Chapter 9 neighbors

Mrs. Ming has many eyes.She has given birth to a son and a daughter for Mr. Ming, and she has her hair permed. Although she is almost forty years old, she has to worry about it all day long.She knew that she had a big shortcoming, that she couldn't read.To make up for this deficiency, she had to break her heart; she cared for her children and her husband in every possible way.As for her children, she indulged and did not dare to punish and discipline them.She knew that her status was not as high as that of her children, and in front of her husband, he did not dare to show his power to them.She's their mom just because they have that dad.She had to be careful, her husband was everything, and she couldn't beat and scold her husband's children.She knew that if her husband got annoyed, he could use the most embarrassing means to treat her; Mr. Ming could marry another one at will, but there was nothing she could do.

She is suspicious, and she is not at ease about anything with words.There are some secrets hidden in the words that she can't figure out.Therefore, she hated those literate ladies and ladies.But, looking back, her husband and her children are no worse than those wives who can read and write, and she has to admit her own intelligence, her own good fortune, and her own status.She forbids others to say that her children are bad or naughty.If the children are not good, it is indirectly saying that the mother is not good, and she cannot bear this.She obeys her husband in everything, and then her children; besides, she is wiser than all others.To her neighbors, to her servants, she always wanted to show her dignity.When the children fight with the children of other families, she can fight with her life and join the war; to let others know her power, she is Mrs. Ming, her overbearing reflects the majesty of her husband, like the moon, which reminds people of the glory of the sun .

She hated the servants because they looked down on her.They didn't call her Mrs. Ming silently, but sometimes they showed such airs that she felt that they were saying in their hearts: "Take off your robe, we are all the same; maybe you are more confused." When Mrs. Ming has planned things in detail, they love to show this look more and more.It made her wish she could eat them.She used to fire servants, and that was all she could say. Mr. Ming is autocratic to his wife, but he gives her some freedom when she indulges her children, quarrels with neighbors, and dismisses servants.He thought that in these respects, his wife was showing face for the Ming family.He is a hardworking and proud man.In his heart, he really looked down on his wife, but he didn't allow others to look down on her; no matter what, she was his wife after all.He could not remarry because he was working for a religious and wealthy foreigner; divorce or remarriage would break his employment.Now that he has made do with this lady, he will not allow anyone to underestimate her.He can hit her, but others are not allowed to look at her sideways.He can't really love her, so he can't help spoiling his children.

Everything about him has to be higher than others, let alone his own children. Mr. Ming raised his head very high.He is worthy of his wife, loves his children, has a lucrative career, and has no hobbies. He regards himself as admirable as a saint.He can't ask others, so there's no need to be polite.He went to work during the day, and at night he went home to play with his children; he never read a book, because books could give him nothing, he already knew everything.Seeing his neighbor about to nod to him, he turned away.He has no country, no society.But he has an ideal, which is how he can save more money so that he can be as stable and independent as a hill.

However, he was still a little dissatisfied.He told himself that he should be satisfied, but there seemed to be some things in his life that were beyond his control.This thing cannot be replaced by other objects.He clearly saw a black spot on his body, like a small object wrapped in crystal.Except for this black spot, he is confident and proud, he is transparent and blameless.But he couldn't get rid of it, it grew in his heart. He knew that his wife knew the black spot.It is precisely because of this black spot that Mrs. Ming has many hearts.She tried her best to get rid of it, but she knew it was getting bigger and bigger.She will see the size of the black spot from her husband's smile and eyes, but she dare not touch it, it is the sun's black spot, it may be so hot.Those heat will eventually be endured by others, she is afraid, she has to find a way.

