The boy's words struck like a blow to the head, leaving Cen Jin momentarily stunned. A buzzing like boiling water filled her skull, making her entire face burn with heat.
She was speechless, her hand pressed motionless against the quilt, unable to process the intense impact of Li Wu's words.
The other end remained silent too, as if patiently awaiting her storm of emotions.
After a moment, Cen Jin regained her senses and did her utmost to sound steady: "Is there any room for reconsideration? I don't need you to repay the money so soon."
Li Wu said: "The contract was signed yesterday afternoon. The admissions teacher even took me to tour F University."
Cen Jin's heart clenched: "Did you consult me about this?"
Li Wu said: "You didn't come back. I thought you wouldn't want to know."
Cen Jin's pupils dilated in disbelief: "What do you mean by that? Are you deliberately opposing me now? I tell you to go east so you insist on going west? Do you realize what you're doing—using your future to blackmail and retaliate against me? Do you think I'll feel guilty because of this? Or be moved by it? When you could have gone to a better school, why insist on staying here?"
As if he had anticipated her reaction, Li Wu's tone remained flat: "It's my own choice. It has nothing to do with you."
Cen Jin rested her hand on her head and glanced sideways at the tightly drawn curtains, feeling just like this window—completely blocked off, utterly losing the ability to argue back.
In the end, she could only resort to harsh words: "Fine, I'll make it clear to you—wherever you are, I don't want to see you again."
Li Wu said: "Don't worry, I'll leave right away. After this, don't force yourself to stay outside anymore."
Cen Jin was taken aback: "Where are you going?"
Li Wu didn't answer, only explained methodically: "I've left the accounts for all living expenses since coming to Yi High School on the study desk. You can check them when you return. I've included the prices of all the things you bought me that I know, plus the thirty thousand you gave my aunt. I'm not sure if a hundred thousand is enough altogether. If it's not, tell me how much more I owe. I'll find a way to repay it all this summer."
His meticulous accounting felt like needles piercing Cen Jin's heart. Without realizing it, her eyes reddened, and she laughed in extreme anger: "Fine. I understand."
Cen Jin didn't know how much effort it took to make those six words sound completely weightless.
The boy fell silent for a moment, then suddenly spoke with gravity, as if bidding final farewell: "Sister, thank you for taking care of me all this time."
It was those two words—"sister"—that suddenly brought tears to Cen Jin's eyes.
Clutching her phone, she said nothing, maintaining her rigid sitting position as tears streamed freely down her face.
A drop fell onto the pure white quilt, leaving a small dark stain.
Only then did Cen Jin seem to awaken, wiping the moisture from her chin with her finger before ending the call.
Cen Jin hadn't felt this way in a long time—awful, chaotic, helpless, as if locked in a room full of disarray. Sitting on a wooden chair in the center, she looked around at the scattered objects, completely unsure where to begin. Thankfully, Li Wu had taken care of everything for her. He had systematically checked, organized, and returned everything to its place—neat and clear.
No need to manage anything anymore.
How wonderful.
She should feel relieved and unburdened, yet Cen Jin felt a small crack open in her heart, through which cold air rushed incessantly, impossible to mend.
Covered in goosebumps, Cen Jin checked out of the hotel and walked out.On her day off, worried that Li Wu might still be tidying up and they'd run into each other, Cen Jin didn't return to her own place but went to her parents' house instead.
As soon as she entered the gate, she spotted her mother feeding the fish by the rockery in the courtyard. Her mother noticed her daughter too, looking somewhat surprised at first, but quickly broke into a smile. "What brings you back?"
Cen Jin closed her parasol, her fair face returning to the sunlight, so pale it was almost dazzling. She smiled back. "I'm off today, so I thought I'd come see you, Mom."
"I bet you only came back to see your dad," Cen's Mother said, tossing the remaining fish food in her hand all at once. The gold and red koi instantly swarmed in a frenzy. She then turned her gaze to Cen Jin, studying her. "What's wrong? You seem down."
Cen Jin was impressed. "Mom, you're like an emotional radar."
Cen's Mother gave her a sidelong glance. "Your smile looks so listless, it's as if we forced you to come back."
Cen Jin wrapped her arms around her mother's arm, cooing, "Not at all. I've just been busy with work and haven't rested well."
After saying this, she leaned her head against her mother's shoulder. Cen's Mother raised a finger and pushed her away twice in mock disgust, but when she couldn't shake her off, she simply let her be, her smile growing even warmer.
Mother and daughter walked arm in arm through the carved gate.
