Ruan Yu turned around and saw Xu Huaishi.

She had always known Xu Huaisong wasn’t an only child, but she hadn’t looked too closely into how much younger the sister was. Seeing Xu Huaishi now in Su Province’s standard high school uniform gave her a rough answer.

Probably sixteen or seventeen.

An uneasy premonition rose immediately in Ruan Yu’s chest.

If she recalled correctly, Su Shi No. 1 High School’s history hall had a photograph of her in it. Surely Xu Huaishi wasn’t enrolled there of all places?

Ruan Yu smiled at her. “I can manage on my own — don’t you want to go chat with your brother?”

“What’s there to chat with him about.” Xu Huaishi muttered the words more than said them. “He’s really too much — how can he ask a guest to wash fruit?”

Ruan Yu had found it strange herself just now, but suddenly she understood.

Xu Huaisong must have had something to say to his family — and seeing that she was still standing there, he had contrived to send her away for a little while.

But did he really see her as someone that oblivious? She had been about to leave on her own.

Xu Huaishi followed her to the small pantry, set her phone aside, and rolled up her sleeves.

Ruan Yu’s gaze happened to drift across the screen — and she noticed that the lock screen wallpaper was a photo of Li Shican. Tall and slender, standing at the three-point line in a basketball jersey, an orange ball resting in his palm.

Noticing her look, Xu Huaishi smiled and made a casual introduction: “My ‘boyfriend.'”

Ruan Yu blinked, then understood from the grin on the girl’s face. — Ah. A devoted fan of Li Shican’s.

Xu Huaishi helped her pull apart the fruit basket and took out apples and plums to rinse.

Watching her handle it with practiced ease, Ruan Yu asked offhandedly: “Do you do a lot of chores at home?”

“All the time.” She nodded. “Completely my brother’s fault.”

Ruan Yu paused. “But hasn’t he always been in America?”

“That doesn’t stop him from bossing me around.” Xu Huaishi sighed and lowered her voice. “Remote control. Absolutely diabolical.”

Ruan Yu smiled, and as her gaze passed over the school uniform again, the unease resurfaced. She asked: “Which high school do you go to?”

“Su Shi No. 1.”

The words were out of Xu Huaishi’s mouth before she could stop them, followed immediately by an internal wince. Was that breaking her brother’s instruction to “keep her mouth shut”?

She cautiously looked up at Ruan Yu — and found her expression even more guilty than her own.

Well. They were both hapless souls under her brother’s thumb. Who could really claim to be doing better than the other?

With that thought, the apologetic feeling Xu Huaishi had been carrying toward Ruan Yu grew a layer deeper. She said: “Jiejie, has the case you entrusted to my brother been resolved yet?”

“Almost — just waiting for the court date.”

“Have there been any difficulties?”

“We’re missing a piece of evidence that was originally part of the plan, but it hasn’t made much difference.”

Xu Huaishi gave a quiet “oh.”

That missing piece of evidence was what she herself had been meant to provide to the court — proof of the outline transaction. But the whole thing was a fabrication to begin with; she couldn’t manufacture a transaction record out of thin air, and Xu Huaisong had strictly forbidden her from giving false testimony.

So she had simply said she wasn’t in a position to provide it.

Fortunately, her brother had obtained a phone recording to serve as a substitute. And Ruan Yu, recognizing that the main conflict centered on “Su Cheng,” had stopped pressing her for it.

Unable to apologize directly, Xu Huaishi settled for saying: “Don’t worry — whatever trouble comes up, just leave it to my brother. He’s very capable.”

Ruan Yu nodded. On the way back, she heard the girl ask with characteristic curiosity: “Jiejie, you’re really beautiful. Do you have a boyfriend?”

She shook her head. “Not at the moment.”

“Then what kind of boyfriend would you want?”

Ruan Yu thought for a moment, then said, half in jest: “Someone as sweet-tongued as you.”

Xu Huaishi felt her heart drop.

Oh no. Her brother had just been eliminated from contention entirely.

Ruan Yu set down the fruit and took her leave shortly after.

Although both Tao Rong and Xu Huaishi politely asked her to stay and sit for a while, inserting an outsider into a family reunion was awkward for everyone — so she left.

The ward settled into three people.

Xu Huaishi immediately launched into her favorite activity. “Brother, did you sneak back this time because of Senior Ruan?”

