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墨書 Inktalez
When we arrived at Chen Qi's house, it was packed with people, with Manman and others crowding in.
Old Man sat in the center on a rattan chair, accepting New Year greetings from the younger generation.
Chen Qi led us around for introductions. "This is Second Aunt, and this is Third Aunt," he said, making my head spin with all the names.
When we reached his Uncle's family, I noticed a child hiding behind an adult, spitting at us while throwing firecrackers.
Finally, we stood before Old Man. Chen Qi suddenly knelt down with a thud, performing a deep bow. He recited a series of auspicious phrases to request a Red Envelope without stuttering.
Both Manman and I were taken aback by this display. In our family, New Year meant the elders giving Red Envelopes and everyone gathering for a meal; we had never had such customs of deep bows and kneeling.
As Chen Qi bowed, he shot us a glance, signaling us to follow his lead.
Old Man's expression grew colder as he noticed our hesitation.
A cold grunt from him implied that if Manman didn’t bow, we could forget about entering his house.
Chen Qi received his Red Envelope, pinching it with his fingers, and cheerfully urged us on.
"You two are my guests; don’t deliberately embarrass me."
His Aunt also chimed in with reproach.
"These city girls don’t know any manners! Bowing to elders won’t cost you anything!"
Others began to murmur and point at us, insisting on teaching us a lesson and establishing some rules.
Suddenly, I wiped my eyes and burst into tears.
"Woo woo, woo woo woo! Brother Chen Qi, I clearly told you I have a prosthetic limb! Your family is making me kneel... If you dislike me so much, I’ll just leave. I brought fine cigarettes and liquor for the elders, a pearl necklace, and an Aierwei bag. I’m leaving right now!"
Manman was taken aback by my tears and instinctively followed me as I stepped outside.
Second Aunt quickly blocked our way and took back the suitcase filled with gifts.
"Oh dear children, what a pity! Where are you going on such a snowy day? Listen to me, just stay at home."
The others began to criticize Chen Qi.
"You're such a grown person, why are you quarreling with a young girl?"
"Yeah, you didn't even tell us she has a leg problem, making us look so harsh."
"I just scolded her for being rude. I really am not human; I should slap myself for getting up in the middle of the night."
Chen Qi was at a loss for words. He wanted to explain to those around him but was interrupted by me again.
"Brother Chen Qi, you just wanted to get a couple more Red Envelopes, right? But you can't hide it from the elders. We don't want the Red Envelopes anymore; just give them all to you. Manman, let's go."
"Stop right there!"
The Old Man spoke up, giving Chen Qi a warning glare. It was clear that if Chen Qi tried to argue further, he would be met with a cane.
"Come on in, both of you. Sit down. The dumplings will be ready soon. Chen Qi, hand over the Red Envelopes to them."
Reluctantly, Chen Qi gave us the Red Envelopes, and it was obvious that the ones for us were thicker. He raised his voice.
"Manman, didn't we bring a massage pillow for the elder? Hurry up and take it out as a gesture."
Hehe, that massage pillow was clearly bought with Manman's pocket money.
How did it become "ours" in his mouth?
"Ah? Okay."
Manman didn't think there was anything wrong with his statement. Chen Qi always drilled into her the idea of a relationship where "there's no distinction between you and me," as if trying to brainwash her.
"Wait!"
Our suitcase was packed with clothes, and besides that, each of us had a small bag.
Manman's bag was light but filled with valuable items. My bag was heavy, stuffed with snacks.
My bag clearly showed signs of having been opened, with a gray half-handprint on it.
Someone must have stolen my snacks while we were talking.
This is unacceptable!
The last person who stole my snacks, my elementary school deskmate, ended up losing two of his canine teeth (he happened to be losing them at the time).
I opened my small bag in front of everyone. It had been stuffed to the brim before, but now it showed two obvious gaps.
"Someone definitely took my cream puffs."
Aunt rolled her eyes nervously and replied irritably.
"It's just two bags of snacks. If they're gone, they're gone."
Her little son was hiding under the table, still with pink remnants on his mouth, stifling a laugh.
There was only one child in this room; that small handprint must belong to him.
I yanked him out from under the table and held his hand to compare the handprints.
Before Aunt could make a move, Chen Qi had already pulled me away.
"Alright, why are you arguing with a child? It's the New Year, and if this escalates, both families will end up looking bad."
