Volume 2: County Government Chapter 16: Who Bullied Whom (Part 1)

  The speeding Santana was unusually stable, Lao Gao focused on the front, but occasionally he could still catch a glimpse of the beautiful Ms. Qi in the rearview mirror, who was wearing a red windbreaker today, like a blooming flower, radiant and dazzling, with her delicate face and blue star earrings, elegant and refined, which made her even more stunning. Lao Gao was a steady and mature person, but every time he talked to Ms. Qi, he would feel his heart beating faster, and he couldn't help but scold himself for being unmanly.

  This was the second time Miss Qi went to Liu Zhuang, I heard that Miss Qi's relatives lived there, and seemed to have some disputes with the neighbors, Miss Qi didn't say anything, and Old Gao naturally wouldn't ask more questions.

  Qijie was worried, her family didn't have many relatives, except for her second uncle and her aunt who lived in Liu Village. Yesterday she heard that her aunt was ill, so she came back to see her, but it turned out that her aunt had a dispute with the neighbors over building a house, which made her fall ill. Today Qijie brought some Chinese medicine, but didn't know how to advise her aunt not to worry about such trivial matters and focus on recovering from her illness.

  Here is the translation:

  As they approached the turnoff to Liu Village, Qijie asked Old Gao to stop the car. She grabbed the plastic bag containing medicine and got out of the car, turning onto the dirt path leading to Liu Village. This stretch of dirt road was over a hundred meters long, not very far, but by the time she reached the village entrance, her black high-heeled leather boots were covered in mud, thanks to the thawing snow. Qijie thought to herself that the government's promise to build roads connecting every village was just empty talk, and it would take another three to five years before anything got done. Those officials only knew how to line their own pockets, and she couldn't help but mutter under her breath: "Not a single good one among them..." Suddenly covering her mouth with her hand, oh no, had she just cursed him too? Panicked, she looked around nervously, as if afraid that Tang Yi would suddenly appear out of nowhere and hear her curse. Then, smiling sweetly to herself, humph, what's it to you if I curse you behind your back? It'll be the death of you!

  As soon as she thought of Tang Yi, her heart felt sweet and warm, but when she entered her aunt's house, the gloomy atmosphere immediately drove away her good mood.

  Qizi's aunt lay on the kang in the east room, with a wet towel covering her head. Like all rural women who had suffered grievances, she was sighing and humming to herself, it was unclear whether she was really ill or just pretending to be. When she heard Qijie's footsteps, she didn't move at all, but instead turned her body inward, leaving only the back of her head visible to Qijie.

  Qijie let out a sigh, probably still annoyed with herself. Yesterday, her aunt insisted on calling over Qijie's son, what for? Of course, it was to pick a fight with the neighbors. But Qijie didn't want to stir up trouble now, so she just tried to calm her aunt down and told her not to bother with those people.

  Looking at her aunt's somewhat lonely back, Qijie felt a pang of sympathy. Since her uncle passed away from cancer a few years ago, her aunt had become increasingly reclusive, to the point where she herself was hesitant to visit this house. As for Second Uncle and his family, except during holidays, they wouldn't bother with Aunt who lived in the countryside. Now that Aunt was ill, there wasn't even one person by her side to care for her.

  Qijie let out a sympathetic sigh, seeing a basin of hot water on the kang. She put the Chinese medicine she had brought with her at the head of the kang, picked up the towel from Qi'ergou's head, wrung it out in the basin, and gently placed it on her forehead, thinking that maybe she should stay at her aunt's house to take care of her for a few days.

  "Sister, you're here?" The door curtain was lifted and a half-grown boy walked in, twelve or thirteen years old, with a dark face, thick eyebrows and big eyes. He was the son of Second Aunt, Qi Jie's younger cousin, and everyone at home called him Xiao Di.

  Qijie frowned and said, "Why didn't you go to school?" Then she saw that her little brother's eyes were swollen and bruised, as if he had been beaten. She quickly pulled him over and took a closer look, and indeed it was a bruise from being hit. Qijie sighed and asked in a low voice, "Did your mom hit you?" Qi'er's temper was strange and quirky, and it wasn't surprising that she would take out her frustrations on the child.

  The little brother shook his head and didn't say anything.

  Qijie wanted to ask more, but then heard a commotion outside. Listening carefully, it was coming from the neighboring courtyard. A man with a hoarse voice was cursing loudly, and his words were extremely unpleasant. Qijie initially didn't pay attention, but when she heard "widow's broom star", she was taken aback. Upon further listening, she realized he was cursing her aunt. At this point, Qi'ergou sprang up from the kang, gritting her teeth and saying, "I'm going to fight them today!"

