Chapter 33 Romeo and Juliet? Mingxi and...
Mingxi followed the two older women back to the Women's Federation. As soon as she stepped into the Women's Federation, she saw Xiao Yu, the staff member, with a bitter face.
“Aunt Zheng and Aunt Fu, why are you here again? We’ve told you before, this is the Women’s Federation, not the neighborhood committee. Whether Aunt Zheng dumps her garbage in front of Aunt Fu’s house or Aunt Fu takes your cabbage, it’s none of our business.”
Mingxi: Haha, I didn't expect these two old ladies to be old enemies!
The plump auntie—no, I mean Auntie Fu—was displeased upon hearing this: "Xiao Yu, how can you talk like that? It's not like we come here every time to have you deal with these trivial matters."
Xiao Yu, the secretary: ...
So you know these are trivial matters too.
Another woman, Aunt Zheng, spoke up: "Yes, Xiao Yu, we're here today on important business! You must handle this for us!"
Aunt Fu squeezed in front of Xiao Yu, the cadre, and said, "Yes, Xiao Yu, tell me, shouldn't the Women's Federation be in charge of things like trafficking women?"
Xiao Yu, the clerk, said: "Aunt Fu, you can't joke about something like this."
"I'm not kidding, I'm serious!" Aunt Fu said earnestly, and Xiao Yu's expression also turned serious.
Aunt Fu pointed at Aunt Zheng next to her and said, "It's her. Zheng Yunfen's son kidnapped my daughter. I have evidence here. You can see for yourself."
No sooner had she spoken than Aunt Zheng squeezed in from the side: "Officer Xiao, I also have evidence here, proving that it was Fu Peizhi's daughter who instigated my son to run away from home. Come, come, take a look..."
Aunt Fu: "You surnamed Zheng, get out of my way. I was here first. Officer Xiao should have looked at me first."
Aunt Zheng: "You're the one who should get lost..."
The two middle-aged women started fighting again after a disagreement. Xiao Yu was squeezed in the middle and pulled back and forth for a long time. In the end, it was only when Director Shen came back and scolded them with a stern face that the two women let go.
With the arrival of Director Shen, Mingxi and the onlookers finally understood what had happened.
It turns out that Aunt Fu's daughter and Aunt Zheng's son eloped!
According to the two middle-aged women, Ms. Fu's daughter and Ms. Zheng's son had been secretly dating for some time, and the two had kept it a secret from their families. Until last week, Ms. Fu went out to buy groceries and happened to see the two young people holding hands at the alley entrance.
This caused quite a stir.
Aunt Fu's most hated person in her life was Aunt Zheng. The two were sworn enemies since birth, and for over forty years, they had never had a single day where they could stand each other. But who would have thought that her beloved daughter, whom she had raised with such care, would actually date Aunt Zheng's son?
Aunt Fu immediately forced her daughter to break up with Aunt Zheng's son.
Aunt Zheng is the same.
Aunt Fu disliked Aunt Zheng, and Aunt Zheng disliked Aunt Fu just the same. The thought of her son marrying Fu Peizhi's daughter made her so angry that she couldn't even eat.
The two older women tried to persuade the young couple to break up with them, but the two young people were too devoted to each other and refused to break up no matter what.
In an effort to persuade her daughter to break up with Aunt Zheng's son, Aunt Fu called over her niece, who was also her daughter's cousin, hoping she could help persuade her.
For some unknown reason, Aunt Fu's niece and Aunt Zheng's daughter started arguing in the yard, and the two even got into a fight.
Well, Aunt Fu and Aunt Zheng already disliked each other, and now the two families treat each other like enemies, so there's no way the two young people can get together.
The two young people probably knew this, so they simply left a note at home and eloped.
Mingxi: ...
This overwhelming sense of déjà vu.
A modern Romeo and Juliet?
After listening to the two middle-aged women recount the whole story, Director Shen and Staff Member Xiao Yu both had indescribable expressions on their faces.
Director Shen: "Nonsense! Both children have run away from home, and you still have the energy to argue like this? Aren't you worried about the children?"
She instructed, "Xiaoyu, hurry up and go to the police station again. Ask the officers there to help you find the two children. Focus on checking the train station and bus station."
