At 6:30 in the afternoon, Shen Li returned home to find a mess.
The fruits in the fruit bowl were scattered all over the floor, and the pillows were thrown on the floor, on the coffee table, and even behind the TV. There were black footprints on the off-white floor, and the seasoning bottles that should have been in the kitchen were lying on the floor, with a lot of liquid poured out.
Shen Li was furious when she saw this. Her parents would be back at 7 o'clock. How could they clean up in half an hour? And Shen Tianyou, didn't he ask him to check the monkey's habits? Why would he let the little monkey continue to cause trouble?
Shen Li thought about how they had been getting along recently, and roared angrily, "Shen Tianyou! Get out here!"
Shen Tianyou's voice was filled with surprise: "You're back!"
The little monkey jumped out of Shen Li's room, climbed onto Shen Li's hand and jumped into her arms, then grabbed her collar and started to torment her.
What was going on? Why did the "Monkey King" start to make trouble for her?
Unable to bear the disturbance, Shen Li tilted her head to avoid the harassment of the little monkey, and questioned Shen Tianyou who came out of the room: "How did it become like this again? You will clean it up yourself this time!"
Shen Tianyou didn't look at her. He walked straight to the sofa and sat down. He waved his hand and said, "The little monkey went crazy and suddenly started to mess around. He rummaged around and threw things at me. Later, he ran into your room to make trouble..."
"My room?" Shen Li was surprised for a moment, holding the little monkey and quickly walked back to the room. Three seconds later, she rushed out and roared, "Shen Tianyou! How did my room become like that?"
Shen Tianyou spread his hands and said helplessly: "The little monkey wanted to make trouble, and I couldn't catch it. It became like that in less than three or five minutes."
How could it be possible? Shen Li didn't believe him at all and went back to her room to check. Everything was fine before she left in the morning. Her precious figurine was still lying in the locked glass window. But now, her room was like a storm. The quilt and pillow were all over the floor, and the figurine was lying on the floor in pieces.
Shen Li closed her eyes angrily, and the little monkey seemed to sense her emotions and ran away immediately. She rushed into the living room, pointed at Shen Tianyou's nose and yelled: "You did it!"
Shen Tianyou tilted his head to one side: "Why are you crazy? That was done by the little monkey. Why are you blaming it on me?"
Shen Li was dumbfounded. She had never thought that Shen Tianyou would respond to her like this. Those figurines were her treasures. They were all out-of-print figurines that were priceless and hard to come by. She took good care of each of them. Except for cleaning them once a month, she would lock them in a glass cabinet with a combination lock at other times, and she would not even let anyone see them.
Now they lay in pieces on the floor of her room, with no possibility of ever being put back together.
At first, she also thought it was the monkey who did it, but no matter how smart the monkey was, it couldn't open the combination lock, right? No matter how smart the monkey was, it couldn't just throw the figurine on the floor, right?
Shen Li's face turned pale, and her eyes seemed to be blazing with fire: "Why?"
Shen Tianyou said as if it was a matter of course: "It likes to run into your room, is that my fault?" He then tried to explain, "It ran into your room after destroying the living room. I didn't expect it to be so smart . It only took a short while..."
"In just a short while, it has evolved to the point where it can open a combination lock?" Shen Li stared at Shen Tianyou gloomily, pointing at his nose and said, "Shen Tianyou, don't treat me like a fool! I saw it clearly, it was you who did it, and you actually want the 'Monkey King' to take the blame for you?"
Shen Tianyou was also angry: "Can you please stop blaming me for everything? You brought the monkey back by yourself!"
The door opened, the door handle twisted as the key outside the door turned, and with a "click", the door opened.
Shen Li took two steps forward, with a look of surprise on her face: "Mom and Dad are back!"
Mother Shen, who entered the house first, was smiling, but when she saw the mess inside the house, she was stunned: "What's going on?"
"Mom, you're back just in time!" Shen Li went over and complained to her mother, "Shen Tianyou allowed the Monkey King to sabotage me, and he even smashed all the figurines in my collection!"
Shen Tianyou denied: "I didn't!"
Shen Li couldn't bear his acting and said in a shrill voice: "Don't admit it! You must have opened the combination lock! The Monkey King has slept with me for so many days and has never been interested in the things in the glass cabinet. It would be strange if it wasn't you!"
Shen Tianyou quickly stood up and moved closer to Shen's mother: "Mom, I didn't do it, she framed me!"
