Chapter 153: Acting

Wang Mingyi adjusted the glasses on the bridge of his nose and said in a low voice, "Look at what you've taught our son to be. Hurry up and tell him to let go of my arm. If you have anything to say, let's talk somewhere else."

Wang Chunhua sneered, "So you still remember he's your son."

Wang Mingyi didn't reply, trying to placatingly steady his bicycle, but to his surprise, the boy in front of him possessed astonishing strength. The boy's eye rims were as red as a small beast's, as if he might tear him apart the very next second.

He pulled a ten-yuan bill from his pocket and handed it to Wang涛 (Wang Tao). "Let go, and your dad will find a place to talk things over with you properly."

Wang Tao didn't budge, staring dead at Wang Mingyi. "Let's talk it over right here. Once I'm satisfied, my mom and I will let you go."

"Tao!" Seeing his son unresponsive, Wang Mingyi double-checked, "Your name is Wang Tao, right?"

From the boy's birth until now, he had merely tossed him a name and truly felt no emotional attachment whatsoever.

Wang Tao looked at his hypocritical appearance. If someone hadn't instructed him otherwise, he would have kicked the man flat long ago. He glanced left and right, noticing the number of people getting off work and passing by was increasing.

At that moment, an acquaintance walked up and greeted Wang Mingyi, "Teacher Wang, still having students coming to look for you after school?"

Hearing this, Wang Mingyi broke out in a cold sweat. He turned around and smiled awkwardly, "Yes indeed!"

Once the person had walked far away, Wang Mingyi grew thoroughly panicked. He looked at Wang Chunhua and lowered his voice, "Can we step aside to talk? As long as it's within my power, I'll definitely satisfy your demands."

Wang Chunhua looked at the neighbor who had just greeted him and shouted at the top of her lungs, "Mingyi, how could you speak to me like this?"

Her tone was both intimate and aggrieved. The neighbor, who had already walked some distance away, paused in her tracks, her gossipy heart refusing to let her take another step forward.

Meanwhile, several more strange looks were directed at Wang Mingyi from all sides.

Wang Mingyi's heart leaped into his throat, and he hastily put on a pitiful expression. "Chunhua, you know what kind of life I lived back in the countryside. I've finally made it to where I am today. I beg you to let me go. Whatever you want, as long as I can manage it, I'll give it to you."

"Can we go talk over there, please?"

In the past, whenever he softened his attitude, she would give in.

"As long as you're willing to come back and give our child a complete home, I won't hold the suffering I've endured all these years against you anymore—including the fact that you took all my savings back then. I won't even ask you to pay it back," Wang Chunhua accused loudly.

Don't assume he was the only one capable of playing the victim.

This single sentence carried a massive amount of information. The neighbor, who had originally just stood in place listening, could no longer hold back and stepped forward a few paces, coming right up to Wang Mingyi. "Teacher Wang, what is going on here?"

Wang Mingyi looked up in terror. "N... nothing at all. She's just a distant relative of mine who came to find me about something. It's nothing major. Please go ahead and attend to your business."

He remained as gentle and refined as ever.

When people stop to watch a spectacle, five onlookers will soon turn into ten, or even dozens. Those who had initially been unsure and just watching from afar now crowded in as well.

Wang Chunhua glanced left and right, spotting the man and woman in the crowd who had led her here earlier.

One of the men made a hand gesture to her, signaling her to wait a little longer, and then flashed an OK sign to indicate that the media were already in position.

The neighbor looked at Wang Chunhua, who neither denied nor confirmed anything.

Seeing the crowd growing denser around them, the neighbor said loudly, "Everyone disperse. You've worked all day, hurry home and rest."

This neighbor lived right next door to Wang Mingyi. Usually, the two families got along quite well, and her daughter was very fond of Teacher Wang.

She also knew that he was originally from Shanghai, sent down to the countryside as an educated youth, and ultimately relied on his own unremitting efforts and perseverance to get accepted into Kyoto University.

