“Professor Dumbledore entrusted me with a task for Christmas. I had to make time to complete it.”
Weilan finally had an idea: “This is a very important task, you know, Christmas is a big day, everyone will relax, and this is a good opportunity for me as a detective to catch them off guard—”
Weilan was thinking about how to cover up the initial lie with more lies when Ron suddenly walked out of the fitting room, interrupting the confrontation.
A burgundy tuxedo suited Ron very well. It was just that his round face still had a childish look, and his expression seemed on the verge of breaking.
“You look great in that, Ron.”
Weilan stood up, clapped, and said loudly.
“Cho, your cheongsam is also very beautiful.”
As Weilan praised her, his eyes were fixed on the proprietress, Madam Hart:
“So, Madam Hart, Ron is my good brother. Can you sell him this suit for 5 Galleons?”
“5 Galleons? My dear, you must not be fully awake today, are you?” Madam Hart chuckled, “5 Galleons is barely enough for a silk scarf. It needs at least 50 Galleons.”
“But Madam Hart, my friend is just missing a satisfactory formal suit.”
Weilan felt like he had touched Madam Hart’s soft spot, and he leaned close to her ear, lowering his voice:
“He has already found his dance partner, Miss Lavender Brown. Without this formal suit, Ron might have to break his promise to the girl he has a crush on.”
Madam Hart’s bright eyes looked at Ron with great pity:
“Oh dear, I can’t possibly do something as wicked as breaking up lovers. How about an 80% discount then—40 Galleons. I’m already losing money on this deal.”
Weilan bowed elegantly to her, lowering his head to kiss Madam Hart’s fair and delicate arm:
“20 Galleons! Madam Hart, I know you possess a holy heart that matches your angelic face.”
“No.” Madam Hart seemed startled, retreating repeatedly and refuting, “40 is already the lowest price…”
“Ron, how much more money do you need? I’ll cover it for now, and you can pay me back when you have the money.”
It was Cho speaking, looking at Weilan with great dissatisfaction.
“I really admire you, Ron. Your sincerity is worthy of Miss Brown’s affection, unlike some people…”
When “some people” was mentioned by Cho, he was suddenly in high spirits, admiring the high-end fashion designs in the display window with great interest.
This sudden turn of events left Ron at a loss. He silly reported all his savings:
“I only have 25 Galleons.”
“That’s enough. I’ll pay the remaining 15 Galleons. You go write an IOU—Madam Hart, you should wrap up this tuxedo.”
Weilan lowered his head, pretending to ignore Cho’s fleeting gaze.
Even after Ron walked out of Floyd's Fine Wizarding Wear with the suit box, he still couldn’t believe that everything that had happened was real.
“What exactly is your relationship with Cho Chang from Ravenclaw?”
Ron asked Weilan incredulously:
“She seems angry because you don’t want to go to the Christmas Ball with her.”
“Weilan, for Merlin’s sake, just tell me honestly, how many girls have you secretly been seeing?”
“Not a single girl! I only have a very good relationship with Hermione, and it’s an open and honest good relationship!”
Weilan said angrily:
“Hermione is my partner, a friend I can trust. But Cho and I are just ordinary classmates!”
“I bet before the start of this school year, Cho probably didn’t even know my name! How should I know why she’s acting so strange…”
Weilan didn’t want to waste too much thought on Cho. As he said, he and Cho were not familiar, nor were they very close.
Based on this relationship, which was only slightly closer than that of strangers, Weilan was unwilling to owe Cho a favor—if Cho hadn’t lent him the money, it should have been Weilan negotiating with Madam Hart to cut the price to a suitable range.
“Give me the IOU.” Weilan held out his hand to Ron, “I’ll pay her back. We can’t owe her money.”
“If you feel bad about it, just consider it an advance on your payment from me.”
“Huh?—“ Ron’s puzzled look showed that he couldn’t understand Weilan at all. But Ron understood the stubbornness in Weilan’s eyes.
“Alright.” Ron went along with him, handing the IOU to Weilan, “I’ll advance 15 Galleons from my future payment.”
Weilan told Ron to go back to Hogwarts first, while he went to find Cho to pay her back.
Returning to Floyd's Fine Wizarding Wear, he happened to run into Cho coming out.
Cho had already changed back into her Ravenclaw uniform, with a formal suit box tucked under her arm, ready to descend the steps of the clothing store and blend into the crowd on the street.
Although she wanted to discreetly blend into the crowd, her outstanding aura as an Eastern beauty still made Weilan recognize her at a glance.
Cho pursed her lips, about to walk past Weilan, but Weilan grabbed her arm.
“I’m helping Ron pay you back.”
Weilan handed over the IOU and 15 Galleons together.
“Actually, you had nothing to do on Christmas Day, right?” Cho was far smarter than Weilan had imagined. “Professor Dumbledore would never make people work overtime on Christmas!”
Weilan insisted on settling the IOU first:
“You should take this money and destroy the IOU.”
“You have a date for the Christmas Ball, don’t you?” Cho stared at him. “With whom? Delacour? I heard she invited you.”
“Or Granger? I see you two together often.”
“That’s none of your business. Now you should destroy the IOU.” Weilan really didn’t want to continue discussing the matter.
Cho stopped pressing, took the money and the IOU, and tore up the IOU with Ron’s handwriting.
As Weilan was about to turn away, Cho suddenly said slowly:
“Although Delacour is very aloof, she is a kind and upright person.”
“Granger is smart, rational, and has a good personality.”
“No matter who you ultimately choose, I hope you, and Ron, and everyone at Hogwarts, have a good time at the Christmas Ball.”
“I…” Weilan was speechless for a moment.
In Weilan’s past four years of school life, Cho’s presence in his world had always been very low. Weilan now realized that she was actually a very gentle and kind girl.
While he was dazed, Cho had already walked away.
Afterward, Weilan specifically went to a flower shop and used his spare change to buy Ron a rose to use when meeting Miss Brown.
However, even after returning to Hogwarts, that feeling of loss still lingered in Weilan’s heart.
Perhaps it was because both her parents were Eastern immigrants, Cho gave Weilan a very familiar feeling.
It was the unique sense of identity brought by the cultural imprint etched in his soul from his previous life.
“But I don’t have time to think about these things now.”
Weilan shook his head, shaking these annoying thoughts out of his mind.
He knew that no matter what, he could never go back to his previous life.
Even if his hometown was still there, his home was no longer.
Living this life well was the most important thing for Weilan right now.