Chapter 66
"Aunt Yang, why do you look at me like that?"
When she said this, Nan Nan's expression looked perfectly normal, except that her face looked a little pale and there were water droplets on her forehead.
Yao Yao asked in a complicated tone, "Nan Nan, why are you only coming back now?"
Nan Nan's eyes flickered, and she said with a smile, "I don't know what I ate today, but I think I have diarrhea. I've been in the toilet the whole time... By the way, why have you guys been urging me to come back? Did something happen?"
Qingqing, being an impatient person, blurted out, "Yaoyao had a gold bracelet swapped with a fake one in her bag, and she suspects it was done by someone else in our dorm! Did you know about this?"
Nan Nan looked at Yao Yao in surprise and said, "Did something like that happen?"
After saying that, she shook her head and said, "I didn't know about this. But Yao Yao, when did you get a gold bracelet? Why didn't you tell us?" She looked at Yao Yao.
Yao Yao said, "I didn't know before. This is my aunt's bracelet. She gave me this bag to use before, and accidentally put the bracelet in this bag as well. I brought it to school with me... She only remembered it today and came to look for it. I didn't expect that the bracelet she found was fake."
Nan Nan asked, "Was it a counterfeit when you bought it?"
Yao Yao shook her head and said, "Impossible. This bracelet was a gift from my sister-in-law to my aunt. My sister-in-law is rich and wouldn't buy fakes! Besides, this bracelet was bought in a physical store, so it's even less likely to be fake."
Nan Nan looked at the others and said, "But none of us took any."
Qingqing and the other girl nodded in agreement. Qingqing's expression remained indignant as she glared at Xu Gui, clearly displeased that he had questioned their character.
Seeing her three roommates' reactions, Yao Yao couldn't help but look embarrassed. She couldn't help but look at Xu Gui and the others with pleading eyes—she really didn't want to think badly of her roommates, and she didn't know how to argue with them about this.
She went to see Grandma Qiaoqiao, and Grandma Qiaoqiao went to see Xu Gui.
“Since we say that, it’s because we have a way to determine who switched the bracelet.” Xu Gui smiled knowingly, took the bracelet, and asked, “Do you think that person left their fingerprints on this when they switched the bracelet?”
The expressions on the faces of some people present changed.
Xu Gui looked at her and said, "With technology so advanced now, as long as we have a professional test it, we can definitely determine who the fingerprint belongs to. What do you think, Nan Nan?"
Nan Nan's expression changed drastically when she was suddenly called out, and everyone else in the dormitory turned their attention to her when they heard Xu Gui's words.
"Nan Nan, did you do this?" Qing Qing blurted out.
Nan Nan's face turned deathly pale, and she instinctively denied it, saying, "It wasn't me! I didn't do that! I didn't do it!"
But when she said this, she couldn't hide the panic and guilt on her face—she was still young after all, and she probably couldn't get over what she had done. So when the matter was brought up, the expression on her face almost immediately betrayed her.
She looked at her with slight disappointment and said, "Nan Nan, is it really you..."
"It really wasn't me." Nan Nan was still being stubborn, even though cold sweat was pouring down her forehead, she still insisted that she didn't do it and refused to admit it.
In her panic, her gaze met Xu Gui's calm eyes, and her heart tightened suddenly. She almost hastily looked away from Xu Gui's gaze.
Yao Yao looked at her, but suddenly remembered something.
"...I remember, for a period of time, Nan Nan, you suddenly became very wealthy," she said.
When she mentioned it, the other two remembered that there seemed to be such a thing, something that happened about a year ago.
Compared to the other three, Nan Nan's family was less well-off. She received her tuition through a special program, and her monthly living expenses were very limited. She had to work part-time to supplement her income. Even so, she was never financially comfortable and was always strapped for cash when it came to food, clothing, and transportation.
But for a period of time a year ago, she suddenly became generous. She no longer always refused to go out to eat with them, and she bought several new outfits. It is said that she has also paid off her student loans.
At the time, Yao Yao and the others found it strange and asked Nan Nan about it. Nan Nan explained that an elder in her hometown had passed away, and since the elder had no children, the inheritance was left to her parents, so her living expenses had increased.
