People who eat melon are in 70 - Chapter 28

Zhao Yonglan could hardly believe her ears.

She incredulously asked, “Are you saying you want to part ways with me?”

Zhu Yuemei was not interested in Zhao Yonglan’s few pounds of coarse grains; what she wanted was Zhao Yonglan’s money and tickets. Since Zhao Yonglan came to her home, she had used various excuses to borrow money from her.

At first, it was just one or two yuan, but seeing how easily Zhao Yonglan could be deceived, Zhu Yuemei thought it would be a waste not to borrow more. Her appetite grew larger, and over time, she managed to extract over two hundred yuan in a month. After borrowing twice more without success, Zhu Yuemei was certain that Zhao Yonglan’s money had been drained by her.

Zhu Yuemei was exceptionally pleased. Two hundred yuan, not to mention the candies and tickets Zhao Yonglan had given her, were valuable items Zhu Yuemei had never held in her lifetime.

With those two hundred yuan, Zhu Yuemei’s status at home was exceptionally high recently, and her daughter-in-law, Sun Xiaojun, no longer dared to go against her.

Zhu Yuemei was living comfortably, and with this comfort, she had no intention of catering to Zhao Yonglan, who was temperamental and spoiled.

“You said that yourself; I never said anything like that.”

Zhao Yonglan looked at Zhu Yuemei’s shameless expression, feeling both angry and furious. “Then give me back the money I lent you, and return the grains and tickets I provided.”

Zhao Yonglan had not been comfortable staying with Zhu Yuemei. Zhu Yuemei’s family was large, with a multitude of sons, grandchildren, and daughters, and she was stingy. The meals were always just enough, and there was never any extra for those who wanted more. As a young intellectual staying with her, Zhao Yonglan didn’t have to fight for her share of the rice, but she still had to contend for the vegetables.

Sometimes, when she took more than her share, she was openly and covertly ridiculed by Su Guixiang, Sun Xiaojun’s youngest daughter. Zhao Yonglan was never one to tolerate insults, and she would lash out at Su Guixiang immediately. This led to her becoming quite unpopular with the Su family.

Zhu Yuemei was the only one from the Su family who treated her well. Whenever Zhao Yonglan had disputes with the Su family, Zhu Yuemei would side with her. Zhao Yonglan was grateful for this and gradually began to listen to Zhu Yuemei.

But since three days ago, when Zhu Yuemei could no longer borrow money from her, her attitude changed. When the Su family ridiculed her, Zhu Yuemei no longer helped her and even sided with the Su family to criticize her.

Zhao Yonglan had never considered herself foolish, but after experiencing the various troubles with the Su family, she began to feel like a complete fool. She believed Zhu Yuemei’s flattering words and thought that staying with her family was an excellent choice.

Because the Su family had isolated her, Zhu Yuemei’s slight attempt to win her over made Zhao Yonglan feel grateful.

Apart from her interactions with Jiang Yutao and Gu Nianwei, Zhao Yonglan had never suffered such a big loss before.

She would never stay with the village chief’s family again, but the village chief’s family had taken her things, and they had to return them. She had always been the one taking advantage of others and borrowing money without repaying it. When had she ever suffered such a loss?

It makes no sense to let a bird fly away after it has landed in your hand. Zhu Yuemei was unafraid of being criticized, and Zhao Yonglan, a young girl with no relatives in Liushu Gou, would be easy to handle.

Moreover, from the moment she borrowed money from Zhao Yonglan, she had never intended to repay it. Why should she return money that she obtained through her own means? If anyone is to be blamed, it’s Zhao Yonglan’s parents for giving her so much money, and Zhao Yonglan herself for being so gullible and believing everything she was told.

She was being kind-hearted today by giving Zhao Yonglan a lesson. In the future, she shouldn’t be so naive when faced with similar situations.

“Little Zhao, we agreed on the terms when you borrowed the money. Now that the money is not available, if you want repayment, you’ll have to wait until after the autumn harvest. I’ve already spent the money I borrowed from you. If you come asking for it now, it’s like asking for my life!”

“Little Zhao, you shouldn’t be so untrustworthy. The promises you make have no credibility. We had agreed to repay the money after the autumn harvest, but now you suddenly come up with this, aren’t you making things difficult for me?”

The Su family is hosting a wedding, and it’s the marriage of Su Yang, their most accomplished eldest grandson. The Su family is going all out, not only preparing an impressive feast but also offering a substantial bride price, given that the bride’s family background is excellent. If it weren’t for the fact that Su Yang and she were classmates, this golden phoenix might not have landed on the Su family’s doorstep.

