Chapter 22 — Sister-in-law’s Good Cooking

Zhou Mazi had something to say, his mouth kept whining nonstop.

“Get that dirty cloth out of Zhou Mazi’s mouth.”

Once freed, Zhou Mazi moved his lips and said, “Comrade, I’m not a thief. I’m not here to bully her. I just like her. I haven’t seen her in two years, I just wanted to see her.”

After serving two stints in jail, Zhou Mazi had gotten smarter—he neither admitted to theft nor to any intent to force himself on her.

“You want to see her, so you come in the middle of the night?”

“Well… that’s my fault. If I’d known she was about to get married, I wouldn’t have been so desperate. I won’t do it again. Next time I’ll come during the day.”

“Bah! You say you’ll come during the day? What a shameless man!” Fourth Grandma said angrily.

The police officer frowned and said to Feng Mian, “If this is an emotional entanglement, it’s going to be difficult.”

Feng Mian said calmly, “I have no emotional ties with Zhou Mazi. He’s just trying to dodge responsibility by saying that. Comrade, don’t believe him. The fact is he climbed through the window at night. Comrade, at least this counts as attempted theft, right?”

The officer’s expression changed, understanding dawning. “You’re right. Take Zhou Mazi away.”

“Send someone to notify his family.”

Several officers arrested Zhou Mazi and told Feng Mian to come by tomorrow for a statement and paperwork.

Feng Mian thought to herself that if they wanted Zhou Mazi to serve more time, one visit wouldn’t be enough. She nodded in agreement.

Since the village loved gossip, news of the trouble at Feng Mian’s house quickly spread. Many curious villagers came to watch.

It even caught the attention of Feng Mian’s maternal grandmother’s house in Dayuanzi Village — her grandmother, aunt, and elder cousin Feng Xiaomei all came, filling the courtyard with a crowd, pointing fingers and whispering.

Luckily, with the police around, those people behaved and didn’t say anything too harsh.

After the officers left, the crowd gathered again, chatting loudly.

“That Zhou Mazi — how come he keeps coming to your house? Feng Mian, you better not say he’s just here to be a thief again.”

“Why wouldn’t he be a thief? A flower thief is still a thief. Stealing stuff is stealing, stealing a person is stealing too,” Feng Feng’s mother, Qian Laotai, who especially disliked Feng Mian, seized the chance to ruin her reputation.

Feng Mian’s grandmother, Zhang Shi, heard this and went over to grab Feng Feng’s mother’s hair and slap her.

“What did you say? Your mouth must have eaten shit, it stinks so bad!”

“Oh yeah? I hit a nerve, didn’t I?”

“Bah! Just wait, I’ll rip your mouth apart!”

“Zhang Pozi, let go! Let go! Eldest brothers, come help!”

“Oh dear, Zhang Pozi, Qian Pozi, don’t fight, it’s not a big deal.”

Zhang Shi held tightly to Qian Laotai’s hair, cursing, “That’s why your mouth spews shit! The police caught Zhou Mazi as a thief, didn’t you hear that?”

Many people rushed over and finally managed to pull them apart.

There was a big handful of hair on the ground—Zhang Shi had pulled it from Qian Laotai.

Qian Laotai was unwilling to back down and wanted to pull some hair in return but was stopped by surrounding villagers.

Captain Feng Si shouted loudly and silenced them.

“Everyone stop! If anyone keeps fighting or saying another word, I’ll call the police right now. Anyone who dares to fight will be arrested and put in jail together.”

The uneducated rural women might not fully understand the law but had heard that fighting could land you in jail.

At the captain’s words, everyone fell silent.

Finally, peace was restored.

The captain said, “The person was caught with help from Feng Feng and her husband. He did break into the house to steal.”

Feng Feng nodded quickly and quietly tried to reason with his mother, “Mom, don’t jump to conclusions. He really did want to steal something. We caught him last night, and I was the one who locked him up in the wood shed.”

Old Lady Qian said, “Are you stupid? You’re defending a stranger? We heard Zhou Mazi himself say he missed Feng Mian and came just to see her. Why else would he come in the middle of the night? Hah, there’s no smoke without fire.”

The captain snapped, “Qian Sansan, how do you know so much? Are you in cahoots with Zhou Mazi?”

“I…”

“Are you trying to get yourself thrown in jail too?”

Old Lady Qian blushed deeply and fell silent immediately.

The captain then addressed the crowd, “Zhou Mazi is just spouting nonsense to dodge responsibility. The police have sharp eyes—they’ve charged him with attempted burglary, understand? If any of you spread lies, I’ll have you tied up and sent to the police. Got it?”

Everyone was intimidated and dared not say another word.

“Alright, alright, stop crowding. Everyone go home.”

After dismissing the onlookers, Grandpa Feng Si and his wife also went back home.

Zhang Shi and the uncle’s family were still around. After the crowd dispersed, they came forward.

Zhang Shi anxiously asked Feng Mian, “Is everything alright?”

Feng Mian shook her head, “Don’t worry, it’s fine.”

Aunt Zhao Hui clicked her tongue, “That Old Lady Qian may be a bad egg, but she’s right in one thing: there’s no smoke without fire. Mianmian, how did Zhou Mazi end up trying to steal from your house?”

Feng Mian said calmly, “Auntie, if you lived alone, you’d understand why thieves only target you.”

Zhang Shi hurriedly added, “It’s one thing if it’s strangers, but you’re her aunt — how can you say that? Mianmian is a young girl living alone, and it hasn’t even been long. It’s only natural to attract thieves.”

Zhao Hui snorted and glanced at Gu Yuelin and the other two, “Then who are they? What are they doing here?”

“This young man is Mianmian’s fiancé. They’ll marry on the sixth day after New Year,” Zhang Shi explained, looking at Gu Yuelin.

Feng Xiaomei, who hadn’t said a word, also looked over at Gu Yuelin.

At that, she felt uneasy inside.

Gu Yuelin was tall and handsome — a world apart from Gu Xiaoliu, who was like a ball in comparison.

And that ball was the one she had snatched for herself.

God, why was that ball so lucky? If only they could switch places — Gu Xiaoliu, raised by a stepmother, and this young man, the only son of a well-off family.

Gu Yuelin went over to greet Zhang Shi and introduced his two friends, explaining their visit.

After comforting Feng Mian a little, Zhang Shi left with her daughter-in-law and granddaughter.

Feng Mian went back to cooking.

Gu Yuelin’s two friends were working on the dragon keel (a wooden framework) in the main room. After a while, Gu Yuelin came into the kitchen.

“Someone tried to bully you?” he asked directly.

Feng Mian smiled lightly, “Yeah, but I’m not that easy to bully. Living alone, I’m very alert. I knew something was up as soon as he was messing with my back door. He climbed in through the window, and I knocked him out with a stick.”

Gu Yuelin finally understood how hard it was for her living all alone.

“Don’t be afraid. Now that I’m here, no thief will dare come.”

Feng Mian was surprised, “I wasn’t afraid to begin with.”

How could she not be afraid? Everyone could clearly see her scared expression — even Fourth Grandma comforted her, and the police too.

But she wanted to save face. She was clearly terrified but insisted she wasn’t.

For breakfast, Feng Mian cooked a big pot of thin porridge, made some soybean milk, prepared a few side dishes: a plate of cold shredded kelp, some dried radish, plus the buns and steamed bread made yesterday — all served together on the table.