“It’s five-thirty,” Lu Ke checked her phone and looked up at Fang Rulian. “What’s up? Do you have plans for the evening?”
“I originally planned to work on my thesis,” Fang Rulian said with a strained smile, smoothly changing the subject. “By the way, how is your graduation project coming along?”
“We’re doing design, which means nearly twenty blueprints. Ugh, I’m still revising drawings and have been compiling the design report for days.” She frowned, looking miserable. “Looking at those data points every day is blinding me. Especially when I calculate for ages only to get some ridiculous answer—I honestly just want to smash my computer.”
The conversation turned into a shared sigh over academics. When Lu Ke asked about her job situation, Fang Rulian chewed on her straw and shook her head with a sigh. “What about you?”
“I signed an offer during the autumn recruitment. Now I’m just waiting to graduate and start,” Lu Ke lamented toward the ceiling. “I don’t want to go to work! Ahhh!”
“No wonder you had time to work part-time on a film set; you’ve already secured a job.” Fang Rulian stared at the reflection of the ceiling light on the table. “In my next life, I’m not studying liberal arts. Can’t find a job, and you practically have to pay for internships.”
The timing of her rebirth was all wrong. If she had gone back to her first year of high school, she would have studied science even if it killed her—though she reminded herself that she chose liberal arts back then specifically because she was bad at science.
Even being reborn right after the college entrance exam would have been better; she could have at least picked a better major. She wouldn’t be wasting four years of her life on this useless degree, only to have to use it now to hunt for a job.
It made her want to gag.
“Every profession has its miseries. I wouldn’t choose this crappy major in my next life either. It’s so much bitter work for a salary that isn’t even that much higher,” Lu Ke said.
That made sense. Fang Rulian knew Lu Ke had been busy for four years; she often received Lu Ke’s breakdown calls about not understanding the material, having too many classes, or being on the verge of failing.
It seemed rebirth was useless; better to just be reincarnated entirely.
After complaining to each other for a while, Lu Ke asked about her plans after graduation. Fang Rulian thought for a moment and said she planned to move back to school and look for internships.
“Back at school?” Lu Ke tilted her head, thinking. “Why not just come to Luwei City? There are more companies in the big city and it’s easier to find something. It’ll be easier to transition into a full-time job after the internship ends.”
It was sound advice. Fang Rulian’s university was in a small, obscure city where finding an internship was difficult, not to mention she had no intention of staying there after graduation.
But
She sighed inwardly, feeling a lingering hesitation: she didn’t really want to go to Luwei City.
Perhaps it was because all the tragedies of her previous life—from forcing Fang Zhiyi down a dark path to that final, abrupt death—were inextricably tangled with that city.
She hated the weather in Luwei.
It was humid and stifling; the air always felt sticky, clinging to the skin. The midsummer sun turned the city into a steamer basket, with moisture twisting and rising off the asphalt until even breathing became a chore.
In such an environment, people became restless.
The damp, hot air was like a massive breeding ground, nourishing dark desires. They would swell and ferment in the water vapor, quickly turning into vines that strangled reason and dragged people into the abyss. Fang Rulian thought: If it hadn’t been so hot that day, I wouldn’t have stood so close to Fang Zhiyi.
If that hadn’t happened, everything that followed likely wouldn’t have occurred. She would have been an unreliable but passably adequate older sister. She wouldn’t have been a sinner; she wouldn’t have made so many mistakes.
Unaware that Luwei City was currently taking the blame for a lifetime of trauma, her friend offered sincere advice:
“Think about it. I think Luwei is a great place to work after graduation. It’s not that far from home anyway. If you’re worried about rent, I can ask around for roommates, or maybe the two of us can rent a place together?”
Seeing Fang Rulian dazed, Lu Ke tapped lightly on the table.
“Oh, right,” Fang Rulian snapped out of it. “I’ll look around school first. I still have my thesis defense to worry about; staying near school is just more convenient.”
Lu Ke could only concede: “Fine… but if you decide you want to come to Luwei, remember to tell me.”
Fang Rulian smiled and nodded. “I will.”
It was Friday, and the milk tea shop wasn’t very crowded. As they continued chatting about their lives, Lu Ke suddenly remembered: “Is your younger sister about to take the Gaokao (college entrance exam)?”
“Yeah,” Fang Rulian said. “In about a month.”
“How is she doing?”
“Her grades have always been excellent. We don’t have to worry about her.”
“That’s true. She’s so well-behaved and smart; her studies are the last thing your family needs to fret over.” Lu Ke leaned her chin on her hand and warned, “But she’s young and pretty. There are definitely going to be a lot of guys confessing to her after the exam.”
Fang Rulian’s heart gave a sudden, sharp thud. She leaned back against the sofa arm, feigning nonchalance. “What are you even talking about?”
“I’m saying, she’s innocent and easily fooled. As her sister, you have an obligation to keep an eye on her social circle. She’s young; she might not know how to say no.”
“I get it.” Fang Rulian thought for a moment, then realized something was off. “Wait, why are you suddenly bringing this up?”
Lu Ke sat up straight, her expression turning awkward as she pursed her lips. After a pause, she said, “Uh… haha, I have a nephew. He goes to the same school as her, different class though. Apparently, he has a crush on her. He asked me to get her WeChat ID from you not long ago.”
“Did you give it to him?” Fang Rulian’s expression turned stern.
“I don’t even have her WeChat. Didn’t I ask you before? You told me ‘no’ and even scolded me.” She looked at the visibly tense Fang Rulian. “Oh right, I forgot you had that brief memory loss.”
Fang Rulian breathed a sigh of relief.
