Just as he spoke, the telephone on the desk rang. Kuang Zhilin picked it up, and the moment he heard the voice on the other end, his tone immediately warmed.

“Principal Zou? Yes, it’s me, old Kuang. You’re back from Peiping? Oh — not until the end of the month… All right, all right, I’ll pass that along to Young Master Cheng.”

After hanging up, Kuang Zhilin said, “Principal Zou was originally set to return to Shanghai tomorrow, but it seems several women’s schools at Peking Normal University recently launched a lecture series on promoting women’s education, and as a leading figure in Shanghai’s women’s education circles, she was invited at the last minute to stay on in Peiping for the conference. She says she’ll be back around the thirtieth, and asked me to let Young Master know.”

When he mentioned Principal Zou, Kuang Zhilin’s tone was quite respectful. He knew that Zou Zheping had been the late Madam’s dearest friend — the two of them had studied together at the McTyeire School for Girls back when they were young, and afterward had both gone to study in America together, only the Madam had studied Western pharmacology while Zou Zheping studied education.

After returning from abroad, the Madam had set her heart on founding a patriotic pharmaceutical factory, but before long, serious trouble had struck her natal family’s business, and Master Xin had fallen ill and died. The Madam had been forced to return home to take over the family enterprise.

Later, when the Xin family ran into one crisis after another, the old master had repeatedly come to their aid, and the Madam had grown fond of him because of it. The two of them eventually held their wedding at a local church, and after marrying, went together to Nanyang, while Zou Zheping remained in Shanghai teaching.

Even separated by such distance, the Madam and Zou Zheping never once stopped writing letters to each other.

After that tragedy happened all those years ago, Zou Zheping had set off for Nanyang that very night.

Kuang Zhilin still remembered, to this day, the grief in Zou Zheping’s eyes at the funeral.

A few years later, when Young Master Cheng returned to Shanghai, Zou Zheping was already the principal of a certain girls’ middle school, enjoying enormous prestige in local educational circles. Hearing that the young master had returned to Shanghai, she came to visit him often. The young master, too, respected her from the bottom of his heart, and after formally taking over control of the Lu family, he invited Zou Zheping to become principal of Wushi Middle School.

Hearing that it had been Principal Zou on the phone, Lu Shicheng immediately turned to look at the little calendar on his desk.

The thirtieth of this month was Principal Zou’s birthday.

In previous years, around this time, Principal Zou had always been busy with students’ final exams, and this year she probably wouldn’t have time to properly celebrate her birthday either — but he still pointed solemnly at that date.

[That’s Principal Zou’s birthday. Please prepare a gift ahead of time.]

“Yes, sir,” said Kuang Zhilin.

That same day, Wen Tingli went in disguise again to visit Deng Yuanzhang. Although Deng Yuanzhang still couldn’t speak, those clear, bright eyes seemed to offer inexhaustible strength. The moment she left the hospital, Wen Tingli felt considerably lighter. That very day, she also began learning marksmanship and some basic combat techniques from Li Chengying and Liu Xiangzhi.

Under Head Nurse Liu’s guidance, Wen Tingli entered the storeroom in the basement of Cixin Hospital for the first time — its walls specially soundproofed, so that practicing shooting there caused no concern about noise carrying out.

Every night, after finishing her schoolwork review, she’d go practice with Head Nurse Liu for an hour. Li Chengying and Liu Xiangzhi never gave her any more assignments, seeming very much determined to vanish completely from her life once they’d finished teaching her.

Wen Tingli felt reluctant to let it go, throwing herself especially hard into her shooting practice — but as the big exam drew near, she had to devote most of her time to studying, and weighing the two against each other, she reluctantly put the Xinxin Department Store beauty pageant out of her mind for the time being.

As it happened, students in other grades were also busy preparing for summer exams, and so the number of pageant applicants dropped as well. Worried that the actual contest wouldn’t be sensational enough, both Xinxin and Yifeilin ended up pushing the event back to the following month.

Within a few days, filing university applications was also on the agenda. Zhao Qingluo and Yan Zhenzhen, following their original plan, applied to St. John’s and Soochow University, while Wen Tingli applied to three schools: the medicine and economics departments at Soochow, and the education and science departments at the Women’s Normal University (note).

She’d never even considered St. John’s — for one thing, the admission scores were too high, and for another, the tuition was simply too expensive.

