Chapter 9

Su Heng only thought his sister was joking. As long as she was happy, that was enough. Just as he was wondering how to coax her, he agreed:
“Alright.”

Su Wanwan, recalling the plot between her second brother and Liu Caixia, told him:
“I dreamed that Liu Caixia tried to seduce you. She deliberately fell in front of you, claimed she sprained her ankle and couldn’t walk, and asked you to carry her home. That’s how you got ensnared by her, and later you did many foolish things, ending in a tragic death.”

“What I mean is, when she sets that trap, you mustn’t help her. You can hide somewhere out of her sight—her ankle isn’t really sprained at all. You absolutely must not get entangled with this woman. She’s scheming, and she’ll even bring you pastries to eat.”

“If what I said comes true, then you’ll accompany me to take next year’s college entrance exam, and we’ll go to university together.”

Su Heng listened, dazed, as if it all might be real. But how could a dream be trusted? He didn’t believe it at all.
For someone who hadn’t even finished elementary school, going to university was sheer nonsense.

But to make his sister happy, he agreed readily:
“Alright.” He smiled and ruffled her hair—her little curls felt soft under his hand.

Su Wanwan, recalling the original host’s memories, knew both brothers had doted on her since childhood. Whatever good food they had, they gave to their sister first. If someone bullied her, they would fight back for her.

Where could one find such good brothers? And now she had two of them.

Since she had crossed over, she must rewrite her family’s fate. And she didn’t want her record to remain “illiterate.” Her second brother was slightly better than the original host—at least he had a junior high diploma.

“Second brother, let me read your middle school textbooks,” Su Wanwan said. It was a way to slowly reveal her abilities, subtly and gradually. That way, when she took the college entrance exam next year, it wouldn’t seem abrupt.

“Go get them from my room yourself. Come on, let’s eat first.” He stood up, pulled her by the wrist, and headed to the kitchen.

After lunch, the Su family went out to work, while Su Wanwan searched her brother’s room for textbooks. She needed the books at least for appearances.

Before the end of the afternoon shift, Su Father, as usual, sat with the accountant.

After work, Ma Zhiming reported his work points: “Seven points.”

Su Father looked up at his disheveled appearance and allowed himself a faint smile:
“Even injured, Comrade Ma managed to earn three more points than usual. Seems you really were slacking before. It’s good that you can change. We won’t pursue the past, but if you fall back into old habits, I’ll treat it as deliberate idling.”

Ma Zhiming’s face went pale as paper. If not for that rascal Wang Biao supervising him—watching for any chance to slap him with a “lazy” label whenever he rested—he wouldn’t have survived the day.

After a whole day in the sun, his face still burned painfully. His greatest pride was his handsome looks, and at this rate, the sun would soon ruin them.

Standing behind him, Lin Yu sneered at the sight of Ma Zhiming’s trembling legs. So weak, like a woman.

He glanced at Brother Shen beside him, who was scanning the surroundings with an unreadable expression.

Back at the educated youth spot, Lin Yu started the fire and heated food. No cooking was needed today—he had packed braised pork, braised fish, and meat buns from the state-run restaurant. A quick reheat and it would be ready.

Xie Beishen, who had searched two days without finding her, began to wonder if the woman in the pond had been a hallucination. Picking up pencil and paper, he sat at the table and carefully sketched.

Before long, the image of a woman emerged on the paper.

It was that first moment he saw Su Wanwan underwater—the two of them locking eyes. Even the look in her eyes was captured vividly, the whole drawing seeming to glisten with watery light.

Utterly alluring.

He didn’t even know why, but he had drawn her just like that.

Lin Yu came in with the dishes and saw Brother Shen staring at the paper. Curious, he asked: “What are you looking at?”

Xie Beishen calmly slipped the drawing into his pocket. “Let’s eat first.”

Half a month passed in a blink. During this time, Su Father and Su Mother, knowing their daughter wanted to study junior high textbooks, fully supported her. They kept her from working in the fields so she could also rest and regain her health.

Su Father had his own plans. If his daughter could get a junior high diploma, he could arrange for her to work as a scorekeeper or a warehouse clerk—light jobs that wouldn’t invite gossip.

He even went to see Principal Su of the county middle school, a distant relative. Bringing two bottles of liquor, he asked him to add an extra exam spot. If she passed, she’d get a diploma; if not, no diploma would be issued.

For Principal Su, it was a trivial matter. After a meal at the state-run restaurant, the matter was settled.

Su Wanwan knew nothing of this. When her father returned home, he told her.

She hadn’t expected him to be so agreeable, arranging an exam for her.

It was exactly what she needed. Not only did it excuse her from field work, but it kept her from being exposed—if someone saw through her, it would be hard to explain. One day without suspicion was one day gained.

In this half month, she also truly experienced the hardships of scarcity. Eating meat was rare. And with her mother so stingy with cooking oil, she craved meat even more.

In her old life, she had been the pampered little princess, never lacking anything. She had never lived through such hardship.

One day, after lunch, Su Wanwan returned to her room and took out the money the original host had saved: fifty-one yuan and thirty cents, plus ration coupons. Most of it was given by her eldest brother, though eighty yuan had been tricked away by Ma Zhiming. That money had taken the original host more than ten years to save, little by little.

She had to make that man pay it back.

Taking out ten yuan, she planned to have her second brother buy meat tomorrow when he took her to the county for the exam. Tomorrow was also her father’s birthday. The money would be well spent on family. The rest she’d use to buy clothes for her parents.

She carried the ten yuan into her brother’s room. “Brother, here’s ten yuan. Tomorrow’s Father’s birthday—after you take me to school, buy some meat.”

Su Heng had actually forgotten it was Father’s birthday. He couldn’t take money from his sister. “Keep it for yourself. I still have money.”

But just meat wouldn’t be enough. Looking at her, he said: “The whole brigade has half a day off this afternoon. After a nap, I’ll take you to the pond to catch fish. Tomorrow, Father’s birthday must have both fish and meat.”

Su Wanwan grinned. “Alright, alright.”

She was craving meat so badly she could go mad. Fish was meat too!

Braised fish, pickled cabbage fish, boiled fish, sweet-and-sour fish—she loved them all. Just thinking about it made her mouth water.

Though with Mother’s cooking skills, fish probably wouldn’t taste great… but she could cook it herself at dinner.

Meanwhile, after lunch, Xie Beishen changed clothes and told Lin Yu: “Check which households in the village have black dogs.”

“Black dogs?” Lin Yu looked puzzled. “Brother Shen, can I ask why?”