Wen Tingli’s heart pounded — Mrs. Qiao certainly moved with swift efficiency when it came to getting things done.
The man handed the items to Wen Tingli, then turned and left without a moment’s delay.
“Little Orange.” Wen Desheng weakly raised his head to look around from his hospital bed. “Are the police here?”
“No, it’s a teacher from school who came to see me. I’m transferring to Wushi Girls’ Middle School — look.”
Wen Desheng, far from being pleased, was instead alarmed. “Why the sudden transfer? Did someone at school bully you?”
“Not at all. The school recommended me because of my good grades.”
Zhou Sao, standing to the side, thought for a moment, then clapped her hands happily. “Oh, I know that school! The eldest young lady mentioned it once to her classmates a while back — she said it’s the best girls’ school in the whole city.”
“Dad, did you hear that? Even Zhou Sao knows this school is good. If anyone were really bullying me, would I be transferring to such a good school?”
Wen Desheng’s expression eased slightly. He strained to look closely at the acceptance letter in Wen Tingli’s hand, then suddenly caught sight of the lease agreement beneath it. “And what’s this?”
“Oh, I found us a new place. You remember our warm-hearted Teacher Huang from school? She heard our lease was about to expire, so she went ahead and connected us with a friend of hers. The lease is already signed — no need to worry about housing anymore.”
Before her father could look closely at the names of the landlord and tenant at the bottom, she quickly took the contract back. Wen Desheng still looked doubtful, but just then voices of girls drifted in from the corridor. “Excuse me, which ward is Mr. Wen Desheng in?”
Wen Tingli hurried out — it was Huang Yun, bringing some classmates along. Her chest warmed. “Teacher Huang, Qizhen, Aisha — what are you all doing here?”
“We came to visit your father. Is he doing better?”
“A little better.”
The moment the group saw Wen Desheng, they knew it wasn’t good — whether it was his ashen complexion or his swollen body, both showed signs of a life force draining away. They did their best to comfort him with a few words, then set down the fruit and other gifts they’d brought.
Huang Yun quietly pulled Wen Tingli aside. “Your father, he—”
Wen Tingli lowered her head. Huang Yun gave her shoulder a gentle, sorrowful pat. “If there’s anything you need, don’t hesitate to tell your teacher.”
Wen Tingli nodded gratefully.
“Oh, and I heard the school transferred your student records to Wushi?”
Wen Tingli showed Huang Yun her transfer acceptance letter.
“This couldn’t have worked out better,” Huang Yun said, overjoyed, then added bitterly, “Though it’s a shame your teacher couldn’t be of any real help in the end.”
“Please don’t say that! You spent all day yesterday running around the school on my behalf! I’m truly fortunate to have a teacher with such a strong sense of justice.”
Huang Yun laughed bitterly. “When a student faces unfairness at school, it’s a teacher’s duty to fight hard for them. I’m just glad it’s been resolved — otherwise I would have resigned in protest. By the way, you haven’t been to class these past few days — don’t fall behind on your schoolwork. I had them bring you their notes.”
Liu Qizhen and Chen Aisha handed over a thick stack of notebooks to Wen Tingli. Neither of them said anything, but this simple, sincere gesture still moved Wen Tingli deeply. For a moment she didn’t know what to say, and simply stroked the covers of the notebooks, murmuring, “Thank you.”
Liu Qizhen said quickly, “Look at you — we’re good friends, and good friends help each other out. Once you’ve settled in at Wushi, we and Baoxin will come find you to hang out.”
“You’ve seen Baoxin?”
“No, her mother’s kept her locked up at home. Apparently the family won’t let her out until after her brother’s wedding is over. Oh, and a few days ago Baoxin asked about you on the phone — she’s really worried about your situation. Tingli, don’t misunderstand her — you know how domineering the Qiao family elders are. Baoxin doesn’t have much choice either. She said the moment she gets out of the house, she’ll come find you.”
Wen Tingli shook her head. “I’ve never blamed Baoxin. But I imagine Mrs. Qiao will never allow her to come see me again from now on. If you two manage to reach her, please tell her for me that I’m very grateful for her concern.”
Only after the group had said their goodbyes and left did Wen Tingli finally snap out of it, still standing in a daze at the hospital entrance, clutching the stack of notes. Back in the ward, she wasted no time and began copying notes as fast as she could.
During her time at Xiude, because she’d often represented the school in various stage performances, her English grades had always been quite good, but her Chinese literature and math were at best middling. With only a little over two months left until the entrance exams, she’d need to give it everything she had if she wanted any chance of getting into university.
