The next evening, Erhua got into big trouble.
Originally, Erhua was going to Tangli Village that day, but his mother asked him to stay for two more days in the morning, as Director Zhao was coming to visit the next day.
Erhua also thought about going to Tangli Village again in two days, so he stayed.
After lunch, Erhua went up the mountain to bask in the sun, a habit he'd developed since learning his craft. The mountains here weren't high, but the scenery was unique. A warm floral scent drifted down from the mountain, and the sun was especially bright today.
Not far down the mountain is Xu Guoqing's home. They have just bought a bicycle, the first one in the village. At this moment, Xu Guoqing is learning to ride a bicycle in the yard. His father is holding the back seat of the bicycle. Xu Guoqing rides crookedly and falls off the bicycle after a few strokes.
Xu Guoqing's mother laughed as she watched.
Erhua scoffed and muttered to himself, "How stupid! I have a bike but I can't ride it. It's useless!"
The first day Xu Guoqing's family bought a bicycle, the whole village knew about it. It was Aunt Xu who spread the word everywhere. Her pretentious look made people itch. If Erhua became rich, he would buy a bicycle for each member of his family.
That evening, Erhua went to look for Xu Guoqing, but no one was home. His new bicycle was leaning against the wall. Erhua walked over to take a closer look. Wow! This new thing was truly something special. It was gleaming with light and incredibly beautiful. Erhua gripped the front of the bike with both hands, swung one foot over, and sat on the seat. He pedaled, and the wheel started spinning. He pulled his other foot back, and the bike immediately lost control, lurching left and right, toppling over with him.
Erhua fell and was covered in dust, but he was not angry. Instead, he became more interested in the bicycle.
For dinner in the evening, my mother fried some water spinach and picked a large basin of Chinese toon from the tree, fried them in a pan with oil, and they smelled delicious.
Qiuhua ate two bowls of rice with Chinese toon heads. Recently, she went to Zenghu to learn a craft during her holidays. The master there gave her one dollar every month, and now there is enough rice at home.
Erhua, however, ate absent-mindedly, not taking a single bite. Liang Genfa thought his son was thinking about going back to learn a trade, so he said, "Why don't you go back to Master Tang's place?"
Hearing what his father said, Erhua shook his head and said, "I'll go back the day after tomorrow and see if there's anything I can help with tomorrow."
What he was talking about probably meant helping to cook a meal for Director Zhao's family at noon.
Qiu Zhen thought that her second son had finally grown up and offered to help.
But before they finished their meal, Uncle Xu, Aunt Xu and Xu Guoqing came in from outside. The three of them had frighteningly dark faces.
"What's going on? What happened?"
Qiu Zhen thought something had happened to the Xu family again and was looking for help, but she saw Aunt Xu walk straight up to Erhua, glaring and asking, "Liang Erhua, tell me what you were doing at my house this evening?"
Erhua put down his bowl and said innocently, "What? I didn't do anything. I went to look for Xu Guoqing, but he wasn't home, so I came back."
"Don't lie. Tell me the truth. Where did you hide the bicycle?"
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone immediately understood that the three of them were here to call for an explanation. No wonder their faces were so gloomy, it turned out that they thought Erhua had stolen their bicycle.
"Auntie, please don't accuse me. How would I know where your bicycle went? I'm not responsible for keeping it!" Erhua stood up angrily and continued, "Yesterday, I saw Xu Guoqing wasn't home, so I rode it in the yard for a while. How can that be considered stealing?"
"Our bicycle is missing, and you're the only one who's been in our house. If it wasn't you, who else could have seen it?"
Aunt Xu was furious and wanted to tear Liang Erhua apart. Uncle Xu and Xu Guoqing were in a better mood and stood there with stern faces without saying a word.
"Why don't you two say something? Why are you so silent?"
"Erhua, we don't want anything to happen. Just return the bicycle." Uncle Xu spoke in a restrained tone.
"I didn't steal it, stop talking nonsense!"
"How can we be sure that Erhua stole it when the matter hasn't been clarified yet? There must be a misunderstanding." Qiu Zhen became anxious after hearing this. She didn't believe that her son would do such a thing.
"What misunderstanding?" Aunt Xu was furious and reached out to pull Erhua. Dahua was sitting next to her, and he stood up and pulled Erhua.
"Aunt, please talk nicely."
"Erhua, come back with me. Let's sit down and have a good chat." Uncle Xu spoke in a bad but calm tone.
"I won't go. I didn't steal it!" Erhua shook off Aunt Xu's hand with a little too much force. Aunt Xu was thrown back two steps. Qiu Zhen immediately supported her.
"What are you doing?! You stole a bicycle and now you're hitting someone! You've been a bad boy since you were little. When you were little, you stole sugar from our house, and now you're stealing bicycles!" Aunt Xu turned around, pushed Qiu Zhen, and said, "Look at the kind of son you've raised!"
“You, you…you!”
After saying "you" for a long time, Qiu Zhen couldn't say a word.
"You're being ridiculous. The sugar incident happened when Erhua was three. Children are young and naive, and everyone has their share of cravings. Why are you bringing it up now?"
Liang Genfa was still sitting there, appearing unusually calm at this moment. He looked at the two men from the Xu family and motioned them to sit down.
The two men's faces relaxed a little, and they thought it would be okay to sit down and have a detailed chat. Everyone knew Liang Genfa's character. This blacksmith who was sent down from Shanghai was an honest man. Although he was not good at farm work, he never slacked off.
"Why are you sitting here? Erhua stole it. Either you come home with me, or I'll set up a stage at the entrance of the village tomorrow morning and scold you so that the whole village knows about this. I'll see if you still have the nerve to do it."
Aunt Xu's meaning was very clear, and there was no room for negotiation.
Qiuhua was momentarily stunned by the tension between the two families. Her eyes welled up, and she began to cry like a loser. Aunt Xu, seeing Qiuhua crying, softened her voice, but she still maintained her unyielding demeanor.
He really couldn't refuse them. Erhua had indeed been to their house to tinker with bicycles, so he thought about it and decided to go with them.
When they reached the gate, Qiu Zhen grabbed Erhua's arm, tears in her eyes. She never expected that her child, who was so old, would still be slandered like this.
"Erhua, tell Mom the truth, did you steal their bicycle?"
Erhua stopped and looked at his mother, with a shadow in his eyes. He was so calm that it was frightening.
"Mom, I didn't steal."
Only after hearing this did Qiu Zhen let go of her hand.
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