Lu Jiaping had always been a woman of action. Before leaving, she reminded Jiang Yuxin, “Work hard on your essay training. By the way, I’ve already arranged for your work to be published. This month, you need to write thirty-two essays—one per day on average. Give it your best, and this will become part of your resume.”
Jiang Yuxin was stunned. “Mom, one essay a day? I can’t do it.”
“What do you mean you can’t?” Lu Jiaping frowned. “Yuxin, how can you give up before even trying? Success depends on effort. I’ve already taken care of all the preparations. As long as you write well, your book will be published. Not everyone can achieve this, so give it your all.”
Jiang Yuxin felt unhappy all day. Her essay grades were poor, and now her mother wanted her to publish a book. Wasn’t this just making things difficult for her? She really didn’t want to do it at all.
In the afternoon, after school, it was Grandmother who came to pick her up. Grandmother checked the time and frowned. “Why are you out so late? This will delay picking up Yuchen. What’s wrong with your school?”
Jiang Yuxin explained, “There’s a slight scheduling conflict. Mom usually lets Yuchen play at school for a while, and his teacher knows about it.”
Grandma Jiang looked displeased. “How can that be? How can my precious grandson be made to wait? Tomorrow, I’ll pick him up first, and you can wait at school.”
“But our school doesn’t allow students to stay after dismissal. Besides, if I wait, it’ll be almost an hour. I won’t have time to do my homework, and I have classes in the evening.”
Grandma Jiang’s face tightened. “No way! You can write your homework on that stone bench by the school gate while you wait. I can’t let Yuchen wait. He’s still so young—what if he gets lost? Your mother is so irresponsible.”
Jiang Yuxin returned home with a bitter expression. After finishing her homework, Jiang Cheng still hadn’t returned. He only called Grandma Jiang, saying, “There’s an unexpected meeting. I’ll try to come back early to take Yuxin to her class.”
Grandma Jiang replied, “No rush, work comes first. I’ll take Yuxin later.”
During dinner, Grandma Jiang kept asking, “Why did your mother enroll you in so many classes? You’re just a girl. Eventually, you’ll marry into another family. What’s the point of putting in so much effort?”
Jiang Yuxin felt deeply unhappy. She lowered her head and picked at her food. Grandmother placed all the meat dishes on Yuchen’s side, leaving Jiang Yuxin with minced meat with string beans and stir-fried lettuce—salty, dry, and unappetizing.
“Well, Mom says if I study well, it’ll be easier for me to get into a prestigious school next year for the middle school entrance exam.”
Grandma Jiang knew about this. Lu Jiaping had told her that if Yuxin got accepted, it would increase Yuchen’s chances of entering a prestigious school in the future.
Her expression immediately brightened. “That’s right, that’s right. You should study hard. Your father works so hard to earn money, and it’s all spent on you. Look at how much you spend on all these classes every year—it’s not cheap. That’s your father’s hard-earned money. If you don’t put in the effort, it’d be unforgivable, understand?”
Jiang Yuxin remained silent.
After dinner, Jiang Yuchen insisted on learning baking. Grandma Jiang was unhappy. “What’s the point of learning baking? Your father says you’re good at drawing. Come, draw something for Grandma to see.”
Jiang Yuxin prepared to pack her things for her essay class.
Grandma Jiang turned to her. “Yuxin, you’re grown up now. You should learn to do housework. Go wash the dishes. A girl your age shouldn’t just sit around doing nothing and eating for free every day.”
Jiang Yuxin was very unhappy. She hadn’t finished her homework yet, class was about to start soon, and all the delays meant she wouldn’t sleep well again tonight.
But there was nothing she could do. Grandmother’s favoritism wasn’t a new thing—it had been going on for a long time. Suppressing her anger, she went to wash the dishes. Halfway through, Jiang Cheng returned home.
Grandma Jiang stood up: “Oh, why are you back so early? I said there was no hurry—I can take the child.”
Jiang Cheng immediately spotted Jiang Yuxin standing in the kitchen. She was tall enough that she didn’t need a small stool, but since she wasn’t quite tall enough, she still had to stretch to reach the sink.
“Mom, why are you making Yuxin wash the dishes?”
Grandma Jiang was displeased: “Girls should do housework. What’s the big deal about washing a few dishes?”
“It’s normal for children to help with chores as they grow up,” Jiang Cheng said helplessly. “But Yuxin has a very heavy academic load, with a packed schedule. I told you—if you don’t want to wash them, leave them for me. You could even let Yucheng learn to wash them. Yuxin is so busy—this is just unreasonable.”
Jiang Cheng walked into the kitchen: “Stop washing. Come on, dry your hands. We need to get to class. Let’s go—Dad will take you.”
On the way, Jiang Yuxin was in a terrible state.
Jiang Cheng felt a pang of heartache: “What’s wrong?”
“Dad, I’m so tired,” Jiang Yuxin said, tears welling up in her eyes. In this family, her father was the only one who would stand up for her. Even if he couldn’t always protect her, at least he would listen to her. “Dad, Mom wants me to write thirty-two essays in a month. I can’t even write one. I’m so scared.”
Jiang Cheng’s heart ached even more. He stopped the car and hugged his daughter: “Yuxin, if it’s really too much, just forget it. Dad will talk to Mom.”
You won’t be able to change anything.
Jiang Yuxin thought this but didn’t say it out loud. Class was about to start, so she hurried into the classroom.
The next day after school, it was raining. Jiang Yuxin hadn’t brought an umbrella, so she took shelter under the eaves of a store near the school gate. The ground was soaked, making it impossible to take out her homework to write. Anxious and helpless, she didn’t know what to do.
Because of the delays the night before, she had stayed up until ten o’clock doing homework and almost overslept this morning. Grandmother had wanted to drop Yucheng off first before taking her, but thankfully Dad hadn’t agreed—otherwise, she would have been late for sure. Being late meant standing in punishment.
She wanted to go home by herself. She was already eleven years old and could cross the street on her own. But Mom didn’t trust her and insisted on picking her up. Now, however, she didn’t dare go back. Grandmother wasn’t familiar with Shanghai, and if she couldn’t find her, she would definitely worry.
She didn’t know how much time had passed when the school’s club activities ended. Some boys who didn’t have adults picking them up ran off laughing and joking, holding their schoolbags over their heads. Jiang Yuxin watched them, her eyes reddening. That kind of happiness was something she no longer had.
One of the boys laughing and chatting in the crowd stopped and ran over to Jiang Yuxin. It was Chen Mingliang, a new transfer student in their class.
“Jiang Yuxin, why are you still here? Aren’t you going home?”
Chen Mingliang shook the water droplets off himself while looking at Jiang Yuxin. His eyes were big, and when raindrops fell on them, they seemed to sparkle like stars.
Jiang Yuxin didn’t say anything.
Seeing her silence, Chen Mingliang leaned in to look at her more closely, even more surprised: “Jiang Yuxin, why are you crying? Did someone bully you?”
Jiang Yuxin retorted stubbornly: “Who’s crying? You’re the one crying.”
Chen Mingliang wiped his face, and the water droplets on his eyes fell. He smiled: “I thought it was tears, but it was just rain. It’s so late, and you don’t have basketball class—why aren’t you going home?”
Jiang Yuxin remained silent, gazing into the distance. Grandmother was probably picking up Yucheng right now, and would likely arrive soon.