Mr. Ming's child stole the neighbor's grapes.The boundary wall is very low, and children keep going to steal flowers and plants.The neighbors are a young couple surnamed Yang, who have never said anything, although they love flowers and plants very much.Neither Mr. Ming nor Mrs. Ming rewarded their children for stealing, but since they stole, it is inconvenient to say that they are wrong.Besides, flowers and plants are different from other things, so picking a few flowers is not a big deal.The couple thought that if the children stole a few flowers, but the neighbors came to the door and refused to agree, it would be a shame.The Yangs didn't come, Mrs. Ming thought further, the Yang family must be afraid of Ming, so they didn't dare to come.Mr. Ming already knew that the Yang family was afraid of him.It's not that the young couple of the Yang family clearly expressed their fear, but that Mr. Ming thinks everyone should be afraid of him, and he is a person who always walks with his head up.What's more, the Yang family and his wife both teach, and Mr. Ming looks down on this passer-by.He always thought that the people who taught were poor and worthless.In particular, what made him hate Mr. Yang was that Mrs. Yang was very pretty.He despised teachers, but female teachers—if they were good-looking enough—were treated differently.Yang Qionglian actually has such a good wife, ten times better than his own, he can't help but hate.Thinking about it the other way around, marrying a teacher for a very handsome woman may be a lack of insight, so he didn't intend to hate Mrs. Yang, but he couldn't help it.Mrs. Ming also noticed this—the husband's eyes often slipped to the side of the low wall.Therefore, it was right for the children to steal the flowers and grapes from Mrs. Yang's family, and it was a punishment for Mrs. Yang.She had already calculated it, and if that wife dared to speak out, she was prepared to be very powerful.

Mr. Yang is the most up-to-date Chinese, and he always shows his education with courtesy.Regarding the children of the Ming family stealing flowers and plants, he was still reluctant to say anything. He seemed to think that if the Ming family couple were educated, they would automatically come over and apologize.It is embarrassing to force people to apologize.But the Ming family never came over to apologize automatically.Mr. Yang still doesn't dare to get angry. The Ming family can be rude, but Mr. Yang wants to maintain his dignity.When the children stole the grapes, Mr. Yang couldn't stand it anymore, not because of the little thing, but because of the effort he had spent; after planting for three years, this is the first time it has yielded fruit; only three or four children Tuan'er was picked up by the children.Mrs. Yang decided to ask Mrs. Ming to report.But Mr. Yang, although he was very willing for his wife to go, stopped her.His politeness and teacher's status trumped anger.Mrs. Yang didn't think so, it was the right thing to do, and she went there in a polite manner, and she didn't want to argue or fight.Mr. Yang was afraid that his wife would think that he was too weak to stop him resolutely.So Mrs. Ming and Mrs. Yang met.Mrs. Yang is very polite: "Mrs. Ming? My name is Yang."

Mrs. Ming must know what Mrs. Yang is here for, and she hates her from the bottom of her heart: "Ah, I knew it earlier." Mrs. Yang's education made her blush, and she couldn't think of anything else to say.But she had to say something. "It's nothing, boys, it's all right, just some grapes." "Really?" Mrs. Ming's tone was musical: "Children love grapes, they are fun. I don't allow them to eat them, they play with them." "Our grapes," Mrs. Yang's face gradually turned pale, "it's not easy, it takes three years to bear fruit!"

"I'm also talking about your grapes, which are sour; I only allow them to play with them. Your grapes are discouraged, so they only bear a little bit!" "Children," Mrs. Yang thought of the theory of education, "are naughty. But Mr. Yang and I both love flowers and plants." "Mr. Ming and I also love flowers and plants." "What if your flowers and plants are stolen by other people's children?" "Who dares?" "What if your child stole someone else's house?" "Stole it from you, didn't you? You'd better move instead of living here. Our kids just love to play with grapes."

Mrs. Yang couldn't say anything more, her lips were trembling and she went home.Seeing her husband, she almost cried. Mr. Yang persuaded her for a long time.Although he felt that Mrs. Ming was wrong, he didn't want to make any moves. He felt that Mrs. Ming was barbaric; it would be demeaning to quarrel with a barbarian.But Mrs. Yang refused, and he had to avenge her.He thought for a long time, and remembered that Mr. Ming couldn't be so barbaric, so he negotiated with Mr. Ming.But it's not convenient to negotiate in person, so write a letter, write a letter politely, don't mention the scene between the wife and the wife, and don't mention the mischievousness of the Ming family's children, just ask Mr. Ming to tell the children not to spoil it again flowers and plants.Like an educated man, he thought.He also thought of something, the friendship of close neighbors... I am grateful... I am very happy... and other nice words.I also imagined that Mr. Ming was touched by the letter and came to apologize in person... He was very satisfied and wrote a letter that was not very short, and asked the old lady to deliver it.

