Chapter 21: The Hu family's ancestral secret of the cowardly Hu Chengjun...
Wang Yulian was stepping on the last sentence as she walked into the door of the mediation room.
"Here they come—" Wu Ya had been waiting since just now. He was anxious to get the money. When he heard the noise, he turned around. Before he could even say anything about asking for the money, he shouted out in his throat: "Hey?"
Wu Ya was startled.
He hadn't expected that Li Jianye's wife was actually Wang Yulian. He looked at Wang Yulian on the left, Shi Meilan on the right, and finally at Li Jianye. A word came out of his throat again: "Huh???"
How could this be Wang Yulian?
Wang Yulian was also shocked.
She glanced around the mediation room and was surprised to find that they were all acquaintances.
As soon as I entered the mediation room, I saw the police desk facing me. On my left was Li Jianye, and on my right were Shi Meilan and Wu Ya. I knew each of them.
Wang Yulian was just shocked when she saw Shi Meilan, but she started to panic when she saw Wu Ya.
Her little affair with Shi Meilan and Li Jianye had long been known to everyone in Lijia Village, and she was not afraid of being embarrassed. However, it was different in the garment factory. She had to save face in the factory. She told others that her husband was an educated youth and a person who had returned to the city. Now, she was suddenly caught in this embarrassing state by her colleagues in the garment factory. She felt like her "lie had been exposed" and she stood there, not knowing how to move.
Wang Yulian didn't know what to say. Li Jianye, standing beside her, stood up with a smug look on his face. He walked to the door, pulled Wang Yulian aside, and said, "My wife! She works at the garment factory! She earns about 20 yuan a month! The five yuan compensation is more than enough for me! Unlike some people, who keep going back!"
Li Jianye said this while looking at Shi Meilan.
Shi Meilan hooked up with someone else and could only rely on other men to make a living, leading a despicable life, but he was not like that.
He found a better woman, a woman with a decent job! This is very rare in the countryside!
Li Jianye was of course proud of this. Not only was he proud, he also felt a sense of pride.
After Shi Meilan left him, she could only find a man like this with greasy hair and powdered face who pretended to be sick and blackmailed people for five dollars. It was extremely shameful!
And what about him? He found a respectable regular job! When he continues to treat his friends to dinner tomorrow, who knows, he might even be transferred to work in town! His life will only get better after he leaves Shi Meilan!
After hearing what Li Jianye said, Shi Meilan and Wu Ya both showed some strange expressions on their faces.
Shi Meilan seemed to be trying to hold back her laughter, or as if she was looking at a clown, leaning back in her chair without saying a word. Wu Ya looked left and right, finally figuring out the interpersonal relationships, and couldn't help but let out a long "Oh".
So this is the relationship!
Before, Shi Meilan told others that her husband had died and she was a widower, while Wang Yulian told others that her husband was an "educated youth" who had returned to the city. As a result, they met here today!
He finally figured it out. Shi Meilan's husband was not dead, but still alive. He just had an affair. And Wang Yulian's husband did not return home, but she poached someone else's husband.
He had never expected that there were two talented people hiding in this small office. If he hadn't been beaten today, he wouldn't have known about it!
Come to think of it, this beating was not in vain!
"Sister Yulian." Wu Ya was a bit of a snob. Although not as mean as Sister Zhao, he still loved to talk nonsense. He couldn't help but said sarcastically, "Is this your [educated youth husband]?"
Wang Yulian's face suddenly turned red and she couldn't say a word in reply.
Li Jianye, who was standing by, finally reacted and asked in confusion, "Do you know each other?"
It’s fine that Shi Meilan knows Wang Yulian, but how come this man also knows Wang Yulian?
How come everyone knows this?
"That's enough." Wang Yulian knew what was going on, but she didn't have the nerve to ask. She just wanted to end this farce quickly. She asked, "Who do I have to pay the compensation to?"
"Give me some compensation." Wu Ya crossed his arms and said, "Sister Yulian, you don't know how badly your husband beat me. He insisted that I was Sister Meilan's mistress. Oh, don't you have to pay me two dollars for mental damages?"
Wang Yulian silently took out five yuan from her pocket, gave it to Wu Ya, and said, "It's only five yuan, no more."
Wu Ya quickly stepped forward to take it and said, "Five dollars is five dollars, Sister Yulian, I'm not that difficult to talk to. We're in the same office, so I'll take responsibility for this matter."
Look at how good this guy is at talking. He is clearly trying to extort money, but he can put on an attitude of "I forgive you". He is taking advantage of others and still acting like a good boy!
