Chapter 73 An Unexpected Incident? "You think you're a cop? You dare to act like this..."
The next morning, Chen Mian took Zhijiayi to the credit union, opened a savings account for her, and deposited all the money she had saved recently into it.
Zhijia: "I'm going to give all the money to Aji to save, so he can spend it when he comes back."
Chen Mian wanted to pay off part of her loan early so she could pay less interest. She originally only wanted to pay off the remaining 4,687 yuan, but her parents insisted on giving her 5,000 yuan, saying that this way she could repay what she borrowed and that it would be easier to borrow again.
Credit union staff were filling out forms. Zhijia leaned against the door, bored, watching the flow of people coming and going, when suddenly she was ripped away by a pair of large hands.
"You damned woman, I've finally found you."
"Ah! Help, let me go!" She struggled desperately, her nails digging into the man's arm, her feet kicking at his legs.
Zhijia recognized the person's voice, and her fear intensified. In her extreme terror, her voice became hoarse, "Help me...help me..."
The man tore at her collar and dragged her into a secluded alley. Passersby tried to ask what was wrong, but were immediately told they couldn't intervene: "This is my wife. She cheated on me. I just caught her. Mind your own business."
Hearing the man's fabricated story, Zhijia felt her blood boil and retorted, "I didn't! You're the one who cheated on me! And you even hit me!"
The man's eyes grew increasingly fierce. He dragged her body with his right hand and covered her mouth with his left. "I'll teach you to be so foul-mouthed again."
Zhijia struggled even more fiercely, trying to beg passersby for help, but no one came forward. Gradually, she became disheartened and slowly gave up struggling, letting the man drag her along. Her pure white dress was soaked with mud and tears as she awaited her fate.
On the other side, after Chen Mian finished the formalities, she discovered that Zhijiayi was missing, and a group of people at the door were discussing the matter.
"You have to be really outrageous for her husband to be so angry."
"Didn't everyone say that he was cheated on?"
"But this woman is quite pretty, wearing a white dress, she's really something, haha..."
Hearing the foul language around her, Chen Mian looked around and ran in a certain direction.
At the alley entrance, Chen Mian listened to the sounds inside, picked up a brick that had fallen from the corner of the wall, and walked in with bated breath.
The man was very confident that no one would dare to bother him. He grabbed Zhijia and wanted to continue bullying her. "I see you've been living quite comfortably lately. You're even wearing a white dress. Have you hooked up with another guy?"
“I should never have let you go in the first place,” he said, reaching out to grab Zhijia’s chin. “You’ve lost my only son, what are you going to give me in return?”
Zhijia's eyes were vacant. Only when she heard about her son did her eyelashes flutter a few times. Her Aji was gone, and she was the one who was most heartbroken.
Suddenly, she looked over the man's shoulder and saw Chen Mian standing behind him.
Chen Mian raised her hand, signaling her not to make a fuss.
Suddenly, Zhijia spoke up, diverting the man's attention, "Didn't the woman you brought back have a son? Isn't that your child?"
"No, she dared to lie to... me..." Chen Mian's brick finally slammed into the back of the man's head, and he collapsed before he could finish speaking.
Zhijia's body was suddenly released from its restraints, and she collapsed to the ground, trembling. "Is...is he alright?"
Chen Mian checked his breath with her index finger: "He's fine, he just fainted. Let's go."
She reached out and pulled Zhijia up from the ground, then patted the stains off her white dress. "Let's go home."
"good."
.
"Have you bought everything I asked you to buy?" Lin Huijun took the shopping basket from her daughter, noticing the stains on Zhijia's skirt and the bloodstains on her knees out of the corner of her eye. "What happened? Where did you fall? Let me put some medicine on it for you."
"It's alright, no need," Zhijia said calmly. "Thank you, Aunt Lin. I'll go back to rest now." After saying that, she went straight back to her room.
Chen Mian waited until her bedroom door was closed before quietly explaining what had happened to her mother.
After hearing this, Lin Huijun glared at her daughter and said, "Do you think you're a police officer? You dare to play the hero?"
"What if something unexpected happens?"
Chen Mian protested, "I couldn't just watch her get hurt. The situation was so urgent, how could I have time to call the police?"
"Besides, her ex-husband is so fierce. I'm afraid that if I'm a step too late, she might get even more seriously injured."
Lin Huijun grumbled as she carried her shopping basket into the kitchen. She was going to Yu Xiaoyue's house that evening to watch the handover ceremony for Hong Kong's return to China, and since she didn't have anything nice to bring, she decided to make some braised dishes to take with her.
That's why I sent Chen Mianmian to the city to buy things early this morning, but who knew she would come back so late and almost get into trouble.
Chen Mian didn't get angry when her mother glared at her; instead, she smiled and went to help out.
A few days ago, we bought dozens of chicks to raise, and we also keep a few adult roosters to have occasional treats, while the old hens are kept to lay eggs.
Lin Huijun caught two roosters early in the morning, slaughtered and cleaned them, and first stewed the brine. When the vegetables were bought, they could be put directly into the stew, so that the flavor would be rich when they ate it in the evening.
Braised dishes usually need to sit for a few days to taste their best, but I've been so busy lately that I forgot about that, so I had to make them on short notice.
The two roosters were cut into eight pieces and put into a pot, including their necks, feet, and internal organs.
Put Sichuan peppercorns, star anise, bay leaves, cinnamon and other seasonings into the pot, pour in an appropriate amount of soy sauce and soybean paste and mix well, then add enough water to cover the ingredients and you can start cooking.
