The wheels rolled over a deep pothole, splashing muddy water onto the window. Qing Ye pulled out her earphones with a frown as she stared at the mud spots on the glass. Her gaze drifted to the scene beyond – a dilapidated street where an electric tricycle loaded with garlic and onions rolled by as its driver called out his wares.

Next door, at a street food stall, an old man in a tattered apron worked with blackened hands. Occasionally, filthy stray dogs would dart across the street. The telephone poles stood crooked, the green paint on the mailboxes had mostly peeled away, and across the cement buildings, clotheslines crisscrossed chaotically. Though the heavy rain had just ceased, a gloomy haze still hung over the entire county town.

Qing Ye turned irritably to the driver, Sun Hai: “Uncle Sun, didn’t my father tell you anything before he went in?”

Sun Hai glanced at Qing Ye and sighed softly: “You’re still young. This isn’t something you should worry about.”

Qing Ye clenched her jaw, her lowered eyelids fixed intently on this place that felt so alien to her. Since leaving the highway, her eyes had been filled with wariness. This small town was vastly different from the capital where she had lived for eighteen years. Beyond the buildings and streets, the entire county town gave her an impression of being dirty and dust-covered.

It wasn’t until the car drove into the street that she realized what felt wrong – there were no trees. Not a single towering tree in sight. The few saplings along the road were all crooked, with no real landscaping to speak of. Garbage was strewn randomly along the roadsides, stray cats huddled in groups among the trash heaps, and collapsed walls stood neglected. It was like a county town frozen in time from the last century.

And she was supposed to live in such a place – how utterly depressing.

Five minutes later, Sun Hai slowly pulled over to the side of a small road, puzzling over the navigation: “Strange, why does it keep making me drive in circles on this road?”

Qing Ye scoffed coldly: “What’s strange about it? It’s already a miracle that this place even shows up on the navigation.”

Sun Hai said helplessly: “Never mind, I’ll get out and ask someone.”

Sun Hai opened the car door and ran to a small shop across the street. Qing Ye decided to step out as well. The air felt gritty, and the sky hung heavy with mist. Wearing spotless patent leather shoes, she stepped onto the curb and looked around. Her light blue gradient dress lifted in the wind, revealing smooth calves – perhaps the only splash of color in this dusty street.

The sound of a basketball came from nearby. She walked a few steps behind the car to look – it was a run-down outdoor basketball court with several motorcycles parked alongside, surrounded by a group of young people with dyed hair in various colors.

The group seemed to notice her from afar, and someone waved at her. Qing Ye muttered under her breath: “Idiots.”

She turned away to wait for Sun Hai, but the sound of motorcycles came from the basketball court. The group of young people rode their motorcycles in her direction, their modified exhaust pipes roaring like tractors. They called out to her from a distance: “Hey, beautiful!”

Qing Ye maintained a stern expression, her gaze sharp as she watched them. She noticed one motorcycle decorated with Doraemon stickers somehow carrying three people, with the fat guy at the back practically hanging off.

As the motorcycles approached her, the blonde guy squeezed in the middle and excitedly whistled at her. The motorcycle suddenly accelerated toward her, startling Qing Ye. She instinctively stepped back, her foot landing in mud, coating her polished leather shoes with a layer of slime.

The motorcycle brushed past her without actually touching her. The group of troublemakers burst into laughter, with the blonde guy calling out: “Hey beautiful, your shoes are dirty!”

Qing Ye looked up, meeting the gaze of the man on the Doraemon motorcycle. He wore black and white sportswear and had a crew cut, with a visible line shaved into his sideburns. His features were sharp, his expression playful.

Just as Qing Ye was about to curse at them, the group had already roared away, their laughter still audible from a distance.

“B-Brother Wu, that little girl just now… she’s not from our Zhazha Town, right?” Fat Hu stammered.

The blonde guy eagerly jumped in: “When has our dry and dusty place ever produced such a delicate girl? Didn’t you see the Beijing-plated Mercedes parked nearby? Must be visiting relatives. Right, Brother Wu?”

“How the fuck would I know,” Xing Wu replied carelessly, glancing in the rearview mirror where the light blue figure could still be seen angrily shaking mud from her shoes. He raised his eyebrows and accelerated.

The blonde guy laughed and said: “Let’s go to my place for hotpot. I just got some new videos, Japanese ones. The actress looks pretty similar to that little girl just now.”

Everyone laughed, and the blonde guy patted Xing Wu: “You coming?”

“Whatever.” Xing Wu turned toward the blonde guy’s house.

Sun Hai hurried out of the small shop and told Qing Ye: “I got directions, it’s not far. Let’s get back in the car.”

But Qing Ye stood by the car, staring at her dirty shoes, her eyes vacant. The anger that had been building in her chest for months finally reached its breaking point. These past few months had been like a nightmare, and she was finally losing control. She hated this godforsaken place, hated those delinquents from earlier. She didn’t want to stay in this dump, not for a single second!

Sun Hai noticed her distress and called out: “Xiao Ye?”

Qing Ye clutched her dress tightly and raised her head, staring at Sun Hai aggressively: “My father was such a shrewd person, how could he not have left himself a way out? Uncle Sun, tell me, can my father get out? He must have told you something, right?”

Sun Hai lowered his head and sighed: “Can we not discuss this right now? Xiao Ye, things are complicated, beyond what you can imagine. I want to try my best to negotiate, but there are indeed many obstacles. Some things won’t have results so quickly, do you understand?”

