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Jinx and her adoptive father Silco have a disagreement about how to spend Christmas. The latter insists on making the holiday more grand and atmospheric, so he brings her to the department store crowded with people on this lively Christmas Eve and unilaterally makes an appointment with her to give each other gifts.
But, for Jinx, picking out a gift? That's a tough one, unless vandalism and chaos are part of the selection process. She was always treated like a plague at school because she was so good at sending scares around; even the one that got Silco called to the school office this morning was just one of them.
Jinx didn't mean to bully the boy - what was his name again? She was really bad at remembering the names of her classmates, but he went too far, making fun of Silco's prosthetic eye that "looked like it had been burned out by a cigarette" and commenting on the scars. She already hated this man, so when she heard these words, she immediately grabbed his textbook and burned it with a lighter. Before she could burn through it, someone else called the teacher. Her lighter was confiscated.
Their class teacher is a fat, middle-aged woman, always speak as if she’s a master of life and all the truth is contained in her experienced forty-five years. Simply put, Jinx dislikes this teacher and only occasionally appreciates the look on her face - the humiliation of wanting to expel this bad student and not being able to. This is not a boast; although Jinx is a serious eccentric and her essays are often criticized by her English teacher as "too pompous and full of excess indignation" and her reading comprehension is "disregarded by facts and reason, full of personal wishful thinking and too subjective", she has always excelled in science and maths, and the school tended not to expel her for the first few disruptions until they were too much to bear.
The class teacher knew Jinx was a prick. No matter what was said to her, she would just sneer like a maniac or not even look at anyone. She gnashed her teeth in her heart, thinking that if she could go back to the old days when corporal punishment was allowed ...... but, even if it was a risky move, she suspected that the little blue-haired girl might jump up and bite, and it would be better to keep a safe distance and just do a verbal reprimand.
She then called Jinx's guardian frequently, asking him to come over to talk about Jinx's bad behavior at school, and Silco excused himself by saying he was busy and wouldn't come every time because he didn't like the school environment. After all, every time he showed up, he drew comments, even uproar, and ridicule from the boys and girls about his appearance; these were Jinx's classmates, and he could only laugh it off. The class teacher could see that Jinx was very annoyed by this, as if the teacher should not have called Silco over, and that the students she despised had no right to talk about him. However, the little girl will always be more peaceful in front of her adoptive father, and Silco listens to the class teacher, at least on the surface, is a communicative object, even polite; but he never reprimands Jinx, nor does he force her to admit her mistakes and apologize ...... So, even to him, the class teacher has a resentment, disdainful of this indulgence: it is with this kind of parent is the only way to have such a child. Sometimes Silco did not show up, and another dark-skinned, stocky woman came. The class teacher had mistakenly referred to her as "Jinx's foster mother", which immediately drew fierce opposition from both of them, with both the woman and the girl shouting "no" at her, before the woman explained to her in all seriousness that she was Silco's assistant at work, named Sevika.
On Christmas Eve, Jinx is also restless. The class teacher called Silco again, and this time he came over in person, promising to pay for the boy's textbooks and casually asking Jinx to do something about it, while she continued to do her own thing. It looked like they were going to let it slide and wait until the lecture was over so he could take his adopted daughter home for Christmas. She heaved the punishment of "a week of reflection at home", but when she heard it, Jinx immediately raised her arms and cheered.
"You really don't like school, don’t you?"
It was only when he left the school and got in the car that he spoke to her.She fired off a series of reasons like a loaded machine gun.
"School is a piece of shit!"
"The majority of people love to get together and exclude someone they hate, and there are so many tricks!"
"Classes are also boring as hell! You can learn it by looking at the textbook, but teachers always teach it over and over again, and they can't even get to the point."
Silco just shrugged, "Oh, I can't help it, one of the conditions for me to be your guardian was that I had to send you to school."
"I hate school."
He tried to be patient, saying something he didn't quite believe: it's because you haven't met a teacher you like, and you're surrounded by classmates who are too mediocre to understand what makes you perfect ...... She didn't want to talk, just folded her arms over her chest and turned to look out the window.
The afternoon sun is a bit lukewarm, emitting a pale glow, the street trees are decorated with red, green and white, every store has a uniform color scheme, there is also a tall and gorgeous Christmas tree standing in the center of the street, the fake gifts that are properly wrapped are hanging everywhere. She rolled down her window and the wind poured in like a beast, the coldness is as sharp as claws and teeth, causing Silco to look at her and shout, "Close the window, my dear.”