Although Aunt Fu's daughter and Aunt Zheng's son are both adults, they are still children, one is nineteen and the other just turned nineteen.
If it really gets lost, who knows what might happen!
It's true that Aunt Fu and Aunt Zheng, being sworn enemies for so many years, have completely identical thought processes; they never even considered the possibility that their two children might have run off to another city. Only after Director Shen mentioned it did they realize this was a possibility, and they instantly became anxious.
Aunt Fu clutched her collar, muttering nervously, "No way, Huanhuan wouldn't go to another city, would she? She doesn't have any money, and she doesn't have a letter of introduction. She shouldn't be going to another city... Besides, she wouldn't leave her family. She's usually very well-behaved. Zheng Yunfen, it's all your son's fault. If it weren't for your son, my Huanhuan definitely wouldn't have run away from home."
Aunt He muttered under her breath, "Who said you can't leave without a letter of introduction? The train station doesn't necessarily check letters of introduction."
Mingxi nodded. Currently, train and bus tickets are not yet registered with real names, and the checks at train stations are not strict. There are still quite a few cases of people boarding trains without a letter of introduction.
Many smugglers who secretly travel to the south to purchase goods do so in this way.
Director Shen glanced at Aunt Fu, speechless at someone who still couldn't distinguish between priorities at this time. She said irritably, "You'd better pray that your daughter really doesn't plan to go to another place. Otherwise, even if she has no money or a letter of introduction, if she really wants to leave, she can walk out of the North City along the railway."
Now Aunt Fu was really worried. Just then, Officer Xiao called the police over.
The police took statements from both Ms. Fu and Ms. Zheng, and then asked them to call their families over to investigate, hoping to find clues about why the two children had run away from home.
Asking this question actually led to a clue.
It turns out that both children had borrowed money from relatives before they left.
Each person borrowed only a small amount, but when added up, it amounted to about a hundred yuan.
Now both Aunt Fu and Aunt Zheng felt relieved.
This money is enough for the two children to buy train tickets to leave the north of the city.
Upon learning of the situation, the police officers at the local police station immediately took it seriously and dispatched personnel to the train station and long-distance bus station to investigate.
At this moment, Aunt Fu and Aunt Zheng couldn't bother arguing anymore and followed their families to look for someone.
Besides the train and bus stations, there are also relatives on both sides of the road, and the children's friends' homes—all of these need to be searched. After all, the idea that the two children went to another city is just Director Shen's guess; what if the two children didn't leave and are hiding at some relative's or friend's house?
Of course, Mingxi and her group no longer got involved in the search for the person.
As Mingxi walked home, she listened to Aunt He muttering, "Oh my, these kids nowadays are really something. When they're in a relationship, they're always threatening to kill themselves. One girl was heartbroken after a breakup and couldn't recover for half a year. Now she's threatening to elope and run away from home. We never had any of this back in our day."
Upon hearing this, Qin Qiaorou, who was standing to the side, lowered her head even further.
Aunt He realized she'd said something she shouldn't have. She chuckled awkwardly and slapped her mouth, saying, "Look at my loose tongue, why do I say everything? Little Qin, don't take it to heart, I wasn't talking about you, nor about Heping, I was talking about someone else, someone else..."
Mingxi: ...
Aunt He, could your attempt to cover up your culprits be any more blatant?
She shook her head and stepped forward to smooth things over: "Aunt He, don't just talk about us. I remember my mom saying that you and Uncle Zheng were quite wild when you were young too."
Aunt He: "Hey, you little rascal, you're teasing me now, aren't you?"
Mingxi shook her head: "No, Aunt He, I wasn't joking with you. I was just curious."
She blinked her eyes: "I heard from my mom that you and Uncle Zheng fell in love on your own, and that you were the one who pursued Uncle Zheng. My mom even helped you deliver letters, right?"
