She didn't know how long she had slept when Cen Jin was startled awake by a dream of falling rapidly. She stretched her shoulder blades and glanced sideways, spotting a figure standing outside the window.
Cen Jin froze for a moment, then immediately rolled the car window all the way down after recognizing who it was.
Hearing the noise, the teenager outside turned around. His face was small with high brow bones, making people notice his upper facial features first—especially those eyes, clear as stream water.
Cen Jin smoothed her tousled hair at the back of her head and asked curiously, "Why didn't you get in? The car wasn't locked."
Li Wu remained silent.
Belatedly, Cen Jin retrieved her phone from the cup holder to check the time. "How long have I been asleep?" She stared at Li Wu in astonishment. "Have you been standing there for forty minutes?"
Li Wu shook his head. "Not that long." His expression remained neutral, as if he hadn't felt the slightest displeasure or resentment.
"You're so silly," Cen Jin nearly lost her words. "Couldn't you have woken me up?"
The heavier her tone became, the more he dared not speak. Growing impatient, Cen Jin urged, "Get in the car."
The teenager finally moved. He walked around the front of the car toward the passenger side but stopped at the door, turning instead toward a nearby flower bed.
Cen Jin leaned back slightly and saw him rubbing his shoes against a brick on the ground in the twilight.
"What are you doing?" She was truly exasperated by this kid.
Li Wu looked back. "There's mud on the soles."
"I have some too, it's already dirty," Cen Jin felt a mix of emotions. "I'll just get the car washed tomorrow."
She waved her hand. "Alright, come back."
At her words, Li Wu quickly walked over and got into the car.
Cen Jin glanced at him twice and reminded him, "The seatbelt is on your left."
While still pondering how to teach him to fasten it without hurting his pride, Li Wu had already pulled it out and clicked it into place with a snap.
Cen Jin smiled wryly, mocking her own overly dramatic internal monologue, then handed him a tissue. "You kowtowed to your grandfather, didn't you?"
Li Wu looked at her, unsure how she knew.
Cen Jin pointed to her own forehead. "There's mud on it."
Understanding dawned on Li Wu, and he hurriedly wiped it off with the tissue. Worried it wasn't clean enough, he scrubbed several more times vigorously.
Cen Jin laughed. "That's enough, you're going to rub your skin raw."
Only then did Li Wu awkwardly crumple the tissue and lower his hand. Sure enough, the spot on his forehead began to warm and turn red. Feeling ill at ease, he didn't know where to look and could only stare at a distinctive metal disc on the air vent.
A faint, elusive fragrance filled the car, like lily of the valley after rain. He guessed it probably came from there.
Cen Jin stopped looking at Li Wu, placed her hands on the steering wheel, and asked casually, "Where is your grandfather's grave?"
Li Wu said, "In the field behind the house."
Cen Jin asked, "Do you have to pay for burial plots here?"
"No," Li Wu replied.
As she drove out of the yard, the surroundings suddenly darkened. The mountains and sky merged into one, like a black barrier pressing in from all sides.
The village was pitch black with no lights; households were reluctant to use electricity, let alone install public street lamps. Cen Jin's car had low ground clearance, making it unsuitable for mountainous terrain—like being forced to wear shoes filled with pebbles.
Not daring to accelerate, Cen Jin drove slowly. After following the navigation for a while, the bumpy ride was starting to unsettle her.
Frustrated, she switched between high and low beams repeatedly. During idle moments, she would glance at Li Wu. The teenager remained completely silent, sitting upright as if attending a public lecture with a thousand eyes watching him.She wasn't that intimidating, was she? Cen Jin couldn't figure it out: "Aren't you going to take a nap?"
Li Wu said, "Not sleepy."
Cen Jin pursed her lips and came up with an idea: "Lean back a bit, I can't see the rearview mirror."
Li Wu's ears suddenly flushed hot. He hurriedly moved back, pressing himself firmly against the seat as if pinned by an invisible hand, unable to move.
Even trying to get him to relax felt like forcing him. Cen Jin couldn't hold back a laugh, her bad mood instantly vanishing. She casually struck up a conversation: "Do you take this road to school too?"
Li Wu: "Mm."
"How do you get there? By bike?"
