by Huina Zheng
At the downstairs of Lan’s apartment, Bin told her, “We aren’t suitable, and I hope you can find someone better.”
“Why?”
“How you acted today was shameless.”
“You blame me for being brave and call it shameless? You invited me out to that stupid park today.”
“I did, but you ran to pick the flowers in the lotus field. You also picked so many leaves.”
“I thought I could make your favorite lotus leaf rice.”
“It was wrong to do so.”
“You said nothing.”
“I didn’t want to hurt your feeling. A man who guarded the field sat not far away. You should have known it.”
“He should put a note board if we couldn’t pick leaves. It was his fault.” “He shouted, ‘Stop it!’ But you ignored him.”
“I thought he was yelling at others.”
“He was furious. He only wanted us to pay 100 yuan, but you still fought with him.”
“100 yuan for a few lotus leaves! You looked weak, so he believed we were easy to bully.”
“You could reason with him, but you swore and cursed.”
“I did try to reason with him. I must be so furious that I used words I shouldn’t, but you should understand; otherwise, the scoundrel would think I was a pushover. He threatened to call the police. His trick worked on you. You looked scared and told me to pay and leave there.” “You wouldn’t.”
“Of course, I wouldn’t let him blackmail us.”
“You approached him and screamed, ‘He struck me! Help!’ And then you lay on the ground, closed your eyes, and pretended to be in a coma.”
“I decided to deal with the scoundrel as he dealt with us.”
“The police arrived. People surrounded us, pointing and murmuring. I was so embarrassed that I wanted to dig a hole in the ground and hide there.”
“The scoundrel couldn’t explain to the police why I fainted. The police questioned you. If you thought what I did was wrong, why didn’t you answer the police?”
“I was still in shock. You knew what I was thinking? I asked myself, ‘What would it be like to spend the rest of your life with someone like her?’ That question woke me, so I pulled you up.”
“You looked extremely grave, like an unquenchable rage raging within you, so I remained silent.”
“I was mad at myself for not knowing who you were. I gave money to the man, signed the paper for the police, and dragged you away.”
“You let that scoundrel bully us and you blame me. If we didn’t teach him a lesson, he would bully other visitors.”
“You still don’t get it. What you did was shameless.”
“You are a coward, a liar, and a narcissist. I am breaking up with you and you will remain single for the rest of your life. You will be lonely and sick, and no one—”
Bin walked toward his car and drove away. Lan was still cursing behind him.