Chapter 14

It was Li Hu.

When I went to see Teacher Zhang during the day, I ran into him at school.

He was preparing to go to vocational school and had come to ask Teacher Zhang which major and which school would be better.

Now he came in the rain, grinning with his big teeth at me:

“After we parted ways this morning, I went to the internet café and logged into your QQ.

“Shasha happened to be online too. She asked how you did on the exam, so I told her about your situation.

“She asked me to come and tell you not to worry.

“She’s saving up your tuition for you.”

Because I didn’t do well on the exam, I was too ashamed to face Shasha, so of course I hadn’t gone online to tell her my results.

I didn’t expect that she’d always been thinking of me.

The next day, as promised, I called her.

“Xiaoxia, are you doing okay?”

For the first time in more than two years, I heard her voice.

Just a few simple words made me burst into tears.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t get into No. 1 Middle School.”

She laughed: “Why are you crying? With your brains, getting into No. 2 Middle School must have taken everything you had.”

“Xiaoxia, I know you did your best.”

I choked up: “Yeah, maybe I shouldn’t go to high school at all.”

“Nonsense!” she interrupted urgently. “You have to go. Now that I’m out working, I really know how much of a difference education makes.”

“What’s wrong with No. 2 Middle School? You still have a chance to get into college from there.

“I guessed your parents wouldn’t be so nice. Ever since I ran away, I’ve been saving money for your high school tuition.”

My tears fell in streams: “But it’s so hard for you to earn money, I’m really scared…”

Scared that in the end, all her hard-earned money would go to waste.

Scared that I wouldn’t even get into Second Tier.

Shasha laughed:

“Xiaoxia, as long as you do your best, whether you get into college or not, I’ll never blame you.

“Don’t forget, you’re not just studying for yourself.

“This is an investment. When you go to college and start working, you have to pay me back double.

“You should find someone smarter to invest in.”

She softened her tone: “But someone smarter wouldn’t give me rock candy, wouldn’t sneak out medicine from home to put on my wounds when I got beaten, wouldn’t always be thinking of finding my real parents for me…”

“Xiaoxia, we’re best friends, right?”

Of course.

We’re best friends, each other’s support.

My parents were shocked that I managed to get the tuition together.

I told them it was a kind person’s help, and even asked Old Zhang to help cover for me.

Mom didn’t understand, and at dinner she tried to persuade me to give the opportunity to my brother.

“Even if you go to No. 2 Middle School, you won’t get into a good college. You might as well give this chance to your brother. When he’s successful, he’ll take care of you.”

I was so angry I almost flipped the table.

“You won’t pay, and now that I’ve finally found a way, you want to take advantage of it.

“Do you even deserve to be parents?”

…

Mom wouldn’t give up and went to ask Old Zhang:

“Teacher Zhang, my Ze En used to be your student, do you remember?

“He’s much smarter than Xiaoxia. Could you talk to that kind person and see if they could help Ze En instead?

“Ze En has more hope, after all.”