Wang Yulian paid the money silently and prepared to leave with Li Jianye.
At this time, Li Jianye finally realized that something was wrong. Hearing Wu Ya and Wang Yulian speaking in such a familiar tone, he asked, "What is your relationship?"
Wang Yulian didn't respond, but Wu Ya was about to say, "How could he bear the humiliation of being mistaken for a male mistress for no reason?" He was definitely going to ridicule Li Jianye.
"What's the relationship?" Wu Ya pointed at his uniform and said, "See now! I'm a garment factory employee, and Sister Meilan is also a garment factory employee. The three of us work in the same factory! You can't even figure this out, and you're still talking nonsense! You can't even catch an adulterer!"
Wu Ya revealed something that Li Jianye had never known from the beginning, which made Li Jianye unbelievable. At this time, he was shocked to find that the clothes on Wang Yulian were exactly the same style as those on Shi Meilan and Wu Ya.
What! Shi Meilan actually got into such a good factory?
"That's impossible!" He retorted on the spot: "Why did Shi Meilan get into the factory?"
Wang Yulian entered such a good factory because he spent two hundred yuan, and Shi Meilan left their home - oh!
Li Jianye remembered that Shi Meilan also took away 200 yuan!
"You also spent money to buy a spot?" Li Jianye demanded loudly, then turned furious and said, "That's our Li family's money, and you actually used it to buy a spot!"
No wonder he was beaten at that time. Li Tianci went to ask Shi Meilan for money but couldn’t get it. It turned out that Shi Meilan had already spent it!
Li Jianye felt very sad when he thought about how poor he was living outside while Shi Meilan got a job in the factory.
Seeing his ex-wife prospering was more painful than digging out his flesh and drinking his blood! He always felt that Shi Meilan was stepping on his head. If it weren't for the two hundred yuan he gave her, would Shi Meilan be where she is today?
If he had not given Shi Meilan a penny and had kicked her out, what could Shi Meilan do to him?
"Your Li family's money? That's my money!" Shi Meilan stood up and replied with a look of annoyance, "That's what the village chief gave me. If you don't agree, go and complain to him! Let's divide it again!"
After shouting, Shi Meilan raised her leg and walked towards the door.
Li Jianye wanted to stop Shi Meilan again. He was unwilling to give up. He always wanted to do something to make Shi Meilan less glamorous and painful, so that he would feel more comfortable.
The police officer nearby hurriedly intervened, "You're not out yet! You still want to be locked up, right?"
Li Jianye shuddered and didn't dare to stop him.
Look at this cowardly look!
Shi Meilan didn't even want to look at him and walked out the door.
Wang Yulian silently stepped aside, and her daughter Lin Xinran also hid aside. Only Li Jianye kept looking at Shi Meilan viciously.
Hu Chengjun had been guarding outside the door, his eyes always wandering between Li Jianye and Wang Yulian, on guard against the two of them suddenly going crazy and doing something violent, but in fact they didn't.
Li Jianye is a bit of a bully and can only be tough with women. In the police station, he didn't dare to speak.
Wang Yulian was simply too shameless - this woman was better at hiding behind and saying a few words to provoke Li Jianye to work for her, but she was not good at confronting the enemy head-on. These two people really didn't have the courage to do so, and Shi Meilan walked out of the mediation room smoothly.
After Shi Meilan came out, he followed her.
It was only then that Hu Chengjun discovered that Shi Meilan walked with one foot higher than the other.
He glanced down and found that Shi Meilan's right heel was broken and stuck to the front sole, causing Shi Meilan to walk unsteadily.
It seems that Shi Meilan didn't hold back at all when she kicked him just now.
As for Wu Ya who was standing aside, he had been silent since he heard the words "spend money to buy a job". His eyes were rolling around, and no one knew what he was thinking.
After the three of them came out of the police station, Wu Ya didn't mention what happened there just now. He just smiled and said, "Hey, sister, we haven't eaten yet."
Although it delayed the meal, I can’t miss out on this great deal!
Shi Meilan also knew that she couldn't avoid this meal. If she owed Wu Ya a meal and didn't treat him, he would remember it for the rest of his life. Besides, she was really hungry, so she simply took her people back to the mutton restaurant, ordered two pounds of meat, and had a big meal.
Wu Ya was so happy. He earned five dollars today and had a big mutton dinner. He walked into the restaurant happily.
Hu Chengjun arranged the two of them in the corner of the store, where it was quiet.
