“Ding-ding-ding—!”
The bell signaling the end of the final exam finally rang.
The hallway instantly erupted with relieved howls.
“Ah, freedom at last!”
“What did you guys choose for the last multiple-choice question in math? I chose C.”
“Oh no, oh no, I chose A. I changed my answer three times—I wish I hadn’t. I want to die!”
Back in the classroom, everyone was frantically comparing answers.
As soon as Xu Suiran saw Pu Yu, she immediately pounced on her like a koala, clinging to her and wailing, “Xiao Yu! Save me! What did you choose for the last math question?”
Pu Yu smiled and said, “I calculated it as C, but I’m not sure if it’s right.”
Xu Suiran’s face fell. “Huh? Oh no, oh no—I shook my eraser dice and got A. Fate is so unfair to me—”
A girl nearby chimed in, “I chose B.”
Another boy said, “I guessed D.”
Four people, four different answers. They all looked at each other and then burst out laughing.
“Ah, whatever, whatever—it’s over anyway,” said Xu Suiran, an eternal optimist whose worries never lasted more than three seconds. “The important thing now is the National Day holiday!”
“Xiao Yu, what are your plans for the holiday? Let’s go explore the county town!”
Pu Yu thought for a moment and replied softly, “Grandma just got a new batch of pillowcases. I want to stay home and help her with the work, and maybe review some math and physics while I’m at it.”
“Oh my, you’re way too diligent…” Xu Suiran sighed.
She tugged at Pu Yu’s sleeve, shaking it back and forth as she began her gentle persuasion. “It’s a three-day holiday—just give me one day~ I heard there’s a new Xinhua Bookstore on the pedestrian street with lots of pretty notebooks for sale.”
Pu Yu hesitated.
Aside from school and the small town, she had never been anywhere else.
Seeing the hopeful look in Xu Suiran’s eyes, Pu Yu finally nodded. “Then I’ll go ask Grandma when I get home? If she agrees, we can go.”
“Yay! Awesome!” Xu Suiran cheered. “Let’s go on the second, then. I’ll catch up on sleep at home on the first, and I’ll come find you at your place on the morning of the second.”
October 1st.
The first day of the National Day holiday.
Pu Yu woke up early to help Grandma sweep the yard, do the laundry, and buy fresh, affordable vegetables at the market.
In the afternoon, Li Suhua took on a last-minute mending job.
Pu Yu stayed by her side, helping thread needles and ironing with heated ceramic stones.
“Going to the county town tomorrow?” Li Suhua asked without looking up as she worked the sewing machine.
“Yes, with Sui Sui.”
“Be careful on the road. The county town is crowded.” Li Suhua stopped what she was doing, reached into her pocket, and pulled out fifty yuan to hand to Pu Yu.
Pu Yu quickly waved her hands. “No need, Grandma, I have money…”
“What money?” Li Suhua insisted, stuffing the bills into her hand. “You have to make your allowance last until the end of the term. Buy what you need for your studies.”
Clutching the fifty yuan, Pu Yu felt her nose sting. “Thank you, Grandma.”
“No need to thank me.”
“I borrowed a lot, and I charge high interest.”
With that, the old woman went back to pedaling the sewing machine.
Pu Yu couldn’t help but smile, knowing that Grandma was always tough on the outside but soft on the inside.
She would never dream of taking it back.
But this money had to be repaid.
Early morning on October 2nd.
The bus from Baiting Town to the county town was packed with holiday travelers.
Pu Yu and Xu Suiran found two window seats near the back and settled in.
The scenery outside the window gradually shifted from the familiar blue-tiled roofs and white walls to open fields.
Xu Suiran was excited the whole way, chattering nonstop about which snack shops in the county town were delicious and which milk tea shops were the best.
Forty minutes later.
The bus pulled into the county’s passenger transport station.
Compared to the quiet, old-fashioned Baiting Town, the county town was clearly much livelier.
The streets were wide, bustling with cars and people, and red lanterns and national flags hung everywhere.
Xu Suiran led Pu Yu through several streets with practiced ease, arriving at a newly opened bookstore in the county town.
“Look! Xinhua Bookstore!”
The bookstore was packed with people.
Most were parents bringing their children to buy study materials.
A poster for “National Day Specials” was still pasted at the entrance.
The two girls browsed in the bookstore for nearly an hour. Xu Suiran bought two romance magazines, a pretty diary, and an incredibly stylish password-locked stationery box, while Pu Yu didn’t pick out anything.
She had initially picked up a copy of “Analysis of Frequently Tested Physics Questions for the College Entrance Exam.”
But after flipping to the price tag inside the book, she saw it cost thirty-eight yuan.
Pu Yu quietly put it back. With that money, she might as well swallow her pride and ask her deskmate a few more questions, then buy him breakfast a few more times.