Mrs. Ming took her neighbor back and was very proud.She had long wanted to nest with a woman like Mrs. Yang, and Mrs. Yang gave her this chance.She imagined how Mrs. Yang would tell her husband when she went home, and then how the Yangs and his wife would wake up to their mistakes together—even if it was wrong for a child to steal grapes, it still depends on whose child it is.Ming children should not complain about stealing grapes.In this way, the Yang family and his wife were completely afraid of the Ming family; Mrs. Ming couldn't be unhappy. The maid of the Yang family sent a letter.Mrs. Ming has many eyes.Needless to say, this was written by Mrs. Yang's wife to Mr. Ming, which "scanned" her down.She hates Mrs. Yang, she hates writing, and she hates Mrs. Yang who can write even more.She decided not to accept the letter. The maid of the Yang family took the letter away, but Mrs. Ming was still worried, what if they sent the letter back when the husband came back!虽然她明知道丈夫是爱孩子的，可是那封信是杨老婆写来的；丈夫也许看在杨老婆的面上而跟自己闹一场，甚至于挨顿揍也是可能的。It would be hard for the husband to beat her up for Mrs. Yang to hear!It's okay to get beaten for other things, but for Mrs. Yang... She has to be ready, and when her husband comes back, she will lay the foundation first-the Yang family has made a big fuss over ordering sour grapes, and they also said that they will give it to her. He wrote to demand an apology.After hearing this, the husband must not accept Mrs. Yang's letter, and the victory is entirely her own. She waited for Mr. Ming, compiled the words to say, and tried to add all the words her husband often used.Mr. Ming is back.Mrs. Ming's words powerfully touched his passion for loving his children.He could forgive Mrs. Yang if she hadn't said anything bad about the children.Since he despises his child, there is no excuse for it, and his dislike is attached to it-it must be a bad thing for her to marry such a poor teacher.When Mrs. Ming rushed to report that the Yang family would send a letter asking for an apology, he felt even more disgusted in his heart; he hated this kind of poor people who just write when they have nothing to do.Working under the hands of foreigners, he knew the usefulness of signed and typed contracts; he couldn't think of the use of letters written by poor teachers.Yes, the Yang family sent another letter, but he decided not to accept it.The black spot in his heart made him wish to see Mrs. Yang's handwriting; the handwriting is disgusting, but it depends on who wrote it.Mrs. Ming was on guard early, she said that the letter was written by Mr. Yang.Mr. Ming didn't spend so much time reading Mr. Yang's bad letters.He believed that a letter written by the most powerful official in China was not as useful as a foreigner's signature. Mrs. Ming sent the children to wait at the door, but the Yang family didn't accept the mail.She herself was not idle, and looked at the Yang family from time to time.She was so proud of her success that she had nothing to say, and even suggested to her husband to buy the house where the Yang family lived.Although Mr. Ming knew that he didn't have enough money to buy a house, he agreed, because this suggestion sounds interesting and satisfying. No matter whether the house belongs to the Yang family or is rented by the Yang family, if the Ming family wants to buy it, it has to be sold, no problem. .Mr. Ming loves to hear children say "Let's buy that one tomorrow". "Buy" is the biggest win.He wants to buy a house, a land, a car, gold items...every time he thinks about buying, he feels great. Mr. Yang did not advocate sending that letter back, although he thought that the Ming family's refusal to accept his letter was deliberately insulting him.He even thought of fighting with Mr. Ming on the street, but he could only think about it this way, his status did not allow him to be brutal.He could only tell his wife that the Ming family were all bastards, and it was inconvenient to start a war with them; this gave him some comfort.Although Mrs. Yang didn't get angry, she couldn't think of a good way; she began to feel that being a civilized person was a disadvantage, and she made many pessimistic comments to her husband, which made him calm down a lot. While the couple were chattering and venting their anger, the old lady brought in a letter.Mr. Yang took it over and saw that the house number was written correctly, but it was for Mr. Ming.He suddenly thought of withholding the letter, but immediately felt that it was not what a good person should do.He told the old lady to send the letter to the next door. Mrs. Ming was already there in ambush.Seeing the old lady coming this way, she