After the last class ended, Ye Qingyang packed up his schoolbag, ready to go home and continue his battle of wits with Ye Hong.
As he passed Lu Jingcheng, he gave him a light tap.
Lu Jingcheng turned his head and saw Ye Qingyang standing behind him. For a moment he was a little confused. What did this mean?
Did he want to walk home together again?
But today he was not cutting his bangs.
“I’m heading out. See you, Brother Lu,” Ye Qingyang said with a smile.
Only then did Lu Jingcheng relax, though for some reason he also felt a bit disappointed. “Oh.”
“See you tomorrow.” After saying that, Ye Qingyang turned and walked out of the classroom.
Chen Wei watched him leave, sighed, and shook his head. “Look at that. See how much he cares about you? Cooking noodles for you, even giving up my business because of you. Now that school’s over, he still makes sure to say goodbye to you. That means he already considers you a friend.”
“What nonsense are you talking about,” Lu Jingcheng said arrogantly.
“Hey,” Bai Le joined in from the side, “did you hear that? This is the classic case of the king having feelings while the goddess has none.”
“So tragic,” Dong Yu concluded.
Lu Jingcheng: …
Lu Jingcheng rolled his eyes at the three of them, slung his backpack over his shoulder, and walked out of the classroom.
When Ye Qingyang returned home, he took out his key to unlock the door, only to discover it had been locked from the inside. Without even guessing, he knew Ye Hong had done it.
He was not in a hurry. He unzipped his backpack, took out the loudspeaker he had found yesterday, and pressed the power button.
Facing the door, he began to sing:
“Little cabbage, yellow in the field,
At thirteen or fourteen, no parents to shield.
Living with my aunt, but afraid of my aunt,
She treats me cruelly, she abuses me~~”
Ye Qingyang sang it once, recorded the audio, then tore out a sheet of homework paper from his bag. While the loudspeaker continued blasting “Little cabbage, yellow in the field,” he sat down by the door, fully prepared to act at any moment.
Inside the house, Ye Hong listened to his singing through the door. Furious, she paced back and forth until she finally could not take it anymore and shouted, “Shut up!”
The loudspeaker answered her with slightly distorted singing:
“Living with my aunt, but afraid of my aunt,
She treats me cruelly, she abuses me~~”
Ye Hong cared greatly about appearances. Outside, she always pretended to be respectable.
Now that Ye Qingyang was singing like this, she was afraid neighbors might hear and start gossiping about her, so she shouted angrily, “Ye Qingyang, shut up! Stop singing right now, or you are not coming into this house today!”
Ye Qingyang could not care less. Only the loudspeaker kept dutifully playing:
“Little cabbage, yellow in the field~~”
Ye Hong: …
Ye Hong felt her headache returning.
Ye Qingyang was sitting on the ground when he suddenly heard footsteps approaching from afar. It sounded like two people.
Immediately, he adopted a pitiful posture, lowering his head and leaning against the door.
Soon he noticed the light in front of him being blocked. Then someone asked, “Child, why are you sitting here?”
Ye Qingyang looked up and saw a refined woman in her thirties supporting an elderly lady in her sixties or seventies.
He blinked, and tears slowly welled up in his eyes. Meanwhile the loudspeaker beside him continued singing:
“Little cabbage, yellow in the field,
At thirteen or fourteen, no parents to shield…”
It truly looked like a tragic portrait of a grieving young boy.
The woman looked at him and listened to the song coming from the speaker. “Why are you not going home? Who lives in your house?”
Ye Qingyang looked full of sorrow. “My aunt will not let me in. She locked the door.”
“Why would she do that?” the old lady asked in confusion. “Why will she not let you into her house?”
“Why do you not go back to your own home?” the woman asked.
Ye Qingyang stood up, lowered his head, and said softly, “This is my home.”
The woman sighed. What else was there to misunderstand? The song had already explained everything.
“So your parents are gone, and you are living with your aunt, right?”
Ye Qingyang shook his head. “No. This is my home.”
He looked at them with clear, innocent eyes. “My parents passed away and asked my aunt to take care of me. My aunt is a good person. She was afraid she could not raise me alone, so she brought her husband and her child to live in my house so they could help take care of me. I understand that raising a child is not easy, so every time she scolds me or refuses to let me eat, I can understand. But I do not know why she will not let me come home today. Maybe it is because I did not cook well yesterday and she got angry.”
As he spoke, tears began to fall. Ye Qingyang wiped them away with his sleeve and sniffed. “I will change. I will do better in the future.”
The old lady’s heart softened immediately.