Since things weren't as she had suspected, she still didn't want him to make a public fool of himself.

Having said that, she turned to Wang Chunhua and added, "This is a public place. If you have matters to discuss, find a more secluded spot. Otherwise, it will reflect poorly on Teacher Wang."

Wang Chunhua nodded without arguing with her. Assuming she had agreed, the female neighbor intended to set an example and walk away first.

Wang Mingyi also breathed a sigh of relief, secretly wiping the sweat from his brow as he thought about giving her a few dozen more yuan later to send her on her way.

So, he smiled and said to Wang Chunhua, "Let's go sit down at that snack bar over there and buy something for your child along the way."

He laid heavy emphasis on the words "your child."

Thinking the show was over, the onlookers prepared to scatter. Just at that moment, Wang Chunhua raised her voice again, "Mingyi, when I came to find you, I wasn't looking to demand anything from you. I just wanted closure and an explanation for all these years we spent together in the countryside."

Upon hearing this, everyone froze in place once more, including the neighbor who had just turned to leave.

Wang Mingyi's back was soaked with sweat. He felt as though Wang Chunhua was toying with him, and he gripped the bicycle handlebars tightly with both hands out of anger, yet dared not say too much for fear that her next sentence would utter something even more provocative.

At that moment, a curious onlooker stepped forward to ask him, "Teacher Wang, since things have come to this, why don't you give this female comrade an answer so as to avoid any misunderstandings?"

Wang Chunhua glanced at the man who had spoken, understanding dawning in her heart.

"That's right! This female comrade doesn't look like she's here to make a scene on purpose."

"Indeed!"

It was then that Wang Chunhua truly grasped what Lu Yan meant when he told her to restrain her anger.

People naturally tended to sympathize with the vulnerable. Wasn't this exact same attitude how Wang Mingyi used to treat her? Whenever he acted weak and begged her, her heart would soften, and she would genuinely let him go and trust him.

Understanding this, she knew precisely how to handle the next step.

Wang Mingyi stopped pushing his bicycle and explained in a loud voice, "When I was in the countryside, I received some help from her. To express my gratitude, I often helped her with chores, which seems to have given her the wrong idea."

"So that's how it is!"

"Comrade, look, you already have a child, and you clearly don't walk the same path as Teacher Wang. You shouldn't harbor any unrealistic expectations," someone advised Wang Chunhua.

Hearing this, Wang Chunhua did not respond, but instead put on the expression of someone suffering a profound grievance, tears streaming down her face.

Without further instructions, she didn't dare to speak up casually.

Seeing her looking frail, slender, and utterly wronged, the crowd didn't dare to scold her loudly. Another person advised, "If he really does owe you a debt of gratitude, it should be repaid. Why don't you let Teacher Wang give you some more money?"

Just as the voice trailed off, a woman pushed her way through the crowd. Upon catching sight of Wang Chunhua and Wang Mingyi, her face registered both astonishment and delight. "It really is you two! I heard the noise and squeezed through with all my might, afraid I was hearing things. I never imagined it was true."

Hearing the word "squeeze," Wang Mingyi looked back and saw that the surrounding area had turned into a sea of people. How much time had even passed?

People on the outer edges of the crowd were handing out eggs—one per person. Many folks who weren't interested in the spectacle heard about free eggs being given away; how could they resist coming over? In less than five minutes, word spread from ten to a hundred, and the entire area was packed.

Having collected their eggs and heard the commotion inside, they had simply drifted over to watch the excitement.

Wang Mingyi didn't recognize the woman before him. Although her clothes were quite new, they still failed to mask a rustic air—she was clearly nothing more than a rural woman newly arrived in the city and entirely unaccustomed to dressing up.

"Who are you? Why don't I know you?" Wang Mingyi asked her.

The woman smiled and said, "Big Brother Wang has a truly noble memory! When you two got married back then, I was the one who helped decorate the bridal room."