bad woman
I'd rather never speak a word than tell you a lie or deceive you. -- "My Favorite in Life"
As expected, the property management of a good apartment building is really efficient. After I made a complaint call, they immediately sent someone over to resolve the issue... or rather, to explain it to me.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Fu, you must have made a mistake. Ms. Zheng lives in Building 14, which is far from here. It's impossible for her to disturb you." The woman sent by the property management was dressed in a smart suit and had a sweet smile. No one would give her a hard time.
Fu Jia sat there as if nothing was wrong: "Oh, really?"
Xia Tong, however, was not calm. She retorted, seemingly excitedly, "How could that be? I know it was her! She was making a scene last night, and even after I talked to her, she wouldn't listen and we had a fight!"
The property manager maintained her gentle and warm smile, but her face stiffened slightly at the questioning. She smiled and showed her the record in her hand: "Miss, you see, Ms. Zheng lives in Building 14, Unit 7, which is in Block B. She definitely won't disturb us in Block A." Xia Tong leaned over to look, and sure enough, the owner's name was Zheng Yulu. Xia Tong suppressed the turmoil in her heart and then apologized slightly to the woman: "Then perhaps I really did remember wrong. Thank you for your help."
The matter seemed to have been resolved satisfactorily. After seeing the property manager off, Fu Jia, who had remained silent, stood up and asked, "Do you need my help?"
Xia Tong scrutinized him for a moment: "No need."
Fu Jia was a little disappointed, but immediately teased, "Your acting was pretty good!"
Xia Tong shrugged and was about to walk away when Fu Jia grabbed her arm. She turned around impatiently: "What?"
“But don’t lie to me, I can feel it.” Fu Jia stared at her seriously, his expression now more solemn, no longer playful.
"Don't worry, you're not worth me lying to." Xia Tong glanced at him almost mockingly and shook off his hand. When you're in a bad mood, getting angry at others is also a way to vent.
Then Xia Tong had Fu Jia take her to the legendary No. 7, Building 14. She wandered around the garden of that house many times. The carved railings blocked everyone from getting close, and also blocked the judgmental eyes of the outside world. No one knew how unrestrained and dissolute they had been inside, but no one would remain unknown forever.
Just as Xia Tong was pacing outside the wall, a car drove up. The sharp-eyed Xia Tong immediately recognized Xia Xinwen's license plate. When the car headlights shone on her, she felt a moment of bewilderment. If she were to bump into them like this, how would she face them?
But as soon as that moment passed, she snapped back to reality and threw herself into Fu Jia's arms, who had been standing behind her. Fu Jia was still reveling in her embrace when he heard Xia Tong mutter, "Turn half a circle to the left and block my way."
He did as she said, then lowered his eyes, rested his chin on her soft hair, smiled helplessly, and could only remain silent.
As soon as the car entered, Xia Tong took Fu Jia's phone and started making calls.
"Hello, sister, I accidentally recharged your phone with fifty yuan this morning. Could you please return it to me?" She explained her purpose as soon as the call connected.
"What is this? Are you out of your mind?"
"I'm so sorry to have troubled you, sister. Could you please return my fifty yuan? Are you free now? I can come to you to get it."
"Don't you even have eyes when you're topping up your phone credit? I don't have time." With that, she hung up.
Xia Tong called her back: "Sister, please, give it back to me? I can come to you whenever you have time."
"Aren't you annoying? You made a mistake and now you want others to pay for it? What right do you have? What gives you the right?!" The woman on the other end also got angry and yelled at her. Sure enough, she's a teacher; she has a whole repertoire of ways to lecture people.
"Sister, I really apologize to you, okay? Please give me back my money. I'm a student, that's my living expenses..." Xia Tong's aggrieved voice kept repeating.
"Okay, okay, I'm scared of you. Just give me your bank card number and I'll transfer the money to you, alright? It's not like I need your fifty yuan."
"But what if I don't have a bank card? Can you just give me cash?"
Why do you have so many problems?
"I really am—"
"Stop talking, your rambling is giving me a headache. I'll give you an address. Go there and tell them you're the one who made the wrong phone bill payment, and someone will give you the money."
"Okay, I'll write that down. Thank you so much!"
"Alright, alright, what's wrong with your brain? You even managed to top up your phone credit incorrectly."
After hanging up the phone, Xia Tong realized that Fu Jia had been staring at her, looking somewhat gloomy. Xia Tong disliked his scrutiny; it felt like being skinned alive and exposed to raw, bloody flesh.
The next day, Xia Tong went to the address she had mentioned. It was an ordinary residential area, mostly inhabited by retired teachers who lived a leisurely and peaceful life. Xia Tong knocked on the door, and an old lady answered.
Xia Tong glanced around; the house was clean and simply furnished. A calligraphy scroll hung on the wall, beautifully inlaid, reading "Teachers' Students Fill the World," and several red flags, mostly praising teachers' ethics, also hung there. It seemed that an elder in Zheng Yulu's family was a teacher; the old lady wore gold-rimmed glasses and looked very serious. Apparently, prior arrangements had been made, because after Xia Tong explained her purpose, the old lady gave her fifty yuan without a word, and closed the door without even exchanging a few casual words.
