About a week later, just as expected, prices soared.
On this particular day, a Sunday, Niu Hongjun was at ho. Li Lanying left the house with eight yuan, originally planning to buy so at and vegetables to make dumplings when she got back.
But when she got to the market and asked around, she found that the price of pork had gone up. It wasn’t just pork—even the green onions had doubled in price. The little money she had wasn’t nearly enough. She walked a full circle around the market.
Daily necessities—flour, rice, oil, and salt—had all doubled in price.
Fuming, she left the market and ran all the way ho.
The mont she entered the house, she saw Niu Hongjun lying in bed, fast asleep and snoring. Her anger boiled over, and she swung the empty basket in her hand at his head.
Niu Hongjun was sleeping soundly when a sharp pain suddenly shot through his head. He opened his eyes to see Li Lanying, looking like she’d gone mad, hitting him over the head with sothing.
He raised a hand to block it.
He pushed himself into a sitting position and stared at Li Lanying in astonishnt.
"Are you crazy? What’s gotten into you this early in the morning?"
Li Lanying tried to hit him again with the basket, but Niu Hongjun grabbed her arm, yanked the basket away, and threw it to the floor.
"Are you sick in the head or sothing?"
When Niu Hongjun yelled at her, Li Lanying froze on the spot, then collapsed onto the floor.
Her eyes reddened. "This is all your fault! Didn’t you say prices wouldn’t go up? Go take a look outside! Everything has gotten more expensive. Everyone else stocked up in advance, but we listened to you and bought nothing! Now we can’t afford anything! It’s all your fault! You don’t even earn any money. I have to take care of the kids and you. We have no inco in this house. My parents have been supporting us this whole ti. Your parents just pick apart and never help. And now this. How are we supposed to live from now on?!"
Li Lanying started to cry as she spoke. ’I’ve been so wronged,’ she thought. ’Why did I have to insist on following Niu Hongjun to Beijing City just to suffer like this?’
’No, I never should have let him take that exam in the first place. Then he wouldn’t have had such a personality change, looking down on everyone with an ego so big it’s a wonder it doesn’t float away.’
’Even his parents are like that, saying a village girl like isn’t good enough for a college student. If it weren’t for our two kids, they would have made us divorce long ago.’
’Back in the village, my life was great. My parents and sister-in-law helped watch the kids, and I barely had to do any work.’
’Ever since we ca to Beijing City... Sure, it’s a big city, but the cost of living is so high. Niu Hongjun doesn’t earn money, but his school provides a living stipend. It’s barely enough for him, but this whole family still has to eat.’
’Even our house is rented. When we first arrived, all the money we had went to paying the rent.’ Li Lanying felt imnse pressure; she wished she could split every single cent in two.
Niu Hongjun was also stunned by her words.
He was in disbelief. "Prices really went up? How could that be? Isn’t anyone from the governnt managing this?"
Li Lanying said through her tears, "Who knows? It’s all your fault, Mr. Know-It-All! Aren’t you the one who knows everything? You stopped from buying things, so what do we do now? We’re out of money! What little we have left isn’t enough to last us even a week."
Niu Hongjun looked at her. "Didn’t your dad just wire you so money?"
"What can a few dozen yuan do in Beijing City? Why can’t you ask your parents for money?"
Niu Hongjun’s face flushed. "I’m a college student now. How could I still ask my parents for money? It wouldn’t look right."
Li Lanying sneered. "Ha. Then how can you accept my parents’ money with such a clear conscience?"
Niu Hongjun averted his gaze. "Well, your parents gave it to you, not to ."
Li Lanying stared at him, incredulous. "And you didn’t spend any of it? Didn’t our whole family use it? Have you ever missed a al?"
Niu Hongjun felt cornered and embarrassed. He put on his clothes, slipped on his shoes, and headed for the door. "This is so damn annoying. Can’t even sleep in peace. No wonder they say a man should marry a virtuous wife."
Li Lanying stood there, completely stunned.
After leaving his house, Niu Hongjun had only walked a few steps when he ran into Xue Yue, who was just leaving hers. She was heading to her clothing store.
He Lang had been busy with the construction site lately, so it had been a long ti since she’d been to the store. Xue Yue figured she would take advantage of her day off to check on it.
When Niu Hongjun saw that Xue Yue was alone, he quickened his pace toward her.
"Oh, so you’re out and about too. Hey, I heard prices have shot up. Did your family stock up on anything?"
Xue Yue turned to see Niu Hongjun catching up to her. Her heart instantly tightened, and a wave of discomfort washed over her. ’Why is this guy sticking to like glue again?’
She didn’t say a word and quickened her pace.
Niu Hongjun sped up as well.
"Hey, I’m talking to you! What are you running for?"
Xue Yue stopped in her tracks. Niu Hongjun, unable to stop in ti, barreled straight toward her.
Xue Yue reacted quickly, sidestepping just in ti to avoid colliding with him.
They were still very close, though. A strange glint flashed in Niu Hongjun’s eyes; he seed to think it was a pity.
Once he had steadied himself, Xue Yue raised her hand and slapped him across the face.
"Stay away from ."
Niu Hongjun was stunned for a mont, then his expression turned terrifying. "You bitch, you dare hit ? So what if I touch you? What are you going to do about it?"
As he spoke, he reached out to touch Xue Yue’s face.
Xue Yue swung her handbag at him, but he grabbed it, threw it to the ground, and seized both of her arms in a tight grip.
Xue Yue glanced left and right. There was no one around, but they were still in the alley and close to ho.
Suddenly, Xue Yue scread, "Help! Help! I’m being robbed!"
Hearing this, Niu Hongjun panicked and moved to cover her mouth.
With one hand now free, Xue Yue swung at his face again.
Her nails left scratches on his cheek.
Niu Hongjun felt a sting of pain, and his temper flared.
"You slut!"
He put all his strength into it and flung Xue Yue to the side. Her head slamd against the alley wall.
Xue Yue’s forehead imdiately started bleeding. Her whole body ached, and though she tried to get up, she was severely dizzy.
In the courtyard, Mrs. He thought she heard Xue Yue shouting. She wondered if she’d misheard, but an uneasy feeling prompted her to open the gate and take a look.
She then saw two people fighting in the alley up ahead and watched as the man threw the other person aside.
Mrs. He took a few steps closer and finally saw clearly—the person lying on the ground was none other than Xue Yue, who had just left for her clothing store.
She didn’t recognize the man, but given the situation, Mrs. He didn’t hesitate. She glanced around, spotted a stone at the corner of the wall, picked it up, and hurled it at him. The stone hit Niu Hongjun’s shoulder.
Niu Hongjun cried out in pain. He turned to see an old woman glaring at him nacingly.
"Who do you think you are? How dare you bully my daughter-in-law! You must have a death wish! I’ll kill you!"
As she spoke, Mrs. He bent down to pick up another stone from the corner.
Niu Hongjun could only dodge. Seeing this, he dashed past Mrs. He and ran away.
Mrs. He didn’t bother chasing him and rushed to help Xue Yue up.
"Yue’er, are you okay? Where does it hurt? Oh, my! Your head is bleeding!"
Xue Yue felt very dizzy, and hearing that her head was bleeding only made her feel worse.
User Comments
0 comments from readers