“But honestly, that nephew of mine isn’t ugly. He’s decent-looking, just a bit of a delinquent. He’s been dating since middle school.” Lu Ke looked at Fang Rulian. “I don’t think he’s good enough for her, but he definitely knows how to handle girls.”
“There’s no need to worry,” Fang Rulian replied. “She’s always been very cautious about who she hangs out with. Unlike me, she doesn’t have a bunch of ‘fair-weather’ friends.”
“Woof woof woof!” the ‘fair-weather’ friend barked playfully. “It’s precisely because she’s too obedient that she doesn’t know how to refuse. Just keep an eye out as her sister. It’s not just my nephew; I guarantee a ton of guys will confess to her once school is over.”
Too obedient. Doesn’t know how to refuse.
Those words rang true. Fang Rulian blinked guiltily.
“Didn’t you receive a mountain of love letters when we graduated?” Lu Ke changed the subject. “Speaking of which, Fang Rulian… the fact that you’ve stayed single until now is honestly shocking.”
She leaned in closer and lowered her voice: “I’ve actually always had a question.”
Fang Rulian felt an intuitive sense of dread and instinctively swallowed. “Go ahead.”
Lu Ke chuckled, her eyes locked onto Fang Rulian’s. “Is it because… you don’t like men?”
Fang Rulian: “…”
Lu Ke laughed even harder. “I knew it!”
Caught off guard and essentially ‘outed’ to her best friend, Fang Rulian didn’t even have time to make an excuse before Lu Ke added: “Have you ever kissed a girl?”
Fang Rulian: “…”
“I knew it!” Lu Ke was so excited she forgot to keep her voice down, quickly covering her mouth after the first shout. “I was wondering! You’re so beautiful yet you’ve been single for years; there had to be a reason.”
Fang Rulian sat there with a look of resignation. After a few seconds, she glared at Lu Ke threateningly. “Don’t you dare tell anyone. Especially not my mom, my sister, or my aunt.”
“Who do you take me for?” Lu Ke knew that tolerance for such things was limited in a small town, especially among the older generation. She knew Fang Rulian wasn’t ready to come out. “I’ll keep your secret.”
Noticing that Lu Ke’s eyes were still sparkling with unbridled curiosity and excitement, Fang Rulian stopped her. “Don’t ask. I’m not telling you anything else.”
Lu Ke slumped her shoulders, disappointed. “Fine.”
She sucked on the pearls at the bottom of her milk tea. After failing to get the last few, she looked up. “I won’t ask about the ‘private’ stuff. Let’s talk about something ‘green and healthy’ instead.”
“It’s not even an interrogation; let’s just exchange notes.” She straightened her back. “I’m curious, what’s your type?”
To show her sincerity, Lu Ke went first, describing her ideal type in detail—personality, looks, character. It was so specific that Fang Rulian could tell she was describing a real person.
“Your turn,” Lu Ke said.
It was time for school to let out, and a wave of high school students in uniforms flooded the milk tea shop, entering in groups of two or three.
“Hmm…” Fang Rulian thought for a moment. “Someone beautiful.”
Lu Ke: “So you’re a face-con (visual-oriented).”
Fang Rulian replied righteously, “Exactly. I’m a total face-con.”
…
Dinner was spent with Lu Ke. Fang Rulian had called Fang Hong earlier to say she wouldn’t be home for the meal.
After eating, Fang Rulian took Lu Ke for a ride on her electric scooter to enjoy the evening breeze. The sun dipped below the horizon, leaving an orange-yellow glow suspended in the air.
By the time Fang Rulian returned home, it was 8:30 PM.
Fang Hong was lounging on the sofa watching a drama, while Mu Yunshu sat cross-legged nearby, head bowed, focused on writing something in a lesson plan notebook.
Fang Rulian greeted the two adults and went into the bathroom to wash up. Her phone chimed a few times; she checked it while brushing her teeth—it was just messages from her class group chat.
Exiting the chat, she opened the railway app to check high-speed train tickets. Before heading to her room, she mentioned to Fang Hong that she would be returning to school next week.
Fang Hong nodded, then remembered the physical exam report. “Do they need the original or a copy?”
Fang Rulian paused. “Give me the original.”
Even though she had only been out on an electric scooter, today’s outing had drained much of her energy. She flopped onto her soft bed, staring at the ceiling for a long time.
Outside the window, the sounds of traffic hummed.
Fang Rulian rolled over, propping her elbows on her chest. After a moment of thought, she reached for her phone. She scrolled through her photo album but couldn’t find what she was looking for. She let out a shallow breath, then remembered something and clicked into her QQ Space homepage.
A blurry video began to play on the screen.
Amidst the static noise and dim lighting, many people stood in the small frame. However, the woman in the center wearing a cheongsam (qipao) was particularly striking. Against the amplified sound of background thunder, her voice was firm and resonant:
“In this dead place, this prison-like Zhou residence, I have stayed with a Yama (King of Hell) for eighteen years. My heart is not dead…”
It was a clip from the play Thunderstorm, performed back in high school.
Lu Ke had recorded it for her. She remembered the thrill of performing back then, the exhilaration of resonating with the character. The cheongsam she wore belonged to Mu Yunshu; the necklace and bracelet were Fang Hong’s. The seventeen-year-old girl standing there was youthful, yet every movement and word felt like that of a mature woman—a woman driven to the brink of collapse by the Zhou household.
When Fang Rulian’s first movie was released, many industry giants had praised her “spiritual aura.”
The room was silent. The video looped over and over.
Until her elbows grew sore, she somehow found herself in tears. She buried her face in the quilt. Her breath was muffled. She could hear her heart beating, thudding against her chest, stroke by stroke.