Chapter 682 - 589: Thicker Than the Great Wall
Chapter 682: Chapter 589: Thicker Than the Great Wall
Xiao Man pulled her up and said with a smile, "Shaoyu and Dapeng have gone upstairs. Let’s go up too. I’ll show you something cool in my room."
Qiuyan nodded happily. The two of them walked into the kitchen where Xinghua was banking the fire in the stove. The aroma of steamed rice already filled the air. Yu Wumei was sorting vegetables. Xiao Man asked if they needed help, but Yu Wumei waved her off. "The chicken and duck will be cooked after they’re done cleaning them. There’s nothing to do right now. Go on, go play!"
Qiuyan then pulled Xiao Man through the central door into the main building. They could go straight upstairs from there without passing through the living room. Grandma, Fifth Auntie, and Granny Mo were sitting in the living room, warming themselves by the fire and chatting. Xiao Man had no intention of going out of her way to greet the "guest" and offer pleasantries. She couldn’t muster an ounce of respect for Granny Mo, who had once screamed insults at her, calling her a "bastard," a "jinx doomed to die young," and a "debt collector."
There was a small sitting area on the second floor as well. Four young men and women were lounging on the wooden sofa, having apparently come up a few moments before them. They were peeling oranges and cracking melon seeds. When they saw Xiao Man and Qiuyan come up, one of the girls waved at them. "Come on, little sister! Come sit and chat with us!"
Qiuyan looked at Xiao Man, who just smiled. "You guys take your time. We have something to do."
Just as they started up the stairs, a snicker came from behind them, followed by a man’s snide, sarcastic voice. "She’s from Beijing, you know. So high and mighty. Can’t be bothered with us poor country relatives!"
Qiuyan faltered for a moment. Xiao Man just shook her head at her and continued straight upstairs. ’People can say whatever they want; it’s their mouth,’ she thought. ’If I responded to every little comment, I’d die of exhaustion.’
The third-floor hallway was also littered with fruit peels and melon seed shells, but there was no one in sight.
Xiao Man was taking out her key to open her door when she heard a commotion from Dapeng’s room. She and Qiuyan hurried over. Gu Shaoqin was standing in the middle of the room. On the bed, someone was lying completely covered by a blanket. A pair of small-sized cloth shoes in front of the bed suggested it was a girl. Another girl was sitting behind the desk by the window. She wore a peach-colored, floral-print cotton jacket, her hair in two shoulder-length braids. Pen in hand, she was sprawled on the desk, doodling with an air of great seriousness. Who could it be but Liang Xiaoju?
Dapeng was standing at one end of the desk, his face flushed red with anger. He was clearing things off the desk while glaring at Liang Xiaoju and roaring, "Are you going to stop?! You’re still drawing on my stuff!"
"What’s going on?" Xiao Man asked.
Gu Shaoqin spread his hands and shrugged. He had come upstairs to get clothes for a bath, and Dapeng, who liked to follow him around, had wanted to bathe too. But as soon as Dapeng entered his own room, he started yelling as if he’d encountered some great danger. That’s when Gu Shaoqin had rushed over and found the scene as it was.
Dapeng snatched the notebook from under Liang Xiaoju’s hand, brought it over to Xiao Man, and started flipping through the pages. "Sis, look!" he yelled excitedly. "She scribbled all over my book! This is my winter break homework! I haven’t even finished two pages of problems, and she’s made a total mess of it. It’s useless now! What am I going to turn in?"
Xiao Man looked at the brand-new workbook. A few lines of pop song lyrics were scrawled across the pages, along with several names and some impulsively drawn chimerical creatures and strange faces. Anger welled up inside her. ’Has this Liang Xiaoju grown taller but not smarter? She hasn’t matured at all. She’s just as obnoxious as ever!’
"Liang Xiaoju, you are unbelievable..."
Before Xiao Man could finish, Liang Xiaoju broke into a huge smile and cut her off in a gushingly enthusiastic tone that could give one goosebumps. "Ah, Xiao Man! You’re finally back! I’ve missed you so much!"
Then she tried to walk over and get chummy with Xiao Man, but Dapeng blocked her way. "You have to replace my homework!"