  Qijie was startled and hastily pulled her back: "Aunt, what are you doing? Quickly lie down, I'll go take a look."

  Qī èr Gū's temper flared up, and she wouldn't listen to Qī Jié's advice. She put on her shoes and got off the kang. Qī Jié had no choice but to help her little brother support her out of the house. The flower wall between Qī èr Gū's house and the neighbor's was a head shorter than a person. Once they were in the courtyard, Qī Jié saw a big, dark, burly man in the neighboring courtyard, shouting loudly at Qī èr Gū's courtyard with extremely foul language that was hard to hear.

  Qī èr Gū refused to show weakness, and loudly scolded back. The neighbor's husband had initially been taken aback by Qī Jiě, but upon hearing Qī èr Gū's loud curses, he shouted: "Sweeping Star, if you curse again, I'll make sure your son is next! I don't believe it, that I can't handle you!"

  Qī èr Gū's heart skipped a beat, and she was so scared that she stopped talking. She wasn't afraid of anything else, but her son was the apple of her eye.

  Qiji looked at the bruise on her little brother's face and felt a wave of anger, it turned out that he was beaten by the rough man next door, this was too bullying.

  The younger brother shouted loudly: "Zhāngzi! I'm not afraid of you, if you have the guts to kill me, if you can't kill me, I'll kill you sooner or later!" He most admired Qi Jun, and in school, he loved to fight and cause trouble, not a well-behaved child.

  Qijie's anger got the better of her and she slapped him on the head: "Don't be arrogant!" Xiao Di bit his lip, glaring at Qijie with a disgruntled expression.

  Qī èr Gū whispered to Qī Jié's ear, "Jié Jié, let's call Jūn Zǐ over." In Qī èr Gū's impression, only Jūn Zǐ in the old Qī family was someone who could hold his own and calm the situation.

  The little brother listened to Qi Er Guo's words and came even more spirited, shouting at Cuanzi: "Cuanzi, see how I, Junzi Ge, will deal with you!"

  "Ah, Military? That rascal from Second Street? Dare to move and I'll send him straight to the police station!" But in his mind, he was thinking, "Who is this little girl? She's really pretty..." Suddenly remembering, he asked Qijie with a lewd smile: "Hey, miss, are you Old Qi's young widow? Tsk tsk, it's been two years and she's become so familiar!"

  Qijie's face turned red with anger and embarrassment, she glared at him with her almond-shaped eyes and said: "Watch your mouth!"

  The rascal smiled slyly, revealing a mouthful of big yellow teeth: "Sister, do you know if my mouth is clean or not? Want to take a taste?"

  Qijie gritted her teeth and turned to Qier, saying: "Sister, I'll go make a phone call to Junzi! You wait!" Qier and Xiao Di both nodded with anticipation. On the other side, Zhuangzi's ears were still quite useful, and he chuckled, saying: "Alright then, little sister, I'll also go to the village committee to make a phone call. We can walk together! I was just thinking of chatting with you."

  Qijie was so angry that she was fuming, and even more unwilling to make the call herself to listen to his obscene words. She went back inside, wrote down the phone number, and told her little brother to make the call, instructing him: "Just say I'm being bullied here!"

  The little brother nodded and ran out quickly.

  Qī èr Gū and Qī Jié sat on the kang, neither of them speaking. Qī Jié was furious. Since she had been with Táng Yì, everyone had always flattered her and tried to win her favor. She had never been treated this way before, and she was so angry that she clenched her teeth in frustration.

  Qī èr gū suddenly said after thinking for a while, "Jié jié, it seems that Shuān zi shū is a leader in the county, just call Jūn zi to scare him and it will be fine, don't really hit him."

  Qijie was taken aback, the county leaders wouldn't give him any trouble, would they? He had a mind to retreat and thought it's better not to let Junzi get into trouble, he could endure some grievances himself, but didn't want to bring any bad influence on him.

  Just as the two of them were lost in their own thoughts, they heard the sound of a car horn coming from outside the courtyard. Qi Er's face lit up with joy: "Junzi has arrived? He...he has a car?"

  Qijie nodded slightly, somewhat surprised at how quickly Junzi had arrived.

  Qī èr Gū and Qī Jié had just walked out of the house when the iron gate of the big courtyard was kicked open with a "bang", and several men wearing police uniforms walked in, but Mèng Zǐ was not among them.

  The rascal followed several policemen in, pointing at Qi Er Gou and shouting: "It's her! She's the one who damaged our family wall and scratched my face!"