He glared at the child, who continued to make faces at me, mocking my inability to do anything about it.
Everyone knew that the child had stolen my snacks, but no one thought it was worth addressing.
"No way, my snacks are precious; the imported ones cost five hundred bucks."
Five hundred was nothing to me; I just wanted to test Chen Qi's reaction.
Manman hesitated for a moment before standing by my side.
"Chen Qi, let the kid apologize. Yuan Yuan cares a lot about her snacks."
This was the first time Yuan Yuan had disagreed with Chen Qi. I knew she had been holding in her anger throughout the journey, but her good upbringing prevented her from expressing it directly.
To Chen Qi, this good start was merely a consequence of Manman being "influenced" by me.
Whether the child had stolen anything was irrelevant; what mattered was that Manman had "commanded" him in front of everyone, which embarrassed him.
He let out a cold laugh and subtly distanced himself from Manman. She was clearly affected by his actions and looked somewhat dejected.
"Who says the snacks were definitely lost here? There were so many people on the train; I could just say they were lost on the train."
I had been waiting for this line.
"Don't forget, I entrusted my luggage to you all before going to sleep. Legally, you have a duty to safeguard it. You two can discuss who will compensate me."
Manman bit her lip; in the past, she would have been the one to take on this burden and hand over her freshly received red envelope money to me.
But now she just held her hands tightly together, looking at Chen Qi with a hint of expectation on her face.
I was well aware of Chen Qi's family situation; he only had a couple of hundred yuan for living expenses each week.
During their relationship, Manman had never asked him for a single penny and would occasionally buy him gifts, while his reciprocation had never exceeded fifty yuan. There was no way he would pay that child this amount.
He shot a glance at Manman, hoping she would fill this gap for him as usual, but Manman bit her lip and remained silent.
With no other choice, he kicked the child’s leg.
“Do you want to be disrespectful? I saw you stealing; don’t you owe your aunt an apology?”
The child fell to his knees with a thud in front of everyone, struggling and rolling around.
Both Manman and I were taken aback; no one expected him to resort to violence against his own nephew over five hundred yuan.
The child's parents finally reacted; if I wasn’t satisfied, they would have to pay me five hundred yuan.
So they went over and slapped the child.
“Bad Xiong Xiong! I told you not to steal, you greedy little thing!”
By the time the child's face was swollen from the slaps, I slowly stepped in to stop it.
“Alright, alright, he’s still just a kid. Let it go. Brother Chen Qi, you really are too harsh. I just wanted him to apologize; how could you make such a small child kneel from that height? What if he hurts his knees?”
Now I had played both the good and bad cop, leaving no room for anyone to criticize.
If Uncle’s family felt sorry for the child, they could only blame Chen Qi for being too rough, forcing Xiong Xiong's parents to act even more harshly.
After saying that, I took Manman back to the room that Chen Qi had prepared for us.
Xiong Xiong was still on the floor, wailing loudly, glaring at us with resentment until we closed the door behind us.
I knew that this troublesome kid was about to cause more trouble.
Looking up at the yellow-brown water stains on the ceiling, the damp walls of the room, the hard wooden bed, and the dead cockroach in the corner, I felt a sense of discomfort.
Manman finally couldn't hold back her tears any longer.
She was so distraught that she could barely speak coherently.
"Woo, I didn't know Chen Qi was such a person... Woo, this place is awful."
I slowly opened a bag of chips and took a sip of cola, trying to maintain an air of calm and composure.
"Why do you think that way? Chen Qi has always spoiled you. I think he’s just being straightforward; it doesn’t mean he doesn’t love you," I said. "The conditions here may not be great, but if you marry him in the future, you'll be living here for decades. You’ll definitely get used to it."
Hearing this made Manman cry even harder.
Seizing the opportunity, I added fuel to the fire.
"You’re not thinking about breaking up, are you? You've been together for so long; it would be such a pity to end it! Besides, he has many good qualities... And if you break up now, wouldn’t that just prove your parents right? You can’t back down at this moment."
I stole all of Manman's lines; she couldn’t get a word in edgewise and just buried her head in her hands, sobbing.
"Stop crying; the dumplings will be ready soon. Since we’re already here, we can’t just say we want to go back now, especially since there are no buses at this hour."
Only then did Manman slowly stop crying. When she looked up again, her expression had shifted from disappointment to anger.
Anger is the beginning of awakening.