Upon hearing this, Yao Yao and the others were amazed by the good luck of the Nan family. Apart from finding the whole thing too dramatic, they didn't think much of it.
But now that I think about it, something seems off. The main problem is that she seems to be short of money again this year. How can someone suddenly have money and then suddenly be broke?
Qingqing, still with her fiery temper, asked bluntly, "So, the money you used to pay off your student loan came from selling Yaoyao's aunt's gold bracelet?"
Nan Nan's face turned pale and then red, but she still insisted, "That's not how it is..." But this time, her tone was weaker and she didn't have the confidence she had before.
Seeing her stubbornness, Xu Gui could only say, "If you don't admit it, then we'll have to call the police."
She calmly stated a fact to Nan Nan: "This bracelet was originally bought for 80,000, and now it has at least doubled in value, to 160,000. For something of this value... if the police are called and it is determined to be theft, you will go to jail."
"..."
Upon hearing the words "jail," Nan Nan's face drained of color instantly. Finally, as Xu Gui picked up his phone to call the police, she seemed to give up, ceasing her denials and acquiescing, "No, don't call the police. I admit it. This was... I did it..."
She spoke for a long time, and when she finished, it was as if she had exhausted all the strength in her body. As tears rolled down her cheeks, she slumped down to her knees on the ground.
Yao Yao still found it unbelievable, and she couldn't help but ask, "Why? Why did you do this?"
Nan Nan looked ashamed and avoided Yao Yao's gaze, saying, "I... I didn't want to do this, but... but I'm really fed up with not having any money..."
She looked at Yao Yao and the others, shook her head sadly, and said, "All three of you come from wealthy families. You don't have to do anything; your families give you enough living expenses to squander as you please. You have no idea what it feels like to be poor!"
"As for me, I work myself to the bone every day to support myself through school. I have to go out to work whenever I have time, and I don't have any time to rest at all. But even so, I still can't spend money as generously as you guys!"
"You can use the money your families give you to go shopping, buy things, and eat whatever you want, while I have to be frugal even to eat a meal in the cafeteria. If I'm going to go out to eat with you, I have to carefully calculate whether the money left over after the meal will be enough to support my life from now on..."
Do you know how envious I am of you?
Compared to the other three, she looked so pathetic and destitute. She wanted to spend money and eat and drink as she pleased, just like the others. So when she discovered a gold bracelet in the bag that Yao Yao had stuffed into the gap of the closet like garbage, she had a wicked thought.
She had actually tried to probe Yao Yao, subtly asking if she knew if there was anything in the bag, but Yao Yao obviously didn't know.
From then on, evil thoughts took root in her heart like vines, growing continuously until she took that step—she secretly took out the bracelet, found a gold shop, sold it, and then found a gold-plated silver shop to order an identical bracelet, which she then secretly put back.
She was actually very nervous while doing these things, and even for a long time afterward, she felt terrified.
However, as a month and two months passed and the matter remained undiscovered, she gradually felt at ease and finally began to use the money.
This was the first time she had discovered that spending money could be such a joyful thing. She no longer had to be stingy with her money, and when she went out with the other three, she no longer had to feel inferior as before, being pitied by them for saying "they're paying." She could finally eat and go shopping with them generously.
Even though she stole all of this.
Nan Nan closed her eyes. It seemed to have taken all her strength to talk about these things. She lowered her head and pleaded, "I really didn't mean to do this. I was just too jealous and envious of you... Yao Yao, please don't call the police. If you call the police, my life will be ruined."
She looked up at Yao Yao pleadingly, "If my parents find out, they'll beat me to death! Yao Yao..."
Yao Yao looked helpless, feeling sorry for her but also thinking that she had done something wrong. She couldn't help but look at Grandma Qiao Qiao.
Grandma Qiao frowned and said, "Perhaps what I'm saying will make you think I'm out of touch with reality, but poverty and jealousy are not reasons for you to steal. No matter what, stealing is stealing, and no matter how many reasons you have, you can't beautify your behavior!"
Upon hearing this, Nan Nan looked embarrassed and lowered her head.
