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Seeing Zhang Zhenzhen’s eyes redden with anger, Zhu Jianjun quickly spoke up to try to calm her down:
“Ma’am, you’ve gone too far. It’s not easy for anyone to be out here, and you should try to be more reasonable, don’t be so unreasonable!”
“Pfft! That little rascal didn’t even tie his waistband properly. If you’re so cold, just go somewhere else! What does it have to do with you?”
“You… you… how can you talk like that?!”
The argument quickly shifted to Zhu Jianjun. Zhang Zhenzhen, standing nearby, was stunned, but she knew that this old woman’s combative spirit wasn’t going to end there.
“Each and every one of you, still dreaming of heroically saving the beauty. Have you looked at yourselves? What kind of person are you? Hero? More like a bear in the woods!
You’re ugly, and yet you’re still dreaming of a pretty woman. You thought you could just pick up a wife for free on the train, really dreaming big!”
The old woman’s words pierced straight through Zhu Jianjun’s thoughts, causing an incredibly awkward silence in the air. Zhang Zhenzhen had originally thought Zhu Jianjun was a good person—kind, easy-going, and friendly.
But to her surprise, he had ulterior motives, and her opinion of him instantly became much more critical.
Zhang Zhenzhen’s family was fairly well-off, both of her parents worked as laborers, and her maternal uncle, Zhang Wanfeng, was the logistics manager at a garment factory.
If it weren’t for her rebelliousness towards her family, Zhang Zhenzhen wouldn’t have volunteered to go to the countryside. However, when it came to finding a partner, Zhang Zhenzhen certainly wouldn’t settle for someone unworthy.
At the very least, the person would have to be able to support themselves properly. Looking at Zhu Jianjun from head to toe, though, he didn’t look particularly impressive. Although he wasn’t wearing patched clothes, his attire was nothing special.
He didn’t even have a watch, which suggested that his family was at best average—probably the kind of household where multiple people crammed into a small room.
Thinking this, Zhang Zhenzhen instinctively shook her head. Her mother always said that when choosing a man, looks weren’t the only thing to consider!
A good-looking but useless man was no good!
Zhu Jianjun, enraged by the old woman’s remarks, struggled to suppress his urge to hit someone. He kept his eyes on Zhang Zhenzhen, constantly gauging her reactions.
Especially when he noticed that Zhang Zhenzhen gave him another once-over and shook her head, Zhu Jianjun nearly spat blood in frustration!
After all, he came from a working-class family—how could he be so utterly rejected? On top of that, the old woman kept on criticizing him. Zhu Jianjun finally snapped.
“Enough!” he shouted. “You old hag, why do you have so much to say? Are you looking for trouble? You think others are afraid of you, but I’m not. If you insult me again, I’ll make sure your grandson gets it first!”
Saying this, Zhu Jianjun roughly grabbed the brat and lifted him off the ground. The old woman, seeing this, was instantly terrified. She realized that she had pushed him too far.
The commotion immediately drew attention, and the comrades from the “educated youth” office hurried over.
“Zhu Jianjun, what are you doing? Put the child down!”
“Comrade Xu…”
“I said, put him down!”
As his anger slowly began to subside, Zhu Jianjun reluctantly set the brat back on the ground.
Seeing that someone had come to intervene, the old woman immediately regained her courage. She hugged her grandson and began wailing loudly.
“Oh my goodness! The educated youth is hitting people! The educated youth is bullying a child! The educated youth is going to kill someone! My heavens! Someone, please help me! Boohoo… Boohoo…”
Her cries echoed throughout the entire train car, and Wen Nuan, who was near the door, overheard and stepped inside. When she saw that Zhu Jianjun was now the target of the old woman’s tantrum, she couldn’t help but feel a sense of schadenfreude.
“Over such a small matter, and it’s become this big of a scene? Look at how this old lady is bullying him!”
Muttering quietly to herself, Wen Nuan turned to leave. Immediately, many people in the car started criticizing Zhu Jianjun.
“Comrade Zhu, you should quickly apologize to the old lady! You’re a man, why argue with an elderly woman?”
