Once registration and uniform pickup were done, there was nothing left to do. The two of them found the nearby bus stop to head home. The moment Feng Ning appeared at the mouth of Yujiang Lane, the big yellow dog came bounding out and tangled itself around her legs.

Shuang Yao turned around and, startled, leapt straight up onto the steps, shrieking in a panic. “Quick, get your dog away from me!”

“Aiyo, my sweet Beibei, my little darling.” Feng Ning crouched down and gave the dog a vigorous rub. “Come on, let’s go home.”

The big yellow dog bounced on its hind legs, delighted, trying to jump up at her.

Feng Ning quickly stood up, nudging Beibei away with her foot. “Hey, hey, you’ll get my clothes dirty.”

“Shuang Yao, Sister Xiao Ning——”

They both looked up. The wall above was crisscrossed with a tangle of black power lines, strips of dried radish and cabbage swaying from a clothesline in the wind. Zhao Weichen was leaning over the second-floor balcony, looking down. “Did you two finish registering?”

Feng Ning shouted back up at him across the distance. “Yep. Starting classes tomorrow. Did you like the birthday present I gave you?”

“Loved it, thanks Sister Xiao Ning!”

“He’s hopelessly foolish,” Shuang Yao muttered, crouching beside her, teasing. “If Xiao Zhao ever found out that jacket was something you picked up for free…”

“Shh! Don’t you dare.” Feng Ning made a shushing gesture. “This unlucky kid would jump straight off that balcony if he found out.”

The two of them burst out laughing at the same time.

The three of them all lived in Yujiang Lane, having grown up together since childhood. Zhao Weichen worshipped Feng Ning. In his own words, she was the most extraordinary girl he’d ever met in his life. As for what exactly made her extraordinary, he could never quite explain it — just that her eyes shone, and he’d say, puffed up with pride, “You’ll understand once you’ve spent time with her. My Sister Xiao Ning is a remarkable woman!”

Shuang Yao relayed this to Feng Ning, who laughed nonstop at being called a remarkable woman.

By midday, the smell of green pepper stir-fry drifted out from somewhere in the lane, and the neighborhood committee auntie’s loud voice crackled out from a courtyard gate.

Shuang Yao turned and asked, “By the way, are you still selling liquor at Xiao Zhao’s cousin’s place? School’s starting, might as well quit.”

Feng Ning didn’t care one way or another. “I’ll keep at it a few more months. It’s just weekends, pretty relaxed, doesn’t affect my studies.”

“You’re so young and already money-obsessed. Are you secretly the daughter of a miser? So stingy.”

“I need to save up to support my mom.” Feng Ning dodged her serious expression. “Her health’s never been great to begin with, who knows if her old illness will flare up again.”

Shuang Yao paused slightly. Feng Ning had always matured early, never innocent or dreamy, mostly self-reliant — yet she was the most sensible and driven of them all.

Looking up again, Shuang Yao found she’d already run ahead with the big yellow dog, waving cheerfully. “Tomorrow morning, seven o’clock, let’s go to school together!”

Back home, Auntie Li, who helped out at the mahjong parlor, was washing fish in the courtyard. Seeing Feng Ning, she called out, “Ningning, you’re back. Auntie’s making fish head tofu soup for you today, fresh wild fish!”

“Great, where’s my mom?”

“Making dumplings.”

Gently nudging away the big dog circling at her feet, Feng Ning tossed her bag aside and sauntered into the kitchen. “Miss Qi, what’s got you cooking today?”

Qi Lan paused what she was doing, sighing with a touch of melancholy. “My daughter’s starting school tomorrow, I’ll be all alone at home.”

“I’m sure you’re secretly thrilled.” Feng Ning tied up her hair and rinsed her hands under the faucet before picking up the rolling pin to flatten the dough. “Shuang Yao’s mom, Xiao Zhao’s aunt, and the ladies from the next street over — don’t they check in with you like clockwork every day?”

