Luo Xi frowned and looked up, only to see Yuan Jiansi staring at her with those distinctive dead-fish eyes.
Luo Xi: “……”
What was with that look?
Honestly, she really wanted to gouge those dead-looking eyes out.
“Why didn’t you tell me you were going to the county town?” Yuan Jiansi asked, suppressing his anger. His tone was almost like a husband questioning his disobedient wife.
He had realized that this woman had changed. She used to ignore him, but now she ignored him even more thoroughly.
Luo Xi had no intention of entertaining him and continued walking.
The Luo and Yuan families had been family friends for generations. Their grandfathers had even arranged a marriage between her and Yuan Jiansi when they were young, though it had only been a verbal promise.
Later, both grandfathers passed away one after another, and the relationship between the two families gradually faded.
As for the verbal engagement arranged by the older generation, Luo Huizhou naturally didn’t take it seriously. But the Yuan family did.
After Yuan Jiansi’s grandfather died, the Yuan family began to decline, while the Luo family remained wealthy and well-off. If they could marry a daughter of the Luo family, they would practically save themselves fifty years of struggle.
But then the situation changed dramatically. Luo Huizhou’s family went abroad, and the Luo family was labeled as rightists.
In an effort to distance herself from the Luo family, Yuan Jiansi’s mother had said plenty of nasty things about them behind their backs.
Now that Luo Xi had returned to China, the rightist label had been removed, and it seemed that the authorities were paying considerable attention to her.
Yuan Jiansi’s mother shamelessly came looking for her again, showering her with concern and being extraordinarily attentive to her daily needs.
Luo Xi had been young when she went abroad and knew little about the Yuan family’s true nature. Because of their families’ long-standing relationship, she had naturally let her guard down around them.
Besides, she had just lost both her parents. After returning to China with no one to rely on, she was deeply touched by Yuan Jiansi’s mother’s concern.
Unfortunately, the good days didn’t last long.
Luo Xi was sent to the countryside.
Yuan Jiansi was among the same group of educated youths sent down with her.
Yuan Jiansi’s mother believed Luo Xi had dragged her son down with her. At the same time, she realized that she had misunderstood the situation—the Luo family had not actually received any special favor from the authorities.
Furious, she turned against Luo Xi and cursed her viciously.
Only then did the original Luo Xi see the true nature of the Yuan family. From that point on, she avoided them whenever possible.
“Brother Yuan is just worried about you. Look at the time. Coming back this late isn’t good for a young woman. You shouldn’t stay outside for so long.”
A sweet, delicate voice suddenly rang out.
The speaker was Song Xingui, Yuan Jiansi’s childhood sweetheart and the illegitimate daughter of a capitalist.
The situation was rather dramatic.
After the Luo family left, the Song family moved into their house. So Yuan Jiansi and Song Xingui really had grown up together as childhood sweethearts.
When Luo Xi returned to China, Song Xingui’s father happened to be arrested, and the house was naturally confiscated and returned to the state.
Before long, the house was returned to Luo Xi and directly registered under her name.
Even after she was sent to the countryside, the house remained under her name.
Song Xingui was hostile toward her for two reasons: the house and Yuan Jiansi.
In reality, anyone with eyes could see that her father had been under investigation for a long time. It was only a matter of time before the authorities dealt with him.
It was simply a coincidence that Luo Xi happened to return at that time, and the authorities also happened to return the house to her.
Song Xingui couldn’t accept it. She believed the authorities had arrested her father and driven her family out of their home just to make room for Luo Xi.
Even after Luo Xi was also sent to the countryside, she stubbornly believed that Luo Xi had been the reason her family was punished and that she had lost her privileged life.
As a matter of fact, Song Xingui had played no small part in getting Luo Xi ostracized by the educated youths and assigned to the most dilapidated house.
Luo Xi had already walked past them, but after hearing that, she suddenly took two steps backward.
She grabbed Yuan Jiansi’s hand and removed the watch from his wrist.
“You mentioned what time it is, and I suddenly remembered. This watch is mine. I’m taking it back now. You don’t have a problem with that, do you?”
