19
Enjoying the Fun
Lu Xuanzhou boiled a pot of water and steamed the vegetable buns the Lin family had pressed upon them.
By the time Lin Jianchun returned, the crowd at the Lu family’s doorstep had gradually dispersed.
Lu Xuanzhou finished his meal with a cold expression. “Mom, you’ve worked hard these past couple of days. Go back and take a nap. Let Little Lu wash the dishes.”
“You should both go rest too. Little Chun will start work on Monday—life will get busy from then on,” Mother Lu said, then threw Lu Xuanzhou a meaningful glance.
Once they entered their room, Lu Xuanzhou began unhurriedly unbuttoning his coat. Just as he reached the last button, an angry roar erupted outside.
“He Lemei, Song Zhian, get out here right now!”
Mother Lu, who had already been lying in bed, scrambled up instantly. Passing her eldest son’s room, she pushed the door open.
“Come on, daughter-in-law! There’s drama unfolding—He Lemei is the mother from the neighboring Song family.” How could she leave her daughter-in-law behind when there was such entertaining gossip to witness?
“Sis, I just saw your colleague here too,” Little Lu chimed in.
Lin Jianchun’s eyes sparkled as she followed Mother Lu and Little Lu outside. Meanwhile, Lu Xuanzhou’s coat hung loosely around his waist, nearly slipping off entirely.
“Bro, remember to wash the dishes—” Little Lu called out.
Lu Xuanzhou took a deep breath, tugged forcefully, and the last button of his coat popped off, clattering to the floor.
Outside.
Over twenty members of the Yu family had blockaded the Song family’s door tightly.
Too terrified to open the door, the Song mother and son cowered inside. The Yu family, adopting a “courtesy before force” approach, had summoned the Courtyard’s property manager and began loudly listing the Song family’s despicable actions.
“If it weren’t for the righteous folks in our Courtyard, our daughter might have fallen victim to their schemes. What if things had gone too far? They’d probably turn around and claim our girl was throwing herself at them. Our daughter has a strong will—if she felt cornered, it could’ve cost a living soul!”
The property manager had no rebuttal. The Song family’s repeated misconduct was utterly disgraceful, tarnishing the Courtyard’s reputation beyond its walls.
“We came today to demand an explanation from the Song family. If they keep hiding behind that door, don’t blame us for getting rough.”
Yu Zhenzhen’s brothers kicked the door open, one after another, and began smashing everything in sight. Within minutes, the house was reduced to shambles!
Song’s Mother trembled in fear, terrified that stray blows might land on her.
When Song Zhian tried to intervene, the Yu family beat him up.
“If I ever hear you spreading rumors about my sister again, I’ll beat you every time I see you.”
Before leaving, the Yu family solemnly thanked Lin Jianchun and gifted her a basket of apples.
Only long after the Yu family had departed did Song’s Mother dare to weep aloud. “What kind of people are they? They wrecked our home and just left! You’re the property managers here—how could you stand by and let outsiders destroy our house without stopping them?”
Grandpa Sun from the backyard, rushing to work for his afternoon clinic, retorted, “How were we supposed to stop them? If pushed, they could’ve called the police, and your Anzi might’ve lost his job.”
Uncle Xu from the front yard, who was close to the Lu family through his wife, showed no sympathy for the Songs. “If you feel wronged, I can send someone to report this to the police for you right now.”
Uncle Cui from the central courtyard mediated ambiguously: “Your family isn’t in the right here, so it’s understandable they came knocking. If this continues, you won’t gain anything either. The Yu family are a medical dynasty—many relatives work in healthcare, and their connections run deep.”
Hearing this, Song’s Mother felt even more distressed. If only Yu Zhenzhen could become her daughter-in-law!
Ultimately, Song’s Mother grew fearful and didn’t dare prolong the conflict.
Humiliated, Song Zhian packed his clothes and returned to the factory dormitory.
Left alone in the wrecked home, Song’s Mother wailed at the top of her lungs, her heart aching unbearably. Originally, the Lin family had provided 48 pieces of furniture as dowry, so she’d sold all their decades-old furnishings. When the marriage fell through and the furniture was gone, she’d gritted her teeth and bought secondhand items from the Friendship Store. Now everything lay shattered—even pots, bowls, and clay jars were smashed to pieces. How much would it cost to replace it all?
With only Song Zhian earning a wage, she’d scrimped on food and traded ration coupons to barely save any money. But after Lin Jianchun extorted three hundred from her, their funds had dwindled drastically.
Resentfully, Song’s Mother thought: Among the hundred-plus residents across twenty households in the Courtyard, not one had spoken up for justice or intervened—all because they looked down on her, a widow with her son!
Clenching her teeth, she couldn’t bring herself to buy secondhand furniture from the Friendship Store again. Steeling her heart, she went weeping to each of the three property managers’ homes in turn.
At night, she wandered the Courtyard weeping pitifully, frightening the children half to death.
Pestered beyond endurance, the property managers finally gathered some young people from the Courtyard to help clear the Song family’s wreckage and scrounge up some chipped old clay pots, bowls, and rickety tables and chairs for her.
By the time the Courtyard regained peace, it was already dawn.
Lu Xuanzhou took out his own bedding to sleep on the floor. Lin Jianchun didn’t stop him; after a day of excitement, she was too tired to even think about feeling his abs and fell asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow. After all, dreams have everything.
While Lu Xuanzhou was still arranging his bedding, he heard Lin Jianchun’s steady, soft snores from the bed.
His hands paused briefly before he continued spreading the bedding without expression.
Caw, caw, caw.
A crow cawed three times outside the window.
His expression turning grave, Lu Xuanzhou pushed open the window and leaped out.
At the alley entrance, someone was waiting for him—someone Lin Jianchun would have recognized instantly as one of the three men who had driven the car that hit the injured person that day.
Lin Jianchun hadn’t been wrong: the three were indeed soldiers who had been on a mission tracking suspicious individuals. The injured person had intercepted their car to cover a comrade’s escape.
Qin Qing said, “Captain Lu, we need your help with something.”
“Go on.”
“The incident caused quite a stir, and many civilians saw our car injure someone. We can’t interrogate the injured person ourselves, so we have to ask you to handle it.”
“Alright. Did you catch the others?”
Qin Qing shook his head. After two days of investigation, they had no leads and could only hope to get information from the injured person.
“One more thing, Captain Lu. Fortunately, a female comrade spoke up boldly that day and helped calm the crowd. Our unit identification is still with her—we need you to retrieve it.”
Lu Xuanzhou clicked his tongue lightly.
Qin Qing also felt embarrassed. He’d long heard that Captain Lu from Beijing had a short temper and wouldn’t hesitate to confront even his own comrades.
Qin Qing pulled out a pack of cigarettes and handed it to Lu Xuanzhou.
Lu Xuanzhou brought the cigarette to his nose and sniffed it but didn’t light it. “What are the characteristics of that female comrade?”
“Let me think. She’s quite good-looking, even prettier than the female soldiers in the cultural troupe. You’d spot her in a crowd right away. Oh, and her voice is lovely too, even more pleasant than the singing voices of the female soldiers in the cultural troupe.”
Lu Xuanzhou shot Qin Qing a sidelong glance. “Did the female soldiers in the cultural troupe offend you or something?”
Qin Qing cleared his throat lightly. “I haven’t met many female comrades, so I can only use the cultural troupe as a reference.”
Lu Xuanzhou tossed the cigarette back to him disdainfully. “Tch, don’t embarrass yourself. I’ll find you when there’s news.”