wrong family. She was raised by her adoptive parents for 10+ years before they realized the mistake. What made it even worse was that she was just reunited with her real parents before they died in a car accident. And now she was being accused and set up by her grandmother and her cousin. That is so pitiful!"
Pu Jianyi was taken aback a little when he heard that. Why did that sound so familiar?
"What's their surname?"
The female cop raised her brows. "Tong. Why? You know them?"
Pu Jianyi shook his head. "No, I don't."
Having said that, he walked over to behind the female cop and looked at the statements in front of her.
When he saw "Tong Xuelu", his heavy brow moved unnoticeably.
When he recalled the girl who had walked past him, his other brow moved too. He then briskly walked to his own office.
Once he was in his office, he picked up the phone and dialed a number. The other end picked up quickly. "I am looking for Wen Rugui."
"Hang on."
The phone was picked up again after a little while. A mild but slightly cold voice came from the other end, "This is Wen Rugui. Who is it?"
"Rugui, it's me. Do you know who I just ran into?"
Wen Rugui lifted his hand and looked at his watch. He then said nonchalantly, "I still have two more experiments to do. You have one-minute's time."
Pu Jianyi pushed the back of his teeth with his tongue and said, "Fine, one minute it is. I am sure you will be interested in what I have to say! The female comrade that you asked me to keep an eye out for last time, her name is Tong Xuelu, right?"
It was a long silence from the other end of the phone. So long that Pu Jianyi thought he had been disconnected.
"Rugui, did you hear what I said? I said I saw the female comrade at the station today."
"Yeah, I'm listening."
Having heard that, Pu Jianyi's lips curved right away. "I knew you were still listening. Did you know what happened to that female comrade?"
Another silence from the other end of the phone. Pu Jianyi didn't wait this time, he carried on saying, "That poor girl. She was hit by her adoptive parents' real daughter last time and this time she was accused by her own grandmother and cousin…"
He told Wen Rugui the entire case excitedly and Wen Rugui was still on the line with him when he was done.
He took a look. It had been well over a minute by now. He was short of grinning from ear to ear. "Rugui, you know this female comrade, right? She's so pitiful. Do you think that I should lend her a hand?
Wen Rugui frowned slightly with the receiver in his hand.
He looked through the window and at the tall, grey wall outside. A very distinct face popped into his mind.
She had a tear-like mole under the left eye, a very small one. A feature that one would not notice if one wasn't looking carefully.
From what Pu Jianyi had told him, a fragile girl being helplessly bullied by her family appeared in his mind and somewhere inside of him felt uncomfortable.
His eyelids shuddered a little and he said nonchalantly, "Help her if it's within your ability."
Pu Jianyi chuckled. "Am I counting that as a favor for you?"
"Mmm."
"I am becoming more and more curious now. What is your relationship with this girl?"
"Not related."
"Yeah, right. You can barely tell women apart nevermind asking for help voluntarily. Be honest. Are you in a relationship?"
"No, your one minute is up."
The phone was disconnected after that.
The tip of Pu Jianyi's tongue pushed the back of his teeth again when he was listening to the dial tone.
There must be something going on with him. What one minute? It had been at least 5 minutes!
Remembering Tong Xuelu's bright and big eyes, he tsked.
Had he known who she was ahead of time, he would have found a way to weasel onto the case.
What a bummer.
Jie Jinhua and the others returned to the compound.
Sun Guilan threw herself at Jie Jinhua as soon as she had regained consciousness. "Mom, please help Yanliang. You are the only one who can help him!"
She did not believe one bit that her mother-in-law had gone insane!
Her mother-in-law was perfectly fine before going to the police station. It was not possible that she lost her mind just like that!
Tong Erzhu, too, looked like he was about to cry. "Mom, you raised Yanliang too. His life will be over if he's been to prison!"
Feng Zhaodi looked at her mother-in-law intensely, trying to see if she could find any signs.
Jie Jinhua, however, drooled and smiled foolishly as though she had really gone insane.
Jie Jinhua was not happy about it either.
She wanted to save her grandson as well but, if she said she was not crazy, the cops would hold her accountable for her words and she just might get a death sentence!
As such, she must continue to pretend that she was crazy no matter what.
Feng Zhaodi pulled her husband aside and asked in a low voice, "What happened? How did Mom just go crazy like that?"
Tong Sanzhuang scratched his nose and said, "They said mom committed perjury and accused a military personnel and that that will warrant a death penalty. Mom freaked out, peed herself, and said she was crazy."
Feng Zhaodi heard "death penalty" and was startled. "How did we get to the point of death penalty? Tell me the entire thing!"
Tong Sanzhuang picked his ear and said, "I don't remember the details anymore."
Each cop was meaner than the previous one. He dared not even breathe too loudly once he was in there. Then there was the very formal way that they talked. There was no way he could repeat them.
Feng Zhaodi smacked him viciously. "How useless are you? Can even remember something so simple. I should have been the one who went had I known!"
Chapter 27 - "'Green' as in giving someone a green hat."
Something occurred to Feng Zhaodi suddenly and her voice lowered. "Did Mom say where she is keeping the death benefits?"
Tong Sanzhuang had an odd look on him. "Mom said she never got them. But she also told the Plant Manager that she did get them. Maybe she has really lost her mind?"
Feng Zhaodi gritted her teeth and walked over to Jie Jinhua. "Mom, do you still remember me? I am Zhaodi."
Jie Jinhua, "Hahaha…."