Xiao Taozi had already fallen asleep in Zhou Sao’s arms. Wen Desheng dozed fitfully in his bed. Zhou Sao, normally the most talkative of anyone, sensed instinctively that this was not the time to disturb Wen Tingli — for a while, the only sound in the ward was the scratching of Wen Tingli’s pen racing across paper.
After diligently studying for two solid hours, Wen Tingli felt an unprecedented sense of grounding. Before long, Thompson arrived with a nurse to change her father’s dressing, and the once-quiet ward turned chaotic. Wen Tingli simply stuffed her notes back into her schoolbag. “Why don’t I head back and start packing? We’ll be moving to the new place in a couple of days — I don’t want to be scrambling around at the last minute. I’ll pick up some food for you all on the way back, too.”
The moment she stepped outside, Wen Tingli spotted a black car parked at the hospital’s front entrance.
This car wasn’t unfamiliar to her at all — it was the very same car that had brushed past her the last time she’d punctured Qiu Lingyun’s car tires, and at the time she’d thought the voice of the person inside sounded somewhat familiar. Now she remembered it all — that must have been the Meng Qiguang the Dean had mentioned. She’d crossed paths with him briefly at the Qiao residence.
If it really was this Mr. Meng who’d helped cover the hospital fees, she really ought to thank him in person. As luck would have it, the car came to a stop right beside her. She was about to step forward when suddenly over a dozen members of the Bailong Gang came running over, swarming around the car, calling out “Mr. Meng” this and “Mr. Meng” that.
Wen Tingli feared nothing more than getting tangled up with the Bailong Gang, and immediately stepped aside. A streetcar happened to arrive at that moment, and she hurried aboard without a second thought.
As the streetcar pulled away, she heard someone outside call, “Miss Wen!” She thought she must have misheard, but then the call came again. She tried to look outside, but the car was too crowded to move even a step, and she had no choice but to return home still full of questions.
Getting off and walking to the mouth of the lane, she suddenly sensed something was off. Turning around, she saw two men in black short jackets had appeared behind her at some point, and they clearly had no intention of hiding themselves. The moment she stopped, they too stopped brazenly, standing under a tree by the roadside, smoking and watching her.
Wen Tingli’s first reaction was shock, but looking closer, she realized these two men looked somewhat familiar — right, she’d seen them beside Mrs. Qiao before. Could Mrs. Qiao have sent them to keep watch over her move?
She smiled coldly to herself — it seemed she wouldn’t be able to shake these tails during the run-up to Qiao Xingchu’s wedding. If there was one thing she was good at, it was never troubling herself with worries she couldn’t help. Since she couldn’t shake them, she might as well treat them as her own bodyguards. With that thought, she continued humming a little tune as she walked into the lane.
The two men nearly dropped the cigarettes from their mouths in shock — what a strange girl. Most people, in her place, would have been terrified and flustered, yet here she was, walking along smiling and humming.
It was right around dinnertime, and every household in the lane had their kitchens going, filled with the clatter of woks and spatulas and the sound of laughter. Wen Tingli walked straight to her family’s front door, crossed through the courtyard, and entered the house. The floor still bore traces of that night’s fight — tables and chairs scattered everywhere.
Wen Tingli picked up a broom and began tidying up, when suddenly the sound of footsteps grew closer from the lane, heading straight for her house.
Wondering who it could be, Wen Tingli looked up just as a tall, lanky young man shoved the door open aggressively. “Wen Tingli! I knew you’d run back home!”
Wen Tingli’s astonishment instantly turned to fury. “You little bastard, how dare you even show your face here!”
“Why wouldn’t I dare come?” Qiu Lingyun’s fury was no less than Wen Tingli’s own. “I’m asking you — did you go badmouthing my father in front of Mrs. Qiao? Dabao Trading Company’s owner fired my father for no reason at all! My father has always been in the old boss’s good graces — if someone hadn’t been speaking ill of him, the old boss never would have suddenly kicked him out.”
Wen Tingli blinked, then burst out laughing, clutching her stomach. “Really? Talk about instant karma!”
Her little scheme had actually worked. The Qiao family, upon hearing that Qiu Dapeng was spreading their private affairs everywhere, had indeed struck back hard and fast.
Qiu Lingyun grew even more furious with humiliation. “And you still have the nerve to laugh? My father was the manager of Dabao Trading Company — kicked out just like that, with no explanation! How’s he supposed to make a living in this business anymore? You’re clearly trying to cut off our family’s livelihood! You’re truly despicable!”
Wen Tingli spat, “You dare say the word ‘despicable’? Everything despicable in this world has already been done by you and your father! Let me ask you — when is your father going to pay back the life he owes mine?!”
Qiu Lingyun choked. “What life? Don’t talk nonsense! Your father isn’t dead! Besides, it’s not like we’re not paying for the hospital fees! I’m just asking you — even if you hate my father for hurting yours, did you have to take things this far?”
