Bonnie has been in Beijing for over a month now and is quite familiar with her surroundings.
The kids will be on summer vacation soon; after summer vacation, Liu Jiu will be going to junior high school.
In the evening, after dinner, Liu Jiu and San Qi were doing their homework.
"Clang!"
Something fell to the ground upstairs with a loud noise, which startled Sanqi.
Just as I was calming down, I heard the sound of children jumping around upstairs again.
"Mom, it's too noisy." Sanqi couldn't stand it anymore.
"You all wait at home, Mom will go check on things." Bonnie put on her shoes and went upstairs.
"Who is it?" a voice came from inside the house.
“The neighbor downstairs,” Bonnie called out.
The door opened, and a woman in her fifties stood in the doorway.
“I’m your downstairs neighbor. My child is doing homework at home, and all this banging and clanging from your house startled him. We live upstairs and downstairs, so let’s be considerate of each other.”
Bonnie's tone was harsh; this wasn't the first or second time her family had done this, and she had already said it once.
"Oh dear, it wasn't on purpose. The thing just fell on the floor by accident. My kids are young and they never remember. The downstairs neighbors never complained about us being noisy before."
Bonnie was both amused and annoyed. What did that mean? Did she think they were being too troublesome?
"It wasn't intentional once, it wasn't intentional twice, but you have too much stuff at home, so you just throw things on the ground for no reason, right? Are your children small, and are your adults small too? There are people living upstairs from you, do they do the same thing?"
Chang Chunhua is over fifty years old, with triangular eyes and slanted eyebrows. For so many years, she has been the one blocking people's doors and gossiping, but when has she ever been the one blocking someone's door?
“You young wife, how can you talk like that? You have no respect for your elders. I’m much older than you. Is this how your parents raised you? You have no manners.”
This guy is just taking advantage of his age, but Bonnie isn't afraid of him at all. She's the kind of person who can handle these shameless old folks.
"Mouths are for speaking, not for spewing nonsense. What are you pretending to be? If you want respect, do something respectable first. Also, if you keep nagging about my parents, I can't guarantee I won't hit them."
"You, you..."
Chang Chunhua pointed at Bonnie with her finger, but didn't say a word for a long time.
"What's going on? Why are they all gathered here?"
Hao Dongfang, who had just finished his work and returned home, saw that his door was open and a young wife was standing at the door, while his wife looked angry.
"They've come to bully us right at our doorstep."
Bonnie didn't rush to speak; she waited for Brigade Commander Hao to come up before she spoke.
"Hello, I'm your downstairs neighbor. We all live upstairs and downstairs, shouldn't we be more understanding of each other? We've been here for over a month, and there have been so many loud bangs above our heads. It's scared our kids."
I've already said it once; please pay attention.
However, this woman complained that I was being nosy, said the child was too young to understand, and even questioned my parenting style. I'm asking you today if you can be more mindful of this; if not, I'll find a way to resolve it.
Bonnie didn't care about Commander Hao or anything like that. If he can't even manage his own family, what else can he manage?
"Comrade, I understand the situation you described. I will urge my family to be careful. Everyone, please disperse and go about your business."
After Brigade Commander Hao dismissed everyone, Bao Ni, not wanting to be unreasonable, went home first.
“Old Hao, she’s just a young girl, why are you being so polite to her? She’s spoiled and has no respect for elders. If this were in the past, she would have been criticized and denounced.”
Chang Chunhua kept rambling on and on, oblivious to Commander Hao's ashen face.
In both rooms, the son, daughter-in-law, and grandson had all closed the doors to avoid trouble.
"Come out, all of you! Don't hide in the corner like mice!" Commander Hao shouted, drawing everyone out of the room.
The doors to both rooms opened, and the eldest son's family and the second son's family came out.
"Dad, we..."
Commander Hao looked at his eldest son, who was in his thirties and seemed timid and lacking any sense of responsibility.
After all these years, he's still just a deputy battalion commander. He has no achievements to show for it, and his training results are poor. He can't get promoted even if he wants to.
The second son, in the performing arts troupe, lacked professional skills, didn't take his work seriously, and had quite a few cunning schemes.
The three grandchildren are all mischievous and show no signs of ambition.
"Chang Chunhua, put away your theories, they don't work anymore. Now that someone else lives downstairs, I can't possibly understand your thoughts, you're just daydreaming."
What kind of people live in this building? You think you can get one for the boss? Dream on. Gu Ye, who is he? The head of the special forces brigade, directly under the military headquarters. He's a brigade-level officer, but his rank is way higher than mine.
"Are you two out of your minds? Do you think I run this army? I'm retiring in a few years. Can either of you handle things on your own?"
Commander Hao's two sons lowered their heads. What could they do? Without their father's influence, they couldn't do anything.
"Eldest brother, apply for a new house tomorrow and move out. Second brother, you do the same. Once I retire, I'll return this house too, otherwise you won't even have a place to live."
Brigade Commander Hao was also exhausted. While he was still alive, he wanted to pave the way for his two children.
"Dad, my application is for a tenement building, but it's too crowded, there's not even a toilet."
Hao's eldest son, after being nudged by his wife, spoke up timidly.
"Then you should work hard to improve your skills and get promoted as soon as possible so you can get a bigger house."
"Promotion isn't that easy; I can't do it."
Hao's eldest son muttered something, which angered Commander Hao so much that he picked up a teacup and was about to smash it when he suddenly remembered something and put the teacup down.
Chang Chunhua breathed a sigh of relief; the old man had gotten so angry.
“The children have all moved out, leaving just the two of us. How lonely and desolate it is.”
"Then you move out with them. If I hear you causing trouble again, I'll send you back to your hometown. I mean what I say."
"You two, hurry up and apply for a move-out permit. If you don't move out within a week, I'll kick you out."
After Brigade Commander Hao finished speaking, he went inside, leaving the others looking at each other in bewilderment. This time, it was for real.
Bonnie had no idea that such a big thing had happened to the Hao family after she left.
The upstairs neighbors stopped causing trouble to save her the trouble. Who likes a noisy life?
Liu Jiu and San Qi finished their homework and were about to go out to play. Bao Ni checked the time; it was seven o'clock, and Gu Ye still hadn't returned. He wasn't coming back today either.
For the past month or so, he's treated the military base like his home, barely coming home more than twice a week. I wonder when he'll be able to sort things out.
"Sister-in-law, I've come to pick up the brigade commander's change of clothes. He has a mission and we have to leave immediately."
At the entrance, Gu Ye's bodyguard explained the situation.
Bonnie quickly gathered up Gu Ye's change of underwear and put it in a bag.
"Here it is. Tell your brigade commander to take care of himself. Go safely and come back safely."
"Yes, everything will be alright, sister-in-law, don't worry."
The guard left, and Bonnie stood on the balcony, watching his figure disappear until he was completely out of sight. She kept watching, not even knowing what she was looking at.
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