Back To The 80s-Chapter 169: Incident (Additional 80 monthly tickets) _1
Li Fengmei asked curiously, "What’s going on?"
"Look at these lumps of coal, they’re so poor in quality yet cost 0.95 yuan." Wang Ping muttered dissatisfiedly.
Upon hearing this, Li Fengmei circled the truck and looked up at the lumps of coal on top.
Xiangyang saw Li Fengmei walking up to him and helplessly said, "Aunt, the price of coal is increasing, I really have no say in this. The coal bosses said they can’t offer last year’s price anymore. I’ve already haggled for a long time."
"But Officer Xiang, leaving aside the price, just looking at these lumps of coal, you can tell there is a lot of mixed dirt. It won’t last the entire winter." Li Fengmei frowned and said.
Gu Xiaobei didn’t understand these matters, but she felt that Xiangyang’s mention of a price increase was certainly true. As the economy was slowly recovering, prices of goods would indeed rise.
Xiangyang scratched his flat head and said, "Aunt, I can’t do anything about this. I’ve been to both of the big coal factories in the city, and this is the best they have."
Li Fengmei didn’t know what to say and, looking at the others, hesitantly asked, "What do you all think?"
"We usually burn two pieces, but with this coal, we’re likely to burn three. How much more will it cost for the whole winter?" A military wife grumbled.
"Exactly, only one person in our family earns money, but the whole family has to spend it. Not to mention the price increase, but also the additional coal consumption..."
"Yes, what originally cost seven or eight yuan now suddenly costs four or five yuan more."
The military wives interjected in conversation, indicating one thing only - they didn’t want this expensive and low-quality coal.
Xiangyang’s face darkened, trying hard to maintain his composure. Meanwhile, Xiangmin, clutching her waist, came down from the upstairs, having clearly heard everything at the staircase.
"You people are heartless. Xiangyang worked hard bringing back the coal late at night, and yet you’re being picky." Xiangmin immediately began accusing people harshly after coming down."
"Auntie, you have a look at this coal yourself!" A military wife grumbled.
Gu Xiaobei instinctively stepped back a bit, sensing that Xiangmin was not someone to be trifled with now.
"What’s there to look at? How is this coal not burnable? Don’t think I don’t know that you all are just holding grudges against Xiangyang and finding fault amongst minor issues." Xiangmin angrily retorted while holding her waist.
"This kind of thing hasn’t happened in previous years. We should consult the camp leaders about this." Someone protested defiantly.
"You’re going to bother the camp leaders with such a trivial matter? What kind of consciousness do you have? As for this coal, if you don’t want it today, you go out and buy it yourself in the future." Xiangmin said arrogantly.
Feeling that arguing back and forth was futile, Li Fengmei tried to mediate, "Auntie, can we see if we can return this coal? Later, we ask Chang Yuan where he usually gets the coal?"
Upon hearing this, Xiangmin’s eyebrows narrowed in anger, "Li Fengmei, what do you mean? Are you implying that you’re all upset because Xiangyang took over Chang Yuan’s position? So you all have been waiting for this. It seems you’ve been receiving a lot of benefits from Chang Yuan."
Li Fengmei, being short-tempered herself, immediately flared up, "Auntie, if you want to sling mud, there’s a limit. I just suggested asking, since Chang Yuan has been doing this for so many years, he knows the business! I mentioned this for Xiangyang’s own good. How can you not hear the good intentions in my words?"
"Oh, please. You don’t need to pretend to be kind. I can see that you’re excluding Xiangyang. I really can’t see any kindness in you." Xiangmin said contemptuously.
Seeing that this person was beyond reasoning, Li Fengmei didn’t care anymore, "Anyway, I don’t want this kind of lump of coal. Whoever is willing to accept it, be my guest!" Having said that, she headed home.
As the other military wives saw this, they also left one after another. Xiangmin couldn’t take it anymore and swiftly chased after Li Fengmei, "You can’t leave! We need to sort this out."