This poor child was so foolish. This was not an aunt at all. She was clearly taking advantage of the child after his parents died—occupying his house and bullying him!
At the old lady’s age, she was especially fond of meddling in other people’s affairs. Besides, Ye Qingyang looked handsome and well-behaved, with a clean and gentle appearance.
Right away she declared, “You silly child! That aunt of yours is not a good person at all! She is clearly occupying your house and bullying you!”
Ye Qingyang looked shocked. “How could that be? My aunt might treat me badly sometimes and even abuse me, but she is still my father’s own sister. She would not do that!”
The old lady sighed, pushed him aside, and banged loudly on the door.
“Open the door! Open the door!”
Hearing an unfamiliar voice, Ye Hong shouted from inside, confused, “Who is it?”
“Your great-grandmother!” the old lady barked.
Ye Qingyang: …
This grandma was pretty fierce.
Ye Hong angrily opened the door. “Who are you? How dare you talk like that?”
“How do I talk?” the old lady said, looking her up and down. “You look respectable enough, but you are doing things worse than animals.”
Ye Hong rolled up her sleeves in anger. “Who are you calling that? Do not think you can say whatever you want just because you are old!”
Ye Qingyang quickly tried to calm them down. “Auntie, do not be angry. This grandma just wanted to help me get into the house.”
The old lady was not afraid at all. Puffing out her chest, she said, “Oh? You rolled up your sleeves? What does that mean—planning to hit me? Go ahead! Hit me! If you hit me today, then take me straight to the hospital. All these children are watching. Go ahead and try!”
The woman behind her quickly tried to persuade her. “Mom, calm down. Speak slowly.”
The old lady snorted, put her arm around Ye Qingyang, and pushed past Ye Hong into the house.
“People should have some conscience! If you occupy this child’s house, you should at least treat him well. Instead you make him cook for you and refuse to let him eat. Has your conscience been eaten by dogs? Are you not afraid your brother will come back at night to demand your life?”
“This is our family’s private matter! What does it have to do with you?” Ye Hong shouted. “How do you know I treat him badly? You believe whatever he says? He is naturally dishonest and always making things up. And you actually believe him—you must be senile!”
The old lady was stunned for a moment.
Ye Qingyang gasped. “Auntie!”
His eyes widened in disbelief. “How can you say that? You are slandering me like this. Does your conscience not hurt?”
He shook his head sadly, then tremblingly took out the note Ye Hong had stuck in the kitchen that morning.
“This was the message you left for me today. It was posted on the kitchen door. I kept it with me to remind myself to cook better for you.”
Tears poured down his face.
“And now?” he cried. “You slander me in front of Grandma. I feel so terrible!”
He handed the note to the old lady. “Grandma, if you do not believe me, you can ask my aunt to write something now. Then you will see whether I am lying!”
The old lady looked down and saw what was written on the note:
“Go eat shit!”
The woman behind her saw it as well and immediately showed a look of anger and sadness.
“You are unbelievable!” the old lady shouted. “You have no shame at all! Not only do you abuse this child, you also slander him! Are you even human?”
Ye Hong had never expected the note she wrote would become evidence. She panicked and reached out to push the old lady, trying to force her out.
But the old lady was quick-witted. She leaned against the wall and started groaning dramatically.
“Oh my heart! I have heart pain! I do not feel well—it is all your fault!”
Ye Hong stared at her hand in disbelief. “I barely touched you!”
The old lady ignored her and kept groaning loudly, insisting she needed to go to the hospital.
Ye Hong dared not let that happen. At the old lady’s age, who knew what illnesses she might have? If something happened, Ye Hong would be the one in trouble.
Flustered and furious, she shouted, “What do you want from me?”
The old lady glared at her. “Let me tell you something. This is heart pain from seeing children bullied. If I ever see you locking this child out again, I will collapse right at your doorstep! Let us see if I dare or not!”
Ye Hong was completely helpless. “Fine. I understand. You can leave now.”
“Do not think you can bully a child just because his parents are gone. Child, if she dares to abuse you again, come to apartment 802 on the eighth floor and find Grandma. I will stand up for you.”
“Thank you, Grandma,” Ye Qingyang said gratefully.
The old lady looked at him kindly, then glared at Ye Hong before reluctantly leaving.
After all, it was someone else’s family matter. The old lady knew she could only interfere so much. What would happen next depended on the child’s own fate.
She sighed and patted her daughter-in-law’s hand.
“Xiaomin, report this to the community office and see if they can help that child.”
Her daughter-in-law nodded. “All right, Mom. Do not worry too much.”