The water on the stove bubbled and boiled. Qi Lan watched her, a shadow of worry in her eyes. “If you’re ever short on money, call me. Don’t cause trouble at school, be respectful to the teachers, and wash your underwear every day. Also, when are you moving your things?”

The TV outside was playing Chibi Maruko-chan, the short-haired girl narrating, I thought this summer would last longer. Feng Ning watched with interest, humming along, “I’m not a kid anymore, I’ll take care of myself. Mo-ge and them are helping me move my stuff this afternoon.”

“What?!” Qi Lan spun around and glared at her, her anger flaring, voice rising sharply. “I told you to stay away from that crowd on the east side, are my words just going in one ear and out the other?”

Feng Ning quickly took a step back, wary of her mother spiraling. “I’m not hanging around with them, I’m just hanging out with Mo-ge — Meng Hanmo. You watched him grow up too.”

“Don’t think I don’t know what’s going on.” Qi Lan scolded her daughter, then couldn’t help growing wistful. “I didn’t have time to look after you properly before. Thank goodness you were a good kid and didn’t fall in with the wrong crowd. Otherwise, when I die, how would I ever face your father.”

“Mom, don’t say things like that, it upsets me to hear it.”

Though Feng Ning could be unruly at times, in front of her mother she was always well-behaved.

Auntie Li came in carrying a basin of shrimp, and seeing the scene, chuckled. “What’s this, are you two fighting again?”

Qi Lan shook her head repeatedly.

Feng Ning racked her brain, coaxing her mother for a good while, until her anger finally cooled.

Seeing her mother still not quite cheerful, Feng Ning set down the rolling pin and solemnly held up three fingers. “I swear, I’ll study hard at school, and in three years I’ll get into the best university, and bring honor to our Feng family name.”

Qide was a prestigious boarding school, standing head and shoulders above the rest of South City’s schools, the undisputed top choice. Because the number of admission spots each year was limited, most students there advanced directly from the affiliated middle school. But to attract the best students and maintain its acceptance rate, the school waived tuition each year for a small number of scholarship students.

Feng Ning was one of them.

The day before school started, the school gate was lined with a long row of gleaming luxury cars, most of them there to help move students in.

Feng Ning, dressed in a cartoon T-shirt and black denim shorts picked up from a street stall, hauled her things up and down the dorm building alone. When she got tired, she’d stop on the steps and pound her sore waist. On her shirt, Chibi Maruko-chan grinned innocently.

The pampered young ladies and gentlemen passing by, all in their teens, were dressed head to toe in brand names, surrounded by entourages. However she looked at it, she felt like a Filipino maid who’d accidentally wandered into high society.

Four to a dorm room — two roommates hadn’t arrived yet. Meng Hanmo and the others were still waiting downstairs, so she tidied up quickly, snapped her suitcase shut, and pushed it into the corner. Just as she let out a breath, a timid voice suddenly spoke up. “Hello.”

Feng Ning looked up to see a thin, pale girl standing awkwardly by the door, holding two cups of milk tea.

“Hi, what’s up?”

The girl observed her for a moment, then stepped in, tentatively. “I live here too, are you in class nine as well?”

“Yeah, class nine.” Feng Ning noted the girl seemed rather shy. Sweat beaded on her face; she stood up and reached out her hand generously. “I’m Feng Ning. Your roommate.”

“I-I’m Meng Taoyu.” She grew even more flustered, handing over one of the milk teas. “Do you want this? I just bought it.”

Feng Ning took it and had a sip, flashing her trademark grin. “Sure, I do, I was just getting thirsty. But I’ve got somewhere to be, thanks for the tea. I’ll bring you a bottle of AD calcium milk tomorrow.”

Feng Ning headed downstairs and, from a distance, spotted a cluster of people. The boy standing at the front, about a meter eighty, had his black short sleeves rolled up past the shoulder, a baseball cap pulled low, shadowing his face.

She jogged over, grinning, calling out “brother” cheerfully.

“Ningzai’s quick.” Someone slung an arm over her shoulder. “Let’s go, food. What do you want, brother’s treating.”

Feng Ning shrugged the arm off. “I’ve only got one brother, don’t go claiming to be my sibling.”