"I walk."
"Walk?" Cen Jin was astonished. "That's really far. It'd take at least two hours."
"Three hours."
Cen Jin's fingers tightened around the steering wheel. "What time do you have to get up and come back every day?"
Li Wu didn't give a specific answer, only saying, "I'm used to it already."
Cen Jin sighed inwardly, her tone softening. "It'll be better once you live on campus. Just a few steps to the classroom."
Li Wu still replied: "Mm."
The car grew quiet. Half an hour later, they finally descended the mountain. The car gradually picked up speed and merged onto the highway.
The road instantly became smooth and wide, no longer as monotonous as before. They could occasionally spot other vehicles.
Good road conditions also meant it was easy to feel drowsy. Cen Jin turned on some music to keep herself alert.
However, aside from the music, there wasn't much else happening in the car. Cen Jin was usually quite talkative, but the boy beside her was so reticent that she had no opportunity to engage. If she hadn't accidentally caught a glimpse of him in her peripheral vision, she might have forgotten there was another living person in the passenger seat.
Li Wu hadn't eaten much for dinner. Worried that someone his age might get hungry easily, as they approached a rest area, she asked, "Are you hungry? Should we get off the highway to grab something to eat?"
Li Wu uttered two words flatly: "Not hungry."
"..." Without another word, Cen Jin turned the wheel and headed for the exit. "I'm hungry."
Li Wu: "..."
Cen Jin parked the car and went to the supermarket.
Before getting out, she didn't say where she was going, only told Li Wu to wait in the car. She knew she wouldn't get any useful information if she asked.
She randomly picked out some boxed milk and snacks and brought them back to the car.
Cen Jin kept two items for herself and handed the rest, bag and all, to Li Wu, saying succinctly, "Eat." Then she tore open her own bag with a pop, pulled out a small piece of bread, and put it in her mouth.
The boy took the bag, neatly arranged the items, placed them on his lap, and made no further move.
Cen Jin glanced at him and swallowed her bread.
She kept her gaze fixed on him, not looking away.
Li Wu gradually grew uncomfortable, his jaw tightening. The woman's stare was undoubtedly a form of pressure—she was waiting for him to give in and obediently eat something from the bag.
Li Wu couldn't hold out any longer. His long lashes lowered as he pulled out a packet, opened it, and took a big bite.
With her goal accomplished, Cen Jin said coolly, "If you've borrowed thirty thousand, there's no need to be polite about small things like this." Then she turned her face away, secretly smiling to herself, impressed by her own assertiveness.
Li Wu had no idea how to interact with Cen Jin—this feeling wasn't fear, but unease. He couldn't help worrying that at any moment, some action of his might upset her and make her think poorly of him.
So, the safest approach was to do nothing.
The boy opened his mouth to apologize, but out of the corner of his eye, he saw the woman's hand already on the steering wheel, no longer looking his way.
Li Wu could only lower his eyes and focus on eating the bread in his hand.Just as she started the car, the phone in Cen Jin's cup holder suddenly rang. Seeing the name on the screen, her brow furrowed instantly.
Cen Jin put on her Bluetooth earpiece. "Mom? Why aren't you asleep yet?"
The voice on the other end was soft but sounded somewhat hollow, as if coming from a balcony. "Can't sleep."
"Insomnia?"
Cen's Mother said, "I went to your place today."
Cen Jin's heart skipped a beat. "Why didn't you tell me you were coming?"
"I went to watch a play on Qingping Road this afternoon, so I brought some things for you both. There are two boxes of skincare products inside. You weren't home, so I had Wu Fu take them. Ask him for them when you get back."
Cen Jin was still keeping the separation from her parents and could only play along. Her voice sweetened, adopting the coquettish tone unique to a "daughter" role: "Okay, thanks, Mom~"
"You didn't rest today?"
"Hmm," Cen Jin abruptly turned off the engine, unsure how Wu Fu had handled her mother's visit. She could only give a vague response that was hard to fault: "I'm out, handling some matters."
After a brief silence, her mother suddenly asked, "Have you and Wu Fu separated?"
Cen Jin froze, stubbornly denying it: "How could that be? Did Wu Fu say that?"
