Chapter 21 How could you steal money?

Zhou Xie's face turned even paler. "I...I need to go to the restroom."

Why didn't you turn on the light when you went to the toilet?

"I...I don't know where the light is," he explained softly, his eyes darting around.

"Oh~" Xie Zhizhi responded, drawing out the last syllable.

Zhou Xie thought she believed him, so he got up from the ground and said, "Auntie, you can go out now, I need to go to the toilet."

Xie Zhizhi crossed her arms and, upon hearing this, pursed her lips noncommittally, "I thought you were looking for my clothes to do something naughty!"

Zhou Xie's body tensed up instantly, and then he shook his head desperately, "No, I didn't."

He kept his head down, not daring to meet Xie Zhizhi's gaze.

Because that's really what he intended to do.

Xie Hongchao and Wei Guihua went to see him in advance and told him that Xie Zhizhi had taken back the house, and that he should not let Xie Zhizhi go.

They assumed Xie Zhizhi would live in the compound with Zhou Xie, so they told Zhou Xie, "When you see someone, tell them that she treats you badly, hits you, scolds you, and doesn't give you meat to eat."

Wei Guihua thought for a moment, then said, "Tell others that she's a womanizer, brings random men home, and is immoral."

"You're a child, people will believe what you say."

“She’ll be talked about behind her back then, and she won’t even be able to leave the house. I’d like to see how she can stay in that compound.”

"We can't live here anymore, so the house has to be returned to our family."

Zhou Xie wrote down all of these words. Not only that, he also planned to do something drastic: take Xie Zhizhi's underwear and throw it outside. Then Xie Zhizhi wouldn't be able to explain how her underwear ended up outside, and her husband would definitely beat her to death.

Although Xie Zhizhi didn't live with him in the compound as his parents said, her underwear could be seen everywhere. What would others think of her?

Zhou Xie felt that doing this would still make Xie Zhizhi obediently go back to her hometown.

Just as Xie Zhizhi said, Zhou Xie does have some cleverness.

He probably didn't expect that Xie Zhizhi wasn't such a fool anymore.

There was a man living in the house, and although he was just a child, Xie Zhizhi still took her washed underwear out of the bathroom after taking a shower.

However, Zhou had his back to her and didn't know.

The main issue is that he probably doesn't finish showering and has a habit of washing his underwear on the go.

So when he saw that the bedroom light was off, he groped his way to the bathroom to look for Xie Zhizhi's underwear.

But no matter how much he looked, he couldn't find any underwear, only Xie Zhizhi's patched long-sleeved shirt and trousers.

Seeing that Xie Zhizhi had seen through his plan, Zhou Xie trembled slightly.

Fortunately, Xie Zhizhi didn't press the matter further. Instead, she smiled and closed the bathroom door, saying, "Remember not to go to the toilet in the dark next time. Our toilet is haunted; it especially likes naughty kids, haha..."

After saying these malicious things, Xie Zhizhi saw Zhou Xie's face turn even paler and left the bathroom satisfied.

If Zhou Xie were three to five years older, these words might not be enough.

But this advice is incredibly useful for an eight-year-old.

Of course, just scaring him with a few words is too easy on him.

This child is rotten to the core.

Xie Zhizhi has an even greater reward waiting for him.

Because of this fright, Zhou Xie stopped causing trouble and went to sleep obediently.

Xie Zhizhi also went to sleep.

The next morning, Xie Zhizhi banged on the dishes and pots to get him out of bed, saying, "Get up! Why are you so lazy?"

"Look at the time! How do your parents usually raise you?"

"Get up quickly, make your own bed, and sweep the floor."

“Your parents don’t teach you, but I’m your aunt, so I have to teach you,” Xie Zhizhi said, immediately seizing the moral high ground.

You're so lazy!

Zhou Xie got up from the sofa listlessly.

He didn't want to make the bed, but Xie Zhizhi opened the door. "I don't know who you took after, you're so lazy..."

Xie Zhizhi stood in the doorway with the door open, criticizing him. Zhou Xie, afraid of being looked at strangely, obediently folded the quilt and swept the floor.

Xie Zhizhi found fault with everything he folded, from the blankets he made to the floor he swept: "Your parents really didn't teach you anything. Look at how you folded this blanket."

"It sounds like a chicken pecking at its shell."

“When I was your age, I could cook for the whole family. Unlike you, you can’t even sweep the floor properly. Look at you, look at you…”

As they were talking, Xie Zhizhi saw Wen Jinzhou carrying breakfast upstairs, and she waved to him subtly.

Wen Jinzhou was stunned for a moment, then wisely went downstairs.

Zhou Xie stood in the room, clutching the hem of his clothes, wishing Xie Zhizhi would immediately become mute or collapse and die.

He really disliked this aunt.

If my aunt dies, then her house will belong to their family forever, right?

So my aunt should just die already!

Zhou Xie thought to himself, then pursed his lips and remained silent.

Xie Zhizhi didn't expect him to say anything. As soon as Wen Jinzhou left, she looked at him with a pitying expression and shook her head. "Never mind, I'll teach you slowly later. Go have breakfast now!"

Zhou Xie was indeed hungry; he had eaten vegetables and rice last night.

But when we got to the cafeteria...

"Xiao Xie, did you take my money?"

Xie Zhizhi felt her pockets, both her pants and shirt pockets, but only found two cents.

Zhou Xie “…”

Xie Zhizhi looked sad and upset, and grabbed his arm. "You silly child, do you not want to stay here with me?"

"But your parents didn't want you, so I took you in."

"I don't ask you to repay me, but... how could you steal money?"

Zhou Xie was now truly anxious. The scrutinizing gazes of those around him felt like needles pricking him, making him want to disappear into the ground.

“I didn’t,” he struggled to shout.

Xie Zhizhi glanced at him sadly, chose to "forgive" him, and gave the two cents to the cook at the window. "We don't want meat buns and eggs anymore, just two vegetable buns and two bowls of tofu pudding, savory."

Zhou Xie's eyes were filled with hatred as he stared intently at Xie Zhizhi's back, as if he wanted to pierce a hole through it.

The cook serving Xie Zhizhi's food passed right past Xie Zhizhi and could just see the murderous look in his eyes.

Upon seeing this, the cook couldn't help but ask Xie Zhizhi, "Comrade, is this child your relative?"

Xie Zhizhi, with a kind and gentle demeanor, said, "Yes, he's my nephew."

"But I'm taking care of it now."

“My brother and sister-in-law said that conditions in the countryside were not good, and that my husband was a regimental commander who had been allocated a house in the provincial capital, so they gave him to me.”

The cook listened, glanced at Zhou Xie again, his eyes red, and kindly advised, "You can't judge a book by its cover; your own child is always the best."

"Hit me, scold me, it'll only make me cry for a while, and then I'll forget about it."

Upon hearing this, Xie Zhizhi looked exhausted and nodded in agreement, "Yes!"

She glanced back at Zhou Xie, whose eyes were red, then turned away again, wanting to say something but then fell silent. She simply took the steamed buns and tofu pudding and led Zhou Xie away.

The cook who was getting the steamed buns immediately started talking to his colleague next to him, "If this kid were my child, I would have kicked him over if he stole money. Look at the way he looks at me, like he wants to eat me alive. He's so spoiled."

Zhou Xie, who was following behind Xie Zhizhi, unconsciously slumped his shoulders.