Dazzling

Qing Ye did indeed fall asleep and didn't wake until after dark. Due to her conjunctivitis, she couldn't look at her phone or computer. This wretched place didn't even have anyone she could have a normal conversation with. In all her life, she had never experienced such an agonizing summer vacation. Strangely, she found herself looking forward to school starting soon, if only to avoid having to face this bizarre family all day long.

Qing Ye lay in bed a while longer, only getting up when Li Lanfang called her downstairs for dinner.

Just as she reached the backyard, she heard Li Lanfang complaining vehemently to Xing Wu: "Have you lost your mind? Locks don't come for free! The Wu family might be manageable, but the Zhangs would never pay up. Why should we be the ones installing a new door lock?"

Qing Ye froze momentarily, suddenly recalling the plastic bag Xing Wu had been carrying when he returned that afternoon. She hadn't paid attention at the time, but now it occurred to her that it might have contained a new door lock. She turned to look at Xing Wu.

Xing Wu was feeding his grandmother, shooting Qing Ye a sidelong glance. Under the dim yellow lightbulb, his profile was illuminated, revealing sharp, handsome features with a cold edge.

Qing Ye remembered the scene from last night's shower. Because of that hole in the door, she had been on edge the whole time, feeling utterly insecure. Her mind had conjured all sorts of scenarios—like a pair of eyes suddenly appearing outside the hole—scaring her so much that she cut her shower short. She had rushed out in a panic, only to end up drenched in sweat from the heat.

Xing Wu had scolded her for being troublesome then, full of impatience. But today he had actually installed a new lock. For some reason, a peculiar feeling welled up in Qing Ye's heart. When she looked at Xing Wu again, he didn't seem quite as detestable anymore. Even his cold expression appeared somewhat more attractive.

Xing Wu seemed unwilling to let Li Lanfang continue harping on the subject. "Enough," he said. "I didn't ask you to pay for it. Since it's installed, just leave it at that. Why bother asking Uncle Zhang for money?"

Qing Ye sat down to eat without getting involved in their argument. However, Li Lanfang, provoked by Xing Wu's words, put down her chopsticks and snapped, "I don't understand what you're saying. What do you mean you didn't ask me to pay? How did you grow up? If I hadn't raised you, would you be this tall? Isn't your money my money? Isn't it the Xing family's money? Everyone uses the bathroom. When the lock broke, everyone played dead, hoping someone else would fix it. And you—you had to go and be the sucker. Today it's a door lock—what? Are you planning to build someone else's house tomorrow?"

To be honest, Qing Ye thought Li Lanfang was being a bit too nitpicky. They were neighbors who saw each other every day—there was no need to calculate everything so precisely. Although she generally found Xing Wu irritating, in this matter, she sided with him. Moreover, she felt Li Lanfang's words were overly harsh.

She glanced up at Xing Wu and, sure enough, he was clenching his jaw, clearly suppressing his anger and looking ready to flip the table.

Yet he restrained himself and continued patiently feeding his grandmother. Li Lanfang, seeing his silence, grew even more furious and kept ranting about money.

Qing Ye had never worried about money growing up. Her parents never argued over finances, so she couldn't quite understand why people here talked about money nonstop. How could neighbors treat each other like thieves over a few dozen yuan? It was utterly baffling.

Finally, she couldn't take it anymore. She looked up and asked, "How much was it?"

Li Lanfang's voice cut off abruptly as she turned to stare at Qing Ye. Even Xing Wu furrowed his brow and glanced sideways at her.

Qing Ye repeated, "How much was the door lock? I'll pay for it. Is five hundred enough?"With that, she pulled five crisp bills from her small crossbody bag and slapped them onto the table: "Can we stop arguing?"

Li Lanfang immediately fell silent, staring fixedly at the money. However, to Qing Ye's surprise, Xing Wu suddenly slammed the nearly empty bowl onto the table, stood up, and snarled viciously: "If you've got money, why not donate it all to the county's development? Think you're the only one with cash?"

As he spoke, Xing Wu kicked the wooden stool, turned away without finishing his meal, and stormed off. Qing Ye was bewildered by his sudden fury. The wooden stool, sent flying by his kick, rolled twice on the floor before completely falling apart. Frozen by the table, Qing Ye's heart raced wildly. Anger, fear, and grievance tangled together, choking her breath and draining all color from her face.

Li Lanfang, for once, stopped her muttering and sighed to herself, "What a sin!"

She then turned to comfort Qing Ye: "Let's ignore him. We'll eat our meal. If we bothered with his tantrums, we'd die of anger every single day."

As she spoke, she casually pocketed the five hundred yuan from in front of Qing Ye and resumed eating as if nothing had happened.

Qing Ye glanced at her, her appetite completely gone. The tiny shred of goodwill she'd felt toward Xing Wu earlier vanished without a trace. Once again, she concluded that this whole family was downright insane.

But today, Qing Ye didn't act on impulse. Xing Wu was right—only fools would take their frustrations out on an empty stomach. However, she decided to amend that thought: only fools would let idiots ruin their appetite.

She forced the rice down her throat, tasting nothing. Whether she was full or not was unclear, but at least she'd eaten something.

Xing Wu didn't return home that night. Qing Ye had no idea where he went, nor did she care. When she went downstairs to shower, she noticed the newly installed door lock—likely Xing Wu's handiwork, neatly done. The large spider behind the door was gone too, though she couldn't tell if it had wandered off or if Xing Wu had removed it.

The next day, Huang Mao actually showed up with a bag of apples. Too shy to enter her room, he left the fruit at the top of the second-floor staircase and called out, "Cousin, I checked two fruit stands but couldn't find those avocado things you wanted. I did find cherries at one place—enjoy these for now!"

