Two or Three Events in the Last Days 035
Chapter 35
Zhao’s family had a lot of fields and land. The three from Jing Lin’s side and the father and son from the Yan family had worked continuously for several days before finally removing all the weeds.
During this period, Zhou Yu specially exchanged rice with Wang Wenjie’s grandmother for a chicken and two ducks, brought them back, slaughtered them, and invited the Yan family to eat.
Although Zhou Feifei and Yan Lu had not gone to the fields to help, Zhou Yu invited the two of them as well. The two felt embarrassed to go but could not refuse, so they brought several bags of packaged seafood over.
Over these past few days, the villagers had also made other discoveries one after another. Almost all plants had undergone mutations. Although vegetables could still be eaten, most of them tasted terrible—to the point that even the livestock and poultry raised at home turned their noses up at them.
Of course, there were still some that tasted good. One day, Zhou Yu took a knife into the vegetable garden to cut winter melon and pumpkin and bring them back. However, when she chopped down with the knife, the blade chipped, while the winter melon remained perfectly intact, still hanging from the vine.
Normally, people did not need a knife to pick winter melon. Zhou Yu had used one just because it was more convenient and saved effort, but she never expected that the winter melon vine would become as hard as stone. Unwilling to believe it, she chopped several more times, but it did not even leave a mark. Then she tried the pumpkin vines and loofah vines as well, but none of them could be cut.
There were other families in the village whose loofah vines had mutated too, such as Gao Honghai’s family. However, their loofah vines broke as soon as they were cut, unlike the ones at her house.
In the end, Zhou Yu went home and told Yan Lu, who was hanging around her house. Yan Lu went back to get her large axe and chopped several times before finally managing to cut down the winter melon and pumpkin.
Peeling the winter melon and pumpkin was also quite troublesome. Fortunately, although the vines and skins had become somewhat difficult to deal with, once they were cut in half and the inside flesh was exposed, handling them became much easier. They could simply scoop out the flesh.
The flesh inside still looked the same as before, without any obvious changes. The center was still the pulp, but the seeds inside the pulp had changed. They were no longer flat in shape, but round.
The pumpkin and winter melon seemed to have mutated in the same direction. The seeds inside both had become round. The winter melons Zhou Yu picked were all young ones, and the pumpkins had green skins—perfect for stir-frying.
Two or Three Events in the Last Days (TELD) is translated by Betwixted Translations. The site you’re reading this chapter on stole our translation.
Normally, the winter melon and pumpkin seeds taken out should have been immature. But these changed seeds not only looked ripe, they were also plump. They were not hard at all and could be peeled open directly by hand. Inside was white flesh.
So, as she had done in previous years, Zhou Yu kept some seeds for planting. The rest she prepared to dry and fry to see how they tasted.
That noon, when making winter melon stew with chicken, Zhou Yu casually peeled the flesh from a few pumpkin seeds and added them into the pot together with the winter melon. Unexpectedly, after only a few minutes of cooking, an aroma filled the air. Combined with the savory smell of the chicken, it made everyone’s mouths water. After it was served, even without scallions or MSG seasoning, it was still incredibly flavorful and aromatic.
Thus, the first thing to be completely finished on the dining table that noon was the pot of winter melon soup. The slightly green winter melon turned into transparent, soft, and glutinous flesh after cooking, and everyone loved it. Even the chicken inside was pushed aside.
Even Duckie no longer wanted to eat the bokchoy she normally liked. It made a fuss until Le Le prepared a small bowl for it, filled with less than half a bowl of winter melon soup, some rice, and even some chicken. It even demanded chicken meat, causing everyone to tease it for being willing to eat poultry despite being a member of the poultry family itself.
And just after everyone finished removing the weeds from the fields, the village finally received some good news.
Someone from the neighboring eighth village had returned!
When the villagers learned this news, there was actually a bit of awkwardness.
The eighth village was not far from their place, only separated by a bend in the mountain. Normally, riding a bicycle there took less than ten minutes. The person who brought back the news was Liao Shufen’s eldest daughter, Wu Meili, who had already married out. This year, she was twenty-seven years old. She had been married to Wang Jiaqiang from the eighth village for five years and had given birth to a son, so her status in the family was quite high.
