Jiaozi: “…”
After a long while, how could five-year-old Jiaozi possibly be a match for the crafty Shen Yingying?
With just that little bluff, Jiaozi gave himself away. Stammering, he asked her: “Sister Yingying, your… your ears are really that amazing? You could hear from that far away…”
“Of course! Otherwise, how could they be called wind-following ears?” Shen Yingying answered with absolute certainty, then continued to fool him. “As long as it’s something your Uncle Xie says, I can hear every single word perfectly clearly…”
“Then can you hear what everyone else says too?”
The childish voice carried a hint of probing. Shen Yingying could practically picture the worried little expression on Jiaozi’s face as he sat in the back seat, and she almost failed to hold back her laughter.
She said: “Not really. I can only hear your Uncle Xie’s words clearly. Now tell me what your Uncle Xie said, and let me see whether our Jiaozi has been telling lies…”
“Okay…” Jiaozi replied helplessly. In his childish little voice, he repeated everything Xie Fangzhu had said to him for Shen Yingying to hear:
“Uncle Xie told me that, Sister Yingying, you’re a little slow in the head.”
“You always like running around, and then you always can’t find your way home, so he told me to keep an eye on you.”
“If you run off, I have to hurry to the meat supply store and ask Dad for help…”
“Uncle Xie also said you’re very timid.”
“If you get lost and can’t find your way home, you’ll cry because you’re sad.”
“He told me to be a little hero and make sure I protect you until you get home…”
Shen Yingying: “…”
From the back, Jiaozi asked nervously: “Sister Yingying, is what I said the same as what you heard?”
Grinding her teeth, Shen Yingying replied: “…It’s the same. Very good. Jiaozi is an honest little boy. Excellent!”
As soon as the words left her mouth, she had already mentally whipped Xie Fangzhu eight hundred times over. That Puppy Xie, she had known he was up to no good!
No wonder she had thought it strange that Puppy Xie had suddenly acted so oddly today and asked her to come out for breakfast with him.
He had even played the good guy by letting her take the little one home. That completely went against his utterly deranged villain persona!
So it turned out he had been worried she would run off again after he went down the shaft. That was why he had deliberately brought her to the canteen, then had her take Jiaozi, the “mobile surveillance device.” home.
A mobile surveillance device was one thing, but he had even told the mobile surveillance device that her brain did not work properly!
He had made her sound like an idiot. How was that remotely moral?
Besides, he was seriously underestimating her. If she had really wanted to run away, could a mere child possibly keep watch over her?
All of a sudden, her rebellious streak flared up.
It was not that she actually intended to run away. After all, in this era, if she ran, she would simply be caught as a vagrant and brought back.
She merely wanted to challenge Xie Fangzhu’s smug self-confidence.
So she said to Jiaozi: “Jiaozi, you’ve seen that I’ve always gone to the canteen by myself and come home by myself. I haven’t gotten lost again, have I? Actually, your Uncle Xie lied to you. He’s just afraid I’ll secretly go to the department store to buy candy and ruin my teeth from eating too much…”
“Really?” Jiaozi’s childish voice still carried its babyish tone. He actually seemed to be thinking seriously about whether her words were true. After a long while, he said: “I think you’re right. Before, whenever I went home, I always saw you walking to the canteen by yourself, Sister Yingying…”
“See?” Shen Yingying smiled silently. Her eyes darted around before she continued: “Jiaozi, let’s make a deal. After I take you home, I’ll go to the department store to buy some candy. Don’t tell your dad. When I come back, I’ll share half with you. How about that?”
Shen Yingying had originally thought those terms would tempt little Jiaozi. After all, to children, candy was a rare treat that they usually only got during the New Year or festivals.
Unexpectedly, five-year-old Jiaozi was astonishingly resolute. The moment she finished speaking, he rejected her without the slightest hesitation.
“No!”
He said: “Sister Yingying, even though you won’t get lost, I promised Uncle Xie. No matter what you say, I can’t let you run around.”