With that, he left. Qing Ye walked to the staircase and saw the large bag of fruit, which even included a dragon fruit. Though the cherries looked unappealing and dried out, finding them in this backwater town was already a luxury.

Over the following days, Xing Wu indeed behaved as Li Lanfang had predicted—he rarely came home to sleep, barely even showing his face. He'd only swing by during dinner, sometimes at noon, but hardly ever ate at home. He'd return just to feed his grandmother, then leave promptly.

One day, during a brief visit, he repaired the wooden chair he'd kicked apart, even sanding the edges smooth until it looked professionally crafted. Probably because if he didn't fix it, there wouldn't be another chair to spare in the house.

Qing Ye no longer attempted to initiate conversation or pick fights. Xing Wu, in turn, seemed indifferent to her existence, acting as though she weren't even there.One day during a meal, Qing Ye overheard Li Lanfang and Xing Wu arguing again in the barbershop. However, the quarrel ended quickly as Xing Wu left after just a few words. When Li Lanfang came out, she returned the 500 yuan to Qing Ye. Qing Ye had never expected to get the money back. Li Lanfang grumbled, "Take it. If I keep your money, Wu Zi will just argue with me again."

Qing Ye didn't say anything and quietly put the 500 yuan away.

A week later, Qing Ye's eyes had mostly recovered, and the wounds on her legs had scabbed over. During the day, after finishing her studies, she would occasionally help Li Lanfang with tasks like handling payments. It wasn't out of sudden kindness—she was just unbearably bored. Since arriving here, aside from holing up in her room to read, she had almost nowhere else to go.

Beyond this tiny barbershop, she couldn't take a single step outside. For one, she didn't know her way around anywhere. For another, ever since Xing Wu had frightened her that night, she had grown wary of the public safety in this county and didn't dare to wander out alone.

A few days later, Huang Mao and Pang Hu stopped by Dazzle Island to check on her. Seeing that her eyes had healed, Huang Mao grinned and said, "Finally, you don't look scary anymore."

Qing Ye casually asked, "What does Xing Wu usually do?"

Huang Mao replied matter-of-factly, "Earning money, of course."

"A summer job?"

Pang Hu stammered, "N-no, not a summer job. It's a l-long-term job."

Huang Mao laughed. "You don't know, do you? Our Brother Wu is known as 'Little Master Wu' out there. He's really something. There's no one in all of Zhazha Pavilion who can outdo him."

Qing Ye couldn't help but flash a look of utter disdain, thinking to herself, What idiots. Have these people never seen what truly capable people are like? Physicists, meteorologists, astronomers, special forces soldiers, engineers, pilots—aren't they all impressive? How great can Xing Wu possibly be? Can he even fly?

Seeing Qing Ye's disbelief, Huang Mao grew agitated. "It's true! Our Brother Wu—"

Pang Hu tugged at him. "Brother Wu told us n-not to talk about his business everywhere."

Huang Mao shut his mouth. Qing Ye asked, "Are you two still in school?"

Huang Mao replied, "Yeah, Brother Wu and we both go to An Zhong. We'll be seniors when school starts."

Qing Ye raised an eyebrow. An Zhong? That was the school she had transferred to. She hadn't expected Xing Wu to be in the same grade as her. He really didn't seem like a high school student—she had assumed he had dropped out long ago.

Huang Mao and Pang Hu didn't stay long before leaving.

Once Qing Ye's eyes had fully recovered, she began using the computer to preview senior-year coursework. Her former classmates had already returned to school early, but the schools here showed no signs of starting. It was baffling to see people like Huang Mao and Pang Hu still idling around the streets, completely unlike students preparing for the college entrance exam.

Yet, the more baffling it seemed, the more Qing Ye felt an invisible pressure. She was completely out of place here. The only way to leave was to achieve exceptional results in the college entrance exam. Originally, her goal had been Columbia or the University of Toronto. Nowadays, top universities in Canada required gaokao scores. For her, it wasn't just about getting admitted—it was about securing a scholarship. In the worst-case scenario, if her father couldn't get out of his situation anytime soon, she would have to support herself abroad. Funding was her top priority. Despite her overwhelming sadness, helplessness, and discomfort, she had no choice but to start planning for her future path.During the day, she would sometimes sit at the cash register handling payments while watching educational videos on her laptop and taking notes.

But her behavior seemed utterly bizarre in the eyes of the locals. One of Li Lanfang's mahjong friends even remarked, "What's the point of a girl reading so many books? She'll just end up getting married and having children anyway." Surprisingly, others chimed in agreement.

Qing Ye couldn't believe that in the 21st century, there were still people who thought women should remain uneducated?

She couldn't help retorting on the spot: "Do you earn enough to let your wives and children lie around at home without financial worries and achieve financial freedom? If not, what gives you the right to prevent women from using knowledge to change their fate? Is that a national regulation?"

"Oh dear, this child..." The mahjong friends hadn't expected this usually quiet girl to suddenly talk back.

It was also the first time Li Lanfang had seen Qing Ye stand her ground in front of so many people. She smoothed things over by saying, "Let's not say anymore. If she likes studying, just let her study. It's not like she's doing anything bad."

Seeing that Sister Li had spoken, the mahjong friends fell silent. Although Li Lanfang was quite old-fashioned most of the time, when it came to studying, she thought Qing Ye's diligence was admirable - at least her own good-for-nothing son could never manage it. Making him sit quietly at home reading for half a day would be like asking for his life.

Who could have predicted that the very next afternoon, during the brief time Qing Ye went to the restroom, something would happen the moment she came out.