Chapter 3

We bought our tickets too late and ended up spending the whole night in hard seats on the train to Beijing.

Many of the other passengers were heading to the capital for work, carrying the same enormous woven-plastic sacks as ours.

The middle-aged man opposite asked Old Zhou curiously, “Is this your daughter?”

At last, someone had asked. Dad beamed and let it all pour out. “That’s right! My girl placed three hundredth in the whole province. We’re off to university in Beijing!”

So much for keeping a low profile. Dad had forgotten all about that.

He was ready to begin with my reciting Tang poetry at three and list every sign of my exceptional gifts since.

Before long, half the carriage knew his daughter had got into a certain famous university in Beijing.

One man took out his wallet and insisted on pressing two hundred-yuan notes on me as encouragement. A child from a poor family making it so far, he said: that was something special.

In the small hours, everyone grew tired. Old Zhou curled up in his narrow seat. He was still smiling in his sleep.

I made a quiet vow: whoever had brought me into the world, Old Zhou would be my only father, for the rest of my life.

We came out of Beijing Railway Station early that morning and found a university coach waiting for new students.

Dad and I parted there. I went to campus; he went to take over the scrapyard in Changping.

Before leaving, he handed me a bank card, still warm from his body. “Remember, the PIN is 201518. Twenty-fifteen, gonna get rich.”

Dad really did love his money!

My money-loving dad watched me tuck the card deep into my backpack. Only then, satisfied, did he hoist his sack onto his shoulder and stride away.

I dozed on the coach and woke to find us already on campus. After registering in the square, I went to my dorm: a bright, spacious room for six, with loft beds above the desks.

I found bed number two and climbed up to put on the bedding. As I worked, I heard someone say, “Tiantian, look how independent this young lady is. If there’s anything you don’t know how to do for yourself, ask her.”

It took me a moment to realize she meant me. Only then did I notice that everyone else had a parent with them. No wonder she thought I was independent.

During our late-night chat, I learned that, apart from me and the girl who hadn’t arrived yet, all my roommates had graduated from leading high schools in big cities.

Qiu Ting arrived the following day, travel-worn after nearly twenty hours on a train.

She struck up a conversation with me in private. Her parents worked on construction sites and had four children in school. It was a heavy burden.

“Every cent I spend comes out of my parents’ blood and sweat.

“I can’t bear to ask for more. After tuition and dorm fees, I’ve only got five hundred yuan left. I need to find a part-time job quickly. You could look with me.”

Clearly, my presence gave Qiu Ting the happy feeling of having found someone in the same boat. So I didn’t mention that I wasn’t really short of money. There were still tens of thousands of yuan in the account Dad had given me.

Qiu Ting decided to tutor. With our university’s reputation behind us, she said, a hundred yuan an hour would be no problem.

Soon she’d found two families and filled her free time. I kept getting turned down. The parents politely paid me for the trial lesson, and that was the last I heard from them.

Eager to help, Qiu Ting found me another job. A Professor Chen in our department had an only daughter with a physical disability. She needed someone to help her get to and from class and run the occasional errand. She lived in the faculty housing and was in our class, so helping her would be easy.

I hadn’t even known we had such a classmate. I really admired Qiu Ting’s knack for finding things out. She was going to go far.