Whenever Qing Yu had to do something “out of line,” she would involuntarily think through all the consequences thoroughly to find the best escape route. But by copying Ming Sheng’s homework, she was destined to face consequences beyond her control regardless of what she did.
If she flatly refused, rumors about Bai Yu would instantly spread everywhere, eventually reaching Chaoyang New Village, destroying the peaceful life her parents had carefully built; accepting meant spending large amounts of time each night dealing with this task, inevitably affecting her studies; reporting it to teachers would lead to retaliation from Ming Sheng, who could force honor students to drop out, and he might still reveal Bai Yu’s story.
Opposing Ming Sheng would be miserable – Qing Yu did not doubt this. Over the weekend, while Jin Yu was home, she learned from Shun Yun No. 1’s forum about He Kai’s misfortunes over the past week: first, he was slapped by some street thugs at the school gate, then deliberately tripped while cycling home, injuring his right wrist, reportedly requiring three months to fully recover. Three months unable to write was undoubtedly “horrifying” for a senior-year student.
“Which class are you in?”
The person who initiated the conversation was Chen Ruo Yi, Qing Yu’s freshman class monitor at Shun Yun No. 1 and one of her few friends there.
After telling her she was in Class 5, Chen Ruo Yi got excited: “Oh my god! Same class as Ming Sheng!”
She then asked Qing Yu if she knew why Ming Sheng had it in for He Kai.
Her fingers hovering over the keyboard for several seconds, Qing Yu slowly typed “Not sure.” Explaining the cause and effect would require revealing all the details from that day, which was very difficult for her—actively mentioning He Kai walking her home made her uncomfortable. Moreover, she admitted her cowardice—in Shun Yun’s classmates’ eyes, she and He Kai were strangers, and she could already imagine how people would gossip about her if she explained the situation.
“Since you’re in his class, be careful not to offend him, especially since you’re new there. Just endure if anything happens,” Chen Ruo Yi didn’t pursue the question, “Though I’ve heard he won’t bully girls, especially those from No. 2, and he’ll protect everyone in his class, both boys and girls. Oh right! Since you’re in his class now, why don’t you talk to him about stopping his harassment of Senior He Kai? He’s going too far!”
Qing Yu simply replied, “mm, I know.”
“Is Huan Zhou even hotter than Shun Yun?” Chen Ruo Yi seemed to be deliberately searching for topics, “Have you been to Qing Lake? Is it not that impressive?”
“I haven’t had much chance to go out, just secretly glimpsed Qing Lake,” Qing Yu replied, “It’s about the same as in books.”
“Why don’t you go out?”
“My parents are strict, they won’t let me go out alone.”
Chen Ruo Yi made an “oh” sound: “Your parents probably don’t want to take you to Qing Lake, An Ling Garden is on North Mountain by Qing Lake, they’d be sad if they went there.”
Her tone, as if she were Qing Yu’s longtime friend, made Qing Yu somewhat uncomfortable.
“What’s An Ling Garden?”
“Huan Zhou’s public cemetery! How do you not even know that? Your sister must be buried there!”
Perhaps because she had gradually grown accustomed to life in Huan Zhou without mentioning Bai Yu, suddenly seeing the word “sister” made Qing Yu feel somewhat resistant.
“My sister is buried on the mountain in Nan Qiao Village, next to our ancestral graves,” Qing Yu replied. She was beginning to dislike Chen Ruo Yi’s inexplicable enthusiasm.
“Oh, I see, I was just guessing, don’t mind if I got it wrong,” Chen Ruo Yi said, “Mainly because my dad suddenly mentioned the other day that people should receive their last rites when they pass away, so I thought of your sister…”
“I rarely think about her now.”
As she typed these words, Qing Yu noticed her own deliberately hardened heart.
“Since you’re in Ming Sheng’s class, can you get his photo?”
“Aren’t there many online?”
“Those are all candid shots, no clear face shots!”
Qing Yu had completely lost interest in chatting. “No,” she replied stiffly while making her decision to defend her innocent, blameless family. Trading some of her study time for the family’s peaceful and serene life was worth it-
When her parents brought Qiao Jin Rui and his girlfriend home for a visit, Qing Yu was struggling with Ming Sheng’s English essay. Hearing the door open, she hurriedly stuffed Ming Sheng’s other homework into her desk drawer before going out to greet them.