"He didn't," Cen's Mother sighed. "Couldn't I tell if you've moved out? There's no trace of you living there anymore. You've probably been gone for a while."
Tears welled up in Cen Jin's eyes, her vision blurring.
"Are you two fighting again?" Cen's Mother sighed. "I've been tossing and turning over this, unable to sleep. I thought I'd better ask and get it clear."
Cen Jin smoothed her hair, hesitating as she weighed whether to brush it off or come clean immediately.
The current situation left no room for overthinking. She still needed her father's help with Li Wu's schooling, and with the facts laid out so plainly, she didn't want to weave more lies to cover up a bigger deception. She decided to lay it all out: "We're getting a divorce."
"What?" Cen's Mother was shocked. "Why?"
"We just can't go on like this," she leaned back against the seat, feigning nonchalance.
"You're just saying that in anger," Cen's Mother clearly didn't believe her. "I've heard you say this a hundred times. Do you think marriage is a game?"
Cen Jin sniffled, her hands tightening and loosening on the steering wheel. "Wu Fu was the one who brought it up this time." Just mentioning his name made her heart ache.
Realizing the severity of the situation, Cen's Mother's breathing quickened. "Why did he bring it up?"
With someone nearby, Cen Jin felt too embarrassed to speak frankly.
Cen's Mother pressed, "Where are you? Where are you now?"
Cen Jin said, "Shengzhou."
"What are you doing there?"
"Mom," Cen Jin steadied her voice. "I wanted to ask you something. Does Dad know Teacher Qi—the head of the math department at Yi High School?"
"Why are you asking?"
Cen Jin glanced at Li Wu. "Do you remember that child Wu Fu and I have been supporting? I came to pick him up today. I want to get him into Yi High School as a boarding student. His grandfather..."
Before she could finish, her mother exploded: "You went to pick up a child?"
"Yes."
"You're going through a divorce and you still have time for this? Huh?" Cen's Mother's voice rose sharply, as if shattering glass in Cen Jin's ears. "You can't even manage your own family, and now you're playing philanthropist?"
Cen Jin stiffened, raising her voice to overpower and win the argument: "Do you think I want to? If Wu Fu won't take responsibility, who will? Should we just let the child fend for himself?""I never imagined divorce could happen to my daughter! And you're still worrying about other people? Worry about yourself first!"
"How am I not worrying about myself?" Blood rushed to her head, Cen Jin's eyes welled up, and she began speaking recklessly: "I'm perfectly fine. I should be asking you instead—if you hadn't pressured me, would I have come here to provide support? If you hadn't pressured me, would I be driving these terrible roads in the middle of the night in the wilderness? Without you, I would never have encountered this mess!"
"Who pressured you? Did your father or I pressure you?" Cen's Mother grew even more furious: "Wasn't it you who wanted to marry Wu Fu in the first place? If you hadn't married Wu Fu, none of this would have happened. And now you're blaming us?! No wonder we haven't seen him around—you've been separated all along, and you hid it from your parents? How impressive of you to travel thousands of miles to Shengzhou to pick up someone else's child. What about your own child? If you had spent more effort getting pregnant earlier, would Wu Fu have asked for a divorce? And you still have the mind to care about other people's children?"
As if stabbed in the heart, Cen Jin's tears streamed down uncontrollably. Choking up, she replied: "Fine, none of this is your fault. It's all my fault. I still have to drive, so don't call me again."
Cen Jin ended the call and grabbed a tissue, wiping her face haphazardly, but she couldn't stop the tears.
The composure she had maintained all day, fragile as paper sculpture, was easily shattered by her mother's harsh words.
Through her blurred vision, Cen Jin remembered there was someone sitting beside her and became aware of her own outburst and improper remarks.
Her eyes red, she turned to look at Li Wu.
The young man remained upright and proper, his lips pressed into a straight line, revealing no extra emotion. He quietly gazed at the night scenery outside the front window, carefully avoiding letting even a single glance drift her way to spare her embarrassment.
He was like a gray shadow, a wisp of winter fog, accustomed to hiding and going unnoticed; as if he were also... trying hard to prove that he didn't care.
In an instant, Cen Jin was crushed by overwhelming guilt. She bent over, covered her face tightly, and wept uncontrollably.
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