Candor

On the way back, Pedro and Wei Yin sat in the back seat. Wei Yin looked as though she were angry enough to kick iron into steel; her brow was furrowed, her expression both displeased and worried.

Wei Yin shrank into herself and stared out the window like a quail.

"You just let her tell you to go back, and you go back?" Pedro could not understand. "First, let me be clear: I don’t approve of couples giving each other the cold shoulder or making a scene, but you’re being a little... too easy to handle."

Wei Yin perked up her ears and let Pedro scold her. Only after she finished did Wei Yin let out a faint, drawn-out reply.

"If Aunt Bai and you had a fight, were living apart in two places for over a month, and she called you to say she was wrong and wanted you home, would you say, ‘I’m not easy to handle’?"

Pedro fell silent.

If Sun Bai could stand in front of her again, forget asking her to admit she was wrong; even if Sun Bai asked her to apologize to the whole world, she would do it.

Leaving aside the hypothetical, if she thought about the way she and Sun Bai had always been together... Sun Bai probably would not have said, "I was wrong" on her own. But if Sun Bai left her a place at the table for dinner, or took the aluminum lunch container out of the cabinet for her, Pedro would immediately have known it was an opening.

When there was an opening, you took it; that was the real story of how Pedro and Sun Bai got along.

"Hold on," Pedro said in confusion. "Aren’t you really talking about Hua Yu?"

Wei Yin kept her head turned and did not answer.

"You’re changing the subject," Pedro said with a laugh of exasperation. "And using an elder as your example, too."

Wei Yin answered honestly, "I’m not."

In her heart, she never thought of herself and Hua Yu as having a stronger and weaker side in their relationship, nor did she believe that when two people dated, one of them had to be the first to give in.

Hua Yu’s view of love was aligned with hers in many ways, which was why the two of them had never had a blowup or a long cold war.

Quarrel at the head of the bed, make up by the foot of it; although her and Hua Yu’s current relationship had nothing to do with a bed, the principle was still the same.

"I’m not made of dough," Wei Yin added brightly. "Going back mainly means hearing her explanation."

She could not possibly hear Pedro say that Hua Yu was going to work with Yu Tiantian and still act like some sulking child refusing to speak to her because they were fighting.

"If she explains it badly," Wei Yin’s gaze sharpened as she looked at Pedro, and she said firmly, "then I won’t be with her anymore."

Pedro studied Wei Yin’s expression and thought it over. "Really?"

"Really." Wei Yin leaned back against the seat, her expression carrying a touch of desolation. This month she had been like a special forces soldier, moving rapidly through more than half of China. Even with money cushioning the journey so she did not have to sleep rough or eat on the road, it was not all the serene realization that life was a wilderness. Some of the restlessness that could be settled had been purified, while the anxiety that could not be settled had become even clearer to her.

"She’s an alpha, and her personality is the kind that can shoulder anything. Anything she can solve herself, she doesn’t even bother letting me know," Wei Yin counted on her fingers. "I don’t actually think I have anything so exceptional that it makes Hua Yu treat me this well. If I had to say, it’s probably just that Hua Yu herself is a good person. She’s good to ‘her own people,’ and when it comes to lovers and family—people even closer than ‘her own people’—she’s even more unbeatable."

Pedro was amused by the way she put it, and held back a laugh. "And that’s bad?"

Wei Yin was quiet for half a minute, then used the question-back tactic again.

"If, Mei Yi, you and Aunt Bai had never separated—if the two of you grew up together, worked together, lived together, and your life was peaceful and beautiful. Then one day, Aunt Bai tells you to leave, insists on separating from you, says she doesn’t love you anymore. But the truth is that she knows she has cancer and is going to die soon, and she doesn’t want you to be hurt. What would you do?"

That hypothetical was like a bloody knife, aimed with perfect accuracy straight at Pedro’s heart.

Her whole body shuddered; her eyes, already less bright than those of a younger person, grew even dimmer.

But her voice was cold and decisive, as if she had forced each word out of her chest and vocal cords one by one.

