I Hope You Won't Mind Either

Yongjia Middle School was located north of Fang Bai's home, about four or five kilometers away. It took just over ten minutes to get there by bicycle.

When Fang Bai returned before, he had ridden one-handed, looking as dashing as could be.

This time, as he rushed to Yongzhong, his right hand had to grip the handlebar while his legs pedaled furiously, charging ahead at full speed.

He knew where Aunt's home was. More than ten minutes later, he arrived at the faculty housing area of Yongzhong.

It was the weekend, and the school was open. The Gatekeeper saw that he did not look like a troublemaker and let him in. Besides, the faculty housing area was not tightly managed to begin with and was administered separately from the teaching area.

Building 2, Unit 1, Room 302. That was Aunt's home.

As soon as Fang Bai reached the second floor, he heard his mother talking with Aunt.

Seeing his mother standing outside the door, Fang Bai felt a surge of anger. This Aunt of his had not even invited her inside to sit.

His mother worked in the school's logistics department and rarely came to visit her home.

Whenever Aunt ran into his mother at school, she never acknowledged her, afraid that her colleagues would find out she had a relative working in logistics at the school and that it would embarrass her.

"I know Fang Bai well. His college entrance exam score was far below the Undergraduate Line. Given his current situation, even if he repeated a year, it would be hard for him to get into an undergraduate program.

"Our school has strict requirements for Repeating students. We don't accept students like Fang Bai, so there's nothing I can do to help you.

"Now he's even lost a finger while working. I really don't know what you people were thinking. Instead of sending him to work, you might as well have sent him to some vocational school to learn a useful skill."

Chen Xia managed the Repeater Class. Fang Bai's grades were barely passable, but getting into an undergraduate program after repeating a year was no easy task.

These poor relatives were truly a nuisance. If his grades had been exceptionally good, she would not have minded. One more student getting into a Key University meant a bonus for her, and she could reluctantly take him in for the money.

His grades were poor enough, and now he was disabled after losing a finger, yet he still wanted to repeat a year. He did not even know his own lowly place in life, still struggling for what? If people found out they were related, it would bring gossip upon her and damage her reputation at school.

"Sister-in-law, A Bai studies very hard. He says he's confident he can get into college."

"He's so young, yet he already loves bragging. Based on my experience teaching repeaters, his chances of getting in are extremely low.

"Look at Xiao Hai. He got into Shencheng University of Technology this year, which is also quite a good undergraduate school. If he had worked harder or repeated a year, he might even have had a chance at Jiaotong University."

In those days, getting into any undergraduate program was not easy. Shencheng University of Technology was also a very good university. Chen Xia loved showing off in front of her repeating students: "My son was just too playful, so he only got into the University of Technology. Otherwise, Jiaotong University might have been possible. I hope you all work harder and don't be like my disappointing son."

"If there's really no way around it, then he'll have to repeat at another school. Sister-in-law, could you lend us some money? We'll pay you back next year." Liu Fengqing looked troubled as she came up with a compromise.

"Oh dear, the timing is terrible. Second Brother came by yesterday to ask too. We really can't manage it right now. Xiao Hai has just started college, and we still owe a pile of debt." Chen Xia furrowed her brows, shaking her head and sighing helplessly.

Her money earned interest sitting in the bank. Lend it to them?!

Hmph. Whether they could even pay it back was questionable.

Standing on the second-floor stairs, Fang Bai felt bitter as he listened to their conversation. Even if she did not want to lend money, she should at least have asked how much they needed. In the end, unable to refuse her brother-in-law outright, she might have lent them a little. Instead, she rejected them without even asking how much they wanted.

Fang Bai knew exactly what kind of person his Aunt was, so he had never expected her to lend them money. He walked up and said directly to his mother, "Mom, no need to borrow from her. I've already arranged to repeat at Oubei No. 1 Middle School."

"A Bai, why are you here?"

Fang Bai's mother was surprised to see her son.

"Oh, Fang Bai is here too. What I said just now came from the heart. Your cousin only just got into Shencheng University of Technology this year. Studying in a big city costs a great deal, and we still owe a huge debt.

"If we could lend you money, we would have done so when your father came yesterday."

Fang Bai did not respond. He merely smiled, then directly pulled his mother away.

Seeing Fang Bai act like that, Aunt muttered that the child had no manners at all, not even greeting his elders. Inwardly, she cursed that even if a child like him got into college, he would never amount to much.

Once they reached downstairs, his mother looked dejected. "A Bai, Mom will borrow the money somehow. Just focus on studying."

"Mom, I already said it. Don't beg that old hag."

"You child, why are you talking so strangely? Besides, she's your Aunt."

"They don't acknowledge poor relatives like us. From now on, don't be nice to her at school. We aren't asking anything of her. After all these years, other than mocking and ridiculing us, have you ever seen her help us?

"I already told you, I've solved the money problem."

"Where did you get the money?"

"I asked the boss for compensation. It was over a thousand yuan. Together with the wages from those two months of work, and after buying a bicycle, it should be enough for now."

Fang Bai did not dare mention the five thousand yuan. Mainly, he did not want his parents to worry. Compensation of a little over a thousand was still within a reasonable range. If it was too much, his parents would think he had really done something bad.

"Why would your boss agree to compensate you? Was he that kind-hearted?"

Liu Fengqing did not quite believe it, but her son usually did not lie, so she believed half of it.

"Let's talk after we get home. It'll be hard to ride once it gets dark."

The two arrived at the bicycle shed. When his mother saw her son unlock a brand-new bicycle, it seemed that he had probably received compensation after all.