"Still pretending!" Shen Li didn't believe that Shen Tianyou could still deny the facts before him. She pulled Shen's mother towards her room, shouting that she wanted to show Shen's mother the evidence.
Seeing this, Shen Tianyou also stepped forward to pull. Just as the two of them were grabbing Shen Ma and pulling, Shen Ma threw her hands away and shouted angrily: "Enough!"
Mother Shen glared at Shen Tianyou. Just when Shen Li was secretly delighted, Mother Shen glared at Shen Li fiercely and said, "Shen Li, you are already a teenager, can you understand something?"
Understand... Understand? Shen Li looked at her mother blankly. Shen's mother looked at Shen Li with a look of disappointment and continued, "Mom and Dad got home from get off work at 7 o'clock. We are already very tired, and we still have to come back to cook and wash clothes for you. Do you know that Mom and Dad are very hard-working?"
Shen Li nodded blankly. She knew her parents were very hard-working, so she wanted to clean up before they came back. But Shen Tianyou smashed her figurines...
Mother Shen raised her voice: "Since you know how hard we work, why are you still arguing with your brother? The house is a mess and you don't know how to clean it up. Instead, you are making a fuss here. You are really ignorant!"
Shen Li reacted, bit her lip, and said angrily: "But Shen Tianyou smashed my figurine! He did it on purpose!"
"What figurines?" Shen's mother was stunned. She tilted her head to look into Shen Li's room and then said, "Aren't they just your few plasticine dolls? What's so great about them?"
"That's not a plasticine doll, that's a clay figurine!" Shen Li argued with Shen's mother in a shrill voice. How could this be compared to an ordinary plasticine doll?
Mother Shen didn't expect her daughter to be so persistent, so she softened her attitude and said, "How much? I'll give you the money, and you can buy it yourself."
But Shen's mother's words hit a "landmine" again. Shen Li was so angry that she almost burned herself dry: "This is not about money at all! These things can't be bought even if you have money, okay?"
Seeing her daughter being so ignorant, Shen's mother's attitude turned cold: "Shen Li, what else do you want?"
Shen Li didn't even think of a solution. She just wanted to complain: "It was Shen Tianyou who broke it on purpose, and he even framed the Monkey King!"
When we file a complaint, do we seek a solution to the problem, or do we need a formulaic claim settlement like an insurance company?
In fact, it is not. When we complain to someone, we are never seeking a solution or compensation. We just want to tell the person you think is closest to you that you have been wronged. We just hope that she can say one word, even one word, to comfort you.
It is so simple that you can just say that it was Shen Tianyou's carelessness. You don't have to force Shen Tianyou to apologize. Just a comforting sentence, "Shen Tianyou did something wrong" can calm Shen Li's anger.
Shen Li stared at the person in front of her, waiting for her to say this.
But she didn't.
"Shen Li." Shen's mother called softly, but her voice was full of parental authority. "Tianyou is your younger brother." She asked, "Do you think your younger brother would do something like this to intentionally destroy your things?"
Why can't Shen Tianyou do that?
Shen Li raised her head stubbornly, looking at Shen Tianyou with hostility: "But he did it! He did it!"
Shen Tianyou shrank back, his face was pale but his eyes were shining. He hid beside Shen Ma, looking into Shen Li's eyes and raising his chin at her provocatively.
"Why did your brother smash your things for no reason? Don't take it out on your brother when you are unhappy!" Shen's mother was impatient and pointed at Shen Li's door and said, "Go in now, or you won't have dinner tonight!"
Shen Li was stunned, as if she didn't hear clearly what her mother said.
At this time, after parking the car, Shen's father finally came in. He put the key on the keypad, and before he could meet Shen Li's hopeful eyes, he said coldly: "I can hear you guys arguing in the garage, what are you doing?"
Before Shen Li opened her mouth to defend herself, Shen's mother answered first: "Isn't it your daughter? It makes me so angry. The house is a mess and I don't know how to help clean it up. I am exhausted after a day's work, and I have to listen to her screaming at the top of her lungs, and she still blames Tianyou..." Shen's mother walked towards the sofa while talking. She turned around and saw Shen Li still standing at the door of the room. She said sternly, "What are you still standing at the door for? Why don't you go in and reflect on your mistakes?"
