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Chapter 19: Dead Weight

Gazing at the stunned Chu Zining, Lu Li thought that when a boy and a girl were alone in one room, it was better for the boy to make the first move.

He stretched out his hand, picked up the safety helmet, and while returning it to Chu Zining he could not stop himself from sneaking another look.

Hiss, it still carried the scent of strawberries.

“You…”

Before Lu Li could finish, Chu Zining snatched the strawberry-scented helmet and ran outside, stumbling in the dark as if she could not see the road, her shoes flapping as though they might fly off.

She perfectly illustrated what it meant to flee in panic.

Lu Li wanted to laugh yet felt speechless; this girl was ranked 1st in senior year 3 and should have been smart, so why did she look so adorably dumb?

Thinking of the bruise on her leg, Lu Li silently felt it was a waste.

“Legs that pretty ought to be cared for properly.”

…

With her head lowered, Chu Zining barreled forward, and only after sprinting across 3 streets did she stop, gasping as she leaned against a wall.

After wiping the sweat from her brow, Chu Zining walked into an old, rundown residential compound.

The compound had long been neglected; mats of ivy clung to the exterior walls, huge flakes of plaster had fallen from the stairwell, and those bald spots were plastered with gaudy ads like freshly pasted wallpaper.

Chu Zining stepped into the stairwell, took out her key, opened the rusty security door, and heard a man and a woman’s vulgar playfulness coming from the bedroom.

“You rascal, stop feeling me up; what’s the rush…”

“Heh-heh, why ask what the rush is? Hurry up, I can’t hold it anymore.”

“Aiya, wait until that little brat brings that thing back; I don’t want another dead weight.”

“The brat has been out for an hour already; I can’t wait!”

After changing her shoes and closing the door, Chu Zining’s cheeks, which had still been rosy like a sunset, slowly turned numb and expressionless as she listened to the sounds in the bedroom.

The woman inside was her biological mother, and the man… Zhao or maybe Qian… was just another shady boyfriend of hers.

It did not matter; she did not even know who her real father was, so why bother caring who the man inside was.

The sound of the door made the woman straighten and coo, “Here she is, isn’t she?”

Saying that, she stepped out of the bedroom in disheveled clothes.

The woman was 38; her gaze was frivolous and her behavior wanton, yet she maintained herself well, her face smooth and her figure alluring, making her look barely past 30.

The moment she saw Chu Zining at the doorway, the ingratiating smile turned vicious and hateful, as though a demon had leapt from the abyss.

“You went to the supermarket and took over an hour; why didn’t you die on the way?”

Furious, she strode to the entrance, grabbed the coat hanger beside the shoe cabinet, and whipped it across Chu Zining’s leg without a word.

Chu Zining remained silent and stared blankly into space.

“Did you buy the stuff?” The woman gave Chu Zining a sideways glare.

Moving stiffly, Chu Zining produced the helmet and spread it out on her palm.

“Get into your room and study.” The woman snatched the thing, happily dashed back to the bedroom, and never noticed the grime on Chu Zining’s uniform from her fall.

Chu Zining slowly inched toward her own room, and the rat-faced man inside darted her a lecherous look.

“Hey! What are you ogling at?” The woman slapped the man irritably.

The man quickly wiped the drool from his mouth and chuckled, “Why let this hanger-on study? Send her out to work; you’d save the fees and she could even earn something.”

The woman snorted, “I’ve long wanted to stop her schooling; I told her that if she couldn’t take first in the grade, she’d have to work. Guess what happened?”

“What, don’t tell me she actually…”

The woman laughed loudly, “Heh-heh, that stupid girl really did get first place! All 3 years of high school, every semester she was number 1, and she earned me plenty of scholarship money.”

The woman felt rather proud, though not proud of Chu Zining herself.

The man froze for a second and sneered, “So you actually kept her studying? If she goes to university it’ll cost you even more.”

Waving her hand, the woman said, “You don’t get it; this is an investment. A college graduate earns more than a high-school dropout, right? When she picks up a few certificates and her value rises, I’ll make even more.”

The man nodded, “Sounds reasonable; nowadays you need exams for everything. But doing well in high school doesn’t mean she’ll ace college; what if your investment tanks?”

The woman shouted, “If she dares drop to second, I’ll pull her out right away; do you think she dares? I know more than you about raising kids!”

“Heh-heh-heh, you know how to raise them, I know how to make them; let’s have another kid.”

“I don’t want another burden, ah, you’re wicked…”

The old apartments had poor sound insulation, and obscene noises from the next room pierced one’s eardrums with every syllable.

Yet Chu Zining seemed deaf to it; she switched on the desk lamp and quietly reviewed her lessons.

Just then the cheap lamp crackled; a weak yellow spark flashed, the lamp died completely, and the room sank into darkness.

Chu Zining patted the lamp to no avail, sat for a while in silence, saw no light illuminating her future, yet clearly heard voices rising from the mire.

Covering her ears, she slumped over the desk and murmured, “Why must students pass exams when parents don’t have to pass any?”

Little by little she dozed off on the desk, but the sound of someone prying at the lock startled her awake; she jerked upright and stammered, “Wh-who is out there?”

The tinkering paused, and a moment later a sleazy, suppressed voice sounded:

“It’s your Uncle Zhao; your mom doesn’t want to pay for your schooling, so open up and I’ll slip you some tuition money.”

…

Lu Li parked his bicycle at Lu Yao’s school gate, checked his phone, and saw that it was exactly 9:00, the time junior-high students finished evening study hall.

Shortly afterward he spotted Lu Yao walking out of the gate arm in arm with a cute round-faced girl, the two of them laughing.

“Lu Yao!” Lu Li waved his arm.

Hearing the voice, Lu Yao looked up, her eyes lit up, and she cried, “Dummy big bro!”

She jogged over to the bike and grinned, “How come you’re picking me up? Didn’t you have your part-time job?”

“I found another job; I only have to work 3 hours a day and can earn 5,000 yuan a month,” Lu Li said proudly, lifting his chin.

Having little idea about money or work, Lu Yao just stared blankly at Lu Li.

Lu Li pointed at the strawberries in the basket and said, “That means we’ll never have to worry about tuition again, and you can eat strawberries whenever you like.”

Lu Yao’s eyes flashed with admiration, “Wow! Brother, you’re amazing! Long live brother!”

Lu Li felt perfectly content.

At that moment Lu Yao’s adorable friend walked over, blushing as she tugged Lu Yao’s arm, “Yaoyao, is this the brother you always talk about? He’s so handsome~~”

Hands on her hips, Lu Yao lifted her chin high and declared, “See, I told you he’s handsome. I don’t have a sister-in-law yet; Lulu, since you’re my best friend, you get the inside track!”

The round-faced girl wriggled shyly and did not dare look straight at Lu Li.

Lu Li gave Lu Yao a light chop on the head and was just about to let her get on when a mocking voice sounded beside them:

“So this shabby guy is Lu Yao’s brother? Heh, I said Lu Yao doesn’t even have a phone, her family must be so poor they can’t even cook a meal. Look, I was right; in this day and age her brother still picks her up on a bicycle… what a joke!”

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