Once the applications were settled, for the next twenty days, aside from sleeping, all her time went to practicing marksmanship and studying. Xiao Taozi, knowing her sister had exams to take, no longer pestered her to play in the evenings.

The joint entrance exam papers were set uniformly by the Shanghai Education Bureau, with the exam itself jointly supervised by all the schools.

On the day of the exam, Wen Tingli got up early, ate a simple Western-style breakfast at the hospital, and said to Wen Desheng on the sickbed, “Papa, I’m off to take my exam.”

After breakfast, Wen Desheng grew anxious about his daughter’s exam. As his daughter walked to the window, his eyes followed to the window; as she walked toward the door, his gaze followed to the door — a look on his face both wistful and delighted. Hearing what she’d said, he pursed his lips, and from his hoarse, cracked voice came a sentence unusually clear: “Once you’re done with your exams, Papa will take you and Xiao Taozi back to see the old home in Nanjing, tell your mother you’ve gotten into university. Ha, I, Wen Desheng, have been a useless wreck my whole life, and never thought I’d raise such an accomplished daughter.”

It was such an ordinary, worldly tone — and yet not one bit annoying. Ever since her father had fallen ill, this was the first time Wen Tingli had heard that familiar tone from his mouth again — it reminded her of summer days when her father used to sit in the alleyway, bragging with the neighbors.

A flicker of unease passed through Wen Tingli’s heart. She hurried back to the bedside. “Papa, are you not feeling well?”

But Wen Desheng only pointed at her book bag. “Take more money with you. Buy yourself a slice of watermelon if you get thirsty.”

Just then Zhou Sao came back with breakfast and, seeing Wen Tingli still standing by the bed, said in astonishment, “Why hasn’t Miss left yet? It’s getting late.”

Wen Tingli only kept her eyes on her father, and when finally pressed to hurry, said to him, “Papa, if I do well enough, I’ll bring home a whole watermelon. Tonight, you just wait to eat watermelon.”

Wen Desheng couldn’t help but laugh. “All right.” With that smile, even his sallow complexion seemed to brighten a little.

Wen Tingli left the ward, looking back at every step.

The exam took the entire day.

When it was over, the whole Duxin building erupted in excitement. Led by Yan Zhenzhen and Wen Tingli, the students burst out of the classrooms cheering in unison. In this moment worth remembering, all rules, all school mottoes, all notions of ladylike decorum were flung to the wind.

Zhao Qingluo laughed loudly. “I’m going to sleep for three days and three nights straight!”

Gao Xiaowen put her hands on her hips and declared, “What’s the fun in sleeping? Why don’t we all go to the Paramount tonight! Dancing, a movie, ice cream — we’ll play until ten and then go home! My treat.”

“Why the Paramount? Isn’t today Principal Zou’s birthday? While she was away at the conference in Peiping, she managed to secure ten admission slots at several famous universities up in Peiping for us — doesn’t a principal like that deserve a proper birthday celebration from us?”

“Principal Zou’s back?” The girls, both surprised and delighted, crowded around, chattering excitedly about gifts and how to celebrate.

“Wen Tingli, haven’t you met Principal Zou yet?” Zhao Qingluo and Yan Zhenzhen turned around laughing — only to find Wen Tingli nowhere in sight.

Wen Tingli had already run off to the school gates to buy a watermelon. She picked out the biggest one, paid for it, and hailed a rickshaw carrying it.

She went straight to the hospital, jumped down from the rickshaw drenched in sweat and ran inside — but the moment she stepped into the corridor, her steps involuntarily slowed.

She was afraid.

Afraid of hearing Xiao Taozi crying, afraid of running into an orderly carrying out a body wrapped in a bedsheet, afraid of Dr. Thompson coming over to offer her some routine words of comfort.

This was the scene she’d grown accustomed to seeing in the ward these past months — and it also meant the end of a life, the incense of that life burned out, and the world afterward would never again find a trace of that person.

This time it would be her father’s turn.

She’d thought she was already mentally prepared, but now that the moment had actually arrived, she still didn’t have the courage to face it. The closer she got to that familiar ward, the more her heart raced.

Those short few steps felt unbearably hard to walk.

Then, she suddenly heard Xiao Taozi’s laughter, followed by the sound of small footsteps pattering — thump thump thump.

That short, chubby little figure darted out. Zhou Sao chased after her from behind. “Shh, don’t make noise.”

Looking up, Xiao Taozi spotted Wen Tingli frozen in place.

