Chapter 21: äøŠé—Ø (To visit)
Translator: LittleYen
After Zhong Ziqiā€™s small business had only a small ripple,peace returned but perhaps God canā€™t stand his leisurely carefree pace so this time trouble comes once again so sudden that it bears down menacingly.
First, it was Zhong Ziqiā€™s purchase of vegetables. He didnā€™t know where the villagers got the information from that he was the one behind the purchase of vegetables. The result is predictable. As Zhao Amu said, the original ridicule of those people disappeared, replaced by a goodwill smile and kind faces.
Zhong Ziqi really wanted to laugh three times. This is what he wanted, he is not a good man, his heart is actually very small, so small that whoever said a bad word and who gave a look of contempt, he remembered it all clearly. He has already said it before, donā€™t come begging him if you could!
So donā€™t bully people too much!
Donā€™t bully a young man, a young one also has their moments!
The young man was also very vindictive!
But Zhong Ziqi only gloated for a short time before he turned into a bitter face, because these people were too annoying and disturbed his normal life therein he deeply felt that even ā€˜dogskin plasterā€™ was not so sticky.
[ē‹—ēš®č†č—„ gĒ’u pĆ­ gāo yao or dogskin plaster, used in TCM for treating contusions, rheumatism etc / quack medicine / sham goods]
For example, this afternoon, Zhong Ziqiā€™s group had just returned from the town when they saw several people standing at the center of the village.
ā€œHow annoying!ā€ Zhao Ning muttered with an unhappy face, these days not only their family, even he himself did not dare to go out,if he was not careful enough, he might be caught asking questions, this simply wasā€¦.
ā€œQi Geā€™er is back!ā€ An old Amu grinned, revealing a mouthful of big yellow teeth. He shouted in a loud voice.
ā€œAiyo! Qi Geā€™er is really awesome! Itā€™s true that ā€˜like father, like sonā€™. As capable as your Dad.ā€ A slightly chubby Amu with a creased face came over.
Seriously, Zhong Ziqi almost bent his ears. These people, it can be said that they are doing everything possible, sweet talk, sugar-coated bullets, big moves, rush around everywhere.
It was no wonder that they were anxious. Zhao Amu followed Zhong Ziqiā€™s instructions, went to buy vegetables from good character and honest people. Zhao Amu himself hated those bad gossip villagers that said what was white was black and what was good was bad. So he bought vegetables only from people he thought were good.
Those who are honest are happy to have people coming to collect the vegetables, they can earn a few dozens of wen, which is a good income. Some of the clever ones couldnā€™t stand the busybody gossipers in the village, so they went out to show off.
One was fine, but suddenly several people appeared saying they could earn money by selling vegetables while sitting at home. They were talking about it with every detail vividly described.A lot of people canā€™t stand it anymore. They were wondering why they had never heard of it before? Why wonā€™t they buy from them? One by one, they sought out the news, then found the source to Zhao Amuā€™s house.Zhao Amu chased them all away with his ā€˜Tā€™ai Chi Chuan'(shadowboxing or tai chi) .
Later, someone in the village suddenly said that they had seen Zhong Ziqi in the town, said that he had a good business and used a lot of vegetables, which he seemed to have bought from the village.This news was immediately exploded after being released. Those people seemed to have forgotten that they had spared no effort to slander this pitiful ger thus they came to the door like good people.
But Zhong Ziqi had been instructed by Zhao Amu that he would be in charge of all these matters which was a great relief to him.
Zhao Zhengā€™anā€™s expression was gloomy, angry at the group of people in front of him, these days there are always people knocking on their door whether morning or evening. He did not know what was going on but he felt keenly that every time these people came, his wife was unhappy, with boredom on his face.
Then as a husband he (shyly) had to protect his wife from the bullying, but of course he didnā€™t have this awareness yet. Thatā€™s what he heard from his little buddies.Everything about his wife, he would remember it clearly,learn and apply pragmatically
At this point, seeing that the way to home was blocked, they were still unconsciously dangling in front of his wifeā€™s eyes,he became upset and shouted with a loud voice: ā€œGo away, all of you!ā€ But his words were like a stone that was being thrown and sunk without a trace in the sea, couldnā€™t bring the ripples along. No one cared about a fool. He had already been thoroughly ignored.
[ēŸ³ę²‰å¤§ęµ· shĆ­ chĆ©n dĆ  hĒŽi
lit. to throw a stone and see it sink without trace in the sea(idiom) / fig. to elicit no response]
ā€ Qi Geā€™er, youā€™ve grown up so much in a flash, when your Amu was around, we were best friends.ā€
Another Amu is quite smart, he knows how to play the affection card but meets with a tough Zhong Ziqi, all the cards are not good. Moereover, heā€™s not stupid, how could it possible his Amu be friends with such people? Itā€™s not that heā€™s so proud of himself and looks down on people. It is just that this Amu in front of him, with his monkey face, his eyeballs roved around, was a troubling person, just like Wang Cuihua.
