chapter 5

Chapter 5

According to Cheng Yubai’s age, he should have been in sixth grade by now. But my father, thinking that Cheng Yubai had a stepmother who probably couldn’t bear to send him to school before, simply enrolled him in first grade as well, so the two of us could be in the same class.

But after only a couple of days, Cheng Yubai went to talk to my father.

I don’t know what they discussed. All I know is that not long after, my father managed to get him into sixth grade.

At first, this didn’t really affect me.

Until Cheng Yubai finished sixth grade, and the teacher came to our house and told my father that it would be a real pity if someone as smart as him didn’t continue his studies. But the only middle school was in town, which meant that after this summer, he wouldn’t be able to walk to and from school with me anymore.

To me, this was like a bolt from the blue.

After the teacher left, I clung to Cheng Yubai and refused to let go, crying my eyes out. My father, seeing how heartbroken I was, decided I just couldn’t bear to be separated from him.

Only Cheng Yubai knew the real reason I was crying: on the way to school, there was a temple with a statue of a deity that looked absolutely terrifying. I was timid, and every time we passed by, I didn’t dare open my eyes-I needed him to carry me past it, and only when I couldn’t see it anymore would I walk on my own.

I hugged Cheng Yubai tightly around the waist, sobbing uncontrollably.

“Cheng Yubai, wuwu, Cheng Yubai… If you leave, what am I going to do…”

Cheng Yubai didn’t say anything.

After a long while, he sighed.

“Don’t cry, Manman.”

He took out a handkerchief and gently wiped the sweat from my forehead and nose, as if giving in. “I won’t go. I’ll stay home with you. I won’t go anywhere.”

“No way!”

He had barely finished speaking when my father immediately vetoed it. “The teacher said Xiao Cheng is smart, born to study. It’d be a shame if he didn’t keep going!”

I knew Cheng Yubai wanted to study. I wasn’t asking him not to go-I just didn’t want to go to school alone. Just thinking about not having Cheng Yubai to shield me from the scary deity made me want to cry all over again.

Seeing how upset I was, my father, as expected, softened.

He patted my head and coaxed me gently, “Don’t worry, sweetheart. Daddy will figure something out. Be good, don’t cry anymore, okay?”

“Really?” I sniffled and lifted my head from Cheng Yubai’s arms. “Dad, do you mean it?”

“Of course!” Dad wiped away my tears and promised, “Think about it-when have I ever lied to you?”

Dad really never lied to me. He always kept his word.

I relaxed, finally managing a little smile, though I still clung tightly to the corner of Cheng Yubai’s shirt, afraid he might suddenly disappear.

Seeing me like that, Dad seemed to make up his mind about something. Early the next morning, he left the house with a small cloth bag slung over his shoulder.

He was gone for two days.

Two days later, Dad came back, covered in dust from the road.

The first thing he said when he got home was, “It’s all arranged,” then he took a sip of water and, without even eating, left again.

Dad was busy the whole summer.

A while back, he’d gotten a three-wheeler and started going to other villages every day to collect mountain goods, which he’d then take to town or the city to sell.

Dad was a good, honest man. The villagers liked doing business with him, and as the supply increased, even though it was a small business, over the years he’d managed to make quite a bit.

Actually, we were never short on money. My grandparents’ family had been merchants for generations. Even though things got tough later, they still left us with plenty.

At the very least, there was more than enough to raise me and Cheng Yubai.

But Dad’s personality was such that he wanted to earn enough for my entire lifetime before he’d allow himself to rest.

After two months of hard work, by the end of summer vacation, he was visibly tanner, but in good spirits-his eyes bright and full of energy.

A few days before school started, he said to me mysteriously, “Sweetheart, Daddy’s taking you somewhere nice.”

With that, he and Cheng Yubai got busy.

First, they cleaned the house from top to bottom, then sealed the stove with oil, packed up two boxes of clothes and a big burlap sack of odds and ends. After locking up, Dad took us onto the three-wheeler.

We left the village behind.

The tricycle carried us to town, but soon the town was just a dot in the distance.

Dad brought us to the county seat.

Compared to the village and the town, the buildings here were tall and dense, like a forest of reinforced concrete-completely unfamiliar.

I sat in Cheng Yubai’s arms, quietly clutching his sleeve.

Sensing my discomfort, Cheng Yubai pulled me closer, holding me even tighter.

The tricycle wound its way through the streets and finally stopped in front of a newly built apartment building. Dad locked the vehicle and calmly led us up to the third floor.

Standing in front of door 301, he took out a key.

Click-

The lock turned, the wooden security door slowly opened, and a spacious, bright three-bedroom apartment appeared before us.

I stared wide-eyed and asked in confusion, “Dad, whose house is this?”

“Silly girl.”

Dad looked at me with a loving smile, but what he said next was as shocking as thunder out of a clear sky: “…Of course it’s ours.”

?

???

I really was clueless.

I knew Dad made money, but I didn’t know he made this much.

Believing that education should never be skimped on, Dad gritted his teeth and bought an apartment in the county seat. For our schooling, he even transferred our household registration to the city.

For our first meal in the new home, Dad cooked eight dishes.

Cheng Yubai and I sat on the faux-leather sofa in the living room, staring at each other in disbelief, as if we were dreaming.

What?

How did we end up in the city?