“Still making noise — look, Sister’s home now.” Zhou Sao caught hold of Xiao Taozi, then, coming closer, noticed how pale Wen Tingli’s face was. She hurriedly felt Wen Tingli’s forehead. “Are you unwell? Have you gotten heatstroke?”

“Where’s Papa?” Wen Tingli forced the words out with difficulty.

Zhou Sao looked baffled. “The master’s in the room, of course.”

Wen Tingli pushed past Zhou Sao into the ward and, at a glance, saw her father on the bed — not a body wrapped in white cloth, but lying there perfectly fine. Coming closer, she saw her father’s color looked good.

Wen Tingli sank weakly into the chair by the bed. “Let’s cut the watermelon and eat.”

Wen Desheng looked a little timid. “Did you… do well?”

Wen Tingli nodded confidently. Wen Desheng’s eyes lit up, and Xiao Taozi clapped her hands happily.

Just then Head Nurse Liu happened to pass by their ward and leaned in with a smile. “Little Wen’s done with exams?”

“Sister Liu, come in and have some watermelon.”

While everyone was chatting and laughing, they suddenly heard two girls’ voices outside.

“Is it this one?”

“I’m not sure either — Wen Tingli never makes things clear, but it should be this one.”

Wen Tingli hurried out — sure enough, it was Zhao Qingluo and Yan Zhenzhen.

“What are you two doing here?”

Zhao Qingluo and Yan Zhenzhen were each carrying bags of fruit and gifts.

“Everyone was busy discussing how to celebrate Principal Zou’s birthday tonight, and suddenly you disappeared. We guessed you’d rushed back to the hospital, and sure enough, here you are.”

The two of them had already heard about Wen Tingli’s father’s condition, so they stood by the bed for a while offering their sympathies, then sat down to join in and eat some watermelon before pulling Wen Tingli aside.

“We’re all going to Principal Zou’s place tonight to wish her a happy birthday — you should get ready too, this isn’t the kind of occasion you can skip.”

Wen Tingli went to find Dr. Thompson to ask about her father’s condition during the day, and confirmed that it hadn’t worsened noticeably — in fact, it had even improved somewhat. Only then did her cheerful smile return, and she said to Zhao Qingluo and Yan Zhenzhen, “Give me a moment.”

She first went out to buy a hot dinner, came back, and to please her little sister, sat down to braid her hair into two little pigtails, then went to the public washroom to fix her own hair and change clothes.

Zhao Qingluo and Yan Zhenzhen had long known how hard Wen Tingli’s life had been. Watching all this, the two of them didn’t waste time offering pity, but simply stayed quietly by her side, helping out.

A while later the three of them left the hospital. Wen Tingli took a small mirror out of her book bag and fixed her hair as she looked into it. “Are we heading straight to Principal Zou’s place, or what? And what about the gifts?”

“We’ll gather at the school hall first. Chen Xiaohong and the others have already gone to Xinxin Department Store to pick out a birthday gift. Whatever it ends up costing, we’ll split it among everyone afterward — you’re not against that, are you?”

“Of course not,” Wen Tingli said with a smile. “But this is my first time meeting Principal Zou, and by old custom, I should also prepare a separate gift as a first-meeting present for my teacher. When we pass by Zhenfei Fabric Shop later, drop me off there — I’ll pick out a bolt of fabric for Principal Zou. It’s just that Zhenfei’s fabrics are so fashionable, I’m not sure whether what I pick will suit Principal Zou’s taste, and it’d be too late to go to a different fabric shop now.”

“Buying fabric from Zhenfei is exactly the way to please her.” Zhao Qingluo laughed. “Principal Zou loves fashionable clothes most of all — the more avant-garde the fabric, the more she’ll love it.”

“She also happens to love dancing especially.” Yan Zhenzhen shrugged. “And she’s never once objected to students perming their hair or wearing high heels. Back when everyone on the street still wore their hair in the same old buns, our principal was the first to get a perm. You’ll understand once you meet her, in a bit.”

The three of them bought the fabric at Zhenfei, then rushed to the school hall to gather. Once Chen Xiaohong and the others returned with the gifts, the students set off en masse for Principal Zou’s house.

Halfway there, they ran into a few classmates who’d gone on ahead, now turning back.

