Chapter 311 The Price of Incompetence
Song Lubai estimated that the rice in the pot should be cooked by now, but it was too lively in front of Tang Xuewen's house. She really couldn't bear to miss today's show, so she stayed a little longer in front of Zhao Hongying's house.
Tang Xuewen had mentally prepared himself before kneeling before Miao Feng in front of everyone. He had lowered his pride to his knees, and naturally, he was determined to succeed.
"Feng, I will keep my word. Just watch my performance from now on. You haven't eaten yet, have you? I specially bought you some cookies. If you don't want to come home with me, then don't. Come back when you've calmed down. I will always be waiting for you."
Tang Xuewen helped his legs, which had gone numb from kneeling, to his feet and went inside to retrieve a bag of biscuits.
Miao Feng swallowed hard, wanting to accept the gift but too embarrassed to do so, so Tang Xuewen forced it into her arms.
"Feng, from now on, I'll make sure you get all the good food at home, as long as you're willing to come back."
Miao Feng spat and looked away, saying, "Who cares about yours? It's all your fault."
Wang Fu, the man from Bai Lixia's family, said loudly, "Tang Xuewen, if you had treated Miao Feng like you did today before, wouldn't everyone have praised you as a good man?"
Tang Xuewen, his face flushed with shame, said insincerely, "I know I was wrong. I will make it up to Miao Feng in the future. I was confused before. I didn't sleep all night yesterday. I thought about it all night. Even if I kneel down, I can't undo the harm I caused to Miao Feng. From now on, I will not care about my reputation. As long as Miao Feng is willing to change her mind."
Among a group of women, Guo Yanhong, a staff member of the Women's Federation, nodded and said, "That's more like it. If he had sincerely admitted his mistake a few days ago, things wouldn't have escalated to what they were yesterday."
When Wei Yang returned with the lunchbox, he saw Song Lubai in the crowd. He called out to her, and Song Lubai immediately came over.
"What groceries did you bring? Let me tell you, before you came back..."
Song Lubai quietly recounted what had just happened.
Wei Yang said, "That's the attitude of admitting mistakes. If he had done that earlier, things wouldn't have turned out like yesterday."
The closer they got to her yard, the stronger the burnt smell became, so Song Lubai quickly moved the pot to the stove at the back.
Song Lubai glanced at the Chen brothers and asked, "Didn't you two smell anything burning at home?"
Chen Jingwen scratched his head and said, "My aunt went to see the excitement, so we went to see the excitement too."
Song Lubai: "..."
Why are you kids getting involved in this fun?
As Wei Yang opened the lunchbox, he said to the two brothers, "From now on, you can't hit female comrades, and you can't kneel down to female comrades."
"Kneeling is a sign of spinelessness and lack of ambition."
Chen Shaohua said, "Yesterday everyone was cursing that uncle for not being a good person, but after he knelt down today, everyone's opinion of him changed. Uncle, I think kneeling down to a woman isn't shameless."
Song Lubai also wanted to hear what Wei Yang had to say.
"He only resorted to kneeling to save his family because he made a mistake. If he didn't do this, he wouldn't be able to find a wife in the future. After weighing the options, he felt that the cost of losing face was less than the cost of not having a wife in the future, so he chose to lose face."
"If he hadn't made a mistake, he wouldn't have paid such a humiliating price."
After hearing this, Chen Shaohua showed a thoughtful expression.
Wei Yang brought back a dish of braised pork with potatoes today. Although there wasn't much meat, it was still there.
After serving the rice, Song Lubai asked calmly, "So, do you think Miao Feng should turn back?"
Wei Yang poured vegetable soup into Song Lubai's bowl from the lunchbox and added two pieces of meat to her plate. "There's no right or wrong, it just depends on whether she wants to or not. It's none of our business. Whatever choice she makes, she'll bear the consequences."
On her first night working at the cafeteria, Chen Yu brought home a few steamed buns.
The armed forces department has a large number of people, so they have to cook a big pot of food for each meal.
She wasn't good at kitchen work, and she was exhausted by the end of the day.
When she got home that night, she fell asleep immediately, not having time to think about those upsetting things anymore.
The next day at noon, Tang Xuewen returned with several cartloads of soil.
He dug a pit, added water, and mixed mud. He even asked a neighbor with whom he had a good relationship to help him build the kang (a heated brick bed).
“Miao Feng had complained that the bed was too small and the boards were uncomfortable, so I smashed the bed. Now I’m building her a new kang (heated brick bed) to make it more spacious so that it will be enough for her to sleep when she has a child.”
Zhao Hongying pouted at the door.
She felt that Tang Xuewen was getting better and better at pretending. She still vividly remembered how he had gone crazy and smashed the house that night, but now he was pretending to be a good man.
Tang Xuewen not only rebuilt the kang (a heated brick bed), but also found a way to get a bucket of lime water to repaint the walls.
Many neighbors went to visit. He had cleaned the house up brightly, and a kang (a heated brick bed) was placed in the room, making it look very grand.
Almost all the neighbors knew that Song Lubai's family had a bathroom and a shed for cooking and eating in their small courtyard.
Tang Xuewen visited Song Lubai's house several times and worked overtime to create a set.
Outsiders have no idea that Song Lubai's bathroom has bricks lining it, while Tang Xuewen's bathroom still has a muddy floor.
What Tang Xuewen did every day became the topic of conversation among the neighbors.
Everyone was waiting to see if Miao Feng would turn back.
After Tang Xuewen's series of actions, many women felt that Miao Feng should turn back to the right path.
Divorce is so shameful, and Tang Xuewen has gone to such lengths, Miao Feng should at least turn back.
“It’s normal for men to have a temper. What man doesn’t use his fists? Old Tang has gone to such lengths, he’s already given Miao Feng a lot of face. Even if Miao Feng finds another one, he might not be as good as Old Tang.”
"That's true. Look at how exhausted Old Tang has been lately, cleaning the house and tidying the yard, all for Miao Feng's return. If Miao Feng doesn't come home, he'll really be heartless..."
The neighbors are now in unison that Miao Feng should go back to living with Tang Xuewen.
Recently, the regiment organized a tree-planting voluntary labor activity. Song Lubai went to work in the company today. She walked nearly ten miles, dug holes and planted trees. She was busy all day and her back ached when she came back.
Back home, as she sat in the yard eating an apple, Chen Yu, who had just returned from the cafeteria and hadn't even put down what he was holding, waved from the gate and said, "Song Lubai, come out quickly."
After spending some time together, Chen Yu's way of addressing Song Lubai changed from the unfamiliar "Comrade Song" to "Song Lubai".
The two did not distinguish between generations and treated each other as equals.
Knowing there was more excitement to be had outside, Song Lubai skillfully carried a small stool to the courtyard gate.
Unfortunately, Tang Xuewen's house was surrounded by a huge crowd, so all he could hear was the noise; he couldn't see anything else while sitting at his own door.
Seeing the scene, it was clearly different from the previous few days. Song Lubai got up and decided to find a spot in the crowd to see the latest excitement.
On the periphery of the crowd, Chen Jingwen jumped up and down, trying to see what was happening inside.
Song Lubai leaned closer and grabbed his collar, saying, "Go home."
Chen Jingwen refused and insisted on squeezing into the crowd.
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