Feng Zhaodi, "Mom, let me ask you something. Where are you keeping the death benefits?"
Jie Jinhua, "Wuwuwu…"
What death benefits? She had none of that!
But she couldn't say anything.
Feng Zhaodi asked a few times but had gotten nowhere. She looked more and more unhappy.
Feng Zhaodi and Tong Sanzhuang wanted to ask Tong Xuelu about the death benefits; Sun Guilan and Tong Erzhu wanted to tear Tong Xuelu up from end to end; and Jie Jinhua wanted to claw her eyes out.
Nevertheless, they only dared to think about it. When Tong Xuelu came home from work, they didn't even dare to make a peep.
All eyes in the compound were on them right now. If they dared to shout at Tong Xuelu, for sure they would go and report them.
Then the family just might reunite in prison.
As such, did they dare to make a move?
No, they didn't.
Tong Xuelu thought that Tong Yanliang's verdict would take at least two weeks or more but it was done in three days.
His punishment was more severe than she had expected. He was sentenced to five years in prison and would be sent to the harshest area of the northwest for reforming.
Sun Guilan cried so hard that she passed out once again after she learned of the sentence.
It had only been a few days, but she was disheveled and had lost so much weight that she could have been a different person.
Tong Xuelu disliked Sun Guilan at the beginning and felt that she was vitriolic and selfish. Nevertheless, over the incident with Tong Yanliang, she was the one who seemed the most humane in this whole Tong Yanliang incident.
Granted, her motherly love would not move Tong Xuelu a bit. She would never let a creep like Tong Yanliang off the hook.
Shortly thereafter, different news struck the old town Tong family.
The plant had requested for them to move out of the compound!
Jie Jinhua was so mad that her nose was crooked. "Why do we have to leave?!"
Feng Zhaodi, too, looked very unhappy, but she did her best to put a smile on herself. "Fellow Comrade Administrators, my brother-in-law and his wife had two positions at the plant and, now that they are gone, we want to take them over…"
She wasn't even done talking when she was cut off by one of the administrators. "You have been feasting at the government-operated restaurant every day. Our plant does not welcome those who behave like they are capitalists!
"You better take off tomorrow. Any more issues from you, and the union will report you."
Again with the reporting!
The Tong family had been completely traumatized by those two words by now.
After the two administrators had taken off, Feng Zhaodi stared at Tong Xuelu and said, "Good job, niece. You had us set up from the very beginning. I didn't think you could be so vicious at your young age."
No wonder Tong Xuelu and her siblings never went to the government-operated restaurant with them and would stay behind and have sweet potato porridge and pickled vegetables instead.
She had thought that they knew their places and was also secretly happy that there were four less people to fight over the meat with them. As it turned out, it was a set up all along!
That was such a vicious move on her part!
Tong Xuelu had an innocent look on her face. "Third Aunty, I have no idea what you are talking about."
Sun Guilan jumped up and her finger almost poked Tong Xuelu on her face. "You can stop with the faking now! You evil woman. So evil at your young age. Just you wait. What goes around, comes around!"
Tong Xuelu brushed her hand aside nonchalantly. "Second Aunty, you better calm down. If you hurt me, you might be sent to a farm as well."
Her words were like water droplets dripping into oil and splattered all over the place in everyone's minds!
Tong Zhenzhen had offended her and was sent to the farm.
They had no idea how Tong Yanliang had offended her but he, too, was sent to the farm. One in the faraway northwest at that.
It was pin drop silent inside the house.
None of the Tongs from the old village dared to make a sound.
Now that the good front was gone, Tong Xuelu no longer bothered with pretending. "I've already sold my dad's position and I will be taking over my mom's one myself. I will give you half the amount that I sold the position for and don't even bother thinking about the rest."
Jie Jinhua jumped up and down in anger. "You )#*() *, I am going to report you to the union!"
Tong Xuelu's lips curved. "Exactly what would you like to tell them? That I committed perjury or that I had accused a military personnel? Or that I behaved like a capitalist and had meat every day?"
The Tong family, "…"
All of them were like chickens with their necks pinched and none of them could make a word for a long time.
Tong Xuelu, "If I were you, I'd take the money and leave the capital city. Don't wait until there is nothing left and then regret it."
Having said that, she turned and left, not caring how the Tongs looked.
Of course Tong Xuelu didn't want to give the Tong family any money from her selling the position at the plant. Nevertheless, she didn't want to leave behind any open ends.
Those from the old village would, for certain, report her to the union if she didn't give them a penny.
Besides, even a rabbit, when backed into a corner, would bite. She didn't want to back those from the old village into a corner and make them want to take her down with them.
She only wanted to send them away as quickly as possible and deter them from coming to the capital city in the future.
The members of the Tong family only recollected themselves after Tong Xuelu had disappeared from the backyard. All of them were so angry that their noses were crooked.
All sorts of profanity flew in the air.
Nevertheless, none of them dare to go and confront Tong Xuelu.
In their eyes right now, Tong Xuelu was worse than the devil. Anyone who offended her would end up at the farm.
The next day, those from the old village returned to Beihe, defeated.
She mustn't give up right now.
Under the looks that wanted to tear her into pieces, Tong Xuelu longingly went to the train stations with those from the old village and watched them get onto the train longingly.
Her smile only lightened after the train had departed.
Right when she was thinking about how to celebrate after sending the tools away, she heard a strong baritone––
"Excuse me, are you Wen Rugui's girlfriend?"
