Chapter 1033 Banana People

People are bullied for their kindness, horses are ridden for their gentleness.

In Fan Baobao's view, Zhou Qing's reaction was perfectly fine; if it were her, she might have said even harsher things, without any regard for the so-called face of that girl named Qiaoqiao.

Fan Baobao hadn't always been like this. Although she seemed cold and a bit fierce, she was actually a person of few words. When someone bullied her, Fan Baobao would eventually choose to forgive them.

But as she grew older, especially after being with Zhao Fusheng in recent years, she felt she had changed a lot.

In Zhao Fusheng's words, sometimes people really can't be too kind.

For example, if an older child bullies a younger one harshly, and the younger one fights back, the older child, caught off guard and wary, stops. At that moment, if the younger child also chooses to stop, sooner or later the older child will come to his senses, and then the previous story will repeat itself—the younger child will continue to be bullied, and even when he resists, the other won't care.

After all, the older child is still the older child, with an inherent advantage.

So the real solution is that when a younger child is bullied, he must fight back, and make the older child understand that messing with him means trouble.

That way, when they meet, the older child will at least consider whether it's worth bullying him, whether it's necessary, because everyone, even a child, hates trouble.

Just like Zhou Qing now: if she hadn't spoken harshly, perhaps the mother and daughter would have left with clear consciences, and then every time they met, that Aunt Huiling would keep hurting Zhou Qing and her family.

To be honest, Fan Baobao felt that if Zhao Fusheng were here, that pair of extreme mother and daughter would probably be on the verge of tears.

Her boyfriend's sharp tongue—ha, Fan Baobao knew it well.

"Sister Zhou, you..." Huiling looked at Zhou Qing, quite surprised, never expecting that Zhou Qing, who was usually so good-natured, would speak so rudely.

Originally, she had come to show off, because back then her daughter dating Zhou Qing's son really had no future. Later, if she hadn't followed a black man to America, how would she have met her current boyfriend?

In fact, many bad people are like this. Toward those who have helped them, they might initially feel guilty, but as time passes, to ease their own guilt, they start to constantly hurt those who helped them, as if that allows them to live with a clear conscience.

In the eyes of Huiling and her daughter, although Zhou Qing's family had helped them, that was in the past. Since it was in the past, there was no need to bring it up again.

As for whether their actions would hurt others—sorry, that was not within their consideration.

In the eyes of selfish people, they can only see themselves.

"Aunt Zhou, I know you hold a grudge against me, but feelings can't be forced. I know Zhijie was good to me, but he and I are truly over." The girl named Qiaoqiao glanced at Zhou Qing and said slowly.

Frowning slightly, Fan Baobao felt such a conversation was meaningless.

"You..." Zhou Qing hadn't expected Qiaoqiao to speak like that. The girl who used to timidly call her aunt had indeed changed beyond recognition.

"Um, excuse me, do you work at Citibank, right?"

At that moment, Fan Baobao suddenly spoke to the young man named Zijun.

"What?" He was startled and asked back in English.

"Well, Zijun grew up in America and doesn't understand Chinese." Huiling said, somewhat smugly.

Everyone finally understood—no wonder the mother and daughter were so casual about discussing the past in front of that person; it turned out he was a banana, completely unable to understand Chinese.

"OK, you..." To everyone's surprise, Fan Baobao repeated her question in English.

"Huh?"

Even the colleagues from the People's Art Theatre were stunned, staring at Fan Baobao in amazement. No one expected her English to be so fluent.

Fan Baobao felt secretly pleased, grateful that her English had been good in high school and she hadn't let it slide in college.

The young man named Zijun didn't waste words. Upon hearing Fan Baobao's question, he smiled, nodded, and rattled off a long string of English.

Zhou Qing and the others looked at Fan Baobao with curiosity, clearly waiting for her to translate.

"He does work at Citibank." Fan Baobao shrugged, glancing at the girl named Qiaoqiao. She hadn't expected that woman to actually land a wealthy catch.

"Impressive!"

"He really is a diamond in the rough."

The group began to murmur among themselves. After all, a young man with such high education, good looks, and a great job was undoubtedly in high demand.

"Can you..." Fan Baobao didn't care about that. In her somewhat halting English, she asked the man named Xia Zijun whether their bank accepted stock pledge loans.

She had heard about this from Zhao Fusheng the night before, and on a whim, decided to inquire with this Citibank employee.

Xia Zijun was a bit confused. He was a typical banana—both parents were of Chinese descent, but he had grown up in America and didn't understand Chinese. Meeting Qiaoqiao had been a coincidence. He had thought his girlfriend and future mother-in-law were catching up with an old neighbor, but judging by the atmosphere, something seemed off.

The key issue was that the questions from this inexplicably approaching young woman struck Xia Zijun as odd.

Stock pledge loans?

While this was a novelty in China, it was common practice abroad—as long as you had sufficient collateral and could prove your ability to repay, the bank would lend you money.

But the question was, who was this person?

"Hi! Zijun!"

Just then, someone else approached from a distance. This time, it was a foreigner with blond hair and blue eyes.

"Oh, what's going on, my old friend?" The newcomer spoke in flawless Chinese. First, he hugged Xia Zijun, then turned to Fan Baobao and the others: "Ladies, is there some misunderstanding with my friend? He grew up in America and isn't familiar with the customs here. If he's been inconsiderate in any way, I apologize on his behalf."

Upon hearing his words, Fan Baobao and the others exchanged glances, feeling that something was off.

Indeed, a foreigner with blond hair and blue eyes was speaking fluent Beijing dialect, while a Chinese descendant with yellow skin and black hair couldn't understand a word of Chinese.

Fan Baobao increasingly felt that this meal today was turning out to be quite interesting.