“Don’t bother going there. Apparently some wealthy classmate heard the news and booked an entire floor at the Ciro’s in advance, to give the principal a welcome-home party — hired a few chefs from the Carlton Hotel, and even got the Truth Orchestra, Principal Zou’s favorite, to come perform. When Principal Zou heard, she was thrilled and told us to hurry on over. Thanks to this generous classmate, tonight anyone who likes dancing, or anyone who likes Western music, is in for a treat!”

Everyone was both surprised and delighted.

“Who has that kind of pull, getting the Truth Orchestra on such short notice?”

“Who else but Gao Xiaowen? Her older brother just opened Yifeilin Department Store on Avenue Joffre. Gao Xiaowen, not wanting to be outdone, is planning to start her own business right after graduation.”

Ciro’s, after all, was quite different from Principal Zou’s home. The classmates all scattered to call cars and go home to change into evening gowns. Yan Zhenzhen and Zhao Qingluo were no exception — which meant Wen Tingli ended up among the first to arrive at Ciro’s.

The dance floor was packed with fashionable men and women. On the round stage, the popular singer Qiong Xiaolou was singing “Song of the Fishermen” in a soft, plaintive voice.

The doorman, hearing they were students from Wushi, hurried to lead them up to the second floor.

The second floor’s dance area was newly set with many small round tables, each covered in a pristine Scottish plaid tablecloth, with Western lilies and baby’s breath on top, along with bottles of champagne and soda water.

Wen Tingli’s group was shown to their seats by the staff. They’d assumed Gao Xiaowen had booked at most one of the small dance halls on the second floor, but from the looks of it, she’d taken over the entire second floor.

Suddenly, an angry voice came from outside. “We’re regulars at Ciro’s ourselves — I’ve never once heard of this place being booked out entirely. Let me make this plain: tonight, we’re not going anywhere else — we’re dancing right here on the second floor.”

Soon, the sharp clack-clack-clack of high heels sounded, and a group of people came in surrounding a wealthy matron dressed in a fragrant-cloud silk qipao.

Wen Tingli was startled to see it was Mrs. Qiao.

On Mrs. Qiao’s arm was a young girl in a pear-white Western dress — Bai Liyun. Standing beside Bai Liyun was Qiao Baoxin, wearing a helplessly resigned expression.

The dance hall manager wiped his brow, saying, “I truly don’t mean to dampen your spirits, Mrs. Qiao, but that other guest booked this floor this afternoon — you see, we even arranged the dance floor to their specifications. Why don’t we do this: the third floor is also quite pleasant. I’ll have space cleared for you there right away, and I guarantee you a good time.”

Mrs. Qiao gave a furious laugh. “Someone else gets to book an entire floor, and we only get squeezed into a little side room? Go get Boss Zhu here. I’d like to hear just who this distinguished guest thinks they are!”

“Who’s looking for me?”

Before the manager could answer, a middle-aged man came in to take the call. He was supporting an elderly lady, and behind him followed a whole entourage from Wushi’s school leadership, including Michelle.

This middle-aged man was presumably one of the owners of Ciro’s.

The manager hurried to greet him. “There’s been a small misunderstanding just now. Mrs. Qiao wanted to dance on the second floor, but as it happens, Principal Zou is celebrating her birthday here tonight, and we were just explaining the situation to Mrs. Qiao.”

Seeing Principal Zou, Mrs. Qiao seemed to guess at once who had booked the floor tonight, and immediately dropped her domineering tone, saying to Principal Zou in a light, pleasant voice, “It’s your birthday today? What a coincidence — just the other day I was asking Michelle when you’d be back. Liyun, Baoxin, you two, mother and daughter-in-law, go quickly and arrange a gift. Tonight we’ll focus on celebrating Principal Zou’s birthday with everyone.”

Principal Zou was not tall, with a small, round face. Instead of a qipao, she wore a most fashionable bat-sleeve lotus-colored long dress, her hair done in trendy curls, her small round eyes sparkling with life, apricot-colored high heels on her feet — yet her stride was quick and steady all the same. Fine lines had already gathered at the corners of her eyes and mouth, and yet her whole bearing was remarkably lively and youthful.

She said heartily to Mrs. Qiao, “The more the merrier! But I absolutely cannot accept any gift — I’ve never much cared for birthday celebrations myself, it’s only that I can’t bear to disappoint these children’s good intentions.”

The students crowded around, sweetly chanting, “Wishing Principal Zou boundless blessings and long life!”

Zhao Qingluo and the others pushed Wen Tingli to the front. “Principal Zou, you haven’t met Wen Tingli yet, have you? She transferred over from Xiude back in June, right when you’d just left for Peiping.”