Shen Yingying: “…” This kid was really stubborn.
“Then I’ll give you even more. If I buy ten candies, I’ll keep one and give you the other nine.”
“I’m sorry, Sister Yingying. I can’t agree to that.” Jiaozi’s voice was exceptionally firm.
Shen Yingying thought to herself that this child had such incredible self-control at such a young age. He was definitely going to accomplish great things in the future.
So she raised the stakes. “Then I’ll also give you a can of lychees in syrup. That stuff is really delicious. I’ll not only bring you candy, I’ll also buy you a can of lychees in syrup. It’s really, really tasty.”
Jiaozi had eaten canned lychees before, but only when he had been sick. Normally, his mother could not bear to buy them for him.
The thought that he could eat sweet canned lychees without having to be sick made his eyes light up.
“Sister, does that mean you’ll give me nine candies and one can of lychees in syrup?”
“Of course! As long as you promise not to tell your dad, I’ll buy them for you when I come back.” Shen Yingying raised an eyebrow, thinking to herself that children were still children after all. They were quite easy to coax.
Unexpectedly, the moment she thought that, Jiaozi spoke again.
“Sister Yingying promised to give me nine candies and two chocolates. Then Uncle Xie has to give me double that. Two nines plus two twos… equals…”
One of the little arms wrapped around her waist loosened. It looked as though he had deliberately freed one hand so he could count on his fingers.
Shen Yingying suddenly realized something. “…What else did your Uncle Xie promise you?”
Jiaozi answered innocently: “Uncle Xie said that no matter what benefits Sister gives me, I mustn’t agree to let you go anywhere else. Whatever you promise to give me, Uncle Xie will give me double when he comes back…”
Shen Yingying: “…”
In this contest where Xie Fangzhu had never even appeared, Shen Yingying suffered a crushing defeat.
She fumed inwardly, thinking that keeping someone to watch her on the road was pointless anyway.
Once she got home, if she wanted to run away, wouldn’t it only take a matter of minutes?
That thought made her feel much better. But as they neared Jiaozi’s house, the corners of her upturned lips drooped again.
The gate to Jiaozi’s house was tightly shut. Sitting on a bench beside the closed gate was a young woman.
The girl looked about the same age as Shen Yingying, around eighteen or nineteen years old. She was slightly plump. She wore a plaid dacron shirt on top and loose, straight-legged trousers below. Two braids hung down in front of her chest.
Her face was round, her eyebrows were thick and dark, and beneath them were bright eyes. She was quite pretty, yet somehow gave off an adorably simple and naive impression, making her seem like a beautiful but innocent young woman.
When she saw Shen Yingying riding over on the bicycle, the young woman immediately supported herself with the crutch resting beside her and stood up.
Many people had talked about this girl before, so the original owner had heard quite a lot about her. The original owner’s memories also contained many recollections concerning her.
She was Chen Wenxing’s daughter, named Chen Qingqing. She was eighteen years old. Two years earlier, she had gone to the countryside as a sent-down youth. After spending a year there, she had broken her leg while working with the production team, so she had been granted a medical discharge and returned home.
After returning, because of her injured leg, no factory or work unit was willing to hire someone with a disability like her. She had already been staying at home for more than a year.
Perhaps because she had not gone out for so long, although Chen Qingqing’s eyes were bright, they also revealed timidity. Looking at Shen Yingying, she spoke in a voice as soft as a mosquito’s buzz.
“Yingying… you’re back…”
The original owner and Chen Qingqing had never had the slightest interaction. They had never even spoken to each other. Yet Chen Qingqing’s appearance now made it seem as though she had been waiting here specifically for her.
Shen Yingying suddenly remembered the sentence she had overheard outside Chen Wenxing’s house that morning: “I’ll definitely keep a close eye on her.”
So the person they were keeping such a close eye on was actually her, Shen Yingying!
“…”
She admitted defeat. One move had led to another. Xie Fangzhu had truly arranged everything perfectly.