Chapter 214: Cohabitation Theory
Zhu Jixiang bargained down the 220,000 yuan compensation offered by the hospital to 280,000 yuan, ultimately settling the case at that price. He chose not to sue because, after consulting a lawyer, he was told that Zhu Dashan had been unable to work for years and that his death compensation base was low. Even if he sued, he would likely not receive the 500,000 yuan he hoped for. He then gave up.
The 280,000 yuan was deposited into Liu Guifang's account as he and Zhu Yingning had agreed upon in advance.
This account was opened by Zhu Yingning for Liu Guifang, asking her to keep it safe and set her own password.
"Are you sure your brother can really give this money to your mother quietly? He can find a random excuse to borrow it, and your mother will probably give it to him."
After the funeral, Zhu Yingning had to prepare to go back to work. She was packing her luggage in her room, and Xu Sirui leaned on the windowsill of her room and asked questions.
There is a reason for this speculation. Affected by the epidemic, many offline stores and small companies are on the verge of bankruptcy. Zhu Jixiang's college roommate who led him to start a business has also fallen into an economic crisis. Their company has not been open for a long time. Before Zhu Dashan and the old lady passed away, Zhu Jixiang was unemployed at home. When asked about his current income, he refused to say.
"The most terrifying state for a man isn't being permanently broke, but rather having once made a small fortune and now being broke," Xu Sirui explained to her. "Such men feel their current lack of income is simply bad luck. They have both low self-esteem and complacency about their abilities. They desperately want to prove themselves and regain their former glory. This makes them more vulnerable to loan crises and gambling debts than the average person."
She spread out her last piece of clothing on the bed, folded it carefully, and tucked every corner neatly. She gave him a funny look and said, "Maybe... I also think my mother will lend him the money. But since I've decided to give it to her, it's her freedom to spend it however she wants. I've already taught her how to spend it on herself and manage it financially. If she doesn't listen and insists on making things difficult for herself, there's nothing I can do. Once she's suffered a loss and tasted the bitter fruit, maybe she'll truly understand. Consider this money her tuition in advance."
"I'm worried that your brother will be greedy and squeeze your mother's money out of her, and then come to you to borrow money."
"I'm not that stupid." She packed all her clothes into her backpack, and stuffed some tissues and a mask in there. "I'll help him in an emergency, not in poverty. There's only one situation where I would lend him money, or even give it to him, and that's if he's seriously ill and has no money for treatment. I'm his sister, and I can't just watch him die of illness, but all other situations are out of the question."
Xu Sirui lay across from her bed. "That's fine, but what if he asks your mom to come forward and ask you for a loan? For example, let your mom tell you that she's been feeling unwell lately and needs X amount of money to go to the hospital for a checkup, or that she recently lost X amount of money playing mahjong and needs your help to fill the hole. I think your brother is much smarter than you."
"Hey." She was squatting on the other side of the bed packing her things. Upon hearing this, she straightened up, put her arms on the bed, and smiled helplessly. "I was wondering why you are so concerned about my family's affairs?"
He turned his face away, then turned it back: "...I'm worried about you."
"I'll hide when it rains. I can't let myself get killed by stupidity, can I?" The sunlight from the windowsill illuminated her face, revealing a gentle smile. "Don't worry."
"And..." she said, "Xu Sirui, thank you for coming. Seeing you makes me really..."
She wanted to choose a suitable word, but felt that words that were too light could not express her feelings, and words that were too heavy seemed to easily cause ambiguity. She was stuck for a long time and looked at Xu Sirui again. The two of them were silent for a moment, and suddenly smiled at each other.
**
On the afternoon of the day the funeral ended, Zhu Yingning set off back to the county town where he worked.
She was traveling with Xu Sirui. Someone in the village who had a car offered to drive them to town. She thanked him and got in his car with Xu Sirui. On the car, they tried to book a high-speed rail ticket, but before they even opened the ticketing app, Xu Sirui said, "No need. I'll drive you there."
She was surprised: "You drove here by yourself? From Shanghai?"
"Well, the train will stop in your town," he said. "The high-speed train and the plane will expose you to too many different people. I'm afraid I might bring the virus to you."
She blinked and put the phone down.
Arriving in town, Xu Sirui parked his car in the town parking lot as expected. He went to pay the parking fee. Zhu Yingning stood in front of the familiar car, lost in thought. When he came over, she asked, "Didn't you say this car was rented?"
He was stunned for a moment, then nodded seriously: "Yes, it's rented for several days, it's expensive."
She narrowed her eyes suspiciously.
"Come in, it's cold outside." Xu Sirui calmly changed the subject.
She had no choice but to go in suspiciously.
The drive from the town to the county seat where she worked took about an hour. They arrived at six in the evening, just in time for dinner. Considering how long it would take Xu Sirui to drive back to Shanghai, she offered to let him stay overnight at a hotel in the county seat so he could rest up and leave early the next morning. After all, the funeral that morning was tiring enough, and she wanted to avoid driving while fatigued.
Xu Sirui didn't say yes or no, he just took out a suitcase from the trunk.
Zhu Yingning was stunned: "You brought a suitcase? I thought you only had a backpack like me."
He said "hmm" and said to her, "Where is your dormitory? Let's go to your dormitory first."
"Are you sure?" she reminded him, "Going in for the nucleic acid test is going to be quite uncomfortable, right?"