The other two roommates had long since fallen silent. They were still in a daze, completely unable to believe that Nan Nan had done such a thing, even though they had always sworn that none of them were the kind of people who would do such a dirty thing.
Among them, Qingqing was particularly devastated. She was impatient and her emotions were the most intense and straightforward. At this moment, she looked at Nannan with disappointment, her eyes red.
"Auntie, are you going to call the police?" Yao Yao couldn't help but ask.
Xu Gui also looked at Grandma Qiao Qiao with curiosity—things had come to this point and her involvement was no longer necessary, and she was also very curious about what Grandma Qiao Qiao would do.
Grandma Qiao looked at Nan Nan with a frown, seemingly lost in thought.
Finally, under the trembling gazes of the others, Grandma Qiaoqiao spoke up. She said, "I can let this matter go unreported to the police and not hold you responsible. However, you must sign an IOU, as if this money is a loan from me to you!"
She looked at Yao Yao: "Yao Yao, give me a pen and a notebook!"
Yao Yao nodded, took three steps at a time to her seat, picked up a pen and a notebook, and handed them to Grandma Qiao Qiao. Grandma Qiao Qiao sat down at the table and wrote something in the notebook.
She wrote two pages in total. After she finished writing, she tore off the two pages and handed them to Nan Nan.
"Here's an IOU, sign it!" Grandma Qiao said. "That bracelet is worth 160,000 now, but I won't charge you that much, I'll just charge you 100,000..."
“I won’t ask you to pay me back while you’re studying, but once you graduate and start working, you’ll need to pay me back at least two thousand yuan a month! That will continue until you’ve paid it all back.”
She looked at Nan Nan and asked, "So, can you do it?"
Nan Nan's expression changed. She looked at Grandma Qiao Qiao and asked, "Aunt Yang, what will you do if I don't sign?"
Grandma Qiao said without hesitation, "I will call the police!"
"..."
Nan Nan took a breath, picked up a pen and paper, stood up, placed the IOU on the table, wrote her name on it, signed both copies, and then handed the IOU to Grandma Qiao Qiao.
Grandma Qiao glanced at the IOU, accepted it, and then told her to keep one of the two copies for herself.
She looked at Nan Nan, who was holding the IOU and staring blankly, and said, "I've been poor before, I know what poverty feels like, and I know that poverty can change a person beyond recognition, but..."
"But, Nan Nan, I want to tell you that you can be poor in many ways, but you must never be poor in your integrity, and you must never lose your bottom line because of poverty. Without your bottom line and without your integrity, you will become less and less like yourself!"
Grandma Qiao said earnestly, "Nan Nan, I don't blame you for this. You're still young and have a bright future ahead of you. I don't want you to become a person of low character, someone you'll despise when you think back on it! I hope you can become an outstanding person!"
"This IOU isn't meant to be humiliating. I just hope that every time you see it, it will remind you what you should and shouldn't do. Do you understand?"
That's the real reason she made Nan Nan write this IOU—not to humiliate or belittle her, but to persuade her.
Nan Nan listened to her earnest words, her expression blank. When Grandma Qiao Qiao finished speaking, tears streamed down her face.
“I’m sorry, Aunt Yang…” she choked out, covering her face with her hands, and said, “I was just blinded by greed at the time, I don’t know why I did it.”
At that time, she was like a woman possessed. For a long time, she couldn't stop thinking about the bracelet. When she came to her senses, she had already taken the card and sold the bracelet.
She cried, "I'm sorry, Aunt Yang..."
Grandma Qiao sighed, stepped forward, and hugged Nannan, saying, "It's okay, Aunt Yang doesn't blame you. Aunt Yang knows you're a good child. As the saying goes, 'To err is human, to forgive divine.' As long as you correct your mistakes in the future, you'll still be a good child."
Nan Nan nodded through her tears.
"Alright, this matter is settled." Grandma Qiao patted her back and said in a relaxed tone. She smiled and looked at the others, "Don't keep a long face and be unhappy... Yao Yao, I'll transfer you some money later. Take your friends out for a meal. It's on me."
As she spoke, she looked at Nan Nan and said, "Nan Nan, you should come along too."
