Chapter 03
After the Injury
Zhao Gongzi rolled his coat into a ball and hurled it at me. “Fuck his mother! I’m going to go beat him to death tomorrow!”
I suggested, “You should still mop the floor. Your father’s estate is hosting a ball and they borrowed our servants.”
Zhao Gongzi accused me, “Why don’t you mop it?”
I asked, “Then are you going to mop it or not?”
Zhao Gongzi: “No!”
I was very pleased and said, “Then I’ll hire someone to mop it.”
Zhao Gongzi asked me, “Who are you going to hire? Adjutant Wang’s younger brother?”
I told him once again, “Mr. Wang has opened a modern company where one can hire servants for short-term services.”
Zhao Gongzi: “Is that guy named Wang coming himself?”
I said, “I am hiring a servant. He is the manager of the company.”
Zhao Gongzi: “Then go ahead and hire them.”
So, I dialed Mr. Wang’s number and delightfully invited him over to mop the floor.
Zhao Gongzi scolded me for another quarter of an hour.
Mr. Wang rushed over in a hurry, only to be stopped by Zhao Gongzi right at the front door. “Where’s the servant?”
Mr. Wang explained earnestly, “The workers are on strike today. I was afraid Zhao Gongzi would be waiting anxiously, so I rushed over personally. I wouldn’t dare neglect you.”
Zhao Gongzi said, “You’re a manager, that’s overkill. No need for you to do it. I’ll invite you and your brother out to dance some other day.”
Mr. Wang: “It’s fine, really, it’s fine.”
Brooking no argument, Zhao Gongzi sent him packing.
But the floor still had to be mopped eventually, so I had no choice but to do it myself.
Loathsome Zhao Gongzi.
After I finished mopping the bedroom floor, Zhao Gongzi finished his shower. He came out, took a look, and immediately started yelling, “I told you to keep it a bit drier! If it’s this wet, the wooden floorboards will ruin! What the fuck use is your graduation certificate if you don’t even know how to mop a floor?!”
I said, “I can use my graduation certificate to find a job, and my salary can pay for a servant.”
Zhao Gongzi sneered, “The servants are on strike.”
I said, “Why don’t you demonstrate how to mop the floor then?”
Zhao Gongzi sneered, “Mop my ass. Going to sleep.”
Loathsome Zhao Gongzi.
Halfway through the night, I was woken up by a noise. Zhao Gongzi was gone.
I got up and went to the living room, only to see Zhao Gongzi mopping the floor. The ground was soaking wet.
I asked him, “Won’t the wooden floorboards get ruined?”
He said, “Roll out, roll out, roll out! I don’t see any water! Are you blind?!”
Zhao Gongzi is getting more and more loathsome.
I said, “Stop mopping. Aunty Wang will be back tomorrow, let her do it.”
Zhao Gongzi: “She’s not coming back. My dad just called and said she’s more diligent and clever than the servants at his place, so he’s keeping her.”
Old Mr. Zhao frequently stole servants from his son like this. That was exactly how the cook and the butler at our house had vanished.
I said, “Then let’s ask Mr. Wang to help scout for another servant. Jin Xian’er is coming over tomorrow anyway, so we can ask for his help first.”
Zhao Gongzi sneered, “He knows shit about mopping floors. He’d just ruin my floor.”
I said, “He does know. He even knows how to fix water faucets and tape recorders.”
Zhao Gongzi came over to throttle my neck again. “What exactly have you two been doing behind my back?!”
I said, “Nothing.”
Zhao Gongzi roared at me, “I am never letting him come over again!”
Zhao Gongzi, loathsome.
Zhao Gongzi got injured yet again. His lawyer showed me his will yet again, and the will told me to leave yet again.
The first time, I was very touched. But by the second timeāand the countless times after thatāI just found Zhao Gongzi very loathsome. He clearly knew that if I left at a time like this, I would inevitably be condemned as ungrateful and unrighteous. If he truly meant it, he should tell me to break up during ordinary times when nothing was wrong; I would absolutely leave without a single backward glance.
Bandaged up, Zhao Gongzi sneered, “Because I fucking know you’d leave without a single backward glance. If you’ve got the balls, leave right now. Don’t say I never gave you a chance.”
I said, “Don’t push me.”
Zhao Gongzi clamored, “Go on, leave! After today, the will becomes invalid! If you’ve got the balls, kill me first before you leave! The house and the money will all be yours! Go ahead and use my house and money to keep other men!”
I turned around to leave. Just as I reached the door, Old Mr. Zhao happened to push the door open and enter, offering me a smile.
My heart felt light and refreshed.
Old Mr. Zhao asked with a smile, “What’s wrong?”
He didn’t smile often, but he was always smiling in front of his son. When he smiled, he looked very much like a tough guy with a tender heart. He was unlike Zhao Gongzi; whenever Zhao Gongzi smiled, it always looked like he was urging me to send him to see a doctor.
I said, “Xiao Long said he wants to drink some soda, so I’m going out to buy him some.”
Old Mr. Zhao smiled and patted my arm. “You shouldn’t always spoil him. You’ve spoiled him into the state he’s in today.”
Zhao Gongzi roared from the hospital bed, “Bullshit!”
I said considerately to Old Mr. Zhao, “It’s fine. He’s still a child.”
Zhao Gongzi struggled to get off the hospital bed. “Qiu Yixin, you just wait until I’m recovered, I’m going to sleep you to death!”
I didn’t stoop to his level.
Old Mr. Zhao was exceptionally handsome and dashing. Though he was over fifty and had some white hair, he didn’t deliberately dye it black, which actually made him look even more distinguished and extraordinary. It was said that he had been a peddler in his youth and later fought with his life to conquer his territory, making him quite a legendary figure.
Zhao Gongzi was his youngest son, and also the only son he had raised entirely by his own hand, so he spoiled him immensely. Even back when Zhao Gongzi demanded to hold a wedding with me, the old gentleman had merely broken one of Zhao Gongzi’s ribs and one of his arms.
Since Zhao Gongzi was injured and the servants at home had all been snatched away by the old gentleman, it was only natural that he invited Zhao Gongzi and me back to the main mansion to stay.
The main mansion was truly not a good place to recuperate. The old gentleman had many concubines, sons, daughters, grandsons, and granddaughters; it was bustling and chaotic.
Zhao Gongzi was highly annoyed and complained to me, “If it weren’t for the fact that you look like you know shit all, I would have had an excuse not to come back.”
I said, “Yes, indeed. Back then, your desire to get married was also just an excuse so you could move out to live on your own with perfect justification.”
