NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 9: Everything You Took from Her Must Be Returned
"It's impossible! How could I have used so many things of yours? You must be deliberately overestimating, just to take advantage of me and vent your anger," Dong Jiaxuan said, her eyes red, showing a mixture of anger and anxiety.
When she took things from Su Xiaoxiao, she never thought about returning them. So, all the things that she had taken from Su Xiaoxiao, including money, grain tickets, meat tickets, canned food, and a set of clothes, had already been sent back home. Her elder brother had a son just last year, and as his own sister, she had to provide support for her newly born nephew. Her nephew was their family's future, and he shouldn't suffer. After all, Su Xiaoxiao was just a woman; why did she need such good things? In this society, it was up to men to build things.
"Dong Jiaxuan, do you think the people in the educated youth dormitory are all blind?" Su Xiaoxiao folded her arms across her chest and looked at her disdainfully, raising her chin.
The others in the educated youth dormitory were also infuriated by her shameless words. "Dong Jiaxuan, do you think we're all blind? I saw you take a big can of pear from Educated Youth Su and put it directly in your own suitcase without sharing a single bite with her."
"Yes, I saw you scoop two spoons of malted milk from Educated Youth Su's container and drink it with water."
They spoke one by one, revealing everything they had seen. While it didn't completely match Su Xiaoxiao's account, it was close enough.
"Do you all think Su Xiaoxiao is from a well-off family, so you're all trying to butter her up, hoping that her family will help you in the future? Meanwhile, my family is poor, so you're all ganging up on me? This is the thinking of the bourgeoisie, corrupted by the sugar-coated bullets!" Dong Jiaxuan was red-eyed, her expression indignant as she glared at them all. Nobody had expected her to dare to label everyone with such a large hat and they all became furious.
"Spit! Who do you think we are? You're in no position to define us! Instead, you're just a thief and a bandit!" one female educated youth said, spitting in Dong Jiaxuan's direction.
Dong Jiaxuan had been humiliated one time after another, and she rushed forward and tore into them. However, Su Xiaoxiao directly grasped her wrist and, with a bit of skill, threw her to the ground.
"Enough! I'll say it once more. Are you going to return them or not?" Su Xiaoxiao's voice was cold, making everyone anxious. She had clearly run out of patience.
Dong Jiaxuan instinctively wanted to resist, but nobody here was a fool. With so many witnesses, trying to weasel her way out wouldn't work. After struggling for a moment, Dong Jiaxuan could only say with a look of sorrow and indignation, "I'll return them! But I don't have that much money now. I'll pay you back a little at a time."
"No!" Su Xiaoxiao refused without hesitation.
"But I've already sent back home all those things you gave me. I don't have them now," Dong Jiaxuan said proudly, even raising her chin.
She wasn't like Su Xiaoxiao, a money pit. At her age, she was already repaying her family. She was a good daughter and would be a good wife in the future.
Su Xiaoxiao chuckled lightly and shook her head. How Dong Jiaxuan chose to live her life was her own business.
"Since the items are gone, let's convert them to money. I don't want to take advantage of you. I'll settle accounts with you item by item. Two sets of clothes, even if we value them at 8 yuan each, that's 16 yuan. Liberation shoes, 4.5 yuan. Two hairbands, 30 cents. Two pairs of cotton gloves, 12 cents. Canned fruit, 80 cents. Half a pound of brown sugar, 45 cents. Toilet paper, 1 cent. A can of malted milk, 3 yuan. One can equal around 50 spoons. You took 4 spoons, so that's 24 cents. In addition, 3 yuan, 2 pounds of meat tickets, and 10 pounds of grain tickets. We can't convert tickets to money, so you can give me 2 pounds of premium pork and 10 pounds of fine grain. I'll reimburse you for the money to buy meat and grain. In total, that's 26 yuan and 59 cents."
Su Xiaoxiao's mind was like an abacus, and she quickly calculated the expenses. Nowadays, buying things required not just money but also tickets. However, tickets could only be traded on the black market, and she couldn't put a price on the tickets and leave Dong a chance to find her mistakes.
"Why don't you go rob a bank? I don't have that much money! You're clearly forcing me to my death!" Dong Jiaxuan didn't care about the impression she left on Pan Yongsheng and simply acted like a shrew.
Twenty-six yuan and 59 cents... where would she get that much money?
"What do you mean you don't have it? If you work a full 140 work points per month, the government provides a 21-yuan subsidy. For any extra work points, the village calculates it at 6 cents per point. Next month during the autumn harvest, you can exchange 10 pounds of fine grain for me, and at the end of the year when the village slaughters pigs, you can give me your share of pork. That will settle everything." Su Xiaoxiao quickly explained, and Dong Jiaxuan's face changed several shades of color as she listened.
"How... how can you force me like this! How can you be so heartless?!" Dong Jiaxuan's face turned red and swollen, like a fermenting steamed bun. She was so angry that she was on the verge of going mad. She let out a shrill scream and pounced on Su Xiaoxiao with her teeth and claws.