"Why are you here? I was planning to wait until after lunch to call you over." Seeing Bai Jiu walk in, Aunt Xu was slightly surprised, but her tone was mostly teasing.
"Aunt Xu, don’t tell me you finished making everything this morning?" Bai Jiu wanted to avoid the topic of her sleeping in, mostly because she was too embarrassed.
"No, not yet. I can’t manage all this by myself," Aunt Xu smiled, smoothly dropping the previous subject. "Zhijun came by this morning and told me you worked hard yesterday, so you’d be coming over late. That’s why I waited for you."
They were the most harmonious and loving couple she had ever seen. They discussed everything together.
While they worked, Aunt Xu shared the courtyard’s latest gossip with Bai Jiu.
"The people over there are back. Lin Po already went on a cursing spree this morning." Aunt Xu’s courtyard was no smaller than Bai Jiu’s, but it was paved with concrete, providing much more usable space.
Closing the courtyard gate, the two of them got busy.
"Who?" Bai Jiu didn’t know much about the courtyard’s affairs and couldn’t figure it out right away. Lin Po always had something sour to say whenever she saw anyone; getting into an argument with her was all too common.
"The family I told you about before, the ones living next door to Lin Po." Aunt Xu pointed in that direction as she spoke.
Bai Jiu’s mind quickly started turning. "Shen Zhongguo and his wife?" She remembered Aunt Xu mentioning them. Had that family returned? It seemed things were going to get lively again.
"That’s them. But it’s not just the couple who came back this time. Shen Zhongguo’s mother is here too. She’s retired and came specifically to look after their baby," Aunt Xu shared.
"Is she really pregnant?" Bai Jiu was somewhat skeptical of rumors.
"She sure is," Aunt Xu said, glancing outside. "If she wasn’t pregnant, they probably wouldn’t have wanted to come back."
"Why?" Bai Jiu didn’t understand.
"Do you think Lin Po is someone you want to mess with? But it’s fine now. Shen Zhongguo’s mother is here, and Lin Po has likely met her match." With that, Aunt Xu once again recounted Mrs. Shen’s past deeds to Bai Jiu, along with the cursing match that happened this morning.
After listening, Bai Jiu laughed joyfully. "Serves her right for having such a foul mouth. She ought to look at what kind of trash she gave birth to. Anyone who isn’t blind wouldn’t fall for her son." Bai Jiu was absolutely delighted upon hearing about Mrs. Shen’s counterattack.
"That’s true, but since Shu Lianfang is a woman, she still ended up at a disadvantage," Aunt Xu also felt relieved. "Fortunately, her mother-in-law is a strong-willed woman. Otherwise, it’d be impossible to live here. Anyone would want to avoid a neighbor like that." Luckily, she lived across from them. There was a road in between, and trees were planted along the side. Otherwise...
"That’s because no one has put her in her place yet. Lin Po only relies on being shameless. As long as someone is more shameless than her, there’s nothing to be afraid of." As the saying goes, the fearful fear the reckless, and those with nothing to lose fear no one.
"You summed it up perfectly. That’s exactly how the woman from the Shen family is. You have no idea how nasty the cursing was this morning! Good thing you weren’t up yet," Aunt Xu said excitedly with a laugh. Still, after listening to the whole fight, it was Lin Po who ended up suffering a loss, which made her very happy.
Usually, Lin Po would often make sour remarks towards her and constantly ask to borrow or take things. If she refused, Lin Po would accuse her, a leader’s family member, of being unfriendly to comrades and looking down on those from the countryside. She was quite a handful, anyway. Bai Jiu knew Aunt Xu’s temperament well. Being so good-natured, she really wouldn’t fare well against someone like Lin Po.
However, neither of them could have ever imagined that they would come face-to-face with the very same person in a direct confrontation that afternoon, right after gossiping about her at noon.
This had to start with the mooncakes.
Although most people knew how to make them, not every household actually did. Many families would just buy a piece during the holiday and share it among themselves to celebrate. They weren’t like Bai Jiu and Aunt Xu, who could make as many as they wanted at home.