Tong Xuelu: ? ? ?
What the heck?
Since when did she become Wen Rugui's girlfriend?
Tong Xuelu turned around and saw a tall man standing in front of her.
The man had prominent features, was tall, and was around 30 or so in age.
She paused a little and recalled that she had seen this man before at the police station the other day, except that he was in police uniform then but was in casual clothes today.
None of those was the main point here. The main point here was how did he know her?
And why did he say that she was Wen Rugui's girlfriend?
Tong Xuelu studied Pu Jianyi and Pu Jianyi, too, was studying her.
She was stunning from just that one look the other day. Now that she was standing right in front of him, she was breathtaking.
Her skin was fair and fine, and she was glowing under the sun. Her eyes were foggy and golden sparkles of lights danced in them, making everything else around lose their lights.
Pu Jianyi said, "I am a friend of Wen Rugui's. My name is Pu Jianyi. 'Pu' as in simple, 'jian' as in construct, and 'yi' as in reliable. We met the other day outside of the police station. I am not sure if you still remember."
She did have an impression of him.
But he still hadn't shared with her his motive. Plus, she did not think that someone nonchalant like Wen Rugui would make up crazy talk that she was his girlfriend.
Her red lips curved, and her two dimples could be seen. "Hi, my name is Tong Xuelu. 'Tong' as in winter with the 'man' character on the side, 'xue' as in it is snowing, and 'lu' is green as in making someone wear a green hat."*
Pu Jianyi, "…"
Translator's notes:
When you "make someone wear a green hat" = you have cheated them. i.e. A wife who had cheated on her husband = "made him wear a green hat".
Chapter 28 - "It's me, Wen Rugui."
Pu Jianyi paused for a few seconds. He was caught off guard by that answer.
Tong Xuelu lifted her brows some. "I am just kidding with you, Comrade Pu. It is 'lu' (green) as in 'the grass is green'."
Pu Jianyi, "…"
He still felt that something was off.
He didn't think much of it but brought up the question that he was interested in again, "Then, may I ask if you are in a relationship with Rugui?"
Tong Xuelu's eyelids shuddered a few times gently and she put on a shy look, "Yes."
Pu Jianyi was very excited when he heard that. "Really? You two are really in a relationship?"
Tong Xuelu said with a serious look, "Of course it's true. We have been dating for over a year now."
Over! A! Year! ! !
Pu Jianyi was stunned by the news. It took him a while to recollect himself.
He gritted his teeth and said, "I can't believe he'd hide something like that from me! I asked him just yesterday and he told me he isn't seeing anyone! How could he!"
Yup. She was right. There was no way Wen Rugui would have said such a thing given his personality.
Tong Xuelu's pretty brows raised a little. She took a step back and started her performance.
She covered up her mouth and looked at Pu Jianyi dubiously, "If Rugui hadn't told you about us, how did you find out about me?"
Pu Jianyi scratched his head and chuckled. "Well, that, hehe…"
Tong Xuelu took two more steps back and frowned at him. "Are you scheming something? Better be out with it now. Any more 'hehehe' and I am going to scream!"
Having said that, she looked around and looked like she was about to start screaming.
Seeing that she really was going to scream, Pu Jianyi panicked. "No, no, no, Comrade Tong. Don't do that. I don't have any bad intentions. I only know about you because last time Rugui…"
In order to alleviate Tong Xuelu's worry, Pu Jianyi quickly told Tong Xuelu everything about how Wen Rugui had asked him to help with Tong Zhenzhen's incident previously and how he happened to find out about her case this time and informed Wen Rugui about it.
After listening to the entire story, Tong Xuelu was stunned.
She never expected that Wen Rugui would help her out.
She had thought that she had been very lucky, and things had gone very well because of her plans.
That being said, why did he help her?
Was it because she was pretty?
A beautiful face could achieve a lot. Then she recalled Wen Rugui's cold face. She shook her head. He didn't seem like that kind of a person.
Over on this side, after Pu Jianyi had explained everything, something had occurred to him. "No, wait. If the two of you had been dating for over a year, you should have met Old Mr. Wen already. Then why was he still sending Rugui on arranged dates just a while ago? Did Rugui not tell his family?"
So even a handsome boy would be made to go on arranged dates.
Tong Xuelu frowned a little and was about to tell him the truth, "He did not tell it to his family because…"
Before she could finish up what she was saying, she was cut off by Pu Jianyi, "Comrade Chairman had said that any relationship without the intention of getting married is the behavior of hooligans. I have never thought of Rugui as a hooligan!"
Tong Xuelu, "…"
No wait. Comrade, why don't you let me finish with what I was saying first?
Over at the base, Wen Rugui sneezed. It almost ruined the result of the experiment that he had just completed.
The more Pu Jianyi thought about it, the angrier he got. "Don't worry about a thing, Comrade Tong. I will help you out here. I will make sure that he owns up to it."
"No, that really won't be necessary because…" Tong Xuelu gave him a very innocent look. "Comrade Wen Rugui and I are not in a relationship."
Pu Jianyi was stunned when he heard that. His brows that were all over the place from anger had yet to return to their normal positions. "Didn't you just say the two of you had been dating for a year?"
Tong Xuelu's lips curved. "I was just messing with you. That being said, Comrade Pu, you are a cop. There are a lot of bad people out there. You really shouldn't just believe in everything that others say. You are too gullible that way."
