It’s All Over! (2)
“When have I, Jiang Xiumei, ever been afraid of what other people say? When their father died, my two children and I almost couldn’t survive. What did you say to me when I brought them to your door and begged you for some food? You said that people should live honorably and stand tall with their own two feet. People should rely on themselves rather than the Heavens or the Earth!”
“I took my children with me and ate Guanyin clay2 and tree roots. We got through it, and our lives have finally improved! So why don’t you strive to live honorably, too? Practice what you preach! Hong Xingguo, listen to my words! You will never be able to pay off your debt to me in your lifetime! I never brought it up, but you still dared to come here. You’re just asking to get beat!”
Even after scolding him, Jiang Xiumei still felt furious, and she slapped him twice.
For years, which had felt more like a lifetime, Jiang Xiumei had suppressed her anger.
Hong Xingguo looked at her in a daze. His head was spinning after being beaten.
He opened his mouth to speak, but before he could talk, Jiang Xiumei talked over him. There was no room for his voice.
Jiang Xiumei listed his faults one by one.
Jiang Xing only listened. He did not say a word and only silently watched as his uncle was beaten.
He was not cold-blooded, but he still remembered the events Jiang Xiumei was mentioning, although they had occurred many years earlier.
Those days had been harsh.
He didn’t realize his mother had such a hard life. Her fierce character was also something that had formed during those days.
She was a widow raising two children. If she wasn’t fierce, how could she have made it? He had misjudged her. From now on, he wouldn’t feel that the beatings she had given him were as painful anymore. He really did deserve to be beaten.
Hong Xingguo came to take advantage of them but only got scoldings instead. No one had ever scolded him ever since his parents died. Of course, they spoiled him so much, and maybe they had never even scolded him in the first place. But after his parents passed away, his life gradually became more difficult because no one helped him work.
Now, Jiang Xiumei was going berserk, and Jiang Xing next to her was still eyeing him like a tiger. Hong Xingguo’s mind was chaotic.
He had planned on causing an uproar to make people come and watch the spectacle and make Jiang Xiumei lose face like last time so she would give him some money to go away. If they were back in the village, the people with nothing to do would have already come to watch the show. But here in the city, no one came even after he made such a fuss.
No one was interested at all.
Hong Xingguo had miscalculated. No matter how much fuss he caused, he wouldn’t get the result he wanted without an audience.
“I won’t lower myself to your level.” Hong Xingguo was very upset. He received a beating and got absolutely nothing out of it. He desperately tried to get away from her. “Let me go. I’m going home.”
Jiang Xiumei still wanted to give him a beating, but when he said he was going home, she decided she’d rather not see this trash anymore. She immediately dragged him by the collar and threw him out of the house, then slammed the door shut.
Peace finally returned to the world.
Perhaps Hong Xingguo saw that this place was too shabby and there was no advantage he could get, or maybe he was scolded so harshly he didn’t have the courage left to see anyone. He quickly walked away and left.
“Mom…” Jiang Xing said. “I think I’m unworthy.”
“You’re still not that bad.” Jiang Xiumei sighed and said, “I’m not asking too much from you. I’ll be happy as long as you could live a good, honest life. Right now, we’re already doing much better. It would have been even better if your sister were still here.”
Footnotes:
2. A type of clay that is edible.
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