Aunt Xu made a lot because she had a large family. Plus, her children had mentioned they would be coming back for the holiday, which was why she prepared so much. Bai Jiu, on the other hand, just liked eating them. Besides, they were consumed quickly so there was no fear of them going bad. Whether for her own consumption or as a gift, mooncakes were very presentable. Anyway, both of them made quite a lot.
"Time to steam." After everything was prepared, Aunt Xu straightened her back and gave her lower back a couple of firm thumps. "We’re finally done wrapping them. Bai Jiu, when you go pick up your kids later, help me bring Shu Kang back too. I need to keep an eye on the fire."
It wasn’t just Aunt Xu whose lower back was aching; Bai Jiu wasn’t faring much better. If she hadn’t done some manual labor in the village previously, she probably wouldn’t even be doing as well as Aunt Xu right now. "Alright." It wasn’t far away; just a quick trip.
"After I pick up the kids, I’ll go buy some groceries. Aunt Xu, how about our two families have dinner together tonight?" She actually felt a bit embarrassed. Although she had bought the ingredients, she could tell that Aunt Xu had a secret recipe for making mooncakes, adding things that Bai Jiu didn’t even recognize. She didn’t feel right asking about it, but seeing Aunt Xu’s pained expression when adding those ingredients, she knew they must be rare.
"Dinner sounds good, but no need to buy groceries. I bought quite a lot yesterday." The fire here couldn’t be left unattended, so she really didn’t have time to cook. Fortunately, her stove was large enough—steaming in one pot while cooking dinner in the other was perfectly doable.
"We’ll see. Later, I’ll go tell Zhijun and ask him to invite the teacher over too." Mr. Xu and the teacher had a pretty good relationship, so it would be nice for them to get together.
"No problem! Uncle Xu will be thrilled. He’s always complaining that with the kids not at home, he has no one to talk to," Aunt Xu said happily.
More people meant more liveliness. When people reached a certain age, they truly enjoyed the hustle and bustle of having people coming and going in the house. Throughout the year, the number of times their children could visit was limited. If it weren’t for their little grandson keeping them company, they would probably be even lonelier.
Bai Jiu smiled. When it was about time, she went to pick up the children. But she never could have expected that in the short time it took to do so, Aunt Xu’s house would almost be turned upside down.
Originally, she wanted to go buy some groceries, but she eventually decided against it. After recalling the food they still had at home, she took the kids and headed straight back.
As soon as she approached, she heard Aunt Xu crying and shouting.
"Stop! Stop it! Have you no shame? You even dare to rob things from my house! Lin Po, I’ll fight you to the death!" Aunt Xu’s voice choked with sobs.
"Hmph, what’s there to be afraid of? The life of you leaders is certainly different! Look, look, everyone, come take a look!" Lin Po’s shrill voice rang out from the courtyard.
Without waiting for the kids, Bai Jiu sprinted over. Pushing through the crowd, she was so furious upon seeing the scene in the courtyard that she wanted to hit someone. Of course, she didn’t just want to; she actually put it into action.
"AHHH!" Soon, Lin Po’s shrieks, sounding like a slaughtered pig, reached everyone’s ears.
After charging in, Bai Jiu went straight into the kitchen, grabbed Lin Po by the hair, and dragged her outside.
"You bitch, let go of me! Let go!" Lin Po had been startled when she saw Bai Jiu, but before she could speak, she was already being dragged out by her hair.
"Murder! The leader’s wife is committing murder!" Lin Po screamed.
But even so, not a single person dared to step forward to help. Instead, two people went over to support Aunt Xu.
"Murder you? Heh, I’d be afraid of dirtying my hands. You barged into someone else’s home to rob them! We’re reporting this to the police." After dragging her out, Bai Jiu threw Lin Po to the ground. She then made sure to grab a rag nearby to wipe her hands, as if they were filthy.
Once released, Lin Po plopped down onto her buttocks. "Boohoo! I don’t want to live anymore! The leader’s family member is beating people up!"