Experience (1)

Jiang Ru looked for the shirt and pants she had made for him last time. She hadn't thought much of it back then; when buying underwear for herself, she had casually bought two pairs of underpants for him as well. The underpants and shirt were already washed and clean, but the trousers hadn't been washed yet. However, that didn't matter; she wasn't the one wearing them anyway.

Jiang Ru placed the neatly folded clothes on a chair, then moved the chair to the room's doorway and called out, "I'm putting your clothes here."

She didn't see him when she looked down, so she turned and went back into the room.

Li Xiao bathed very quickly. Just as Jiang Ru lay down on the bed, he stepped out of the bath. Since his hair was short, he had even washed his head.

He wiped himself dry and picked up the clothes. Originally, he thought Jiang Ru had found some clothes belonging to his father or uncle, and he hadn't minded much. After all, even if they were deceased, they were still his father and uncle, so why couldn't he wear them? But to his surprise, upon picking up the clothes, he realized they were brand new garments he had never seen before.

A light blue shirt, charcoal-grey trousers, and even underpants. He guessed these were things Jiang Ru had bought for him after he left.

When he bought clothes for Jiang Ru at the department store, he hadn't thought of anything else; he just wanted to buy them, so he did. Now, seeing that she had also bought new clothes for him at home, for some reason, his chest suddenly warmed up.

This feeling was very unfamiliar, taking him a long moment to return to normal, yet he didn't dislike it at all.

His hand brushed against the clothes, and he suddenly understood Jiang Ru's earlier remark about "not bearing to wear them." He, too, felt a bit reluctant to wear them.

He pursed his lips, taking quite a while before finally putting the clothes on.

Because he was wearing new clothes, his movements as he carried the bath basin became a bit stiff, fearing that the water on the rim of the basin might dirty them.

When Li Xiao returned to the room, Jiang Ru was almost asleep.

In her daze, something red was tossed right next to her head, instantly driving away her sleepiness.

Startled, Jiang Ru opened her eyes and glared at him angrily. "What are you doing?"

Her tone carried a hint of displeasure.

The man didn't seem to notice anything wrong. He even let out a soft chuckle and said, "Open it and take a look."

Jiang Ru was in no mood for this. She closed her eyes, turned over, and went back to sleep.

Li Xiao stood by the bed and stared blankly at her reaction, only then realizing he had annoyed her. He rubbed his nose awkwardly, unable to bring himself to apologize. After standing for a moment, he leaned back and sat on the edge of the bed. While rolling up his pant legs, he added with feigned calmness, "Didn't you ask where the money came from?"

Having been woken up by him, Jiang Ru couldn't fall back asleep immediately.

Hearing this, she suppressed her anger, frowned, and turned her head to look.

As if he had eyes in the back of his head, the man also turned around. Meeting Jiang Ru's gaze, he said nonchalantly, "If you don't want to know, then forget it."

He reached out to grab the red bag next to her head.

Without a second thought, Jiang Ru immediately rolled over. "What do you mean?"

His movements were too fast, and his hand had already grabbed the red bag. Then, Jiang Ru immediately saw that there were words written on it.

If she wasn't mistaken, this looked like an honorary banner.

Her eyes widened, wondering if she was seeing things. She sat up abruptly in bed, rubbing her eyes. Seeing that he was about to leave, she quickly said, "Let me see."

The man acted as if he hadn't heard, standing up and making a move to leave.

Annoyed, Jiang Ru reached out and grabbed the hem of his shirt, tugging hard to stop him. The man turned back to look at her, raising an eyebrow in feigned confusion. "What's wrong?"

"..."

She highly suspected he was doing this on purpose.

Jiang Ru didn't bother to bicker with him. She stood up and snatched the item from his hand.

He didn't resist. Seeing her take it, he sat back down.

Instead of opening the bag first, Jiang Ru turned it over to look at the bottom. She saw eight golden characters written on the red honorary banner: "Courageous and Wise, Model Citizen." The signature was from the W City Police Station, dated September 20, 1998.

Just a few days ago.

She couldn't help but look up at him in astonishment. "Is this yours?"

A speculation formed in her mind.

The man didn't seem to care much about the banner, instead reminding her, "Look inside."