As evening approached, there were fewer people in the mutton restaurant and it was basically quiet. Shi Meilan and Wu Ya sat in front of the beef hotpot and ate together.
While the two of them were eating, Hu Chengjun didn't come over. He just stood behind the counter, like an ordinary boss should do.
Only occasionally would Hu Chengjun look up at Shi Meilan.
He actually wanted to ask Shi Meilan out for dinner alone today.
But he was really not very good at speaking, and he was like a mute person, unable to utter a single nice word. Shi Meilan even thought he was trying to solicit business.
The mist from the mutton pot blurred her eyes and face. He occasionally glimpsed her hair through the dim light, then slowly lowered his head, not knowing what he was thinking.
He sat back, his whole body blending into the wide counter, where the light source could not reach, as if it was going to submerge him.
He didn't have the courage to stand up and go to Shi Meilan's table and say, "I actually wanted to invite you to dinner." He just sat there in a cowardly manner.
From now on, Hu Chengjun should not look down on Hu Honghua for being a coward. These two people have their own cowardices, which are passed down from generation to generation in the Hu family.
Shi Meilan didn't pay attention to this, she was talking to Wu Ya.
Although Wu Ya likes to take advantage of others, he is not a snob. He is good at talking and handling things. After leaving the police station, Wu Ya did not say a word about the commotion just now. While eating the mutton hotpot, he said to Shi Meilan: "Sister, don't worry. After eating this pot of meat from you, I will not tell anyone about what happened today when I leave."
Look, this person does have some good points, he is not completely without merit - if he was really an annoying person in every way, he probably wouldn't be able to stay in the office for long.
After the two finished their meal, Wu Ya wiped his mouth and stood up to leave, but Shi Meilan sat on the chair, looking at the sky outside with worry.
The lights in the mutton restaurant were dimly lit, making the darkness outside seem even darker. There were no street lights in the town, and it was gray outside. Not even a single figure could be seen. Looking out the window, Shi Meilan could only see her own reflection in the glass.
It took a while to get to the police station. It was already past nine o'clock in the evening, and the female workers' dormitory was probably closed.
The dorm manager of the dormitory where she lived was an old woman who was very difficult to talk to. She was the kind of person who was completely unkind. Once, a female worker from another room came back late, but she refused to open the door and made the female worker stay outside for half the night.
Shi Meilan had tried to send something to this old woman before, but she would not say anything. She would just hold her neck high and say, "I won't accept anything from you. No one can get through my back door."
Oh my! What backdoor do you have? It's so hard to open the door for me when I come back later.
"Hu Chengjun—" Shi Meilan suddenly asked, "Do you have a place to stay here? I'll stay here for the night. The factory over there is closed."
Just treat it as staying at a relative's house. Shi Meilan was reluctant to pay for the hotel outside. Anyway, Hu Chengjun's restaurant was so big that she could sleep on a bed.
Shi Meilan was thinking about it when she suddenly saw Hu Chengjun standing up from the opposite counter.
He was too tall. When he stood up, he blocked half of the light above his head, making the surroundings dim. Shi Meilan turned around to look at him and saw Hu Chengjun walking towards her.
"The second floor is also a restaurant, but it's not a restaurant. There are three rooms up there. The owner used to live there. You can live here now."
"If you like." He walked to the table next to her, holding a small hammer and a small box of nails, and sat down. He squeezed out another sentence in a sullen voice: "You can live here forever."
He sat down on the chair with a creaky sound and said to her, "Give me your shoes and I'll fix them."
Shi Meilan then remembered that one of her heels was half missing.
She took off her shoes and said, "I can do it myself."
Farmers in the countryside are reluctant to throw anything away. If something breaks, they will find a way to fix it themselves and make do with it.
Hu Chengjun didn't say anything. He raised his hand and took the shoe from her.
Shi Meilan looked up at him.
The ceiling light in the mutton restaurant shone on him, making the bulging muscles on his arms look very beautiful. He said nothing and just worked silently.
The warm aroma of the mutton hotpot was still wafting around, and the light above his head cast a halo on his hair. He was tapping her shoes with a small hammer, very seriously.
The thick fingers held the slender leather shoes in their hands, and after a few flips, even a small gap was repaired very neatly.
Shi Meilan watched from the side and finally figured out something was wrong.
Shi Meilan had never thought about Hu Chengjun before, as she was not familiar with him. Until now, when Hu Chengjun was sitting here fixing shoes for her, she suddenly thought about it and her heart immediately tightened.
