Chapter Seventy-Eight: Heart Without Cunning
Go once a month?
"So you brought things over every month, I mean food." Back then, every month, kind-hearted people in the community donated food and books, including those for teachers, and they were packed separately. The books and food were things I usually liked, and sometimes there were also some commonly used medicines. At the time, Chu Zhen was indifferent to me, so I didn't think about it at all. I also asked the village chief which kind person donated the things, but the village chief only said that the donor did not leave a name.
"When I went there, I saw you had lost a lot of weight. You're someone who doesn't eat much even in the city, let alone in the mountains. Seeing you like that, I couldn't bear it. I would bring you some things each time, just for you, afraid you'd become suspicious, so I used the school as an excuse, but it didn't seem to have much effect on you. But recently you've gained quite a bit of weight, your face is round now." Chu Zhen kept putting meat into my bowl. "Eat more, it's rare for you to have an appetite. Once you get home, your aunt and uncle will strictly control your diet again."
It turns out that Chu Zhen has always been thinking of me and caring about me all along. No matter where I am, he always takes care of me meticulously. I always thought I was independent enough, but I have never been without Chu Zhen's help.
"By the way, did I really video chat with you that time I was drunk? I have no recollection of it at all."
"You and Huang Yanyan must have been drunk and wanted to see me. The two of you kept praising my looks in the video, which made me feel really embarrassed. You two are so naive and have no sense of caution at all. You were completely drunk. If I hadn't taken you home, I don't know what might have happened to you that night."
It's terrifying to think about. If it weren't for Chu Zhen, we really wouldn't know what we would have faced that night.
I indulged a bit today, and I let out a satisfied burp.
"Chu Zhen, let's go for a walk every day from now on. I saw on the forum that more exercise helps with a smooth delivery."
"I bet you're not really here for the bar, you just want to get something to eat!"
"You're so boring, I had to expose you!"
Chu Zhen held my hand tightly and put it in his coat pocket. I felt warm all over, and suddenly something wet dripped onto my face.
"It's snowing!" I didn't expect it to snow today, and it's a heavy snowfall. I reached out and caught the snowflakes, watching them slowly melt in my palm.
I wanted to break free from Chu Zhen's hand and throw myself into the snowflakes, but Chu Zhen held my hand tightly.
"Behave yourself, you're pregnant with a girl~"
I have no choice but to compromise.
"Lin Dang, lift your head~" Not knowing what Chu Zhen was going to do, I looked up at him, but he leaned down and kissed me, just like that kiss in the snow all those years ago. I hugged Chu Zhen tightly, greedily enjoying the kiss, until we were both almost suffocating before reluctantly letting go.
"Little vixen, no more kisses." Chu Zhen pinched my nose, hailed a taxi and went home. Originally, a walk in the snow was romantic, but the roads were slippery after the snow, so I had to be careful in every way.
Working at the TV station, I was mainly responsible for editing and organizing materials. The physical work, such as going out for interviews, was done by other colleagues. Everyone treated me like a giant panda. However, after the dinner party that night, most of the colleagues changed how they addressed Chu Zhen. Everyone felt that "Boss" sounded more friendly and made the whole team more cohesive. Chu Zhen didn't object, but some of the newcomers still called him Teacher Chu, and were somewhat afraid of him.
Chu Zhen has never given up his undercover investigations into food safety and hygiene. While watered-down pork and ractopamine-laced pork hadn't surfaced for a while, they've recently reappeared in the market, prompting numerous complaints from citizens. The health bureau has begun taking action, but the vendors seem to always have inside information, leaving the health bureau empty-handed several times. Chu Zhen outwardly put the undercover investigations on hold, but secretly he continues his efforts.
"Lin Dang, the thief who stole Grandma's things has been caught. I'm going to the police station to film this afternoon. Do you want to come along?" Recently, Chu Zhen has been busy at noon, so I've been eating with Song Ji-hyo.
"Okay, have you gotten the money back yet?"
"The money wasn't recovered; they said it was all spent. However, everyone feels for Grandma's hardships, so the community held a fundraiser, the police station also donated some money, and our department raised some funds on our own behalf. We don't know exactly how much money Grandma is missing, so we can only try our best to compensate her for her losses."
In the afternoon, I went to the police station with Song Ji-hyo. The thief was not very old. I don't know where he heard that Grandma had received a large sum of compensation. The old lady always likes to keep cash at home and does not like to put it in the bank, so he took the risk to go and take a look. In the end, he searched the whole place but could not find it. Finally, he found 20,000 won in the closet.
Fortunately, it was only 20,000. We calculated that the total amount of donations was 16,000. I put another 4,000 into it. To comfort my grandmother, I could only tell her that the money had been recovered.
When Song Ji-hyo and I arrived at Grandma's house, she was leaning against the door frame, staring blankly at the end of the alley.
"You've arrived!" Grandma remembered me.
"Grandma, I have good news for you. The thief has been caught, and all the money he stole from you has been found." I handed Grandma an envelope containing 20,000 yuan.
Grandma opened the envelope, looked at it again and again, and counted it over and over.
"No, I can't take this money." Grandma stuffed the envelope back into my hand. "This isn't my money. I remember my money. It's money I saved up little by little over the years. There are ten-yuan notes, twenty-yuan notes, and even one-yuan notes. These are all hundred-yuan bills."
This is something we didn't expect.
"Grandma, please accept this. It's a token of everyone's goodwill. We're really sorry, the thief has been caught, but your money has already been spent. This is a donation from some kind-hearted people in the community, just doing our part." I had a conversation with my grandma before the New Year. She's a reasonable old woman, and it would be better to tell the truth.
"Thank you, child. Please also thank all the kind people in society for me. I've been thinking these past few days that this is the first time my house has been burgled in my eighty-plus years of life. It must be retribution for my son's wrongdoing."
“Don’t think like that. By the way, Grandma, was there anything unusual about your son before the car accident?” Song Ji-hyo asked.
“Unusual? I didn’t notice much. Oh, right, just a few days before the car accident, he suddenly apologized to me, saying he was unfilial and such. I thought he wanted to turn over a new leaf.”
"Why do you find these words strange?" Song Ji-hyo seemed to have found a breakthrough and continued to press.
“He’s a rebellious wretch. He doesn’t talk about these things normally. It’s hard to get him to sit down and say a word. Girl, is there something wrong with your question?” Although Grandma was old, she was not confused and immediately sensed that something was wrong with the question.
"No problem, I work in journalism, so I have an industry sensitivity to this."
We spent some time with Grandma, chatting casually without mentioning the car accident again. Today was already a fruitful day; at least we are more certain that it was definitely not an accident.
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