Liang Xiaoju reached out to pat his head, saying dismissively, "It’s just a notebook, isn’t it? What’s the big deal? Just ask Grandpa to buy you another one. Our family has plenty of money!"
Dapeng slapped her hand away in disgust, so angry he was about to jump up and down. "Are you deaf? I told you, it’s winter break homework! Winter break homework! The school gives it to us! You can’t buy it, even with money!"
"Well, I didn’t know it was your winter break homework. Nobody told me, did they?" Liang Xiaoju said with a grin, as if ruining someone’s workbook was no big deal.
Dapeng’s eyes turned red. He screamed "AHHH!" and slammed his fists on the desk, making it go THUMP, THUMP.
Qiuyan took Dapeng’s workbook, flipped through it, and glared angrily at Liang Xiaoju. "You’re a guest here. You shouldn’t be going through the host’s things, let alone scribbling all over them. You’ve gone too far!"
"Hey, Qiuyan, who taught you to talk like that? That’s not right of you. Before your family was found, my grandma brought me here to be the granddaughter for my great-uncle and great-aunt. I lived in this old house, keeping them company and taking care of them, which helped them relax and stay healthy! Later, when Xiao Man had a falling out with her parents and couldn’t live with them anymore, she came here looking for shelter from our great-uncle and great-aunt. Only then did my parents call me back home to help look after my younger siblings... I’m a part of this family too! Now that they’ve built this new building, Grandpa said I can come home to live anytime I want. I’m a host here too, and I’m your older sister! You have to respect me, you know? What’s the big deal about scribbling in a notebook? Grandpa promised to let me go back to school. I’ll have plenty of notebooks in the future. I’ll give you as many as you want!"
Liang Xiaoju’s smile vanished. She rattled on and on with an extremely earnest expression. Dapeng and Qiuyan were both stunned, looking dubiously from Xiao Man to Liang Xiaoju and back again.
Xiao Man couldn’t help but sneer. ’And here I was, thinking Liang Xiaoju hadn’t matured at all. Turns out she had a surprise for me: her skill for being self-righteous and believing her own lies so completely has leveled up several times over!’
If you didn’t know Liang Xiaoju’s particular brand of crazy, it would be easy to get infuriated arguing with her. The most effective way to deal with her was to play along with her own twisted logic. Then it was anyone’s guess who would be the one fuming in the end.
Xiao Man said to Dapeng, "There’s no need to blame your Cousin Xiaoju. She’s been illiterate since she was little because she hates studying. She doesn’t even recognize the words ’winter break homework’! Just accept your bad luck on this one. Later, show the notebook to Grandpa and Grandma and Mom and Dad, and then they’ll know to watch the house for you in the future. You can also ask Brother-in-law Jiang. Maybe he can help you get a couple of new workbooks."
Only then did Dapeng let out a sigh of relief. He snorted at Liang Xiaoju and tucked the two winter break workbooks into his jacket.
Just then, three more people appeared in the room. The girl who had been lying on the bed got up, and two other girls came in. From the look on Qiuyan’s face, Xiao Man knew these must be the two who had been lounging in her room.
Having been publicly shamed by Xiao Man, who called her an illiterate who hated to study, Liang Xiaoju flew into a rage. "Mo Xiaoman! And to think I’ve treated you like a real sister my whole life! We slept in the same bed, ate from the same pot! I gave way to you in everything, protected you! Didn’t I drop out of school and go home just to save money so you could study in the county town? How can you say that to me? Do I deserve this?"
Xiao Man sneered. ’I was just waiting for a chance to set the record straight with you, and here it is.’
"Liang Xiaoju, is it fun turning black into white? What sisterly bond do we have? And ’your whole life’? ’Slept in the same bed, ate from the same pot, gave way to me in everything, protected me, dropped out of school for me’? Liang Xiaoju, your skin isn’t just thick as cowhide anymore; the Great Wall wouldn’t dare compare its thickness to your face! You can stand right here in Gongdao Village and still spew blatant, outrageous lies. Aren’t you afraid of becoming a laughingstock?"