The sky outside had turned completely dark.
The elderly woman was wrapped in a thin coat, her white hair slightly tousled by the wind, clutching a dark blue cloth bundle tightly in her hand.
She walked up to Pu Yu and, with somewhat rough movements, untied the cloth knot.
From inside, she pulled out a stack of banknotes wrapped in red cloth.
Among them were a few hundred-yuan bills, as well as some fifties and twenties.
But most were smaller notes of ten and five yuan, each one worn and old.
“Take it.” Li Suhua shoved the bundle of money into Pu Yu’s hands, her tone still stiff. “There’s over a thousand here. Use the larger bills for tuition, and keep the smaller change as your living expenses for this month.”
Pu Yu’s palm trembled slightly, as if scalded by something.
“This is what I’ve saved over the years from doing tailoring work.” Li Suhua turned her face away and walked into the main room to sit down. “I’m not giving it to you for free, you know. When you go to university later and find a job, you have to pay me back with interest, understand?”
Pu Yu nodded vigorously, her voice choked with emotion. “I understand, thank you, Grandma…”
“Why thank me? If you want to thank someone, thank your mother.”
“My mother?”
Li Suhua pointed to the old sewing machine in the corner of the room, rarely bringing up the past.
“Back then, the family was poor and couldn’t afford anything decent. When your mother married into the family, I wanted to give her this sewing machine as a wedding gift.”
“But that silly girl refused to take it no matter what, insisting that it wasn’t easy for me to live alone and that I should keep it to do some handiwork and supplement the household income.”
“If she hadn’t cared for me back then, this old woman would have starved to death long ago. How would I have spare money to lend to a little girl like you?”
Pu Yu remembered how her mother had always spoken gently of Grandma’s kindness, saying how capable Grandma was when she was young and how well-fitting the clothes she made were.
She had never understood why, even without a blood relationship, her father would have fallen out with such a good Grandma to the point of never speaking to her again.
Seeing that Grandma didn’t want to say more, Pu Yu didn’t press further.
She carefully tucked the stack of money away and solemnly placed it in the innermost layer of her schoolbag.
That night, Pu Yu slept restlessly.
In her dream, her mother was arguing with her father, their voices fading in and out.
She reached out to grab her mother, but her fingertips only touched cold air.
Pu Yu jolted awake, her face wet with tears.
Outside the window, the sky was still dark, shrouded in a gray-blue morning mist over the town.
She heard the sound of Grandma opening the door next door and hurriedly wiped away her tears, trying to steady her emotions.
Li Suhua, draped in her coat, her graying hair slightly disheveled, spoke with the hoarseness of someone just waking up. “What’s wrong? Why are you crying in the middle of the night?”
“I’m fine, Grandma.” Pu Yu sniffled, wiping the tear stains from her face haphazardly and forcing a smile. “It’s just… yesterday, on my way back from school, I almost got lost. I was a little scared and had a nightmare.”
She didn’t want Grandma, who had just given her savings to help her, to worry about her any further.
So she told a white lie.
Li Suhua paused for a moment, then muttered in dialect, sounding somewhat exasperated. “You look like a clever girl, but how come you’re such a little fool? The town only has a few roads. How could you get yourself lost?”
“The alleys all look the same…”
Pu Yu defended herself softly, seizing the opportunity to make a request. “Could you please walk me to school again this morning, Grandma?”
Li Suhua looked at her pitiful appearance, feeling both annoyed and amused.
“Can’t even recognize the way, but you can manage to study.”
Being scolded actually made Pu Yu feel a bit relieved.
She knew Grandma had agreed.
After breakfast, the sky had just begun to brighten.
Li Suhua didn’t take her through the narrow, winding alleys only familiar to longtime residents. Instead, she deliberately detoured onto a wider road.
Though called a main road, it was actually just a stone-paved path wide enough for two tricycles to pass.
“See, turn left and keep going straight.”
“Pass this old street, the post office is ahead, and that’s the supply and marketing cooperative. It’s not far from there to your school.”
Pu Yu held a dark blue notebook in her hand, scribbling and drawing on it.
Li Suhua glanced at her notebook, feeling speechless. “Your inability to recognize directions really is inherited from your mother. Back when she first came to town, she was the same—circled around several times without figuring it out. In the end, it was the grocery store owner who noticed she looked unfamiliar, asked a few more questions, and led her here.”
“But you’re better than her, at least you managed to find your way home on your own.”
Huh?
Pu Yu lowered her head, a little embarrassed.
She didn’t tell Grandma that on the first day, she had actually knocked on the wrong door and stumbled into the territory of the aloof boy next door.
Five in the morning.
Pu Yu was already waiting outside the teachers’ office.
She was the first student to arrive at school, and the hallway was empty.
Cheng Siyi had just arrived carrying a thermos cup and was surprised to see her. “Pu Yu? Why are you here so early?”
“Grandma brought me to familiarize myself with the way, and I’m also here to pay the tuition.”
“Have all the family matters been settled?”
“Yes, they’re all taken care of.” Pu Yu smiled, her eyes curving, looking much sweeter than her bitter expression from yesterday.
Cheng Siyi observed her expression.
Only after confirming there was no forced effort in her smile did she feel relieved.
After paying the tuition, Pu Yu was about to return to the classroom to prepare for morning self-study when Cheng Siyi suddenly called out to her, “Oh, by the way, Pu Yu.”
“Yesterday, the Chinese language teachers and I read your award-winning essay—‘Having Known the Vastness of the World, Yet Still Cherishing the Simplicity of Grass and Trees.’ The writing is delicate, the narrative is smooth, and the theme is profound. We all think you have a real talent for the humanities.”
Cheng Siyi carefully chose her words. “With such a strong foundation in the humanities, why did you choose science? Would you mind telling me the reason?”
The smile that had just appeared in Pu Yu’s eyes faded slightly.
Cheng Siyi noticed it keenly and asked with some regret, “Is it also because of family reasons?”
Pu Yu remained silent for a moment before nodding gently.
“When the subject selection form needed a parent’s signature, I wanted to fill in humanities, but my dad was drunk that day and signed it randomly. Later, the teacher helped me call to discuss it, and he said…”
The girl’s voice grew quieter. “He said, ‘If you want to study, fine; if not, go work and earn money.’ I didn’t dare bring up changing it again.”
Cheng Siyi’s heart tightened, feeling both angry and heartbroken.
She stood up, hugged Pu Yu gently like a friend, ruffled her hair, and said softly, “It’s okay. Studying science is good too. Since you’re here, make the best of it. Let’s work hard this senior year to improve your math and physics.”
“When you get a good score on the college entrance exam, you’ll have far more options for majors than in humanities, and the choice will be in your own hands.”
“Mm!” Pu Yu smiled again. “I’ll work hard, Teacher Cheng.”
When the morning self-study bell rang, Pu Yu was already sitting in the classroom.
Xu Suiran in the front row turned around, her eyes wide open. “Xiao Yu, what time did you get here? I saw you were already in the teacher’s office when I arrived at school!”
“I woke up a bit earlier,” Pu Yu said with a smile.
Xu Suiran slumped drowsily on the desk. “I can’t get up at all. Don’t look at me sitting in front of you now—in fact, my brain is still fast asleep in bed.”
As soon as the lunch break bell rang, Xu Suiran pulled her toward the cafeteria.
But Pu Yu stopped at the door. “Sui Sui, you go ahead first. I need to grab something and I’ll be right there.”