Sitting in the bathtub, Shi Nian stared at the towel on the rack, lost in thought.
The towel had been used for four years, ever since she and Xiang Yuan got married. The loops were a bit worn out, but she couldn't bear to throw it away.
Once, Rosa, Xiang Yuan's female partner, borrowed the bathroom, saw the towel, and laughed, saying, "You Chinese are born thrifty. But Shi Nian, I'm telling you, it's unhygienic. A towel shouldn't be used for more than two months. Otherwise, it's like a robe filled with lice, teeming with bacteria that will ruin your skin."
Faced with Rosa's almost arrogant beauty, she simply smiled calmly, "Rosa, you call me 'Chinese.' Have you forgotten that you are also Chinese? The only difference between us is that you have an M Country ID."
"As for unnecessary thriftiness, I know it's inappropriate too. But behind our 'Chinese' thriftiness, it's not stinginess, it's nostalgia." She took the towel back from Rosa's hands and touched it to her cheek. "In this old thing, you see 'lice,' but I see years of love with Xiang Yuan. This difference, you wouldn't understand."
She bit her tongue hard from saying a word: Because Xiang Yuan is still mine, not yours!
Even if you dare to come to my house openly and find excuses to enter my bathroom—what's mine is mine. Even if it's old, you still can only say sour grapes when you can't get them!
Rosa, indeed a financial powerhouse, was not one to back down, and after a moment of shock, she retorted sharply, "Shi Nian, why is your English still so poor? Look at what you just said, I couldn't even understand. If your English is always so bad, how are you going to accompany Xiang Yuan to social events? Are you just going to play mute or act like a vase?"
Shi Nian's heart quietly shattered in an instant.
She knew that lately, Rosa was the one playing the "hostess" role at functions with Xiang Yuan.
.
Shi Nian submerged herself into the hot water, isolating herself from that unpleasant memory, trying to focus only on the happy memories the towel had given her.
Her English wasn't good, particularly poor in speaking skills four years ago, and she couldn't bring herself to speak. So when they were preparing for the wedding, Xiang Yuan specially skipped lunch gatherings, buying just a sandwich to accompany her shopping for household items after marriage.
At that time, there were sales in stores, but she couldn't understand if "30% off" on the posters meant a reduced price of 30% or saving 30%, leading her to clumsily offer a trimmed amount. The saleslady laughed disdainfully, saying it wasn't enough money, and she wished she could dig into the ground, apologetically glancing at Xiang Yuan.
Xiang Yuan, however, didn't laugh. He just held her hand gently yet firmly and said to the staff, "The language on your store's discount posters is unclear; we have reason to suspect your store intends to deceive customers with pricing. Please remember, this city is an international metropolis, not just M Country's city. If you disregard non-native language customers in your wording, it borders on racial discrimination."
Racial discrimination is a severe accusation here; the staff panicked and desperately denied it. Xiang Yuan stayed unperturbed, merely asking, "Can you deny that you laughed just now when this lady made a mistake with the amount?"
The saleslady was speechless, her disdain turned into fear.
In the end, the manager came out personally to apologize and sold the towel at the amount she offered.
But she later made up the difference and generously said "sorry" to that salesperson. Walking out, hugging the towel felt like holding a lapful of sunshine. She turned her head and smiled happily at him, "Thank you."
Xiang Yuan, holding her hand tightly, softly said, "Shi Nian, I will protect you for a lifetime."
A lifetime...
She thought time with Xiang Yuan was long, but how could she have imagined it was just a mere four years.
Of all the promises in this world, nothing withstands time the least. And in Xiang Yuan's mouth, she was always affectionately called "time."