Women have always been more meticulous than men. Hu Chengjun's unspoken little thoughts, revealed inadvertently, were already smelled by Shi Meilan.
She was a married woman, and she was very familiar with men's little thoughts. Although Hu Chengjun didn't say it, this man's actions at times really didn't seem like he was a thoughtless person.
When she thought of this, Shi Meilan suddenly felt a little uncomfortable.
She had been close to Hu Chengjun before purely because of Hu Honghua, but now—
"Okay." The shoe was handed over from Hu Chengjun's hand and returned to Shi Meilan's hand.
Shi Meilan took it and put it on.
The shoes are very comfortable, but I don’t know if it’s a psychological effect, but when I wear them I always feel like they are stained with the heat of a man’s blood, and they are very hot.
Shi Meilan felt a little awkward, which was unusual for her.
This feeling is like you suddenly find out that a very reliable friend of yours actually has a crush on you.
Hu Chengjun is a good man, honest, reliable, steady and down-to-earth. He has helped her a lot in the past - etc.
Shi Meilan felt a little dizzy.
I helped her before, before—
She stood up quickly and said, "I have to go back to the factory."
Hu Chengjun seemed to pause for a moment, then stood up as well, hummed in a muffled voice, and followed her to see her off.
Wherever she went, he followed her like a big brown bear following behind her. Shi Meilan could feel the heat coming from his body, but he didn't say anything. When Shi Meilan turned around, she saw him still standing there.
At this moment, he still had an indescribable sense of cowardice, exactly the same as Hu Honghua's, as if he could be ordered around in any way. If Shi Meilan said, "Actually, I'm a fairy from heaven," Hu Chengjun might nod and say "yes."
Shi Meilan felt even more uncomfortable.
She pursed her lips and just turned her eyes away, about to leave through the door, when she heard Hu Chengjun ask, "Isn't the factory closed?"
When he asked these questions, his voice was a little tense - I don't know how long it took him to squeeze out this sentence!
He wasn't questioning, he was just confused, and even looked a little aggrieved.
It's over! Even more pathetic! How come these two people in the Hu family are more pathetic than each other?
Shi Meilan pursed her lips and didn't know how to answer - should she say, I discovered your little secret, so I'm embarrassed to sleep here with you?
Her lips moved, and she was about to squeeze out a reason, but suddenly she heard a burst of shouting and cursing coming from the quiet avenue outside.
"Why are you trying to send me back? I'm not going back! I'm going to find a job in town, I'm sure I can find one! Isn't there anyone in this big town who needs a teacher?"
It’s Li Jianye.
There was no sound in the middle of the night, but when these two people cried, their cries could be heard on the entire street nearby.
Shi Meilan and Hu Chengjun were both beaten.
They both suddenly realized - oh, it was Wang Yulian and Li Jianye coming out.
If you want to blame someone, it's because the town is too small. There are only a few streets with food, and people flock here. You can always run into acquaintances after walking three or five steps.
At this time, if Shi Meilan went out again, she would really meet these two people again.
At the same time, Shi Meilan heard another voice coming from outside the street: "I'm not asking you to go back, we're out of money!"
Wang Yulian had also suffered a great blow today, and it was difficult for her to maintain her usual gentle demeanor. She shouted even louder, "We're out of money! I can't afford to keep you here! Can't you just stay back for a few months and come out when you have more money?"
Ouch, there’s a quarrel!
Shi Meilan perked up all of a sudden, immediately forgetting about the fact that "Hu Chengjun seems to be interested in me." She turned around and walked towards the window, saying as she walked, "Quickly turn off the lights, and hide yourself so that no one can see you."
Don't let anyone outside see them.
Shi Meilan gave the order, and Hu Chengjun immediately walked to the wall next to the counter and turned on the light.
When Hu Chengjun looked up again, Shi Meilan was already lying down by the window.
Hu Chengjun could actually squat next to Shi Meilan and get closer to her, but he was slow, timid and clumsy in this kind of thing. In the end, he squatted down next to the counter and didn't go over to Shi Meilan. Shi Meilan had never realized that this man liked her before, so she couldn't blame her.
At this time, Shi Meilan didn't pay attention to these.
She was completely focused on watching the people outside and was lying very carefully next to the window.
Shi Meilan has learned a lot of skills from the Li family's years of wall-climbing and anti-wall-climbing operations, and today she is returning the favor. In short, Shi Meilan is doing what Zhao Erjie used to do, and she started to peep at Li Jianye and Wang Yulian for fun.
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