Chapter 16

I thought I’d done pretty well on the college entrance exam. Happy and excited, I went looking for Bai Zifan, but I couldn’t reach him. The dozen or so messages I’d sent to his phone had all sunk without a trace.

My dad said, “I heard he didn’t even take the exam.”

“Why?”

“How would I know why? A punk like him, how many of them actually have the patience to study? Doesn’t know how to cherish an opportunity!”

“That’s not right, he… he’s really good at studying!”

“Everyone’s got their own fate. Rotten mud can’t be molded… Hey, where are you going?”

…

I dashed out the door into the pouring rain.

The rolling shutter at Galaxy Auto Repair was half open. The familiar stink of motor oil mixed with the metallic tang of rainwater rushed at me.

“Bai Zifan!” My voice echoed through the empty workshop.

A creeper board slowly slid out from under a car. His face, stained with grease, looked like it was wearing a cold mask. “Go home.” He grabbed a wad of cotton rags to wipe his hands and shot me a cool glance. “We don’t work on imported cars.”

“Bai Zifan! Why did you lie to me? You bastard! Liar!” I lost it and kicked over the oil drum beside me. Black liquid spilled out and mingled with the rainwater on the floor, snaking into twisted little rivers.

“Why didn’t you take the exam? Why did you give up?…”

I was shouting like a madwoman.

Suddenly he yanked me out of the rain and into his arms, his palm clamping tightly around the small of my back. “That thing you said about wanting to be the wife of a mechanic, does it still count?” His breath burned hot against my ear.

I froze, tilting my face up to stare at him in shock. “Of course-”

Before I could finish, his lips crashed down on mine. The kiss tasted like cold rain.

All at once someone hauled me back and away, then swung a vicious slap across Bai Zifan’s face.

“Smack!”

The sharp crack of it made me flinch from head to toe.

“Dad!” I gasped.

My dad’s old subordinate, Uncle Qiao, came up behind me holding an umbrella and steered me toward the car. “Girl, don’t make your dad any angrier. Get in the car!”

Through the window, I saw my dad jabbing a finger at Bai Zifan’s nose, his hair-usually combed to perfection-hanging loose in a few disheveled strands. Bai Zifan just stood there, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth with his thumb, his eyes fixed on me the entire time.

I threw a tantrum when we got home, but my dad’s attitude was shockingly firm. “He was expelled back then for being a thug. I wanted to do a good deed, but a person’s nature can’t be changed. You know what’s scariest about people at the bottom? You give them a bite of food, and they start wanting a whole banquet. A little punk like him actually dares to set his sights on you! I’m telling you, stay away from him. If I ever see you hanging around him again, I’ll destroy him. You hear me?”

I got my admission notice from a university in the Imperial Capital, but I cried every day.

My dad had the housekeeper and driver keep a tight watch on me. I wasn’t allowed out. Every bit of contact information for Bai Zifan on my phone was deleted and blocked.

But I still refused to give up. I secretly searched online and dug up the contact info for Galaxy Auto Repair, then quietly messaged Brother Hao. Soon I reestablished contact with Bai Zifan. He said he missed me too.

We started plotting in secret, doing our best to create chances to meet.

I told him, “As long as I get a chance to go out, I get a chance to run. My dad can’t lock me up for life!”

Sure enough, one day the opportunity came. My dad said we were all going out to eat as a family.

At the table there was a man named Su Guangchen. My dad told me to call him Uncle Su. My mom quietly reminded me to be extra polite-Uncle Su was a big official.

Uncle Su praised me for being pretty and outstanding.

My dad said, “She’s nothing compared to your Xiao Hang! Has he graduated yet?”

Uncle Su said Xiao Hang was preparing for his second degree and wouldn’t be coming home this summer.

My dad sighed regretfully. “I thought Xiao Hang would be here today. I wanted our Lili to learn a thing or two from him. She doesn’t listen to a word we adults say. Maybe young people talking to each other would be more effective.”

“There’ll be plenty of chances in the future!”

…

I was bored out of my mind and in a foul mood, but after the meal, an unexpected chance to escape appeared. The adults had other plans, so my dad told the driver to take me home first.

Thrilled, I secretly texted Bai Zifan.

When the car neared the Yinhe Intersection, I suddenly covered my mouth. “Could you pull over for a bit… I’m carsick… I feel like throwing up.”

The driver stopped the car-and I heard the familiar roar of an engine. Bai Zifan’s motorcycle screeched to a stop right beside me. I jumped onto the back seat in one fluid motion, wrapping my arms tight around his waist. His T-shirt smelled sun-baked and warm. The heartbeat against his back pounded just as hard as mine.

“Faster! Go faster!” I looked back to see the Mercedes trapped at a red light, while the motorcycle slipped nimbly through the gaps in traffic.

I couldn’t help laughing out loud. I felt like a fish poured out of a glass tank into the open sea, a glittering expanse of freedom spreading before my eyes.

I pressed my burning face against his back. “Where are we going?”

“Somewhere no one can find us.” His voice came back to me mixed with the rush of wind.

I nodded happily.