“Brother Jin Rui,” she smiled and called out, then looked at the pretty girl with brown permed hair beside Qiao Jin Rui, “Sister-in-law.”
The girl covered her mouth and laughed, leaning against Qiao Jin Rui’s shoulder: “Your cousin is so sweet, I’m embarrassed~”
Li Fang Hao approvingly raised her chin at Qing Yu: “Qing Qing, haven’t finished your homework yet? Go back and write, we’ll keep our voices down out here, come out when you’re done.”
Back in her room, Qing Yu took out her phone and sent Ming Sheng the first two sentences of the English essay she had just painstakingly written with a dictionary—this was the third time, his response to her previous two attempts had both been “no good.”
During the wait, the adults’ conversation in the living room drifted in through the poorly soundproofed old fiberboard door. Catching bits and pieces of information, Qing Yu learned that Qiao Jin Rui had taken leave to travel with his girlfriend, and before leaving, they wanted to visit their hometown and bring some medicine to Aunt Qin, their grandparents’ next-door neighbor.
“Qin’s sister is still taking medicine?” Li Fang Hao’s voice was full of surprise, “Da Yong still has some conscience…”
“It’s just for comfort,” Qiao Lu Sheng continued, “She’s been mentally unstable for so many years, no medicine can cure her heart condition.”
“These past two years she’ll escape if she doesn’t take her medicine,” Qiao Jin Rui sighed, “Fortunately, Grandpa and Grandma have moved to my parents’ new house. Once she ran to their yard at midnight knocking on windows looking for rope, scared grandma half to death…”
“What are you all talking about?” Jin Rui’s girlfriend curiously interjected.
“Oh, nothing, just a crazy woman in my grandparents’ village,” Qiao Jin Rui quickly changed the subject, speaking gently, “It has nothing to do with us, don’t be afraid~”
“Yes, Jin Rui, is your apartment in Jiang Bin almost done with the renovation?” Qiao Lu Sheng asked with an approving smile, “Can you move in by year-end?”
“Almost,” Jin Rui replied.
Qiao Lu Sheng chuckled twice: “You’ve done well, very well.”
The tone wasn’t hard to detect – envious yet heartbroken. This made Qing Yu think of her good-for-nothing brother Jin Yu. With the family’s move to Huan Zhou, Jin Yu entered Huan Zhou Sports School, and their parents’ hopes for their son’s success seemed to have ended early. How could someone who couldn’t even get into high school talk about university? Sure enough, in the next sentence, Li Fang Hao started criticizing her son:
“If only Yu’er had half of Xiao Rui’s success… forget about being a civil servant, I’d thank heaven and earth if he could just support himself in the future…”
“But Qing Qing’s grades are very good, she even got into Huan No. 2, much better than I was,” Qiao Jin Rui said with a smile, “Uncle and Aunt can count on Qing Yu in the future.”
“She’s just a girl, good grades only benefit herself, how can we count on her?” Li Fang Hao laughed, “Come, have some fruit, Xiao Yun, right? Here…”
Qing Yu couldn’t tell if Li Fang Hao’s words were out of modesty or sincerity. She suddenly felt powerless, yet unwilling to accept it, with a strong urge to rush out and prove herself to her parents. What’s so great about being a civil servant? She thought defiantly, I’ll have better prospects than Brother Jin Rui in the future.
She was still waiting for a reply. Ming Sheng’s English exercise sheet spread before her looked hateful. Ming Sheng had dumped all his homework on her and wouldn’t allow any perfunctory work, forcing Qing Yu to waste most of her Sunday meeting his requirements. Wasting so much time on this meaningless task was a shame.
The clock showed nine-thirty, and Ming Sheng’s reply still hadn’t come—it had been an hour.
In the living room, Qiao Jin Rui and the others stood up. Li Fang Hao pushed open the door: “Qing Qing, you’re still not done with homework? Jin Rui’s leaving, come say goodbye!”
“Qing Qing, I brought some fruit for you and Xiao Yu…” Jin Rui came to the doorway, “Oh, so this is how the room is divided…”
“Yes, yes, come in and look, it’s small, but we have no choice,” Li Fang Hao said, turning back to get the key and opening the plywood door, “Xiao Yu stays on the window side, he boards at school and only sleeps here on weekends.”
Jin Rui led his girlfriend Xiao Yun to look at the half room behind the plywood door. Coming out, passing Qing Yu’s desk, his gaze wandered to the wall and suddenly stopped. Following his abruptly serious eyes, Xiao Yun also carefully examined the calligraphy hanging on the wall.
