Chapter 57 The Wall Collapsed

Chapter 57: The Wall Collapsed

Lu Yun came right out and said she was all about looks, and Sun Zhi started hammering the wall again. Lu Yun winced just watching him. She had no idea what was up with this guy lately—he was always out there pounding the wall. She got that he was stressed, but that was no excuse for pounding the wall. What if he pounded it till it fell apart?

Aunt Jiang came back with a sour look on her face. She was so mad she wanted to kick every dog she saw. She didn't dare yell at Lu Yun, but Sun Zhi? Oh, she dared.

Aunt Jiang: "You worthless son of a cheap bastard, pounding the wall out here. What if you pound it till it falls apart? If you do that, I'm going straight to the neighborhood committee!"

Sun Zhi: "Your old man hasn't been home lately. Looks like he knows it was you who wanted to mess with my dad, not my dad who wanted to mess with you! The way my dad looks at you, even if you were lying in the same bed as him, he wouldn't give you a second look!"

Aunt Jiang slapped Sun Zhi a few times, then hollered: "Help! Somebody help! Sun Zhi hit me over his dad!"

The nosy neighbors all piled out again. Aunt Jiang pointed at the wall, "This wall isn't his. I told him not to pound the wall, and how did he respond? He hit me, and even said his dad wanted to lie in the same bed with me. This father-son duo is just too much! They see my man's not home and they push me around like this!"

Aunt Jiang was about to point at Lu Yun and say she'd heard it all, but Lu Yun smiled at Aunt Jiang very politely, and Aunt Jiang didn't dare.

Sun Zhi: "I told you, if this wall breaks from pounding, I'll be responsible for fixing it. So you're flipping the script—now I finally see how you flipped the script on my dad that day!"

Aunt Han came out and immediately started scrapping with Aunt Jiang. Settling old scores, Aunt Han couldn't win a straight fight, so she grabbed Aunt Jiang's hair. Aunt Jiang actually ended up on the losing end, so she turned around and started wailing on Sun Zhi!

The neighborhood committee folks came over, broke it up, and gave them all a talking-to!

Luckily, Lu's dad came out to help Lu Yun carry her stuff. Lu Yun was watching the drama but still had to hold her bags, and she really couldn't carry them anymore. Once the drama was over, the Lu family all headed back inside.

Lu's dad: "Why'd you buy so many groceries? What all did you get?"

Lu Yun: "The fruit's heavier, so it's pretty heavy. Come take a look—I also picked up some oysters today. We can have garlic vermicelli oysters tonight!"

Garlic vermicelli oysters sounded great—that stuff was delicious!

Lu's dad took the stuff into the kitchen to get cooking. Lu Yun was about to head back when Aunt Jiang, Sun Zhi, and Aunt Han—who'd just been lectured by the neighborhood committee—also came back.

Nobody knew what the neighborhood committee folks had told them, but they didn't argue when they got back. Soon Sun Zhi came out again to cook, and Aunt Jiang didn't come out.

Lu Yun remembered Uncle Li. She hadn't seen Uncle Li since that last blowup between Aunt Jiang and the Han family.

Lu Yun: "Has Uncle Li come back yet?"

Uncle Li was the kind of guy who kept a low profile. Either he was out on the road driving his truck, or he was home and never came out of the house. Uncle Li didn't like watching the drama either, so nobody ever really ran into him.

Lu's mom thought about it when Lu Yun asked, but she had no idea whether Aunt Jiang's man had come back.

Lu's mom: "Her man keeps to himself too much."

That was spot on—too low-key. So low-key that nobody even knew if he was in the compound or not!

Aunt Han went home and scolded Zhao Lan: "We mother and son were getting bullied outside, and where were you! Look at Widow Li's family across the way—look at their daughter-in-law Li Cai. Even she, with a mother-in-law that spineless, knows to stand up when she's being bullied. She knows she's spineless and still knows to call in her family. But you? You just hide!"

Zhao Lan: "Mother-in-law, I'm pregnant. You forget or what?"

Aunt Han: "Pregnant, so what? Who hasn't been pregnant? I've been pregnant too, and when my man got into a fight with someone, I charged right out there!"

Zhao Lan: "Your man's not much of a man!"

Aunt Han was about to lunge at Zhao Lan when Sun Zhi blocked her. Sun Zhi still had to finish cooking, and he didn't want to argue with Zhao Lan. He said: "It's all for the grandkid."

Aunt Han: "Right, it's all for the grandkid. You really think I'm spineless! Zhao Lan, you'd better pray that belly of yours is carrying a son. If it's not a son, then once the kid's born, you take it and go back to your mother's house!"

Zhao Lan's face changed, and Aunt Han grew even more smug: "A granddaughter—if you want to take her back to your folks' place, be my guest. You don't think we'd give a damn, do you! Our whole family kowtows to you—you think we'd do that for a granddaughter? Sun Zhi, tell her—am I right or what!"

Sun Zhi was different from Aunt Han. He didn't care whether it was a son or daughter—they were all his kids either way. Of course, if the kid were his and Lu Yun's, he'd definitely like it more. Sun Zhi didn't dare say that. If that thought got out, the Lu family would definitely come after him!

Zhao Lan: "Sun Zhi, you want a son too!"

Sun Zhi didn't necessarily want a son, but since it could keep Zhao Lan in check, he still said: "Yeah, if it's really a girl, who would want it!"