Shen Li was angry and turned to look at Shen Tianyou, but he looked like he had nothing to do with her. Shen's mother complained to Shen's father about the messy situation. Shen's father agreed and advised her to be at ease. Shen Tianyou stuck to Shen's mother and said he would clean it up. Shen's mother scolded him and finally smiled.
Shen Li walked into the room and took one last look at the living room before closing the door. It looked like an extremely warm place, and the three people seemed to be getting along very well. She thought, then Shen Li, what was the meaning of your presence?
Shen Tianyou did a thorough cleaning. Shen's mother chased him with a towel to wipe his sweat. He took three breaks in the middle and spent two hours to completely clean the living room. He was praised by Shen's mother.
Shen Li heard the sounds of them eating supper through the door, and also heard Shen's mother calling her to come out to eat. She covered her head with the quilt and pretended to be asleep. Shen Tianyou's acting was terrible, but Shen's mother didn't expose it. She locked the door and slept until dawn.
The little monkey couldn't open the door of Shen Li's room, and stayed in Shen Tianyou's room all night feeling aggrieved. Finally, it defecated on the bed of Shen Tianyou, who didn't know its habits.
Shen Li went out with her schoolbag, and ran into Shen Tianyou who was holding up a quilt to settle accounts with her. The "map" and yellow marks stubbornly remained on Shen Tianyou's quilt, and the air was filled with a foul odor.
Shen Li turned her head away in disdain. Shen Tianyou became even angrier when he saw this. He gritted his teeth and said, "Why didn't you remind me? You must have done it on purpose!"
Shen Li had a blank expression on her face, but the corners of her mouth were slightly raised, and she said in her heart: You deserve it.
She walked around Shen Tianyou and went out, put on her shoes at the door, opened the door and prepared to go to school. Shen's mother shouted from behind: "You don't want to eat breakfast?"
Shen Li looked back and paused for a second, her lips pursed involuntarily, and she tiptoed slightly, waiting for Shen's mother to say the next sentence.
Shen's mother's voice came from the kitchen: "Eat breakfast first and then wash the quilt. Put it in the washing machine and mom will wash it for you later. Come and have breakfast first!"
It turned out that he wasn't talking to her. Shen Li's eyes dimmed, and she stepped out, not hesitating when she closed the door.
Does she have to show weakness?
If she didn't bow her head first, the two of them would be like two radio stations that couldn't connect, one talking to herself and the other turning a deaf ear. Was she wrong, or was her mother still angry with her child at the age of thirty? Why was Shen Tianyou always right no matter what he did? Why was Shen Li the only one who gave in? Why did she have so many questions, but no so-called "first teacher" could answer her questions?
Shen Li's mind was full of sharp questions, and she couldn't listen to the lecture properly while sitting in the classroom. Although her reason told her that she should listen to the lecture seriously, her mind was dominated by anger. She didn't even dare to talk to others easily, for fear that she would accidentally take out her anger on others.
She forced herself to take notes. She had no reason not to study hard. Shen Tianyou was in poor health, so it was natural that he couldn't focus all his energy on studying. But for Shen Li, they would say why Shen Li couldn't do well.
During the break, Shen Li walked out of the classroom to get some fresh air, and Li Zi was called away by the teacher. When someone tapped her shoulder, Shen Li's first reaction was Li Zi: "You're back so soon?"
She turned around and saw a boys' school uniform. The uniform was clean without any strange characters or stains. Shen Li looked up and happened to catch the boy's eyes.
He is the master of "Monkey King"!
She subconsciously sensed the danger and wanted to escape but found herself standing at the end of the corridor with boys blocking all her way.
Shen Li said awkwardly: "Why, why is it you?"
The boy said, "I saw someone who looked like you on campus a few days ago. It turns out it was you."
Shen Li lifted her hair guiltily to hide the expression on her face: "What's wrong?"
"I asked you last time if your monkey was mine..."
Before the boy could finish his words, Shen Li interrupted him immediately: "Of course not!" She thought carefully about the things she posted on Weibo. Except for the first "paw" photo, the others were all cartoons of "Monkey King". It was impossible for this boy to tell from the cartoons that "Monkey King" was their monkey, right?
The boy was silent for a moment, his voice lower than ever: "I know, I was reckless last time."
After he finished speaking, Shen Li did not respond, and the atmosphere became silent for a while.
Shen Li was already preoccupied with the lawsuit, so she didn't pay much attention to the boy's emotions. She was still angry about what happened last night, when the boy suddenly said, "I'm Qiao Lu, do you want to hear about our 'Pudding'?"
