Chapter 30 "Are you stupid?"...
Inside the room, Chen Yao'an picked up the boxes of health supplements and said, "I'll take these with me first."
"Where are you taking this? Don't throw it away, it cost me money."
Chen Yaoan left without saying a word, carrying her things.
After coming out of the house, Xu Jialan was still standing in the yard. She glanced at him, then turned and went back to her room.
She originally intended to throw these health supplements away, but after thinking about it, she decided it would be better to throw them further away. She will take them out to throw them away tomorrow.
Zhou Yao got bored watching TV, so she ran out into the yard and saw Xu Jialan standing there. She ran over happily, "Xiao Qin, Xiao Qin, when did you get back?"
Xu Jialan played along, saying, "Just now."
"It's so good to see you back! Come on, let's go watch TV together."
Xu Jialan let her pull him into the house. The two sat down side by side on the sofa, and Zhou Yao handed him an apple to eat.
When Chen Yaoan came out of her room, she saw Xu Jialan and Zhou Yao sitting together in the living room.
Zhou Yao seems to like Xu Jialan quite a bit; has she started to see him as her younger brother again?
Chen Yao'an didn't say anything and walked past them into the courtyard.
She wanted to be alone.
Yan Shumei stayed inside the house. The courtyard was relatively quiet. She sat on a chair under the catalpa tree and stared blankly at the bare wall in front of her for a while.
I don't know when the wind picked up, but it made the catalpa tree branches sway wildly and rustle.
Just like her thoughts right now, a complete mess.
Everything seemed tangled up, making it hard for her to breathe.
Her head throbbed, and she could only helplessly cover her forehead.
In the living room, after calming Zhou Yao down, I let her watch TV by herself.
Xu Jialan walked out of the house and saw Chen Yaoan sitting in the yard with her head propped up. He sat down on another chair next to her.
He asked, "What did Grandma say?"
Chen Yaoan let out a soft breath.
“My grandma doesn’t usually go online, and her daily activities and the people she comes into contact with are all in the neighborhood. She doesn’t know many words, so it’s understandable that she was scammed.”
Xu Jialan fiddled with his silver lighter in his hand, his thumb rubbing the indented patterns on it.
After a long pause, he finally asked, "Do you need my help?"
"No need," she replied quickly.
He paused, rubbing the pattern on the lighter, then asked again, "Really, you don't need it?"
Chen Yao'an smiled, feigning nonchalance, "Really, it's not necessary."
Xu Jialan then continued what he was doing. After a short while, he stood up from his chair and said without any emotion, "I'm going back now."
Before Chen Yaoan could react, he walked out.
Chen Yaoan hurriedly stood up to see him off.
As they reached the main gate, Xu Jialan suddenly turned around, her tone inexplicably distant, "No need to see me off."
"...Okay, sure."
Chen Yao'an watched his back as he walked away and disappeared into the darkness.
-
In the following days, Yan Shumei was depressed and unable to eat.
Chen Yaoan advised her, "Grandma, eat your food properly. I'll talk to Aunt Zhao later."
Yan Shumei seemed to see a glimmer of hope, "Really?"
"Really, I'll go this afternoon, but don't get your hopes up too high."
Yan Shumei's face fell again.
In the afternoon, Chen Yaoan closed the shop early and went to Aunt Zhao's house.
Aunt Zhao looked at her fiercely and asked through the gate, "What are you doing here again? I already told you I didn't take your grandma's money!"
"I've asked my grandma, can I go in and talk?"
"What are you saying? What's there to say?" Aunt Zhao clung to the door, afraid she would force her way in. "Hurry up and get out of here!"
Chen Yao'an realized this wasn't a solution; she couldn't even get through the door, so how could they talk?
Just as Aunt Zhao was about to close the door, Chen Yao'an grabbed the door and said somewhat awkwardly, "I want to buy some. My grandma told me you sell health products."
Aunt Zhao gave her a suspicious look. "Don't try to fool me!"
"Really, I want to buy some for my mom."
Everyone in town knows about Zhou Yao's situation. Aunt Zhao believes that health products are effective, and she has taken quite a few herself.
She let Chen Yao'an in with some skepticism. "You're really not here to ask me for money?"
"No, that's not true. My grandma showed me the health products you sell and said they're effective." She said, opening her phone.
Aunt Zhao was somewhat dissatisfied with Yan Shumei, "Then why did she come to ask me what money I wanted!"
“My grandma just can’t find anyone to work with her, so she can’t make money.”
Aunt Zhao snorted before welcoming her into the house.
The two sat down in the living room.
"I have several kinds of health supplements here. Which one do you want?"
She went to another room and brought out several boxes of health products, placing them one by one in front of Chen Yao'an.
"Take a look."
Chen Yao'an pretended to open the box and take out the contents to look at them.
Aunt Zhao began to proudly introduce it to her: "This kind is good for bones, and this kind replenishes qi and blood..."
Chen Yao'an listened to everything, and picked out all the items that Yan Shumei had shown her, adding a few more.
"How much are these? How much did you sell them to my grandma for?"
"I'll sell it to your grandma for 10,000, and I'll take 10,000 from you in return."
"Did my grandma really give you ten thousand?"
"Really, really." Aunt Zhao hadn't quite reacted yet.
"So, you really did take my grandma's money, then why won't you admit it?"
Seeing her change of expression, Aunt Zhao was stunned for a moment, but quickly realized that this was what she was waiting for!
She pointed at Chen Yao'an, furious, "You little brat, are you trying to trick me!"
"Please return the money, or I'll call the police."
Aunt Zhao, however, was not afraid at all and was quite fierce, saying, "Go ahead, go and report it!"
