Chapter 23 The Zhou Family Comes to the Door
Bang--
Zhou Yue opened the door a crack before slamming it shut in a panic and bolting it shut. The moment she saw Zhou Chenglong, her mind went completely blank.
Bang bang bang—
"You brat, open the door right now!"
Zhou's mother's curses and knocking were particularly loud in the quiet morning, echoing throughout the alley.
"Third sister, open the door quickly, I'm starving!" Zhou Chenglong shouted even louder. "Our mother and I traveled a long way to see you, and you're just locking us out? Our mother was worried that you weren't doing well in Haishi, afraid that you'd be bullied."
Zhou's mother sat down on the ground without any restraint and wailed, "You ungrateful wretch! You stole our money and ran away, almost starving us to death! How could I have given birth to such a debt collector like you!"
Zhou Yue bit her lip hard, her body sliding down the door to the ground. Memories of being bullied as a child flooded back, and she couldn't stop the tears. She thought she had escaped the past, but how did the Zhou family find her? What should she do? What should she do?
People gradually came out of the alley to watch the excitement. Some were brushing their teeth with messy hair, some were drinking soy milk, and some were munching on steamed buns. With an audience, Zhou's mother and Zhou Chenglong performed even more enthusiastically, one crying and the other persuading, their cries getting louder and louder.
“I’m Zhou Yue’s mother. You have no idea how despicable that brat is. She eloped with someone and stole all the money in the house. When the harvest was bad, the whole family almost starved to death and we didn’t have money to buy food. Her father went up the mountain to dig up tree roots to eat in the heavy rain and fell down the mountain. We didn’t have money to go to the hospital either, and her father is now lame in his left leg… Oh God, waaaaah~”
Zhou Chenglong quickly helped his mother up, saying, "Mom, get up quickly, the ground is cold, don't upset yourself."
Zhou Mu saw Zhou Yue crying through the crack in the window and heard Zhou's mother and Zhou Chenglong talking outside. Her animal-like intuition told her that this was not a good thing for her, so she covered her ears and hid under the bed.
The curses outside grew increasingly offensive. Zhou Yue forced herself to calm down by clenching her fists. She couldn't let them ruin her reputation any further. Many people already disliked her because of her attitude towards Zhou Mu. If she allowed Zhou Chenglong and his gang to twist the truth, her life would become even more difficult.
calm!
Calm down! Zhou Yue, don't panic!
She opened the door and, with tears streaming down her face, cried out, "Mom, I ran away from home, but wasn't it because you wanted to sell me to an old widower in his forties? He beat his first two wives to death. If I hadn't run away, would I have had any chance of survival? Why should I accept my fate?"
“You’re still slandering me. I only took the money I made from selling the herbs I gathered. I didn’t touch any of the money at home.” Zhou Yue said, heartbroken. “Why won’t you let me go? I’ve already left you all behind.”
How amusing! What an interesting drama! But everyone here is just a busybody trying to make a living, and everyone still has a job to go to, so they can only leave with lingering reluctance. But now that they have a framework, they can imagine a wonderful family drama.
After most of the people had left, Zhou's mother and Zhou Chenglong seized the opportunity to squeeze into the courtyard where Zhou Yue was renting.
Zhou Chenglong followed the aroma into the kitchen. "Oh, cooking? Perfect timing, I'm hungry."
His large, dark hand reached directly into the steamer and pulled out a bun, hissing from the heat but not letting go. "Mom, come and eat! My third sister steamed some meat buns!"
"Let me see!" Zhou's mother responded and rushed over, directly pushing open the door in front of Zhou Yue.
The mother and son stuffed buns into their mouths, not caring whether they were hot or not. It had been a three-day journey, and in order to save money, they hadn't been able to afford to buy anything to eat. The few steamed buns they had brought from home were gone as soon as they got off the train. Prices in Shanghai were high, and Zhou's mother hadn't been able to afford to eat since noon yesterday, only buying Zhou Chenglong a small bowl of wontons.
"How did you find me?" Zhou Yue looked at the two of them with icy eyes. She had completely calmed down. Her initial panic was just a physical fear, but she had dared to resist before, and she would not give in now.
Zhou's mother shot out a harsh look from her triangular eyes, "You still dare to ask! If it weren't for the fourth son of the Yang family seeing you while working in Haishi, we wouldn't have known that you had hidden in Haishi."
Yang Laosi?
Zhou Yue had no recollection of this person; after escaping the ravine, she had been trying hard to forget the past.
"Children's clothes?" Zhou Chenglong suddenly noticed Zhou Mu's clothes hanging in the yard and asked in confusion, "Third sister, you got married? And had a useless daughter? Where's my third brother-in-law? Why isn't he home?"
"Married?" Zhou's mother exclaimed in surprise, then searched the house inside and out. "Where is she? Her mother-in-law is here and she doesn't even come out to greet her?"
“I’m not married.” Zhou Yue’s tone revealed impatience and disgust.
"What? Not married!" Zhou's mother rushed up to Zhou Yue and slapped her across the face. "Have you done something shameless? You dared to give birth to a bastard child! You've disgraced the Zhou family!"
Zhou Yue wasn't one to take a beating or scolding lying down. She grabbed her mother's hand, but before she knew it, her mother had pulled off her headscarf, revealing a long scar that caught her mother's eye. She was momentarily speechless.
Zhou Chenglong was also astonished, "Third Sister, your face..."
His third sister was the most beautiful girl in the whole town, how did she become like this?
Zhou Yue covered her face, looking at her mother and Zhou Chenglong with resentment. They had stripped her of her last shred of dignity!
She had fantasized countless times about achieving great success, returning home in glory, how she would appear arrogantly before the Zhou family, how she would make them all kneel before her, how she would make them regret how they had treated her, how she would make them apologize...
They came to her door today, which was already beyond her expectations. She could comfort herself by saying that after so many years in Haishi, she was no longer the same as the village women and farmers in Xiaoxigou. But now... their surprised looks were like torture to her.
She felt she could see the mockery in their eyes, as if they were saying: "Look, you stole money and ran away from the creek, now you're getting your comeuppance, aren't you? Even your only redeeming quality, your appearance, is ruined, what use are you now?"
"Get out! Get out of here!"
"Hey, you think you're all grown up now?" Zhou's mother pounced on Zhou Yue and hit her. She had been doing farm work for many years and had a lot of strength in her hands. "You still dare to tell us to get out?"
While hitting and cursing, Zhou's mother said, "Fine, you can leave, but you have to give me back double the money you stole, no, triple it, and then settle the alimony payments for me and your father. Then we'll leave right away."
"You think we wanted to step into your place? Who knows how many men you've entertained? I find you disgusting, ptooey!"
The more Zhou's mother cursed, the dirtier she became, and she even started threatening Zhou Yue, "If you don't give it to me, I'll go to the police station and report you for being unfilial and for prostitution. The second daughter of the Luo family in the next village was arrested for prostitution, and that means going to jail. Think it over!"
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