Principal Zou raised a finger playfully. “I know all about her — this year’s ‘Yuying Award’ winner. I read about that drama competition in the papers — heard you beat the famous child stars Le Zhiwen and Xu Wei’an? Very impressive!”

Wen Tingli nodded happily. “Bringing honor to the school is a student’s privilege.”

Principal Zou’s smile widened further. Mrs. Qiao, seeing Wen Tingli seemingly so well-liked by the Wushi teachers and students, her expression darkened at once, and she said in a muffled, sour tone, “She was quite famous at our Xiude too.”

Principal Zou, not understanding the undertone, asked with a smile, “Mrs. Qiao knows this child too?”

“All too well. You have no idea, this Miss Wen—”

“Mother!” Qiao Baoxin glared angrily at her mother. Bai Liyun cut in at just the right moment: “Didn’t you say you were thirsty just now? Come, let’s go get something to drink.”

Mrs. Qiao jabbed a finger indignantly against her daughter’s forehead. Wen Tingli had already readied a whole speech to fire back at Mrs. Qiao, but Bai Liyun’s unexpected intervention left her somewhat taken aback.

Bai Liyun gave Wen Tingli a cool nod, then took Mrs. Qiao’s arm and led her off to the other side.

“Why are you carrying such a big box?” Qiao Baoxin came over and asked Wen Tingli.

“It’s a gift for our principal.” Wen Tingli solemnly presented the fabric to Principal Zou. “Tonight is your birthday — I hope you’ll like this gift.”

Principal Zou put on a stern face. “No one’s allowed to give gifts tonight, or I’ll make a run for it!”

“Please just accept it. Our class is about to graduate soon, and especially for me — this is the first time I’ve properly greeted you since transferring in. If you won’t accept it, we’ll all feel regret in our hearts. You can keep it just as a keepsake.”

“Yes, yes, we picked this out after a long search — please accept it!” the other students chimed in together.

With no way out, Principal Zou opened it to look. One box held a pearl-gray fabric from Zhenfei Fabric Shop. The other held a pair of Gu-embroidery folding screens, embroidered with a pair of lively-looking snow-white Siamese cats — everyone knew Principal Zou loved both Gu embroidery and cats.

Principal Zou gazed at them for a long moment with a smile. “These are so beautiful. I truly love them. Thank you, children.”

Zhao Qingluo pulled Wen Tingli aside and whispered, “Knowing Principal Zou, she’ll find some way to slip the cost of the gift back to you. Try to slip away early later.”

Wen Tingli nodded quietly to herself. Once the gifts had been received, the atmosphere grew even livelier. After the meal, Principal Zou was the first onto the dance floor for a rumba, with Principal Michelle as her partner — one tall, one short, one rigid, one nimble; the pairing had an indescribably comic effect.

The students couldn’t help laughing, and pulled their classmates onto the dance floor one after another. “Sister-in-law, shall we go dance too?” Qiao Baoxin asked.

But Bai Liyun only sat primly, sipping milk. “You go ahead. I’ll stay here and keep Mother company.”

Mrs. Qiao looked at her reproachfully. “Such a thoughtless child you are — your sister-in-law can hardly dance right now, of all times.”

Something stirred in Wen Tingli’s heart, but just then she heard another classmate say, “Gao Xiaowen, why aren’t you dancing yourself? We haven’t even properly praised you for this grand gesture yet — tonight’s spread alone would be enough for a graduation ball.”

Gao Xiaowen was wearing a pale gold gauze gown that trailed the floor, a jewel-encrusted headband across her forehead, an outfit that made her look like an Egyptian queen out of a Western film.

“Actually, I wish I could’ve booked an entire floor for our Principal Zou myself.” Gao Xiaowen sipped her orange juice. “But that would need the big boss’s permission too. I’ll go ask around and find out who has that kind of pull at Ciro’s.”

Everyone was taken aback. “It wasn’t you who booked it? Then who was it?”

Gao Xiaowen plopped down next to Wen Tingli. “Are you entering the beauty pageant or not? At first you seemed all fired up to sign up, but ever since the exam ended, you’ve gone quiet about it.”

Wen Tingli said nothing. Her original idea in signing up had only been a pretext to go visit Lu Shicheng at the Lu residence in a natural way; now that the truth had been uncovered, she’d put the whole matter out of her mind.

