The tension grew thicker in the air as the overwhelming possibility of a physical confrontation loomed over the women.
"Aunty, don't forget. I am a town person. If you touch me, my parents will bring the police to arrest you for assault." Chang Ying flicked her hair behind her shoulder, looking unmoved by the threatening woman.
"You lie!" Su Jiaojiao shouted. "Don't threaten me with police and such."
Chang Ying shook her head, chuckling at her less knowledgeable opponent. "Current laws are severely against violence, even domestic violence in families. My father teaches in a government school. He is a role model in society. If you touch a teacher's daughter..." Chang Ying paused and wore a taunting smile on her face. "Needless to say, you will send at least ten years in jail."
"Ten years!" Xie Man gasped. Her eyelids trembled over her wide eyes, her grip on Su Jiaojiao tightened. "Ten...ten years?"
"At least," Chang Ying emphasized. "By the time you get out, your little boy will have grown up without a mother. Or maybe not, your husband might be kind enough to remarry to give his son a better mother figure to look up to. Aunty, if you don't mind this, you can go ahead and hit me."
Su Jiaojiao felt more incensed at Chang Ying's casual disregard for her. She knew this young lady didn't even put her senior family position in her eyes at all. She raised the wood in her hand and matched forward.
Xie Man, who was watching the situation escalate, hurried in front of Su Jiaojiao and held her back before things went beyond repair. The young bride-to-be smiled apologetically at Chang Ying and said, "Don't take your aunty's words to heart. We are more traditionalist in this village. Any beating is just our elders showing love and gently correcting us, the juniors."
Chang Ying was not interested in discussing disciplinary actions with these two. "I am not a child. I don't need her correction. My family raised me well. For Aunty Jiaojiao to come here to correct my parents' upbringing, does that mean she can do better than my parents?"
Su Jiaojiao was inflamed. The irate woman knew she was simply an illiterate from the village. She could barely hold her head up in front of her son's teachers. How would she have the face to dare to say she could do better than Chang Ying's parents? Teachers were highly respected personnels when she was growing up, even now, she still looked at her son's teachers with reverence. Su Jiaojiao felt her self-esteem take a nosedive.
"You! You dare disregard me!" Su Jiaojiao nearly pounced on her but Xie Man held her back.
At that moment, Su Jiaojiao was so red in the face, she looked like she could vomit 10 litres of blood.
"Aunty, hurry up and roll if you don't have anything to say anymore," Chang Ying softly goaded from behind Xie Man who was thankfully standing between the two women and holding back the infuriated Su Jiaojiao.
"Sister Ying, how can you talk to aunty like that?" a familiar soft-toned, gentle voice exclaimed.
Chang Ying turned her head and saw that Feifei was standing a few feet away from them. Her appearance like an immaculate student and a cute schoolgirl rolled into one. Her school uniform was still worn neatly on her body without any creases. Her eyes were bright and full of hope, and her hands cutely clung to the straps of her schoolbag.
Chang Ying smelled a trap. It was still a bit early to come back now. Even Lu Ching who was in the third year of middle school was staying back later, taking lessons after school. So why was the explemary third-year student and student council poster girl, Feifei, not doing the same?
"Xie Man, are you okay?" Feifei hurried to her side and asked.
Xie Man nodded and said, "I just came to borrow something from Chang Ying, unexpectedly this..." she blushed. "Things got out of hand."
Feifei shook her head and held her hand comfortingly. "It's not your fault." Then she turned to Chang Ying with a stern, self-righteous glare. "Sister Ying, Aunty Yue might support you but that does not mean you can reckless burn bridges for our Lu family. The Xie family helped us out a lot, especially when big brother needed money for his exams. How can you treat them like this?"
Chang Ying nearly clapped her hands to applaud. What a good show! Feifei's entrance was too well-timed. As she thought, Feifei, as a third-year student, returned home too early today. Chang Ying knew Feifei either orchestrated this event or happily came to watch the show and intervened when things went off track.
Chang Ying smiled, so Feifei and Su Jiaojiao wanted to force her to give Xie Man face. Once she gave in, they would have good reason to make her obligated to do their favour.
She looked at Xie Man and blindly ignored Feifei's words as if she did not hear it. "Miss Xie, I'll trouble you to take care of Aunty Jiaojiao since you came with her."
Feifei fumed, her small, creamy fists drenching as she eyed Chang Ying with a look of utter disbelief. "Sister Ying, don't be ill mannered. You can't repay kindness with malice. They just came to ask for a favour! How can you treat Lu Chen's benefactors like this?"
"Is that so? But she looks like she came here to fight?" Chang Ying jostled her chin towards Su Jiaojiao, then sighed helplessly. "What shall I do? If they came to my home to beat me, should I agree out of kindness because it is a favour? Feifei, you might be that kind, but I am too flawed and my heart can't accept that. I'll bother you to take the beating in my place as you're so kindhearted, alright?"
The three ladies were floored by her response.
Xie Man pulled Su Jiaojiao further away from the sharp-tongued girl and tried to sooth the older woman. "Aunty Jiaojiao, please don't get angry anymore. I don't want to see you fighting because of me. Please don't worry, Chang Ying is quite reasonable. I will ask her the favour myself."
