Chapter 55
◎ Zeng Linlin spread rumors and caused trouble. She hardly spoke to Bei Bitang in the small vegetable market. She was wearing
Zeng Linlin spread rumors and caused trouble. She hardly spoke to Bei Bitang in the small vegetable market. More and more people looked at Bei Bitang with tinted glasses. Even the regular customers who loved to come to the small vegetable market to buy vegetables heard about this and pointed fingers at Bei Bitang behind her back.
Bei Bitang could only keep a cold face and pretend not to see or hear anything.
She knew about this matter and it would spread to the Shikumen sooner or later.
The small vegetable market is not far from the Shikumen. In this era, if you wear new clothes in the morning, the news will spread throughout your social circle by noon.
Bei Bitang only hopes that this day can go slower and slower.
It was a day off, and Bei Bitang came back from the street corner carrying soy milk and fried dough sticks.
In the long alley, she met a few elderly ladies chatting and laughing. Bei Bitang smiled politely at them, greeted them, and said, "Good morning, aunties."
An auntie with curly bangs turned her head away and said disdainfully, "Oh, you young people, how shameless! You have to be at least 18 to get married, and some girls are already sleeping with men at 16 or 17. Girls nowadays are not like we were back then. They're so eager to stick to men. They're so unreserved."
Several elderly women who were walking with her also interrupted and said, "Bitang, how dare you do such a stupid thing? You're embarrassing your mother."
Then someone said, "This really ruins everything. Our street just won the Civilized Street Flag last month, but we'll never get it again."
Someone else said sarcastically, "She looks so quiet, but she's even taken off her pants in front of a man in private. I don't like any of those female educated youth who returned to the city. Who knows what they did when they went to the countryside? Let them stay at home. Don't even think about marrying into our family!"
…
Bei Bitang was confused, her face flushed, and she almost dropped the soy milk in her hand.
Bei Bitang gritted her teeth and hurried home, as if a vicious dog was chasing her.
She went upstairs, put breakfast on the table, and without saying a word, went downstairs again and ran out of the alley.
A bamboo pole stood on the windowsill. Feng Guangmei hung wet clothes on the pole in the morning mist. She looked into the alley and saw Bei Bitang running.
Feng Guangmei immediately shouted anxiously, "Bitang! Bitang!..."
Bei Bitang didn't look back.
Feng Guangmei's face became even more anxious, and she threw the clothes in her hands into the wooden basin.
She also ran out of the house in a hurry.
Feng Guangmei's mother came into the house from the kitchen with some boiling hot porridge and was frightened by Feng Guangmei who was running away.
She took a deep breath, gripped the pot handle tightly, turned around, and saw the clothes that had not been hung out to dry.
She shouted out the door, "Comrade Feng, no, Guangmei, where are you going? The clothes haven't been hung out yet, and you didn't even have breakfast?!"
After emptying the toilet, Feng Guangmei's eldest brother, with a messy hair, came into the house and said with a playful smile, "Mom, our Comrade Feng is not going to look for Bei Bitang. I just saw Bei Bitang running out of the Shikumen with tears on her face. Hey, you said, is Bei Bitang really with her ex-boyfriend..."
Hearing this, Feng Guangmei's mother's face turned unhappy. She said with a stern face, "Stop asking questions! Don't meddle in the affairs between the two little girls!"
Brother Feng Guangmei touched his nose after being scolded.
Bei Bitang took a luxurious bus ride and arrived at Waibaidu Bridge.
She went up to the bridge and walked aimlessly back and forth. Workers in blue overalls passed by her, some on foot and some on bicycles.
Most of them have smiles on their faces, and even if they are not smiling, their eyes are shining.
Bei Bitang looked at those energetic faces, and the heaviness in her heart grew heavier, and her breathing became heavier.
She turned around and faced the people coming and going on the bridge with her back to her.
At this time, a red light suddenly appeared in the sky, and a morning sun rose from the east, hanging over the Huangpu River.
One is black and the other is yellow, they converge and flow forward. The black one is Suzhou River and the yellow one is Huangpu River.
A ferry came from Pudong. There was a long chimney on the ferry, white smoke rising from it, and a shrill whistle sounded from time to time.
Bei Bitang looked out at Pudong from afar. As far as the eye could see, there was a deserted wilderness with a vast expanse of wild grass growing on it.
The ferry docked, the barrier rose, and the bridge was lowered. A group of workers in work clothes set sail on the other side of the river. They lived in Pudong and worked in Puxi, commuting across the river by ferry every morning and evening.
Even so, there was no sign of fatigue on their faces.
Bei Bitang felt it was dazzling, so she looked up. The bright and dazzling sunlight made her eyes hurt even more.
It is obviously the same sun, but the northwest sun only causes chapped skin, allowing animals and plants to bathe in abundant sunshine and grow luxuriantly, and never hurts her eyes.
Bei Bitang felt that she was being pretentious and laughable.
In the Northwest, I miss Shanghai; in Shanghai, I miss the Northwest. Both Shanghai and the Northwest are so big, and so crowded. Even without her, they'll still turn around. Which one is better for her when it comes time to choose?
There are more and more boats sailing in the Huangpu River. On the wide river, the difference between big ships and small ships does not seem so big, they are all just small boats.
Bei Bitang listened to the rumbling sounds of the ship's whistle, which made her eyes hot.
Feng Guangmei chased after Bei Bitang and asked an aunt passing by where Bei Bitang was going.
Only a kind old lady told her that Bei Bitang had gone to Waibaidu Bridge. She sighed, "The little girl is so pitiful." I asked her, and she told me with tears in her eyes, "You don't know how to judge people. You ruined yourself for a man. It's not worth it."