Remembering that Gao Tingxin was Gao Xiaowen’s older brother, she assumed Gao Xiaowen would try to talk her into entering on his behalf, but instead Gao Xiaowen said bluntly, “I’m not here to speak up for my brother! My father made it clear from the start that department store belongs to my brother and has nothing to do with me — I’d love nothing more than for it to go under, honestly. If you enter Xinxin’s pageant, I’ll be the first to vote for you. But if you go to my brother’s side, well, I won’t say the same.”

Others chimed in too: “Wen Tingli, what are you still hesitating for? This is a showdown between two big department stores — an even bigger production than last time’s drama competition. If you place well, you might become an overnight sensation.”

The students often joked around like this among themselves, but the comment happened to strike right at Mrs. Qiao’s hidden anxiety. She glared resentfully at Wen Tingli — then suddenly, commotion erupted from the hallway.

“Booked out?” a young man shouted. “Does Ciro’s have such a rule? Let me tell you — tonight our Boss Cao is entertaining a distinguished guest from Peiping. You’ve got five minutes to clear everyone out of there!”

Wen Tingli’s face darkened. Qiu Lingyun! It seemed his injury had healed. Mrs. Qiao glanced thoughtfully toward the door.

As she spoke, Qiu Lingyun barged in with a gang of Green Dragon Gang thugs. The manager hurried to stop them, only to be shoved roughly to the ground by the group.

Wen Tingli quickly retreated into the shadows — this was not a situation in which she wanted to clash with Qiu Lingyun face to face. Qiu Lingyun, startled to see the room full of schoolgirls, didn’t bother looking too closely and simply barked, “Everyone get out!”

“You’re the one who should get out!” Gao Xiaowen slammed her hand on the table. “Where’s this good-for-nothing come from, daring to make a scene in front of the young ladies! Tonight our principal’s celebrating her birthday — before she loses her temper, you and your gang of thugs had better clear out right now!”

Qiu Lingyun flared with fury at first, then recognized her as one of the Gao family’s daughters — but he showed no fear at all, only smirked and said, “So it’s Miss Gao who booked the floor. Too bad you’ll be disappointed tonight — from now on, this floor belongs to us, the White Dragon Gang!”

Just as the two sides were about to erupt into a full argument, Boss Zhu personally rushed over. “I’m terribly sorry, but tonight, this place really cannot be given up.”

Qiu Lingyun sneered. “Boss Zhu, do you know just who our Boss Cao is entertaining tonight?”

Boss Zhu whispered something in Qiu Lingyun’s ear.

Qiu Lingyun’s expression shifted several times, and he finally gritted out, “Let’s hold off for now — I’ll go ask the boss first.”

Before long he came back and barked at his men inside, “Let’s change locations. Come on, let’s go.”

Everyone present breathed a sigh of relief, but no one dared act rashly yet. Just as Qiu Lingyun reached the door, Mrs. Qiao suddenly called out loudly, “Wen Tingli, you’ve dropped your book bag.”

Those three characters — her name — struck like a thunderclap, freezing Qiu Lingyun in his tracks. He spun around quickly, scanning the room, and within a few glances found Wen Tingli in the corner.

He stared at her for a good while, then gave a half-smirk, and led his men away.

Wen Tingli glared coldly at Mrs. Qiao, who returned her look with an equally cold sneer.

Principal Zou frowned as she watched the White Dragon Gang members leave, and said loudly, “Children, thank you so much for celebrating my birthday, but for safety’s sake, let’s call it a night here. Please head straight home together, and once you’re home, call your homeroom teachers—”

Boss Zhu spoke up. “Principal Zou, if you leave now, I truly won’t be able to forgive myself. I swear on Ciro’s good name — there will be no more disturbances of any kind. All the necessary security measures are fully in place. Please, everyone, don’t dwell on that little incident just now — let’s keep dancing, keep enjoying the music.”

As he spoke, he kept giving Principal Zou meaningful looks, and leaned in to whisper something in her ear. Principal Zou sighed helplessly with a smile. “This child…”

It wasn’t clear who she meant by that, but Principal Zou raised her voice to ask the students, “Do you all still want to keep going?”

“Of course we do — you so rarely get to go out and have fun, why let a bunch of hoodlums ruin the mood?”

With that, the atmosphere livened up again. Just then the Truth Orchestra took the stage, and everyone’s attention turned to the performance. Wen Tingli slipped away to the washroom. Outside the door, the clack of high heels sounded — Mrs. Qiao had come in.