Chen Mian washed and chopped the side dishes and put them into the pot that had already been stewing and had a rich aroma. There were all kinds of ingredients, such as dried tofu, eggs, lotus root slices, sweet potato noodles, and dried bean curd sticks.
"It smells so good! Can I have a bite right now?"
Lin Huijun: "No, let's eat together tonight."
"Okay." Chen Mian turned away dejectedly, ready to leave.
"Here, have a chicken wing. That's all." Lin Huijun lifted the pot lid again, picked up a chicken wing with her chopsticks, and handed it to her daughter.
Chen Mian: "Ahhh, I knew Mom loved me the most!"
The handover ceremony for Hong Kong's return to China began at 9 p.m. on June 30 when Chinese military vehicles crossed the Line of Control and lasted until the early morning when the Chinese national flag was flying over Hong Kong.
Ji Yu came to the Chen family home as soon as he got off work to help his girlfriend build a swing set and to tie the grapevines around the wooden frame in the corridor.
"This is wonderful." Chen Mian sat on the swing, closed her eyes, and swayed slowly back and forth, enjoying the rare moment of leisure.
In the blink of an eye, it seems that all my childhood dreams have come true.
A gentle breeze blew by, and the girl's long, beautiful black hair danced lightly in the wind, while her yellow skirt swayed in the breeze like waves blooming in the hot summer.
Ji Yu quietly put down the tools in his hand and reverently kissed the girl's forehead. "Whatever you want, I will help you achieve it."
.
Late at night, Chen Mian and her parents, Ji Yu and her parents, and Zhi Jiayi, whom Chen Mian had dragged along, sat together in front of the television, waiting for the most anticipated ceremony to begin.
Finally, the honor guard marched in, stepping into the field.
As the national anthem played, the bright five-starred red flag slowly rose and fluttered freely in the sky above Hong Kong, China.
Although Hong Kong's return to China was planned long ago, when the day actually arrived, even watching the broadcast, the passion and excitement in everyone's hearts lingered for a long time.
As a former soldier, Ji Feng felt a surge of honor, saying, "When I have a grandson in the future, I will send him to join the army."
"Ouch, why are you pinching me for no reason?" He turned to look at his wife.
Yu Xiaoyue smiled, but gritted her teeth and said, "If you dare to send my grandson to join the army, I'll show you why the flowers outside are so red."
Her son almost lost his life in the army, which nearly scared her to death, and yet he still doesn't learn his lesson.
Ji Feng begged for forgiveness: "Okay, okay, I was wrong, I was wrong. I won't say it again, alright?"
"You're smart to know what's good for you." Yu Xiaoyue pinched her husband's arm hard again before slowly letting go.
Chen Mian leaned back on the sofa, chatting with Ji Yu from time to time, completely unaware that Yu Xiaoyue and Ji Yu would argue over a child who hadn't even been born yet.
Chen Mian: "The weather has been so hot lately that I've lost my appetite, and Da Huang has lost his appetite too; his fur is thinning."
Upon hearing Chen Mian's words, Ji Yu felt a pang of heartache and longed to hug her immediately, but after glancing at the parents around them, she timidly withdrew her hand.
"Is there anything you'd like to eat? I'll bring it back for you after get off work tomorrow."
Chen Mian shook her head, "I just want to eat something cold, sour and spicy."
"Liangpi (cold skin noodles)?" Ji Yu frowned.
"I don't want to eat cold noodles."
"What else?"
Lin Huijun, who had been listening quietly, smiled lovingly and reached out to pat her daughter's head. "She wants to eat cold fish jelly. She's been like this since she was little. She has to eat it as soon as it gets hot."
Ji Yu asked in confusion, "What is 'liangfen fish'?"
"The methods for making liangfen fish and liangpi are somewhat similar. You'll see when we've finished making them," Lin Huijun said, keeping everyone in suspense.
Chen Mian suddenly remembered something, "Mom, have you and Dad gone to the fields to check on the sunflowers these past few days? Are they ready to be harvested?"
Lin Huijun: "It should be about time. The weather has been good lately, so we need to hurry up and bring them down to dry in the sun."
"Can I continue to set up a stall in the city?" Ever since Chen Mian sold chili sauce at a stall last time, she has fallen in love with the feeling of being a stall owner and has even made several fellow stall owners.
"What would you sell at a stall? I don't have time to make you cold fish jelly to sell lately." Lin Huijun was afraid that her daughter would come up with another idea on a whim, so she refused in advance.
Chen Mian: "This time there's no need for any trouble. I'll just sell tender sunflower seeds. And we don't even need to do anything. We can just cut a whole sunflower from the top and sell it directly."
"These things are everywhere, would anyone want them?"
Chen Mian was very confident: "There are plenty of melon seeds, but there are hardly any people selling tender melon seeds. Moreover, the taste is different. They look and taste good when they're stored away. City people have never seen anything like this before."
"Just you wait and see, I'll make you a lot more money this time."
Lin Huijun chuckled and exposed her daughter, "I think you just want to sneak out and be lazy."
Chen Mian said aggrievedly, "I didn't. I'll still help you with the work morning and night. It's so hot at noon, you guys rest at home while I have to go out and sell sunflowers..."
"Okay, okay, Mom misunderstood you. Mom apologizes. I'll make you cold fish jelly tomorrow."
"Could you cook something for my big yellow dog too?" Chen Mian pressed her advantage.
Lin Huijun: "Whatever your big yellow dog wants to eat, you can make it yourself."
"All right."
-----------------------
Author's note: I've been writing and writing every day until I'm sick of it, and the comments section is so cold it's driving me crazy. I've personally touched every single one of the 104 bricks in the palace.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