Cen Jin's home was a standalone Western-style house with purely Chinese architectural elements. A spiral wooden staircase connected the floors, and a massive Cloud Mountain Landscape Painting hung on the high wall. The furniture was all rosewood, and gleaming, pristine artifacts were scattered throughout, resembling the residence of an official from the Republican era.
Once inside, a wave of cool air greeted them. Cen Jin immediately let go of her mother and sprawled across the sofa, heaving a sigh of relief as if finally finding release.
Cen's Mother asked the housekeeper to pour her a glass of juice, but Cen Jin declined, asking if there was anything cold instead.
The housekeeper understood immediately and fetched a box of ice cream from the fridge, handing it to Cen Jin.
Cen's Mother, meanwhile, retrieved her reading glasses from the gold-threaded case on the tea table, put them on, and resumed her cross-stitching project, threading her needle with calm focus.
She embroidered with serene composure while Cen Jin scooped spoonful after spoonful of ice cream, the two coexisting peacefully.
As the ice cream neared the bottom, Cen Jin glanced at her mother. "Where's Dad?"
"At the company."
"Is he busy these days?"
Cen's Mother replied, "When is he not busy?"
"Will he be back for lunch?"
"He said he would. I'll call him later. If he knew you were here, he'd fly back home even if he were abroad."
At this, Cen's Mother adjusted her glasses and asked curiously, "Why are you alone? Where's Xiao Wu?"
Then, as if remembering something, she widened her eyes. "Didn't the college entrance exam results come out? How did he do?"
Cen Jin's hand paused mid-scoop at the untimely question. The corners of her mouth drooped briefly before she quickly forced a smile. "He did great."
"'Great' still needs a score."
Cen Jin fell silent. She honestly didn't know the exact score and could only evade the question. "He's already committed to F University."
"What? So soon?" Cen's Mother was astonished. "His score must be really high then, for F University to snatch him up right after the results came out yesterday."
Cen Jin snorted coldly. "Who knows about him."
Cen's Mother eyed her. "Why do you seem like you're not happy for him at all?"
Cen Jin retorted, "How can I be happy? With scores that could get him into Tsinghua or Peking University, he insists on staying here."
Cen's Mother was puzzled. "Isn't F University good too? You graduated from there yourself. Why are you looking down on it now?"
"You don't understand."Cen's Mother smiled: "I don't understand? Back when you said you wanted to study journalism, your father was considering getting you into Renmin University, but you didn't want to go to Beijing either—didn't want to be far from home. So why won't you let him refuse now?"
Cen Jin was speechless for two seconds: "How could he be the same as me?"
"What's the difference?" Cen's Mother said: "Why do you care what he chooses? As long as it's settled. You're not his birth mother—are you going to support him for life?"
Cen Jin couldn't refute this.
With sharp perception, Cen's Mother grasped the underlying reason: "Oh—so you had a conflict with that kid over college applications?"
Cen Jin sighed: "You could say that."
"Don't have a mother's fate but caught a mother's disease." Cen's Mother shook her head, continuing her needlework with regret: "No wonder Xiao Wu didn't come back with you. We only saw him once this Spring Festival—I actually miss him quite a bit. Much more obedient than you."
Cen Jin felt anger rising, all tangled up in her mother's previous remark: "Could you please not be so harsh? How do you know it was my problem back then?"
"Whether it was or not, you'd have to try with someone else to find out," Cen's Mother muttered quietly, then raised her face: "It's been so long since you left, and that kid's all grown up now. Haven't thought about finding someone else? Your third aunt has told me several times—with your qualifications, even first-time marriages would have endless suitors."
"Stop." Cen Jin held a warning tone.
"No one at your company catches your eye either?"
Cen Jin felt her nerves fraying, covering her ears with both hands: "I've completely lost hope in men, given up. I just want to live the rest of my life well by myself."
Cen's Mother watched her from behind her glasses, highly amused, letting out two dry laughs.
At noon, Cen's Father returned home, overjoyed to see his daughter, showering her with concerned questions.
During lunch, they inevitably asked about Li Wu's college entrance exam results. Cen Jin could only provide information based on that morning's phone call.
For some reason, both parents were delighted, their only regret being Li Wu's absence.
Father even ceremoniously opened a bottle of champagne, disregarding whether he needed to drive or work that afternoon.
Cen Jin could only perfunctorily clink glasses with her father again and again, celebrating for someone who wasn't present and had essentially left her life.
She couldn't help but self-reflect—why did it seem like she was the only unhappy, resentful person in the whole world?