When Feng Guangmei heard that Bei Bitang had gone to the bridge, she became even more anxious. She hoped that Bei Bitang would not do anything stupid.
She hurriedly thanked the old lady, ran to the bicycle shed, took the bicycle, and pedaled the two wheels so fast that they were almost smoking.
Feng Guangmei rode her bicycle hard onto the Waibaidu Bridge, searching the bridge anxiously.
After a while, she saw Bei Bitang and got out of the car, shouting Bei Bitang's name.
The sound of the ship's whistle stopped for a while, and then Bei Bitang heard someone calling her from behind. She turned around and saw Feng Guangmei with a worried look on her face.
Feng Guangmei blushed as she pushed her bicycle to Bei Bitang's side and called out with concern, "Bitang."
Bei Bitang quickly wiped her eyes, walked down the stone steps, forced a faint smile, and asked, "Guangmei, why are you here too? What a coincidence."
Feng Guangmei pretended not to see Bei Bitang's red eyes and said with a smile, "It's no coincidence. I'm chasing you."
When Bei Bitang heard this, she suddenly realized that Feng Guangmei must have also heard about her color incident.
Feng Guangmei didn't distance herself from her. Instead, she showed concern for her and chased after her all the way to Waibaidu Bridge. Bei Bitang felt warmed and relieved.
Bei Bitang smiled and said, "Guangmei, I'm fine. I just came here to relax."
Feng Guangmei looked at the low bridge railing, breathed a sigh of relief, and jokingly said, "That's good. I thought you were going to jump into the Huangpu River. If you jump, I can't save you. I'm a landlubber."
Feng Guangmei started to get angry as she spoke. She was angry at Bei Bitang's heartless look. She said harshly, "At most, it's a pity to lose a good friend like you, but it doesn't matter. I'm cheerful and optimistic. I will find new friends soon to fill your place, Bitang!"
Bei Bitang didn't take this to heart. Feng Guangmei said this because she cared about her good friend.
Bei Bitang looked up at the short, sturdy steel frame above the Waibaidu Bridge.
She muttered absentmindedly, "I don't have the heart to jump into the Huangpu River. This bridge's beams aren't very high, but I do have the heart to climb up and feel the vantage point, to stand above everyone else."
Feng Guangmei lightly hit Bei Bitang's arm and said with a gloomy look on her face, "Pah, get this suicidal thought out of your head! Do you think you're some female hero who can climb walls and fly over rooftops? A fall won't kill you, right?"
Bei Bitang lowered her head and smiled bitterly.
Feng Guangmei couldn't see her like this, so she comforted her, saying, "Isn't it just a man? If one leaves, there won't be another. Bitang, I know many outstanding and well-behaved unmarried young men. Tell me which one you like, and I'll introduce you. If I tell them that there's a beautiful lesbian who wants to meet them, they'll be so happy!"
Feng Guangmei's words were exaggerated, and this time Bei Bitang laughed from the bottom of her heart. She said with a smile, "Guangmei, don't tease me. I won't consider dating for the next one or two years."
When she spoke of the latter part, Bei Bitang's expression and tone were extremely serious.
Feng Guangmei hurriedly said, "You can't forget that dead man, right?!"
Bei Bitang asked with amusement, "What dead person?"
Feng Guangmei replied, "Your ex is a dead person to me!"
Feng Guangmei was furious.
Bei Bitang shook her head and said, "It's really not for him. Guangmei, my current situation is even worse than when I was an educated youth. The Corps provided food and accommodation, and also paid a salary. In my current situation, even the 400 yuan I paid for my job will take five or six years to recoup. If I rush into a relationship and meet someone like Xu Zeli, what can I do? I can't do anything about him anymore."
Feng Guangmei frowned and thought about it, and felt that what Bei Bitang said made sense. As long as Bei Bitang didn't ruin her life for a conscienceless person, she shouldn't interfere too much in whether her good friend had a relationship or not.
Feng Guangmei consoled him, "Bitang, you're really upset by those rumors. Don't be afraid. Look at all the successful men throughout history. Which one didn't have three wives and four concubines? Even if they practiced monogamy, they would marry two or three times. And those educated youth who married and had children in the countryside dared to abandon their wives and children. That proves that other people's opinions don't matter at all."
"Even though they've been doing this, I don't see them desperately trying to make a living. Instead, they're content and just looking ahead, living their lives to the fullest. The old ladies and uncles living in the Shikumen are mostly pedantic. They always say they've experienced more than we young people have. They're also from old Shanghai, those socialites, singers, and movie stars. They had several boyfriends before getting married, got married, divorced, and married again, but they're still sought after and attracted so many people. Why make such a fuss?"
Looking at Feng Guangmei's excited speech, Bei Bitang sighed silently. Feng Guangmei was right, but she was a woman, how could she compare with a man? And she was just an ordinary girl from a Shikumen family, how could she compare with a famous female star?
After Feng Guangmei finished speaking, Bei Bitang patted her shoulder with a relaxed look on her face and said softly, "This is the first time I've encountered something like this. Don't blame me for not trying hard enough. I felt the breeze on the bridge and my mind cleared up."
Feng Guangmei asked hesitantly, "Really?"
Bei Bitang nodded heavily and said, "Really! At worst, I can find a second-hand man later. It's fair."
Bei Bitang didn't want to tell Feng Guangmei the truth of the matter.
Feng Guangmei was a bit of a chivalrous person, and if she knew about the love-hate relationship between her, Xu Zeli, and Zeng Linlin, she would probably stand up for her. Regardless of whether Feng Guangmei could stand up to Zeng Linlin, as a good friend, Feng Guangmei was thinking about her, and she also had to think about Feng Guangmei.
What Feng Guangmei should do now is to review her high school courses, attend night school, and prepare for next year's college entrance examination.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