“Too far?” Wen Tingli grabbed the broom and started chasing him out the door with it. “I’d call it too far if I threw that old dog of a father of yours straight into the Huangpu River! If your father had even a shred of conscience left, he’d have gone to turn himself in at the police station long ago — imprisonment for imprisonment, a life for a life! Otherwise, there’s nothing to discuss. Get out of here right now!”
Qiu Lingyun retreated several steps, hands covering his head, on the verge of being pushed out the door, when he quickly braced both hands against the door frames. “Don’t be so unreasonable — that night my father and I came in good faith, bringing betrothal gifts, and your father wouldn’t hear reason, that’s why it turned into a fight.”
Wen Tingli spat, “You people ruined my mother’s reputation, and now you want to scheme your way into making me your family’s daughter-in-law? No wonder my father wanted to curse you both to death! How could there be such filthy father and son in this world — get out, now, don’t ever let me see you again!”
Just as she was about to close the door, Qiu Lingyun suddenly forced his way back in, wrapping his arms around Wen Tingli and pinning her against him, while his other hand reached back to shut the door behind them.
Wen Tingli was utterly shocked, clawing at his face. “What are you doing?! You bastard! Let go of me! I’ll bite you to death!”
“Go ahead and bite me.” Qiu Lingyun took several scratches without flinching, still using all his strength to pin Wen Tingli down, his eyes burning as he stared at her face. “Bite me all you want — I’ve wanted you to bite me for a long time now.”
Wen Tingli’s heart pounded wildly as she shouted at the top of her lungs toward the door. “Help! Someone, help!”
As she screamed, she clawed wildly and blindly at Qiu Lingyun’s face and body, all while shouting fiercely, “I know you’re out there! Get in here and help me! Mrs. Qiao only told you to keep watch on me — she never said to just stand by and let me be attacked!”
She shouted twice more, but there wasn’t the slightest movement from outside — clearly those two men had decided to stand by and do nothing. Made sense, really — Mr. and Mrs. Qiao already found her a nuisance; they’d be only too happy to see her ruined by Qiu Lingyun.
Wen Tingli seethed with resentment while Qiu Lingyun grew increasingly emboldened, dragging her toward the stairs. But no matter how much strength he had, he was no match for Wen Tingli, who fought like a fish out of water. In the blink of an eye, his face and neck bore several deep scratch marks. Unable to hold her down properly, he finally forced her onto the table nearby instead, pinning her wrists and raising both her arms above her head, then pressed his body over her, gazing at her face as though admiring a treasure.
“Why do you have to hate me so much? I’m serious about liking you, you know. When you were with that Qiao fellow, I couldn’t even eat properly — all I could think about was you, every single day. Tingli, if you’d just marry me, I’d give you anything you wanted…”
Before he could finish, Wen Tingli drove her knee sharply upward into his groin.
Caught completely off guard, Qiu Lingyun doubled over in pain, unable to straighten his back. Wen Tingli seized the moment to leap off the table, then spun around and kicked him hard in the backside for good measure. “Go to hell!”
With that, she took off running toward the door, shouting as she ran, “Auntie Liu! Uncle Zhou! Help me, quick!”
Qiu Lingyun, determined to force the matter through no matter what, endured the pain and chased after her. “You want to die, don’t you, kicking me that hard? Let me tell you, my man A’Biao is right outside — you’re not getting away. And those neighbors of yours are poor and cowardly, you think they’ll actually help you? Don’t make me laugh! Besides, even if the King of Heaven himself showed up today, I’d still have my way with you.”
He was much taller than Wen Tingli and caught up to her in just a few strides, forcibly wrapping his arms around her waist and lifting her, carrying her back toward the rear of the house. Wen Tingli kicked wildly with both legs — and just then, the front door of the Wen household was kicked open, and several people came rushing in, two of them immediately seizing Qiu Lingyun without a word and throwing punches straight at his face.
One punch, two punches, three punches…
Amid the cries of pain, Wen Tingli slipped away and ran outside the front door. It turned out three men had rushed in altogether, though only two were doing the hitting.
The one who hadn’t lifted a finger stood with both hands in his trouser pockets, elegant and handsome — none other than Meng Qiguang, whom she’d met once before at the Qiao residence.
He looked down at Qiu Lingyun on the ground, his expression thoroughly cold.
Perhaps sensing Wen Tingli’s gaze on him, he spoke. “Miss Wen, don’t misunderstand. I was just at Cixin Hospital visiting a friend, and happened to see someone following you outside — I meant to warn you, but you ran off so quickly. Since I figured you were a friend of Xingchu’s, I thought I should come see what was going on. I never expected to run into this scoundrel here, in the middle of attacking you.”