Chapter 15: Debts Two Years Later: Will You Still Be Able to Find Me Two Years Later...
"I found your clothes..."
Before Zhu Yingning could finish her words, Xu Sirui interrupted her, saying, "It's good that you found it. You're right. Someone probably took it by mistake."
He didn't want to escalate the matter, didn't want to make things difficult for everyone, he just wanted to move on. To put it in perspective, he had also secretly eaten a few steamed buns from Zhu Yingning's house two nights ago. One steal equals another, and everyone playing dumb and letting this matter pass in a respectable manner was the best solution, in his opinion.
Xu Sirui thought that the step he gave was very good, and anyone could take it down as long as they were not ungrateful.
However--
Zhu Yingning obviously had different ideas.
As soon as he finished speaking, she righteously retorted, "No, your down jacket was stolen and hidden by my mother."
Xu Sirui almost choked to death on his own saliva. He turned around and glared at the culprit. He didn't understand where this person's emotional intelligence was. He had already expressed his intention not to pursue the matter, so why did she still admit it on her own initiative?
Zhu Yingning had a stern face and looked very heavy-hearted. She glanced back at Liu Guifang and continued, "I want to apologize to you. When you said your down jacket was stolen, my first reaction was that you were talking nonsense. I'm sorry."
Xu Sirui was surprised that she would apologize: "Uh, not to the extent of..."
This matter did not seem so serious to him. Her serious attitude made him feel uncomfortable and even gave him the illusion that it was the end of World War II and the liquidation of prisoners of war.
And that’s not all.
Zhu Yingning stepped aside, revealing Liu Guifang behind him, and said with regret, "I have already taught my mother a lesson, and she has deeply realized her mistake."
"……ah?"
Before Xu Sirui could react, Liu Guifang pinched the corner of her clothes, lowered her head, bent over, and said humbly: "I'm sorry, Sirui, it's my aunt who was not kind. I'm sorry..."
Xu Sirui had lived for more than ten years, but this was the first time he had to face an apology from an adult.
Xu Zhengkang was a face-saver, never lowering himself even to his elders, let alone him. Zhou Tianlan, while soft-hearted, loved to fish in troubled waters, and was accustomed to covering up his mistakes with a laugh. An adult's apology was like the emperor's new clothes—they insisted they were wearing them, but no one could see them.
Liu Guifang's apology didn't necessarily express genuine repentance, but it still deeply shocked Xu Sirui. He sat on pins and needles, confused as to how the situation could have taken such a bright and righteous turn. He opened and closed his mouth, then struggled for a moment before stammering, "It's okay... It's not that bad, really. You... You don't have to apologize to me."
"If you are wrong, you are wrong. If you are wrong, you must apologize!"
Zhu Yingning interrupted loudly and sternly. After hearing this, Liu Guifang hung her head like a frost-bitten eggplant, crossed her fingers, twisted them around helplessly, and kept muttering "I'm sorry."
This strange scene made Xu Sirui at a loss. Seeing that Liu Guifang seemed to be talking endlessly, he was afraid that she would keep talking, so he had to tentatively reply, "It's okay."
Liu Guifang's apology then stopped as if she had received an order.
Zhu Yingning stepped forward, stepped past her, and unfolded the down jacket in her hand. Her expression gradually changed from disappointment to unease. "Xu Sirui, there's one more thing I need to tell you..."
Xu Sirui raised his eyes and looked at her.
She pursed her lips, staring at the tips of her shoes, her voice gradually weakening. "My mother left the down jacket at Aunt Ping's house at the village entrance. Just now, when we went to retrieve the clothes, we found that her child had taken out the down jacket and played with it without telling her. Then..." She shook out the down jacket, pointing to a finger-long knife wound on it and the goose down exposed in the wound. Her voice was as thin as a mosquito, "The jacket is now like this."
Xu Sirui wasn't concerned about the down jacket itself. Just as he was about to say it was okay, Zhu Yingning raised her voice and added, "But don't worry! I'll take responsibility."
"……ah?"
"Tell me how much this dress cost, and I'll compensate you."
Hearing this, he couldn't help but laugh: "You want to compensate me? Do you know how much this dress costs?"
"I don't know," she said truthfully, "but I'll pay it no matter how much it is."
A newborn calf is not afraid of a tiger.
Xu Sirui was about to offer the original price to scare her off when he caught sight of Liu Guifang's movements from the corner of his eye. She stood behind Zhu Yingning, her fingers tugging at her skirt, her eyelashes trembling wildly, her lips moving clockwise and counterclockwise like a worm caught in a spider web. She hesitated several times, clearly disapproving of her daughter's actions. But the person she had discreetly stopped didn't even turn around, staring intently at him, her eyes clear and sincere, waiting patiently for his next words.
For some reason, his tongue stumbled in his mouth, and the number he spoke out was missing two zeros: "This dress costs... three hundred yuan."
Three hundred yuan, the compromise, isn’t this the price of ordinary down jackets?
