Chapter 17: Bullying a Child
Yang Jiabo had clear goals: to make money, grow up well, and take care of his dad. As for his mom, he wouldn’t abandon her, but that didn’t mean he approved of her behavior.
Speaking of his mother, he really didn’t know how to describe her. She was stingy and nitpicky with the Yang family, but when it came to her friends and her own relatives, she was incredibly generous. She was always taking things from their home and giving them to her brothers and sisters. Whenever his dad said something about it, she would argue that her siblings were having hard time. But in the end, everyone else ended up better off than her, and they even looked down on her. Yet, she remained completely oblivious.
Not only that, but she was also a hopelessly foolish teammate. Farming required fertilizer, and in this era, fertilizer was hard to come by. His uncle (Yang Jianjun's eldest sister's husband) had some connections and managed to secure a batch of fertilizer for the family, including the Li relatives.
This kind of thing was supposed to be kept quiet once the benefits were secured. But who would have thought that as soon as the Li relatives took the fertilizer, Li Guizhen immediately spilled the beans, causing a huge headache for his uncle. Similar incidents had happened more than once, and eventually, no one wanted to help anymore.
Because of Li Guizhen’s antics, the atmosphere at home was tense. Yang Jiabo decided to wash up early and go to bed.
The next day, Li Guizhen had the day off. Still angry, she took Yang Jiabo to her eldest sister’s house early in the morning. Before leaving, Li Guizhen thought Yang Jiabo wasn’t wearing enough clothes and insisted he put on a sweater.
Yang Jiabo didn’t feel cold and found the sweater uncomfortable, the tight neckline felt like it was choking him. But there was a kind of cold called "Mom thinks you’re cold," and she forcefully pulled the sweater over his head. Unable to resist, Yang Jiabo spent the entire trip tugging at the sweater’s collar. The day had started off on the wrong foot, and Yang Jiabo had a feeling his luck wouldn’t improve.
When they arrived at his eldest aunt’s house, no one else was there yet. His eldest aunt and Li Guizhen went out to buy groceries, leaving Zhou Lingling and Yang Jiabo to watch the house.
As soon as Li Guizhen left, Yang Jiabo immediately took off the dreaded sweater and sprawled on the sofa, feeling much more comfortable. The black dog his aunt’s family owned wagged its tail happily, circling around his feet.
"Heidou, come here," Zhou Lingling called the dog by its name.
"Heidou, shake! Big brother will play with you," Yang Jiabo deliberately provoked Zhou Lingling. He reached out his hand, and Heidou sat down, placing a paw in his palm.
"That’s my family’s dog," Zhou Lingling said angrily.
"So what? Call it and see if it listens to you," Yang Jiabo retorted, refusing to admit that he had inherited his mother’s petty tendencies.
"Whether it listens or not, it’s still my family’s dog," Zhou Lingling grabbed Heidou’s collar, trying to pull the dog away from Yang Jiabo.
"Heidou, come here. Don’t mind that crazy girl," Yang Jiabo beckoned to the dog, and sure enough, Heidou struggled to get closer to him. Yang Jiabo laughed. He and Heidou had a bond forged through "battle". Heidou was a lively local dog, and before Yang Jiabo had been reborn, he had gotten into a fight with the dog, and lost. It was another embarrassing memory.
"You’re so annoying, crybaby," Zhou Lingling stomped her feet in frustration.
"You’re even more annoying, a kid with a long tongue," Yang Jiabo was becoming more and more childish since turning into a kid.
[长舌妇 (cháng shé fù): Lit.: A woman with a long tongue; fig. A gossip or someone who spreads rumors]
"Just wait, I’m going to tell your mom," Zhou Lingling couldn’t beat him or out-argue him, so she resorted to threatening him with adults.
This only made Yang Jiabo angrier. He had originally planned to let her off the hook, but now he was fired up and ready to fight back. "What else can you do besides tattling? You’re not as good at studying as me, and you’re not as good-looking as me either. Look at your big forehead, flat nose, and skin like sandpaper. Tsk tsk, how do you even have the nerve to show your face?"
"Waaah—" Zhou Lingling couldn’t keep up with Yang Jiabo’s insults and burst into tears.
Yang Jiabo smirked, feeling no sense of accomplishment. "What are you crying for? Last time you got me into so much trouble, and I didn’t even cry."
"I didn’t get you into trouble! It was your own fault for not listening to your mom!" Zhou Lingling insisted she had done nothing wrong.
"Ugly people always cause trouble, and you’re the perfect example," Yang Jiabo was even more furious. Who was he supposed to listen to? Zhou Lingling? Who did she think she was?
"I’m not ugly! You’re the ugly one!" Zhou Lingling cried and shouted.
In reality, Zhou Lingling wasn’t ugly at all. She had a small cherry-like mouth and big, beautiful eyes. The only flaw was her rough and somewhat dark skin, which exaggerated her imperfections.
"Cry all you want. The more you cry, the uglier you get," Yang Jiabo sat on the sofa, stroking Heidou’s fur, his short legs swinging leisurely. Without any adults intervening, ten Zhou Linglings wouldn’t be a match for him.
"Waaah—" Zhou Lingling cried even harder. Little girls cared a lot about their appearance.
With only the two of them at home, no one was there to comfort Zhou Lingling. Yang Jiabo treated her crying as background noise and couldn’t be bothered to care. As far as he was concerned, he and Zhou Lingling were even now. The grudge from last time was settled.
"What’s wrong with Lingling?" Fourth Aunt walked in with her daughter, Tian Tian.
Tian Tian (田甜, sweet field) was a chubby little girl, round and plump since childhood, but her features were delicate, and her smile was as sweet as her name suggested. She looked clever and intelligent, but in reality, she was a bit of a simpleton.
"Fourth Aunt, Jiajia bullied me. He said I’m ugly," Zhou Lingling immediately found her pillar of support.
"Don’t cry, Lingling. You’re the prettiest," Fourth Aunt comforted Zhou Lingling while shooting Yang Jiabo a glare. This troublesome kid.
"Don’t look at me. I didn’t do anything," Yang Jiabo said with an innocent expression.
"If you didn’t do anything, why is Lingling crying so hard?" Fourth Aunt clearly didn’t believe him.
"How should I know? These days, you can’t even tell the truth," Yang Jiabo shrugged helplessly.
"You’re really naughty. Wait till your mom deals with you," Fourth Aunt couldn’t scold him directly, so she left it to his mother to handle.
"Please don’t. I’m still a patient. My illness was caused by a scare. If I get scared again, I might end up back in the hospital."
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