Chapter 34: Thirty-four, making a senseless fuss or acting unreasonably. Chapter 34: Thirty-four, making a senseless fuss or acting unreasonably. “I don’t care, but you’re not leaving today without paying me,” the woman relentlessly insisted.
Seeing there was excitement, the surrounding crowd squeezed in, quickly packing the area tight.
“What’s going on here?”
“That woman got bumped by the old man, and now she’s demanding he pay her.”
“Demanding payment just for a bump? How melodramatic!”
“Do you know how much she’s asking from that old man? Five hundred!”
“Five hundred? Why doesn’t she just rob him?”
“Old man.” Li Meixiang touched Lisheng’s arm anxiously. The train was about to leave. If they missed this one, they wouldn’t make it to Beijing until tomorrow morning.
Lisheng sighed helplessly and reached into his pocket, intending to pay the woman. Encountering such people was simply bad luck.
Song Yan Ning stopped Lisheng’s hand and stepped forward to face the woman, “Auntie, how much does this clothing cost?”
The woman huffed arrogantly, looking down at Song Yan Ning and the others, “Five hundred and nine. Giving you a break at five hundred.”
The garment was actually something she bought at a local market for just fifty-nine, but since they bumped into her, she felt entitled to demand however much she wanted.
Song Yan Ning turned to Li Meixiang, “Grandma, wasn’t Aunt Xiang from next door wearing this dress yesterday?”
Li Meixiang examined the woman’s clothes, thought for a moment, then nodded, “That’s right, Aunt Xiang said she bought it at the town’s market for just over fifty.”
Hearing this, the woman’s face flushed with embarrassment, but she figured as long as she didn’t admit it, they couldn’t do anything about it.
With that thought, she puffed out her chest defiantly, hard-faced towards Song Yan Ning, “I’m telling you, don’t give me that talk. This dress is five hundred and nine, and you’re paying today, whether you like it or not, or we’re not done.”
Song Yan Ning smiled, “I didn’t say I wouldn’t pay you. I’ll not only pay you, but I’ll also give you five hundred and nine, but in return, I want the dress.” The woman was wearing a one-piece dress, and Song Yan Ning didn’t believe she’d strip in public just for the money.
“This is your own saying, don’t try to back out,” the woman said, her face alight with happiness. For five hundred and nine, she could buy several dresses.
“Grandpa, give me six hundred,” Song Yan Ning asked Lisheng as she reached out her hand.
Lisheng hesitated slightly, then took out the money and counted six hundred to hand to Song Yan Ning.
Song Yan Ning looked at the woman and shook the money in her hand, “I’ve got the money ready. Hand over the dress, and let’s exchange money for clothes.”
The woman smiled joyously and started unbuttoning her dress. After unfastening two buttons, she realized she was wearing a one-piece dress and would be naked if she took it off.
The onlookers, catching onto Song Yan Ning’s intention, watched the middle-aged woman attentively, eager to see what would happen next.
“Hurry up and take it off, what are you waiting for?”
“The little lady has offered you 599,” teased the speaker. “You wouldn’t want to miss such a great opportunity.”
“Hurry up, the young lady is waiting; don’t waste her time.”
The woman’s face turned the color of a liver. Whether to strip or not was a dilemma for her. Of course, she couldn’t undress in front of so many people, but 599 represented nearly half a month’s salary—it would be a pity to let it go.
After wrestling with her decision for a while, she finally said, “I’ll go to the bathroom to change.” She had clothes in her luggage bag; changing into one of them would suffice.
“We don’t have that much time to wait for you,” Song Yan Ning said mockingly as she watched the woman, waiting for her to make a decision.
With gritted teeth, the woman glared fiercely at Song Yan Ning and turned to push through the crowd. Today was just her unlucky day.
“Here’s a heads-up,” Song Yan Ning shouted after the departing woman. “Tonight, you’ll develop a rash. You should go get some allergy medicine while you still can.”
Shaking with anger, the woman quickened her pace toward the entrance. She too was in a rush to catch the train; otherwise, she would have definitely confronted Song Yan Ning and her entourage to the bitter end.
Song Yan Ning smiled as she retracted her gaze, giving the money back to Yang Lisheng, and took both his and Li Meixiang’s hands as they headed to the ticket gate. “Grandpa, Grandma, let’s go check in.”
With a nod and a smile, Li Meixiang tousled Song Yan Ning’s hair. “Our little Ning is quite something.” Otherwise, parting with the 599 would have left her heartache for days and nights without sleep.
Once they boarded the train, Song Yan Ning quickly found their seats. The three tickets were together forming a trio of seats.
“Grandpa, Grandma, our seats are here. Grandma, please sit first,” Song Yan Ning said, pointing to the three seats on the left. Originally, Grandpa had planned to buy sleeper tickets, but this train only had seating.
Yang Lisheng stowed the luggage above and sat next to Song Yan Ning. “Are you hungry? Would you like something to eat? There are egg pancakes Grandmother made in the bag.”
“I’m not hungry; I’ll read for a bit,” Song Yan Ning said, pulling out a medical book from her bag. She had brought several medical books, anticipating boredom on the trip.
Yang Lisheng smiled and, seeing a newspaper in the netting behind the seat in front, reached out to read it.
The train slowly began its journey toward Beijing.
Back at home, Song Yan Xue entered to find Yang Xin’er and Zhang Xiaoling chatting in the living room and walked over to them.
“Grandma! Mom!” Song Yan Xue sat down next to Zhang Xiaoling, snuggling into her arm.
Zhang Xiaoling smiled and patted Song Yan Xue’s hand. “Were you at the Qin Family’s place again?” She hoped that one day Song Yan Xue and Qin Yushen would become a couple.
“Yes!” Song Yan Xue nodded, her big doe eyes glistening as she looked up at Zhang Xiaoling, her voice soft and sweet, “Grandma, now that little sister Ning is back, will she stay for good?”
“Who said she’s staying?” Zhang Xiaoling glanced at Yang Xin’er. Although Song Yan Ning was also her granddaughter, she had no real affection for the granddaughter she had met only a few times after her birth, let alone any real familial feelings. If not for Yufeng insisting on inviting Xin’er’s parents for the old man’s birthday celebration, she would have forgotten she had another granddaughter altogether.
Yang Xin’er smiled, “She’s just here to celebrate Grandpa’s birthday; she will leave soon. Does little Xue not want to see her?” Xiao Xue and she were the most alike, so she favored her the most, spoiling her in everything.
Song Yan Xue shook her head, “My classmates don’t even know I have a sister, and if little sister Ning is as unattractive as she was when she was little, they’ll all laugh at me.”
Zhang Xiaoling fondly ruffled Song Yan Xue’s hair, “You worry too much, child. Rest assured, in our Song Family, there are only two misses, unless your mom has another child, there won’t be anyone else.”