Forty-one: Climbing the Wall
Clearly, Cheng Fei's fate is still unfolding as before.
After the college entrance examination, Cheng Fei was clearly in a bad mood and stayed alone in the old house in Baima Village.
The old man got anxious when he saw this. He didn't particularly care whether she did well on the exam or not, since no one in the Cheng family had ever gone to university. But his daughter's health was the most important thing.
After discussing it with the old lady and the eldest daughter, they sent Cheng Min and her two daughters-in-law to forcibly bring their youngest daughter back. But even though she came back, she spent her days huddled on the small bed in Li Wei's kitchen in the west room, sleeping with her head covered, making the whole family extremely cautious and afraid to even breathe.
Similarly, Li Wei and her classmates were also about to have their final exams, and as usual, a group of children were doing their homework at Li Wei's old house. The others were alright, but Li Lin and Luo Er kept trying to chatter, only to be quieted down by Li Wei in a low voice before resuming their old ways. After a while, Li Wei got tired of talking and took out the small cane that Luo Da used for practicing his martial arts. Anyone who made a loud noise would get a whack, and the effect was indeed faster than words.
After finishing her homework, Li Wei thought that the children didn't like writing characters and often missed strokes, so she took out their Chinese textbooks and started testing their handwriting again, just as a way of reviewing. The exam was in two days, so she decided to cram before the exam.
The children were starting to complain, but dared not say anything. They fidgeted and made small movements, the worst being Luo Er, who had already asked to go to the toilet for the third time. Li Wei was so angry that she picked up a small stick as if to hit him. Luo Er probably decided to fight back; after all, he was a boy, and he snatched the stick away, then proudly brandished it a few times.
Li Wei was furious. "That brat! He's barely grown up and dares to challenge me?" she thought. She got up and went to grab Luo Er, but he easily dodged. Enraged, Li Wei thought, "He dares to stop me from hitting him? I'm going to beat him!" She looked around, then ran to the base of the courtyard wall, grabbed a long bamboo pole, and went to deal with the lawless Luo Er with murderous intent.
Luo Er, with his wealth of experience in getting beaten, sensed the danger and slipped away. If he had just quietly and stealthily slipped away, that would have been one thing, but he also jumped around furtively, shouting in a strange voice, "Hey, hey, hey, I can't hit him, I'm so angry at that white-haired bastard! I'm so angry at that little Japanese old man, hey..." Seeing that Li Wei was really charging at him, he finally ran away.
Li Wei was almost furious; her legs were weak. She hadn't intended to chase after him, but then she remembered that Luo Er was already so arrogant. If she didn't put him down, he'd be even more lawless in a couple of years. Every beating he received was one less chance she could afford. She roused herself, not forgetting to throw out the order, "Copy the vocabulary list from lesson one to lesson ten," and grabbed her bamboo pole to give chase.
Li Wei's current speed is about the same as Luo Er's, maybe a little faster. However, Li Wei is relying on the length of the bamboo pole and is thinking that once she catches up to Luo Er enough, she will give him a good whack on the butt to vent her anger.
After chasing for a while, they finally got close. Li Wei swung her bamboo pole, but Luo Er dodged it with a leap like a monkey. Not only did he dodge, but Luo Er also let out a loud "Ouch!" as if he had suffered a great injustice. This made Li Wei even more determined to catch up.
"You little brat! Is there no law anymore?!" A high-pitched soprano voice rang out.
Li Wei felt that these words truly expressed her own feelings... Ah!
She realized something was wrong. She looked up and saw... Aunt Luo!
She's gone after Luo Er's family. But... why is Luo San's aunt back? I didn't hear a sound from her.
Seeing Aunt Luo standing right in front of her, blocking her path like a fierce teapot, Li Wei didn't have time to think. She quickly stopped, forcing a smile that looked more like a grimace as she greeted the "tiger mom," while secretly taking a few steps back: "Hehe... Aunt Luo, when... when did you get back... hehe..."
Before she could finish her chuckle, the tigress erupted, pointing at Li Wei's little nose: "Fine, fine! Last time you hit my youngest son, this time you hit my second son! You little brat, you've got some nerve, daring to shit on my head! Don't you know who dares to bully me, Zhao Chunyan, not just in the village, but in the whole town? Today I'll teach you a lesson for your parents, you little bastard..."
Li Wei continued to secretly back away: "Third Aunt, you swore an oath that you would beat my hands and curse my tongue, but you just cursed at me..."
"I'm going to risk everything today, I'm going to beat you up!" she said viciously, and then came over to grab Li Wei.
Li Wei no longer cared about Luo Er making faces at her from behind her mother. She threw down the bamboo pole, turned around, and ran as fast as she could, shouting "Help!" as she ran, hoping to scare out Grandma Luo and Uncle Luo so that she could escape.