The wedding preparations drained all of the Su family’s savings. The money borrowed from Zhao Yonglan was untouched by Zhu Yuemei; it was all that remained for emergencies. Moreover, her younger son hadn’t married yet—how would they come up with the bride price? If she repaid the money now, her son wouldn’t have any funds to marry.

“Then let’s go to the brigade leader and ask for an advance. Have them repay the money you owe me first, and you can settle your accounts with the brigade after the autumn harvest.” Zhao Yonglan stood her ground. Zhu Yuemei’s attitude made it clear to her that if she didn’t get the money back today, it would be like a meat bun thrown to a dog—once gone, it would never come back.

Zhao Yonglan had never been so clear-headed.

Zhu Yuemei’s face changed instantly: “Xiao Zhao, why are you being so vicious? I borrowed your money but I’m not refusing to repay it. Is it really necessary to make a scene in front of the brigade leader? Your uncle is the village secretary. We said we’d repay you after the autumn harvest, and we will. Why are you being so unreasonable?”

Zhu Yuemei’s voice was sharp, and as her tone rose, it attracted the attention of the neighbors.

With entertainment options scarce, everyone quickly picked up on the gossip. One by one, they rushed out of their homes and headed toward Zhao Yonglan’s place, passing the news from one to another, each more excited than the last.

Xu Dazui also heard about it. Seeing Zhao Yonglan, a young female intellectual, standing in the yard confronting Zhu Yuemei, she turned on her heel and went to the intellectuals’ compound.

The atmosphere at the intellectuals’ compound was quite harmonious.

It had been a long time since everyone had enjoyed a good meal.

Jiang Yutao and Li Yunying were good at cooking. Jiang Yutao made spicy pork with peppers and potatoes, while Li Yunying braised two fish with soy sauce.

Zhao Rongguang contributed a bottle of wine he had been saving for a long time. Eating meat and vegetables with a sip of wine made everyone sweat.

Xu Dazui arrived at this time and, upon seeing the fish and meat on the table, instinctively swallowed.

No wonder Zhu Yuemei, the miser, wanted to team up with Zhao Yonglan; these young intellectuals had money and a good life.

“Hey, don’t eat yet. Hurry up and go to the secretary’s house. Zhao Yonglan and Zhu Yuemei are fighting, and Zhu Yuemei is no good. Zhao Yonglan is sure to get beaten up.”

The festive atmosphere vanished instantly. Everyone looked at each other, and finally, Wang Shanxi stood up first: “Let’s go see.”

Wang Shanxi had influence among the young intellectuals, and when he said this, everyone decided to go.

They had only eaten the belly of the two fish; the other side hadn’t even been flipped. The spicy pork and potatoes were only half eaten, and there was still some wine left in their cups.

Wang Shanxi said, “Jiang Yutao, Gu Nianwei, we’ll make it up to you for your housewarming after we come back.”

“It’s okay, we don’t mind. Let’s go.” Jiang Yutao, who was closest to Xu Dazui, walked over to her and asked as they headed outside, “Xu Auntie, what’s going on? Why are they fighting?”

Xu Dazui, although not present at the scene of the argument between Zhu Yuemei and Zhao Yonglan, could still roughly guess the reason for their conflict: “What else could it be? Zhu Yuemei has drained Zhao Yonglan’s money and now wants to kick her out.”

Zhu Yuemei had become quite adept at burning bridges once she had crossed them.

The young intellectuals were unaware of Zhu Yuemei borrowing money from Zhao Yonglan, but the villagers had heard about it.

“The children from the Su family have loose lips. The news about Zhao Yonglan lending money to Zhu Yuemei’s family has long spread. Zhao Yonglan’s partner, Zhao Si’s wife, even tried to advise her, but Zhao Yonglan ignored her and gave her a hard time, so much so that Zhao Si’s wife doesn’t even want to talk to her now.”

Gossip about the young intellectuals was discussed behind their backs by the villagers. Xu Dazui and others had noticed the strained relationship between Jiang Yutao and Zhao Yonglan but hadn’t mentioned it in front of them.

Jiang Yutao and the others exchanged glances. They knew Zhao Yonglan had been uncomfortable and had conflicts with the Su family, but they hadn’t anticipated her borrowing money from Zhu Yuemei’s family.

Li Yunying asked Zhang Huihui, “Do you know about Zhao Yonglan borrowing money?”

