Chapter 5: Evil on the Bus

Zhao Guifen, Zhou Andong’s aunt, was short, with a narrow face and thin lips, always looking sharp and mean. She was eavesdropping by the courtyard wall when she saw Zhou Xiao return and deliberately shouted out loud.

“Oh, Zhou Xiao, you’re back? I just realized your second brother’s family is something else—they’ve even written down every two cloves of garlic and half a bowl of vinegar they borrowed, especially your eldest nephew, no wonder he’s a college student, he’s even keeping accounts with you. Tsk tsk tsk, look at you, always so affectionate with your nephew, so warm with your niece…”

“Pah!” Zhao Guifen jumped up and spat directly into Zhou Andong’s courtyard: “You treat them like family, but they don’t treat you like an elder. Don’t call them so affectionately anymore—you disgust me, let alone me being disgusted by you. And Zhou Xiao, you better get that yuan back, or I won’t let you off.”

Zhou Andong pulled back the curtain to step out, when Zhou Xiao asked: “Where are you going?”

Zhou Andong grinned: “To meet my aunt.”

“Come back!” Zhou Xiao shook his head slightly. “Why bother with her? If you start a fight, you’ll just give outsiders something to gawk at.”

“How much less have we been spared from being watched?” Zhou Andong sat down heavily on the kang, took out the dried tobacco and cut-up newspaper from the shoebox, and rolled a cigarette.

“Cough, cough, cough…”

After just one drag, Zhou Andong was choked into a violent cough, tears streaming down his face: “This tobacco is too harsh.”

Yuan Liying picked up the half-stitched shoe on the kang, jabbed the thick sole with an awl, threaded the needle through the awl’s hole, then pulled the needle out with her fingers, dragging the thick white thread behind it with a sharp, rasping sound.

“Your two aunts came for lunch, each brought two jin of meat and dropped a yuan—your aunt saw it. I bet your aunts didn’t bring anything to her, so she’s jealous and looking for trouble.”

Zhou Andong took only two puffs before tossing the tobacco aside: “It’s all because we’ve spoiled her.”

His eldest uncle had been idle and lazy since youth, never showing up for work in the production team—always complaining of a headache or a sore butt. Whenever he had to work, every part of his body would suddenly malfunction.

He finally married a wife, but she was just as sharp-tongued and cruel. As the old saying goes: not the same family won’t enter the same door. Zhao Guifen constantly caused chaos over trivial matters, making the whole household live in constant turmoil.

The old lady had always suppressed her second son, third son, eldest daughter, and youngest daughter from arguing with Zhao Guifen—because the family was poor, she feared Zhao Guifen would leave, and their eldest son would never find a bride.

But this only made Zhao Guifen more domineering: anything good must be hers, even what belonged to others. If she didn’t get it, no one would get peace—she could scream from dawn till dusk.

Yuan Liying said: “Just give her the yuan.”

“If we give the yuan, it should go to Grandpa—not to him.”

In his past life, Zhou Andong had endured and yielded to his eldest uncle’s family for over twenty years. This life, he wouldn’t indulge them anymore.

“My brother’s right!” Zhou Anqin walked in from the outer room. “If you’re going to give it, give it to Grandpa—not to him.”

Zhou Andong stood up. “I’m going to sleep. You two should rest early too.”

Zhou Anbei was holding a bowl, eating dumplings by the pot: “Going to sleep so early?”

Zhou Andong said: “I’m a bit tired today.”

The next morning, Zhou Andong didn’t even eat breakfast before returning to the city—but he didn’t go to work. Instead, he bought a few baozi and boarded any bus he found. He hadn’t had time yesterday; today he’d carefully observe the old city, long vanished from his memory.

He kept transferring, weaving through the city. As time reversed, as the river of history flowed backward, the faded memories of the past unfolded before him, clearer with every roll of the bus wheels.

The filth and chaos in the corner of the train station square, the eastern bus terminal, the southern commercial street. Around the square were small restaurants, guesthouses, department stores, and food shops. Along Jiefang Road past the Heping Street intersection, the newly opened small commodity wholesale market looked even livelier and busier than it would in the future…

“Sports Stadium stop. Passengers wishing to disembark, please move toward the rear.”

Several people got off; others boarded. As the bus accelerated, bodies brushed against each other. A short, middle-aged man in his forties, with a sleazy expression, stood behind a girl.

He had a beard under his chin, his hair hadn’t been washed in months, tangled and filthy, clearly coated with a thick layer of white dandruff. Every time the bus jolted, he deliberately rubbed against the girl.

The girl sensed something, shifted sideways. The sleazy man shifted too—and grew bolder, extending his evil black hand toward her buttocks.

The girl stiffened, her face turning pale. She gripped the handrail tightly, not daring to move.

“Damn!” A young man noticed and started to rise, but a woman beside him grabbed his arm: “Don’t meddle.”

Zhou Andong stood beside the young man and woman. He’d been watching the scenery outside and hadn’t noticed the crime—until he heard their words. He turned his head, blinked, then stepped over beside the sleazy man.

“Let me try too.”

Many had seen it, but no one spoke up. When Zhou Andong moved over, he drew many glances—but when he spoke, everyone’s mouths dropped open, filled with contempt and mockery.

“Let me try too.”

Zhou Andong repeated it, drawing even more attention.

Behind them, a very beautiful girl sat Ditou reading, in her early twenties, with a ponytail, wearing jeans and a down jacket. She recognized Zhou Andong’s voice, looked up, and widened her eyes.

The sleazy man stared blankly at Zhou Andong, reluctantly stepping back one pace. The girl stood rigid, eyes red, tears welling but not daring to move or cry out.

Then came the moment that stunned everyone: Zhou Andong bent forward, shoved his ass toward the sleazy man, and wiggled it. “Come on, let me try.”

“Pfft!” The ponytail girl couldn’t help but burst out laughing, then bit her hand to stifle it, her eyes crinkling into crescents.

The sleazy man scrambled backward. Zhou Andong also shuffled back, still sticking his ass out: “Come on, let me try.”

“Get away, you sick pervert!”

The sleazy man retreated to the rear door, with nowhere left to go—but Zhou Andong’s raised ass was now right before his face. The man reflexively shoved it.

“Ooooh!” Zhou Andong let out a long, blissful moan, straightening up, head tilted back, face filled with ecstasy.

Everyone in the bus was horrified. They all shuddered, every hair on their bodies standing on end.

The ponytail girl bit her hand hard, fighting not to laugh—but her trembling shoulders betrayed how hard she was trying to hold back.

Zhou Andong raised his ass again, squeaking in a high-pitched voice: “Do it again.”

The sleazy man looked terrified, waving his hands like swatting flies: “Get away! Get away now!”

“Come on!” Zhou Andong swayed his ass seductively, grinning like a fool. “Do it again.”