Chapter 18

Zheng Qing went straight to the school. She didn’t notify either side of the family, and she didn’t even tell her daughter. Only after she arrived at the school did she contact Class Teacher Qi and say that she was there to take Yu Min away.

That day happened to be the last day of exam week. When Zheng Qing arrived at First High in the afternoon, it was already past three, and Yu Min was still in the exam room writing her English paper. To avoid affecting her exam, Teacher Qi took the initiative to stop Zheng Qing. It wasn’t until the temporary class meeting after the exam ended that Teacher Qi called Yu Min to the office alone to see Zheng Qing.

Before this, Zheng Qing had disappeared again for more than half a year. Someone who knew the situation had told Yu Min that Zheng Qing had gone abroad. Yu Min had once thought she wasn’t coming back. Now she had suddenly appeared, and Yu Min couldn’t adjust in time; she stood rooted at the office doorway, dazed and unable to collect herself.

Just the week before, Yu Min had still been worrying about where to spend the holiday: Aunt’s house, or maybe going to find Yu Shengyu, or perhaps Lin Baixin’s place.

Aunt’s family used to call before every holiday and tell her to come over, but not this semester. It was obvious they no longer wanted to clean up Yu Shengyu’s mess. Raising someone else’s child for nothing was exhausting and thankless; counting it up, Aunt had already kept Yu Min for more than two years, and it really wasn’t reasonable for Yu Min to keep living there.

Yu Shengyu, as always, was a hands-off, do-nothing father. He always had one excuse after another; on one hand he fought for custody, and on the other he played dead. All year round, every day, he was supposedly busy—so busy he couldn’t spare the time to look at his own child.

As for Lin Baixin… she had no obligation to take care of Yu Min, and her kindness certainly shouldn’t be a reason for Yu Min to keep troubling her. Last New Year’s had already been enough of an inconvenience. Yu Min knew her limits; especially after all this time, Lin Baixin had gone completely quiet after going to Kyoto, never once taking the initiative to look for her. Yu Min didn’t dare go looking for her rashly; she didn’t have the courage to take that step.

That morning, Yu Min had even been hesitating: if there was still no word by the time school ended, maybe she should just stay in a hotel. She actually didn’t want to go to Aunt’s place either, and she was even less willing to see Yu Shengyu. Staying in a hotel seemed like the most suitable choice.

Zheng Qing’s arrival was completely unexpected and threw Yu Min’s plans into chaos. Yu Min had already ruled Zheng Qing out. For more than two years, who would have imagined that Zheng Qing would really come to pick her up?… Yu Min had always thought that was just Zheng Qing lying to her, only to spite Yu Shengyu.

Now that a parent had shown up at school, Teacher Qi, though not clear on the exact situation in Yu Min’s family, could still infer a thing or two. Since entering high school, the class had held at least three parent-teacher meetings, and Yu Min’s parents had been absent every time. Every report card and notice requiring a parent signature, when Yu Min handed them in, had been signed in different handwriting each time. Even among students from single-parent families, things usually weren’t this extreme; what exactly her parents were like, Teacher Qi understood in her heart, only choosing not to say it outright.

It was rare to see Yu Min’s mother, so Teacher Qi naturally had to speak with Zheng Qing. She made it clear that as a parent, she needed to pay more attention to her child, especially during this crucial period of high school.

Even when adults from other families could no longer live together and hated each other like enemies, they wouldn’t make a scene in front of a high school student. No matter how huge the conflict, they would wait until after the college entrance exam to talk about it. Zheng Qing and Yu Shengyu were truly extremely irresponsible parents. Teacher Qi considered herself well acquainted with negative examples, but a family like Yu Min’s was still exceptionally rare.

Yu Min was so outstanding, a proper top student, and her grades were always at the very top of the class. In an ordinary family, if a child like that were raised, there was absolutely no way the parents would drag her down.

At least not during these years of middle and high school.

Not wanting the parents to affect the student, Teacher Qi was quite serious. On the surface, Zheng Qing was very respectful toward the teacher, and they spoke back and forth in a seemingly cordial manner; whether she actually listened or not was impossible to tell.

Yu Min didn’t really pay attention to what they were saying. She was still holding a stack of workbooks and test papers, the assignments just handed out by each subject. The huge pile of paper was so heavy that she could barely lift her arms.

After getting in the car, Zheng Qing drove a new vehicle, a flashy, high-profile Porsche. Yu Min sat silently in the front passenger seat, and afterward she didn’t remember a single word Zheng Qing said.

Zheng Qing drove her to another house, the place she had lived in before marriage. It wasn’t far from First High; an old walk-up apartment on the top floor, not very large, with two bedrooms and one living room.

It wouldn’t be safe to go to one of the other houses in the family. Yu Shengyu would find out. Zheng Qing was cautious and suspicious by nature; she didn’t want to take any risks.

“I only got back today. I haven’t had time to clean yet, and it’s too late. I’ll have to wait until tomorrow to have a cleaner come by. Just make do here for one night,” Zheng Qing instructed. “I still have a dinner engagement at seven. I’m not staying here tonight; I’ll come back then. Stay here and don’t go wandering off. Call me if anything comes up.”

