Mei Yinan was furious. These people really had an addiction to grabbing houses, didn’t they? Well, she had an addiction to hacking at people too.
Enraged, Mei Yinan dashed into the kitchen, pulled out her 40-centimeter cleaver, and charged at the two sitting on the living room sofa without a word.
Of course, she wasn’t really going to chop them up; she hadn’t lost her mind. It wasn’t worth it over this brother and sister, but she was genuinely angry.
Mei Yinan misstepped and swung the cleaver at the wall behind the two, perfectly missing them, but she used all her might, embedding the knife firmly into the wall.
Mei Yongfu was quick to react, springing away from the couch where he was sitting just as Mei Yinan brought down the knife, while Mei Yifan, a beat slower, was also pulled away by Mei Yongfu.
When the siblings turned around, they were met with Mei Yinan trying to pull the knife out of the wall, her face full of rage, which made them tremble with fear.
Mei Yongfu and Mei Yifan truly hadn’t anticipated that a few words could enrage Mei Yinan to such an extent. Once they came to, they shrieked nonstop, "Sis, we are your own brother and sister!"
Having exerted a lot of force just before, Mei Yinan found the knife still stuck in the wall. She tugged hard, and the knife came out, bringing with it white plaster and brick dust.
The siblings on the other side swallowed hard, as if the white plaster and brick dust were their own flesh and bones, terrifyingly extreme. "Sister, there’s no need for this, we just wanted to borrow some money."
"You’re not borrowing money; you’re borrowing lives. Let me tell you both, I’ve been more than generous. I’ve done what is expected of me as the eldest sister. Do I owe anything to your family? You better be clear in your hearts that whatever happens in your family has nothing to do with me. But if you dare to covet my family’s property, don’t blame me for being rude. Mark my words, if there’s no money, there’s no money."
"How is it now? Was the money from Dad’s apartment too easy to e by? Was Zhenzhen too quick to give in? It made you think I’m also easy to bully, right?"
"Do you think I’m easy to bully? It seems I’ve been too nice recently. One by one, you even dare to block my door. How impressive. I’m telling you, this is the last time. If you dare block my door again, don’t blame me for not being polite, even if it es to a fight to the death, I can do it."
After finishing her speech, Mei Yinan brandished the knife in her hand again, "If I hear such words again, I won’t spare either of your families."
Toward the end, Mei Yinan’s words lost their edge of anger. She spoke more calmly, but it only served to unnerve the siblings even more, as if she really would carry through on her threat.
"We won’t e again, we won’t," they stammered. "Big sister, please be careful with that knife."
They wobbled on their legs, slowly inching toward the door. They fumbled with the door and couldn’t seem to get it open. Mei Yinan found it quite amusing and was about to go over and open it when she heard the sound of a key from outside, and then the door opened.
The person returning was Fan Hongwei. Recently, with the siblings always sitting around his place, he hadn’t been able to watch his TV. Plus, it was the end of the year and he had a lot of work, so he had stayed late at the office. He had just e back from working overtime and opened the door to see the siblings with faces as white as sheets, sweating profusely. He didn’t really want to deal with them, and they didn’t want to deal with him either. As soon as the door opened, their eyes met and without a greeting, they bolted and pressed the elevator down button.
Luckily, the elevator was empty late at night and Fan Hongwei had just e out. The moment they pressed the button, the elevator lit up, and they slipped inside, pressing the door close button frantically, and then descended.
Fan Hongwei watched their swift exit in utter confusion.
Only after the elevator descended did Fan Hongwei step into the house. Seeing Mei Yinan handling the knife, he was truly startled in the dead of night.
He turned and closed the door, changed his shoes, and as he came in, he saw the hole behind the sofa and the knife in Mei Yinan’s hand. Connecting the dots, he figured out the story’s progression.
Intimidating the two did not really bother Fan Hongwei, but he said, "There are kids at home. What if you scared the child with that knife?"
"It’s late, Chenchen already went to bed. If he hadn’t, I wouldn’t be messing around with a knife. I gave those two quite a scare today; I reckon they won’t be ing around for a while. Finally, we’ll have some peace at home. But seriously, they are such cowards." Even though they were her own brother and sister, Mei Yinan had to admit the truth. She had only made one chop, so why were they so quick to give in? Why couldn’t they persist a little longer?
...
Not only had Fan Hongwei been annoyed during this time, but Mei Yinan as well. She didn’t mind her brother and sister ing over to visit, even to stay. Wasn’t chatting and reminiscing the past enjoyable? But these two were there just to ask for money—not even to borrow, but to demand it, and they even expected it for free, which was infuriating.
She was their big sister, but she had her own family too. Everything in their home had been earned through their hard work. Why should they give it away for nothing? So she wasn’t to blame for what happened today. She really wasn’t someone with a short temper.
Fan Hongwei glanced at the big hole in the wall and the broken stones on the couch, and said, "Put down the knife, clean this up, and I’ll see if I can buy something to patch up that hole tomorrow."
"Patch it up? Just leave it empty for now. It didn’t go through and it’s not a load-bearing wall, it’s fine. Besides, the New Year is ing. When we have the New Year’s meal and greet the new year, they’ll see the hole and know to keep their mouths shut," Mei Yinan said matter-of-factly, and she wasn’t wrong. The hole was behind the sofa, right next to their bedroom, and such a narrow vertical hole didn’t need an immediate fix.
Fan Hongwei hesitated but didn’t say anything else and let Mei Yinan have her way, "So does that mean I don’t have to work overtime tomorrow?"
"That’s your business."
...
They really didn’t have the nerve to e back. The siblings were truly covered in cold sweat as they got off the elevator. Mei Yongfu said, "Big sister is really ruthless; she really went for the knife. I didn’t force her to sell the house. I didn’t even mention it, was such a big reaction necessary?"
Mei Yifan echoed, "Exactly. She values money as if it’s life itself. She deserves that her family doesn’t get rich."
Then... silence.
Mei Yifan’s words were not just about Mei Yinan; clearly, both siblings were the same, and even their brother Mei Yongan used to be the same. That’s why it was no surprise the whole family was poor; there were reasons for it.
Mei Yifan knew she’d spoken out of turn and attempted to change the subject feigning concern, "Yongfu, our big sister didn’t give a dime, what should we do?"
Mei Yongfu sneered internally, knowing Mei Yifan wasn’t asking for advice but expecting him to e up with a plan. But he wasn’t going to be foolish in that moment, "How should I know? I’ve still got a bit of money left to keep Feifei in the hospital for a few more days, but if it goes on longer, I really don’t know what we’ll do. It’s not serious with your family’s Wang Gaofeng, so what are you worried about?"
Of course, Mei Yifan wasn’t worried, "I’m not worried, just that Gaofeng can’t work, and the household is a bit tight. Anyway, we just don’t have money."
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