Chapter 24: Watching the Drama Turn on Your Own Family?

Liu Xinghe straightened up and leaned forward, tilting her ear to listen more closely.

“You, you, you—”

The older lady’s verbal skills weren’t great; she was flustered and couldn’t respond. Physically, she reached out to pull someone up—but the young man wasn’t slow either, grabbing her hand firmly.

“What’s the matter? So angry you want to hit someone?”

“Don’t fight, young man. Just give her the seat. It’s only one seat, nothing to argue about. You’re young—don’t fuss with an old lady. Don’t make a scene here.” The old man sitting behind the young man spoke, thinking himself very righteous.

The young man chuckled at this, turning to the old man with sincere advice: “Hey, sir, why don’t you stand up and let her sit? You’re younger than the lady, it’d be more appropriate.”

Liu Xinghe raised her eyebrows in surprise at the young man’s face.

The older lady turned as well, squeezed past him, and unexpectedly yanked the confused old man up. She plopped down in his seat with a big smile, grateful:

“Thanks, young man. You’re really kind—not like this ill-mannered brat, who doesn’t even know how to give up a seat for an elder. Thanks a lot.”

“You—you two are outrageous.” The old man wasn’t the type to be easily silenced. Trembling with anger, he grabbed the older lady now sitting in his seat, flustered: “I tried to mediate, but you went and stole my seat! Get up!”

“What are you doing? Let go! That’s harassment!”

The older lady was tough as nails. The young man couldn’t defeat her, and she wouldn’t back down from someone slightly older than her. Using her own strength, she held onto the front seat, refusing to budge an inch.

“You, you, you shameless!” The old man grew even angrier at the word “harassment,” unsure whether to let go or not, his face red: “Today, I really ran into a pair of troublemakers!”

“You’re the troublemaker! Mind your own business, pretend to be a good guy—deserve it.”

The young man rolled his eyes, muttering under his breath, full of schadenfreude. He didn’t feel pain until misfortune struck someone close to him. Now he got a taste—serves him right.

The old man scowled at the young man and didn’t retract his grip on the older lady’s hand, pulling hard: “Get up! This is my seat!”

“Ah! Harassment! The old man’s harassing me!” The older lady started yelling.

“Hey, stop! Stop!” Others nearby thought a fight was about to break out and hurried to separate them.

The ticket inspector, having watched enough drama, finally intervened, shouting: “What’s going on here? If you don’t want to ride, get off now!”

The bus immediately quieted down, and the incident ended with the meddling old man facing the consequences of his own actions.

Everyone else on the bus was happy except for the old man, who was still fuming.

“This was amazing! I never expected so much drama over just one seat. The outcome was unexpected yet perfectly reasonable. Xinghe, did you know? That young man is actually a member of our team. He just has a bit of a bad reputation—like me, he likes slacking off at work.” Zhou Xiaomei whispered excitedly to Liu Xinghe, feeling no shame in admitting laziness at work.

Liu Xinghe knew—how could she not? That’s her second brother.

But her brother wasn’t slacking; that was just the image he projected to outsiders.

She silently nodded, shocked inside—she had been watching the drama and it had turned on her own family.

She never expected to meet him on the bus, still the same as she remembered: clever in argument, sharp-tongued, never letting himself lose, truly impressive—her second brother.

“Speaking of which, you two share the surname Liu. Quite a coincidence—one Jiang, one He (river).”

Zhou Xiaomei smiled, then seemed to realize something, looking up at Liu Xinghe:

“Wait, you’re his little sister, right? I think I’ve heard someone mention he has a younger sister named He who went to the city… Could it be you, Xinghe? Yes! That’s it—his little sister is called Xinghe.”

Her voice was a bit loud, and Liu Erjiang immediately perked up at the familiar name, turning curiously toward the source.

Oh, seems like someone from the educated youth commune.

Liu Erjiang wasn’t interested at first, about to turn away—but then he saw the half-face of the girl sitting beside Zhou Xiaomei.

Hmm? That girl looks familiar… she looks so much like his little sister. Wait, his little sister should be working in the city by now.

Liu Erjiang rubbed his eyes and tilted his head to get a better look, instantly widening his eyes.

“Yes.” Liu Xinghe smiled, waving at him from the front while quickly writing a few big characters on a notebook: “Second Brother, don’t worry, sit tight. We’ll talk after getting off.”

She couldn’t let her brother lose the hard-won seat.

With no one blocking his view, Liu Erjiang saw her clearly.

Ah! It’s his little sister—finally back!!

He was overjoyed but, reading the words on the notebook, didn’t move. He winked at Liu Xinghe and returned to his seat, eager for the stop.

At the same time, he felt a faint worry—he noticed her neck wrapped in gauze, and that she had lost so much weight. Whatever had happened in the city must have been serious.

He’d need to ask her at home; now was not the time.

Meanwhile, Zhou Xiaomei, curious, asked Liu Xinghe, who just shook her head, smiling but silent. Zhou Xiaomei, knowing better, stopped pressing and switched topics.

Half an hour later, they arrived at Qingyong Commune. Once the bus emptied, Liu Erjiang stood and joyfully walked to Liu Xinghe at the last row, taking her things.

“Little sister, I’ll help with your luggage. How come you came back alone? You should have told me. I could have picked you up from the city—it’s dangerous alone.”

“I came with Xiaomei and her father. Not alone, don’t worry.”

Liu Xinghe said simply, handing over one of the packages.

Liu Erjiang nodded to the Zhou father and daughter. “Leave the luggage to me—I can handle it.”

“No, I can manage, it’s not heavy. See?” Liu Xinghe lifted the package and stepped off the bus.

“You’ve been gone a short while, and you’re still polite with your second brother? If it’s light, I would help anyway—it’s what a brother should do.” Liu Erjiang pretended to be annoyed.

“Alright, then you can help me carry it together.” Liu Xinghe handed him the package.

Liu Erjiang happily took the luggage: “That’s more like it! Let’s go to the supply-and-marketing co-op to buy some meat. Tonight we’ll make steamed dumplings!”

Zhou father and daughter followed behind into town.

The four of them split up temporarily at the town entrance: Zhou’s pair went to the state-run restaurant for food, Liu Erjiang went to the co-op, and Liu Xinghe went to the commune’s educated youth office to register.

After finishing their errands, they met again at the entrance and began the ten-li walk home.

No way around it—they didn’t have the ox carts from novels, much less luxury tractors or fancy rural buses. All they had were their own feet for eleven li.

This was why Zhou had bought his daughter a bicycle—going into town was very inconvenient.

Liu Xinghe was again grateful that Zhou’s family was caring and well-off. She was glad she had heard the news at the department store that day.

Now she had a bicycle and a job—the days here wouldn’t be too hard.

For now, it was eleven li to walk, dragging the luggage.

She still needed to report to the team to get the materials required for the supply-and-marketing co-op work.

And just an hour into the walk to the team, she heard someone shouting that a big drama was about to happen.

The previously tired Liu Xinghe suddenly perked up—watching a show? Where?