At the deserted bus stop, the paper made a crisp “crack” sound as they fought over it, and in that moment, something clicked in Li Yingqiao’s head.
“Yu Traitor! Is this a love letter?!”
She immediately realized, a little embarrassed, “Sorry, I was just curious about the paper, it looked expensive—”
She didn’t even try to hide her lack of experience with nice things, and honestly shared her feelings.
The tips of Yu Jinyang’s ears flushed red at a speed visible to the naked eye.
He calmly folded the paper and put it back in his bag.
“It’s not.”
Li Yingqiao leaned in closer, her eyes shining, “Did you write it to someone, or did someone write it to you? Wow, are you really popular at Shiyan Middle School? A top student who can dance must be pretty cool, huh?”
“I said it’s not.”
Yu Jinyang’s face had already returned to normal, his tone flat.
“It’s just an ordinary letter.”
“Yeah, right,” Li Yingqiao pouted, unconvinced.
“Letters are never just ordinary. We’ve been friends for years, but we’ve never written each other letters. Yu Traitor, you’ve got a little secret now, huh.”
“You really want to know?”
He suddenly turned to look straight into her eyes.
Li Yingqiao was caught off guard, quickly waving her hands, her face earnest.
“I’m not trying to read it, I’m just curious. Are there any really amazing girls at your school? Like at our school, there’s a big sister who spends all day with her little gang checking out which boys are handsome in the hallway, then placing bets on who’ll get confessed to first. She’s incredible, never lost a bet, and even the cocky ones never last more than two weeks.”
“Did you place bets too?”
He looked at her.
“Of course,” she nodded, holding up two fingers, “made a couple hundred.”
Yu Jinyang looked away.
“That letter is an F letter.”
Li Yingqiao’s mind went blank for a moment.
“What! You’re being bullied at school again?! No way, Yu Traitor, what’s going on with you? You’re always so easygoing. Who is it? Tell me, I’ll take care of them for you.”
“Oh, please, you’ve bullied me enough since we were kids,” Yu Jinyang said indifferently, tugging at the corner of his mouth with a calm smile, as if he was used to it.
He zipped up his backpack, slung it over his left shoulder, lowered his head and glanced at her from the right.
“It’s not a threat to me. It’s for my dad. The other party’s staying at my school.”
***
The bell rang—ring ring ring—
Li Yingqiao had been waiting and watching all week, and finally, the last period on Friday ended.
She quickly shoved her textbooks into her bag, didn’t even bother zipping it, and dashed out of the classroom like a monkey.
As soon as she opened the door, she saw Li Shuli, who had just come back from grocery shopping, standing at the entrance, holding a wet crucian carp as she changed her shoes, and commented, “Not even ten thousand bucks could get you to stay at school for another minute. Tsk tsk, look at my daughter’s priorities.”
Li Yingqiao went to her room, switched out her backpack, grabbed all the completed test papers from the week, and said to Li Shuli with confidence, “Next week is our school’s weekly exam. Just wait and see!”
“I’m not watching, you show them to Liang Mei,” Li Shuli tied her apron and turned into the kitchen, saying casually, “I told you, whether you get into Tancheng or not, I’ll support you for life. I already know what you’re capable of. Remember how you used to hate going to school? I told you to flip a coin, and said if it landed on its edge, you’d have to go that day. Even then, you thought the odds were too risky and wouldn’t bet.”
“I don’t want to undermine Teacher Liang’s confidence, but it’s good that you’re working hard,” Li Shuli put the fish in water, then looked back at her, “If you’re not eating at home tonight, I’ll keep the fish in the tank and cook it for you tomorrow at lunch. By the way, can Teacher Liang cook?”
She can’t.
In fact, Teacher Liang could only make instant noodles, and they suffered through every meal.
But Li Yingqiao didn’t dare say so, afraid that Li Shuli wouldn’t let her go to Teacher Liang’s house to study anymore.
So she said, “Our Teacher Liang is a fantastic cook, a five-star chef! Every week she makes us a Manchu Han Imperial Feast. This week we had braised pig’s feet, sauced pork knuckles, and fresh prawns—”
Li Shuli shot her a strange look, “Chop—”
The knife hit the cutting board with a thunk as she muttered in disbelief, “What is Liang Mei getting out of this?”
At first, when Li Shuli heard that her daughter wanted to go to Liang Mei’s to study for Tancheng, she was strongly opposed.
She’d already planned out Li Yingqiao’s future: Qiaoqiao liked reading novels and watching anime.
As long as she finished school, whether it was vocational high school or college, it was fine.
She’d work a few jobs over the next couple of years, save up, and open a small bookstore for her.
Then her daughter could read as much as she wanted and be a leisurely little boss.
Why force her to squeeze through that narrow bridge for Tancheng like everyone else?
Even if she got in, then there’d be undergrad, grad school, and PhD—when would the struggle ever end?
When would life finally let up?
Li Shuli never wanted her daughter to become “successful” by society’s standards.
She knew all too well how much pain and hardship was behind those glamorous achievements, especially for grassroots people, especially grassroots women.
She herself hadn’t made it, so she didn’t want a daughter who, just to be considered successful and decent by society, would have to be worn down by life where she couldn’t see.
She only wanted a happy, healthy daughter she could watch grow up under her own eyes.
But Qiaoqiao insisted on hanging out with Liang Mei, so she had no choice.
After chopping the last piece of rib, she looked back to see her daughter changing shoes at the door, about to head out, and reminded her as usual, “Wear your mask, talk to strangers as little as possible, and don’t let any reporters come knocking. Or else don’t blame Mom for searching the house again.”
“Got it, Chief Li!”
Li Yingqiao nodded vigorously.
