Chapter 53: A Burst of Blue, A Burst of White

All the neighbors had suffered. There was the stench of chicken droppings everywhere, but no longer any fresh green radishes or vegetables. This included Chen Fengying’s household. If anyone forgot to close the courtyard gate, Li Jinhua’s two old hens would sneak in.

The housewives were all miserable, constantly complaining and arguing, shouting until their faces turned red and necks bulged with rage, fighting with Li Jinhua.

Only then did Li Jinhua rein it in a little. Among them, Xia Xiaolan was the youngest and had the mildest temper—so gentle that she couldn’t even bring herself to argue. Unfortunately, she also lived next door to Li Jinhua.

Li Jinhua knew this and took advantage of her, specifically targeting Xia Xiaolan to exploit. Every day, she let her two old hens into Xia Xiaolan’s courtyard to eat her vegetables.

Xia Xiaolan had already been as careful as she could, always remembering to close the courtyard gate.

But today, just as she opened the door to head out, Li Jinhua and her two hens suddenly appeared. In the blink of an eye, the hens had darted into the courtyard, and Xia Xiaolan couldn’t stop them. Her painstakingly grown baby bok choy was ruined in an instant.

Chu Yue tiptoed to peek into Xia Xiaolan’s courtyard.

Xia Xiaolan was probably from Shanghai, her speech soft and lilting in the Wu dialect, and she grew Shanghai green bok choy.

(Image: Shanghai Green Bok Choy)

The leaves of the bok choy had already been pecked into tatters by the hens, completely unrecognizable.

No wonder Xia Xiaolan was so upset.

Chen Fengying was righteously indignant. “Xiaolan, you’re just too soft-hearted. You need to toughen up! Learn from Chu Yue—if you do, that old woman Li won’t dare bully you again.”

“Mhm, mhm!” Xia Xiaolan nodded vigorously, voice muffled. “From now on, I’ll be just like Comrade Chu!”

Chu Yue withdrew her gaze from Xia Xiaolan’s yard and looked over at Li Jinhua’s courtyard. In a corner, there was a shabby little chicken coop—no gate on the coop or the yard’s fence.

She asked Xia Xiaolan, “At night, Li Jinhua keeps the hens here?”

Xia Xiaolan replied, “Yeah, she’s always raised them free-range. Says free-range hens lay better eggs. She treasures those two hens—every morning, the first thing she does is check for eggs. Usually two eggs a day. If one’s missing, she’ll curse the hens right there in the yard.”

The absurdity of it all was somehow completely believable coming from Li Jinhua.

Chu Yue nodded, her eyes lowering slightly, a sly gleam hidden within them.

While Chen Fengying continued to comfort Xia Xiaolan, Chu Yue didn’t say a word—because she already had a plan. Xia Xiaolan’s problem would soon be solved, and Li Jinhua would receive an even harsher lesson.

After all, what hurts more than losing the thing you love most?

Chu Yue looked over at Lu Yuanbao and gave him a meaningful glance.

Lu Yuanbao immediately understood. He reached into the bag and pulled out a handful of candies, handing them to Xia Xiaolan.

“Auntie Xia, these are for you.”

…

After going house to house around the compound, there was just one family left.

Chen Fengying looked embarrassed and stopped in her tracks, whispering, “Chu Yue, that’s Zheng Yue’e’s family. You just had a fight with them yesterday. Maybe just skip it?”

“It’s fine. I’ve visited every other household in the compound. Can’t leave them out—that’d give people something to talk about.”

Chu Yue still walked over and knocked on the door.

Zheng Yue’e heard the sound and came out. As soon as she saw Chu Yue, her face turned cold.

“What do you want now? Tieniu and Tiedan were already beaten up. They’ve suffered plenty—their butts are bruised and they can only lie in bed. Are you satisfied now? Or do you still think your revenge isn’t enough?”

When Chen Fengying heard that, she immediately retorted, “Zheng Yue’e, yesterday your two sons bullied a child from Commander Lu’s family. It was clearly your family’s fault—don’t you think being punished is only right? Don’t be so ungrateful! Sister Chu is here to share wedding candies. This whole incident started just because your kids wanted some candy.”

When Zheng Yue’e heard that and glanced at the bag of candies Chu Yue was carrying, a subtle change flickered across her face—she looked embarrassed.

She wasn’t like Li Jinhua. Zheng Yue’e wasn’t a bad person, just overly indulgent. Having two sons all at once made her spoil them both too much.

The incident yesterday had stirred up quite a bit of gossip. Many people had been pointing fingers at Zheng Yue’e. She knew she was in the wrong but couldn’t bring herself to admit it.

She never expected Chu Yue would come over voluntarily—

—And even come bearing goodwill.

Chu Yue said to Zheng Yue’e, “Sister Zheng, bring Tie Niu and Tie Dan out. I want to give them some candy.”

Zheng Yue’e asked in disbelief, “Really? You… you’re not angry?”

“There’s nothing to be angry about. Commander Zhao already apologized last night, and both children were punished. Let’s leave it at that—what’s past is past. I’m not going to hold a grudge. We’re going to be neighbors in this compound for a long time. We’ll see each other every day, so let’s get along.”

Chu Yue’s words were gracious. If Zheng Yue’e continued to cling to it, it would only make her seem petty.

Zheng Yue’e hesitated for a moment, then half-doubtfully turned back into the house and called out a few times. Not long after, Tie Niu and Tie Dan came hobbling out.

Their condition wasn’t as serious as Zheng Yue’e had made it sound. They could still get out of bed and walk. It was just that their bottoms hurt badly and they wobbled as they walked, like little ducklings.

As soon as Tie Niu and Tie Dan saw Lu Yuanbao, they immediately ducked behind Zheng Yue’e and clung to her clothes.

After getting beaten back by Lu Yuanbao, the two little troublemakers were so frightened they now had a psychological shadow—even scared of a kid smaller than them.

In the end, they were dragged out by Zheng Yue’e.

Chu Yue said, “Yuanbao, share the candies with them.”

“Okay.” Lu Yuanbao did as instructed. Holding a small candy bag, he took out colorful candies and handed them over. “Here, for you. I have candy now.”

The kids had fought in the first place because of candy.

Tie Niu and Tie Dan nervously hid behind Zheng Yue’e, afraid to take it.

Zheng Yue’e said awkwardly, “Take it! Didn’t you just want candy?”

Only then did the two dare to reach out. Lu Yuanbao gave each of them a handful, then scooped out another handful for each, stuffing them until their little hands couldn’t hold it all. They had to use their jackets to make a pouch.

The brightly colored candies gave off an irresistible allure that made them forget the pain in their behinds.

Relationships between children are simple—they can fight over candy and also make up because of candy.

And… they admired strength.

Zhao Tieniu looked at the candies, then at Lu Yuanbao, and said, “Lu… Lu Yuanbao… you’re really strong. Tie Dan and I together still couldn’t beat you. I won’t fight with you anymore—let’s be brothers.”

Just like that, the issue between the kids was over.

Chen Fengying muttered from the side, “Zheng Yue’e, Sister Chu and I are handing out candies to everyone in the compound, and your family’s getting the most. If you still can’t appreciate Sister Chu’s kindness, then you’ve got no heart.”

Zheng Yue’e’s face turned green, then pale.

Without a word, she suddenly turned around and went back into the house.