It carried the composure and authority given by age.

"I absolutely would not break up with her, and I absolutely, absolutely would not forgive her."

In fact, half of this hypothetical was true. During the years the two of them had lost contact, Sun Bai had gotten cancer, but after they reestablished communication, Sun Bai still told her nothing.

Back then, Pedro had been on the run everywhere, yet she had never hidden her own situation. In every letter she wrote, she would say, "If there is no news from me after three days/a month/three months/half a year, it means I have died in aa/bb."

She wanted the person she loved to know her situation. No matter whether things were calm and smooth or full of bullets and gunfire, even if she was going to die at any moment, she wanted the other person to mourn her and pay respects first thing.

Pedro had been honest, but Sun Bai had not.

Even now, Pedro could fully understand Sun Bai’s decision rationally. If she had said it then, Pedro would have returned to China no matter what, and what followed might have been exposure of her whereabouts, illegal repatriation, or even death.

But emotionally, she would still question her in dreams, accuse her, ask why she had told her nothing.

At midnight, she woke with wet, cold cheeks and a heart full of hatred.

Wei Yin said quietly, "What Hua Yu does is actually the same as Aunt Bai. When something happens—especially something big—her instinct is to sacrifice herself and clear her lover of the problem."

"I don’t like that. I really don’t," Wei Yin wrinkled her nose and said word by word, "If Hua Yu doesn’t change, I really will leave."

She had never spoken loudly, nor had she ever fought with Hua Yu in a raised voice. The base color of Wei Yin’s personality was gentle and soft, but that did not mean she would muddle through and settle for anything.

If her principles were touched, she would retreat decisively.

Pedro drew in a deep breath, then showed a relieved smile.

"Good. Then I’m reassured."

-

The soft yet stubborn Wei Yin was dropped off at the entrance of the studio courtyard.

This was the "talking spot" Wei Yin herself had chosen; Hua Yu was waiting inside.

Pedro did not get out of the car and watched Wei Yin go in.

The driver was Pedro’s assistant, who had been by her side for years. She glanced at Wei Yin’s retreating figure. "Miss Wei is actually quite a lot like you."

"With us paving the way for her, she’ll develop better," Pedro said with a smile, shaking her head. "Let’s go. Back to the Northeast."

The assistant smiled as well. She would not point out that her boss had been worried about Miss Wei, had personally rushed to the Northeast to find her, and before the business in the Northeast was even finished, still insisted on bringing her back in person.

The car gradually drove away into the distance, and the courtyard was a different scene.

Fallen leaves had been gathered together; ripe pomegranates hung from the branches. Hua Yu sat on the stone table in the courtyard waiting for her, peeling a split-open pomegranate; a small pile of seeds had already gathered beside her hand.

When she heard Wei Yin come in, she rose quickly, and a pomegranate seed rolled to her feet.

Wei Yin walked over quietly, bent down to pick it up, and placed it gently beside the pile of seeds.

"Go on," Wei Yin said softly. "I’m listening."

This was not a good place to talk, so the two of them went to Wei Yin’s bedroom and closed the door to speak slowly.

Hua Yu sat directly across from Wei Yin, the posture of two sides facing off.

They had not seen each other for more than a month. Both had been busy with their own matters, and their longing had grown wildly in the meantime.

Hua Yu had learned of Wei Yin’s whereabouts from Pedro. She trusted that senior very much, which eased some of her worry for the moment, but she still missed Wei Yin constantly.

Wei Yin glanced at her a few times and could tell she had lost weight. She did not bear to urge her, so she sat quietly and waited for Hua Yu to speak.

After a long while, Hua Yu frowned slightly and tried hard to organize her words.

"I’ve always been concerned about your gland, and your body is weaker than most people’s," Hua Yu rubbed her knee uncomfortably. "How much do you actually know about your own physical condition?"

The topic began with Wei Yin. She froze, then carefully thought back. "I mean... pretty well?"

Hua Yu slowly shook her head. "You don’t."

Wei Yin was stunned again.