ā€œWife!ā€ It was hard to muster up the courage to yell but no one paid any attention to him, as if he didnā€™t exist, the spiritless Zhao Zhengā€™an,his dark eyes tinged with a hint of moisture, his thick eyebrows huddled together like two caterpillars.
Zhong Ziqi knew that he had suffered so he took his hand and shook it. He said in his heart that I canā€™t even bear to let him suffer. Then when you guys come here, you guys could only make people unhappy.Do you think heā€™s transparent?
Zhong Ziqi put on a fake smile as he looked at the hypocritical people in front of him and said, ā€œItā€™s getting late, everyone so I have to go back. Once again, regarding the purchase of vegetables, Iā€™d like to say that you can talk to Zhao Amu. Iā€™ve given him full control over this matter. All right! Excuse me,everyone,give way! ā€
Looking at Zhong Ziqi, who looked like a stranger and unapproachable, the others were inexplicably frightened so they unconsciously moved out of the way.
After everyone went back to their homes, Zhong Ziqi apparently was too early to be happy because before Zhong Ziqi and Zhao Zhengā€™an could have a drink of water, there was another knocking sound on their door.
Zhao Zhengā€™anā€™s originally happy face immediately grew long again, Zhong Ziqi frowned: ā€œWho is it?ā€
The person outside the door didnā€™t say anything, as if he hadnā€™t heard.
ā€œWho is it?ā€ Zhong Ziqi raised his voice while he walked over to the door.
Still no one said anything but the knocking on the door didnā€™t stop.
Zhong Ziqi reluctantly opened the door. He immediately regretted it the moment he saw the visitor. Why did his own paws fall short of? What was the point of opening the door?
The person standing outside the door was none other than Wang Cuihua, his mother-in-law in name whom he had quarrelled with a few days before.
Zhong Ziqi said with a cold face ā€œWhat are you doing here?ā€ There was no one around, so even if he had torn his polite face off, no one would have seen him.
Wang Cuihuaā€™s fat-faced face, who had been forced into an amiable-looking smile, made his face look even more hideous: ā€ Qi Geā€™er,I came to see you how are you guys doing?ā€
ā€œIf you donā€™t come to disturb us, weā€™re definitely doing well!ā€ Zhong Ziqiā€™s face was expressionless as he sneered, his hands clasping the door to block Wang Cuihuaā€™s body from trying to squeeze in.
ā€œHe he! look at what you said, Wonā€™t I still harm you guys?ā€
Wang Cuihua didnā€™t expect Zhong Ziqi to be so disrespectful (didnā€™t give him a face at all), his face immediately changed into multi-colored in a round.He hated it secretly but could not show it.He stood on his tiptoes, stretched his neck to look inside.He saw Zhao Zhengā€™an was in the middle of the room.He shouted at the top of his voice, ā€œZhengā€™an? Zhengā€™an? Itā€™s Amu!ā€
Zhao Zhengā€™an looked for the sound of voices, came over to see his long-lost Amu standing outside the door.When Wang Cuihua saw Zhao Zhengā€™an coming, he was pleased with himself.This idiot still has to listen to his own A-Mu! He reached out and pushed Zhong Ziqiā€™s arm away to squeeze in, taking Zhao Zhengā€™anā€™s arm and saying affectionately, ā€œZhengā€™an, itā€™s Amu, you donā€™t blame Amu for not visiting you for so long, do you? Do you miss Amu a lot?ā€
If it was before, Zhao Zhengā€™an would have been very happy, wagging his tail like a puppy at Amuā€™s side,but at this moment he was not happy at all. On the contrary, when he saw Wang Cuihua appear, his heart was a bit unhappy.
He didnā€™t know why that was! At this moment, all that was left in his eyes was Zhong Ziqi. Especially after living with Zhong Ziqi for so long, even if Zhao Zhengā€™an was stupid, he could feel the difference that his life right now was so much better than his life at home. It was like, one is heaven, the other one is earth. It was so good that he was afraid that one day he would go back to his old life.
When he saw his own Amu again, Zhao Zhengā€™anā€™s heart was calm, he was not as intimate as he used to be, he broke away from Amuā€™s painful grip and hid behind Zhong Ziqi, his hand squeezing the hem of his shirt, what he was most afraid of now was whether his wife would send him back to Amuā€™s side, he certainly would not leave his wife!
Zhong Ziqi narrowed his eyes, satisfied with Zhao Zhengā€™anā€™s actions and performance.He admitted that he didnā€™t use all of his strength to stop Wang Cuihua, just to see Zhao Zhengā€™anā€™s reaction.He was pleased with the result that not wasting his time and effort. He had put him first in his heart, he was also on his side.