She unlocked her own bicycle as well, and rode home with her son.

On the way home, Fang Bai felt conflicted. He had not expected to run into something so upsetting.

Even if they had no money, he would rather beg than borrow from his Aunt's family.

He had to work harder at repeating his year. Otherwise, if he did poorly, they would mock him again and it would affect his plans for school.

Some relatives simply did not want others to live better than they did.

If you were doing poorly, they would love nothing more than to stomp on you while you were down, let alone help you.

Having lived so many years, Fang Bai had come to take such things rather lightly.

To him, as long as he lived well, that was enough. Life was his own, not something to be lived for others to see.

But in reality, he still had family. He could not completely escape worldly judgment. If he did poorly, his parents would be laughed at and looked down upon.

Near six o'clock, Fang Bai and his mother returned home. His father had also just come back from outside, saying the pork in the village was no longer fresh, so he had gone all the way to town to buy half a jin of pork.

Hearing that, Fang Bai never expected his father to walk dozens of minutes round trip just to buy half a jin of pork. A wave of bitterness welled up inside him.

Just before they began cooking, Fang Shi came out of the kitchen and handed Fang Bai an empty 500-milliliter liquor bottle and one yuan. "A Bai, we're out of soy sauce, and the salt is nearly gone too. Go to the village shop and get a jin of soy sauce and a packet of fine salt."

"Alright."

Fang Bai froze for a moment, then smilingly accepted the empty bottle and money before heading toward the shop he remembered.

Halfway there, if he had not opened the bottle cap and smelled it, he would have forgotten whether he was supposed to buy soy sauce or vinegar.

The shop was in the middle of the village, and it took him several minutes to reach it.

It was a small shop under a tiled-roof house. There were only twenty or thirty kinds of goods for sale inside, all daily necessities bought from the town supply cooperative.

"Sangong, one jin of soy sauce."

Fang Bai set the bottle on the counter and called out to the bald old man in his sixties sitting on a long wooden bench.

The younger generation in the village all called the old man that. He was not related to Fang Bai's family.

"Alright."

The bulk soy sauce was stored in a large earthenware vat. Sangong smilingly lifted the lid, and the rich aroma of soy sauce drifted through the room.

He then opened the empty liquor bottle, used a bamboo dipper to scoop soy sauce from the vat, and poured it into the bottle through a funnel. One dipper was a jin, nearly filling the bottle.

Fang Bai did not know whether it was truly a jin. In any case, Sangong would not weigh it. A jin was merely the local way of saying it. Even if you said you wanted a bottle, he would still give you one dipper.

If you said you wanted nine liang, you were just looking for trouble.

While he was getting the soy sauce, several villagers chatting in the shop kept glancing at his hand. Fang Bai understood. If someone else had been injured, he would also have looked a few extra times out of curiosity.

A jin of soy sauce cost a few jiao. Since the shop bought it from the supply cooperative, it sold it at a much higher price than in town. After Fang Bai paid, he carried the bottle of soy sauce and had only taken a few steps outside when he actually forgot to buy salt. He had to go back in and buy a packet.

He still remembered that whenever his parents sent him to buy household goods, they would remind him two or three times before he left. Yet even then, he would still forget something and often make two trips.

When Fang Bai returned to the shop, he heard the villagers inside discussing his hand. They were basically saying it would be hard for him to earn money in the future, that he would be a bachelor for life, and some even talked about his family.

When they saw Fang Bai return to buy salt and realized he had heard them, the villagers who had just been speaking so boldly exchanged embarrassed looks and fell silent.

"We were only speaking the truth. I hope you won't mind too much. Young people should be broad-minded." The old man with yellow teeth rolled a cigarette from coarse tobacco, crossed his legs, and gave a half-smile.

"Cough, what are you talking about? You've been a bachelor for decades. The wife you married with your years of savings ran off with another man, and the child you raised for more than ten years wasn't even yours. Compared to you, what would I have to mind?"

Fang Bai bought his salt with a smile, then said harmlessly to Old Qi Gong, "I hope you won't mind either."

If they had only talked about him, Fang Bai would not have been so angry. But once they started judging his family, he would not be polite. Besides, they were not villagers from the same production brigade. In his previous life, this old man had cursed him plenty of times.

Heh.

If they loved rubbing salt into other people's wounds, then he dared pour sulfuric acid into their sores!

If he had a grudge, he settled it on the spot.

Letting it sit overnight would only make it rot.

"Hey, you little bastard, you're insulting me! No upbringing at all! Is that how your parents taught you?" Old Qi Gong immediately craned his neck, his eyes reddening as though he were about to rush over and hit Fang Bai!

"Old Qi Gong, when people get old, they should be broad-minded. Don't fuss with us juniors. Besides, I was only speaking the truth."

After saying that, Fang Bai quickly left the shop. Otherwise, that yellow-toothed old man might spit all over his face, and then how could he have any appetite for dinner? He would be the one losing out.

"Forget it, forget it, Old Qi. He was only speaking the truth too. Don't lower yourself to a junior." Some people in the room held the old man back to keep him from actually running after Fang Bai, while others laughed at his misfortune.

After being cursed by Fang Bai and then laughed at by everyone in the room, the old man felt utterly humiliated. He grabbed one of his slippers from the ground and hurled it at Fang Bai, who had already reached the door.

But Fang Bai twisted his butt with uncanny agility. The slipper bounced a few times before finally rolling into a pile of cow dung. The old man was so furious that his face turned crimson and he could barely catch his breath.

As Fang Bai walked home, the thought of that old man's furious expression made him grin and laugh like a child.