Chapter 58
“Erxi, you damn girl! You actually dared to use me as a shield! Watch me tear you apart!”
“Maizi, don’t go getting involved. You’re just making a fool of yourself.”
The girl who had just spoken, Maizi, was briefly held back by her family, but they couldn’t stop her. And so, the number of people chasing and trying to hit Qiu Chi became two.
Two were much better to work with than one.
Qiu Chi no longer just dodged Old Woman Zhou’s broom. She would get close to Maizi, and just as the broom was about to fall, she would suddenly dart away. As a result, the one who got hit was Maizi.
She wasn’t the one hitting her, so it had nothing to do with her.
No matter how furiously Maizi shrieked, Qiu Chi was like a slippery fish. The two of them couldn’t touch her at all. Instead, Maizi took quite a beating.
As for Old Woman Zhou, after being hit by Maizi, she threw down her broom, sat on the ground, and started wailing, “Aiyo, why is life so hard for an old woman like me? I was just trying to teach my own granddaughter a lesson, and I get beaten for it. There’s no justice in this world…”
Qiu Chi watched the wailing Old Woman Zhou on the ground, completely dumbfounded.
The onlookers, however, saw right through Old Woman Zhou’s character. Maizi’s grandmother immediately jumped out and said, “Old Woman Zhou, don’t be unreasonable! You hit our Maizi so many times just now, and I haven’t even settled the score with you yet. Now you’re trying to swindle us? Have you no shame?”
Of course, Old Woman Zhou had no shame. “What does me hitting my own child have to do with your Maizi? Didn’t she butt in herself? It’s late at night, my old hands and feet are clumsy, and my old eyes are dim. She insisted on getting in the way to get hit, and now you’re blaming me?”
Maizi was also a fiery one. “Pah! It was clearly that damn girl Erxi using me as a shield! I only hit you a few times, but your broom landed squarely on me! Don’t you dare use your age to be unreasonable!”
Qiu Chi chimed in leisurely from the side, “Who can see anything clearly this late at night? If you hadn’t suddenly spoken up, I wouldn’t have run in your direction. Besides, you made it sound so appealing, I just had to go over and learn from you.”
Maizi was so angry she stomped her feet. “You damn girl, don’t act all innocent after taking advantage of the situation!”
“Oh, so you’re calling yourself a damn girl? Why would you put yourself down like that?”
The farce finally came to an end when the brigade leader came out and scolded them. “What are you all gathered here for? It’s the middle of the night, aren’t you going to sleep? Don’t you have to work tomorrow?”
The brigade leader still had a lot of authority. As soon as he arrived, the crowd of onlookers mostly dispersed. Old Woman Zhou still wanted to extort Maizi’s family but was stopped by a single sentence from Grandpa Zhou.
The final result was that everyone went back to their own homes.
Of course, Old Woman Zhou wasn’t satisfied and still wanted to beat Qiu Chi to vent her anger.
Qiu Chi spoke in a cool tone, “That little show just now… I don’t mind doing it again. Or we could make an even bigger scene, that’s fine too.”
Old Woman Zhou pointed at Qiu Chi, her finger trembling. Grandpa Zhou took a puff from his long-stemmed pipe and made the final decision, “Alright, that’s enough. Everyone go back to sleep.”
The Zhou family was small. Although they didn’t have many rooms, they weren’t as crowded as other families. Qiu Chi shared a room with her eldest sister, Dahua.
Back in their room, Dahua looked at Qiu Chi and said timidly, “Erxi, how did you get so bold? Granny was hitting you and you dared to run…”
“If I don’t run, should I just stand there and let her hit me?”
“But once Granny finishes hitting you and lets out her anger, it’ll be over. If you act like this, you won’t get any food tomorrow…”
“Don’t worry, I definitely won’t be without food tomorrow.”
Although, from her memories, she didn’t particularly want to eat that food, not wanting to eat and not being allowed to eat were two different things.
She could choose not to eat, but Old Woman Zhou could not refuse to give it to her.
The next day, while the sky was still dim at dawn, Mother Zhou got up. She came over and woke up Qiu Chi and Dahua as well.
She also said to Qiu Chi, “Get all your chores done. When your granny wakes up and sees you being obedient, she won’t hit you so hard.”
Qiu Chi: “…” Damn it, so I have to get beaten no matter what?
Qiu Chi simply lay back down and refused to move.
Mother Zhou wanted to go and push Qiu Chi, but Qiu Chi immediately got up, ran to the other side of the room, and said, “Don’t touch me. She can’t hit me, and I’m not going to be obedient.”
“You child, why are you so disobedient!”
Qiu Chi gave her a cool glance. “Heh!”
What kind of person was Mother Zhou? Timid and submissive in front of Old Woman Zhou, but a heavy-handed tyrant in front of her two daughters.
Did you think she was just going to give her a push? In reality, it would be a vicious pinch.
Mother Zhou was a classic example of someone who bullies the weak and fears the strong.
Mother Zhou had seen everything that happened yesterday—how Qiu Chi had run circles around Old Woman Zhou, not only avoiding any harm but also making others suffer instead. Now, she didn’t really dare to force Qiu Chi, so she could only say to Dahua, “You, hurry up.”
After saying that, she lowered her head and went out.
Qiu Chi looked at Dahua, who was standing to the side. She wanted to say something, but in the end, she decided to keep her mouth shut.
In her memories, this Dahua was an honest and simple person, but Qiu Chi always felt that it wasn’t that simple.
Post a Comment