RYEY – Chapter 36 Try Bullying My Wife Again

“Thank you, Sister Xiaofang, and Qian Longkun. The soap you asked me to buy—I got it for you, forty-four cents. And Sister Yuefang, the cotton shoe insoles you wanted, one yuan sixty-nine cents, no ration tickets needed.”

Cheng Qiao smiled as she pulled out everything she had bought. She even handed out fruit candies, and everyone’s faces lit up with satisfaction.

“Cheng Qiao, why did you throw my quilt into the latrine?”

Seeing everyone gathered around Cheng Qiao, happy and excited, Chai Jianmin found it extremely displeasing. After some thought, he finally couldn’t help but blurt it out.

Startled by his angry roar, Cheng Qiao dropped the fruit candies in her hand. They rolled across the ground, and one piece happened to stop right at Xu Laidi’s feet.

Overjoyed, Xu Laidi quickly picked it up and stuffed it into her pocket. But Li Huan walked over and stretched out his hand toward her.

Xu Laidi shrank back but had no choice. She pulled out the candy, still not warm from her body heat, and placed it into Li Huan’s hand. Li Huan instantly retracted his hand, and the candy fell to the ground again.

He stepped on it and ground it underfoot until the candy turned into a black, sticky little disc. Only then did he stop.

Then he walked right up to Chai Jianmin, staring intently at his face. Chai Jianmin, not knowing how to respond to the stare, was suddenly met with Li Huan’s fist landing squarely on his face.

“Ah! How can you hit me?”

“You’ve ruined my wife’s reputation—shouldn’t I hit you?”

“When did I ever ruin your wife’s reputation?”

“You said my wife threw your quilt into the latrine. So, that means my wife had to go to the men’s dormitory to fetch it. What business does a woman have going into the men’s dormitory? And you say you didn’t slander her?”

“But no one was in the men’s dormitory. How is that ruining her reputation?”

“No one was there? Then how do you know my wife took your quilt?”

“Your wife and I don’t get along, and she’s not exactly proper herself. That’s why I suspected her.”

“Ahhh—why did you hit me again?”

Before Chai Jianmin could even finish, another punch landed on his face, harder than the last.

“Tell me—how is my wife not proper? If you don’t give me clear reasons, I’ll beat you into a pig’s head and report you to the police for slander.”

“Your wife only married you because you forced yourself on her. Is that proper? And she spends nights away from the educated youth point, making us all go out looking for her. Is that proper?”

Chai Jianmin had gone all in. So what if it turned into a fight? With so many men at the educated youth point, how could they lose to a little thug?

“Leader, he’s hitting me again—aren’t you going to stop him?”

But hearing Chai Jianmin bring up that night, Li Huan shot Xu Laidi a glance before raining down punches on Chai Jianmin’s head and body like a storm.

Xu Laidi’s heart pounded wildly, and she bit her lip. Inwardly, she cursed Chai Jianmin a thousand times. That matter was already over, yet he brought it up again. Wasn’t he asking to be beaten? Idiot.

Jiang Guangrong was in a tough spot. As the group leader, he had a duty to protect the interests of the educated youths. But if Chai Jianmin insisted on being shameless, what could he do?

Curled up like a shrimp, Chai Jianmin clutched his head tightly as Li Huan’s blows rained down. For the first time, he truly understood Li Huan’s ruthlessness and unreasonable nature. He completely forgot his own shamelessness.

And in his heart, he started to resent Jiang Guangrong and Qian Longkun as well. They all slept in the same dormitory and ate from the same pot, yet they didn’t even try to break up the fight.

“You slashed two holes in my wife’s bicycle tire and pulled out the valve core. Do you admit it or not?”

Li Huan shook out his numbed arm and demanded.

Chai Jianmin was about to deny it, but when he saw Li Huan’s narrowed eyes, his heart trembled. Still, he clenched his teeth and remained silent.

“You don’t have to admit it. But I have hundreds of ways to make sure you won’t survive in Xiangyang Village. If you don’t believe me, just try.”

With that, Li Huan kicked him hard again, flipping him over. “If you ever dare bully my wife again or ruin her reputation, just wait and see how I’ll deal with you.”

Seeing the murderous glint in Li Huan’s eyes, Chai Jianmin trembled all over. Instinctively, he hugged his head and lay on the ground, playing dead like a quail.

“Wife, I’ll go return the ox cart first. If anything happens, come find me. If he dares bully you, I’ll kill him.”

Li Huan had to return the cart. Carrying the lunchboxes Cheng Qiao had prepared for him, he left. Old Niu had been worried all day, and when he saw the ox cart finally back, he scolded Li Huan.

Li Huan just smiled, handed him a lunchbox, and also gave him fifty cents—the fee for borrowing the cart. He couldn’t short him.

When Old Niu saw the ox wasn’t even tired, he was pleased. Opening the lunchbox, he found it packed with rice, topped with sweet-and-sour ribs and scrambled eggs with yellow chives.

“You fool. You’ve got money but don’t know how to save it. If you’ve got food, then take your money back.”

“The money is from me. The food is from Cheng Qiao. Eat up—it’s still warm.”

Old Niu touched the bottom of the lunchbox. Cold. Warm, my foot. Suddenly, he chuckled. Clearly, Li Huan liked that female educated youth. Otherwise, why would he say it was warm?

Li Huan helped Old Niu unhitch the cart, fed the ox grass and water, then headed back to the educated youth point. He still worried about Cheng Qiao—Chai Jianmin was truly malicious.

Meanwhile, bruised and aching, Chai Jianmin lay on his bed, eyes shut as he brooded. It was true—he had sabotaged the bicycle. He thought he could get away with it, but out of nowhere, Li Huan had appeared, tossing his quilt into the latrine. Clearly, someone in the educated youth point was helping that thug.

No blanket tonight. He decided he’d squeeze in with Jiang Guangrong. After all, Guangrong was the leader. If he refused such a small request after not even stepping in earlier, what kind of leader was he?

Just then, the smell of pork drifted into his nose. The bone soup should be ready. He wanted a bowl—his body was too weak, otherwise he wouldn’t have lost to that thug.

But when he painfully limped to the kitchen, the pot was already scraped clean. Not a drop left. Only his rationed portion sat in his lunchbox.

“Zhao Xiaobao, what’s the meaning of this?”

Today Zhao Xiaobao had been in charge of serving the soup. Of course, he had counted portions carefully. No way would he let Chai Jianmin sneak some.

“Did you pay?”

“You—”

“Chai Jianmin, all of us paid. Cheng Qiao’s money doesn’t come from thin air. The fact that she could even buy pork bones for us is already generous. You can’t just freeload.”

After finishing his bowl of soup, Qian Longkun wiped his mouth clean and explained earnestly.