“What are you talking about?” Xu Huaisong gave her a look, then glanced at Tao Rong, who clearly had no idea what was going on.

Xu Huaishi made a face at him and tightened her hold on Tao Rong’s arm. “Mom, let me tell you — my brother is pursuing the girl who was just here.”

Xu Huaisong gave a deliberate cough and pressed his brows together.

Tao Rong looked both surprised and moved, and a faint glisten quickly gathered in her eyes: “Huaisong… are you thinking of coming home?”

He lowered his gaze. “I don’t know yet.”

“Oh…” Tao Rong smiled and suddenly got to her feet. “I’ll just pop to the bathroom.”

Xu Huaishi released her arm and waited until she had passed through the door before whispering: “Brother, did I say something wrong?”

Xu Huaisong sent her a cutting look. “Just know that you did.”

“But it’s the truth. If you’re not planning to come back, why go around getting involved with Senior Ruan? Are you thinking of luring her away to America with you? Mom really wants you home — at least give her something to hope for!”

“Why raise hopes for something that may never happen?”

Xu Huaishi let out a sudden “oh” of understanding. “So you mean — you’d come back once you’ve won Senior Ruan over? Well, just you watch then. Mom has already claimed that daughter-in-law for herself.”

Ruan Yu had no idea that she had already become a candidate for the role of daughter-in-law in the Xu household. Having escaped what she privately deemed a “public reckoning,” she quietly vowed to herself that she would not set foot anywhere near Xu Huaisong again until the court date.

Three days later, Liu Mao brought good news — the defendant had completely abandoned any attempt at a defense and couldn’t even produce a written response. The court had confirmed a hearing date: one week away.

With the end finally in sight, Ruan Yu relaxed and made plans to visit her parents in the outskirts.

Ruan Yu’s father and mother were a pair of retired schoolteachers. In their younger years they had traveled to teach in underprivileged areas, weathering every kind of hardship there was. Out of devotion to that calling, they had returned to Su Shi No. 1 High School to teach quite late in life — and only then, once things had settled, did they have a child. When they finally decided to enjoy their later years in peace, they applied for early retirement after Ruan Yu’s high school graduation and followed her to Hang Shi.

Hang Shi was a pleasant place to live, and the outskirts especially so. After graduating, Ruan Yu had briefly considered moving out there too — it would have been quiet and good for writing. But her father promptly drove her away, asking whether she intended to spend her life in retirement alongside them at her age.

She had no choice but to rent a flat in the city on her own.

When Ruan Yu arrived home, her mother was busy in the kitchen and her father was perched in the courtyard in reading glasses, carefully trimming the plants. The moment he saw her he called out: “Yuyu, how are things going with young Liu these days?” and handed her a pair of pruning shears.

She set her bag down, took the shears, and went to help him, saying: “He’s a nice person.”

Ruan Chenru’s eyes had just lit up when he heard the rest: “A good friend.”

His expression dimmed. He gave a quiet “oh,” and after a moment, tried a different tack: “Lawyers are a solid profession. If you ever run into trouble someday, he could step up for you.”

Her parents — one with a bad leg, the other with a heart condition — were the reason Ruan Yu had never told them her pen name. She didn’t want them worrying themselves over the messy world of online fiction.

Yet the way her father had just phrased that gave her an odd feeling — as though the old man actually knew everything already.

She brushed past it with a vague laugh: “Since when are you so eager for your own daughter to run into trouble?”

Ruan Chenru kept a straight face, made a decisive cut with the shears, and changed the subject: “Your mother and I have been talking about going back to Su Shi for a couple of days.”

“The rainy season is almost here — your rheumatism will flare up again. All that traveling back and forth for what?”

“The old house is being demolished next month. Your mother’s been poring over old photographs every day. I said it’s not that far — let’s make one trip back.”

“Then I’ll go with Mom. You stay home and rest.”

Ruan Chenru made no comment either way. He asked her to finish tending to the plants, then turned and shuffled inside with a hand pressed to his lower back, and spoke quietly to Ruan Yu’s mother in the kitchen: “Yuyu says she’ll go to Su Shi with you. What do you think — should we say something to young Liu? Let him take the opportunity to make a good impression?”

Author’s Note — Song Song: No. That opportunity is mine.