Thinking back to the way they had reunited, Hua Yu had been extremely focused on her body from the very beginning, not only because the way she appeared was too pitiful—malnourished, hypoglycemic, with gland atrophy, she looked like a fragile white flower—but also because Wei Yin’s attitude toward her illness was especially perfunctory.

She was already that sick and still wanted to be discharged; once she felt a little better, she dared to go out in the rain, and even dared to fall asleep while soaked through.

But later, after Hua Yu repeatedly emphasized it, with reason and feeling, and even threats mixed in, Wei Yin had started paying attention to her body.

She drank traditional medicine, cooperated with acupuncture, only ate what Hua Yu told her to eat, drank nutritional liquid every day, and had regular checkups... until a month ago, when her gland gradually recovered to health.

Now that Hua Yu was bringing it up again, Wei Yin could not make sense of it, but still hesitated before asking, "Are you worried about me?"

Hua Yu did not deny it. "You’ve always wanted to ask about Yu Tiantian. Actually, Yu Tiantian doesn’t have much to do with me; she’s the one closely tied to you."

That only made Wei Yin even more confused. "Wasn’t she your childhood friend?"

Hua Yu lowered her eyes and said calmly, "We only knew each other because our families did, when we were young, but we weren’t close. You got to know me through Yu Tiantian; the first time we met was at the freshman welcome party. You lived in the dorm across from hers, and the seven or eight of you came out together to hang out. She saw me, greeted me, and introduced her classmates."

Wei Yin had thought her own instant infatuation with Hua Yu had come after she rescued Hua Yu during her heat, but it turned out they had met even earlier.

"Back then, everyone knew me; the beautiful doctoral student from Q University’s top program. One by one they all came over to greet me, and only you didn’t know me. You just kept staring at the candy figurine in my hand."

Wei Yin’s eyes widened a little. "Huh?"

Hua Yu smiled faintly. "The candy figure was a little cat. I saw that you liked it, so I handed it to you casually, but you didn’t take it."

"...Maybe I was just curious and didn’t want to eat it," Wei Yin defended herself.

"However you want to explain it. In any case, at first you were closer to Yu Tiantian. When you saw me, you’d at most say hello, and sometimes even act like you didn’t know me... then for some reason you started following me, secretly taking my photos, slipping umbrellas to me. In short, you started pursuing me, though I didn’t let you chase me for long; before long, we became close."

Wei Yin listened with great satisfaction. "And then? And then?"

Hua Yu’s expression darkened. "Then you became Yu Tiantian’s girlfriend."

Wei Yin’s face first flashed with resistance, then shock, and finally fierce rejection. "Impossible! I have a life plan notebook, and it says I’ve always been single, with no romantic history at all!"

Wei Yin was not insane. She had fallen once, and part of her memory had been damaged, but she still had a faint sense for certain things that had made a deep impression.

For example, the first time she saw Hua Yu, she had felt familiar and close to her.

Wei Yin lived by a routine and planned her life carefully. She completed the items in her life plan notebook one by one; things like "graduate from high school," "get into university," and "sweep Mom’s and Aunt Bai’s graves regularly"... important matters, she absolutely wrote down and would not forget.

Hearing Wei Yin say that, Hua Yu frowned, her tone softening as she said uncertainly, "I was completely convinced of this before. But during these past days, after Yu Tiantian repeatedly provoked me, I also felt that this wasn’t true."

"Of course it isn’t!" Wei Yin’s volume rose; she looked like someone had thrown a lump of filth at her and she was hopping in place, trying to shake the dirty thing off.

Hua Yu paused, then could not help laughing. "In any case, the two of you were very close, and I also saw what seemed to be a kissing scene between the two of you. Thinking about it now, though, the distance was so far away that it might have just been a forced perspective shot. And the sunflowers you made yourself, appearing in Yu Tiantian’s hands... it could also be that they weren’t made by you, only something similar."

Wei Yin did not even need to argue for herself; she felt very pleased and nodded solemnly. "Your explanation is good. Let’s go with that from now on."