was afraid that the children would not be reliable, so she went out on her own. "Take it back, we don't want to read this!" "For Mr. Ming!" said the old lady. "That's right, our husband doesn't spend so much time reading your letters!" Mrs. Ming was very resolute. "It was sent by mistake, not ours!" The old lady handed over the letter. "Wrong one?" Mrs. Ming rolled her eyes, and immediately had an idea: "Tell your husband to keep it. Just pretend I can't see it, so don't try to trick me!" With a slap, the door closed. The old lady took the letter back, but Mr. Yang had a hard time: he didn't want to deliver it again in person, and he didn't want to open it; at the same time, he felt that Mr. Ming was also a jerk—he knew that Mr. Ming had returned, but Stand on the same front with Mrs. Ming.What to do with this letter?It is not honorable to hide other people's letters.After much deliberation, he decided to add an envelope, change the house number, and throw it in the mailbox the next morning; he had to pay two cents for the stamp, so he laughed. The next morning, the couple was busy going to school and forgot the letter.Mr. Yang remembered it when he was already at school, but he couldn't go home to pick it up.Fortunately, he thought, it was just an ordinary letter, probably nothing important, and it didn't matter if it was sent a day late. When I came back from school, I was too lazy to go out, so I put the letter in the books, and prepared to send it the next morning.After such an arrangement, just as he was about to eat, he heard the Ming family making a fuss.Mr. Ming is a proud person, and he is unwilling to beat his wife loudly, but Mrs. Ming who was beaten is not so decent. She kept crying, and the children did not dare to be idle.Mr. Yang listened, unable to understand what was going on, but suddenly remembered that letter, maybe it was an important letter.Because he didn't get the letter and Mr. Ming missed something, he went home and beat his wife.Thinking of this made him very uneasy.He wanted to open the letter and read it, but he didn't have the courage.If he didn't look at it, he felt so depressed that he didn't even finish his dinner. After dinner, the old lady of the Yang family met the old lady of the Ming family.Enmity between masters does not prevent servants from communicating.The old lady of the Ming family leaked the news: Mr. Ming beat his wife because of a letter, an important letter.When Yang's mother came home to report, Mr. Yang couldn't even sleep well.The so-called one letter, he thought, must be the one he kept.However, since it was an important letter, why was it not registered, and the address number was written so carelessly?He thought about it for a long time, but he could only think that businessmen were careless about writing.This probably explains why he wrote the wrong house number.Also, Mr. Ming didn't have any correspondence on weekdays, so the postman delivered it according to the address number, without paying attention to the name, or even didn't remember that there was a Ming family.Thinking about it this way made him feel superior. Mr. Ming was just a bastard who could grab some money.Since Mr. Ming is an asshole, Mr. Yang can easily open that letter and read it.It is a crime to privately read other people's letters, but Mr. Ming still understands this?However, what if Mr. Ming comes to ask for it?inappropriate.He picked up the letter several times, but did not dare to open it.At the same time; he didn't want to send it to Mr. Ming anymore.Since it is an important letter, it is useful to hold it in your own hand.This is not above board, but who told Mr. Ming to be a bastard? Who told him to deliberately mess with the Yang family?Assholes should be punished.He thought of those grapes.He thought about it but changed his mind again, and he sent the wrong letter the next morning.And he also sent the letter he sent to advise the Ming family to control the children; after all, let the bastard Ming see how polite and kind the people who study are; he doesn't want Mr. Ming to repent, he only wants to teach him that the person who came to teach is a gentleman enough. Mr. Ming ordered his wife to ask for the letter.He already knew the content of the letter, because he had seen the person who wrote it.The matter has been prepared, but that letter should not be stored in Yang Xiaozi's hands.The thing is this: he and a friend smuggled some goods with the help of a foreigner, and the foreigner who believed in religion and made a fortune found out;Mr. Ming is not afraid that the Yang family will publish the letter. He has no Chinese government in his heart, nor does he care