Chapter 61: Aggressive
Chapter 61: Aggressive
“I just remember,” Fang Yuenian said with a wry smile. “I remember it very clearly, very clearly. She knocked Sister Jun into the water… Sister Jun was only seven or eight years old. She was soaking in the water, and I still remember the two words she cursed at her.”
After a long silence, he gritted his teeth and forced a smile: "Luckily, Sister Jun went to your house, otherwise she wouldn't be any better off than Sister Yanzi today."
Both of them fell silent.
This was the first time Fang Yuenian had told Cheng Bing about this—it was a scene he had never forgotten, a scene that he would recall every time he saw Cheng Junjun or heard Old Lady Fang cursing. The image in his memory became clearer with each passing moment, and it would probably remain in his mind for the rest of his life.
Cheng Bing said slowly in the quiet, "Second Sister is doing very well now."
“Yes, very good,” Fang Yuenian nodded, “but childhood experiences are not so easy to forget.”
As he spoke, he suddenly smiled faintly: "I remembered something from my childhood."
Cheng Bing: "Go ahead."
In the summer, mosquitoes buzzed in our ears all night long. People huddled in the crooked mosquito net, the straw mat beneath them burning hot. Grandma Fang irritably fanned herself with a palm-leaf fan, and when her grandson cried, she also used it to pat his little bottom, which was covered in heat rash.
Fang Junjun wasn't inside the mosquito net; she was sleeping on a small tatami mat at the foot of the bed. Sweat soaked through her hair, clothes, forehead, arms, and calves, which were covered in swollen welts from mosquito bites.
This was a memory that Fang Yuenian suddenly regained one day. Every time she recalled it, she could even remember more details. For example, when Fang Junjun made a sound when she turned over, Grandma Fang would click her tongue forcefully and irritably. After clicking her tongue two or three times, Grandma Fang would sit up and scold, "I just fell asleep. Who are you trying to fool by moving around like this? If you don't want to sleep, get out of here!"
“Sometimes when Sister Jun is scolded and woken up, she will actually go out. I don’t know where she can sleep, it’s definitely not with my parents.”
Fang Yuenian regretted it as soon as she finished speaking.
There are some things he doesn't want to say more about.
Cheng Bing looked at him for a while, then suddenly said out of the blue, "Fang Yuenian, I have a question for you."
Fang Yuenian sensed something was off about his tone and frowned, "What's the problem?"
Do you think you're wrong?
Fang Yuenian: "What do I have?"
“Wrong,” Cheng Bing emphasized the word, “Your grandmother treated your second sister that way, and even your mother treated your second sister that way, and you think it was all because of you that you were wrong, right?”
Fang Yuenian's face turned pale instantly.
Cheng Bing met his gaze: "But they are very happy. They have been happy since they were young, and everyone praises them. They are living much better lives than you."
Fang Yuenian was stunned by what she was being said.
"you……"
Cheng Bing's expression was serious, and her voice was cold: "Do you still think that even though your dad and grandma beat you when you were little, you were still their precious grandson, and your mother only had eyes for you? You're the beneficiary of your family's preference for sons over daughters, and Cheng Xiaoxiao and Cheng Junjun are the victims. So your conclusion is that you've let them down. You've always been obedient to them since you were little. Even if you got into a fight outside, you'd immediately change when you saw them because you felt sorry for them. So you didn't dare to be disobedient. If they were nice to you, you'd give them everything you had. If people gossiped about them, you'd secretly trample on their vegetable gardens. If a boy bullied them, you'd immediately run over and beat him up... You've done the same to me, haven't you?"
Upon hearing the last sentence, Fang Yuenian's mind went blank. Without thinking, he jumped to his feet and roared, "What nonsense are you spouting?!"
Cheng Bing had never spoken so aggressively or so seriously at such a long time before.
Fang Yuenian opened her mouth, "I...I didn't, what, what do you mean by it being the same for you too?"
Cheng Bing's gaze was sharp: "Because I'm also their brother. If you're close to me, they'll both be happy, right?"
Fang Yuenian's hands and feet were ice-cold, and she was breathing heavily with anger. She stared at Cheng Bing for a long time, not knowing what to say. So she got angrier and angrier, abandoned her books and papers, and strode away with a stern face.
Forget it, forget it, his mind is a complete mess, damn it...
He bumped into a chair as soon as he took a step out, and before he even left the house, he bumped into the corner of a table. After two thuds, he was furious. Just as he was about to turn the doorknob, Cheng Bing grabbed his arm from behind.
Fang Yuenian flipped her arm and shouted at him, "Let go!"
Cheng Bing was not freed from him, but was pulled a step closer. So, in the next moment, she simply opened her arms and pulled him into her arms.
He hugged the person.
"you……"
Fang Yuenian was so shocked she could hardly speak. Her eyes widened, and she froze into a stiff, lifeless shape.
Cheng Bing hugged his shoulders tightly, her palms pressed against his back, and her head resting on his right shoulder—an embrace that left no room for resistance.
"I'm sorry," Cheng Bing whispered in his ear, "I misspoke."
Fang Yuenian's arms were firmly encircled by him, so she could only lift her forearms in vain, "Uh..."
"I just hope you don't overthink it."
Cheng Bing's voice sounded coaxing, with a touch of gentleness, and the coldness from before had completely disappeared.
Fang Yuenian was in a daze, thinking she was dreaming. She couldn't help but bite her lip hard, hissing in pain, and then she woke up.