"What’s there to say? I’ve made it clear that I don’t want it." Li Fengmei responded and jerked her arm back, attempting to shake off Xiangmin’s hand.
Xiangmin seemed to be caught off guard by the sudden pull. Unbalanced, she stumbled and sat down on the ground. All of a sudden she started crying and shouting, "Li Fengmei, you’re trying to kill me..."
Li Fengmei was taken aback, scared inside as she realized Xiangmin was pregnant.
Gu Xiaobei, who was not far behind Xiangmin, took two steps back when she saw Xiangmin falling. She distinctly saw that when Xiangmin fell, it was like slow motion, bending her knee first and then slowly sitting down.
Xiangyang has had enough. He erupted at Li Fengmei, "If you have a problem, say it directly. Why take it out on a pregnant woman?"
"Ah, my stomach hurts..." Xiangmin suddenly screamed, but inside her mind, she was enraged which she intended to put on Gu Xiaobei, but who would have thought she could step back so quickly.
A young soldier had already run back to the camp to call for help. Li Fengmei, somewhat at a loss, just stood there while Gu Xiaobei didn’t make a move forward.
The other military wives looked at each other, confused at how the situation escalated into this.
Shortly, Lu Zhanguo, Guo Huaqiang, and Zhang Lijun all rushed back there.
As soon as Lu Zhanguo entered the family courtyard gate, he swept a glance around, and his gaze fell concernedly on Gu Xiaobei.
Gu Xiaobei gently shook her head, signaling that she was not involved. Lu Zhanguo then let out a sigh of relief, his brows furrowed as he looked at Xiangmin who was sitting on the ground, wailing.
With a not-very-pleasant expression on his face, Guo Huaqiang crouched beside Xiangmin, "Where do you feel uncomfortable? If it’s serious, we should go to the hospital now."
Xiangmin, her face wet from tears and snot, pointed at Li Fengmei, "She pushed me, my stomach hurts now. If something happens to the baby, I won’t want to live either..."
"I didn’t push you at all." Li Fengmei said, sounding somewhat wronged.
"That’s right, Aunt Fengmei did not push Aunt Xiangmin. I clearly saw everything from behind!" Sun Aiqin, holding her child, suddenly spoke up.
"Yes, we were all behind and saw that no one pushed her. Aunt Xiangmin simply lost her balance and fell." Several military wives chimed in agreement. Wang Ping, however, didn’t utter a word. Gu Xiaobei just stood quietly on one side. Regardless of what she said, Xiangmin would always think she was deliberately opposing her.
Seeing that everyone was siding with Li Fengmei, Xiangmin began to wail more loudly, "Oh no, my stomach hurts, it’s so painful..."
Zhang Lijun still trusted his wife’s character and said to Guo Huaqiang, "Let’s send her to the hospital and get her checked."
Guo Huaqiang nodded and told Xiangyang, "You go bring the camp vehicle over."
Xiangmin, still clutching her belly, wailed in pain. Gu Xiaobei squinted, observing the scene, it looked an awful lot like an elderly woman staging an accident in the 21st century.
Xiangyang pulled up in the vehicle. Guo Huaqiang helped Xiangmin into the car. Zhang Lijun felt he ought to go along to check out the situation, despite trusting Li Fengmei. He turned to Li Fengmei and said, "You stay at home, Dadong and the others will be done with class soon. I’ll just go take a look."
Li Fengmei, feeling very wronged, could only nod, watching as Zhang Lijun drove Guo Huaqiang and Xiangmin away.
Only then did Lu Zhanguo ask Xiangyang about the details. Xiangyang explained everything exactly as it occurred, without exaggeration or fabrication.
Lu Zhanguo went over to check the coal by the truck, and ordered one of the soldiers, "You go to the communication company and call Chang Yuan."
The soldier acknowledged and ran off to look for Chang Yuan. Xiangyang’s face clouded as he asked, "Commander Lu, you don’t trust me?"