Pu Too-Gullible Jianyi, "…"
Pu Jianyi was stunned speechless as though struck by lightning. He looked at Tong Xuelu in disbelief.
Not only was he fooled, Tong Xuelu was able to extract all that information from him?
Pu Jianyi looked at the girl that was smiling slightly at him and could not accept the fact that he was an idiot.
A smile flashed past Tong Xuelu's eyes. She cleared her throat and said, "I need to return to work. Laters~"
Having said that, she turned to leave. She walked out quite a bit before she suddenly turned around to look at him.
Tong Xuelu couldn't help but bust out laughing when she saw Pu Jianyi still standing where he was like a silly goose.
He didn't look like the brightest star in the sky, but it was only because of him that she had found out that Wen Rugui had helped her out behind the scenes.
But why did Wen Rugui help her?
She thought about it for a while but wasn't able to figure it out. She did, however, make a mental note of it.
She would repay his favor when she had a chance to do so.
By the time Tong Xuelu had disappeared into the train station, Pu Jianyi finally recollected himself.
He returned to the police station, distressed. He thought about it some, picked up the phone, and gave Wen Rugui a call.
Nevertheless, he was told that Wen Rugui had left for the research base, and they didn't know when he would be back. They asked if he wanted to leave a message.
Pu Jianyi left his name and hung up.
He touched the back of his teeth with the tip of his tongue. He felt that he may have ruined something for Wen Rugui.
He wasn't sure how Wen Rugui would react when he found out.
Tong Xuelu did not return to work but returned to the compound instead.
She washed all the bed sheets and pillow covers that the Tong family had used and brought the pillows out to be placed under the burning sun. She also cleaned the house inside and out.
When she was all done, she was so tired that she could barely stand up straight.
"You are tired, Big Sister. Mianmian will give you a back massage."
Mianmian climbed onto the bed with her stubby little legs and pounded Tong Xuelu on her back with her chubby little paws here and there.
Tong Xuelu collapsed onto the bed and said in a dull voice. "Thank you, Mianmian. Can you do it harder? That's not hard enough."
Hearing her Big Sister's words, Tong Mianmian cocked her head, thought about it some, and responded loudly. "Okay!"
Tong Mianmian clenched her fists and pounded Tong Xuelu on her back as hard as she could.
Tong Xuelu, "…"
She might as well have been scratching Tong Xuelu's back.
After pounding for a little while, she rolled over, pulled the little bun into her arms and gave her a kiss. "Grandma and the others are gone. Is Mianmian happy?"
The little bun nodded forcefully, "Yes!"
She paused for a little before leaning in and said in a low voice, "Mianmian does not like that big brother!"
The Big Brother loved pinching her on her cheeks and one time that he hugged her so tightly that it hurt.
Tong Xuelu rubbed the little bun on her head. "Big Sister doesn't like him either."
The little bun was a bit worried after saying what she had said but she instantly felt better after hearing that her Big Sister didn't like him either. "Will he be back?"
"No." At least not anytime soon.
By the time he returned from the northwest in 5 years' time, Mianmian would only be 8.5 years old. She would still be young and still not out of the woods. Regardless, Tong Xuelu would not give Tong Yanliang a chance to get close to Tong Mianmian.
After Tong Jiaming and Tong Jiaxin returned from school and learned that the gang from the old village were gone, they were both stunned.
Tong Jiaxin asked repeatedly with his eyes widened, "They really are gone? And they will never be back again?"
When he received a definitive answer, he was so happy that he somersaulted a few times on the ground.
Tong Jiaming was not an expressive one but his lips curved upward for a change and there was joy in his eyes.
Tong Jiaxin scratched his head and looked at Tong Xuelu with anticipation, "Does that mean we don't need to eat pickled vegetables from now on?"
Tong Xuelu shook her head, "Of course…. Not."
Those from the old village were kicked out because they were perceived as being too capitalistic for having too much fish and meat. What would others think if they started doing the same soon as they had left?
Truth was, Tong Xuelu would prefer to switch to a new job and move to a new place. It would be difficult for them to eat what they want otherwise.
Tong Jiaxin let out an "ao" and collapsed onto the ground while covering his face with his hands.
How was he to live without meats?!
That being said, Tong Xuelu still made two portions of garlic cabbage stir fry to celebrate the departure of those from the old village.
The siblings, after having plain porridge with pickled vegetables for days, felt that garlic cabbage stir fry was already a blessing.
Tong Jiaxin mixed the juice with his rice and had a whole three bowls of rice. He had so much that his stomach was rounded.
After dinner, Tong Jiaxin was still the one responsible for the dishes. Tong Mianmian went over to play with Zhudan next door.
Tong Xuelu and Tong Jiaming were the only ones left inside the house.
Tong Xuelu said, "I had Tong Zhenzhen sent to the farm because she hit Mianmian."
She told Tong Jiaming what happened the other day concisely and owned up to her own mistake.
She was, indeed, not being careful enough that day. She should not have left Tong Mianmian with Mother Tong. She didn't tell the Tong brothers afterward because the timing was bad.
The original owner did not kill the Tong Dajun husband and wife, but she had a lot to do with their death.
For certain the Tong brothers would have even more animosity toward her had she told them that Tong Mianmian was hit the day after her return.
She would admit that she was being a little selfish for not telling that to them but, given the situation back then, nothing would have come out of telling them except worsening the situation between them.
It wasn't a good thing for either one of them, which was why she chose to keep it from them at the time.
