On the third day, the dwarf returned home and enjoyed the delicious meal again.
After dinner, one of the dwarfs wanted to take a bath but couldn’t find his clothes.
Canny immediately became alert and said, “We’ve never lost anything before. How come things start going missing as soon as Snow White arrives?”
“Are you suggesting Snow White stole my clothes? What a joke! Why would she steal my clothes? Besides, my clothes have a hole in them. Who would want to steal clothes with holes?”
Hearing this, Snow White picked up a piece of clothing and asked, “Is it this one?”
The dwarf shook his head. “No, I said my clothes have a hole in them, and they don’t have this beautiful embroidery.”
“That flower is to patch the hole. I embroidered it,” said Snow White.
Delighted, the dwarf grabbed the clothing and exclaimed, “Really?” He examined it closely and said, “You can’t even tell it was patched. With this flower, it looks even better! Snow White, your hands are so skillful…”
Before he could finish, the other dwarfs clamored to have Snow White embroider for them.
“I want a flower!”
“I want a bird!”
“I want a rabbit!”
Only Canny remained silent. One dwarf turned to him and asked, “Canny, what do you want embroidered?”
“Hmph, I’m not as childish as you all. I’ve already bought fabric and arranged for it to be taken to the most famous tailor in the city tomorrow. I can ask him to embroider anything I want…”
As he spoke, Canny went to fetch the fabric, only to find it missing.
“I clearly left the fabric here before I went out, and now it’s gone. The only outsider here is you…”
He looked pointedly at Snow White.
“You suspect Snow White of stealing your fabric? Your paranoia is off the charts! You might as well change your name to ‘Suspicious,’” one of the dwarfs teased.
At that moment, Snow White spoke up, “Your fabric is right here.” She pulled out a piece of clothing from a drawer.
“I already finished your new outfit. Your fabric was on top of the cabinet, along with a note to the tailor. I followed the instructions and measurements on the note to make it. Try it on and see if it fits. If it doesn’t, I’ll adjust it for you.”
“Yeah, try it on!” the other dwarfs chimed in.
Before Canny could respond, the other dwarfs surrounded him, eagerly helping him into the new outfit.
“It fits perfectly! It’s like it was tailor-made for you!”
“It’s gorgeous! Definitely better than anything the best tailor in town could make!”
Canny looked at himself in the mirror, secretly pleased but still grumbled coldly, “I never asked her to make this.”
But no one paid him any attention. The dwarfs were already clamoring for Snow White to make clothes for them, too.
“Tomorrow, let’s take some time to buy fabric!”
“No need for fabric, let’s buy thread instead. I can weave cloth. It’ll be cheaper, and we can mix and match colors however we like.”
“What? Snow White, you can weave too? You are so talented!”
The dwarfs turned to Canny and said, “Canny, you have no reason to oppose Snow White staying anymore, right? She cured your illness and even made you new clothes.”
“I’ve said it before: one thing has nothing to do with the other,” Canny retorted.
On the fourth day, the dwarfs came home, but Snow White was nowhere to be seen, and there was no delicious meal waiting for them. They had no choice but to cook for themselves.
“See? See? She acts all capable and hardworking, but by the fourth day, she’s already showing her true colors,” Canny grumbled.
“That’s because you drove her away!”
“When did I drive her away?”
“We agreed: if anyone still opposed her staying after three days, she would leave. You didn’t agree to her staying—how could she not leave?”
“I… I never explicitly said I opposed her staying! And now it’s dark, and the forest is full of wild animals. It’s so dangerous for a girl to be out there alone!” Canny grew more and more anxious. He hurriedly put on his coat and ran toward the door.
Seeing the others still sitting there, he shouted, “What are you waiting for? Come with me to find Snow White!”
But the others didn’t move. Instead, they burst out laughing.
Just as Canny was about to get angry, Snow White came walking down the stairs.
One of the dwarfs said, “Snow White didn’t leave. We wanted you to tell the truth, so we tricked you. Who told you to be so stubborn? Deep down, you want Snow White to stay, but you keep saying things like ‘one thing has nothing to do with another.’ But even if you really wanted her to leave, we wouldn’t agree. We still want to eat the food she makes and wear the clothes she makes!”
And so, Snow White stayed in the little wooden cottage with the dwarfs.
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