First Aunt looked rampant as she sneered at Aunt."How much can these stupid toys be worth anyway?"
Aunt got angry at her response.
"Mo"s Lego are all limited editions, with each costing hundreds of yuan. Also, she bought them with the money she had earned as a tutor during the summer holidays! How many toys of Mo"s have your kid broken already!?"
Hearing that each model cost hundreds of yuan, First Aunt finally showed an apprehensive expression. If she knew the price of these stupid toys beforehand, she would not have allowed her grandson to break them.
Instead, she could have just brought some models home and sold them to someone else!
"If they are as cheap as you say, pay for them then!" Aunt started to calculate the cost like a professional accountant. "One week ago, you snapped the arm of one kit; today, you broke the head of the doll; and the other day…"
First Aunt was thrown into fright when she listened to Aunt"s meticulous calculation. Then she moved her eyes upon the ones her grandson had broken today.
"These are just… just some piles of building blocks! They are not really broken; you can join them back together anyway!"
"Join them back together?! Do you know how much time it takes to remake them? Do you think that other people"s time is as worthless as yours?" What Aunt said p.i.s.sed First Aunt off completely.
"Who do you think you are? Mo"s stepmother? Ha, really?!"
The two adults instantly started to argue when they had a disagreement.
Qianmo threw a look at the child Zhou Zhou who was watching from the side.
This child was only 7 to 8 years old, a primary schooler who should not be too severely punished since he was just a kid who didn"t know much.
But just because a child didn"t know much of the world didn"t mean that the parent should be blind too. Innocence was not a cover for shamelessness, nor should it be an excuse for bad parenting.
As First Aunt was squabbling with Aunt, Zhou Zhou was still playing with Qianmo"s Lego as if he were already used to this situation. He was not scared, as he should be; instead, he was even a bit proud.
His grandma would help him defend anything, no matter what he was doing.
Qianmo was a quiet girl. She liked solving puzzles and building blocks in her spare time. As a result, the small toys she had made filled up a whole shelf in the living room.
It still took two or three hours to make a palm-size car or a plane. Some more complicated buildings could take as long as half a day, not any less.
With his grandma backing him up, Zhou Zhou was getting more and more fearless. As the two adults argued next to him, he took out the Lego models and kept smas.h.i.+ng them onto the ground as he laughed loudly. With broken pieces scattered everywhere on the floor, he even made a grimace at Aunt, looking very provocative.
First Aunt didn"t stop him but continued to praise him instead. "Good smas.h.i.+ng, boy! Keep doing that and make as loud a noise as you can!"
Aunt got so annoyed that she wanted to go there and hit him when First Aunt stepped forward and stopped her in her tracks. The two women kept pus.h.i.+ng each other back and forth as Qianmo took the opportunity and fished out 20 yuan from her pocket and stuffed them into Zhou Zhou"s hands.
"You did well."
Zhou Zhou laughed out loud with money in hand, and he kept nodding at whatever Qianmo whispered in his ears.
Aunt got so annoyed that she almost burst into tears. What was Qianmo doing by helping that boy! First Aunt, however, cackled loudly and swore at Aunt.
"See? You foxy lady with a stupid family name! You"re raising a child in vain! No one cares about you!"
That broke Aunt"s heart as she burst into tears. On top of that, Chen Baichuan heard that too.
Chen Baichuan had just returned from outside when he caught sight of the messy living room and his wife-to-be, who was s.h.i.+vering with anger. He also saw his daughter, who had her head lowered and looked so pitiful and helpless. Qianmo instantly turned her face when she heard a sound at the door.
"What"s going on?" Chen Baichuan asked.
"First Aunt cursed my Aunt by calling her a b.i.t.c.h and said that I deserved to be deserted…"
First Aunt had not said those words out loud, but she did think like that inside her heart. She was about to explain herself when Chen Baichuan snapped.
"Keep your mouth shut or get out of my house! What do you think you are doing here!"
Qianmo had caused a big fuss by pointing out the sensitive parts that would thoroughly irritate Chen Baichuan. Before First Aunt could explain anything, she was driven out with her grandson.
First Aunt spat hard at the door and cursed harshly.
"What a b.i.t.c.h you have brought up! No wonder you were dumped!"
Enraged, Chen Baichuan opened the door, but First Aunt grabbed her grandson and dashed off on her broken bike. Everyone knew that this fifth brother of Family Chen had a bad temper.
Inside the room, Aunt was putting away the broken Lego as she trembled in tears.
"Don"t cry."
Qianmo"s consolation did more harm than good and irritated Aunt, who suddenly stood up and pointed at Qianmo"s face with her chubby fingers.
"She bullies us in such a way, and what do you do? Give him money! Why didn"t you help me then?!"
Chen Baichuan came up and tried to calm the situation down. "Why be angry at the child? Let"s talk in peace; we"re a family, after all."
"Shut up!" Qianmo and Aunt pointed at Chen Baichuan, who yielded instantly.
"If you hadn"t spoiled First Aunt so much that she dares to bully Aunt, she wouldn"t have been called a foxy lady today!" Qianmo had wanted to talk with her father about this.
"She never calls her that in front of me… Also, you"re just a girl and look at how you are talking to your father!" Chen Baichuan tried to gain back some of his self-esteem.
"Is she wrong? Whenever your sister comes here, she always has some terrible things to complain about. What"s more, she always wants to eat ribs or braised mushrooms. She even says that I am stingy whenever I try to save some for ourselves!" Aunt bellowed at Chen Baichuan and then turned to Qianmo as she said in a wronged tone. "Why didn"t you help me…"
Chen Baichuan didn"t dare to utter a sound. He wondered why women could be so complicated!
They could argue at one minute, but at the very next, they could gang up to fight against him. Anyway, he better start putting away the blocks instead.
"I"m always on your side." Qianmo ma.s.saged Aunt"s shoulders cheerfully, but she still accused her with tears in her eyes.
"But, you still gave him money!"
"Just forget about it already. It was just a little. I can pay for it." The old man, who was busy putting away the blocks, also tried to maintain the friends.h.i.+p these two women had just established.
"None of your business!" Aunt gave him a kick. As long as she was angry, she would throw the image of being an obedient woman out of the window. Besides, she didn"t want to vent her anger upon Qianmo, so she could only do so at her man.
Chen Baichuan bent down and kept himself busy by putting the blocks away whilst p.r.i.c.king up his ears to listen to what was about to happen.
Qianmo whispered something in Aunt"s ears, who let out a cry and looked glorified all of a sudden.
"You really said that?"
Qianmo wiped off the tears on her face.
"If his grandma doesn"t want to teach him a lesson, let the cruel society do that for her. Let"s go and make the soup."
"Oh, my Mo is so caring." Aunt"s anger went up in a puff of smoke instantly, and the two of them walked into the kitchen arm in arm.
The old man, who was busy putting away the blocks, had wanted to hear more of their talk, but he failed to do so.
What on earth did Qianmo tell Mianmian?
Hey, could you just spill it out before leaving! Could you not leave any cliff-hanger?
Why were women so complicated? They seemed to be in a fight a moment ago, and now, they had made peace?
Hearing the cheerful laughter coming out of the kitchen, Chen Baichuan took a sniff and understood that they were making soup. Suddenly, he felt his heart swelling with pride once again.
So, these women still knew that he was the man of the house. Anyway, since they were making soup for him, he could forgive them for talking back at him a moment ago.
Chen Baichuan was just waiting for the soup to come when the phone rang.
"Fifth, hurry, bring 5000 yuan with you! Zhou Zhou and I are held hostage in the toy store!" First Aunt"s anxious voice with tears came from the other side of the phone.