Three or Two Things about Rebirth

"Ah? How did you know?"

"How should I know? Everyone on Earth knows it!"

"Oh, what do you call this becoming famous in one battle? There was no battle at all." Qiu Luming checked the reading room one last time, looked around, turned off the lights, said "ouch", turned them on again, and picked up the lunch box from the heater, "Excuse me, second brother, whose lunch box is this? There's a dent here."

"Oh, the sun is rising from the west, and my sister actually feels embarrassed!" Qiu Jiashu took the lunch box and clicked his tongue twice.

Qiu Luming rolled her eyes at him. This second brother had taken great care of her in Harbin and on the train, but as soon as he returned to Jiayang, he either exposed her shortcomings or was sarcastic.

She locked the door and pushed him, "Oh, go home quickly, I'm dying of thirst!"

When she reached the guard room, the clock on the wall showed 4:25. She returned the pen and glue to Mr. Li through the window and thanked him.

Uncle Li took it with a smile, "Well, why thank me? You can use it now!"

"No, sir. I'll bring a pen tomorrow."

"Okay, think about asking Director Li for a bottle of ink, glue, manuscript paper, etc. tomorrow." At this point, Uncle Li looked at Qiu Jiashu and said, "Is this your brother?"

"Yeah, my second brother! He's from the Technical Department of the Public Security Bureau!"

"Okay, okay, the whole family is fine. Let's go, let's watch out on the road!" Uncle Li also started to put on his cotton jacket and prepared to get off work.

Qiu Luming turned around and asked Qiu Jiashu, "Did you leave early?"

"No, I have some work to do. I'll come to see you after I finish it." Qiu Jiashu recalled that in the afternoon, forensic doctor Jiang from the technical department patted his shoulder and said with a smile: "My wife's cousin's sister-in-law works at the cultural center, next to the library. On her way home from work at noon, she heard that a new girl had come to the library. She was very fierce. Just because of a lunch box, she beat up a female temporary worker who was seven or eight years older than her. The woman was bruised and swollen, and she sat on the ground crying..."

Qiu Jiashu looked at the meaningful smile on the forensic doctor Jiang's face and knew that it was meant for him. Who else could it be other than his sister? He wanted to go to the library immediately, but after a little thought, he knew that his sister had not suffered any loss, so he was not in a hurry and hurried to develop all the photos on hand.

"You are still free!" Qiu Luming felt a little bored when she thought that her butt would be flattened after sitting all day. She secretly planned to add a chair cushion to the list of things to bring tomorrow, and then find time to go to the reading room and pick out a few books to read.

At this time, three female staff members came down from upstairs and greeted Uncle Li with a smile, but no one paid any attention to Qiu Luming, and didn't even look at her.

Qiu Jiashu was a little embarrassed, but Qiu Luming didn't care and pushed the door open first to go out.

Qiu Jiashu sighed tiredly and followed him out.

His sister has been timid since she was young. She is a typical bully at home, but outside, she can only bluff with her mouth. If she really meets a big guy, a little gangster, or a knife-carrying vendor selling meat or fruits, she can even tolerate his verbal abuse.

The three brothers couldn't stand their sister coming home to beg and cry, and they had countless fights to vent their anger for her. Especially him and his younger brother, they were almost detained once. It was unprecedented for someone to do it personally like today. This girl must have thought that most of the staff in the library were female, and the director owed her father a favor, so she got carried away again. Alas, it was a pity that mom's dry-mouthed sermon last night was in vain.

Qiu Jiashu's bicycle was parked at the gate. He unlocked the bike and stood there waiting for his sister to push it. However, she pushed it two steps and then stopped and squatted down.

He quickly parked the car and walked over, "What's wrong?"

Qiu Luming said dejectedly, "The valve core is gone."

Qiu Jiashu reached out and touched it, and hey, not only the valve core, but even the valve mouth and other things had been pulled out.

As the library door opened, four or five women came out, glanced in their direction, and then some were pushing carts, some were walking, and in a flash they all left.

"Humph! It must be that annoying little pony!" Qiu Luming slapped the car seat in anger.

"Do you have evidence?"

"No. But we had a conflict at noon. If it wasn't her, who else could it be? Public Security Comrade, I want to call the police! Aren't you a recent trainee? Look at the footprints and solve the case for me!"