Hua Yu was silent for a while, then lifted her eyes. "The truth is that Yu Tiantian tampered with your gland, or rather, she planted a bomb in you that I didn’t know about."

That was like a bomb going off in Wei Yin’s head.

"Because your body was underdeveloped, you were discriminated against as soon as you enrolled. Later, people spread rumors about you and isolated you, and at that time Yu Tiantian always stood by your side. It was like a phototropism effect; you naturally developed feelings for her. I don’t know how many favors she did for you, but from the way she found a cemetery for your mother, it’s clear she really knew how to toy with people’s hearts. At the time, you were guarded against no one, so you probably really did regard her as a very good friend."

"But after graduation, I kept paying her back. Doesn’t that count as cutting ties with her?" Wei Yin asked blankly, hurt. "After I lost my memory, I didn’t remember anything, but deep down I felt that this money was very important, and I had to pay it back. Even if I had no money for hospitalization, I still had to pay it back..."

Hua Yu very much wanted to touch her head, but held back, her voice trembling as she said, "I know. Xiao Yin is a good child, and not stupid. One day, you would eventually see her true colors and cut ties with her completely."

Wei Yin nodded hard. "I don’t like her."

Thinking to this point, Wei Yin had some answer in her heart and hesitated before asking, "What exactly did she do to me? How did she use me to threaten you?"

Surely she could not have put a bomb in her body, or, even lower-class, taken some private photos of her and used them to threaten Hua Yu, could she?

Hua Yu was quiet for a moment before giving a bitter smile. "Quite a lot. I told you, you and she were close, and with me... Actually, I confessed to you once, but you rejected me on the spot. I couldn’t hold back and went into heat, nearly hurting you. Later I was hospitalized for a while and lost consciousness. When I woke up, I found my WeChat had been deleted by you. I wanted to attend your graduation ceremony, but you had Yu Tiantian stop me, and I was also in residency training, so in the end I never got to see you face to face. After that, it was all these years."

Wei Yin was still immersed in the shock of "Hua Yu confessed to me" and gave no reaction.

Hua Yu felt uneasy and said softly, "Yu Tiantian first used this to threaten me. If I didn’t help her vet the company’s project, she would tell you everything about the past."

Wei Yin suddenly turned her head and fumbled for her phone. "Wait; saying that just now made me think of something."

Hua Yu leaned forward a little. "What is it?"

Wei Yin looked tense, as though facing a great enemy, and hurriedly fumbled out the WeChat blacklist.

"Look at this person’s avatar and name. Does it seem familiar?"

Hua Yu took the phone, and at first glance, it felt familiar. "This should be the avatar and name I used in college."

A black character "Yu" on a white background; she had used that all through university, then after starting work changed it to a black character "Hua" on a white background. After all, in the hospital everyone called her "Dr. Hua," not "Xiao Yu" or "Sister Yu."

Wei Yin took the phone back and opened a diary entry from a certain day, then handed it to Hua Yu again.

"July 9, deleted. Breathing feels awful, my eyes feel awful, I really feel awful..."

"December 9, discovered a piece of trash pretending to be someone else. I’m trash too; even though the WeChat ID had one letter different, I didn’t notice. The trash deleted me and lied to me. Trash, trash, trash..."

Wei Yin’s whole face went red with anger. "Back then I thought it was ‘you’ who deleted me. It wasn’t until half a year later that I found out this person wasn’t you. Someone tampered with my phone; it absolutely had to be that person who deleted you!"

Hua Yu understood instantly.

First step: take Wei Yin’s phone, delete Hua Yu’s WeChat, and make Hua Yu think Wei Yin had deleted her.

Second step: register an account almost exactly identical to Hua Yu’s, copying the nickname, avatar, and Moments background one to one; then add this account as Wei Yin’s friend, and have the fake account delete Wei Yin, creating the illusion that "Hua Yu deleted Wei Yin."

By then, the two of them would both think they had been deleted. The third step...

Hua Yu thought of the triumphant look on Yu Tiantian’s face that day at the graduation ceremony.

So that was it; everything fit.