Chapter 2

Madam Lu’s face darkened upon hearing that, and she said stiffly, “Our family’s financial situation isn’t as good as you imagine. Your younger brother is going into the third year of middle school, and his grades are excellent. Do you understand?”

Fang Zhuo looked directly at her and stated, “From a legal perspective, I’m still a minor. You have a duty to support me.”

Madam Lu laughed, “Compulsory education is nine years! Do you even understand the law?”

“I don’t understand much, but I think adults should,” Fang Zhuo said. “You’ve never fulfilled that obligation. Even if calculated at the lowest standard for child support, the money from all these years should be enough to pay for my tuition.”

The middle-aged man who had been silent with his head down finally couldn’t hold it in and said unhappily, “What do you mean by that?”

Fang Zhuo lowered her eyelids slightly, staring at the grain of the wooden dining table in front of her. “I know where you work, and I’ve met your coworkers.”

Fang Yiming’s face went pale. Realizing something, his tensed facial features began to swell with rising anger.

The wooden chopsticks were slammed heavily onto the table—one even flew off. Madam Lu stood up abruptly in a fury, shot a fierce glare at Fang Zhuo, and then yanked the chopsticks out of Fang Yiming’s hand, scolding, “Still thinking about eating? Look at the daughter you gave me! Listen to what she’s saying—does that sound like something a human would say? Still just a student, and already dares to threaten us. Fang Yiming, when I married you, didn’t you say I didn’t have to care about her?”

She was speaking emotionally, but no one responded. Fang Zhuo tilted her head, the corner of her eye lifted as she glanced at her sideways and countered, “You think I’m threatening you—so is it because you also know what you’ve done can’t stand the light of day?”

Madam Lu choked on half a breath, still wanting to curse, but Fang Yiming raised a hand to stop her.

Whether it was a rare moment of guilt or concern over Fang Zhuo’s deep and calculating mind, Fang Yiming’s chest rose and fell violently a few times, then in the end, he restrained himself and said with a furrowed brow, “Give her the tuition.”

On the other side of the table, the younger Fang sibling slammed his bowl down, crossed his arms, leaned back in the chair, and stopped eating.

Fang Zhuo added, “And living expenses.”

“You want to settle everything with us, is that it?” Madam Lu was incredulous, pointing at the door. “Fine, I’ll give it to you, and you get out! Don’t ever come back!”

Fang Zhuo got up and went to the sofa, picked up her backpack, and walked out the front door without a hint of reluctance.

Madam Lu also grabbed the shoulder bag hanging nearby, stormed out through the security door in slippers, pulled out a wad of freshly withdrawn bills from her bag—didn’t bother to count—and angrily threw it at her.

“You’re turning eighteen next month, right? I’ll count it as half a month early. This is all yours, no change needed!”

The red-and-white bills scattered across the floor, fluttering through the air. A few were even blown down the stairs by the breeze coming through the window at the stairwell.

The motion-sensor light turned on, casting Fang Zhuo’s face in an even paler hue.

The night wind swept through, the chill stinging their exposed skin, making everyone finally realize it was already pitch dark.

Fang Zhuo pressed her lips together tightly, hooked her finger through her backpack strap and lifted it up, her tone turning sharp. Word by word, she said, “Pick it up.”

Silence.

“If I can’t go to school, that’s fine. I’ll carry a sign every day and go to your son’s school. I’ll sit at the door of his classroom and tell his classmates and teachers how I couldn’t get poverty assistance and couldn’t attend school because of family neglect. If he goes to high school, I’ll follow him to high school. If he goes to university, I’ll follow him to university. Whether it’s cold or hot, I can go to your workplace too.”

Her voice was light and calm, but it made those present feel a chill in their hearts.

The dim light seemed to be sucked into Fang Zhuo’s pitch-black pupils, and her long eyelashes cast shadows over her dark and murky eyes.

She repeated, “Pick it up.”

