Chapter 10

A lot has happened in these six years.

I left the He Family and moved to Nancheng for university.

In the poorest, most stubborn year, I ate only one meal a day and rushed to part-time jobs after class.

It was common to be torn apart by scolding when I didn’t do well.

He Wei came to find me a few times.

Maybe his conscience was suddenly uneasy.

But I didn’t want to talk to him.

Usually, as soon as he started to speak, I was already gone.

The only time I didn’t drive him away was when I got home too late one night and was followed all the way by a drunken man from the street.

I had just called the police when I saw He Wei standing in front of me.

He chased that man off. Then he followed behind me, and we walked one after the other back to my rented room.

Back then, to save money, I rented a single room near the school. It was livable, but the environment was mediocre.

He Wei was silent the whole way, but when he saw the room, he finally couldn’t hold back: “You live here?”

I was exhausted and had no energy to argue with him. So I went to the kitchen to cook noodles.

He kept talking to himself, criticizing this and complaining about that, saying the conditions were poor.

In the end, maybe because no one responded, he lost interest.

He asked me, “You’d rather live here than go back? What Dad said back then was just out of anger. If you just bowed your head and went back, do you really have to be this stubborn?”

I stuffed a few mouthfuls of freshly cooked noodles into my mouth.

Looking at him, I said calmly, “Don’t come looking for me again.”

“Do you really find it interesting to talk like this all the time?” He Wei probably still thought I was just throwing a tantrum.

But I was just tired: “I’m exhausted. I don’t have the energy to deal with you. And every time I see you all, I think of my brother. I can’t sleep.”

He Wei stared at me in a daze, unable to speak.

In the end, he left. He never showed up again.

But when he left, he left a thick wad of money in an envelope.

I glanced at it once, then stuffed it to the very bottom of the cabinet.

Later, he sent me money a few more times, always having my classmates give it to me when I wasn’t paying attention.

But he really never appeared in front of me again.