Chapter 11

Chen Yabai and Jiang Zishu grew closer and closer, and everyone thought it was only natural for them to be together.

Chen Yabai no longer talked to me much about Miss Little Yuan. When he played basketball, there was no longer a spot reserved for Miss Little Yuan, no more pointing out to her which university she should attend, and he no longer bothered Miss Little Yuan as often as before.

He wrote less and less, as if he had finally grown tired of the Fairy Godmother who inexplicably appeared on the paper. This letter paper was quite special; there was only one sheet, and when it was filled, the writing would automatically disappear, leaving a fresh, pale page. But the very first line Chen Yabai wrote always remained: “Miss Little Yuan, I like you. Please don’t turn me down.”

But when I glanced hurriedly at the new conversation records, the name that appeared most often was Jiang Zishu.

“Jiang Zishu complained to my mom, saying I always bully classmates. Please, I only bully Miss Little Yuan.”

“Jiang Zishu is so annoying. I asked her what girls like, and she sent me the payment link to her shopping cart.”

“When I practice piano, Jiang Zishu insists on following me. I can’t get rid of her.”

April of 2017 passed quickly. Chen Yabai became increasingly busy because of the school anniversary event in June, and the song The Wind Rises was almost second nature to him. Under my interference, Chen Yabai and seventeen-year-old Miss Little Yuan were no longer as close as before; instead, they grew distant, like two briefly intersecting lines gradually returning to parallel.

May arrived, and I called May 2017 the darkest month of my life.

People deliberately forget memories that cause them pain, and I am no exception.

My cousin, Lin Sui, is a scumbag.

My aunt raged at me, calling me a shameless girl. Her son was a prestigious university student-how could he possibly do such a thing? It must have been me who initiated it. My uncle, eyes red, tried to persuade me, saying we were family, and Lin Sui had always treated me well since childhood; he was just drunk.

My dad rushed home and filled the place with cigarette smoke. He and my mom reached an agreement, and their final answer was: “Yu’an, just let it go. A girl needs her reputation.”

Your name means to go with the flow. For something like this, you just have to endure it.

Only Chen Yabai asked me, “What did you do wrong?”

Lin Sui often came into my room, claiming to help me with homework, and then my underwear started to go missing.

I called my mom, and she said I should change my careless habits.

He took my uncle’s place to pick me up from school, and there was a dark alley between school and home. On a night in May, when summer was just beginning to show, he pinned me down in the filthy shadows.

I don’t know how long it was before he let me go. I squatted on the ground in pain. Lin Sui crouched down and said softly, “Yu’an, I was just drunk. You won’t tell anyone, right?” He let go of my hair, his palm full of strands he’d pulled from my head. “After all, no one will believe you or care.”

I called my parents, and just as he predicted, they wanted to sweep it under the rug, transfer me to another school, leave this place, and cover up this shameful crime.

Late at night, I made that call, my voice trembling with tears: “Chen Yabai, help me.”

When I hung up, my fingers were shaking, but from the incident until now, not a single tear had fallen. Tears would only make them think I was weak and easy to manipulate. But from the moment Chen Yabai appeared before me, I broke down and cried loudly.

Chen Yabai, it hurts so much.

I never saw anyone like him again. Still wearing his blue and white school uniform, he bent down and hugged me, almost using all his strength, but his movements were so gentle. He pulled me up, took me to the hospital, took me to the police, went to beat up Lin Sui-neither of us wanted to keep it quiet.

He sought justice for me.

At school, everyone knew what had happened to me. Some boys would make strange noises when I passed by, and Jiang Zishu and her friends would look at me with pity. Chen Yabai had never broken school rules before, but for some reason, he got into a fight with boys on the basketball court. I heard the ball hit someone’s head, and they needed several stitches. Jiang Zishu also came to apologize to me one afternoon, looking pale and speaking in a low voice, saying she shouldn’t have spread rumors about me at school.

From then on, no one dared to gossip at school.

Only when I passed the grade office did I see Chen Yabai’s mother crying and asking him why he had to do this.

Chen Yabai didn’t answer. He inadvertently looked up and met my gaze at the door.

He said nothing. Neither did I.

He came from the dawn and saved me from the chaos.