Tong Jiaming kept his eyes lowered and said at a moderate pace after a long while, "Okay, I get it now. We don't need to let Jiaxing find out about this."
Tong Xuelu timed it just perfectly. Had they found out at the time, there was no way they would have allowed her to stay there.
Nevertheless, now that they had worked together on chasing away those from the old village, there were things that he could not say.
Besides, Tong Xuelu was in the wrong, but Tong Zhenzhen was the one who hit Tong Mianmian. If he must place blame, it would have been on Tong Zhenzhen.
Seeing that his attitude toward her was alright, Tong Xuelu let out a sigh of relief.
She got up to bathe Tong Mianmian.
After a long day of running around, Tong Xuelu went to bed early with the little bun in tow.
She had no idea how long she had been sleeping when she heard knocking on the door.
She was too tired to move so she asked Tong Jiaming to go get the door. She called out a few times but had gotten no response.
She opened up her eyes and realized that she was the only one in the room. She had no idea where Tong Jiaming and the other two siblings had gone.
The knocking continued persistently. It didn't seem like it would stop unless she went to get the door.
Tong Xuelu was never in a good mood when she first woke up, let alone when she didn't even get enough sleep. She cursed as she climbed out of bed. "Who is it? Waking someone up in the middle of their sleep can be detrimental to their health!"
Suddenly, a low and warm voice came from outside of the door, "It's me, Wen Rugui."
Tong Xuelu was taken aback a little. She wondered how come Wen Rugui had come to look for her at the compound.
She opened the door and saw Wen Rugui standing outside, looking at her with his black eyes.
The way he was looking at her gave her goosebumps. She asked, "Hi, Comrade Wen. How can I help you?"
Chapter 29 - "Grandpa will be even happier if you come with Young Grass!"
Wen Rugui said not a word but walked inside and closed the door forcefully behind him. He then proceeded to walk inside the room while holding her.
Tong Xuelu struggled a little, "Comrade Wen, what are you doing? I am going to call for help!"
Wen Rugui brought her over to the bed and tossed her onto it.
He leaned down and said, "Did you say you want bed-don? That's why I've come. You can do with me whatever you please."
Wow, this… this was a bit too wild, no?
Looking at the handsome face right in front of her, Tong Xuelu felt that her brain wasn't working, and her breathing became heavy.
"You, you sure you want me to do to you as I please?"
Wen Rugui gave her a faint look and said, "Of course I mean it."
Having said that, he stood up and started to take his clothes off.
His long and fair fingers pressed down on the buttons and started unbuttoning them one by one while looking at her with his ink-like black eyes.
Oh boy. Who could resist this kind of temptation?
Tong Xuelu gulped and thought to herself: So what if it's bed-don? Go right ahead. She's ready.
The white shirt dropped onto the floor and, right when Wen Rugui was reaching for his pants, Tong Xuelu heard crying coming from outside the door all of a sudden––
"Mom, Zhudan crapped his pants again!"
Tong Xuelu opened up her eyes abruptly and stared at the ceiling for a long time.
Oh boy, that was too embarrassing!
Why did she have a dream like that?
She felt a bit regretful at the same time. Couldn't that Zhudan crap earlier or later? She was that close to seeing…
Precious jewels.
What a bummer.
It was already bright outside and Tong Jiaming had already started making breakfast.
She gave the little bun who was still sound asleep a kiss and sat up.
Huang Xianglan came over right when Tong Xuelu had finished washing up.
Tong Xuelu's eyes lit up when she saw Huang Xianglan.
She hadn't heard back from Su Xiuying this entire time and had thought that she had given up on making a police report.
Had she chosen to back off, Tong Xuelu wasn't planning on continuing to try and persuade her. One must first want to help themselves.
Tong Xuelu had been thinking about how she could swap a better job for herself recently and now Huang Xianglan had shown up.
She pretended that she had no idea what was going on and asked, "Hi, Xianglan, what brought you here?"
The others in the compound all looked curious when they saw Huang Xianglan.
Huang Xianglan was walking so fast that her face was reddened from the heat. "Comrade Tong, there's something that I want to talk to you about."
She then lowered her voice and added, "It's about my cousin."
Tong Xuelu patted her on her hand and gave her an "I understand" look. She had Aunty Cai help watch over Tong Mianmian, fetched her military bag, and left with Huang Xianglan.
Huang Xianglan told Tong Xuelu the story after they had walked out of the compound. "Comrade Tong, my cousin had made up her mind. She had decided to report that b**tard and her mother-in-law."
Tong Xuelu raised her brows, "What made Comrade Su make up her mind? She had been very hesitant previously."
Huang Xianglan sighed and said, "I went to check on my cousin after we talked the other day. I wanted to tell her about our suggestion. When I arrived at my cousin's place, I saw her lying in bed with bruises all over her face. She wasn't even able to get out of bed."
Tong Xuelu's brows furrowed. "That b**tard beat her again?"
Huang Xianglan nodded, and her eyes reddened. "My cousin said that she was beaten again after you departed the other day. Her back was hurt from a kick, and it hurt whenever she'd move. But that wasn't why she made up her mind this time. It was because the b**tard hit Xiao Qiu!"
A lot of the reason that Huang Xianglan had stayed this entire time was because she didn't want to leave her daughter. He Baogen didn't like his daughter Xiao Qiu but he had also never hit her before.
