Xiu Juan's and her husband's fight, worthy of a Wudang martial arts showcase, could be hidden from their family, but by the next day, everybody outside was secretly spreading the word. There were all sorts of stories; Ye's mother couldn't stay out of the loop when she was out and about.
In the evening, when she returned home, Ye's father was wearing an apron and stir-frying dishes, while Ye's mother helped by picking vegetables on the side. It was inevitable that she brought up the incident as a joke to tell Ye's father, "That Xiu Juan is no longer young, but she still has such a temper. I heard she beat her man until his head was bleeding, they even called an ambulance, and the police showed up too."
"Seriously? An ambulance and the police, that's quite the commotion. We're just next door, how come we didn't hear anything?" Ye's father was skeptical.
"Have you forgotten? We weren't home yesterday afternoon, we went out shopping for clothes with your son-in-law, remember?"