Shen Li was puzzled: "Qiao Lu? 'Pudding'?"
The boy nodded and answered, "Yes, Qiao Lu, that's my name. 'Pudding' is the name of the little monkey. It likes to eat pudding very much, so I named it 'Pudding'."
Compared to the last time they met, this boy named Qiao Lu was much quieter. It seemed that he was in a low mood because his beloved pet was missing.
Shen Li felt a little sorry when she saw Qiao Lu like this, and suddenly remembered that "Monkey King" was his "Pudding", so Qiao Lu must know what "Monkey King" likes and dislikes... Shen Tianyou used "Monkey King" to cover up the fact that he smashed his own figurine. If she knew what "Monkey King" likes and dislikes, could she use the same trick to get back at him?
Shen Li pondered and secretly looked at Qiao Lu's expression. After making up her mind, she approached Qiao Lu and asked, "Is there anything it hates?"
Qiao Lu didn't notice Shen Li's change and suddenly laughed: "Air freshener, "Pudding" hates air freshener. It was abused by others before I brought it home and was very timid. My dad didn't know it at first, so he sprayed it with air freshener. Once it was frightened, it made a mess of our house. My dad thought it was afraid of air freshener, so he kept spraying it. As a result, the ghost pretended to be frightened and deliberately lost his temper and made trouble. Later..."
Later, the middle-aged uncle lost "Pudding" because he could no longer bear it. Monkeys are not like dogs, they can smell the smell and go home by themselves. "Pudding" never came back after leaving. Qiao Lu finished speaking, his eyes became darker. He used to be quite cold, but he got better after having "Pudding". But now "Pudding" left him again.
Shen Li turned away, she couldn't bear to see Qiao Lu like this. But she was unwilling in her heart, she wanted to wait, wait for the "Monkey King" to help her get revenge, she would tell Qiao Lu that the "Monkey King" was his "pudding", then the "Monkey King" would decide whether to stay or go. Thinking of this, Shen Li lost her previous heaviness and hesitation, she patted Qiao Lu on the shoulder and said, "It will be fine."
Shen Li's tone was too calm, which attracted Qiao Lu's attention. She quickly added: "I mean, it's so smart, it will be fine."
Qiao Lu relaxed and said, "I hope so."
"You will definitely find it." After hearing Qiao Lu's thanks, Shen Li nodded absentmindedly in response, but she was thinking about air freshener and pudding in her heart, and a smile appeared on the corner of her mouth.
After school in the afternoon, Shen Li hurriedly said goodbye to Li Zi and went to the supermarket. She stood at the entrance of the supermarket holding her schoolbag, hesitating whether to go in.
Suddenly her cell phone rang. She grabbed the phone and saw that it was a message from Shen Tianyou, ordering her to go to the Digital City to buy him a USB flash drive.
Shen Li didn't intend to pay attention. Two seconds later, Shen Tianyou sent another series of messages, repeating his order - go to Digital City to buy a USB flash drive.
Shen Li was holding her phone, preparing to type a reply, but finally she chose to press the voice button and said, "You're dreaming!" She put the phone in her pocket and walked into the supermarket resolutely.
Shen Li carried air freshener and pudding bought from the supermarket in her schoolbag. She had already thought about it and was going to put the air freshener behind Shen Tianyou's door when he wasn't paying attention. Shen Tianyou liked to push the door all the way, and when the door hit the button of the air freshener, the little monkey would smell the smell and would definitely make a scene in Shen Tianyou's room. If she couldn't control herself anymore, she would take out the pudding she had prepared to end the situation.
By then, even if Shen's father and mother saw it with their own eyes, they would not be able to blame Shen Li for calming the little monkey down.
However, before anything could be done, Shen Li pushed the door open and found a pair of high-heeled shoes on the ground. Her mother was back!
Shen Li held her schoolbag, changed her shoes and walked towards the room.
Mother Shen suddenly called her and said in a bad tone: "Stop!"
Shen Li wondered if she had been exposed, but she clearly didn't have time to do anything.
Mother Shen had a furious look on her face. She sat on the sofa and kept hitting the coffee table with her hands. Shen Tianyou, who was standing next to Mother Shen, would occasionally glance at Shen Li with a gloating look in his eyes.
