Around five in the afternoon, Lin Wan heard a knock on the door. She thought it was Mom or her brother.
To her surprise, when she opened the door, it was Hu Lijuan, looking flustered and nervous. Lin Wan quickly let her in.
"What’s going on?" Lin Wan asked as she closed the door.
"Saozi, I just went to Grandma’s house, look," Hu Lijuan still hadn’t calmed her nerves. Even though they were inside the courtyard with the door closed, she looked around cautiously before taking out a few sheets of paper and the two new pieces of clothing Lin Wan had given her last time.
"Your acceptance letter?" The large words on the top sheet were unmistakable.
"Yeah. My dad wanted me to apply to Provincial Political and Legal University, saying after graduation, he could use his connections to get me a good job. So, I signed up, and to my surprise, I’ve gotten in. It’s in J City, which is very close to us, just an hour by bus."
"Well done, it’s only half a month until the reporting date on this. Didn’t your grandma take your acceptance letter? How did you get it back?"
"I know that Grandma goes out to visit every day at this time and every month on this day, my uncle’s family goes back to my aunt’s family. My cousin is currently dating someone, so he goes out whenever he has the time. So, I’ve been watching our gate these past two days, and when they all left, I sneaked back. I still had a spare key to the house. I know Grandma has a wooden box where she likes to keep valuable things. I once saw her hide it, so I knew where it was. But it was locked, and I had to use a hammer for a long time to break it open. Saozi, do you think I’m a thief?" This was Hu Lijuan’s first time doing something , and she was extremely scared, not daring to go back to Grandma’s and only coming here to find her Saozi.
"No one saw you doing it, right?" Lin Wan patted her shoulder, comforting her, and led her inside.
Hu Lijuan shook her head. "No one saw me. I was careful entering and leaving when there were people on the road."
"These things were yours to begin with, so it’s not stealing. Even if someone saw it, it’s just taking back things from your own home."
"Saozi, look at what’s below, there’s more," Hu Lijuan pointed beneath saying, "This is the housing certificate for the apartment my dad was allocated, and there’s also a rental agreement he signed with someone. Besides these, I’ve also brought back our household registration book and the carefully stored clothes I left there."
"Lijuan, you did right this time. These things belong to your parents and should be with your family. Don’t worry; even if she finds out, she can’t do anything to you."
"Thank you for comforting me, Saozi. You don’t know how scared I was when I was taking these things out, my legs were weak with fear, and I ran the whole way here without stopping."
"Alright, alright, hurry and sit inside and rest for a while."
Lin Wan made Hu Lijuan a cup of malted milk drink and let her sit by the fan. She wondered how to handle the situation from here.
As Hu Lijuan relaxed, she held onto Lin Wan and said, "Saozi, I’ve thought it through. I’ll leave my acceptance letter at your place first and take the rest back. When I opened the box, I saw there was quite a bit of cash inside. I didn’t count it, but I knew there were at least a few hundred yuan. I took some of that money and put it in my cousin’s room."
Lin Wan’s eyes lit up; she hadn’t expected the usually honest Hu Lijuan to have such a cunning side. "Are you trying to frame him?"
"Hmph, Grandma is biased, and my cousins often bully us. My cousin always asks Grandma for spending money, and she never hesitates to give it to him, no matter how much he asks for, but Hu Dong and I never get anything. It’s a little better for Hu Dong since he’s a boy; Grandma sometimes gives him fifty cents or a yuan, but even my cousin sister sweet-talks Grandma into giving her nice things. But for me, I’ve never gotten a penny."
Lin Wan had never encountered such heartless family members and couldn’t fully grasp their anger, but she could feel their dissatisfaction and resentment. All she could do was comfort her.