But regardless, she and that ungrateful person had already parted ways.
So she wished him a bright future.
Cen Jin sat silently and distractedly, pouring herself another drink.
—
That night, Cen Jin returned to her own place. She couldn't be bothered to check whether any traces of Li Wu's presence remained in the house, or assess how thoroughly he had moved out.
After showering, Cen Jin went to the study and flipped through the account book the young man had left behind. Before she'd read many pages, she suddenly found herself enveloped in a subtle, persistent sadness, as if returning to that gray cocoon. This feeling somewhat resembled when she'd witnessed Wu Fu's divorce papers—not only because she had to accept a familiar person completely leaving her life, but also because every sincere relationship she'd experienced ultimately ended in emotionless clearing out, without exception.
She didn't understand why it kept happening.
Was it because she wasn't soft enough? Couldn't show weakness? No longer met their expectations?
So ridiculous.
Cen Jin exhaled sharply, pulled the trash can from under the desk, pressed open the lid, noisily swept all the account books inside, then closed it, kicked it back, out of sight, out of mind.
This night, Cen Jin suffered from insomnia again.She opened her phone and found the latest college entrance examination announcement posted on Yi High School’s official WeChat account. There, she finally learned Li Wu’s exact score and his ranking.
She turned on the desk lamp, climbed out of bed in the dim light, and pulled out the journal from the second drawer of the dresser.
This journal was specifically used to record every exam result Li Wu had achieved since transferring to Yi High School.
She planned to include it among his graduation gifts, treating it as a badge of honor for this phase of his life, hoping he would like it.
It was a staircase built just for him. From below, she watched him climb diligently and wholeheartedly, step by step, until he reached the summit.
Unfortunately, the owner of the staircase had made the most uninspired choice.
Cen Jin sighed regretfully as she sat back down at the foot of the bed, flipping through the pages to review each of Li Wu’s exam results since his transfer to Yi High School and every moment of shared joy between them.
Regrettably, the most important page remained blank.
Cen Jin stood up, picked a thick black marker from the pen holder, and carefully transcribed his total college entrance exam score onto the page, bringing everything to a close.
―
On June 26th, Li Wu returned to school to collect his documents. After parting ways with Cheng Rui at the stairwell, he headed to Class 1, Grade 12.
The classroom was already filled with many classmates. As soon as they saw him, they crowded around to offer their congratulations.
Li Wu smiled faintly, his eyes unreadable as he responded politely.
After receiving the documents from Teacher Qi behind the podium, Li Wu thanked her.
Qi Sixian looked at him with a hint of regret. “I heard you’re going to F University?”
Li Wu nodded.
Qi Sixian clicked her tongue meaningfully but refrained from further comment, saying only, “Before you leave, stop by my office. Something was delivered to me to pass on to you. I haven’t opened it.”
Li Wu was surprised but didn’t ask what it was, merely nodding in acknowledgment.
When Li Wu went to the second-floor office, the first person he saw was Teacher Zhang.
The young man flashed his first genuine smile since receiving his scores and shared each subject’s results with her, especially his science composite score.
Teacher Zhang was beaming with pride. Upon hearing his final choice, she showed no disappointment, instead encouraging him with the same warmth as the previous year: “Go boldly, child. As long as you hold onto your beliefs and never stop learning.”
After the brief exchange, Li Wu walked over to Teacher Qi’s desk and spotted the package.
Catching sight of the sender’s address, his gaze froze. He immediately grabbed a utility knife from the pen holder and hastily tore the package open.
After unwrapping layers of bubble wrap, he uncovered a notebook with a textured brown leather cover.
Lowering his eyes, he opened the first page and froze in place.
Staring back at him was the score slip from his first monthly exam after transferring to Yi High School, meticulously and neatly pasted horizontally in the center of the page.
Above it was the date, and below were concise yet precise analyses and words of encouragement for each subject’s performance.
He recognized the handwriting.
The young man continued flipping through the pages, his breathing growing deeper and more hurried.
As he progressed, the comments grew sparser, replaced by playful, astonished, or excited exclamation marks, question marks, and “bravo!!”
Until the final page:
Three bold, black numbers—his college entrance exam score—were written with such force they nearly pierced through the paper:
Li Wu stared at the numbers for a long, long time… His gaze shifted, and when it landed on the lower right corner of the page, his entire body stiffened, his heart aching as if shattered.
There were two small lines of text:
“Your efforts
I’ve returned them to you.”
OpenNovel