Chapter 93
The door to their room was ajar but not locked.
Aunt Xie pushed the door open and walked in, muttering, "Why lock the door? We're all from the same family, why should we lock it?"
Aunt Xie began to search the room.
Her movements were very gentle, and she put things back in their original places as she rummaged through them, aiming to prevent anyone from noticing that she had entered the room and searched through them.
Usually, Aunt Xie goes to buy groceries for our family.
Aunt Xie would always take the opportunity to go shopping for groceries and chat with others, and would hang out outside until it was time to make lunch before coming back.
Ever since Yao Hong only gave her ten yuan for household expenses every month, Aunt Xie no longer liked to go out to buy groceries. She would ask Zhong Lan to go out to buy them from time to time, and the money she gave to Zhong Lan for buying groceries was often not enough, so Zhong Lan had to pay for it herself.
Aunt Xie did the same today.
But Aunt Xie had another purpose in sending Zhong Lan out to buy groceries today, which was to see where Zhong Lan hid the money Yao Hong gave her.
Aunt Xie still can't get over it. Why did Yao Hong give the money to Zhong Lan? Does Zhong Lan look like she knows how to manage money? She's the head of the family, and she should be in charge of the family's money, just like before!
Aunt Xie searched every place in the room, including the wardrobe, desk, and even the quilt on the bed, but she didn't find a single penny.
Aunt Xie was unwilling to accept this. The room was so small, where else could Zhong Lan hide the money?
Aunt Xie searched the room twice more but still found nothing. Finally, she had no choice but to leave.
When she went out, she didn't forget to leave the door ajar to the same degree as when she came in.
After Aunt Xie finished washing the clothes and hung them out to dry, she sat in the house for a while before Zhong Lan came back carrying a bamboo basket.
Aunt Xie complained when she saw Zhong Lan, "Why did you take so long? You were hanging out outside on purpose, didn't you want to come back early?"
"Look at what you're saying, Mom. What's the point of hanging around outside when it's so cold? There were so many people in the supply and marketing cooperative that I had to wait in line for a long time before I could buy any meat. I bought a pound of pork, some cabbage, radishes, and potatoes. It cost me 87 cents in total, and I paid 37 cents myself."
"Okay, I'll remember it. I'll give it to you together next time." Aunt Xie said, and the answer went in one ear and out the other.
Zhong Lan put the vegetables she bought in the kitchen one by one and went to her room.
Seeing the half-open door, Zhong Lan turned around and looked at Aunt Xie.
Aunt Xie was originally secretly observing whether Zhong Lan had noticed that she had entered their room. When she saw Zhong Lan looking back at her, Aunt Xie immediately shifted her gaze guiltily, as if she was looking elsewhere out of boredom.
"Mom, I'll clean up and make lunch." Zhong Lan said to Aunt Xie with a faint smile.
Aunt Xie said "hmm" coldly.
Zhong Lan pushed the door open and closed it.
Aunt Xie looked back at the closed door and thought: Zhong Lan probably didn't notice that she had entered their room.
After closing the door, Zhong Lan looked around the room and soon discovered that the angles of the things on the table were slightly different from when she left.
In fact, she was not usually so careful, but because Aunt Xie's attitude when she asked her to go out to buy vegetables was a little abnormal today, she was particularly careful.
It seems that Aunt Xie must have entered their room after she left home.
Aunt Xie rarely entered their room, mainly because she was too lazy to take care of their house. Today, she was unusually asking her to go out to buy groceries and sneak into their room. Could it be because of the money Yao Hong gave her?
Apart from this, Zhong Lan really couldn't think of any other reason why Aunt Xie wanted to enter their house.
Zhong Lan opened the wardrobe and pulled out a piece of clothing from a pile of clothes. The piece was made up of three thick clothes put together. Zhong Lan took out the cowhide envelope and small notebook hidden in the pocket of the middle thick coat.
In the leather envelope was the money Yao Hong gave her every month. She counted it and found it wasn't missing.
Zhong Lan breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that Aunt Xie didn't find where she hid the money.
She put the money and notebook back in their original places, put on her clothes, put them away, closed the wardrobe door, and then left the room.
Aunt Xie was still sitting there, looking away. Zhong Lan walked past her, went into the kitchen, and started preparing lunch.
Aunt Xie sneered in her heart: He has been lingering in the house for so long, could he be checking if there is anything missing?
By the way, where did this little girl hide the money?
Aunt Xie usually hides her money in the cotton wool under her pillow. She doesn't believe that Zhong Lan can hide money better than her.
What's more, she searched Zhong Lan's house three times but couldn't find the money.
Could it be that Zhong Lan carries that money with her?
Or, did Zhong Lan lose the money?! Or, did Zhong Lan take the money back to her parents' home?!
The more Aunt Xie thought about it, the more she felt that her last two guesses were very likely!
She had known for a long time that Zhong Lan couldn't be the one to manage the family's money! Zhong Lan wasn't the type to manage money at all! When Yao Hong came back, she would definitely have a good talk with him!
So, at noon, at the lunch table, Aunt Xie looked at Yao Hong while eating and spoke.
"Hong'er, how much money have you given your wife in the past few months?"
Zhong Lan ate with her eyes downcast, without any reaction.
Yao Hong swallowed the food in his mouth, calculated in his mind, and said, "Twenty-four yuan."
Aunt Xie continued, "Are you sure Zhong Lan really has 24 yuan in her hand? Maybe she doesn't have that much money at all?"
Yao Hong looked at Aunt Xie and then at Zhong Lan in confusion.
Zhong Lan looked up at Aunt Xie and said, "Mom, shouldn't you know best that I don't even have twenty-four yuan on hand?"
Yao Hong became even more confused.
Aunt Xie sneered, "How would I know how much money you have? You and your wife didn't give me any money, and you didn't tell me how much you spent or how much you secretly gave to your parents."
"When did I give money to my parents or spend money outside? Please don't say anything nonsense, Mom." Zhong Lan looked more serious.
"Whether I said anything wrong or not, you can find out if you take out the money Honger gave you and let him count it." Aunt Xie said disdainfully.
"Okay, I'll get it now." Zhong Lan stood up.
Aunt Xie looked at Zhong Lan walking towards the room, and she didn't feel nervous at all.
Not long after, Zhong Lan came out with a brown envelope and a small notebook.
She handed the manila envelope to Yao Hong: "The money you give me every month is all in it, a total of twenty-three yuan and two cents."
Yao Hong counted it and found that it was indeed twenty-three yuan and two cents.
He asked, "Why is there 98 cents missing? What did you buy?"
"I went grocery shopping. Including today, I've gone grocery shopping four times in total, and the money Mom gave me was never enough. I paid for the shortfall." Zhong Lan opened her little notebook and read out the accounts one by one: "On December 7th, Mom asked me to buy groceries, and I paid 12 cents in advance; on December 18th, Mom asked me to buy groceries, and I paid 23 cents in advance; on December 23rd, Mom asked me to buy groceries, and I paid 26 cents in advance. And today, Mom gave me 50 cents to buy meat and vegetables, and I paid 37 cents in advance."
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