novelraw Chapter 65: Public Criticism
Chapter 65: Public Criticism
Yuan Juan was taken home by Zhou Lei.
He walked ahead with a livid face, and Yuan Juan jogged behind him.
It was already dark, and a cold wind was howling. She wore a cotton coat over her dance costume, but her pants were only one side, and she was shivering from the cold.
"Zhou Lei, wait for me... Zhou Lei..."
Zhou Lei stopped in his tracks, suddenly turned around, and glared at her: "Shut the hell up!"
Yuan Juan trembled with fright!
This time it's not cold.
"W-What's wrong with you?"
"You have the nerve to ask me what happened? If I weren't worried about violating military discipline, I'd teach you a lesson you won't forget! Damn it, you still have the nerve to ask me what happened!"
Afraid of being overheard, he turned and walked away angrily, taking even bigger steps.
Yuan Juan was terrified; she felt that Zhou Lei had just tried to hit her!
She didn't want to go back, but she had no choice but to follow Zhou Lei.
When Zhou Lei arrived home, Aunt Zhou had already prepared dinner and had been waiting for them for quite a while.
"Why are you only getting back now?" She noticed the lunchbox in Zhou Lei's hand. "Is this your wife's lunchbox?"
She quickly grabbed it, and immediately felt the weight was off. She opened it and saw…
"She can really eat! She ate a whole pound of dumplings by herself! Doesn't she even think about the men in her family!"
Zhou Lei's expression worsened.
Seeing that he looked unwell, Aunt Zhou put aside the dumpling matter and asked him, "What's wrong, Shitou? Is something wrong at the army?"
Zhou Lei shook his head and let out a long sigh. He hadn't originally planned to let his mother know, but when he remembered what his boss had said about issuing a public reprimand, he figured it was better to tell her himself than to let her hear it from someone else.
"It's Yuan Juan..."
Aunt Zhou jumped up suddenly, "I told you not to marry her, I told you not to marry her, but you wouldn't listen! Now look what's happened, she really has influenced you! My dear Shi Tou! It's too late for you to regret it now!"
Zhou Lei: "Mom, given the situation at the time, I had no other choice but to marry her."
"Bullshit! You're just after her youth and good looks. If you don't give in, what can she do? If she dares to bang her head against the wall, I'll hang myself. Let's see who's tougher!"
Zhou Lei fell silent. The only one who truly understood him was his mother.
Yuan Juan returned at this time.
She carefully pushed open the door, and the next moment, she was pulled inside by Aunt Zhou!
……
"Have you heard? It seems the Zhou family beat their daughter-in-law yesterday."
Early in the morning, the family members in the apartment building started chatting.
"Who fired the shot? Was it Deputy Battalion Commander Zhou?"
"No, it's his mother, his wife keeps calling out to him."
"That won't do! No matter how wrong it is, you can't hit your daughter-in-law! That's not the way we do things in this compound."
When Aunt Zhou went to the toilet to use the outhouse, she overheard her daughter-in-law beating her so hard she was screaming.
She's been so wronged!
She would never do anything to harm his family's stones!
"I didn't hit her, I just tugged at her, and she screamed like a pig being slaughtered."
"She really didn't hit me. If you don't believe me, go ask her yourselves."
When asked by someone who seemed to enjoy the spectacle, Yuan Juan replied, "...Whatever my mother-in-law says goes."
Whoops!
Big melon!
At noon, an even bigger bombshell dropped: a notice criticizing the posters was put up on the bulletin board.
The person being criticized was Yuan Juan.
The reasons are all clearly stated.
Now everyone knows why Yuan Juan was beaten by her mother-in-law.
Aunt Zhou: "...I didn't hit him!"
……
Guiying's sister-in-law came to Yuan Xiu's house and said, "Did you see the notice on the bulletin board? It's written very clearly there. It criticizes Yuan Juan for a long time and fines her, saying it's to compensate the art troupe's equipment group."
Yuan Xiu asked, "How much was the fine?"
"One hundred dollars!"
"That Deputy Battalion Commander Zhou doesn't even earn a hundred a month. Now he has to pay a fine for his wife. My husband said that even Deputy Battalion Commander Zhou got a scolding from the leadership, who said he didn't do a good job of talking to his family. They even said that if something like this happens again, his family's eligibility to accompany him to the military will be revoked!"
Yuan Xiu's eyes lit up. Could it be done like that?
"By the way, I heard Yuan Juan got beaten up last night."
"Who hit him?"
"Her mother-in-law, I went grocery shopping today, and a lot of people were talking about this. Her mother-in-law said she didn't get it, but I don't know if it's true or not."
"It's fake, isn't it?"
How can you be so sure?
Yuan Xiu smiled and said, "I just feel that Yuan Juan's words cannot be trusted."
Sister-in-law Guiying nodded, "That's right."
……
The 100 yuan fine made Aunt Zhou really want to beat Yuan Juan up!
"No way! Let her pay for it herself! Doesn't she have some secret stash of money? I saw it; she had over a hundred yuan in her bag!"
Zhou Lei looked at Yuan Juan: "You'll have to pay the fine yourself for what you've done."
Yuan Juan grabbed the inner pocket sewn into her pants. "I have no money."
"If you don't have money, why are you grabbing your pockets!" Aunt Zhou scolded. "You've done such a mess, and you still expect my son Shitou to pay the fine for you? Shitou has to support the family; if the fine is paid, the whole family will starve! You spendthrift woman, this is only possible in the army. If this were in the countryside, you'd be beaten three times a day!"
Yuan Juan clutched her trouser pocket without saying a word, only looking pitifully at Zhou Lei with her two eyes.
Zhou Lei was furious and unmoved by her beauty. "Fine, if you don't want to give it to me, go back to your hometown. Come back when you've changed your mind."
"Huh? Go back where?"
Yuan Juan was completely dumbfounded.
Aunt Zhou said, "Where else can she go? Of course, she should go back to Zhoujia'ao! You can't help my Shitou here, you only cause him trouble. It's better for her to go back to the countryside! Let her go back to the countryside! I'll buy a ticket and send her back tomorrow!"
Upon hearing this, Yuan Juan slowly loosened her grip. "I'll give it to you, I'll give it to you, okay...?"
What Zhoujia'ao? It sounds even more remote than their hometown.
She'd rather go to such a lousy place...
I'd rather not be with Zhou Lei anymore!
Yuan Juan felt a pang of pain when she gave away the money. She only had a little over a hundred yuan left, and after giving it away, she was left with only five yuan and eight mao.
This money was given to her by her parents when she joined the army. She thought she could earn it back eventually and send it back to her parents once she had a salary. But after getting married, she couldn't even control the household food expenses.
Now we have to pay out of our own pockets.
If only she had known, she wouldn't have cut the microphone cable.
It's all Yuan Xiu's fault. If she hadn't been so infuriating, she definitely wouldn't have cut the thread.
And then there's Zhou Lei, a grown man who's so stingy even when it comes to paying his wife's 100-yuan fine. I heard he bought Yuan Xiu a bicycle and a sewing machine from Jiang Zhou.
If only I had known...
I knew earlier...
Yuan Juan was so angry that she collapsed onto the bed, covered herself with the blanket, and started sobbing.
She'd only cried twice when there was a knock on the door. "You still have the nerve to cry? The ones who should be crying are me and Stone! If Stone can't advance, it's all your fault!"