"fine."
Zhu Yingning did have a dormitory while helping out in the county, temporarily assigned by her superiors, inside a school. Since the beginning of this spring, online teaching has been encouraged across the country, and many idle schools have been requisitioned for epidemic prevention, including her county. She lives in the staff dormitory at the county's No. 1 Middle School. The room is larger than the student dormitories, a double room with two bedrooms and a living room, a mini balcony, and an equally miniature kitchen. Currently, she's the only one living there.
The security guard at the school gate was already familiar with her. He even took the initiative to greet her when he saw her. Then, noticing Xu Sirui behind her, he asked curiously, "Who is this?"
"Family members." Xu Sirui shamelessly answered.
"Oh—a family member is here to visit?" The security guard didn't suspect anything and asked where Xu Sirui came from. Then he said to Zhu Yingning, "Take him over there to have his temperature taken and the nucleic acid test done."
More new employees came behind him, and the security guard was busy checking their work IDs. Zhu Yingning had no chance to explain, so he could only take Xu Sirui to the nucleic acid testing point first.
The nucleic acid test here uses a nasal swab, which she wasn't used to at first, but eventually got used to after a while. Xu Sirui, clearly new to this kind of pain, thought it was a throat swab, and only realized something was wrong when the medical staff asked him to lift his chin.
The cotton swab was inserted into the nasal cavity, and the sour feeling rushed straight to the top of his head, as if a ton of lemons were squeezed into the junction of the nasal cavity and the tear glands. His physiological tears immediately gushed out uncontrollably.
The medical worker doing the nucleic acid test was a middle-aged woman with curly hair, a kind-looking woman. She smiled from behind her mask and said, "The young man is very handsome, but a little delicate."
The delicate Xu Sirui covered his nose and cried as he went to Zhu Yingning to complain. With his nose wrinkled and his eyes red, he said in a muffled voice, "Why didn't you tell me earlier that it was a nose piercing?"
"You didn't ask." She shrugged innocently. Seeing his eyes filled with tears, she looked so tender and beautiful. So she stood on tiptoe, reached out and rubbed the hair on his forehead, pointed at a building not far away, and said soothingly, "Okay, the pain will only last for a while. Let's go. My dormitory is over there."
There were people coming and going around, and he blushed a little. He said "oh" softly and followed her with his suitcase.
After entering the dormitory, Zhu Yingning asked him to sit in the living room first, while she went to the kitchen to boil water.
Xu Sirui stood at the doorway, not coming in. She realized she hadn't prepared slippers for him when she came out after boiling the water. There weren't any men's slippers here, so she told him to just walk in with his shoes on.
"Anyway, you just come in to have a drink of water, have dinner and take a break. I'll mop the floor after you leave." She said gently.
However, Xu Sirui still didn't move. He picked up his phone and didn't know what he was doing.
"How about I mop the floor first and you come in barefoot?" she suggested again.
"No." He refused.
Seeing that he was unwilling to come in, Zhu Yingning stopped urging him. She was already used to him being awkward from time to time, so she went about her own business as if nothing had happened, waiting for him to slowly figure out the reason.
After the water boiled, she put the cup of hot water into the cold tap water to soak it so that it would cool down faster. She also took the opportunity to cook the rice, found some leftover ingredients from the previous few days in the refrigerator, and made a few simple dishes.
This kind of staff dormitory wasn't equipped with natural gas, so cooking was done on an induction cooker, which had a low power and took longer than usual. Halfway through, she was getting bored waiting, so she simply wandered around the living room to see if Xu Sirui had come in, only to find he was gone.
"...Xu Sirui?" She looked around the house but didn't see anyone. Just as she was about to call him, she saw him coming in from outside carrying a bag.
She was surprised and asked, "You went out just now? Where did you go?"
He raised the bag in his hand and said, "I asked the rider to deliver a pair of slippers and some daily necessities to the school gate."
She was so amused that she said, "I just came in for a short while and I have to buy a pair of slippers."
Then I thought, forget it, as long as he is happy.
I turned around and planned to continue cooking, but after a few steps, I suddenly realized what he had just said: Didn't he just say he bought daily necessities? Why did he buy daily necessities?
Thinking of a possibility, she turned around and stared at him in astonishment: "Wait a minute...Xu Sirui, what do you mean?"
He had already changed into slippers, pushed his suitcase behind the door, unbuttoned his coat and casually threw it on the sofa, then walked naturally towards the kitchen. As he passed by her, he lowered his eyes and glanced at her lightly. As he walked towards the kitchen, he asked knowingly, "What do you mean?"
"You plan to stay at my place?"
And looking at the suitcase, it doesn't look like they are only planning to stay for a day or two.
He picked up the spatula and turned over the dish that was about to burn. When the sauce was almost absorbed, he turned off the fire, put the dish on a plate, and turned around to prepare the next dish.
Zhu Yingning was stunned by his master-like attitude.
Halfway through preparing the food, Xu Sirui seemed to remember her question and answered casually, "Yes, didn't I say I can just work online?"
"...but you didn't tell me you were planning to live with me." She was so sad that she couldn't even cry.
He uttered a surprised "Ah!", stopped slicing, turned to look at her, and leaned lazily on the counter, arms folded, raised the corners of his lips in a sly smile, and replied, "You didn't ask either."
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