Li Wei was small and nimble, while Aunt Zhao Chunyan, Luo San's aunt, was thick-waisted, clumsy, and frail. The two, one big and one small, chased each other wildly through the alleys in front of and behind the house. Anyone who didn't know better would think it was a mother beating her daughter.
Li Wei first escaped from Lao Luo's house. As she ran home, she suddenly remembered that her grandmother wasn't there, and her listless aunt was no match for this tigress. She hurriedly rushed to Aunt Lin's house, which seemed to offer a glimmer of hope. The door was ajar, making it easy to get in, but as she reached the door, her heart sank – the door was locked! She thought to herself, "Aunt Lin, why did you have to leave when I'm in such a predicament?"
Turning her head, Li Wei saw that her third aunt had also entered the yard. With nowhere else to go, Li Wei had no choice but to jump over the wall. She ran to the low wall connecting to her own yard, stepped onto a stack of bricks that Erpangzi usually used when jumping over walls, and nimbly vaulted over the top. Inside was another stack of red bricks that Li Lianhui had used as a makeshift platform. Li Wei landed safely and looked back at her third aunt, who was running and cursing. She was almost at the top of the wall, but judging from her aunt's obese figure, it would be difficult for her to get over. Li Wei quickly crossed the yard and ran towards the wall next to Wu Feng's house, deciding it was safer to seek refuge with Wu Feng's mother.
However, it was a bit difficult to climb over this wall. After all, Wu Feng was a girl, unlike Erpangzi and Li Lianhui who were as enthusiastic about construction. But that didn't stop Li Wei. While climbing the wall, she thought to herself, "With this standard of living these days, it's really not easy for Aunt Luo to be so fat. This wall is big enough for her to climb. I hope it doesn't collapse under her weight. Hehe!"
Sure enough, Aunt Luo's pace slowed down as soon as she started climbing the wall. Seeing Li Wei reach Old Wu's house, lock the gate from the inside, and then disappear into the house, Aunt Luo was so angry she almost fell off Aunt Lin's wall. She gave up climbing and sat on the wall, cursing vehemently. Unfortunately, Li Wei was determined to hide and refused to come out, waiting for her to suffer the consequences.
Li Wei can hold back, but some people can't.
Cheng Fei, who was lying in the house with a sore back and aching muscles, first heard the big yellow dog barking incessantly, and then it seemed like someone was cursing outside her window. Listening closely, she realized it was cursing her sister and brother-in-law. What was going on? She could usually talk about her sister and brother-in-law amongst herself—that was an internal conflict—but now that there was an external enemy, it was a different story. Besides, given her sister and brother-in-law's character—they'd rather suffer a loss than cause trouble—she couldn't imagine who they could have offended.
Thinking of this, Cheng Fei got out of bed, put on her shoes, and went out. She wanted to see who dared to cause trouble in front of her house. The girl was already feeling annoyed, and now this scapegoat had come along. She didn't even need to scan the door before she saw a roaring tigress perched on the wall of Old Lin's house next door. Cheng Fei didn't recognize Zhao Chunyan, but judging from her appearance, she didn't seem like a good person. So, leaning against the doorframe, she said impatiently, "Who are you? What are you doing causing trouble in front of my house? Give me a reason, or shut up."
Seeing the adults come out, Zhao Chunyan became even more energetic. She couldn't handle the younger ones, but she was experienced in dealing with the adults. She raised her voice: "It's good that someone came out. I don't care who you are. Is that girl Li Xiaoming yours? She just hit my second son, and then she just hit my youngest son. Is this ever going to end? How do you raise your children? I'm not leaving today until you give me an explanation!" After saying that, she sat on the wall with great momentum and bounced around, using the wall as a sofa.
Cheng Fei glanced at Luo San's aunt a few times; she was a shrew, assessment complete.
She'd been class monitor since elementary school, all the way up to high school. She'd seen all sorts of students, and while she wasn't as ruthless as this shrew, she wasn't afraid either. Besides, her son, Xiaoming, was incredibly cunning; he'd never leave a trace when he hit someone. Cheng Fei vividly remembered Li Wei's scheme to swap sweet potatoes for potatoes. So, she casually said, "Really? Which child did you hit? Where did you hit them? Let me see. Otherwise, I won't believe your one-sided story. Don't think my Xiaoming is easy to bully just because she's a girl. Let me tell you, if you scare my child badly, I'll report you to the police station. My classmate's dad is the police chief; it'll be very easy for him to report you. And where's my Xiaoming? Where did you scare him off to? If you can't find him, I'll be demanding his return!"