This time, however, when he was beating Sheng Xiuyan, Xiao Qiu ran over to protect her mother. He Baogen told her to move but Xiao Qiu didn't. In his rage, He Baogen hit Xiao Qiu as well.
"That b**tard! He is worse than an animal! Xiao Qiu is his own daughter. How could he?!"
Getting to the emotional part, Huang Xianglan couldn't help but cover up her face and cry.
Tong Xuelu tightened her fist and took a deep breath. "How's Xiao Qiu now? Is she alright?"
Huang Xianglan wiped away her tears and said, "She lost two teeth. The doctor said it almost hurt her eyes and that could have led to blindness."
That was the reason that Su Xiuying finally felt scared after the fact and made up her mind.
Luckily she did not remain a coward all the way to the end.
Tong Xuelu sighed to herself, "Will your cousin's neighbors testify for her if your cousin goes to file a police report?"
"I doubt it."
Huang Xianglan paused for a little and shook her head.
Tong Xuelu was not surprised by that answer at all.
People at this day and age would never encourage a couple to separate. The common belief was to take down 10 temples instead of ruining a marriage. The most common reaction was to tell the women to bear it.
What made matters even worse was that not only would her neighbors not testify if Su Xiuying was to report her husband and her mother-in-law; they would very well turn around and call her vicious and ungrateful.
"When was the last time that b*****d beat your cousin up? Does she still have any injury on her?"
Huang Xianglan thought about it some and said, "The wound on her forehead had healed but there should still be some bruising on her body."
Tong Xuelu frowned a little when she heard that. "That might not be sufficient."
It had been a few days already and the wounds had healed. Su Xiuying had been telling others that she fell on her own. Her heading over to the police station right now probably wouldn't do much good.
Unless…
Tong Xuelu hadn't said anything yet when Huang Xianglan said with her eyes reddened, "My cousin thought about that as well. She said to have you come as a witness. She will provoke that b*****d then and have her husband and mother-in-law beat her up together."
Tong Xuelu, "…"
That would be a way to have both of them put away at the same time, but it was also a bit on the extreme end.
Seeing that Tong Xuelu didn't say anything, Huang Xianglan worried that Tong Xuelu did not want to get involved. She quickly added, "Comrade Tong, I knew that it is not my place to ask, but my cousin has no other options. Please, help her this one time!"
Her family members would not be able to be witnesses. Plus, that b******d had connections in the police station. They had no connection and would never have the upper hand!
Tong Xuelu, "Don't worry. It's one thing if I didn't know about it. Now that I know, I would not just stand by and do nothing."
Huang Xianglan looked very appreciative. "Thank you, Comrade Tong. I will thank you for my cousin!"
Tong Xuelu waved her hand. "We are blue collar sisters. It is only right that we help each other out. Why wait? I'll just make a trip over today. Let's split up for now. You go and give your cousin a call and I will take a day off from the plant."
Huang Xianglan agreed and was about to take off.
Tong Xuelu stopped her all of a sudden. "Oh right. Can you get your hands on some chicken or pig blood at the government-operated restaurant?"
Huang Xianglan nodded, "Sure. We got a batch of live chickens today. The chef will be slaughtering them in a little while."
"Let me go with you and collect some of it then."
Huang Xianglan, "…"
Wen Rugui had returned to the research center from the experimental base and his colleague from the research center told him that his grandfather and someone by the name of Pu Jianyi had called him at different times.
He thanked his colleague and first returned his grandfather's call from the office.
Old Mr. Wen was just about to take off to a chess game with his comrade in arms. He whipped around immediately when he heard "Rugui" from Uncle Zhong and grabbed the phone, "You brat, do you still remember what day it is tomorrow?"
Wen Rugui, "It's Grandpa's birthday. I will be back today."
"You better!" Old Mr. Wen's goatee shook. "But I will be even happier if you can bring Young Grass with you to celebrate my birthday!"
Wen Rugui, "…"
Wen Rugui was going to give Pu Jianyi a call after hanging up the phone with Old Mr. Wen.
Then, recalling that he would be passing by the police station anyway, he might as well just go and talk to him in person.
Chapter 30 - "*****, I am going to kill you!"
Tong Xuelu went over to the government-operated restaurant with Huang Xianglan. It happened that the chef at the government-operated restaurant was slaughtering the chickens.
Tong Xuelu dipped some cotton into the chicken blood and placed her hand over it on her way back to the plant.
When Manager Ma from the sewing department saw her, she was shocked. "What happened to your forehead, Xuelu?"
Tong Xuelu frowned and made painful noises. "Manager Ma, a bicycle ran into me on my way here and I had a lesion on my forehead. I want to take some time off and head to the hospital to get my wound cleaned up."
Manager Ma signed her name on the time off sheet and asked, concerned, "You need to be more careful. Where's the person who hit you? You didn't just let him leave, did you?"
"No, he didn't do it on purpose. He paid me 10 yuan. He couldn't come with me to the hospital because he was in a hurry."
Manager Ma nodded when she heard that. "Okay, that's better. That being said, you are surely an unfortunate one. Alright, I won't keep you any longer. Go and get your wound cleaned out."
"Thank you, Manager Ma."
Tong Xuelu walked a long way from the plant before she tossed away the cotton and met up with Huang Xianglan at the bus station.
She had taken too much time off lately and it would leave others with a bad impression of her if she didn't find some other creative ways to take time off.
"Did you inform your cousin?"