Madam Lu’s face trembled. Struck by the threat in Fang Zhuo’s words, regret rose in her heart, but her pride wouldn’t allow her to bow to Fang Zhuo. Caught in the dilemma, Fang Yiming stepped forward and picked up the bills on the floor one by one.

The younger Fang sibling clung to the doorframe, hesitating as he called out, “Dad.” The latter waved his hand sternly, signaling him to go back into the room.

Once the money was all gathered, Fang Yiming looked up—right into Fang Zhuo’s eyes, straight on from below.

That kind of gaze from above was completely devoid of emotion and even carried a bit of chilling terror.

Fang Yiming froze for a moment, then awkwardly looked away. For the first time, he realized Fang Zhuo wasn’t as timid and easy to push around as he had imagined. The words he originally wanted to use to smooth things over were swallowed back down.

Fang Zhuo didn’t resemble her mother at all, Fang Yiming thought in a daze. Ye Yaoling was a very simple person.

He handed the money to her, and Fang Zhuo paused for two seconds before taking it.

As if deliberately trying to torment them, Fang Zhuo counted the bills very carefully—right in front of the two of them, she counted them three times in a row. Not until Madam Lu’s patience was completely exhausted did she finally stop.

The total was five thousand.

Fang Yiming, slow to react, took another two hundred yuan out of his pocket and stuffed it into Fang Zhuo’s hand.

“Tuition plus dormitory fees, and some other expenses, total 4200.” Fang Zhuo pulled over her backpack, carefully placing the money into the middle compartment. She didn’t look at anyone, only said indifferently, “A buyout fee to settle everything — a neat 1000.”

Fang Yiming’s lips moved, wanting to speak, but unexpectedly Fang Zhuo followed up right after: “More valuable than I expected.”

She glanced toward Madam Lu, saw the other’s restraint and unease, smiled slightly, curled her lips, and said rather maliciously, “I’ll come back.”

Madam Lu forcefully yanked Fang Yiming back and slammed the door shut.

After the heavy thud, there was a faint sound from upstairs. Even though the other person had lightened their steps, that soft shuffling was still noticeable in the quiet stairwell.

Behind the door just a wall away, Madam Lu lost all composure and shrieked hysterically, “Fang Yiming, how much do you earn in a month? Get it straight — your son is in his third year of middle school this year! How much are his tutoring fees every month? What about his food, clothes, and daily needs? Are you planning to skin your son alive to compensate that ungrateful little bastard outside? Then we might as well just end this!”

Fang Zhuo no longer held any attachment to this family. She stepped down the stairs.

All the fierce chaos and arguments, in the end, concluded this peacefully. Just like no matter how violent the waves, once they crash into the sea surface, they can only leave behind fleeting ripples.

When she pushed open the security door, a light rain came down with the first hint of chill at the end of summer. Fang Zhuo stuffed the money into her pocket, her fingers gripping it tightly, yet she felt all her body heat had been absorbed by that thick wad of bills.

Perhaps the kinship between them had never been that warm to begin with.

Stray strands of hair were soaked by the rain, falling along her cheeks. Fang Zhuo walked under the eaves with her head down. She had only taken a few steps when a voice rang out from above.

“Hey!”

The upstairs window opened, Fang Xiaodi(Little brother) held an umbrella, motioning as he threw it down to her.

Fang Zhuo bent down to pick it up and heard the person above say, “Take all your stuff and don’t come back!”

Just as the words landed, the person was pulled back by Fang Yiming.

Fang Zhuo opened the umbrella and stood there dazed for a while.

She had no phone, no navigation. The school dorm was already closed, and she didn’t know if the last bus had stopped running.

This city showed its most unfamiliar side to someone who had lost their way.

She walked aimlessly along the street for a while and finally picked a 24-hour convenience store. She sat on the bench outside, opened her backpack, and flipped through her books under the store’s light.

The light filtered through a layer of glass, dimmed and dulled. Fang Zhuo didn’t read for long before her eyes started to ache. She packed up her things and leaned gently back, half resting against the glass.

