The well-meaning onlookers told Uncle Zhang everything that had happened, even embellishing Aunt Zhang’s behavior a little. Uncle Zhang was so furious he nearly saw black. Her usual gossiping was one thing, but saying such vicious things to a young girl was entirely different.
Wang Ziyu had worked at their bun shop for seven days. Even before she started working there, Uncle Zhang already knew she was a good girl, and after she began helping at the shop, she worked so quickly and efficiently that she could practically do the work of two people. More than once, he had felt they were paying her too little. If his wife had not always objected, he would have raised her wages long ago.
“Zhang Liangzhong, get in here and stop that lunatic Wang Cheng! He’s going to smash everything in our shop!”
Seeing her husband was like seeing a savior, and Aunt Zhang immediately lit up with relief. She refused to believe they could not deal with this brat Wang Cheng. Her husband’s reaction, however, took her completely by surprise.
Zhang Liangzhong walked over to the worried Wang Ziyu and actually patted her shoulder as though comforting her. Aunt Zhang could not hear what he said, but the sight alone nearly made her explode with anger.
The moment Wang Cheng heard Uncle Zhang’s name, he stopped smashing the shop. He turned and, sure enough, saw Uncle Zhang standing beside his sister. Uncle Zhang walked over to him, looking deeply ashamed.
“Wang Cheng, your Uncle Zhang will make this right for you and your sister.”
“Make what right? He smashed our shop! He has to pay for it, or this isn’t over!” Once she saw there was no danger, Aunt Zhang darted out of the corner and immediately started shouting again, looking fierce as ever.
Before Wang Cheng could respond, Uncle Zhang swung his hand back and slapped Aunt Zhang hard across the face. The sharp smack rang through the shop. The murmuring outside instantly stopped, and the entire bun shop fell silent. No one had probably expected Uncle Zhang, who was usually so mild-mannered that he rarely contradicted his wife, to have a side like this.
“Shut your mouth! You know perfectly well who’s right and who’s wrong here. Even if Wang Cheng smashed everything in this shop, we’d still owe them.”
Aunt Zhang looked as though the slap had stunned her senseless.
Uncle Zhang turned to the cash drawer, took out four hundred yuan, and stuffed it into Wang Cheng’s hand. “This is your sister’s pay. Take it for now. Another day, Uncle Zhang will personally bring your Aunt Zhang to your house to apologize.”
The amount was actually more than Wang Ziyu was owed, and Wang Cheng had already smashed quite a few tables and chairs in their shop to vent his anger. He had intended to refuse, but Uncle Zhang would not take no for an answer and shoved the money straight into his trouser pocket. Then Wang Cheng caught sight of Aunt Zhang’s unwilling expression and suddenly had no desire to refuse anymore. Why turn down free money? Better yet if it pissed that old bitch to death!
Once the people at the center of the commotion had left, the crowd gathered outside naturally dispersed as well.
Aunt Zhang had dug a pit and buried herself in it. Before this, everyone had only dared gossip about her behind her back. From now on, they would do it openly.
Wang Cheng took Wang Ziyu home. Papa Wang and Mama Wang had not returned yet. He handed the four hundred yuan to his sister and told her not to mention the incident to their parents for the time being. With Mama Wang’s temper, she would probably grab a kitchen knife and charge straight over to fight Aunt Zhang.
Wang Ziyu nodded blankly. She still had not recovered from seeing this fierce and heroic side of her Second Brother. He was just… unbelievably cool. Their elder brother protected her too, but he had never done anything this direct.
In the end, Mama Wang still found out. When she was almost home, one of the neighborhood aunties saw her and told her about it.
The moment Mama Wang walked through the door, she started roaring so loudly that the siblings thought there had been an earthquake. One look at her face when they ran out told them they were in trouble. She had definitely heard what happened to Little Sister. It took a great deal of coaxing to stop her from going anywhere, but while she cooked, both siblings could clearly hear the kitchen knife chopping hard against the cutting board. Her anger obviously had not subsided.
“What a shame. Your Uncle Zhang really is a good man.” Papa Wang, who had already heard the whole story by dinner, could not help sighing. Marrying a wife like that had not done Zhang Liangzhong any favors. Fortunately, Zhang Liangzhong was capable. If the family had been poor, she probably would have turned the whole household into a complete mess.
“If I were Zhang Liangzhong, I’d divorce her.”
Anyone could tell from that sentence that Mama Wang was still furious. Her own pretty, capable daughter had been falsely accused and had her reputation smeared. That was no small matter to a parent. If their daughter got a boyfriend later and his family came to the village asking about her, what would they think if they heard about something like this? Wouldn’t her entire life be ruined?
Papa Wang opened his mouth as though he wanted to say something, then apparently thought better of it.
“You think I’m wrong?” Mama Wang noticed his expression and raised her eyebrows.
“No. You’re absolutely right.” Papa Wang did not dare contradict her in the slightest. If he said too much, Mama Wang might end up divorcing him instead.
Seeing their father’s “spineless” expression, Wang Cheng and Wang Ziyu both laughed. The atmosphere at the dinner table finally returned to normal. Everyone had been eating so tensely before that even the rice had seemed tasteless.
Wang Ziyu hurriedly picked up a bite of food and placed it in Mama Wang’s bowl to curry favor.
After she stopped working at the bun shop, Wang Ziyu got up early every day to help Mama Wang clean the house and feed the chickens, then went with her to the marketplace to sell vegetables. Their family leased a vegetable plot. They kept what they needed for themselves and usually sold the rest, but since they would be moving in a few days, this would be the last time.