Chapter 126: The Scarf

Chapter 126: The Scarf

Ye Xiaoxiao: "We don't know the truth yet, so let's not speculate."

Wang Jiao went silent.

After all, it was she who had said that five yuan was enough to buy medicine. Now that Li Xiaomei had passed away, she couldn’t shake the guilt.

What if Li Meiru’s parents weren’t lying and really needed the money for Li Xiaomei’s treatment?

Xia Li patted Wang Jiao on the shoulder, "We didn’t expect this either. Don’t overthink it."

Wang Jiao still wasn’t happy.

After asking for leave, Li Meiru rushed to the train station.

The others in the dorm barely had time to say much to her.

"Take care on your trip."

He Jing reminded her.

Li Meiru nodded, grabbed her bag, and left the dorm.

With one less person in the dormitory, the others weren’t in the mood to chat.

Some opened books to read; others just lay in bed.

He Jing had recently bought some yarn and was knitting a scarf on her bed, working to finish the scarf.

The yarn was dark blue, as if it were meant for a guy.

Ye Xiaoxiao was in awe of He Jing’s talent.

She’d gotten plenty of gifts from Lu Hanchuan but had no idea what to give back.

Maybe she could give him a scarf!

Ye Xiaoxiao had never knitted before, and she wasn’t sure if winter would be over by the time she finished.

He Jing noticed Ye Xiaoxiao lost in thought and asked, "What’s wrong?"

Ye Xiaoxiao: "Is it hard to knit a scarf?"

He Jing: "Not really. Want to give it a shot?"

Ye Xiaoxiao quickly shook her head, "You’ve already knitted so much. I wouldn’t want to mess with yours."

He Jing smiled, "It’s not hard at all. Just grab some yarn, and I’ll show you how."

"Okay."

Ye Xiaoxiao figured she could give it a shot.

He Jing only spent half an hour a day knitting and had already finished half in less than a week.

She could probably manage it too.

Ye Xiaoxiao finally settled on what to give. The next day, she headed to the mall to grab some yarn.

She asked the salesclerk how much yarn was needed to knit a scarf, and the salesclerk said that an ordinary scarf only required three ounces of yarn.

One ball of yarn is about two ounces, so buying two balls would be enough.

Yarn also comes in good quality and ordinary type of quality, and Ye Xiaoxiao definitely bought the good quality. She selected two balls of dark green and two balls of gray.

She decided to knit one for herself first as practice.

Once she got more skilled, she would knit one for Lu Hanchuan.

After returning, He Jing helped Ye Xiaoxiao cast on and explained how to proceed with the knitting.

Although the steps were simple, beginners often add or drop stitches, making some parts tight and others loose, leaving it looking crumpled and uneven.

Three days later, Ye Xiaoxiao realized she had been right. She stuffed her half-finished green crumpled scarf into the cabinet and began anew, casting on to knit Lu Hanchuan's scarf.

As she became more skilled, Ye Xiaoxiao found it wasn't so hard.

"Why have you all started knitting scarves recently?"

Xia Li looked at Ye Xiaoxiao, remembering that she had only recently become interested in knitting scarves in the past couple of days.

Ye Xiaoxiao: "It's a gift."

She kept her head down, very focused, wearing the same focused expression she had when performing acupuncture, very meticulous.

Xia Li: "Oh~ I see."

Wang Jiao overheard the conversation and looked over, "What! Is it trendy to give scarves now, and you have to knit them yourself? Why not just buy one at the mall?"

Ye Xiaoxiao: "Sure, that works too."

It’s hard enough to have either money or sincerity.

Wang Jiao: "I’ll swing by the mall and grab one when I get the chance."

It took Ye Xiaoxiao a week to finish the scarf. After packaging it, she sent it to Lu Hanchuan at the military base.

She didn’t give him a heads-up, so it’d be a surprise.

With less than a month left before winter break, Li Meiru still hadn’t returned.

He Jing voiced her worries in the dorm.

"Do you think Li Meiru might be in trouble?"

Xia Li: "She just went back to handle her sister’s situation. She’ll probably be okay."

Ye Xiaoxiao: "Where’s Li Meiru from?"

He Jing: "I think it’s Heishui Village in Qingyang County."

Xia Li: "Is there a way to call there?"

He Jing: "Doubt it. The village doesn’t even have a phone."

It’s a tiny, remote village, just as cut off as Baishi Village. After Li Meiru went back, it was almost as if she was cut off from the world.

Tang Xiuxiu said: "Let’s try calling the local police station. They should have a number we can reach."

Xia Li: "Exactly."

He Jing also nodded, "If Li Meiru doesn't return one week before the final exams, we'll call the local police station and ask the officers there to check on her in Heishui Village."

No one disagreed.

Of course, things hadn't gotten that bad yet. Li Meiru returned to the dormitory a few days later.

But she didn't look well.

Her sister was really gone.

The trip home was tough on her.

On the day Li Meiru returned, Ye Xiaoxiao opened the dorm door. There was no light inside, so she thought someone was sleeping.

When she turned on the light and saw Li Meiru sitting rigidly at her desk, she got a fright.

"Li Meiru? You’re back!"

Ye Xiaoxiao asked.

Li Meiru didn’t respond much, she just nodded in acknowledgment.

"You look terrible."

Ye Xiaoxiao hung her bag by the bed and sat down on her stool.

Li Meiru: "I'm fine. I just need some time to myself."

When she went home, she didn't even see her sister's body. Later, she heard from a neighbor that her parents had buried her sister on the hillside.

Because she was a child, and a girl, following local customs, she absolutely couldn't be buried in the family grave. They had to find a patch of land outside.

Li Meiru pressed her parents about her sister’s death, but they just said she died of an illness.

Later, she paid the neighbor’s wife two yuan, and only then did the wife tell her that her sister had fell off a hillside while playing and snapped her neck.

Li Xiaomei was nine years old and hadn’t started school. She didn’t have many friends in the village.

On the day Li Xiaomei fell from the slope, she was playing with her brother.

That is, Li Meiru's younger brother, Li Wang, who was only two years older than Li Xiaomei.

Li Meiru felt that the matter wasn't that simple and probably involved Li Wang. She went home to question her brother.

Li Wang wouldn’t say a word, and Li Meiru's parents were very angry. They beat her and locked her up.

In the darkness, she felt hopeless...

Ye Xiaoxiao saw that Li Meiru didn't want to say anything and didn’t push her.

Just then, the other roommates returned from class.

He Jing: "Li Meiru, you're back. Did you sort out the problems at home? Your sister..."

Li Meiru: "My sister didn't die from an illness. She fell from a hillside and passed away."

She even suspected that her parents hadn't treated her sister at all.

The others comforted Li Meiru.

Li Meiru took a deep breath, "I will continue to investigate my sister's matter, but my most important task now is to finish university and become stronger."