·

Seeing a familiar blue figure pass through his field of vision, Yan Lie put down the half-eaten hamburger and carefully looked again, confirming that it was Fang Zhuo. He thought, what a coincidence.

The other seemed very tired, sitting in front of the store, tightly hugging her backpack, and soon fell asleep.

Yan Lie hesitated, continuing to sit and observe. He originally wanted to see when Fang Zhuo would leave, but after finishing his dinner and playing another round of a game, he looked up and found the person was still there.

He walked over, intending to wake her up, but couldn’t figure out the reason she stayed there. The raised hand eventually paused mid-air and didn’t come down. Only his figure blocked half the streetlight’s glow for her.

Whether it was due to the dim, drowsy light or her recent irregular lifestyle, from Yan Lie’s angle, her face looked frighteningly pale, her lips were chapped from thirst, and the narrow wrist exposed outside hinted at how thin she was.

Yan Lie couldn’t recall what Fang Zhuo was like at school — they had barely interacted. He only remembered she always seemed busy, always in a rush. Her personality didn’t quite fit in, always looking disinterested in everything.

Everyone has their quirks. Yan Lie instinctively felt it was best not to disturb her peace.

He went into the convenience store, picked two buns, a bowl of sweet porridge, and two small cakes. After paying, he lowered his voice and spoke to the cashier on duty, “Give this to the person outside. Just say they’re leftovers that weren’t sold and about to expire, so they’re free for her to eat.”

The cashier followed his gaze and finally noticed someone sitting outside. From the vague silhouette, the person wore the same school uniform as the handsome young man in front of her, so he readily agreed.

Yan Lie also took a bottle of drink. After stepping out the door, he stood in front of Fang Zhuo for two seconds, then turned and left.

Not long after the shadow disappeared, Fang Zhuo opened her eyes.  

She didn’t yet have the courage to sleep on the streets—just the money stuffed in her bag was enough to keep her from sleeping soundly.

The cashier came out right behind her with a bag. Seeing that Fang Zhuo was awake, he had originally planned to repeat what Yan Lie had told him. But when he met Fang Zhuo’s upturned gaze, somehow, the words felt like they would burn if spoken, and they twisted into: “Your classmate was pretty worried about you. Hungry? Eat something.”

Fang Zhuo slowly lowered her head and shifted her attention to the white plastic bag in his hand.

The cashier felt this girl was too mature. Rather than mature, it was more like the kind of exhaustion that comes from being worn down by society.

Just when he thought she would refuse, she reached out and politely said, “Thank you.”  

“No problem.”  

The cashier stuffed his hands into his pockets, ready to head back inside. But after stepping in with one foot, he came back out again and said, “It’s been raining these days, lots of bugs outside. Why not find a shop to sit in for a bit?”

Seeing Fang Zhuo almost had “no money” written across her face, he gave a helpless smile and casually pointed in a direction. “There’s a KFC down that street, open all night. The staff there are nicer—if they see you’re a student, they probably won’t give you trouble. There’s a row of sofa chairs in the corner, pretty comfortable if you’re lucky enough to grab one. If not, there’s a hospital nearby. Keep an eye on your stuff.”

Fang Zhuo listened and nodded. After thinking for a moment, she picked up her bag and stood up.  

The buns were still faintly warm, and the heat spread to her palm through her tightened fingers.

She watched the traffic conditions. When she got to a red light, she couldn’t help but take a bite.  

The steam and the salty savory filling filled her mouth, warming her once-cold insides, and only then did she belatedly realize how hungry she really was.

She ate with focus, until the red light turned green, and green turned red again.

The fine rain was misty, and the night wind cold and sharp.  

This was her first meal of the day.  

Dazzling neon lights stretched in a line, leading into the deep, boundless night.

Fang Zhuo stared blankly toward the edge of the sky, feeling that her future was just like this river of light—maybe not straight or clearly defined, but already laid out before her, inescapable.

TN:

Apparently, there are bots going around giving 1 rating to novels on NU. I got one for this as soon as it was uploaded😭. Asking the lovely readers who enjoy this story to help boost the ratings.