Chapter 316
One day at lunch, he gave her a piece of fabric, which was off-white with white butterflies on it.
She touched the material and said, "This is so expensive, why did you buy this?"
"It's a gift for you. If you don't like it, I've made an agreement with the store and you can exchange it for something else."
"No, this kind of material is not cheap, I can return it."
"No, I'm just afraid you might say that. The store said they won't take returns."
"Really? Where is the money?"
He smiled and said, "Don't worry, we're very well off lately. I found a tutoring job at Hennessy."
She said, "That must be tiring. Don't do part-time work."
"I only teach middle school students, three times a week. It's not tiring at all. I'm planning to find another job."
"No, no, then you won't have time to accompany me." She didn't want him to work too hard.
Wang Jiazhi's father's living expenses were erratic, and the amount each time she sent them was less and less. Not only was she frugal with her clothes, but even her food was a struggle. Eating meat once a week was considered a luxury, and even that wasn't great. They were inseparable now, eating together, all paid for by him, of course. But he was only better off than she, and he couldn't possibly afford to support two people.
They always had two dishes, and she would always eat the better ones, while he would only eat a little. She would secretly slip money into his clothes, and he would always give it back. This happened many times, but he just wouldn't take it. If she didn't eat the food, he would rather not eat it and waste it, but he would make her eat it.
“I feel like I’m a parasite.”
She said this again with great self-blame, and then she said the same thing every time: "What's mine is yours, you use your own, you earn your own living."
"I hate you."
"Don't you love me? Don't you want to admit that what's yours is mine and what's mine is yours?"
Then there was that pitiful look of tears welling up in his eyes. There was really nothing I could do.
Wang Jiazhi decided that in order to improve their living conditions, she would also go out to work part-time and must get a scholarship.
He obviously saw what she was thinking and said, "It's hard to find a job nowadays. I can just work part-time. Then you won't have time to accompany me."
"Hate it, you have to say it all."
She rested her head on his shoulder. Yes, they would eat next to each other, not face to face across the table like most couples.
She whimpered and said dejectedly, "Your parents won't mind that I have no family and no money, will they?"
"How could that be? They wouldn't."
"What if it's true?"
"They won't, and they can't control me even if they want to. Don't worry."
She felt very safe.
He didn't have any good clothes, just ordinary cotton ones, a bit faded and pale from washing. But they fit him perfectly. She had never imagined that the first time she'd felt the power of coarse linen clothes to conceal a stunning beauty would be on a boy.
Actually, his appearance is pretty, not stunning. But when you look at the most stunning boys standing next to him, they pale in comparison. Their looks and temperament are both 10 points each, while his looks are 70 points and his temperament and demeanor are 70 points.
After the dress was finished, Wang Jiazhi looked beautiful in it, but her shoes were all very old cloth shoes, which she didn't notice, so he bought her a pair of white round-toed leather shoes. Then, since she had shoes but no matching jewelry, he bought her white crystal butterfly earrings and anklets.
Wang Jiazhi yelled, "If you keep wasting money, I'll ignore you for a week!"
They all knew that it was impossible to put into practice what she said about ignoring you forever.
He was still wearing hand-me-downs, not even a single new one. Not only did he have to teach, but he also had to help his teachers write and contribute articles to newspapers to earn money. It was incredibly tiring.
One morning, Wang Jiazhi woke up early, cleaned up, and headed to the garden pond. The trees obscured their view, preventing anyone from seeing them. The morning dew was heavy, dampening the flowers and leaves. She breathed in the cool, floral scent of the dew, sat on his lap, and asked him to comb her hair. He was especially skilled at it, because his mother specialized in combing hair.
Today was her first day in new clothes, and he said he wanted to give her a nice hairstyle. He put a bun on top of her head, like a bud about to bloom, and then braided all her hair into a three-strand braid, inserting a jasmine flower in each section, and tied a large white silk bow at the end of the braid.
The water's surface could be used as a mirror, creating a feeling of applying makeup by the water. In the morning, the water lily in the pond was still a plump white bud. Wang Jiazhi saw herself reflected among the buds and leaves. She was wearing a dress covered in white butterflies, adorned with jasmine pompadours on her collar, her hair beautifully combed, her crystal butterfly earrings swaying and gleaming like stars, and a jasmine bud bracelet on her wrist. He had woven a ring for her from a small, rose-red rose bud, a finishing touch to her white outfit.
"How beautiful," he exclaimed.
She smiled and felt beautiful too.
That day, Wang Jiazhi went to class. As she walked, everyone she met, whether students or teachers, boys or girls, stopped and looked back. The butterfly anklet had a small bell on it, which jingled as she walked.
The girl said: "Why is Wang Jiazhi so beautiful?"
The boy asked, "Is Wang Jiazhi so pretty?"
Every teacher in the class said, "Wang Jiazhi is so beautiful today!"
Lai Xiujin said: "Put on some new clothes and flirt with her. One man is not enough, but she is also attracting bees and butterflies. Shameless!"
She went back to change her clothes, then sat in front of the mirror and took off the jasmine flowers one by one.
Lai Xiujin said with a smile: "You are quite popular today."
Wang Jiazhi laughed and said, "I don't have any. I just changed my clothes and hairstyle. You always wear new clothes, don't you attract more attention?"
Lai Xiujin felt Wang Jiazhi was humiliating her. She always wore new clothes, but rarely caused a stir among her classmates. When other girls did talk about her, they only praised her beautiful clothes, not her beauty.
Lai Xiujin said: "I am different from you. You rarely wear it."
Wang Jiazhi also understood that it was because she was poor and rarely had money to buy nice clothes.
Lai Xiujin said, "You have to take these flowers out. I'm allergic to the fragrance of flowers and I'm afraid it will cause asthma."
"OK."
Wang Jiazhi simply placed the flowers next to her pillow, knowing that she was not allergic to flowers at all.
The next day, Lai Xiujin said to others, "She's terribly poor. She wears rags and tatters all the time and doesn't even have a presentable piece of clothing. I don't know how she managed to spend all her money on a piece of clothing. I don't know how she can show it off. She's so poor!"
Feng Shuangjia smiled and said, "What's wrong with people dressing up nicely?"
Fang Meihui also said: "Exactly, just because you're financially strapped doesn't mean you're not worthy of dressing up."
Lai Xiujing didn't agree with me, so I stopped talking about it.
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