They never lacked for interactions!
Even when he was only a teenager, he owed her!
At that time, her uncle had given her a cute little rabbit. One day, while holding the little rabbit and playing outside the courtyard, she wanted to cut some fresh and tender grass for it. But no sooner had she placed the little rabbit down by the wall than a person jumped off it and landed directly on her little rabbit, crushing it to death.
Du Jinruo still remembered the heart-wrenching pain she felt at the time, crying so much she almost fainted.
The young man apologized and then, without another word, started digging a hole with his bare hands. She watched him dig until his nails were almost bleeding, which left her momentarily stunned, and she managed to stop crying.
"I’ll dig a grave for it and bury it properly," the young man said to her, "In a few days, I’ll find another rabbit to compensate you with."
She watched his eyes grow red, and dumbly nodded her head.
Du Jinruo always thought that he, too, wanted to cry for the poor little rabbit.
But afterwards, she waited and waited, and he never did give her another rabbit. So, Du Jinruo cried her heart out again, listing this young man as the first person in her life who she couldn’t forgive, vowing to write down a few curse words about him in her diary whenever she thought of him.
Could it be that he had forgotten?
Meng Xinian turned around to face her.
Du Jinruo held her breath.
Did he realize what he still owed her?
Meng Xinian looked at her and slightly furrowed his brows, then he said, "I never owe anyone anything casually, no matter what. I’ve already compensated you for the rabbit."
He indeed had recalled the incident.
Back then, he was running from the nanny assigned by Meng Chaojun, jumping over the wall of the courtyard without foreseeing the quiet, grassy corner with a girl and a rabbit, where he landed directly on the rabbit and killed it.
The girl had cried so much he couldn’t even see her face clearly.
It was surely his responsibility, so he promised to compensate her, and she had agreed at the time.
Two days later, he bought a rabbit that looked almost the same from the flower and bird market and delivered it to the Du Family as compensation.
The reason he knew it was the Du Family was thanks to Gao Wei.
Ever since then, Gao Wei had been hovering around Du Jinruo, along with Fong Jianye spreading words in the courtyard, declaring that if he found out who had killed Du Jinruo’s little rabbit, he wouldn’t hesitate to break the culprit’s legs!
Since the little rabbit had been compensated for, it meant that the matter of that accidental dispute was resolved, and Meng Xinian naturally wouldn’t keep it in mind.
If it weren’t for Du Jinruo mentioning it so explicitly, Meng Xinian would have probably never remembered it for the rest of his life.
Du Jinruo couldn’t help but say indignantly, "Liar! When did you compensate me?"
Meng Xinian caught Zhao Xin out of the corner of his eye not far away.
Zhao Xin was staring at them in shock.
His heart immediately sank with a sense of foreboding.
He vividly remembered the trouble that Second Zhao had caused him back then! He immediately said to Du Jinruo, "I don’t need to lie, you can go back and ask."
After dropping that statement, he walked over to Zhao Xin.
Du Jinruo bit her lower lip, feeling somewhat lost.
She really hadn’t received the little rabbit he was supposed to have compensated her with! But then again, she felt that Meng Xinian didn’t seem like a person who would lie. It seemed she had to go back and ask her parents about this matter!
As soon as Zhao Xin saw Meng Xinian approaching, he immediately said nervously, "Captain, I didn’t see anything!"