Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Gritting my teeth, I tried to dial 110, hoping the police would come and prove my innocence.

Madam Jiang charged over and slapped me across the face.

My cheek instantly burned. My phone flew out of my hand and clattered to the floor.

She jabbed a finger at my forehead and snapped, “You ruined my son’s innocence, and now you want to ruin his reputation too?”

Father Jiang’s face was dark as he warned me, enunciating every word. “For the sake of my son’s future, I am only making you lose your job and apologize publicly. If you dare decide you have nothing left to lose and make a scene, if my son’s future is stained even the slightest bit because of you, don’t blame me for being rude to the people around you!”

My scorched nerves gave a violent twitch.

Seven years ago, my father died of illness. My mother gritted her teeth and gave birth to a pair of posthumous children. This year, the twins, a boy and a girl, had started elementary school, and she had finally freed up enough time to find a job stocking shelves at a supermarket. Just last night, she had called me, delighted, saying that at last her daughter would not have to work so hard all alone.

My boyfriend, Gu Huai, and I had grown up together. We were both children of ordinary families. He was upright, openhearted, and gentle. Ever since he was young, his dream had been to become a judge. Not long ago, he had passed the written portion of the national civil service exam and was putting everything he had into preparing for the interview.

My younger brother and sister had lost their father when they were small, but over the years, nourished by the love my mother and I gave them, both had grown into bright, clever children. This year, thanks to neighborhood policy assistance, they had just gotten into a good elementary school.

Life had been moving, at last, toward something better…

In panic, I asked myself: Did I dare?

All at once, the strength drained from my body, and I collapsed to the floor.

I didn’t dare.

…

When Jiang Yubai walked past me, surrounded by people, I forced out a hoarse question. “Why?”

He stopped, tilted his head slightly, and looked at me. “Teacher, when someone does something wrong, shouldn’t they pay the price?”

Unwilling to give up, I asked again, “What did I do wrong? Say it clearly!”

He stared at me for two seconds. A coldness slowly seeped into those once-clear black eyes, but he said nothing more. He turned and left.

At twenty-four, in the prime of my life, my reputation was destroyed.

I lost my job. A notice about me was circulated throughout the entire industry. I became a disgrace to the teaching profession.

Indignant parents edited together an online poster denouncing me, and the video spread rapidly across the internet. Friends, classmates, and teachers from the past sent message after message condemning me and declaring they were cutting ties.

When I walked down the street, strangers would curse me or throw trash at me.

When I was young, I once watched a movie called Malena.

The heroine walked down the street while people on both sides hurled filthy insults and furious accusations at her. She held her head high and passed through them with indifference.

I had only been a teenager then. In my brief life, everything had gone smoothly. I still remembered saying, with exaggerated emotion, to the person beside me:

If I were her, I probably wouldn’t be able to keep living!

And yet now, I had found myself in almost the same situation as her.

Likewise, I did not break down. I did not compromise. I did not give up.

Because there were still people who absolutely believed in me and defended me without hesitation.

My mother slept beside me every night. The slightest movement from me would startle her awake, and she would carefully check on me.

As soon as my younger brother and sister came home from school, they would tell me, in their sweet little voices, all the funny things that had happened there. Their two little mouths chattered nonstop, and then, like tiny adults, they comforted me. “Don’t worry, Big Sister. We’re already grown up. We don’t need Mom to sleep with us anymore.”

Gu Huai gave up preparing for his exam. Every day, he came to my home to make my favorite sweet-and-sour pork ribs. His tall frame barely fit in our cramped kitchen, yet he still came every day.

He held me gently and coaxed me.

“Don’t be scared, Xiaozhen. This will all pass.

“Wait a few years for your man. I will definitely become the best judge. When that day comes, I will get justice for you, and for every person who has suffered a wrongful accusation.”

…

That was enough.

The people I loved were by my side, loving me, protecting me.

That was enough.

I looked back at the arrogant girl I had once been and told her:

See? You were wrong. It’s not that big a deal.

I pulled myself together.

When I couldn’t find work, I bought a secondhand electric scooter and started delivering food.

The world was noisy and chaotic, but everything would pass eventually. Once people forgot, it would be fine.

I did not dare drag the people I loved into the mire with me, but I would never willingly pour a bucket of filth over my own head for something I had not done.

On many occasions when I was accused and abused, I used what little strength I had to defend myself.

I didn’t do it! I was wronged!

I repeated it over and over.

I kept speaking out.

But…

There are some people in this world who never cared about the truth to begin with. They only wanted to borrow the name of justice to vent the darkness inside them…

On a cold, damp, rainy night, I was riding my scooter through the streets to deliver food when a man rushed at me and stabbed me several times in the abdomen.

The instant I fell, I instinctively reached out to steady the insulated delivery box at the back of the scooter. There were still two orders inside. If they spilled, the customers would complain.

Blood mixed with rainwater, winding across the filthy street. Voices clamored around me, but my ears caught a sound that was strangely pure.

Drip.

Drip.

I didn’t know if it was rain or blood.

When the man was subdued on the spot, he was still shouting:

“Protect the children!

“Uphold justice!

“Make that bitch pay with her life!”

I lay on my back on the ground.

The curtain of rain fell into my eyes in thin, needlelike strands.

As my life ebbed away, endless, aching worry surged through me.

Mom…

Gu Huai…

What are you going to do?