After going downstairs, Xia Tong was secretly annoyed: Why aren't they even giving us a little leeway? Do you even know your daughter is someone's mistress? How can someone from a scholarly family like yours not educate their child properly?!
The group of children running around in the neighborhood was even more annoying, but Xia Tong didn't even look up and walked straight ahead.
"Sister?" A child of about ten years old ran over, his face smeared like a big cat's, with ice cream stains still on his lips. His hands were also filthy, except for his round, bright eyes. Xia Tong thought for a long time, "Why don't I recognize this child?" "Who are you?"
"Sister, aren't you Xia Tong? Don't you recognize me? I'm my sister's brother!" All the children who had been playing with this kid earlier ran over, their eyes shining as they stared at Xia Tong. Xia Tong was a little embarrassed to be surrounded by so many children. What was going on? Which kid was so silly as to introduce himself as "my sister's brother"?
"Didn't you give me a teddy bear last time?" Xia Tong suddenly remembered—this was Li Jingjing's younger brother! She'd even bought him a gift when she visited her in high school. Finally remembering, Xia Tong nodded: "I know, I know, but I gave you a teddy bear, not a regular teddy bear..." Teddy bears are much more expensive than regular teddy bears. If she'd known you were so clueless, she would have bought you a regular teddy bear instead.
"Why didn't you stay at home and came here to play? Where's your sister? How did she get like this?" Xia Tong asked casually as she squatted down to wipe his mouth with a tissue.
“My sister didn’t come back, and my parents didn’t have time to cook for me, so I came to my grandma’s house as soon as summer vacation started.”
"Your grandma lives here?" Xia Tong suddenly felt that... this trip might not have been in vain.
Yes.
"Do you know a teacher named Zheng Yulu here? She's from Sunshine Elementary School."
"He...he...he's his teacher." Another little boy was pushed forward by the group of children, looking at Xia Tong with some curiosity, biting his finger: "What's wrong? You know Teacher Zheng too?"
Xia Tong's eyes lit up, as if she had seen a glimmer of hope. She smiled and pulled out Li Jingjing's younger brother: "Little rascal, it's rare to see you, how about I treat you to KFC?"
"Okay!" He was so happy that he tugged at her with his little black paw, leaving a paw print on her white T-shirt. Xia Tong was speechless, but she held back for a moment. Then she turned to the children behind her who were looking at her expectantly and pointed to the faucet: "If you wash your little faces and hands clean, I can consider taking you to eat."
"Oh—" A group of children ran happily to the water tap, stretching their little hands close together and splashing water vigorously next to it.
Xia Tong stood there at a distance, waiting, and rummaged through her not-so-fat wallet: With such a large group of children, I hope I don't end up being forced to wash dishes for them.
On the way to KFC, the group of children were noisy and playful, but they quieted down after a while. Then one of the children ran up and said, "Sister! I want ice cream!"
Xia Tong decisively rejected the idea: "We'll eat when we get there!"
A moment later, the child ran over again: "Sister, I really want ice cream!"
Xia Tong said helplessly, "Didn't I just say I'd buy it for you to eat later?"
The child ran over again after only a couple of steps. Xia Tong put her hands on her hips and said, "Try saying 'report' to me again, and I promise I'll give your share to someone else. You can just watch!"
The child immediately covered his mouth with both hands, as if afraid that his mouth might misbehave and utter another word or two. Xia Tong saw him nod in fear and couldn't help but want to laugh, but she still kept a straight face and patted his head: "Hmm, that's a good boy. Come with me, and you'll get candy."
A group of children immediately pulled him back to the group, laughing and joking. Xia Tong picked out Zheng Yulu's student and asked, "What did Teacher Zheng teach you?"
"math."
Do you like her?
The little boy hesitated for a moment, as if the older sister in front of him was a spy sent by the teacher. After thinking for a long time, he finally nodded with difficulty: "Okay."
Is it really good or just fake good?
"very nice."
"Really? I don't think she's good." Xia Tong prompted him.
The child clearly found common ground and nodded vigorously: "She's very fierce, and she hits people. We're all afraid of her."
"That's pretty bad."
The meal lasted all afternoon, and after a flurry of activity, they still didn't fully understand Xia Tong's words; they still didn't grasp the concept of a "mistress." However, on the way back, they all learned one thing: Teacher Zheng was a wicked woman, like the evil queen in Snow White, and she wanted to be someone's stepmother.
※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※
Ugh, I'm a really slow writer. I got up around 8 am on the weekend and didn't finish a single chapter until after 12 pm. I needed to sit in front of the computer for ages, unplugged the internet, and just sit there for ages before I could even think of a plot. It's not that I can't accept criticism; I've seriously considered all the feedback and suggestions you've given me and tried my best to improve. But I couldn't stand receiving such harsh comments after starving all morning and finishing writing around 1 pm for lunch. You know how that felt. Thank you to everyone who keeps urging me to update; you're my motivation!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com