Zhao Lan panicked. Her life was pretty comfortable. So comfortable that Zhao Lan thought it didn't matter that Sun Zhi wasn't much of a man. But if it really was a daughter, would her life still be this comfortable? Zhao Lan wasn't someone who favored boys over girls, but whether it was a boy or girl determined whether she could keep living comfortably in the Sun family!

Zhao Lan: "What are you so nervous about? With that guilty look of yours, don't tell me you think it's a girl. If it's a girl, get back to your mother's house right now!"

Zhao Lan felt refreshed. After being bullied by Zhao Lan all this time, she was really tired!

Zhao Lan: "Go back to my mother's house? I can go back to my mother's house, but what will you do if I give birth to a boy?"

Sun Zhi: "Enough. The kid isn't even born yet. Hurry up and set the table—we're getting ready to eat!"

Sun Zhi cooked, and Aunt Han quickly set the table. Aunt Han only found out that Sun Zhi had been cooking for days after she came back. Aunt Han had been too busy arguing with Aunt Jiang to care whether Sun Zhi was cooking!

Aunt Han stared at Zhao Lan, and Zhao Lan looked a bit flustered.

Aunt Han: "That belly of yours had better hold my grandson! Since when does a grown man do the cooking? When a grown man does the cooking, it means the woman of the house is useless! You're pregnant, and when you're in confinement, our family definitely won't make you cook. But after the kid's born, don't you dare think about making Sun Zhi cook!"

Zhao Lan touched her belly. She also hoped it would be a boy to give her some luck. If it was a boy, just wait—she'd have the whole Sun family firmly in her grip!

But Zhao Lan still had a card to play. She smiled and asked: "Why isn't Sun Zhi drinking his herbal medicine anymore?"

Aunt Han was so angry she pointed at Zhao Lan and was about to curse, but Sun Zhi shouted: "Enough! I'm the one cooking, and it's not like you're the one cooking. Hurry up and set the table—we're eating!"

That night, the Lu family had garlic vermicelli oysters. Lu Yun loved them—fresh, fragrant, and spicy, with a rich garlic aroma. Even the vermicelli inside was delicious. Lu Yun was full but still wanted more.

Lu's dad and mom went out for a walk after dinner. When they came back, they told Lu Yun that Sun Zhi was pounding the wall outside again.

Lu Yun suspected that wall outside would eventually be pounded to pieces by Sun Zhi!

Boom! A loud crash rang out!

Outside was complete chaos.

"The wall collapsed!"

"How did the wall collapse?"

"Sun Zhi pounded the wall until it collapsed! Sun Zhi, you have to take responsibility for this wall—you have to rebuild it!"

Hearing that Sun Zhi had pounded the wall until it collapsed—that was something new. Everyone rushed out to get the gossip, and Lu Yun followed right along with the crowd.

The wall outside really had collapsed. It was probably just too old from years of wear. Sun Zhi couldn't possibly have pounded it down with his fists, but even so, it was still astonishing enough!

Zhao Lan: "I know you're bitter inside. I know you're bitter—you pounded a perfectly good wall until it collapsed. How did you end up with a wife like that! It's fine, we're big men and we can't stoop to a woman's level. So what if she makes you cook and has the whole family waiting on her? It's fine—she's pregnant, and that's the Sun family's grandson she's carrying!"

Sun Zhi: "I'm so bitter inside!"

Widow Li immediately said: "My daughter-in-law is wonderful. Finding a daughter-in-law like her, I couldn't be more satisfied. With a daughter-in-law like Li Cai, our family can only keep getting better!"

Everyone knew about the business between Li Cai and the Sun family. Today Li Cai had come back carrying a bunch of stuff from her mother's house again. Everyone in the compound envied Widow Li. Widow Li had had a hard time when she was young, but now her life was truly getting better!

Zhao Lan heard the Sun family slandering her and came out, saying: "Are you two going to keep spouting nonsense out here, or are you coming back inside with me?"

Aunt Han knew when to quit. She gave Sun Zhi a look and went back inside with him!

Han Gang from the big courtyard house let out a "tsk tsk tsk." "Zhao Lan really drew the short straw marrying into that family."

Zhao Lan turned to look at Han Gang, who was still smiling at her.

Lu Yun wanted to rent a shop and had planned to wait until after the New Year to start looking. But unexpectedly, she stumbled upon a suitable shop on her way home from work. Since the place would need renovating once rented, Lu Yun decided to go check it out.

The shop was even closer to the courtyard house Lu Yun lived in. Nearby, there was a department store and a park, where tons of street vendors set up shop. In other words, customer traffic wouldn't be a problem here!

The shop used to be a breakfast joint that didn't make much money. The landlord himself ran the place. He figured he made less than what he could get in rent, and on top of that, he had to work his tail off from morning till night. Naturally, he was done with it.

The landlord, a shrewd-looking middle-aged man, immediately greeted Lu Yun warmly and introduced the shop to her, asking what kind of store she planned to open.

Lu Yun got the feeling this landlord wouldn't be easy to deal with, so she hesitated.

The landlord said, "I need to rent this out fast. Is this price okay with you?"

It wasn't a bad price. Lu Yun said, "Let me think about it."

The landlord added, "Several people have already come to ask about it. If you make up your mind, come back soon!"

Lu Yun wasn't familiar with this area. To gather information, she needed to find locals or someone good at finding things out. Then she thought of someone—Matchmaker Zhao. Since she set people up all the time, she knew tons of people and heard all the gossip!

Author's note:

None.