about Chinese laws; even if the smuggled goods are known to the Chinese, it doesn't matter much.He was afraid that the Yang family would send the letter to foreigners, proving that he was smuggling goods.He thought that Mr. Yang must be such a sneaky person, who must have read his letter to spoil his affairs.He couldn't ask for it by himself, if he met Yang boy, he would have to fight. He hated people like Mr. Yang from the bottom of his heart.He always felt that Yang should be beaten up.He sent his wife to ask for it, because she didn't accept the letter for causing this, and he had to punish her. Mrs. Ming refused to go, it was too embarrassing.She would rather be beaten again by her husband than go to Yang's house to lose face.She wasted, spent her husband away, and secretly saw that the Yang family and his wife had also gone to school, so she sent the old lady to tell the old lady of the Yang family. Mr. Yang proudly sent the two letters together.He imagined that Mr. Ming must repent after reading that polite letter, and admire Mr. Yang's personality and handwriting. Mr. Ming was passed on by foreigners and interrogated.Fortunately, he has seen the friend who wrote the wrong house number, and he has a solid foundation in his mind, and he has not been asked about baldness by foreigners.But he was not at ease with the letter.The most embarrassing thing was that the letter fell into Yang Qiongan's hands!He had to find a way to punish Yang. When he got home, the first thing Mr. Ming said was to ask his wife if she wanted the letter back.Mrs. Ming has many eyes, and she told her husband, the Yang family, not to give the letter, so that she would push all the mistakes off her shoulders. Fight against Mr. Ming.snort!He issued an order to tell the children to jump over the wall and trample down all the flowers and plants in the Yang family first, and then talk about other things.The children were so happy that they didn't leave any flowers and plants that could be trampled on. The children came back from an expedition, and the postman delivered the letter after four o'clock in the afternoon.After reading the two letters, Mr. Ming couldn't tell whether he was sad or happy.The letter with the wrong house number made him happy, because he understood it, and Mr. Yang did not open it; Mr. Yang's letter made him sad, and made him hate that poor man even more. He felt that only poor people could be so polite, polite. Gotta hate it.This distaste should have stamped out all his flowers and plants. Mr. Yang was on the way, full of joy in his heart: since he sent the letter back to the original owner and politely advised his neighbors, this must have touched Mr. Ming.As soon as he entered the house, he was stunned, the flowers and plants in the yard suddenly went crazy like a trash can, and the whole yard was full of rags.He knows who did it.But what to do?He wanted to find an idea calmly. An educated person cannot act on impulse.But he couldn't calm down, his savage blood boiled, and he couldn't think.After tearing off his clothes, he picked up two or three half-sized bricks and threw them towards Ming's window through the wall.The sound of clattering made him feel that he had already caused trouble, but he felt happy, so he continued to throw; listening to the shattering of glass.He felt happy, he didn't care about anything, he just felt happy, comfortable and honored to do so.He seemed to have suddenly changed from a civilized person to a savage, feeling his own strength and courage, as comfortable as taking a bath naked, and enjoying a little new taste of life without restraint.He felt young, passionate, free, brave. After the glass was almost broken, he went into the house to rest.He waited for Mr. Ming to come to fight with him, but he was not afraid, he smoked cigarette like a soldier who won a battle.After waiting for a long time, there was no movement from Mr. Ming. Mr. Ming didn't want to come, because he felt that Mr. Yang was not so annoying anymore.Looking at the broken glass, he wasn't happy, but he wasn't terribly uncomfortable either.He began to think of the need to tell the children not to steal flowers any more, which had never occurred to him before; the broken glass reminded him of it.Thinking of this, he also thought of Mrs. Yang.Thinking of her, he couldn't help hating Mr. Yang; but hating and hating, as he felt now, were not quite the same. "Hate" has a little admiration in it. The next day was Sunday, Mr. Yang was tidying up flowers and plants in the yard, and Mr. Ming was repairing the windows in the house.The world seems to be very peaceful, and human beings seem to have mutual understanding.