Huang Xianglan nodded, "Yes, I did. I told her that we will be there in a couple of hours and told her to not provoke them too early."
Tong Xuelu felt heartache and helplessness when she heard that.
Women are always the weaker of the two genders no matter what era they are in.
Tong Xuelu had read a news article before her transmigration. A victim of domestic violence jumped off a building and still wasn't able to get a divorce. Now Sheng Xiuyan had to bring another beating onto herself in order to turn her husband and mother-in-law in.
It was too difficult being a woman!
They were lucky. A bus came after 10 or so minutes of waiting. The two got inside the car, bought tickets, and seated themselves.
A person's adaptability is simply incredible. After a few times, Tong Xuelu had already gotten used to the bumpy rhythm.
The two of them headed straight toward the government-operated restaurant after they had gotten off the bus.
Su Xiuying was so emotional that her hands trembled when she saw the two of them. She turned and took the day off before she ran back out to meet up with the two of them.
It had only been a week since Tong Xuelu had last seen her and she noticed that Su Xiuying had lost so much weight that she almost looked like a different person.
She looked disheveled and she had a lot of bruises on her face and around the corners of her mouth. A patch of her hair was missing from her forehead, obviously yanked out by her husband or her mother-in-law.
Tong Xuelu could feel her fists tightening just from seeing her this way.
Tong Xuelu said, "Comrade Su, have you really made up your mind?"
Su Xiuying's pale lips formed into a straight line, and she nodded heavily. "Yes, I've made up my mind. I want those two animals to get the punishment that they deserve!"
She had put up with a lot for her daughter, but that animal never should have hit Xiao Qiu!
She could put up with a lot but that did not include watching her daughter get hit. Instead of herself and her daughter dying in their hands one day, it was better for her to send the mother and son to h3ll by her hands!
Tong Xuelu saw that even though Su Xiuying looked disheveled, she had a very determined look on her face. "Okay, let's get going then."
Su Xiuying nodded when she heard that. She turned and led the way to the metal plant where her husband worked.
Huang Xianglan looked at her cousin's back and looked very worried.
Tong Xuelu raised her brows. "What's the matter? Are you scared?"
Huang Xianglan bit her lips and said, "Well, not exactly scared. Just a bit worried. When my aunty and the others found out, would they blame me?"
Tong Xuelu patted her on her shoulder. "Don't worry about how others look at you. Just know that you are saving your cousin from an awful situation. You are helping out a labor-class sister who was in agony. If anyone blames you because of that, that is to say that their way of thinking is not progressive enough. You must believe that what you are doing is noble and sublime!"
Encouraged, Huang Xianglan said emotionally, "Well said, Comrade Tong! I will keep your words in mind. If anyone blames me for that, I will tell them that they are not being progressive!"
She had made up her mind to help her cousin out in the past, but she had a lot of hesitation. She worried that after her cousin's husband had been sent to jail, her aunty would blame her for breaking up her cousin's marriage.
Listening to Tong Xuelu's words, she felt a warmth in her heart and a burning will to fight.
She must save her cousin from the desperate situation!
Su Xiuying arrived at the metal plant and had the security guard fetch He Baogen.
He Baogen frowned immediately when he saw Su Xiuying at the front of the plant. "Why aren't you at work again?"
Su Xiuying's body shook when she saw the vicious look on him. But, remembering her daughter's bloody face the other day, she forced herself to calm down.
"I did go to work but someone came and told me that Mom had taken a fall and needed to be brought to the hospital right away. I can't move her on my own, so I had to come look for you."
He Baogen heard that his mother was injured so he took time off quickly and the couple rushed home.
Tong Xuelu and Huang Xianglan waited around and followed behind them when they saw Su Xiuying and He Baogen walking towards their house.
The two stopped at the end of the alleyway.
Tong Xuelu, "Wait here. I will go over there on my own. Hurry over to the police station when you hear fighting, okay?"
Huang Xianglan tightened her fists. "Yes. You hurry up and go!"
Tong Xuelu nodded and walked toward Sheng Xiuyan's house.
He Baogen worried about his mother and rushed home. Lo and behold, the minute he walked inside the yard, he saw his mother sitting down, working on the bottom of a shoe, looking perfectly fine.
He paused for a little and turned to look at Su Xiuying angrily. "What is going on here? Didn't you say that my mother had taken a fall and injured herself?"
Being stared at by him, Su Xiuying took a step back.
Before she could answer his question, Old Mrs. He heard their voices and looked up. She asked, baffled, "Bogen? Why are you two home? Did something happen?"
He Baogen looked very angry. "It was all this *****. She told me that you had fallen and injured yourself and needed to be taken to the hospital right away. That was why I took time off and came home!"
Old Mrs. He jumped up and started scolding Su Xiuying. "You cursed chicken who couldn't lay eggs. Are you cursing me to die? Bogen, I think your wife is getting bolder and bolder. She now dares to crap all over your mother. You need to teach her a good lesson!"
He Baogen's brows were standing straight up. He stared at Su Xiuying and shouted at her, "You better explain yourself clearly. Or else!"
Though Su Xiuying had prepared herself mentally, she was still shaking when the time came.
She took a deep breath and said, "That's right. I lied. I had you come home so we can talk about a divorce!"
He Baogen's eyes widened to the size of an ox's. "What did you just say? I dare you to say that again!"
Su Xiuying tightened her fists and repeated herself, enunciating every word. "He Baogen, I don't want to be with you anymore. I want a divorce!"
SMACK!