Because her personality was similar to her mother’s—sharp-tongued and strong-willed—not only did she control her husband tightly, she also held the family’s finances in her hands. Usually, when Wang Jiaqiang wanted to buy a pack of cigarettes or when his mother wanted to buy vegetables, they had to ask her for money. Because of this, over the past five years, she had also frequently helped support her mother’s family.
When things became chaotic some time ago, she returned once and asked her family to buy many supplies for her to take back and stockpile. She also left a small portion at her parents’ home. She was afraid something might happen to Wang Jiaqiang outside. After all, there was an elderly person and a child at home, and if something really happened, she alone definitely would not have the ability to support them.
Like everyone else in the village, she had waited every day, hoping and praying for his safe return. When she finally saw him come back safely, she was so happy she had not even finished saying a few words before Wang Jiaqiang pulled a beautiful young woman out from behind him and said that from now on they would all be family and should live well together.
Two or Three Events in the Last Days (TELD) is translated by Betwixted Translations. The site you’re reading this chapter on stole our translation.
Family? What family? Once she got the full story, Wu Meili exploded on the spot.
It turned out that on the way back, Wang Jiaqiang had saved this girl. The girl said she had no parents and had become separated from her relatives and friends while escaping. Since Wang Jiaqiang had saved her, she said she would repay him by giving herself to him.
At first, Wang Jiaqiang had firmly refused. But the girl clung to him tightly and followed their group no matter how much they tried to make her leave. Her pitiful appearance was extremely sympathetic. The girl was indeed pretty, and her voice was soft and delicate. In the end, Wang Jiaqiang could not resist her persistence and agreed. While they were on the road, taking advantage of the darkness at night, the two secretly consummated their relationship.
Most of the people who returned with him were people from nearby areas. They were basically honest men. Even if a few had some improper thoughts, they only thought about them. Wang Jiaqiang was the only one who actually acted on them.
Everyone had also tried to persuade him. Since he already had a wife and son at home, he should not think about other things and should just live properly. But in the end, they failed to convince him, and Wang Jiaqiang brought the girl back.
The girl’s name was Zhang Yanyan. She said she was a third-year university student. After Wang Jiaqiang saved her while she was escaping, she became fascinated by his heroic aura and could not free herself from it.
When Wu Meili tried to grab and tear at her, she kept hiding behind Wang Jiaqiang and crying softly.
At this point, everyone in the village could tell that Zhang Yanyan was not a simple person. Only Wang Jiaqiang had been fooled by that face. At first, when he saw Wu Meili, he was still somewhat guilty. But once Wu Meili started yelling and hitting people, comparing the two of them—one a sallow-faced shrew, the other a young woman who was tender and beautiful everywhere—the already tilted balance immediately tipped decisively in Zhang Yanyan’s favor and stayed there.
At that time, Wang Jiaqiang backhanded Wu Meili with a slap, knocking her to the ground and splitting the corner of her mouth. It seemed that, with that slap, the so-called masculine pride he felt had been suppressed for years had finally successfully rebelled.
The world had become chaotic. Animals and plants were going to eat people, and no one cared anymore even if people killed each other.
At that time, Wang Jiaqiang seemed like a completely different person. Ignoring the strange looks from the villagers, he dragged Zhang Yanyan back home, closed the door, and told Wu Meili to leave. No matter how much Wu Meili banged on the door, it was useless.
And in that family, aside from her son crying because of her, her mother-in-law only stood by the window watching coldly and did not say a single word to persuade anyone.
Two or Three Events in the Last Days (TELD) is translated by Betwixted Translations. The site you’re reading this chapter on stole our translation.
Wu Meili was not someone who would simply let things go. She begged several people from the same village to send her back to her parents’ home, wanting her family to stand up for her.
At that time, Jing Lin and the others had just finished lunch and were sitting in Zhao Zhiwen’s living room, chatting with the front door open. Then they saw several farm men walking in front, with a woman behind them crying loudly and calling for her parents.
Jing Lin, including the Zhao family, did not have a good impression of Wu Meili. After all, she was like her mother—sharp and mean. Whenever something displeased her, regardless of whether she was right or wrong, she could stand facing your home’s direction and insult you indirectly all day.
This was the first time several people had ever seen Wu Meili cry so sadly and look so aggrieved.
