chapter 3

Qin Ruyu painted an entire beautiful ocean for me.

How annoying. Why was she good at everything?

I carefully added a little drowning figure.

“Are your parents different from mine?” she asked timidly.

My hand stopped.

“Mm.”

“Does your dad ever say he’s disappointed in you?” Qin Ruyu murmured as she brushed on blue paint.

“Mm.”

“My mom doesn’t say it, but I know she’s unhappy with me too,” Qin Ruyu said softly.

“Jiang Chenchen, your parents would never say that to you, would they?”

I froze. “Can you stop talking about this?”

Qin Ruyu fell silent at once and stared at me in terror.

I hated Qin Ruyu more than anyone!

I dropped the chalk and ran.

I did not know what my parents would say.

They had gone away for work a long time ago.

In my memories, they existed only as one weary sentence over the phone: “Chenchen, listen to your grandparents.”

“Study hard. Mom and Dad will come home for New Year.”

Passing the classroom, I saw Fu Shaonian’s aunt sitting in my seat.

Fu Shaonian lived next door, and we had grown up together.

His aunt had attended my parent-teacher conferences for years.

She had promised to take me out for egg crepes afterward, but I ran all the way home instead.

I leaned against the front door, gasping, sweat dripping down my forehead.

I wiped my face. The liquid on my lips tasted salty and bitter.

What was the point?

They had never come home when I came first.

Now that I could only come second, they would have even less reason to return.

I sat miserably on the doorstep, rubbing my nose hard.

“Don’t cry.”

A fragrant egg crepe suddenly appeared in front of me.

Fu Shaonian stood there, holding it up to me.

I took the crepe and buried my face in his stomach.

He awkwardly patted my head.

“My aunt said to eat it while it’s hot.”

I truly did not want to see Qin Ruyu.

The good news was that summer vacation had begun, so I would not have to see her at school.

The bad news was that she started appearing at Fu Shaonian’s house every day.

His family owned a swimming pool.

Qin Ruyu enrolled in a summer class there.

Fu Shaonian immediately volunteered to help at the pool every day.

I handed out flyers outside while he taught children the breaststroke.

Both of us turned to watch Qin Ruyu, in a one-piece swimsuit, dive gracefully into the water.

Her skin was pale and luminous. She was like a slender crescent moon slipping beneath the surface.

As I read an English passage outside the window, Qin Ruyu poked her wet head out and gave me an ingratiating smile.

“You shouldn’t read English one word at a time. You have to speak it as a whole sentence.”

I stared at her. “If you’re so brilliant, you read it. This is a university-level passage.”

Qin Ruyu retreated awkwardly.

The next day, Fu Shaonian brought me an MP3 player.

It was full of English recordings.

“Qin Ruyu said this was for you.”

I took it. “Why did she give it to you to bring me?”

Fu Shaonian scratched his head. “Maybe because she ate at my house?”

I nearly jumped through the roof.

“I’m the only one who gets to eat at your house!”

He backed away. “My aunt saw you two talking and thought she was your good friend.”

I stormed off to find Qin Ruyu.

“Your MP3 player belongs to me now!”

She nodded. “It was a gift for you in the first place.”

Her fingers fidgeted with the hem of her shirt. “I’m sorry I brought up your parents the other day.”

I was silent for a moment.

“Forget it.”

Qin Ruyu and I listened to the MP3 player together.

The speakers’ pronunciation and intonation were different from the recordings on our school tapes.

They were different from mine too.

“Do foreigners really talk like this?”

Qin Ruyu nodded and rattled off a passage.

I turned it over and over in my mind. I listened to the MP3 player even while I was applying medicated patches to Grandma.

Fu Shaonian’s aunt tried to dissuade me. “She might not necessarily be right.”

I stamped my foot. “Of course she’s right! Her parents speak English at home!”

She smiled and patted my head. “But our Chenchen is very impressive too.”

I had almost forgiven Qin Ruyu. I decided to go to the pool and announce the news to her.

But through the glass, I saw her chatting happily with Fu Shaonian beside the pool.

I peered in like some sinister little stalker, seething with resentment.

I liked Fu Shaonian first!

He had always taken care of me.

He ran fast too, and he was tall.

What if Qin Ruyu liked Fu Shaonian as well?

I had not forgiven her after all. I still had to hate Qin Ruyu.