Su Jiaojiao threw another glare in Chang Ying direction but Feifei stepped closer and held her too. Su Jiaojiao finally remembered and threw away the short stick in he hand. She huffed and crossed her arms on her chest, clicking her tongue to show her more than obvious disdain.
Xie Man smiled in relief. She walked back towards Chang Ying. "Sister Ying, nice to meet you. I'm Xie Man. Lu Chen and I played together when we were small."
Chang Ying nodded, acknowledging her words but her expression did not flicker one bit.
Xie Man looked around nervously, twiddling her thumbs. Feifei walked to her side and held her elbow supportively and nodded at Xie Man, encouraging her to continue talking.
Xie Man bit her lips then released them and said,"I came today to ask you for a small favour. I will be getting married in a few days. His family lives in town and they all work in a government factory. I'm afraid I don't have a good dress to wear for the wedding. If I go to shabbily, I'll lose face in front of my in-laws."
Feifei nodded in understanding. "That is true. If Xie Man goes too shabbily, her in-laws will forever look down on her."
At this time, Su Jiaojiao joined them. Her expression had mellowed out but her tone was hard as she said, "This is what I was saying. Chang Ying, the happiness of Lu Chen's benefactors is at stake here. You have to help her. We thought if how you had just gotten married. Your wedding dress is very beautiful. The material is top quality and the craft work is very delicate, very pleasing to the eyes. Give it to Xie Man to use for her wedding day. It will definitely repay the favour of gratitude the Lu family owes Xie Man's family"
Chang Ying smiled. "Aunty Jiaojiao said she thought the Lu family were receiving guests and did not attend my wedding. So..." Her eyes turned to Feifei and straightforwardly pinned a glare at the scheming white lotus. Her voice took a deceptively sweet edge. "Aunty, who described my wedding dress with such dedication for you?"
Her wedding dress was custom made by her aunt who specialised in making more traditional clothes. Her wedding dress was very beautiful. It's actual worth was quite high, that was why she had problems selling it for a good price till she found that shop owner who was willing to give it something close to its worth.
"That is not important," Su Jiaojiao said. "The good thing is that your wedding dress will suit Xie Man's needs. Just give it to her."
This Feifei and Su Jiaojiao really had a large appetite to target her wedding dress. She did not expect the both of them to cook ideas like this.
"Give?" Chang Ying raised her brows.
Chang Ying picked up the wording they used. They came to take not to borrow. Even if Chang Ying still had the dress in her hands, she would not give your to a stranger she knew nothing about just because some inlaws asked her to.
"Sister Ying, we all share what we have here in the village. People would respect you more if you do this," Feifei said softly.
"It's just a stinky dress! You won't wear it again. Xie Man needs one now, you should give it to her," Su Jiaojiao snarled at them from her place a short distance from them.
Chang Ying turned her attention to the sulking woman but Su Jiaojiao arrogantly huffed and looked away as if she did not say anything to Chang Ying.
Chang Ying looked between the three women amd slowly nodded. "Feifei, you give good advice on how other people should handle their property. Shouldn't you be in school right now so you can learn more and curb the outflow of idiocy falling out of your mouth?"
Feifei lowered her head and her voice trembled as if she had been harshly scolded unjustly. "I am just advising you so you don't hurt Brother Chen's relationship with others in this village."
"Students should study hard, not bother about adult matters." Chang Ying nonchalantly dismissed her.
She knew between herself and Feifei there was barely any age gap but because of her status as a married woman, more so to Feifei's elder brother, she could hold this well over Feifei's head. Judging from the hardening of Feifei's jaw, Chang Ying knew Feifei very much disliked Chang Ying using this to lord over her.
Chang Ying was satisfied. White lotuses were not as annoying if she could swagger around as her senior. She turned to the other two.
Her lips turned upwards into an indifferent smile. "Xie Man, I apologize, I can't give you my wedding dress. It is something my family elders gifted to me. I can't disrespect their intentions and give it to an outsider."
"Sister," Feifei's large doe eyes sadly peered up at her. "Please don't refuse her. Xie Man's parents have done so much for us. It's just a wedding dress, please let her have it. Your...your family people won't know you gave it away anyway. Sister Ying, we are your family now."
Xie Man sighed and said, "I know your wedding dress means a lot to you but you know how much it means to have face in front of my husband's family. I need to wear something flamboyant and elegant to tell them I am not just a village girl."
Chang Ying squinted her eyes and chuckled. "But you are a village girl."
The air immediately went stale with forced silence as Xie Man's tan complexion paled.
*****
A/N
Happy Valentine...
No one: Hi, lazy author, how was yours?
🤦Me: 🤧🤧🤧
I think I have the valentine curse☠️☠️☠️☠️
Whenever I have a date arranged for valentine, I get medical emergencies from chicken pox🤒 to a sprained ankle😵
🚶🏼♀️ Passer-by: Yup, it's called karma for lazy authors who keep readers waiting....
Me: 🙀