Qiu Jiashu was amused. Not to mention that it was completely dark now, with only a faint light from the street lamps in front of him, just the messy footprints and tire tracks on the ground, even if he was a detective, there was nothing he could do. Besides, who would really investigate just because of two valves?

After the sun went down, the wind died down. Qiu Luming moved his ears and heard several colleagues who had already walked onto the road whispering:

——Hey, it seems like Qiu Luming’s valve core was pulled out?

——Serves you right! I've never seen anyone so arrogant on their first day at work. Does she think the library belongs to her family?

——Hey, I heard that she couldn’t make it in the hospital anymore, so she came to our unit.

——I can’t stay in the library for more than a few days like this!

......

"Asshole!" Qiu Luming was so angry that he slapped the car seat again. He didn't know whether he was scolding the person who pulled out the valve core or those colleagues.

Qiu Jiashu laughed and said, "Let's go, let's go home and I'll find you a valve."

"You're still laughing?" Qiu Luming punched Qiu Jiashu on the arm. "I was bullied, and you're still laughing!"

“Hahaha!” Qiu Jiashu was still laughing. “It’s just two valve cores. If we don’t tell you, we can’t be sure it’s that Xiao Ma. Even if it is, you beat him up, but you can’t let him vent his anger. Last year, our section chief had his foot pedals removed, hahaha!”

"I didn't hit her! I said I didn't hit her, I just smeared the rice on her head!"

"It's better to fight..."

At 4:30 in the night sky, stars flickered unsteadily. The streets were filled with people going home from get off work. People were walking cautiously on the snow beside the road or riding bicycles slowly on the road, using the street lights. There was only one man in a military coat, riding a 28-bar bicycle steadily, and pushing a red Kun bicycle with his left hand. Sitting on the back seat was a girl who was covered tightly and kept chattering in a vague voice, "You said I didn't do anything to provoke her, but she came up to me and deliberately dropped the lunch box you gave me on the ground. What can I do?"

***

When the brother and sister got home, they found that their elder brother and his wife had returned. Qiu Luming saw that everyone in the family was staring at her, and she couldn't help but look back at Qiu Jiashu, "It's not that serious, is it?"

Before Qiu Jiashu could say anything, He Manshu sneered, "As for that!"

She pushed her daughter onto a chair. "The streets of the county are full of young people fighting. In the past few years, many were arrested during the crackdown. But look, they are all men, men! Which little girl would fight with others? You know, when Teacher Fan told me about this in the afternoon, my head suddenly started buzzing. Qiu Luming! Your mother is in menopause!"

Is menopause fashionable? Qiu Luming complained in her heart, but she only dared to complain in her heart. She took off her hat and said, "Mom, I'm so thirsty. I haven't had a sip of water for a day. The food my second brother gave me is a little salty!"

Then he took off his down jacket and said, "Mom, I really didn't fight. She knocked over my lunch first. I was hungry, so I got angry and smeared rice and potatoes on her face..." Qiu Luming looked at his mother's flushed face and his voice became smaller and smaller.

"You! Isn't this called fighting?" He Manshu sat on the sofa with sweat all over her face, pointing her finger at Qiu Luming, "You are too barbaric! How could I raise such a daughter! How embarrassing it is for a female comrade to be beaten in public! It is said that the quality of the people has generally improved, and the Women's Federation also said that fewer people beat their wives, but you! Why can't you improve yourself!"

"I said I didn't hit her!" Qiu Luming's chest was also ignited by his mother. He took the cup handed to him by his eldest sister-in-law and drank it all. The fire was extinguished, and a memory flashed through his mind, "There are people who beat their wives! Do you remember, when we lived in the old house, the man from the Forestry Bureau next door beat his wife every day? He beat his wife until she screamed and cried, which was not a good thing. I asked my mother to stop the fight, but she refused to go!"

"You!" He Manshu didn't know what she was thinking of, her face turned red, "Look at you, you can't even remember a formula when I asked you to memorize it, but you memorized these messy things in one go!"

After saying that, she glared at her husband and said, "It's all your fault! Come on, come on! You take care of your good daughter!"