The watch was one she had brought back from overseas. When Yuan Jiansi’s mother and Yuan Jiansi had come to “check on” her back then, they had found it and schemed to borrow it.
Luo Xi had grown up in comfort and had never understood the importance of money. Besides, she had brought back several watches from overseas, including both men’s and women’s styles.
When Yuan Jiansi’s mother asked for one, she simply gave it to her.
Thankfully, this was the only watch she had left on the table at the time. Otherwise, Yuan Jiansi’s mother probably would have talked her into giving away all of them.
Everyone froze, completely caught off guard by what they had just heard.
Even Yuan Jiansi was stunned, and his expression became even more awkward.
“You, you…”
Ever since Luo Xi returned to China, his mother had constantly nagged him about the marriage their grandfathers had arranged years ago. That was how he learned that Luo Xi was actually his fiancée.
He could never forget the first time he saw Luo Xi. He had been stunned by her beauty at first sight.
Even though Luo Xi was later sent to the countryside, unlike his mother, he still thought marrying Luo Xi would be a good idea.
She was beautiful, generous with money, and owned such a large house.
He considered himself to have been dragged down by Luo Xi and believed she owed him. So now that she was actually asking for the watch back, he found it completely unreasonable.
Luo Xi dangled the watch in her hand.
“You don’t want to admit it, do you? I still have the receipt for this watch.”
Yuan Jiansi gritted his teeth.
He really didn’t want to admit it.
The watch was from a very high-end foreign brand. It cost around 300 yuan, roughly equivalent to a year of wages for an ordinary Chinese worker.
To be honest, even he had been shocked when his mother asked for it back then. He had been about to come up with an excuse to smooth things over for her.
He never expected Luo Xi to agree so readily.
Luo Xi smiled.
“Your mother said at the time that she was only borrowing it for you to wear for a few days. I thought we were neighbors, so lending it to you for a few days wouldn’t hurt. But it seems you forgot to return it?”
“Pfft.”
Someone couldn’t hold back and burst out laughing.
The crowd immediately looked at Yuan Jiansi with contempt.
His face turned red, then pale, then red again.
What could he possibly say? Could he admit that his mother had simply asked for it outright?
What kind of shamelessness would it take to ask someone for such an expensive watch?
Yuan Jiansi forced an awkward smile.
“I just got sent down to the countryside and have been so busy that I forgot.”
Luo Xi ignored him and instead gave Song Xingui a meaningful look.
“Speaking of which, I have to thank you, Comrade Song. If you hadn’t brought it up, I would have forgotten all about this watch.”
Song Xingui was dumbfounded.
She had never imagined that a single remark from her would cause Yuan Jiansi to lose his watch.
Her lips trembled as she hurriedly explained, “Brother Yuan, I—I didn’t mean it that way.”
Yuan Jiansi’s expression darkened, but he said nothing.
Song Xingui secretly gritted her teeth before turning toward Luo Xi, her voice filled with tears as she accused her.
“You… How can you be so stingy? Auntie Yuan has given you so many good things before.”
Luo Xi laughed.
She found Song Xingui rather amusing. The girl was always handing her opportunities to strike back.
“You mean the two times she brought me some vegetables? Come to think of it, I’ve never seen anyone come to someone’s house just to give them vegetables.”
The crowd was stunned for a moment before erupting into another round of laughter.
Yuan Jiansi’s face turned even darker. He wished the ground would open up and swallow him.
But Luo Xi wasn’t finished.
“Come to think of it, besides borrowing my watch, your mother also borrowed two jin of White Rabbit milk candies, eight chi of dacron fabric, a wool coat, and about five jin of pastries from me.”
“Unfortunately, she’s getting older, so she must have forgotten. She never returned any of them.”
“Shouldn’t you return them to me now?”
Yuan Jiansi was so furious he felt like he was about to vomit blood.
His mother really had taken all those things from Luo Xi. At the time, she had even complained to him about it.
“That Luo girl doesn’t know how to manage money. Once you two get married, you need to have her money handed over to me. I’ll keep it safe for you and save it for your children in the future.”
Song Xingui was genuinely panicking this time.
“You—you can’t count things like this! Those were just gifts exchanged between neighbors. How can you calculate everything so precisely?”