However, the moment she said this, Liu Guifang looked as if she had heard the Japanese invaders entering the village. Her face turned pale, her jaw dropped, and her mouth opened wide, as if a lightbulb could fit in it. She was just about to roll her eyes and faint. Zhu Yingning's body also staggered, but she quickly stood up, adjusted her stiff facial muscles, and said, "I understand. I will compensate you, but it will take some time."
Xu Sirui hadn't expected that three hundred yuan could make them so shocked. He hadn't originally planned to ask them to pay for it, but seeing their reactions, he became even more determined: "...No need, who asked you to pay for it?"
"I'll compensate you."
"I told you not to!" He was afraid that Zhu Yingning would be stubborn again, so he said casually, "I'll just take it home and have someone sew it up."
Liu Guifang, as if grasping a lifeline, immediately agreed with him: "That makes sense, that makes sense! If there's a tear, can't we just sew it up? Si Rui, give the clothes to me, and I'll sew them for you. I have a great needlework skill!"
"Uh, no need..."
Xu Sirui was arguing with Liu Guifang when Zhu Yingning suddenly frowned and said, "It is what it is. I said I would compensate you, and I will."
"... Damn." Xu Sirui didn't understand why she had to act so arrogantly. It was obvious how well off her family was, and anyone with a discerning eye could see it. He had already stopped caring, so why was she unwilling to give in and accept his kindness?
"Even if you sell all your furniture you can't even get three hundred, right?" He started talking without thinking when he got angry.
Zhu Yingning didn't say anything. He walked around him and came to the desk. He tore out a piece of paper and started writing on it.
"What are you doing?" He frowned and looked over.
She wrote quickly, finishing in two or three strokes, and handed the paper to him solemnly. Xu Sirui took it and looked at it. It turned out to be an IOU, with the repayment amount and repayment period clearly stated on it. It looked quite authentic, except for the repayment period...
The corner of his eye twitched.
January 1, 2012?
It was just three hundred yuan, and she actually planned to pay it back in two years.
Xu Sirui felt speechless. He wanted to complain something, such as "Are you an elementary school student? You actually need to sign a document?", "The interest owed in two years will be greater than the principal, right?", and "Will you still be able to find me in two years?", but when he met Zhu Yingning's serious eyes, he found it difficult to say anything.
"Keep it safe," she said. "If you're still worried, I can ask a photographer to record it. With the video as evidence, I'll definitely return it..."
"Hey hey—" Xu Sirui quickly grabbed her, fearing that she would really mobilize the crew over such a small matter. "Alright, alright, I'm really scared of you... Can't I just keep it?"
After he said this, Zhu Yingning finally showed a look of relief.
Xu Sirui, however, had a different idea. He felt that in two years, he and Zhu Yingning would surely be separated, and by then, neither would be able to find the other, so the IOU would naturally lose its validity. Since the outcome was the same and both would achieve his wish, it wouldn't hurt to temporarily relent and keep her company.
**
After the down jacket incident, perhaps out of guilt, Xu Sirui was troubled to find that Liu Guifang's attitude towards him was even more cowardly than before the following weekend.
She wouldn't allow him to do any farm work—even though he had no intention of doing it—or any housework. She would even rush to do small things for him, like carrying the boiled bath water to the iron shed, squeezing toothpaste on his toothbrush, and spreading out the quilt for him to sleep in. Although Xu Sirui was used to being served, she didn't want to be served in a way that left him no room. He soon grew annoyed and yelled at her. Liu Guifang misinterpreted his anger as a sign that he hadn't forgiven her, so she worked even harder, even putting the entire plate of meat in front of him at dinner.
Resources are scarce in the mountains, and bacon, due to its easy storage, is more plentiful than fresh meat. He hadn't been used to eating bacon, which is heavily greased with oil and salt, since arriving here. Seeing Liu Guifang push a whole plate of bacon in front of him, he felt his eyes go dark. He said he didn't want it, but she wouldn't listen. "Eat it, eat it! You kid, don't be polite to your auntie," she insisted, making a gesture to scoop the bacon into his bowl.
Before going to bed that night, Liu Guifang even moved the 38th parallel towards Zhu Yingning to give him more space, saying flatteringly, "You're a boy and have a bigger physique. I'll ask Ningning to give you more space."
“…”
Xu Sirui was very annoyed and thought that it was a good thing that Zhu Yingning was not such a servile person, otherwise he would be annoyed to death by this mother and daughter.
But he soon regretted the idea.
Because although Zhu Yingning was not servile, he had a bigger problem - he loved to meddle in other people's affairs.
On Sunday night, when he finished washing up and was about to lie down in bed, Zhu Yingning suddenly called him: "Xu Sirui, let's rehearse."
"?"
He was confused and didn't understand what she was saying. "Rehearse what?"
"Raising the flag." Zhu Yingning said as a matter of course, "Didn't you agree to be the flag-raiser?"
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