While she was busy washing her face, I opened another bucket of popcorn.
Look at this tiny corn kernel; it actually contains such immense energy. What a delightful surprise!
"Dumplings are ready! You two girls, come out for dinner!"
I put away my snacks and took the freshly groomed Manman out of the room, handing out gifts to each elder.
"I'm sorry for not paying attention earlier. This is a massage pad for the elderly, this scarf is for Second Aunt, and... here's a study machine for Xiong Xiong. It's all exercises, not a single game."
Xiong Xiong clung to an adult's leg, glaring at us with fierce eyes, her tear-streaked face resembling that of a little cat.
The adults who received the gifts were all smiles, dispelling the earlier unpleasant atmosphere.
"By the way, these gifts were all bought with Manman's pocket money. Chen Qi, what about your gift? Let's see it."
Chen Qi, who had been quietly munching on peanuts nearby, was suddenly called out and looked a bit flustered.
He was first taken aback, then shot me a glare before turning to Manman with a soft voice.
"Hey, weren't these gifts something we picked out together?"
Manman chose to remain silent, and I let out a cold laugh.
"I went shopping with my sister to pick out these gifts, but I didn't see you anywhere."
All eyes turned to Chen Qi. The value of the gifts didn't matter much, but the fact that he didn't contribute even a penny towards the New Year's gifts while counting all expenses on his girlfriend made him look quite bad in front of others.
Chen Qi awkwardly chuckled twice and glanced at Manman in confusion, not understanding what was going on with her today.
"Ah, it's like this: Manman picked out the gifts; I just paid for them. I transferred the money to her. If you don't believe me, just ask her."
Under Chen Qi's somewhat oppressive gaze, Manman couldn't meet his eyes at all but gently shook her head.
I let out a sigh of relief; it seemed my trip here wasn’t in vain.
“Did you hear that? My sister said you didn’t transfer the money to her. Should we check the transaction records to avoid making everyone think she’s the kind of person who pinches pennies?”
Just as I was about to snatch the phone away, Chen Qi reluctantly pulled out his phone and unlocked it.
Manman had mentioned that Chen Qi never let her touch his phone, claiming it was a personal privacy matter. Growing up in an open environment, Manman had low control needs and never pressed the issue.
But I clearly saw that the wallpaper on his home screen was a selfie of another girl.
Just as my hometown friend had said, Chen Qi didn’t transfer schools for better educational resources; he was expelled for getting a girl pregnant.
Manman had only ever focused on her studies. Because of her frail health, her family never shared negative news with her, fearing it would affect her mood. As a result, she was incredibly easy to deceive.
This incident had become common knowledge back in Chen Qi's hometown, yet she never thought to investigate due to his sweet talk.
“I just remembered, I didn’t have any money in my account that day. I’ll transfer it back to you now.”
“That’s great! We won’t take advantage of you. You can cover half of what we agreed on; just send me five thousand, and we’ll call it even.”
My family holds a diamond membership, and I had given Chen Qi all discounted prices, so I hadn’t cheated him at all.
Chen Qi held up his phone, waiting for Manman to intervene, but despite his hand growing stiff from holding the phone, Manman didn’t budge an inch.
Before long, my phone chimed with a notification: five thousand yuan had been transferred.
I quickly sent the five thousand to my hometown friend and reminded him to handle things properly.
Chen Qi looked like he was about to grind his teeth into dust. I expected him to reveal his true colors right then and there, but instead, he took Manman’s hand affectionately.
“I’m sorry, sweetheart. It’s because I’m too poor that I couldn’t give you a better life. Even the money for gifts has to be split between us. I promise I’ll work hard and give you all the money I earn in the future.”
"Effort? Are you talking about working in a factory tightening screws?"
Even if he tightened ten thousand screws, he wouldn't earn as much as I give Manman for pocket money just once.
Manman has always been a kind-hearted person, and I'm really afraid she might be tricked by Chen Qi again, giving back the five thousand yuan she just received.
So I quickly interrupted them.
"Alright, your good fortune is still ahead, don't delay everyone from having their meal."
Only then did Chen Qi reluctantly let go of Manman, and it seemed like Manman's heart was also swayed.
Everyone began to take their seats. Manman initially wanted to sit next to Chen Qi, but Uncle unexpectedly swooped in and took her spot.
I looked around and realized that not a single woman had taken a seat.
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