“That’s right, it’s causing a ruckus, disturbing everyone. Hurry up and apologize!”
“Come on, Comrade Zhu, just apologize, and we can all move past this!”
Faced with the pressure of the crowd, Zhu Jianjun felt extremely frustrated. He turned to look at Zhang Zhenzhen, hoping she would speak up for him. However, to his surprise, Zhang Zhenzhen turned her head away.
Zhu Jianjun was seething with anger inside.
He had stood up for her at first, and now she was ignoring him!
Taking a deep breath, Zhu Jianjun knew he couldn’t avoid lowering his head at this point, but just as he was about to apologize, the old lady spoke.
“Apologize? What good is that? He just scared my little grandson like that. The child was terrified!”
“He has to make up for it, or I’ll file a complaint. You young people from the city are bullying us common folk. I’ll see if anyone cares about this!”
Secretary Xu furrowed his brow and looked at Zhu Jianjun, sensing that there must be some misunderstanding he wasn’t aware of, but Zhu Jianjun’s actions spoke louder than words.
“Comrade Zhu, since the old lady insists like this, you should at least make some gesture, show some goodwill. Don’t let this reflect badly on all of us from the city!”
Hearing this, Zhu Jianjun felt even more frustrated. But now, if he made another move, it would definitely cause more trouble for him.
“Secretary Xu, this really isn’t my fault. It all started with this child crying and making a fuss, wanting Comrade Wen and Comrade Zhang’s peach crisps and cookies.
Comrade Wen got annoyed by the noise and left her seat, and then this old lady started taking advantage of her age to bully Comrade Zhang. I couldn’t stand by and say nothing, so I spoke out for justice.
But then, she turned it all on me, slandering my name and distorting the facts. I was so angry, I just wanted to give a warning!”
Zhu Jianjun knew that he would undoubtedly have to pay compensation today, but he still needed to make the sequence of events clear. After all, he couldn’t let it seem like he was the one at fault, losing both money and reputation.
“Comrade Zhang, is what Comrade Zhu said the truth?”
With Wen Nuan not being present, Secretary Xu naturally turned to Zhang Zhenzhen, who was sitting next to Zhu Jianjun, for confirmation.
Zhang Zhenzhen had originally planned to stay neutral, but now that the matter had come to her, it would be hard to remain silent.
Besides, Zhu Jianjun had already mentioned that he was standing up for her.
“Secretary Xu… Comrade Zhu is right. That’s exactly how it happened. The old lady’s words were indeed harsh, and I was planning to find the train conductor to sort things out, but I didn’t expect Comrade Zhu to get involved.”
As soon as these words were spoken, it clearly distanced Zhang Zhenzhen from Zhu Jianjun. To others, it was evident that this was a perfect example of a heroic man with good intentions and an indifferent woman—like a king chasing a dream, while the goddess remained indifferent.
Since Zhu Jianjun had chosen to play the hero and offer his help, he should bear the consequences of his actions.
“Alright, we roughly understand the situation, but your actions were wrong. Zhu Jianjun, you should compensate the old lady 5 mao (50 cents) (The ratio of Mao to Yuan is 10:1), as a way of calming the child!”
“Secretary Xu… I…”
“Enough, just do it like this!”
The old lady didn’t expect to get 5 mao so easily. She had hoped the leader would make Zhu Jianjun pay more, but seeing that the leader had already turned and walked away, she gave up on that thought.
“Hurry up, your leader already told you to pay. Do it quickly!”
Zhu Jianjun felt incredibly frustrated as the old lady urged him on!
When he went to the countryside, his family only gave him ten yuan. He had to stretch every single coin, and now, out of the blue, he was losing 5 mao cents for no reason. It was truly painful.
“Here! I hope you spend this money with peace of mind!”
Hearing Zhu Jianjun’s words through gritted teeth, the old lady didn’t care at all. She sneered and said, “I’ll spend this money with peace of mind, of course. Who told your dirty paws to reach toward my precious grandson? This is your lesson. Let’s see if you dare to act again. Next time, I’ll peel your skin off!”
“Hmph!”