For some reason, he felt strange being hugged by Cheng Bing like this. He wanted to hug her back, but he couldn't lift his arms, so he had to settle for letting his hands hang down and wrap them around Cheng Bing's waist.
Cheng Bing clearly moved slightly, but did not let go.
Fang Yuenian's expression changed several times before she finally managed a weak smile. "You...you're trying to comfort me?"
Cheng Bing remained silent for a while, then seemed to let out a slight sigh of relief before releasing her arms, ending the sudden embrace between the two.
Fang Yuenian was a little embarrassed, but still had a smile on her face. "Hmph, what's wrong with you? Did I say anything? You're going on and on like a machine gun, it really scared me."
He shook his head, walked past him, and sat back down at the table, as if he had decided to just let bygones be bygones.
Cheng Bing stood still and slowly turned around to look at him.
"What do you remember?"
Fang Yuenian looked at him strangely: "What?"
“Tell me about things from when I was little,” Cheng Bing went back to her seat and pushed aside the books in front of her.
Fang Yuenian looked him over: "What do you want to hear?"
"Anything is fine."
“Hey,” Fang Yuenian clicked her tongue, “Aunt Qiuyan probably remembers more about Sister Jun’s childhood than I do.”
“We don’t talk about those things at home, or at least not in front of me,” Cheng Bing said. “My mom, my sister, my second sister, if we really had to talk about it, we probably wouldn’t talk about anything else.”
Fang Yuenian was even amused by him in this situation.
"Hmph," he chuckled bitterly, "then my family and your family are completely opposite."
"I know."
Fang Yuenian looked away, and after a long while, she slowly said, "My mother said that I was in poor health when I was a child."
"Um."
"I don't know what's wrong with me, but I get sick very easily, and I'm very fussy and cry a lot, so my mom has to be with me almost every step of the way... Ugh, this is so annoying, I don't want to talk about it anymore!"
Seeing him bury his head in the table and cover his ears, Cheng Bing got up and dragged a chair next to him. Fang Yuenian was startled: "What are you doing here? You're not going to hug me again, are you?"
Cheng Bing said, "I'll get ready."
"No, no, no," Fang Yuenian shrank back, "I'll tell you, okay?"
“When I was little, I don’t remember anything particularly vivid. Anyway, Junjie was rarely home. If it were me, I wouldn’t stay home either. I was always getting beaten and scolded, especially at mealtimes,” he gritted his teeth. “That day, someone came to our house to argue. This is so common, I’ve been used to it since I was little. Anyway, when my mom carried me out the back door under her arm, Junjie was already there. Apparently, someone said she had taken something from their child. As they were arguing, my grandma slapped her down into the water. I was terrified and started crying. Even as I cried, I could still hear my grandma cursing… Then, on the other side, Xiaoxiao called out to her, called Junjie, and told her to swim across. And Junjie actually swam across… I later heard that a long time ago, Aunt Qiuyan had taken Xiaoxiao across in the same way. Damn it.”
“So what if he swam over?” Cheng Bing looked at him and smiled faintly. “What the hell is there to complain about?”
"You fucking bastard," Fang Yuenian was amused by him again, her earlier composure instantly crumbling, "Is that something you should say? Huh? Good student?"
Cheng Bing: "You're a good student now, so if you can say it, why can't I?"
Fang Yuenian said helplessly, "Don't joke around, I was wrong, really wrong."
The two sat close together. Fang Yuenian looked at Cheng Bing's face, which was almost touching hers, and suddenly said, "I've always wanted to ask you, why do you insist on not letting me swear? Okay, I know swearing is bad, but sometimes, in certain special situations, normal words can't express true emotions..."
"Because my older sister wouldn't let my second older sister say it. Of course, that was when we were very young. Have you ever heard my second older sister swear?"
Fang Yuenian: "Uh... if we don't count that day..."
Cheng Bing smiled and said, "I'm sorry, I agree. In some situations, normal language cannot express true feelings."
Fang Yuenian chuckled twice, "Exactly."
"But I think if I can restrain myself as much as possible, I shouldn't say it."
"Why?"
Cheng Bing paused for a moment: "Because I don't want people to leave the house and say, 'No wonder it's their little one,' when they hear you speak."
Fang Yuenian paused for a moment.
Cheng Bing raised her hand and put it on his shoulder, and said slowly, "You can become a very good person, a very good child, a very good student, and you will also become a very good adult in the future, no matter what kind of elders you have."
Fang Yuenian was stunned for a long time, and he tried his best to hide the redness in his eyes. He sniffed and said, "Damn, you're talking as if you're ten years older than me."
Cheng Bing slapped him on the shoulder: "Fang Yuenian!"
"Oh, I was wrong—" Fang Yuenian slapped her lip. "Forgive me, there's no one else here."
Cheng Bing rolled her eyes at him. "Anything else besides that?"
Fang Yuenian sighed, "It's nothing, it's just," he hesitated, looking at Cheng Bing, "my mom, well, if I say she regrets it, feels guilty, wouldn't that be a bit disgusting?"
Cheng Bing's expression turned serious: "You didn't tell your second sister about this, did you?"
Fang Yuenian said, "No, I'm not crazy either."
Cheng Bing said seriously, "From now on, unless she tells you herself, you shouldn't interfere in anything between her and your family. Fang Yuenian, you have to listen to me."
“Listen,” Fang Yuenian readily agreed, “I won’t make things up.”
"Then your mother won't let you..."
“No, that’s not true,” Fang Yuenian said hurriedly. “Don’t worry.”
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