The only one who was well behaved was the little monkey, who was squatting on the sofa and chewing a corn sausage. Corn sausage? Shen Li looked closely and wondered why the snacks she had hidden in the room were being chewed by the little monkey.
Mother Shen pointed to a bag of things on the coffee table and asked, "What is this?"
Shen Li didn't answer. Suddenly, a bag of things fell to her feet. The plastic bag opened and the snacks came out. They were the snacks that Shen Li had hidden under the bed!
Shen Li understood. She glared at Shen Tianyou fiercely, but she didn't want to anger Shen's mother: "Why are you glaring at Tianyou? This little monkey dug it out from under your bed!"
Shen Li didn't believe it at all. She put the snacks in a box under the bed, with seven or eight books on top. Who else could be so smart except Shen Tianyou?
Shen Li wanted to explain, but Shen's mother wouldn't let her: "How many times have I told you that junk food is dirty and can't be digested by the stomach! You want to eat snacks, don't you have any at home? Why do you have to sneak around to get these?"
Who wants to eat those oil-free, salt-free, non-fried cakes? Aren't those things prepared for Shen Tianyou? Why should she accommodate Shen Tianyou?
Seeing the reluctance on Shen Li's face, Shen's mother warned her: "I've said it many times, there can't be any junk food in our house! Shen Li, take these out and throw them away for me, don't do it again!"
"But……"
"No buts!" Shen's mother walked out the door, "I'm going to buy groceries. When I come back, I want to see these things lying in the trash can outside the house!"
Shen Li stood there woodenly, looking at Shen Tianyou's pale face with a look of pride.
Mother Shen asked again: "Did you hear it?"
Shen Li glared at Shen Tianyou angrily and replied sullenly, "I heard it."
The door was slammed by Shen's mother and bounced back. The sound entered the room with an indescribable solemnity.
Shen Li threw her schoolbag to the ground, and the cat picked up the junk food one by one and put it back into the plastic bag. It was Shen Tianyou who couldn't eat junk food, so why should Shen Li accompany him to eliminate junk food?
You are the elder sister.
But what if Shen Li is the elder sister? Besides the title of elder sister and the obligations of being an elder sister, does she have any rights? Has Shen Tianyou really respected her as an elder sister?
Shen Li lay on the ground, trying to open her eyes wide and hold back her tears. Shen Tianyou was still in the living room, and she didn't want to embarrass herself in front of him.
The little monkey came to her side and tentatively touched her hand. Just as Shen Li was about to touch the little monkey, she saw Shen Tianyou picking up her bag behind the little monkey.
Shen Li stood up and asked, "What are you doing?"
Shen Tianyou looked like he was helpless. He shook his head at Shen Li and even pointed at the junk food on the ground, asking Shen Li to continue picking it up. He said, "Where's my USB drive? You didn't buy it for me?"
What a joke! With his attitude, who has the right to order her to do anything?
Shen Li reached out to grab her bag, and Shen Tianyou grabbed the bag and stepped back. In the eyes of the little monkey, this action seemed like Shen Tianyou was bullying Shen Li.
"Is there something shameful? Let me see what's wrong with you." Shen Tianyou was relentless, relying on his poor physical condition. He didn't know how to write the word respect. Shen Li didn't dare to touch him, so he reached out and took out Shen Li's things from his schoolbag, "Air freshener?"
When she heard this, Shen Li seemed to have pressed the pause switch. The blood in her body began to boil. She stared at Shen Tianyou without blinking. She knew what he would do next!
"What's so good about hiding this thing?" Shen Tianyou remembered the bed sheet that had been peed on by the little monkey, so he took the air freshener for himself without hesitation, "Give this to me." After saying that, he opened the cap of the air freshener bottle with one hand, and then pressed the bottle mouth, "puff", the gas leaked.
Shen Li tilted her head slightly to look at the little monkey. The little monkey seemed stunned, but Shen Tianyou seemed not to have had enough fun and continued to press it a few more times.
“Puff.”
“Puff.”
A few words popped up in Shen Li's mind: You're responsible for the consequences of your own actions.
The little monkey lowered his throat and made an angry sound. He threw away the sausage, jumped onto Shen Tianyou, and clawed at him, roaring and poking him with his claws.
Shen Tianyou was confused by this sudden change and didn't even think of asking Shen Li for help.
Shen Li shook her head, picked up the snacks on the ground, and walked out of the house in her slippers.
This time, she felt she had a clear conscience.