Aunt He raised her chin: "Your mother wasn't lying, there really was something like that. I'm not bragging, but when your Uncle Zheng was young, he was quite handsome, and he was tall. In a crowd, he was... well, a crane among chickens. Honestly, back then, everyone around him seemed like a bunch of little chicks, and he was the only one who stood out like a beautiful white crane. He was so handsome, I fell for him at first sight and wanted to date him. But back then, we didn't really care about dating; if we liked each other, we'd just get married. So after I took a liking to your Uncle Zheng, I immediately asked my parents to find a matchmaker to go to his house. But what was so infuriating was that your Uncle Zheng was blind to my true feelings and didn't even like me!"
"This made me so angry. I thought to myself, why do you look down on me? Just because I'm a little better looking, I've given you the honor, and you still look down on me. So I directly asked your mom, who worked in the same workshop as your Uncle Zheng back then, and they knew each other. I wrote a note and asked your mom to take it to your Uncle Zheng."
Mingxi's eyes lit up: "What did you write on that note? Did you write something to confess your feelings?"
"Confess my ass! I gave him face and he still didn't like me, and I still confessed to him? The note I gave him was a challenge to a fight. I'm going to ask him out and see why he didn't like me."
Aunt He said without the slightest embarrassment, "Well, it turns out that your Uncle Zheng seems to have some kind of problem. I asked him to come out, cornered him in a dead end, and before I could even say a word, his face turned as red as a monkey's bottom."
Mingxi: "Yo yo yo~"
I never expected that Grandpa Zheng would fall for this kind of thing.
Aunt He: "Wait a minute, I haven't finished yet. Your Uncle Zheng is such a hypocrite. His face turned as red as a monkey's bottom, but he still wouldn't talk to me. No matter what I asked, he wouldn't answer me. I kept him waiting for more than half a month before he finally spoke to me."
Aunt He: "Later I found out that it wasn't that Uncle Zheng didn't like me, he just didn't know my name. So when the matchmaker came to talk to him, he didn't know it was me, so he didn't agree to the marriage. He deliberately didn't talk to me because he was afraid that if I knew the reason, he wouldn't come to him anymore."
When Aunt He said this, she raised her chin and looked smug.
Mingxi: "Yo yo yo~"
I never expected this.
Grandpa Zheng, with your thick eyebrows and big eyes, you actually know how to play hard to get!
Aunt He: "What's this between me and your Uncle Zheng? The real story is about your mom and your dad dating. You don't know, do you? Your mom and your dad met through a blind date. But originally, your mom wasn't going to be introduced to your dad. Your dad took a liking to your mom at first sight, so he deliberately used tricks to get rid of the matchmaker and the guy who was originally going to be introduced to your mom. Then he sat next to your mom, pretending to be her blind date. That's how he got to know her."
Mingxi's eyes widened.
What?
Comrade Zhao didn't tell her about this!
Mingxi: Really?
Aunt He: "That's right. Your dad initially tried to keep it from your mom, but he couldn't hide it any longer, and she found out anyway. He even apologized profusely. I remember back then, your dad heard that your mom loved pig's head, so he went to the market, bought three big pig's heads, and carried them to your mom's house. It caused quite a stir..."
Mingxi: ...
Absolutely! Carrying three huge pig heads through the streets in broad daylight—how could that not cause a sensation?
Aunt He: "And also, when your dad and mom were getting married..."
Mingxi had been eating gossip all the way back, and by the time she returned to the tenement, she was so full of it that she felt bloated.
She stepped into the courtyard and subconsciously burped. At that moment, Ge Heping came to greet her.
"How's Xiaoming? Didn't you go to the Women's Federation with Qiaorou today? What did the Women's Federation say? Did the Ge family cause a scene or bully you? By the way, where's Qiaorou? Why didn't she come back with you? Did the Ge family take her away again? Qiaorou, she..."
Ge Heping bombarded Mingxi with a series of questions, not giving her a chance to speak.
Mingxi took a deep breath, focused her energy in her dantian, and shouted, "Stop!"
Ge Heping immediately shut his mouth, pursed his lips, looked at Mingxi, and obediently waited for Mingxi to speak.
"Yes, I accompanied Qin Qiaorou to the Women's Federation today. The Jia family threw a tantrum, but it was no use. The comrades at the Women's Federation were all very kind and fair. The Jia family members have all been arrested by the police, and the cannery leaders have decided to give Qin Qiaorou Jia Jianshe's work station. Qin Qiaorou originally came back with us, but she had to go to the cannery to complete her onboarding process, so she parted ways with us at the alley entrance to go to the cannery."