“…By the way, are there four people in your study group? Is Miaojia there too? It’s almost the Start of Summer, next week I’ll make you all a Start of Summer meal to bring over. I remember Miaojia used to love my Start of Summer meal. Is that boy from the festival there too? He’s a picky eater, right? I think Tang Xiang said he doesn’t like broad beans.”
***
As soon as she got to Liang Mei’s house, Li Yingqiao hadn’t even warmed her seat before she eagerly shared the news with the others.
Miaojia jumped up excitedly, high-fived her, “Oh my god! Aunt Li Shuli is the best! I really can’t take another round of Teacher Liang’s dark cuisine.”
Li Yingqiao giggled, then turned to Yu Jinyang, as if she’d caught him in a weak spot, “Yu Traitor, I heard you don’t like broad beans? How about this, if you lend me another Conan book, I’ll ask my mom not to put broad beans in your portion, deal?”
Yu Jinyang ignored her, furiously scribbling on his scratch paper: In a circle with radius 2, chord AB = 2√3… He focused on the problem, calculating and calculating, and only after he finished and filled in the answer √3 did he glance at her and reply coldly, “Did you finish your test paper?”
Li Yingqiao thought that after the little bus stop incident, their relationship had made a qualitative leap—after all, now she knew a little secret about him.
She felt nothing but sympathy for him, especially for that expression of his, so used to everything.
She couldn’t quite describe how she felt, but her chest felt tight.
That night, when she got home, she chattered endlessly to Li Shuli Lady, going on and on about how her good friend lived in such dire straits every day, yet still managed to focus on his studies, balancing schoolwork, hobbies, and life so well.
In comparison, she felt she really should learn from him.
But Li Shuli Lady said there was no need—she didn’t have his spine, so she shouldn’t have to endure his hardships.
Still, Li Yingqiao worried about him for a whole week, afraid that something bad would happen to him and she’d never get her Conan back.
At least her heart was in her throat for him for a whole week, but as soon as he returned to Teacher Liang’s house, he went right back to acting all cold and deadpan.
Li Yingqiao smacked the back of his head, “You act like ten bucks in front of someone worth ten thousand? How dare you?”
If this is what a ten-thousand-buck attitude looks like—
On the other side, even the one worth just a couple thousand felt their head buzzing.
Liang Mei came out of the kitchen with a pot of porridge that was burnt on the outside and inside, ready to throw it away, only to see her “ten thousand bucks” scolding the “ten bucks” about respect.
She immediately pulled out her trump card, “Come drink porridge!”
As expected, everyone instantly recoiled from the table, like startled sparrows on a power line, scattering in all directions.
With a “clang,” she dumped the pot in the sink full of dirty dishes.
“So, can we please just do the test papers properly? Li Yingqiao, if you smack the back of his head again, I’m docking a hundred points.”
Li Yingqiao immediately behaved, pulling out her test papers from her bag, and then, unable to resist, reached over to ruffle Yu Jinyang’s fluffy hair.
“How about this instead?”
Yu Jinyang refused to let her touch him, jerking his head away with a reflex like he’d been shocked, making his hair even fluffier, then shook off her restless hand and, without blinking, scanned the test paper.
“Nope, you might as well just punch me.”
“See, you’re just asking for it,” Li Yingqiao laughed, “Maybe one day, you’ll even miss the times I hit you.”
“That day will never come,” he said without looking up.
Zheng Miaojia suddenly raised her head, struck by an idea, “Hey, Qiaoqiao, why don’t the four of us make a pact?”
Li Yingqiao, “What kind of pact?”
Gao Dian, ever the hype man, didn’t even ask what kind of pact before nodding enthusiastically, “Great idea, great idea!”
Li Yingqiao shot him a sidelong look, “Gao Dian, I feel like you’re the type who’d sign a blank check.”
“Then let’s teach him a lesson—make him split all his savings between you two when he turns thirty.”
“Yeah, you already agreed! You can’t back out now,” Zheng Miaojia said.
Yet, it was actually Yu Jinyang who’d said that last line.
Gao Dian’s eyes went wide, looking like he’d seen a ghost.
He couldn’t believe that the usually harmless, easygoing Yu Traitor was actually so black-hearted.
“Oh my god, bro, do you even hear yourself?!”
Gao Dian reached across the table to grab Yu Jinyang by the neck, shaking the whole table.
“Yu Jinyang, you really are a wolf in sheep’s clothing. I can see your 24k pure-black capitalist heart. If you’ve got the guts, give them all your assets at thirty! By then, your dad will have retired and you’ll inherit the family business, and you’re still eyeing my measly few bucks.”
Li Yingqiao and Zheng Miaojia had never seen Gao Dian blow up like this before.
“We don’t want your money, we don’t want your money,” the two girls quickly reassured him.
Gao Dian glared at the instigator: “…Yu Jinyang!”
Yu Jinyang finally looked up from his test paper and chuckled helplessly, “Come on, would I really take your money?”
“Zheng Miaojia, you traitor!”
Gao Dian changed the subject.
Zheng Miaojia, “It’s nothing, just that you have to give us your money and house when you turn thirty.”
“Ah!!!”
Gao Dian howled at the ceiling.
The others all burst out laughing.
“So, Miaojia, what exactly is our pact?”
Li Yingqiao finally asked.
“I saw a date marked in Teacher Liang’s lesson prep book the other day—it should be her birthday,” Zheng Miaojia said mysteriously.
“Let’s promise that when we’re thirty, no matter what job we have, no matter where we are, no matter if we’re married or not, if we have families, we’ll bring them too. And on Teacher Liang’s birthday that year, no matter what, we’ll all come back here to celebrate with her. How about it?”
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