Seeing this, Chen Yaoan had no choice but to soften her tone again, "Aunt Zhao, we've been neighbors for so many years, can't we talk this over?"
"What do I need to discuss with you?" It's impossible for her to come up with this 10,000 yuan; she's already helped her son.
"Get out of here right now!"
Chen Yaoan stood still.
Seeing that she was determined to get money from her, Aunt Zhao became furious, carried a bamboo broom out of the yard, and started hitting Chen Yao'an with it.
Despite her advanced age, Aunt Zhao wielded the large bamboo broom with surprising speed and power.
Chen Yao'an was chased into the courtyard by her.
"Aunt Zhao, can't we talk this out? There's no need to resort to violence."
Aunt Zhao's attitude was firm: "Get out of here right now!"
As soon as she finished speaking, she slapped the broom onto Chen Yao'an's bare legs, causing a burning pain.
"Get out of here!"
Chen Yao'an had no choice but to give up and retreated to the front door of her house.
As soon as I stepped outside, I saw several people gathered around the entrance watching the commotion, probably because they had heard the noise coming from the Zhao family's courtyard.
Aunt Zhao yelled at them all, "What are you looking at! Look again and I'll gouge your eyes out and feed them to the dogs!"
Unfortunately, no one paid any attention to her; everyone was afraid of being swept by her broom, so they all took a few steps back.
On the street, Xu Jialan drove by and saw a crowd gathered. Out of curiosity, she glanced over and spotted a familiar figure.
Standing at the gate, Chen Yao'an's attitude was also difficult to resolve: "You must return my grandmother's money today, or I won't leave!"
Aunt Zhao immediately objected, "Go to hell!"
She raised the large broom in her hand and hurled it at Chen Yao'an, covering his face with it.
Chen Yao'an instinctively wanted to dodge, but then froze, raising only one arm to cover her face.
The expected pain did not come.
She looked up and saw a tall figure standing in front of her.
Xu Jialan held the broom in one hand.
Aunt Zhao tried to pull back a few times but couldn't budge it. Finally, she resorted to verbal abuse, "What are you doing? Who do you think you are! Mind your own business!"
Xu Jialan smiled, glanced back at Chen Yaoan, and said nonchalantly, "You forgot, we're in cahoots."
Aunt Zhao then recognized him; he was the one who came with the girl that night. It was too dark then, and she hadn't been able to see his face clearly.
Looking at him now, I realize that he is far too good-looking for a man, and doesn't look like someone from a small place like theirs at all.
“Where did this blind fool come from? This is a matter between us neighbors, and it’s none of your business to interfere.”
"Then you've got it wrong. From today onwards, we're family, and I'm going to take care of her family's affairs."
Xu Jialan flung the broom aside and firmly shielded Chen Yao'an behind her, completely blocking Aunt Zhao's gaze from falling on her.
"Tell me about her family now."
He spoke these words with a firm and powerful voice.
Chen Yao'an's gaze fell on his broad back, and for some reason, she suddenly felt reassured, even though things were still terrible.
Is this the sense of security that comes from having someone protecting you?
She hadn't felt this way in a long time, except when Chen Yuandong was still alive.
Seeing that such a strong man was protecting her, Aunt Zhao's momentum gradually weakened. "I still say the same thing, I have no money."
Xu Jialan nodded, "Okay, then we'll talk about this later."
He turned and pulled Chen Yao'an away.
He pushed Chen Yao'an into the car, and after stopping, he got out first and walked into the alley without waiting for her.
She looked down at her legs and saw that her calves were covered in scratches from the sharp thorns of the bamboo broom, some of which had broken the skin and were bleeding.
Xu Jialan did turn around and look at her one last time, but seeing that she didn't follow, she walked back.
"Your legs hurt? Do you want me to carry you?"
"No need." It's not that bad; she can walk on her own.
The two went home together, and as soon as they got home, Xu Jialan pressed her down onto a chair in the yard. "Where's your family's medicine box?"
"It's in the cabinet in the living room. I'll go find it."
Chen Yaoan stood up, but he pressed her back down into the chair.
He didn't say anything, went straight to her living room, and came out a short while later carrying a first-aid kit.
He pulled out some alcohol and cotton swabs, then knelt down to apply the medicine to her.
Chen Yao'an felt a little uncomfortable and reached out to take the things from his hands, saying, "I can do it myself."
Xu Jialan dodged it, saying, "Don't move."
He knelt down, dipped a cotton swab in alcohol, and cleaned her wound.
After a long pause, he asked, "Why were you standing there motionless? Didn't you see the broom hitting your face?"
Chen Yaoan remained silent.
Xu Jialan looked up at her and tightened her grip.
Chen Yao'an couldn't help but hiss.
Xu Jialan said expressionlessly, "Now you know it hurts, speak up."
"I just felt that maybe this way I could get the money back."
There were quite a few people there. If Aunt Zhao had hit her, she might have felt guilty and returned the money to her.
"Do you think she'll pay you back like this?"
Xu Jialan accurately guessed her thoughts.
Then, he sneered, threw the bottle of alcohol back into the box, and cursed at her, "Are you stupid?!"
Chen Yaoan lowered her head. Now that she thought about it, she realized she had indeed been quite foolish.
Xu Jialan stood aside without saying a word and lit a cigarette for herself.
He smoked the cigarette very quickly, and after finishing it, he walked silently towards the gate without saying a word.
"Where are you going?" Chen Yaoan asked, puzzled.
Xu Jialan ignored her, opened the door and left, slamming the iron gate shut with a loud bang.
Chen Yaoan blinked.
What happened?
Why did she think he was angry?
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