That would definitely be more worthwhile than spending thirty-eight yuan on this book.
It wasn’t until they were checking out that Xu Suiran noticed Pu Yu’s empty hands.
“Huh? What happened to that physics analysis book?”
“I felt like I wouldn’t use it, so I put it back.”
Xu Suiran didn’t believe her and turned to go back and get it, but Pu Yu stopped her.
“I really won’t use it,” she said with a helpless smile, quickly changing the subject. “I want to buy a secondhand Walkman for listening to English. Is there anywhere nearby that sells them?”
This was indeed Pu Yu’s genuine thought.
She didn’t have a phone, an MP3 player, or a repeater.
Although her English grades were among the best, her spoken English and pronunciation were terrible.
At City No. 1 High School, her biggest fear during English class was being called on to read the text aloud, because she was the least standard and most “rustic” reader in the whole class.
“Yes, yes!”
“There’s an electronics market nearby with lots of pretty secondhand Walkmans!”
After paying, Xu Suiran took her to a roadside stall for a steaming bowl of beef noodles and bought two cups of pearl milk tea before heading toward the electronics market.
She had made up her mind.
No matter how much that Walkman cost later.
If Pu Yu liked it, she would pay, grab it, and run!
The electronics market was buzzing with noise and activity.
Stalls were packed densely together, displaying all kinds of electronic products.
MP3 players, repeaters, game consoles, record players—everything was dazzlingly abundant.
Xu Suiran pulled Pu Yu to a stop in front of a small stall selling secondhand audio equipment.
“Boss, how much for this Sony Walkman?”
The boss was a chubby man wearing a gold chain. When he saw two high school students who still looked young and inexperienced, his eyes flickered, and he greeted them warmly:
“You girls have good taste! This has a genuine Japanese imported mechanism, the sound quality is absolutely top-notch, and it’s not expensive at all—just one hundred fifty!”
“One hundred fifty?” Xu Suiran frowned. “That expensive? Can you make it cheaper?”
“Hey, this is quality goods. One hundred fifty is practically selling at a loss.”
As he spoke, the boss picked up the Walkman and casually pressed the play button.
A relatively clear melody came through the headphones.
“Listen, this sound quality—no static, right?”
Xu Suiran tried it and indeed, it wasn’t bad. She was tempted.
It was just so expensive.
One hundred fifty would wipe out all her secretly saved pocket money.
“Boss, we’re students, can you give us a discount?”
The shopkeeper’s eyes shifted as he sized up the two girls before him, adopting a strategic retreat:
“Then how much are you offering?”
Xu Suiran thought for a moment, holding up two fingers: “Eighty!”
“Oh my, you’re haggling way too hard,” the shopkeeper waved his hands repeatedly. “This player costs more than eighty just to stock! One-twenty, that’s the lowest!”
Pu Yu frowned, about to put the Walkman back.
Too expensive.
Grandma only earned a little over ten yuan for a whole day’s work at the sewing machine.
Besides, she had already adapted to the English environment at the town school—whether her pronunciation was standard or not didn’t seem so important anymore.
“Don’t rush!” Xu Suiran winked at her, her dialect slipping out unconsciously, then turned back to the shopkeeper. “How about eighty-eight? Such a lucky number, boss—prosperity, prosperity, prosperity!”
The shopkeeper put on a troubled expression, hesitated for a few seconds, then suddenly slapped his thigh:
“Alright! You’re a smooth talker, little girl. Eighty-eight it is!”
Now it was Xu Suiran’s turn to freeze.
She had expected a few more rounds of bargaining.
She hadn’t thought the shopkeeper would agree so readily.
A wave of regret—”Oh no, I bargained too low!”—instantly washed over her.
But the words were already out, and eighty-eight really was a lucky number.
“Then…” she gritted her teeth, preparing to take out her wallet.
“Sui Sui, you can’t do this,” Pu Yu firmly grabbed her hand. “I can’t accept something so expensive from you.”
Xu Suiran didn’t listen at all, retorting, “You won’t buy the physics study guide, and now you don’t want the Walkman either. Why do you always deprive yourself like this? When you have money later, you can give me something else in return—isn’t it the same?”
The shopkeeper, a shrewd man, saw an opportunity and immediately fanned the flames: “That’s right, little girl. Life is short—buy early, enjoy early. This Walkman is really worth it!”
“Exactly, exactly!” Xu Suiran was convinced, nodding in deep agreement as she prepared to pull money from her small wallet.
However, just as her fingers touched the bills—
A hand with distinct knuckles suddenly cut in, swiftly and decisively snatching the silver Walkman from Pu Yu’s grasp.
“This player isn’t even worth twenty.”
A low, cool voice sounded from behind.