Su Xiuying had just finished her last word when she was struck across her cheek.
He Baogen was tall and his palm was the size of a fan. A slap from him completely shoved Sheng Xiuyan's head sideways.
Su Xiuying felt her cheek burn and she could hear ringing in her ear. "He Baogen, unless you kill me today. We are getting a divorce!"
He Baogen was so angry that veins were popping on his forehead. He slapped her across her cheek again!
Su Xiuying did not try to dodge. After the second hit, her cheek was swollen. Her nose felt warm and blood came out of her nostrils.
She didn't try to wipe away the blood on her cheeks. Instead, she said in a volume that both He Baogen and his mother could hear, "He Baogen, you useless piece of garbage who only knows to be mean at home. Both you and your mother are worse than animals. I curse the two of you to be sent to the deepest part of hell after you have died!"
Old Mrs. He was watching her son teach Su Xiuying a lesson and wasn't going to join in at first. Now that she heard Su Xiuying cursing about her and her son going to hell, she was infuriated.
"You ***** who can't lay eggs. I am going to kill you!"
Old Mrs. He ran over and grabbed Su Xiuying by her hair. She immediately clawed at Su Xiuying's face and the scratch marks could be seen right away.
Su Xiuying felt that her scalp was about to come off. She shrieked. "Help! Somebody help! He Baogen and his mother are going to kill me––"
With the loud ruckus from the Hes, all the neighbors came running out from their yards.
"Old Mrs He, what's going on this time?"
"Exactly. Stop it already. You can always talk things out."
It was business hours right now and there were only elderlies and children around. Seeing how He Baogen and his mother were beating up Su Xiuying in tandem, nobody dared to walk up to stop them."
Old Mrs. He shouted like a rabid dog as she scratched Su Xiuying on her face. "You rotten piece of goods who only gave birth to a useless girl after 7 years. You dare to bring up a divorce? Pei!"
Su Xiuying was hurting so much that her face was cramping. "Why can't I get a divorce? I've had myself checked at the hospital. The doctor told me that there is nothing wrong with me. The problem lies with your son. He looked tall and big, but he can't produce seeds!"
Wow~
So it was He Baogen, not Su Xiuying, who couldn't have children.
Everyone looked over at He Baogen after they heard that.
He Baogen felt his face burning and he threw a punch straight at Su Xiuying's face!
BAM!
Along with the loud striking sound, Su Xiuying fell two steps backward and fell onto the ground.
Tong Xuelu ran over with a shocked look. "How could you do that?"
He Baogen gave her a vicious look. "This is family matters. Stay out of it!"
Having said that, he took a step forward to hit Su Xiuying again.
Su Xiuying moaned on the ground, her face covered in blood.
Tong Xuelu worried that Su Xiuying would die if she let He Baogen hit her any more. "You better stop right now. If you lay even one finger on me, I am going to file a police report that you are a hooligan!"
He Baogen stopped in his tracks and stared at Tong Xuelu through gritted teeth.
He Baogen had to worry about being called a hooligan, but that did not apply to Old Mrs He.
She jumped up, pointed straight at Tong Xuelu, and shouted, "You can meddle in heaven's, earth's, cats' and dogs' businesses, but who do you think you are to meddle in my He family's business?"
"Hitting people is wrong! This is the new society. I can't believe you are still beating your daughter-in-law. I am going to file a police report on you!"
"This is none of your business! None of your business!" Old Mrs. He jumped up and down in anger. She then ran out trying to scratch Tong Xuelu's face.
Tong Xuelu feigned fear and shrieked. "Help me! She is going to kill me! Somebody help!"
She waved her arms and legs madly as she shrieked and, all of a sudden, she accidentally kicked Old Mrs. He.
That kick sent her flying!
Falling onto the ground. Old Mrs. He moaned and shouted, "OWWW. My waist! Bogen, kill this tr mp for Mom!"
Seeing that his mother was struck, He Baogen was infuriated. He clenched his fists so tight that they made crackling sounds. "Tr mp, who said you can meddle in our family business? You don't think I can kill you with one slap?"
Tong Xuelu snickered and glanced over at his crotch area. "Trees that don't want barks will die; men who don't want face are invincible. Look at you. Nothing but an embroidered pillow. You can't produce seeds, but you have the audacity to blame it onto your wife. Pei. So shameless!"
Having said that, she turned and ran before He Baogen could process that.
FOOM! Anger rushed to He Baogen's head and his face turned a purple-reddish color. He chased after her right away.
"Tr mp! I swear I am going to kill you today!"
Tong Xuelu ran as fast as she could. When she reached the entrance, she hid to one side. As she heard the footsteps approaching, she counted in her mind. 3, 2, 1…
Right when He Baogen was about to step out of the door, she stuck her leg out––
BAM! Came a loud sound.
Unprepared, He Baogen was tripped, fell forward, and smashed his face onto the ground heavily.
Climbing back up, He Baogen felt that his nose was broken. It was sore and painful. It hurt so much that he kept cursing. "Tr …"
"Your mother is a tr mp!" Tong Xuelu interrupted him. "You are infertile, but you want a lot of children and grandchildren. I have never seen anyone who wanted to raise someone else's children so desperately!"
He Baogen was enraged. His veins throbbed on the side of his head. "Tr mp, I am going to kill you!"
Any man would be infuriated when being called infertile repeatedly!
He Baogen scrambled back onto his feet to go and strike Tong Xuelu.