Nan Nan looked up with teary eyes, and Grandma Qiao Qiao smiled and said, "Aren't you friends? You're also in the same dormitory, so of course you should eat together...right, Yao Yao?"
She asked her niece.
Yao Yao snapped out of her daze and quickly hugged Nan Nan's shoulder, saying, "Yes, we're friends, so we'll definitely go out to eat together!"
Nan Nan pursed her lips, her face showing a hint of emotion, but the more moved she was, the more embarrassed she felt.
After Grandma Qiao finished speaking, she took out her phone and transferred three thousand yuan to Yao Yao right in front of her. After the transfer, she didn't stay long. She said a few words and left with Xu Gui. Yao Yao hurriedly followed, saying, "Auntie, let me see you downstairs!"
The three of them left, leaving only the other three in the dormitory. They looked at each other, none of them speaking first, and the atmosphere in the room was somewhat awkward and quiet.
Having just been exposed for stealing, Nan Nan felt ashamed and embarrassed to speak; the other two, on the other hand, didn't know what to say to her and hesitated to speak.
Before the two could even begin to discuss what to say, the dormitory door was opened and then closed again; it turned out that Nan Nan had gone out.
The remaining two roommates breathed a sigh of relief.
Of course, it wasn't because they had any issues with Nan Nan; they were simply too embarrassed and didn't know what to say to break the ice.
“I really didn’t expect it to be Nan Nan…” Qingqing said. “I thought Yao Yao’s aunt had made a mistake and that the bracelet was fake from the beginning.”
Xiao Xiao nodded, "That's what I think too."
The four girls in their dorm had gotten along very well over the past two years, and they had a good relationship, so they found the truth of this matter the hardest to accept.
Even now, they still find it somewhat unbelievable.
How could it be Nan Nan?
The two roommates exchanged a glance, and then sighed in unison, their feelings quite complicated.
...
As they descended the stairs, the footsteps of Xu Gui and his two companions echoed in the stairwell.
"Auntie, I'm so sorry, it's all my fault for not paying attention." Yao Yao said with some self-reproach, "If I had noticed earlier that your bracelet was in your bag, this wouldn't have happened."
Grandma Qiao disagreed, saying, "If we follow your logic, then I'm also at fault. If I hadn't forgotten about the bracelet after putting it in my bag, if I had been more careful, this wouldn't have happened in the first place!"
Yao Yao: "Auntie..."
Grandma Qiao looked at her and smiled, "Yaoyao, this was all an accident, no one is to blame."
Yao Yao was touched.
When they got downstairs, Xu Gui and the others were about to leave. Yao Yao stood there, looking at her aunt, hesitant to speak.
“Auntie, I apologize to you on Nan Nan’s behalf. Please don’t be angry with her…” Yao Yao finally couldn’t hold back and spoke up. “She must have been out of her mind at the time, and that’s why she did such a thing.”
She said earnestly, "Actually, Nan Nan is a very good person. She has a good personality, good grades, and is very good to me... She really is a very good girl."
Seeing how anxious she was to explain for her friend, Grandma Qiao smiled and said, "Don't worry, I'm not angry with her... It's precisely because I think she's a good person at heart that I didn't call the police and am willing to give her a chance to change."
Yao Yao looked at her in surprise.
Grandma Qiaoqiao chuckled and said, "Otherwise, why do you think I didn't call the police? Is it because I'm a pushover?"
Xu Gui also listened with curiosity.
Grandma Qiao sighed and said with a complicated expression, "She's only twenty years old. Twenty is so young, that's why I wanted to give her a chance to change."
Most importantly, she had met Nan Nan before and knew that he was actually a good kid.
Perhaps because of what she did, the other party treated Yao Yao exceptionally well. Sometimes, even Grandma Qiao Qiao felt that she was being too kind to Yao Yao.
At the time, Grandma Qiao didn't know what was going on and just thought the two of them got along well. Now it seems that it was probably because Nan Nan had done something wrong and felt guilty, so she tried to make amends.
"Alright, I'm really not angry. You can go back now, and we should go back too!" said Grandma Qiaoqiao.
Yao Yao nodded.
After leaving the school, Xu Gui will part ways with Qiao Qiao's grandmother and go home separately.
