Chapter 464 - 19: The Ways of the World
"It's not stolen."
The pressure brought by the zebra made Kulu instinctively take a step back, almost stepping out of the wooden house.
He looked up at the zebra, trying his best to appear courageous, and said.
"It was given by the teacher."
Upon hearing this, the zebra's eyes flashed with disbelief—
Among the seven tribesmen, only he and Sunday had the closest relationship, so why would Saturday give the precious red sugar to this clueless guy.
His first reaction was that Kulu was lying, but he quickly overturned that thought.
He knew Kulu's character best; if someone dared to steal something and deceive him, he might find it somewhat possible.
"Kulu? Even if you lent him courage, he wouldn't dare do it.
Besides, even if he did steal it, he wouldn't use 'the teacher gave it' as an excuse.
Whether or not the teacher gave it, it's easy to verify tomorrow, this kind of lie is too clumsy."
"So, Kulu isn't lying, these pieces of red sugar in his hand were indeed given by the teacher.
But why would the teacher give him red sugar, isn't he the most insignificant one?
He got the sugar, but why bring it here to me?"
Within a few short seconds, countless thoughts flashed through the zebra's mind, and after judging that Kulu wasn't lying, his angry expression immediately softened, becoming much friendlier.
He kindly put his arm around Kulu's shoulder, ignoring Kulu's dissatisfaction, and forcibly pulled Kulu into the wooden house, seating him in a chair.
...
"Hey, I'm just worried you might do something foolish and make a mistake.
You know that gallows is ruthless—if you stole something, the outcome wouldn't be good."
The zebra's change of face was quicker than flipping a book, just moments ago annoyed, now brimming with smiles.
While chatting with Kulu, he took a clean ceramic cup from the wooden shelf beside the table, and poured Kulu a cup of hot water.
"Of course, I believe you're an honest...ah, no...a sincere person, you definitely wouldn't lie to me.
I'm just curious why the teacher gave you red sugar, and what you mean by bringing the sugar here to us?"
As he spoke, the zebra pushed the water cup closer to make it easier for Kulu to pick up the cup, but his eyes were firmly locked on the pieces of red sugar in Kulu's hand.
...
All from the same tribe, usually meeting each other all the time, though Kulu really didn't want to deal with the zebra, he couldn't just ignore him.
After all, Saturday the teacher specifically instructed him that if someone asked, he must answer honestly, if he deliberately didn't say, causing disputes, and later making it a big deal with the teacher or even the Leader, no one would benefit.
Just as he was working on his words, recalling Saturday's instructions, before Kulu could speak, the zebra spoke again.
This time his attitude was even more approachable, his tone more amiable than before.
"Brother Kulu, I know you're not a petty person, you may not speak much usually, but you never hide anything from us.
Actually, I don't necessarily need to know about this matter, my relationship with the teacher, I'll know the answer by asking tomorrow, I just don't want to trouble others.
Besides, it's late at night, you've worked all day and you're quite tired, whatever you need to do, do it quickly so you can rest, right?
Of course, it's fine if you don't say, I don't necessarily have to know, you can just tell us, brothers will understand."
...
Some people are naturally attuned to interpersonal matters, able to disguise themselves in any form at will.
A moment ago, he might have been threatening viciously, and in the next moment, to get what he wants, he's completely capable of kneeling and begging.
The zebra was precisely such a person.
During his life in the tribe, he was still very naive—there was no soil suited for his growth there.
This 'face-changing' skill was slowly learned by the zebra after arriving on the island.
Initially, he did it to have a better life and avoid being whipped, being specially noticed by Chen Zhou was merely due to luck, knowing more information than others.
Gradually, after truly gaining benefits from these so-called 'insightful' and 'sensible' interactions, the zebra increasingly loved this art of communication.
His enthusiasm for learning Chinese stemmed not only from fluently speaking Chinese, bridging distances with the Leader and the two managers, but also because Chinese is much more robust compared to tribal languages.
Many meanings unable to be expressed in tribal languages can be perfectly described in Chinese.
Thanks to conscious flattery and a clever pragmatic style, the zebra quickly stood out among the seven tribesmen, reaching his current position.
He believed he would soon become the third manager on the island, in fact, he was already using his power and connections to assign himself easier work, Saturday and Sunday had not objected to his actions.
This made the zebra continue comfortably on this path, until tonight.
Even when Kulu, holding red sugar, sat in the room, he hadn't realized this related to him.
His probing questions sought an answer, driven not just by curiosity but largely by the hope of understanding how the red sugar was obtained—
such good stuff couldn't be missed.
...
Watching Kulu expectantly, seeing him about to give the sought-after answer, the zebra desperately wanted to perk up his ears.
But when Kulu finally repeated Saturday's words, the zebra felt an overwhelming chill envelope his body.
The chilling sensation rose from the soles of his feet, climbed up the spine, reaching the top of his head, plunging him into a state of fear.