Zhang Huihui nodded, “Yes, she asked me for a loan a few days ago. I only found out the details when I asked her about it.”

Since Zhang Huihui had refused to lend money to Zhao Yonglan, Zhao Yonglan had ignored her for several days.

Zhang Huihui didn’t bother publicizing the details of Zhao Yonglan borrowing money.

“So do you know how much it was?” Li Yunying wondered. If it was just a few bucks, it would be easy to handle; they could ask the village party secretary directly. The party secretary has a salary and could repay it. If it was thirty or fifty, it would still be manageable—just ask the brigade for an advance on the village’s work points and settle it with the party secretary’s family after the autumn harvest.

“She brought over two hundred yuan when she came to the countryside, and she’s borrowed it all.” Zhang Huihui’s statement made everyone stop in their tracks, and Xu Dazui’s mouth fell open in disbelief.

“Two hundred yuan! Oh my goodness, I’ve never seen so much money in my life.” One work point was worth only a few cents. Farmers worked all day in the fields and might earn just a few dimes. At the end of the year, having twenty yuan left after calculating their work points was considered well-off.

Two hundred yuan—they would need to save for several years! Xu Dazui, at fifty-two, had never seen so much money before.

Zhu Yuemei really had a lot of nerve, daring to take such a large sum of money.

Jiang Yutao and Gu Niangwei gained another layer of understanding about Zhao Yonglan: “Is she really that foolish? Daring to borrow so much money?”

A temporary worker’s wage is 18.5 yuan, so 200 yuan is equivalent to a temporary worker’s annual salary.

Gu Niangwei rubbed her head: “This is bad; it’s definitely going to be hard to get that money back.”

Anyone who isn’t foolish would return such a large amount of money as soon as possible.

Li Yunying and Wang Shanxi exchanged glances, both with serious expressions. Liu Yingjun stepped closer to Zhang Huihui and said in a very low voice, “If Zhao Yonglan asks you for money in the future, don’t lend her any, not even a dime.”

Zhang Huihui had no intention of lending money anyway: “Got it.”

Liu Yingjun nodded, and as he spoke, a group of people arrived at the party secretary’s house.

As expected, Zhao Yonglan and Zhu Yuemei were fighting. Zhao Yonglan was no match for Zhu Yuemei and was being pinned down and beaten, with hair being pulled and pinching involved.

Zhao Yonglan, despite her eyes turning red from pain, didn’t cry but seized every opportunity to fight back, causing Zhu Yuemei to be pinched several times. Among the onlookers, some wanted to intervene, but Zhu Yuemei’s daughter-in-law, Sun Xiaojun, blocked them.

Jiang Yutao and the others saw Zhao Yonglan being slapped hard and became angry.

Li Yunying pushed through the crowd and rushed forward, but Sun Xiaojun’s daughter, Su Guixiang, tried to stop her and was knocked aside with a slap.

Su Guixiang screamed upon seeing her daughter being hit, and Sun Xiaojun was also displeased.

“You little bitch, how dare you hit my daughter!” She rushed over, and Jiang Yutao and Gu Niangwei arrived at the scene. Both sides mixed into the melee.

Gu Niangwei and Li Yunying were skilled fighters, and Sun Xiaojun, Su Guixiang, and their siblings were no match for them.

Jiang Yutao glanced around, then ran behind Zhu Yuemei, who was straddling Zhao Yonglan, and grabbed her hairpin. Zhu Yuemei cried out in pain and let go of Zhao Yonglan’s hair.

Freed, Zhao Yonglan wiped away the tears that had gathered in her eyes and, with a forceful push, overturned Zhu Yuemei. She then climbed on top of Zhu Yuemei and began slapping her left and right.

“You owe me money, not the other way around! Why are you so damn unreasonable? Just because I said I’d report you to the commune, you come and beat me?”

“I’m telling you, you old hag, this isn’t over. I have to report this. If the commune won’t handle it, I’ll take it to the county. If the county won’t handle it, I’ll go to the city. If the city won’t handle it, I’ll go to the provincial capital. And if the provincial capital won’t take it, I’ll go to the capital. I don’t believe there’s no place in this world that will listen to reason!”

Zhao Yonglan grew increasingly aggrieved. She had never been beaten by outsiders before. In less than two months of being in the countryside, she had been beaten twice! The first time, she was in the wrong and acknowledged it when Gu Niangwei hit her. But this time, what had she done wrong?