She lingered among the shelves, eager to go home, but there was still a long time before dinner, and until then she could "pick out the gift as much as she wants" - Silco's words, and she had to work hard to keep from rolling her eyes on the spot.
However, he was generous enough. The budget is even enough for something for herself, but unfortunately she had no idea. There were so many choices that she prioritized the gifts she was going to give. Jewelry, designer purses, shoes, men's clothing, perfume ...... she walked through, she really does not know and does not care what men would like to wear. Maybe a watch or pen would be a good choice, but she looked around - and sure enough, it was out of her range of affordability. She was too discerning to be interested in items that were not sufficiently well designed or well made.
She entered the floor where the women's stores were gathered, and then saw a certain blue scarf with a fluffy texture that she could easily imagine plenty of warmth would be given; and the wool that was literally spun out of her hair color. She was pleasantly surprised, thinking it would suit Vi rather well, and would surely remind her easily of her ...... It occurred to her again that not only was she taking Silco's money, but she needed to pick out a present for him; but after wandering so long, she really had no clue. Would this anger him? I don't know, but - whatever, she did her best, he can't grab Christmas presents from her sister. He's a grown man.
Of course, there was money left over, and Jinx planned to continue shopping at the mall, so she wandered into the supermarket, where a wide range of goods were displayed on the shelves, looking neat, shiny and full of life in the field lights. Perhaps a set of tableware for coffee, or a better taste ashtray ...... but she picked for a long time, even if the time to gather is coming, still can not decide what to buy Silco. After all, he can buy it himself, everyone knows his own needs best! She just kept talking herself out of it and went back to the entrance of the mall, the paper bag with the scarf hanging on her arm, both hands in her pockets. It wasn't long before she saw Silco appear with a long, thin paper bag. He glanced at the bag, and she turned her body slightly sideways to block it, saying weakly, "It's for Vi."
"Oh."
"Your gift, I didn't buy it." She handed out the rest of the money and scratched her hair, "I swear I've walked all over the mall, but I'm not sure what would be best for you to buy. All I can think of is which plumbing in the house is wrong again, or which chair leg needs fixing, and so on. You can believe me to handle it ...... That's not so bad, isn‘t it?"
Previously, she had solved the water leak at the connection of pipes. Her skill was so clever that it appeared to the uninitiated layman that she simply changed the way the connection was twisted, but the result was remarkable. He couldn't help but give her a hug at that moment, and it was a pleasure to see her smiling, her cheeks flushed with pride. Now they were in the cold in front of the mall, and he wasn't entirely unfazed by her words, but he was quick to accept them; at least in a sense, they were coincidentally thinking of the same thing.
"I wandered through the whole mall and decided that none of the mediocre stuff would suit you, so-" he pulled a bottle of wine out of the paper bag, drawing half of it, "this is for Vander, for Christmas, which means tomorrow night we're going to be his guests, and then you'll be able to give your sister the gift, too."
"Well ...... that means you didn't buy me a present?"
He looked at her quietly and gave a sly smile.
"Guess what."
"Gee, you bought me one! It has to be for me, or we're going back to the mall right now."
"Well, indeed, unlike you, I bought you a present. Of course I wasn't sure if you'd like it."
She reached out and took the paper bag he'd hidden behind his back, saw inside. It’s a pair of fancy color-coordinated open-finger gloves. Silco seemed to be one of those traditionalists who believe that young girls should wear bright colors. It can't be said that she was happy with it, it was a disappointingly ordinary gift. However, she did need a pair of open-finger gloves, and they came at the right time.
"Thanks, I'll put them to good use." She took the bag in her hand and for a moment didn't know what to say, and a silence fell between them. She showed him the gift she had been holding on to, "Aren't you curious what it is?"
"Oh, not really, it's not for me."
"It's a scarf, the color is very similar to my hair color."
She took it out and put it next to her forehead for him to compare; he nodded and said, "A color rarely seen."
"There you go." She pulled the scarf and placed it around his neck, the tag sticking painfully and uncomfortably.
"Isn't this a gift for Vi?"
"I can think of something else."
The quickest way would be to give two identical gifts, but she abhorred the repetition. He untied the scarf and held it in his hands.
"You're really just going to give it to me?"
"Yeah ...... well, let's just say we give this wine to Vi and Vander together."
"That's a good idea too."
As they talked, they walked toward the parking lot, not noticing that the sky had begun to drop tiny snow particles, clean and cold, disappearing as soon as they fell into the bustling street. It would be a long time before the snow would accumulate on the ground and decorate a pure white Christmas. But that father and daughter's minds were already too full of their Christmas arrangements to care about that. They simply merged into the crowd side by side.