“Riding the wind and breaking the waves will come in time,” she read softly, “Hoisting the sail straight through to cross the vast sea.”
“Qing Qing indeed has ambition.” Jin Rui turned to Qing Yu with a hurried smile, pulling Xiao Yun toward the door, but she leaned in to look at the square dark red seal in the lower right, squinting as she continued reading aloud: “Written by Qiao Bai Yu… Who’s Qiao Bai Yu?”
She looked at Jin Rui, but he looked toward Li Fang Hao, seemingly avoiding the question while seeking help, an awkward smile hanging on his lips.
“Um, that Bai Yu,” Li Fang Hao’s voice was dry, her face showing uncertainty, “Bai Yu, well, Jin Rui probably hasn’t told you, Bai Yu is…”
“She’s my sister.”
Everyone turned their gaze to Qing Yu, including Qiao Lu Sheng who had just squeezed in.
“Your sister?” Xiao Yun’s mouth gaped in surprise, “You have a sister? A biological sister? Where is she?”
“Yes, biological, biological,” Li Fang Hao quickly shot Qing Yu a reproachful look, “Our eldest Qing Qing was six, but fate was cruel. A few years ago she had stomach problems, encountered an unscrupulous hospital, they couldn’t cure a minor ailment, and she passed away.”
Xiao Yun made an “ah” sound, and everyone seemed to freeze.
“I’m so sorry, I didn’t know…” Xiao Yun explained softly with regret, “Since Jin Rui never mentioned it, I always thought uncle and aunt only had Qing Qing and Xiao Yu… If I had known earlier I wouldn’t have asked…”
“It’s alright, it’s all in the past,” Qiao Lu Sheng nodded understandingly, “You’re practically family now, you would have known about this eventually…”
Unlike Qiao Lu Sheng who quickly grasped the situation, Li Fang Hao’s grave expression hadn’t dissipated even after Jin Rui and the others left. While cleaning the coffee table, Qing Yu sensibly went to help but was commanded by Li Fang Hao: “Sit down.”
Just as she sat on the sofa, her phone started vibrating continuously on the desk in her room. Ignoring Li Fang Hao’s terrifying dark face, Qing Yu sprang up and rushed into the room, quickly pressing the reject button.
Turning around, Li Fang Hao stood fuming at the doorway: “Who’s calling you so late?”
Qing Yu’s first instinct was to say “unknown number,” since to avoid Li Fang Hao’s suspicion, she hadn’t saved any male classmates’ numbers. But her phone still contained text messages discussing homework with Ming Sheng, so she couldn’t tell this obvious lie.
“Let me see.”
As Li Fang Hao reached out, the phone vibrated again—still Ming Sheng. Qing Yu decisively pressed reject and obediently handed over the phone, having prepared her explanation.
“It’s just a classmate from my class,” she explained earnestly, “He went to a foreign language school for middle school, and has excellent grades, especially in English, so I asked him some questions this afternoon. He didn’t reply to my English essay questions earlier, probably thought it was too complicated for texts, so he wanted to call and explain…”
“A male classmate?” Li Fang Hao frowned, opening the phone’s inbox while speaking.
Qing Yu gave a soft “mm.”
Li Fang Hao looked down at the messages: “What’s his name? Why isn’t his number saved? If you’re discussing studies, that’s fine, why act like you have something to hide?”
Qing Yu nodded in agreement: “I was planning to tell Mom about this classmate before saving his number, but then Jin Rui and the others came, so I didn’t get a chance… Oh right, his name is Ming Sheng, Ming as in tomorrow, Sheng as in flourishing…”
“Aren’t there any good female students in class, why must you ask a male classmate?” Li Fang Hao interrupted sharply, “Huh?”
Qing Yu pressed her lips together in silence.
“What has mom taught you since you were little, what’s most important for a girl? Tell me?”
Qing Yu gritted her teeth: “Self-respect and dignity.”
“Your grades are just average in your class at No. 2, there must be many girls with better grades, yet you ignore the female classmates and specifically ask this male classmate, what does that mean? How did you get his number? Did you memorize it?”
Indeed she had memorized it, Ming Sheng had told it to her face yesterday, Saturday, when she went to school to get his homework—it was so simple and smooth, she remembered it after hearing it once. Qing Yu had no way to explain, standing silently with downcast eyes, her heart constricted, breathing in short, quick breaths.