Mingxi finished speaking in one breath and asked, "Okay, I've answered all your questions. Is there anything else?"
Ge Heping shook his head.
Mingxi: "No, right? If not, I'll go back."
Ge Heping nodded obediently.
Mingxi turned and went home. When Zhao Sulan came home from get off work that evening, Mingxi couldn't help but complain to Zhao Sulan: "Mom, why is Ge He so talkative? I didn't notice it before, but after spending time with him these past few days, I realized that he's such a chatterbox and talks too much nonsense. He's not as good as Qin Qiaorou. Qin Qiaorou is much more decisive than him."
While cooking, Zhao Sulan replied, "He's spoiled. Ge Heping is spoiled."
"Your Aunt Lan's family only has him and his older brother. He is the youngest in the family, and his older brother is several years older than him. They always spoiled him when he was young. Later, his older brother went to join the army. Your Aunt Lan and Uncle Ge only had this one son, so they spoiled him even more, and that's how he developed this kind of personality."
Mingxi pondered for a moment.
That's not wrong.
After chopping the vegetables, Zhao Sulan pushed Mingxi's shoulder and led her out of the kitchen.
"I need to cook, but it'll produce a lot of smoke, so you can go outside first."
Mingxi followed Zhao Sulan's lead out of the kitchen, and gossiped to Zhao Sulan through the kitchen curtain: "Hey, Mom, do you think Qin Qiaorou will end up with Ge Heping?"
The Jia family was originally an obstacle to Qin Qiaorou and Ge Heping being together, but now the entire Jia family has been imprisoned, hasn't it?
Zhao Sulan: "That's hard to say. Even if the Jia family isn't here, there's still your Aunt Lan and the Qin family. With that bunch of leeches in the Qin family, it's impossible for them not to swarm around Qin Qiaorou once they know she has a job. They managed to sabotage Qin Qiaorou's marriage to Ge Heping back then, and they might just do it again."
Zhao Sulan: "Moreover, whether the two of them can be together is not up to Ge Heping, but up to Qin Qiaorou."
"That's true."
Mingxi nodded thoughtfully.
She said, "If I were Qin Qiaorou, I wouldn't be with Ge Heping."
Qin Qiaorou has a stable job now and can live a good life on her own, so why should she be with Ge Heping?
Zhao Sulan: "You're not Qin Qiaorou, are you? Qin Qiaorou and Ge Heping had feelings for each other."
Although they haven't been in contact for so many years, their feelings for each other were so deep back then. Now that they're both single, it's hard to believe they don't have any feelings for each other.
Zhao Sulan: "But no matter what, there's going to be a lot of trouble for both of them."
Zhao Sulan's words proved prophetic. The next day, when Mingxi saw Ge Heping again, he looked dejected and absent-minded.
Mingxi asked curiously, "Brother Heping, what's wrong?"
When Ge Heping saw Mingxi, he was as excited as a traveler in the desert seeing a clear spring. He quickly stepped forward and said, "Xiaoming, it's perfect that you're here. Qiaorou suddenly stopped talking to me today. Can you help me figure out why she's ignoring me?"
Mingxi stopped in her tracks.
She happens to be free, so she can help Ge Heping analyze the situation.
She raised an eyebrow: "Okay, tell me, what did you say to Qin Qiaorou? Why is she suddenly ignoring you?"
Ge Heping stared wide-eyed, looking completely innocent: "I don't know either. I just couldn't help asking what our relationship is now, and Qiaorou stopped talking. She asked me what I thought, and what I thought our relationship was."
Mingxi: "Hmm? What was your answer?"
Ge Heping: "I said I didn't know either."
He blushed and said awkwardly, "I actually wanted to say that we were dating, but I haven't officially told Qiaorou yet, and Qiaorou hasn't agreed to it either. I was also worried that she didn't want to bring it up since her husband just died, so I haven't said anything. But when Qiaorou heard me say that I didn't know, she got angry and then ignored me."
Mingxi: "...You deserve it."