Qiu Luming looked at his sister-in-law innocently, "Why is it such a mess?"

The sister-in-law laughed twice and didn't say anything.

Qiu Jiye sat on the sofa and said, "Yoyo, tell me the whole story."

Qiu Luming spilled the beans, even revealing his own thoughts.

"You're talking nonsense! The warehouse door was closed, did you hear it?" He Manshu was so angry, "It's okay for you to be a little stupid, it's okay for you to be a little naughty, but how can you lie! This is a moral issue!"

Qiu Luming felt sad and said loudly, "I didn't lie, and I'm not stupid! I heard it!"

"Just make me angry. If you make me angry to death, you will have no mother!"

Hearing this, Qiu Luming's heart ached and tears flowed down. He Manshu was a little panicked. Her daughter didn't like to cry. She usually either pretended to cry or cried loudly. She had never seen her cry silently like this. She looked at her daughter-in-law for help. Liu Xiaomei immediately took a towel and wiped Qiu Luming's tears. "Luming, don't cry. Mom was just angry. Let's talk about it."

Qiu Luming was still crying and sobbing, her mind filled with her neighbor's sharp words: her mother died because of giving birth to her, she is a jinx to her mother!

Qiu Jiye couldn't bear to see his daughter's tears. "Oh, it's Dad's fault. I didn't understand the situation beforehand and didn't know someone had already taken that position. That's why all these conflicts happened. But put yourself in his shoes. If you were Xiao Ma, wouldn't you be angry too?"

Qiu Luming was still immersed in the sorrow of "If I'm so mad at you, you'll have no mother". When she felt her father stroking her hair and heard those words, she came to her senses. She agreed in her heart but refused to give in. "I, I was also ignorant! Do I deserve her repeated provocations? She bullied me to my face, and I didn't fight back?... I'm not a no-resistance general!" For some reason, at the end, she blurted out these words.

Qiu Jiashu burst out laughing.

Qiu Jiye looked at his daughter and suddenly said, "Put your hands here!"

Qiu Luming was puzzled, but still stretched out her right hand. Qiu Jiye took a deep breath and held her wrist. The whole family fell silent and their breathing could be heard.

He switched to his left hand and cried for a few more minutes before Qiu Jiye let go.

He Manshu was no longer sweating and asked nervously, "How is it?"

Qiu Jiye smiled and said, "Not bad, Yoyo is very healthy."

"Isn't that nonsense? She is not Lin Daiyu! Your girl has been heartless and thoughtless since she was a child, but hasn't she always been healthy?"

"I can't explain it, I just feel that she is a little different." Qiu Jiye touched his daughter's head again, touched the red birthmark the size of a pinky fingernail behind her right ear, and said helplessly, "Yoyo is a smart child, but you are eighteen years old and grown up. In the future, you should think more about the reasons behind everything, but you can't let your imagination run wild, and don't care too much, understand?"

Qiu Luming nodded.

Qiu Jiye smiled helplessly at his wife and said, "It is said that you should change your son to teach him, it is absolutely true, I can't bear to be cruel to her."

"I'll do it! I've taught so many students, and none of them disobeyed me!"

"Stop talking about your students."

Qiu Jiashu looked at his parents and asked, "What should Yoyo do next? Do you still need to apologize to others?"

"What are you apologizing for?" He Manshu had no psychological burden on her son and shouted directly, "Since you all used the backdoor, then no one should laugh at you. Let's speak with strength! Humph, she was the one who provoked the incident, and she must bear the consequences!"

"Hey!" Qiu Jiashu touched his nose, "Why am I doing this? I'm going to go fix my bicycle!"

He Manshu aimed her fire at Qiu Luming again, "You still have the nerve to laugh. Your father and I have worked hard to build up some popularity over the years, and you have squandered it all!"

Qiu Luming took the towel in his hand and gently wiped the sweat off He Manshu's flushed face, and then smoothed her hair, "Dad, please go and see my mom. She seems to be in a very bad mood during menopause."

He Manshu suddenly became quiet, her expression changing, tears about to fall, after a while she looked up at her daughter-in-law in frustration and said, "I'm sorry to have embarrassed you, Mom was originally in control very well, but once it comes to Yoyo, I'm sure I'll lose control..."