The group walked off toward the school gate, arms slung over shoulders, looking every bit like a gang out on patrol, drawing plenty of turned heads along the way.

Feng Ning snatched Meng Hanmo’s cap and put it on her own head, tugging it down over her eyes.

Meng Hanmo had a head of neat, short hair, features slightly sharper than most, cleanly defined, with faint old and new scars visible near the bridge of his nose. He glanced at her irritably, his voice low. “What are you doing.”

“You guys are too intimidating.” Feng Ning kept her head down. “For the sake of my image, I’ve got to keep a low profile.”

They’d all come by motorcycle, parked together in a nearby alley. Just as they turned in, a flashy sports car sat sprawled across the mouth of the alley.

“Whose car is this, so damn inconsiderate.” Cuntou was furious, ready to kick a tire, but someone quickly grabbed him. “Take a good look at what car this is before you kick it.”

“F*ck, so what if it’s a Ferrari?”

Even as he said it, seeing the gleaming prancing horse emblem on the hood, he flipped it off angrily but ultimately didn’t dare follow through.

It was a dead-end alley, only one way out, and now it was blocked. The group squeezed their way in, left with nothing to do but stand around and wait for the car’s owner.

“Cool it, come on.” Feng Ning pulled out a pack of Blue Tower cigarettes, handing them around one by one.

Everyone was bored waiting, and someone suddenly remembered something, asking Feng Ning to sing them a song. “Ningzai, they say you sang some love song at the bar the other day that was killer, give us a taste.”

Feng Ning scoffed. “Dream on, you think just anyone gets to hear my love songs?”

Fatty asked, “So what do we get?”

“A nursery rhyme! Listen up.” She draped an arm over Meng Hanmo’s shoulder, clearing her throat. “Under the bridge in front of the house, a duck swims by, two four six seven eight, quack quack quack quack quack.”

Meng Hanmo lowered his head, biting his cigarette, snorting with laughter. “There’s a whole flock of ducks.”

Feng Ning stayed stubborn. “None of your business, I only saw one.”

“Then is two four six seven eight counting its feathers?”

The two of them bickered back and forth, and several others laughed along. Amid the joking chatter, the car’s fiery red taillights suddenly lit up. Two honks sounded, and their laughter cut off as everyone looked up in unison.

Jiang Yuyun leaned her head out, taking in the scene. She pushed the car door open. “Sorry about that, everyone, there just wasn’t a parking spot. I’ll move right away.”

Looking at such a gorgeously done-up beauty, Cuntou lost all his bluster and waved a hand. “It’s fine, just hurry it up.”

Jiang Wen was already sitting in the passenger seat. In front of him, cars flowed past in an endless stream. His dark eyes swept across the rearview mirror and unexpectedly landed on that person.

He’d only seen her twice, but he recognized her instantly. She wasn’t wearing anything strange this time — one leg propped casually against the car, a milk tea straw held between her lips, standing close beside another boy.

She was absorbed in conversation, not looking his way at all. The four or five people around her didn’t look like students, leaning or sitting around, smoking with casual slouches.

In the narrow alley, the walls were dim brick, motorcycles scattered haphazardly, dirty white sneakers everywhere. Her ponytail, falling over her shoulder, was folded and cinched up tight with a rubber band. Her wrist was slender, a red string looped around it, dangling delicately over her knee.

He watched coldly.

A button lit up on the center console, and the roof automatically folded back from front to rear, the windows all sliding down. Air thick with the smell of smoke and sweat poured in from every direction.

The commotion drew the attention of the people behind them.

Jiang Yuyun was shifting into reverse, glancing at him for a few seconds, both puzzled and amused. “Aren’t you the one who hates the smell of cigarettes the most?”

Jiang Wen said nothing, leaning back slowly. Staring out the window at the clematis vines climbing the corner wall, something unexpected surged up inside him — a flash of irritation.

Author’s Note: Everyone’s kind thoughts have been received, no need to spend money on me! Continuing to send out three hundred red envelopes today, hehehehe