"She doesn’t want you anymore?"

Jiang Chen was confused for a moment after hearing this. Then he remembered that their mother had found out about Ye Zi going to the Northwest and had thrown a huge fit. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

At the time, she’d declared that she would act as if she’d never raised a daughter named Jiang Ye.

He had thought their mother was just saying it in a fit of anger.

He figured her anger would subside once his sister came back and acted cute to appease her.

But now...

A hint of worry flashed in Jiang Chen’s eyes. He asked softly, "Have you already been home?"

Tears welled in Jiang Ye’s almond-shaped eyes, the corners feeling cool as she bit her lower lip hard. "Yes. I went home, and Mom kicked me out. She told me to fend for myself from now on and that she won’t give me another cent."

"Fend for yourself?" Jiang Chen looked at his pitiful sister, and waves of anger rose within him. He frowned and griped, "You’re still a senior in high school. Mom telling you to fend for yourself—isn’t that just ruining you?"

As he spoke, he wiped the tears from the corners of Jiang Ye’s eyes.

’It’s entirely possible she would say something like that,’ he thought, considering their mother’s personality.

He helped Jiang Ye up from the steps, feeling a mix of frustration and disappointment. "But you really went too far this time. No matter how outstanding Huo Jingyuan is, he’s already married."

"But that marriage was supposed to be mine in the first place! I don’t want to give it up anymore. Is that so wrong?"

As she spoke, Jiang Ye looked like she was about to cry again.

Jiang Chen opened his mouth, then closed it, sighing helplessly. "Stay at my place for now. When Dad gets home tonight, I’ll go back with you to apologize and smooth things over."

"Forget it. I’m not her biological daughter, after all. How could I have the nerve to go back to her? Mom raised me for over twenty years, and I’m already more than satisfied. I can get a job and support myself."

Jiang Chen’s face hardened, and he said in a stern tone, "You’ll listen to me on this. The most important thing right now is to make amends and prepare for the college entrance exams."

"Okay."

A flash of secret delight glinted in Jiang Ye’s eyes.

She knew very well that as a man, Jiang Chen couldn’t stand to see a woman cry. As long as she acted pitiful and shed a few tears, he would charge into battle for her.

·

「Meanwhile.」

After leaving the hospital, Wen Ci saw an entire street lined with vendors from the free market. Some sold food, some sold clothes, and there were even some selling children’s toys.

She took a careful look around and saw they were all selling old stock; none of the trendy items from the Southern regions were here.

Beijing was in the north, and even though it was the Capital, the fashionable goods here still lagged behind the coastal cities of the South.

The coastal cities were much closer to Hong Kong and Taiwan. Records released by celebrities and the latest clothing styles were already wildly popular in the South.

Wen Ci wondered what she should do.

She couldn’t just live off her savings during the months she was in Beijing with Huo Jingyuan while he recovered. She had to make more money so she would have capital to invest in the future.

After all, Wen Ci had grand ambitions. She wanted to invest in a certain "Teng" and a certain "Yun," and the little bit of money she had now wasn’t even enough to buy a single share.

"Have you heard? The salaries at foreign companies in the South are the same as overseas! When will we get some foreign companies here in Beijing? Then we wouldn’t have to go out of town to work."

"I have! Let me tell you, my great-aunt’s brother’s wife’s younger cousin works at a foreign company. They say he makes six thousand yuan a month in the South!"

Wen Ci was stunned as she overheard the two passing aunties’ conversation.

’Six thousand a month in the eighties?!’

’Saving up for two months would be enough to buy a flat in Shanghai.’

Wen Ci shook her head and sighed.

Getting into university was difficult and expensive, but in the eighties, the future for a graduate was limitless. While the average salary was just a few dozen yuan, you could make six thousand at a foreign company.

’Forty years from now, the average salary in big cities might not even reach six thousand yuan.’

’What about taking the college entrance exam?’

Wen Ci blinked and considered it carefully. She had forgotten most of her high school knowledge, and the college entrance exam was less than a month away.

’How much could I possibly review in a month?’

’I might just end up wasting the opportunity.’

Wen Ci shook her head again.

’That idea won’t work.’

’I’d need at least a year of studying to take the exam.’

As she continued to wander, the sky gradually darkened. It became oppressively gloomy, a sign of impending rain, and the pedestrians on the street quickened their pace toward home.

The spring rainy season in Beijing always arrived with a vengeance. In less than a minute, a misty rain enveloped everything. Wen Ci shielded her head with her hand and took shelter under some eaves.

There were plenty of other passersby taking shelter from the rain around her.

Seeing that the rain showed no signs of stopping, she couldn’t help but sigh.

"Buy an umbrella? One yuan each."

Just then, an old woman selling umbrellas approached. Carrying a wooden basket full of new umbrellas, she walked up to the sheltered eaves and called out a few times, "Paradise Umbrellas! Good quality! They’ll last you ten years, no problem."

A price of one yuan for an umbrella was indeed a bit expensive.

A normal umbrella only cost a few dimes.

Wen Ci hesitated for a moment, then took a one-yuan bill from her pocket and waved to the old woman. "Ma’am," she called out, "I’ll take one umbrella."

’Who knows how long this rain will last.’

’Besides, we don’t have an umbrella at home. If it’s still raining tomorrow, I’d have to buy one before going out anyway. Buying one now kills two birds with one stone.’

"Will you pick one yourself, miss, or should I pick for you?"

Wen Ci randomly pointed at one in the basket. "That one."

After paying, she opened the umbrella and left the shelter of the eaves. The gloomy sky and the drizzling rain seemed to be heralding the imminent arrival of summer.

Wen Ci hadn’t seen rain once during her long time in the Northwest.

When she took the rickshaw that afternoon, she had made a point to memorize the alleyways the driver took. It was just a few more minutes’ walk through this alley to get to the Beijing Military Region.

Besides the sound of the rain, it was utterly silent.

Suddenly, Wen Ci heard a child crying from within the alley.

She looked around in confusion. In the empty alley, the crying sound mixed with the rain, sounding exceptionally eerie.

Wen Ci couldn’t help but quicken her pace.

Just as she was about to exit the alley, she hesitated.

’What if the child is really in some kind of trouble?’

After a moment’s hesitation, Wen Ci decided to turn back.

Following the sound of the child’s crying, she entered an abandoned, dead-end hutong. Plastic shells were piled up against the wall, and sitting at the very end was a little boy in tattered clothes.

The eaves above the alley shielded him from the rain, but the water pooling on the ground had already risen past his ankles. The little boy’s eyes were red, and tears stained his face.

"What are you doing here?" Wen Ci asked.

The little boy, who had been crying, jumped in fright at the sound of Wen Ci’s voice. He instinctively tried to run, but his foot slipped, and he fell into the puddle.

Seeing this, Wen Ci tossed her umbrella aside and hurried to the puddle to pick the boy up. With a gentle smile, she said, "I’m not a bad person. What are you running for?"

The little boy retorted cautiously, "Only bad people say they aren’t bad people."

Wen Ci was speechless.

For a moment, she didn’t know how to refute him.

’The little guy kind of had a point.’

She wrung out his wet clothes and studied him closely. His face was grimy, but she could tell the skin underneath was fair and smooth.

It was a sign that his parents took very good care of him.