When living with Zhu Yuemei’s family, Zhu Yuemei didn’t save any food for her and even said they should part ways.

“Fine, if you want to part ways,” Zhao Yonglan said, “I won’t persist. Anyway, the food at the Su family wasn’t that great. Besides the few initial meals they served me, it was even worse than what I had at the youth station.

“But parting ways without returning the grain I brought or the money I lent you—it’s infuriating! If you’re threatening to beat me up and saying the Su family or the commune has the final say in Liu Shu Gully, then fine, I don’t believe it.

“The villagers who were gossiping just a moment ago fell silent upon hearing Zhao Yonglan’s words.

“For years, no youth in Liu Shu Gully has ever threatened to file a complaint. Everyone prefers to handle issues privately and avoids involving the authorities.

“Sun Xiaoyuan and Su Guixiang also stopped when they heard this, and Gu Nianwei and Li Yunying seized the opportunity to hit them a couple more times before stopping.

“As the saying goes, the police are always the last to arrive, and in Liu Shu Gully, it’s the same. The commotion had escalated before the team from the brigade, including the village head, arrived.

“The village head, upon seeing the chaotic scene in his home, turned dark with anger.

‘What’s going on here!’”

The village head hadn’t expected that while he was just having a meeting at the brigade office, such a big incident would occur at home.

The brigade leader’s face was so dark it looked like it could drip water. He kept silent, waiting for everyone to explain what had happened.

Xu Dazui was the quickest with her words and succinctly explained the situation. Especially when she mentioned that Zhu Yuemei had borrowed over two hundred yuan from Zhao Yonglan, the onlookers gasped in shock. They looked at Zhao Yonglan as if she were an extraordinary fool, while some greedy people gazed at her as if she were a sparkling treasure.

Zhao Yonglan had never felt as humiliated as she did today. The stares directed at her felt like knives, each one leaving her feeling suffocated.

After Xu Dazui finished, the village head was overcome with blackness in front of his eyes: “How much did she borrow?”

The village head felt old and his hearing must be failing, as he had heard twenty yuan as two hundred!

“Over two hundred,” Xu Dazui repeated, adding to the spectacle.

The village head was now certain he hadn’t heard wrong. He looked at Zhu Yuemei with a furious expression: “Zhu Yuemei! You have such a big nerve! Two hundred yuan? Even selling you wouldn’t be worth that much money. How dare you borrow that much?!”

The village head knew Zhu Yuemei had borrowed money from Zhao Yonglan, but he thought, given Zhu Yuemei’s character, she would only borrow a few yuan at most. Borrowing ten or twenty yuan wouldn’t be a big deal; he could repay that. He never expected Zhu Yuemei to have such a large appetite. Over two hundred yuan—how dare she? And Zhao Yonglan, what a big fool she must be to borrow that much!

Recalling what Xu Dazui had just said about Zhu Yuemei emptying the pockets of the young intellectuals and then refusing to serve them, trying to kick them out without returning the money or even the food, and resorting to violence when they threatened to report her, the village head felt cold sweat running down his back.

He realized he was finished. As village head, he knew he would not be able to keep his position. If Zhao Yonglan had been more forceful, he might even end up in prison.

The village head was obsessed with his official status, and now that his position was about to be lost, he felt like he had aged ten years in an instant.

His gaze shifted from Zhu Yuemei, who was keeping her head down and silent, to his disheveled daughter-in-law, Sun Xiaojuan, and then to Su Guixiang and her sister standing beside her. He closed his eyes in despair.

“Zhao Yonglan, this matter was my family’s fault. Rest assured, I will return every penny and ticket you are owed.” He looked at Zhu Yuemei: “Zhu Yuemei, I have already told you that if I found out you were taking advantage of others, you would be sent home. Today, you’ve caused a major disaster. Our Su family cannot keep you. Pack your things, and later, let the eldest take you back.”

Zhu Yuemei was originally indifferent, her years of scheming experience had taught her that she would only face a few scoldings at most, which was insignificant compared to the benefits she had already gained.

Upon hearing the village head say she had caused a major disaster, Zhu Yuemei abruptly lifted her head. When she heard that the village head was going to have her eldest son send her back home, her face changed. She leaped up like a cat whose tail had been stepped on and shouted, “Su Changshan, I knew from the start that you looked down on me after marrying me, wanting to replace me with your wild woman, right? Let me tell you, as long as I’m still breathing, you and Zhao Chunhua won’t be able to have a legitimate relationship!”