“Don’t become like your sister!” Li Fang Hao suddenly roared like a mad woman, “Did you hear me? Huh?!”
Qing Yu’s shoulders jumped in fright, her nose instantly stinging.
“Look at your sister, people still gossip about her even after she’s dead!” Li Fang Hao’s voice turned into hysterical sobs, “All because she wasn’t clear-headed! Didn’t respect herself! She deserves to be restless even after death! Making our whole family unable to live in peace! You want to become like her?”
Qing Yu looked up in shock—after more than two years of silence when Mom finally spoke about a sister, it was with blame and resentment.
“If you do this kind of thing again,” Li Fang Hao held back her tears, lips trembling, “if you do this kind of thing getting close to male classmates again, I’ll break your legs, you understand?”
“I understand.” Qing Yu mumbled. Her mother’s instant breakdown had frightened her; she would agree to anything Li Fang Hao said without question.
Seeing that Qing Yu was truly taking it to heart, Li Fang Hao gradually relaxed. She took two steps forward and sat on the edge of Qing Yu’s single bed.
“That calligraphy,” she looked at Qing Yu, her hand still holding the phone gesturing casually toward the wall, “take it down now.”
Qing Yu nodded without a word, stood on tiptoe, and stretched to take down the framed piece. They say objects evoke memories of people; her parents would be tormented each time they entered her room. She had selfishly insisted on bringing this calligraphy to Huan Zhou in the name of “remembrance,” disregarding her parents’ feelings.
After turning the frame face-down on her desk, she turned to see Li Fang Hao’s lost, helpless expression, making Qing Yu worry. She cautiously called out: “Mom?”
“Your sister’s fate was cruel…” Li Fang Hao murmured, as if talking to herself, “She’s gone, yet people still gossip and even her family thinks she’s shameful…”
“Don’t think like that, Mom,” Qing Yu sat to one side, tenderly stroking Li Fang Hao’s hand, “Sister died with a clear conscience, those rumors, we just need to ignore them. The more we care, the more people will believe what they’re saying…”
She was consoling herself as much as Li Fang Hao. Ming Sheng said Bai Yu had “degraded herself” and contracted “AIDS”—this was exactly what outsiders gleefully spread as the cause of Bai Yu’s death. But it wasn’t true. Qing Yu clearly remembered when Qiao Lu Sheng received the first call from the hospital, he distinctly repeated five words: “Acute appendicitis?”
She was a witness to the truth. Bai Yu might have been indiscreet, but she was never unchaste.
Regarding the outside rumors, Qing Yu understood her parents’ vulnerability: they were honest and principled people who followed proper etiquette, yet ended up with such a troublesome daughter. She also understood they had to face a broader, more complex world and thus bore greater pressure. She just felt they cared too much about others’ opinions.
But wasn’t she just as concerned? To escape rumors, she had even stooped to doing a classmate’s homework, something completely lacking in dignity.
Qing Yu recalled Ming Sheng’s confident face when he mentioned Bai Yu. “I’ll be enslaved forever,” the warning bell rang in her heart, “if I keep caring about it. The same applies to Mom and Dad.”
Thinking this way, courage suddenly filled her heart, making her believe she could walk up to Ming Sheng openly and tell him firmly the true cause of Bai Yu’s death. Qing Yu decided to do this tomorrow.
Just then, the phone in Li Fang Hao’s hand suddenly vibrated once, showing a message from Ming Sheng’s number.
Li Fang Hao seemed suddenly awakened, her face tense as she opened the message.
Four characters: “Give me a call.”
Before Qing Yu could react, Li Fang Hao had already dialed back. The call was quickly answered, and a lazy “Qiao Qing Yu” came from the other end.
“You’re Ming Sheng?” Li Fang Hao began coldly.
Ming Sheng was as stunned as Qing Yu. After a few seconds, he adopted a more proper attitude: “May I ask who this is?”
“I’m Qiao Qing Yu’s mother,” Li Fang Hao’s severity made Qing Yu’s hair stand on end, “My daughter has gone to bed, even discussing studies should have limits, don’t call my daughter so late in the future.”
Silence from the other end. After a while, a faint “I understand, Auntie, sorry for disturbing you” came through the receiver.
Though polite enough, Qing Yu knew she was finished.