“I don’t understand!” Qing Ye almost roared. She stared at Sun Hai with reddened eyes, as if clutching at the last straw: “You all called him President Qing, but he was just a vice president! A vice president! Above him were the board of directors, and the legal representative. When things go wrong, why aren’t those people being held responsible? Why did they arrest him?”

Sun Hai quickly gestured for her to lower her voice: “Keep your voice down. News travels fast in small towns like this. Don’t be anxious, follow your parents’ arrangements. Your father’s case is still under investigation, it’s not completely hopeless. Your father isn’t a big fish, but he’s crucial. Some people want to extract information from him, so they might target you too. You must leave. Qing Ye, you need to stay calm.”

For several seconds, the wind blew against Qing Ye’s dry eyes. She raised her hand to rub them, and in a daze, said softly: “My parents’ arrangements… do I even have a mother anymore?”

She then got back into the car. Sun Hai looked at her suddenly quiet demeanor and felt a pang in his heart.

He had watched Qing Ye grow up. She was just a newly adult girl who had lost her mother to illness three months ago, and now her father had suddenly been arrested. Sun Hai couldn’t imagine how her world was crumbling, or how difficult her upcoming life would be. The only thing he could do was to send her away from the eye of the storm, personally hand her over to her aunt, and then return to make one last desperate gamble.

The rest of the journey was silent. Qing Ye leaned back in her seat with closed eyes, no longer wanting to look at the streets outside. A heavy atmosphere surrounded her, and Sun Hai felt equally uncomfortable.

The county town wasn’t big, and after asking for directions, they found the Xuandao Hair Salon within minutes. After parking, Sun Hai didn’t immediately get out. Qing Ye slowly opened her eyes to look at the rural-style small salon, with its red, white, and blue rotating pole at the entrance. The storefront wasn’t large, with two people chatting at the door – one with an outdated perm, the other wearing what they probably thought were fashionable wide-leg pants, with a chain decoration hanging from the waistband like a dog leash. Add one more person and they could debut as a band called “Wash, Cut, Blow.”

Qing Ye sat in the passenger seat, silently observing the salon with unusual quietness. After much consideration, Sun Hai finally spoke: “Xiao Ye, looking at it from another angle, your current situation isn’t the worst. At least compared to staying in Beijing, here you won’t be disturbed. No classmates will look at you differently because of your father’s situation. You can focus on preparing for the college entrance exam. How your future path unfolds depends on you, right?”

Qing Ye silently opened the car door. Sun Hai took out her suitcase, and people inside the salon heard the commotion. Some elderly people poked their heads out to look, and just then, a woman rushed out.

Hmm… how to put it? Her first impression of Qing Ye was as surreal as this small county town. Despite being in her forties, she wore blue glitter eyeshadow, had dyed red hair, and walked in five-centimeter platform high heels as she rushed over. She stopped in front of Qing Ye, looked her up and down, and confirmed: “You must be Qing Ye, right?”

Before Qing Ye could speak, Sun Hai beside her quickly responded: “Are you Qing Ye’s aunt, Li Lanfang?”

Before Qing Ye could get a clear look at Li Lanfang’s face, she was suddenly embraced enthusiastically, engulfed by cheap perfume. Li Lanfang excitedly said: “You’ve grown so big! I visited you in Beijing for your first birthday. You don’t remember me, do you?”

“…” Thanks a lot, who remembers people from their first birthday?

When Li Lanfang released Qing Ye, through the salon’s glass, Qing Ye noticed her right cheek had become a bit whiter. She quickly wiped her face as Li Lanfang enthusiastically pulled Qing Ye inside. Upon entering the salon, Qing Ye was stunned – her aunt had set up a mahjong table in the hair salon.

The mahjong players all stood up to observe her intently. Li Lanfang proudly introduced: “This is my niece, from Beijing. Look how beautiful she is.”

The players all chimed in: “Second Sister Li, you never mentioned having relatives in the capital?”

Li Lanfang puffed up her chest: “They run a big business there, very impressive.”

Qing Ye frowned and pulled her arm away. Li Lanfang should know about her father’s situation, yet she was still showing off like this, which made Qing Ye feel somewhat disgusted.

Sun Hai brought in Qing Ye’s suitcase and pulled Li Lanfang aside for a brief conversation. Qing Ye stood in the center of the shop, while the two people who had been at the door earlier now came inside, their eyes fixed on her as if they’d never seen a woman before.

As the Doraemon motorcycle turned the corner, Fat Hu pointed stutteringly: “Eh? Isn’t… isn’t that the Mer-Mercedes from earlier? Why is it parked in front of your house?”

Xing Wu was also surprised. He stopped the motorcycle and told Fat Hu: “I’ll go check it out.”

Qing Ye glanced sideways and saw Sun Hai stuffing a wad of money into Li Lanfang’s hands. Li Lanfang made a show of pushing it away before accepting it, her face full of smiles. Qing Ye didn’t know what Sun Hai had told Li Lanfang, but she kept saying: “Don’t worry, don’t worry.”

Behind her, the mahjong players pointed and discussed her. The air was filled with the pungent smell of hair dye, and her feet stood on piles of freshly cut hair. Qing Ye frowned as sudden anger welled up inside her. In all her life, she’d never heard that her mother had a sister. What kind of relatives were these? Relatives bought with money?

Just then, the salon door was suddenly pushed open. Qing Ye turned her head and met a pair of sharp eyes.