Coming of Age
Dust and Clouds
My stepmother had been my mom’s best friend, and she had always doted on me.
She spoiled me so thoroughly that Dad became utterly disappointed in me and turned to grooming his stepdaughter instead.
After Dad died, my stepmother swallowed up the inheritance and threw me out of the house.
I died on the streets one snowy night.
When I opened my eyes again, my stepmother was secretly stuffing money into the hands of my soon-to-be second-year high school self.
“Don’t worry about your dad. I support you studying music and chasing your dreams.”
Wild Grass
I was the freest child in the village.
All the other kids envied me because no one ever told me what to do.
But the truth was, my parents had divorced, and neither of them wanted me.
That was why they left eight-year-old me all alone in a mud-brick house up in the mountains.
During the day, it was all right.
But at night, the mountain wind howled, and the drunk old bachelor would reach his hand in through the crack in the window. “Jingjing, are you scared all by yourself? Uncle Dog will keep you company!”