Grandma Qiao looked at Xu Gui gratefully and said, "Little Turtle, I'm really sorry to have troubled you with this today. Otherwise, I really wouldn't have been able to determine which student switched my bracelet."
Xu Gui: "It's okay, I'm a good person." Yes, she's a good turtle.
"Little Turtle!" Grandma Qiaoqiao stood there but didn't leave. The one who seemed to want to say something before was her niece, but now it was her who seemed to want to say something again.
Xu Gui looked at her and quickly said, "I can't tell you what I talked about with Miss Xue today!"
Grandma Qiao chuckled and said, "You really are a fortune teller. You knew what I was going to ask before I even opened my mouth... Sigh, alright, if you won't tell me, then I won't ask. But I just want to know, is my Qiao Qiao alright?"
Xu Gui shook his head, "Don't worry, she'll be fine."
“Okay,” Grandma Qiao smiled, “I’m relieved to hear that. I was worried that something might have happened to my Qiao Qiao.”
As the saying goes, the eldest grandson is the lifeblood of his grandparents, and this saying also applies to the eldest granddaughter. Qiaoqiao's grandma is most worried about her granddaughter Qiaoqiao.
Now that Xu Gui said the child would be alright, she felt a little more at ease, even though she was still worried.
"Oh, my car is here... Little Turtle, thank you so much for this. Come to my house for dinner next time, Auntie will make you sweet and sour pork!" She said to Xu Gui with a smile before getting into her car and driving away.
Xu Gui watched her leave, then stretched.
Having done a good deed, she now feels like a turtle brimming with merit! If the Third Elder saw this, he would surely feel as if his entire body was radiating golden light of merit.
The turtle, who considered herself to have done many good deeds, was riding back to the hotel when, before getting out of the car, she glanced at the driver in the driver's seat and, adhering to the principle of doing good deeds for the day, reminded him:
"If you see anything interesting on the roadside later, you can get out of the car and take a look. It will bring you good luck."
The taxi driver looked completely bewildered.
What surprised the driver the most was that when he drove back, he actually saw a lot of people gathered on the roadside, as if something had happened.
Just then, a message about a new order came through on his phone. More than the excitement, the driver wanted to make money, but then he suddenly remembered Xu Gui's words.
"Anyway, getting out of the car to take a look won't take more than a few minutes..." the driver thought, unbuckled his seatbelt, got out of the car, and ran into the crowd.
When he got there, he realized there had been a car accident. He listened for a moment and found that a pedestrian riding an electric scooter had been hit by a car, and the vehicle that caused the accident had fled the scene.
"Have you called the police? Have you called emergency services?"
"I called... but I don't think this person is in good condition. I'm afraid he'll die before the ambulance arrives."
"Oh, what should we do then? Should we ask if there are any doctors or nurses? Or, is there anyone with a car who can take her to the hospital?"
"..."
A large group of onlookers fell silent. In the quiet, someone muttered, "What if I take her to the hospital and they try to extort money from me?"
"..."
The driver listened for a moment and understood. He peeked inside, intending to just take a look and leave, but just as the person in his field of vision walked away, the face of the victim lying on the ground came into his view.
The driver's eyes suddenly widened.
"Make way! Make way!" He pushed aside the group of people blocking his way, rushed inside, and knelt down to check on the victim's condition.
Upon seeing that she was unconscious, he reached out and picked her up, intending to take her to the hospital immediately.
The onlookers, seeing his actions, couldn't help but admire him, saying, "Brother, you're a true hero! Aren't you afraid of being extorted?"
The driver was furious: "Trying to extort my ass! This is my wife!!"
Crowd: ?!
The two punctuation marks perfectly captured the emotional shifts of the passersby: first confusion, then shock.
How could there be such a coincidence in this world?
Hearing the whispers behind him, only one thought flashed through the driver's mind:
It's not a coincidence.
Only he knew that this was no coincidence. If he hadn't suddenly gotten out of the car to see what was going on, he would never have realized that the person in the accident was his own wife.
But the reason he got out of the car to watch the commotion was because of something that passenger had said earlier...
Driver: Hey, that's amazing!
Could that person be a deity?
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