Wen Tingli turned to leave.

“Stop right there!” Mrs. Qiao said in a low, sharp voice. “I have something to ask you!”

“Whatever nonsense you have to say, you can keep to yourself!”

Mrs. Qiao strode over and blocked Wen Tingli’s path. “I’ve already found out — all three universities you applied to are in Shanghai. If not for that, I wouldn’t even bother coming to find you!”

Wen Tingli gave a short laugh. No need to guess — Michelle must have told her.

“Is it that there’s no university in Peiping, or that Nanjing and Tianjin have no schools either? Why insist on staying in Shanghai!” Mrs. Qiao’s eyes were full of resentment. “I know Baoxin came looking for you a while ago — did she go telling you more nonsense?”

“How ridiculous!” Wen Tingli scoffed. “Which university I apply to is my own business — why would anyone need to tell me?”

Mrs. Qiao looked her up and down, then suddenly laughed. “I know — you’ve finished middle school and are about to enter university. Someone who doesn’t know your background might just mistake you for the daughter of a decent family. Do you really think that puts you on the same footing as a well-born lady like Liyun? Don’t you dream of it! Liyun is already pregnant, and Xingchu dotes on his wife dearly these days — don’t you even think about doing anything to sabotage their marriage.”

Wen Tingli nearly burst out laughing. “You vastly overestimate your son’s charm. Even if I stay here to study, it has nothing whatsoever to do with your son.”

“So it’s Qiguang, then?”

Wen Tingli froze. Mrs. Qiao, assuming she’d guessed Wen Tingli’s mind correctly, sneered, “Don’t you go dreaming about Qiguang either. He’s not simple like Xingchu — don’t be fooled by that carefree act of his. Among all the young men of Shanghai’s great families, none can match him. His father left behind a mess of a business, and he rebuilt the family’s fortunes through his own ability. He may not want to be tied down right now, but when it comes time for him to marry, it will certainly be to a lady of equal standing. He’ll see through your little tricks in an instant — he’s only toying with you, and here you are taking it seriously!”

“What makes Mrs. Qiao so confident that I’d even look twice at either of them?” Wen Tingli couldn’t help but laugh, then immediately dropped her smile and stepped closer and closer to Mrs. Qiao’s face. “Is it your money? Or your influence?!

“The only reason you people dare to bully me so freely is that you look down on me for being poorer than you — but in my heart, I actually pity you. Just look at that bluster of yours, so clearly covering up how hard your own life has become! Has Mr. Qiao’s business improved at all? I’m sure the Bai family’s been propping up the Qiao family a great deal lately, haven’t they? To please your daughter-in-law, you keep provoking a complete outsider for no reason; to keep up the false glory of the main branch, you’re willing to gamble your own son’s marriage as the stake! Just on these points alone, my character is a hundred times more noble than yours!”

The flesh on Mrs. Qiao’s face trembled uncontrollably; she stammered, “How dare you… how dare you insult me like this!”

Just as she said this, a faint sound came from a door at one side of the passage — the sort of door apparently reserved for distinguished guests — but the two of them, caught up in their standoff, took no notice.

Mrs. Qiao seized hold of Wen Tingli’s collar. Wen Tingli, without the slightest courtesy, raised her hand and shook her off. “Still don’t understand? Your so-called ‘noble birth,’ the so-called ‘favor’ of your younger relations — in my eyes, all of it isn’t worth a single copper coin!”

With those words, she turned gracefully to leave, only to hear Mrs. Qiao snarl behind her, “If you’ve got so much spine, then why did you threaten the Qiao family into paying your father’s medical bills in the first place?”

Wen Tingli’s temples throbbed.

“Can’t answer that one, can you? However fine your words sound, deep down you’re nothing but a shameless piece of trash — just like your mother!”

Smack! Wen Tingli’s hand shot out and slapped Mrs. Qiao across the face.

“That slap was for my father! If your Qiao family hadn’t been backing him up that night, Qiu Dapeng would never have dared to hurt my father so badly. My father’s grave, incurable injury — the Qiao family bears half the responsibility for that!”

Mrs. Qiao stood stunned for a moment, then raised her hand savagely to strike back. “How dare you—”

But Wen Tingli slapped her again, crisp and clean, before she could. “That one was for my mother! Who gave you the right to keep insulting my mother, again and again!”

She raised her chin high, looking at Mrs. Qiao with utter, undisguised contempt.