Li Wei, who was closely watching the situation from Wu Feng's window sill, rushed out as soon as she saw her aunt holding off Luo San's aunt: "Auntie, auntie, I'm here! I didn't hit Luo Er, I just chased after him." She wanted to hit him, but missed. Luo Er, you wait! After this is over, I'll teach you a lesson! Your mother didn't even tell you she was coming back beforehand, that's outrageous!
Now that both the suspect and the victim are present, Cheng Fei asked to see the evidence of Luo Er's beating. Luo Er's aunt didn't waste any words and grabbed Luo Er, who was trying to slip away because he felt things were going badly: "Son, tell me, where did that girl hit you? Tell Mom, and Mom will back you up. Today, I'll make that brat suffer!"
Luo Er couldn't leave, and after stealing a glance at Li Wei's fierce warning look, he muttered softly, "I...I...I didn't hit her..."
Cheng Fei immediately sneered: "Did you hear that? No matter what you saw, the fact is, your son didn't get beaten. What more do you want!"
Zhao Chunyan's arrogance immediately diminished, but she had personally witnessed Li Wei chasing her second son with a stick (an upgraded version of a bamboo pole), and she couldn't swallow her anger: "Whether she hit him or not, I saw her chasing my son with a stick with my own eyes. Look, these little brats should have all seen it. Ask them. By the way, eldest son, did you see your brother being chased and beaten by that liar girl?"
If a son doesn't stand up for his mother, he might as well go home and eat sweet potatoes.
To Luo San's aunt's surprise, Luo Da, who had been writing, took a full three seconds to put down his pen under everyone's watchful eyes, and said even more impatiently than Cheng Fei had: "Mom—what are you doing here? Why don't you go help Grandma shovel the ground? This is none of your business!"
Aunt Luo almost choked on her breath. "You heartless brat! I've raised you for nothing! You don't even help your old mother when it matters! Really..." Before she could even express her feelings about her unfilial son, Luo Da, he had already grabbed her arm and was pulling her towards the wall. Aunt Luo was too large to move easily, so she glared at the bewildered Luo Er: "What are you looking at? Come here and take your mother home." To save her from making a fool of herself here.
Aunt Luo was furious. Just as the conflict between the two countries was about to turn into a civil war, Aunt Lin and Grandma Luo arrived. Together with Wu Feng's mother, they tried to persuade and intimidate her. Intimidation was Grandma Luo's right, and no one else dared to do it. They finally managed to get Aunt Luo off the wall.
Li Wei finally breathed a sigh of relief and looked at her aunt with great admiration. She hadn't realized her aunt was so formidable; she had always thought of her as just a very individualistic white-collar worker. Now it seemed her aunt had the potential to be a boss, and being a white-collar worker had buried her fierce talent.
An idea suddenly flashed through Li Wei's mind, but she couldn't quite grasp it.
After Aunt Luo left, the dark clouds dispersed, and the children gradually packed their schoolbags and went home. But Luo Da, who had dropped his mother off at home and then returned to pack his schoolbag, didn't leave. He finished organizing his schoolbag, hung it on the apricot tree branch near the gate in the yard, and started doing warm-up exercises, seemingly preparing to practice martial arts!
Before long, the members of the martial arts training group returned, cautiously eyeing Luo Da. Even Li Lianhui, who had originally planned to go out with Erpangzi, began to do warm-up exercises.
Li Wei was about to say something when her aunt Cheng Fei grabbed her by the collar and said, "Come in with me." She had no choice but to go in with a bitter face and explain the situation.
Cheng Fei listened to Li Wei's report with a cold face, her expression blank. Finally, she said, "Be more careful in the future, and mind your own business."
"Yes, ma'am." Li Wei quickly withdrew.
She wiped away the non-existent cold sweat from her forehead. She knew she would have to be more careful in the future and keep track of Aunt Luo's whereabouts. After all, she and Aunt Luo were incompatible according to their birth charts. Also, she couldn't just let that brat Luo Er get away with it.
While contemplating her aunt's formidable potential, Li Wei sat on her chair, watching Luo Er, who was practicing martial arts with everyone, like a snake eyeing a frog. Luo Er's gaze made him uneasy. He would accidentally make a mistake and be struck on the head with a stick, immediately correcting himself. Then he would steal glances at Li Wei, make another mistake, and be struck again. And so it went… repeatedly.
Li Wei couldn't hold back any longer. She went inside, rubbing her cheek and laughing. All the dislike she had felt for Luo Er was gone; instead, she found him quite adorable, while Luo Da was a real little man, haha!
After what Aunt Luo did, Cheng Fei's mood inexplicably improved a lot.
Aunt Luo is still useful; at least she can relieve boredom and make you feel better.
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