The old house was badly worn by time, and dust covered everything so thickly there was nowhere even to put a foot. Yu Min stood outside and refused to go in.

Zheng Qing had neither the patience nor the time to waste on her. She was rushing out, and gave Yu Min a push, then said perfunctorily when she saw her resistance, “If you don’t want to stay here, that’s fine. I’ll find you somewhere else later.”

Yu Min resisted. “Then I’ll go somewhere else.”

“Where are you going?” Zheng Qing wouldn’t agree. Her old habit flared up again, convinced Yu Min was siding with Yu Shengyu and making excuses to go find him. “I don’t care what you’re thinking. You’re not allowed to go anywhere. You have to stay here tonight. Otherwise, don’t come looking for me.”

Yu Min parted her lips to explain. “I’ll just stay nearby; I’m not looking for him.”

“That’s your business. Don’t try anything with me. If you’re going, then don’t come back.” Zheng Qing was overbearing; she couldn’t tolerate even the slightest hint of disobedience.

Unable to argue with Zheng Qing, Yu Min had no room to fight back and could only comply.

Zheng Qing tossed down a wad of cash and also gave her a phone number for a restaurant downstairs. If not for the dinner engagement she absolutely had to attend tonight, Zheng Qing would probably have stayed here. She wouldn’t allow Yu Min to go out; she blocked every possibility of Yu Min going to find Yu Shengyu and ignored all of Yu Min’s explanations, believing only what she herself thought was true.

The old house was filled with a stale, moldy smell. There was no water and no electricity. It was tolerable during the day, barely bearable; at night, it was practically a haunted house, cold and eerie everywhere.

Yu Min wasn’t foolish enough to really listen to Zheng Qing’s bad idea. She took out her phone and searched for nearby hotels and inns, planning to find one for the night and come back early tomorrow; as long as she arrived before Zheng Qing did, that would be fine.

Minors staying in hotels was a little troublesome. They usually had to verify consent with a guardian, and the more proper the place was, the stricter it was. Yu Min found an inn that was less strict, the kind where you paid and could stay.

The conditions were worrying, but no matter what, it was better than staying in a haunted house.

Zheng Qing was suspicious to the end. Even after leaving, she still wasn’t at ease, and halfway through she even made a video call to check on her. Yu Min reacted quickly and promptly turned off the lights before answering the call.

On the phone screen, Zheng Qing saw that everything was pitch black and impossible to make out, and immediately asked what was going on.

Yu Min said calmly, “There’s no electricity in the room. The lights can’t be turned on.”

Only after a beat did Zheng Qing react. In a hard voice, she said, “You can’t even pay the utility bill online yourself? Do I have to do everything for you? You’re already that old and you still can’t handle this?”

Without the electricity account number, how was she supposed to pay?

Yu Min didn’t argue with the aggressive Zheng Qing. She stayed quiet and, worried about slipping up, obediently took the scolding.

Staying in a little no-frills inn was miserable. It wasn’t just that the environment was bad; they didn’t provide disposable toiletries, and there was no private bathroom. Brushing her teeth and showering meant going to the common area; that is, the toilet at the very end of the hallway, less than two square meters in size. And the door was broken, so it couldn’t lock.

The sky had gone dark, and it wasn’t safe outside.

Yu Min gave up on the idea of going out to buy toiletries. Gathering her courage, she forced herself through one trip to the bathroom, fighting down her nausea, and hurried back to her room. She decided to stay inside until dawn.

The inn was poorly soundproofed. The wild couple in the room next door had not been quiet since they checked in. Their cries rose and fell; sometimes high and sharp, sometimes pained, and occasionally there were thudding impacts against the wall. No one knew whether it was the bed hitting or the people.

Yu Min covered her ears and curled up under the blanket, burying herself in it—the blanket smelled off. It wasn’t especially foul, but the scent was enough to make her sick.

Hiding under the blanket didn’t block the sound either. After holding out for too long, she was practically suffocating.

A few minutes later, Yu Min gave up on herself. She simply kicked off the blanket and lay flat on her back, resigned to fate as if she were dead.

Her phone was almost out of battery. She found the charger and plugged it in, but the outlet was broken; there was no power.

Sitting at the edge of the bed, she sighed helplessly. There was nothing she could do.

With less than 3% battery left, just before the WeChat screen was about to switch into automatic super power-saving mode, a message popped up. Thinking it was from Zheng Qing, Yu Min didn’t look at it. She only gathered a little mental preparation before daring to open it and tap inside.

It wasn’t Zheng Qing.

It was Lin Baixin.

-Where are you?

Yu Min straightened up, stunned for a moment, then hesitated as she replied:

-Outside.

Lin Baixin responded instantly: -Send your location.

Her body reacted faster than her mind. Reason taking over, Yu Min sent the location over. Before she even had time to confirm whether the address was correct, her phone battery dropped with a snap to 2 percent and forcibly exited WeChat into super power-saving mode.

The phone could still receive calls. Less than ten minutes later, Yu Min was still wavering over whether she should dial the number herself when she heard a car approaching downstairs. At the same time, the phone rang.

It was Lin Baixin calling. Yu Min answered, and before she could speak, the other woman said first:

“Come down.”