After Wu Meili returned home and explained what happened, Wu Jianxiong and his father, Wu Daxing, immediately grabbed knives and wanted to go settle accounts with Wang Jiaqiang. Only Liao Shufen stopped them.
She immediately took Wu Meili to find Ma Renshan, asking him to bring people to the eight village to seek justice for their family. She said that if their village just accepted this humiliation, it would set a precedent where any daughter who married out and faced mistreatment would have no choice but to swallow her suffering in silence.
She also criticized the men who had escorted Wu Meili back, asking why they did not even try to persuade Wang Jiaqiang. In the future, who would dare marry their daughters into their village?
The faces of those men immediately darkened, but because the other person was an elder, they endured it.
At first, Ma Renshan was quite happy that they had finally received news from people outside. Although it was not from their own village, the people from their village and Wang Jiaqiang had not followed the same foreman. However, both groups had been working in the same province and were not far apart.
He wanted to know news from outside, but saying he would stand up for Wu Meili was not easy. Although he also disagreed with what Wang Jiaqiang had done, Wang Jiaqiang was not from his own village, so there was nothing he could do. All he could really do was try to reason with the parties involved.
Afterward, Ma Renshan asked his son to notify some villagers who had relatives outside and went with them to the eighth village to take a look.
The journey was uneventful. A group of more than twenty people quickly arrived at the eighth village.
Wu Jianxiong and Wu Daxing, who had been wearing dark expressions the entire way, walked straight toward Wang Jiaqiang’s house after entering the village. They immediately started pounding on the closed door — bang, bang, bang — creating a truly alarming racket.
The child inside the house was crying loudly. Wang Jiaqiang opened the window and shouted through the bars, “You bang it again, and I’ll call the police!”
Wu Daxing shouted back, “Who the hell do you think you are? Go ahead and call the cops! If you don’t, you’re a spineless bastard!”
The police were already gone. What use was calling them? Besides, what could he even use to make the call?
Facing the aggressive Wu father and son, Wang Jiaqiang still backed down and did not dare open the door. He only stood by the window and shouted at Wu Meili, “Are you really intent on burning bridges?”
Liao Shufen rushed to the window and spat at Wang Jiaqiang.
“The bridges were already burned by your own actions. What face do you still have? I’m telling you, if you don’t kick that fox spirit out today, I’ll tear your entire house apart!”
One side threatened to tear down the house to force him out. The other kept shouting, “Get lost, get lost,” and refused to open the door even if he died.
The leaders of the two villages stood nearby trying to mediate. But this time Wang Jiaqiang had firmly decided he would no longer live with Wu Meili.
Ever since having such a gentle and beautiful woman in his arms, whenever he remembered his former life under the “tigress” Wu Meili, it felt like recalling a tale of sheer misery.
Ma Renshan continued persuading him while having other anxious villagers go ask around for information. The two sides remained deadlocked for a long time.
Finally, Wu Meili stepped forward and declared that if it was over, then it was over. Wang Jiaqiang might find her sharp-tongued and aggressive, and she, on her part, thought that he was a spineless coward. However, if they wanted her to leave, she demanded a third of the household’s grain reserves and custody of their son.
When Wang Jiaqiang’s mother, who had remained silent the whole time, heard that her grandson would be given to Wu Meili, she could not hold back anymore.
The old woman hugged her grandson tightly. “You can leave if you want. Why are you bringing up my grandson? I’m telling you, he is my life. If you want to take him away, forget it — not unless you kill me first!”
So they reached another stalemate.
Finally, Wu Meili said, “If you really refuse to give me my son, then fine. Then you must give me two-thirds of the grain. Otherwise, I will bring people here every day to bang on your door; let’s see how long your iron gate of yours can hold out.”
Words from the Translation Crew
Miiya: One of two for the week.
Pinned note: Chapters 38-47 (except 45) are almost 3times in length, I’ll probably split them into two parts.
Translator: Miiya
Editor: MushroomKnight73
Proofreader: Yume
Avid BL reader, editor, and translator with 1 story completed (CLWP) and 1 story in progress (TELD). Support this translation with a Ko-fi. Three Ko-fis will add an extra chapter from the stockpile to the next weekly release.