"Huh? What?" Ge Heping didn't hear Mingxi's words clearly, and leaned closer to ask with a serious expression, "Xiaoming, what did you just say?"
Mingxi: "I said you deserved it."
"Since you haven't even figured out what your relationship with her is, what do you mean by asking her? You yourself said you're worried she doesn't want to bring it up, so why are you bringing it up? Do you want her to take the initiative and say she wants to be with you? She's a lesbian, and a recently widowed lesbian at that. Do you think she'd be comfortable with that? Or are you just unwilling to take responsibility and sticking to a policy of neither taking the initiative nor rejecting, so that even if people gossip, you can shift the blame onto her?"
Mingxi didn't indulge him at all; every word she spoke was precious.
Ge Heping stared wide-eyed and kept waving his hands.
"No, I didn't mean that, I..."
He scratched his head anxiously, stomped his feet around in circles a few times, and then looked up with a bitter expression: "I don't know how to explain it, but I really didn't mean it that way. I just... well, I don't know what I was thinking at the time. I just blurted it out on a whim."
He scratched his head with both hands: "Oh dear, I'd better not explain to you yet. I need to go find Qiaorou and explain things to her clearly. I can't let her misunderstand."
Mingxi: "Wait a minute."
Ge Heping stopped in his tracks.
Mingxi: "Brother Heping, since you've come to ask me today, I'll say a few more words. I think there are many issues between you and Qin Qiaorou besides today's misunderstanding that need to be resolved. First of all, needless to say, there's Aunt Lan. You know she's prejudiced against Comrade Qin, but no matter what, she's doing it for your own good. You shouldn't take advantage of her soft heart and keep hurting her. Then there's the Qin family, actually the most important one. The main reason Aunt Lan is prejudiced is because of the Qin family. Also, no matter what, Qin Qiaorou is a recently widowed woman. If you keep following her around all day, people will definitely gossip. They might not talk about you, but they'll definitely point fingers at Qin Qiaorou. If you don't want to make things difficult for her, you'd better be careful."
As Mingxi spoke, Ge Heping's head gradually drooped.
Only after Mingxi said that did he realize that he had overlooked many issues.
His original eagerness to find Qin Qiaorou was thus dispelled.
Everyone's off work by now, and Qin Qiaorou's neighbors must all be in the yard. If he goes over there now and someone sees him, they'll definitely gossip.
Ge Heping lowered his head and pondered for a long time, then looked up at Mingxi: "Xiaoming, thank you for being willing to say these things to me."
Mingxi's words were blunt, but he knew they were all for his own good. People who weren't looking out for him wouldn't say such things.
Mingxi waved her hand: "Hey, it's nothing."
Ge Heping thanked Mingxi and went home alone, looking dejected. Mingxi watched his back and thought to herself: Oh no, did she get too agitated and upset him?
Mingxi was feeling uneasy when she saw Aunt He walking hurriedly into the courtyard.
Aunt He: "Oh dear, Xiaoming, you don't know, something terrible has happened!"
Mingxi instantly forgot about Ge Heping: "What? What happened?"
Aunt He: "Do you still remember Du Hai's aunt?"
"Remember!"
Du Shuying, the kind person who contributed seventy yuan to her, how could Mingxi forget her?
Aunt He: "Du Hai's aunt was beaten and even ended up in the police station."
Mingxi: "Huh? Who hit him? How did it end up at the police station?"
Aunt He: "Du Shuying was beaten by her husband's niece, but it wasn't serious. The reason they went to the police station wasn't because of that. They went to the police station because of Du Shuying's niece's ex-boyfriend. No, no, to be precise, it wasn't because of the ex-boyfriend, but because of the ex-boyfriend's current boyfriend. Yes, it's related to the current boyfriend's father."
Mingxi's eyes were sparkling.
"Aunt He, what you're saying is confusing me."
Aunt He: "Don't worry, listen to me slowly. You won't be confused after I finish explaining."
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Author's Note: Just kidding! The title of this chapter and the mention of Romeo and Juliet in the text are all jokes. It's an attempt to ride on Shakespeare's popularity, but not an attempt to piggyback on his fame. It doesn't mean I think I'm comparable to Shakespeare or his works. [fist bump]
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