The western sky was filled with rosy clouds, and the sun was about to set.
Wang Cheng had planned to personally cook dinner for his family, only to discover that there were no eggs left in the refrigerator. He ducked into the chicken coop to look for some and searched several corners before finally finding four or five. He had just come out when he ran into his sister.
Wang Ziyu came running home in tears. The two met at the doorway, startling Wang Cheng badly. His sister rarely cried, so if she was actually crying, something serious must have happened. After asking, he learned that it had to do with Aunt Zhang.
Uncle Zhang, who was a decent man, spent most of each day at the market choosing fresh vegetables and meat for the next day. When he returned, he still had to make the buns, so Aunt Zhang usually watched the shop. Aunt Zhang was petty, and whenever she was in a bad mood, she had a habit of making things up.
In Wang Cheng’s words, Aunt Zhang was about the same as his Eldest Aunt and Second Aunt. Besides being a gossip, she loved showing off.
The Zhang family’s bun shop was in the Shiquan County marketplace, and Shiquan County lay within the area Huaying Real Estate planned to acquire, so they would also have to move when the time came. But because Aunt Zhang’s family ran a successful bun shop, they owned two houses in Shiquan County, which meant they would receive even more compensation than Eldest Uncle’s family.
If they had lived in the same village, Wang Cheng suspected he would have had to watch Aunt Zhang bragging every single day.
Wang Cheng remembered Second Aunt sourly making a few remarks about the Zhang family striking it rich. Madam Zhang’s natal family lived in the same village as Aunt Zhang’s family. Since Zhang Family Village was also being acquired by Huaying Real Estate, Madam Zhang had been visiting her natal family more often, so it was hardly surprising that she knew what was going on with Aunt Zhang’s household.
After the acquisition, Aunt Zhang’s household became one of the wealthiest families in Zhang Family Village. She bragged to everyone she met and, just like Wang Cheng’s Eldest Aunt and Second Aunt, could not stand seeing anyone else doing better than her, especially people she had once looked down on or treated like charity cases, such as Wang Cheng’s family. With “new grievances” piled on top of “old resentments,” Aunt Zhang’s fault-finding with Wang Ziyu only grew worse.
When Wang Ziyu went to work that morning, the bun shop started steaming buns at six as usual. People in the countryside tended to wake early, so beginning sales around six-thirty was just right. Yet Aunt Zhang accused her of arriving too late, claiming that by then everyone had already gone to work and most people had already eaten breakfast.
Wang Ziyu endured it, but Aunt Zhang then started criticizing her for being too slow and not cleaning properly.
She could lie with her eyes wide open. Since Aunt Zhang was not even bothering to save face for herself, Wang Ziyu decided she would stop making herself suffer. Near the end of her shift, she told Aunt Zhang that she was quitting and asked for her wages for the seven days she had worked.
Aunt Zhang, however, said they had originally agreed that Wang Ziyu would work for two months. Now Wang Ziyu was suddenly walking away, and where was she supposed to find another employee? She claimed this violated their agreement and refused to pay her. Not only was her attitude overbearing, she loudly smeared Wang Ziyu’s reputation, accusing her of slacking off, sneaking their buns to eat, having sticky fingers, and all sorts of other things.
Wang Ziyu’s eyes reddened with frustration.
People nearby who knew her understood that Aunt Zhang was talking nonsense, but strangers could easily believe it. A perfectly decent young woman was being slandered like this. If the matter was not cleared up, it could leave a lasting stain on her reputation.
Someone criticized Aunt Zhang for treating a young girl this way, especially one she knew, but after Aunt Zhang snapped back at them a few times, they shook their head and left.
Wang Ziyu argued back a little, but she was no match for Aunt Zhang’s sharp tongue. The woman could say absolutely anything once she started trading insults, and in the end Wang Ziyu ran home feeling deeply wronged.
How could Wang Cheng stand to see his little sister bullied? After hearing the whole story, he did not even wait for Papa Wang and Mama Wang to return. Without another word, he grabbed Wang Ziyu and headed straight for the Zhang family’s bun shop.
The shop had not closed yet. Aunt Zhang was in an excellent mood after saving herself two or three hundred yuan. Humming as she tidied the tables and chairs, she was preparing to close up once her husband returned. With her back to the entrance, she did not notice Wang Cheng walk in until a tremendous crash sounded behind her. She jumped and spun around, nearly screaming at what she saw.
The moment Wang Cheng entered, he grabbed a long bench and slammed it hard onto the floor. One of its legs immediately broke, but he did not stop there. He dragged over a table, hoisted it up, and smashed it down. Aunt Zhang finally screamed.
“Wang Cheng, stop right now!”
As if Wang Cheng would listen to her. He smashed another chair before finally looking at Aunt Zhang, his gaze icy. “Don’t think you can spout nonsense just because you’re an elder. You dared to smear my sister’s name. Even if Uncle Zhang were standing right here, I’d still smash the place. If you don’t apologize to my sister today, you and I are not finished!”
“Listen to you, Wang Cheng! How did I smear your sister’s name? Everything I said was true. Your sister has sticky fingers, and I’ll say it if I want to. What are you going to do about it?” Aunt Zhang’s face turned livid with anger. She had not expected Wang Cheng to be such a tough nut, but she was not the kind of person who backed down just because someone scared her a little.
“I’ll smash your shop today. Then you can see what I’m going to do about it.” As soon as Wang Cheng finished speaking, he acted. He walked over and kicked the table closest to Aunt Zhang. No one knew how much force he used, but the seemingly sturdy table flew into the wall and shattered into pieces.
The sight frightened Aunt Zhang into retreating to a corner. If that kick had landed on her, even if it did not kill her, it would probably leave her half-dead. She finally began to regret what she had done. If she had known earlier, she would never have provoked this lunatic Wang Cheng.
Wang Cheng could have handled the situation more gently, but the thought of his little sister’s reputation being slandered made him furious enough to want to teach Aunt Zhang a lesson. Otherwise, she might start thinking everyone in their family was easy to bully.
A large crowd of spectators had already gathered outside the door.
Some people thought Aunt Zhang deserved it for running her mouth. Putting themselves in Wang Cheng’s place, if someone had talked about their daughters that way, they would probably have gone after her too. Others thought Wang Cheng had gone too far. He had already smashed several hundred yuan’s worth of furniture.
“What happened?” Uncle Zhang had discovered a crowd packed around the entrance of his own bun shop and struggled his way through. The moment he saw the state of the place, he stood there dumbfounded.