After dinner, Mom Song asked Song Cheng, “Your high school entrance exam results should be out soon, right?”
Only then did Song Cheng remember that the results were due sometime in the next couple of days. She’d been studying so much lately that she’d forgotten all about them. It wasn’t that she didn’t care; she just felt there was nothing she could do to change what had already happened, so she might as well focus on what was in front of her.
After they finished eating, the family sat on the sofa watching TV. Song Cheng leaned against Mom Song’s arm and said, “Mom, what if I don’t get into No. 1 High School? Will you be disappointed?”
Mom Song glanced at her. “It’s so hot—why are you leaning against me? If you don’t get in, you don’t get in. We weren’t expecting much anyway. After the way you were in your third year of middle school, your dad and I had already given up hope. No. 2 High School is pretty good too. It’s a key high school in the city.”
“But you used to tell me to work hard and get into No. 1.”
“That was because your uncle teaches there. I thought he could keep an eye on you, and then you could get into a good university three years later.”
Song Cheng fell silent. There had been another reason she hadn’t gone to No. 1 High School in her previous life: she didn’t like having relatives around. If anything happened at school, the whole family would know about it.
“Don’t put too much pressure on yourself. We’ll talk once the results are out. If you want to go to No. 1, we’ll figure something out then,” her father said from beside them.
The next day, just after Song Cheng finished her yoga practice, her phone rang. Phones back then were still brick-shaped, and she really wasn’t used to hers. A loud, carefree voice came through. “Xiaochengzi, I got back from Grandma’s yesterday. The results are coming out today, right? Let’s go to school together. Come downstairs in ten minutes and I’ll pick you up.”
As soon as Song Cheng heard the voice, she realized who it was. She’d been so busy studying lately that she’d completely forgotten about her best friend. Lu Yaozhi, Song Cheng’s closest friend, had been with her since childhood. They’d shared popsicles when they were little, studied in the same classes throughout elementary and middle school, then gone their separate ways in high school and university, only to reunite in this city later. Lu Yaozhi had always been the most important friend in Song Cheng’s thirty years of life. At thirty, they were both single, but unlike Song Cheng, who had been forced into being single, Lu Yaozhi had finally given up on marriage after her on-again, off-again relationship with Wang Mingyuan. Song Cheng had been reborn for so long and had actually forgotten about her. Luckily, Lu Yaozhi had been away recently; otherwise, she would have given herself away right away.
Song Cheng hung up and opened the closet. Looking at the wardrobe packed with clothes, she picked out a floral knee-length dress and changed into it. Then she tied her hair into a bun, letting a lock fall naturally beside her ear, and applied a little pink lip balm. Mm, it really was true that fair skin could hide a multitude of flaws. Song Cheng had been pretty even before, but no matter how well she took care of herself, she’d still had pimples on her face. Since using the System’s Purification Pill, though, her skin had become smooth and she’d gone a shade lighter. As Mom Song put it, she looked like a white steamed bun.
From a distance, Lu Yaozhi spotted someone standing beneath a tree by the roadside. The clothes were familiar, the bag was familiar—but why did the person look so unfamiliar? The girl stood with poise, holding a parasol and looking in Lu Yaozhi’s direction. Passersby kept turning to look and murmuring among themselves.
“Hey, look—a pretty girl. I walk this way all the time. How come I’ve never seen such a beautiful girl around here before?”
“Wow, she’s so fair. I wonder what skincare products she uses. Her skin’s completely flawless.”
“That dress looks great on her, and she has such a nice figure.”
Song Cheng looked at Lu Yaozhi riding up on her bicycle: tall, wearing a blue tracksuit, her ear-length hair lifted by the breeze, her thick black brows framing wide eyes full of confusion. Seeing Lu Yaozhi like this made Song Cheng think of the woman she’d become later on, wearing high heels, with long, wavy hair and vivid red lipstick, carrying herself like she was ready to direct the world at any moment. Their appearances and bearing were so different that it felt as if the memories had been split in two.
“Did you get plastic surgery or something? How did you change so much all of a sudden?” Lu Yaozhi asked, puzzled.
“It’s not as dramatic as you make it sound. I just haven’t been going out lately, so I’m a little fairer. And my hairstyle’s changed. With my hair tied up, my face looks smaller, so I look different.”
“Is that so? You’re still the same person, but how did I never realize you were this pretty? And the more you explain, the guiltier you sound.” Lu Yaozhi looked Song Cheng up and down.
Seeing that Lu Yaozhi was still as perceptive as ever, Song Cheng quickly changed the subject and threw her arms around her. “Zhizhi, I missed you so much!”
“Hey, easy! It’s only been a week. Do you really have to be this enthusiastic?” Lu Yaozhi hugged Song Cheng back, grumbling.
“It’s just that it felt like such a long time, and I got carried away,” Song Cheng said with a bright smile.
“You’re still such a goof.” Lu Yaozhi tapped her on the forehead.
“All right, hop on. Let’s go see the results.” Lu Yaozhi patted the back of her bicycle.
As they rode, the two chatted about what had been happening in their lives. From Lu Yaozhi’s perspective, Song Cheng had simply gotten prettier over the course of a week. But as Song Cheng looked at this carefree girl who loved wearing casual sportswear, her thoughts had already drifted far away.
Lu Yaozhi’s parents had divorced when she was very young. It was the same old story: her father lost his memory and fell in love with someone else. Her parents were from the same village, not far from the village where Song Cheng’s grandmother lived, only an hour from the city. The area hadn’t been developed yet. Lu Yaozhi’s father was an ambitious man. In the late 1980s, he’d headed south to make his fortune amid the winds of reform. Before leaving, he’d been forced to marry Lu Yaozhi’s mother. Back then, a rural wedding meant little more than holding a banquet; three days after the wedding, he left—and was gone for five years. Lu Yaozhi’s mother raised her daughter alone and looked after Grandma Lu.
Five years later, Lu Yaozhi’s father came back with a woman and a little boy in her arms. He said the woman’s father had saved his life, and that it was thanks to her father’s help that he’d been able to build up some capital. He’d returned now because the man had fallen ill and died, leaving his only daughter in his care. He’d fallen in love with the woman long ago, he said, and had come back to introduce her to his parents. He’d thought Lu Yaozhi’s mother would have remarried by then. A fellow villager had seen him swept away by the water, and he’d assumed he was going to die. He hadn’t expected to be rescued—though he’d lost his memory.
Lu Yaozhi’s mother was furious and helpless, but life had to go on. She took the money and left her husband. Lu Yaozhi had once asked her mother why she’d left so easily. If she’d stayed, nobody would have forced her to go.
That was true. The Lu family’s relatives were all against Lu Yaozhi’s father marrying that woman, and Grandma Lu had been the most opposed.
But Lu Yaozhi’s mother had said, “I’d only met your father once when I married him. Neither of us had any choice back then. For all these years, I’ve been the one looking after you and your grandparents. What difference does it make whether he’s there or not? When news of his death came, you were so little, and your grandparents were old. If I didn’t hold the family together, who would? Now that I know he’s alive, I don’t have that burden anymore. I want to live my own life. And don’t blame that woman. She doesn’t seem like a bad person. This is just fate.”
Lu Yaozhi had been too young to understand why her mother had left her. As she gradually grew up, she saw her mother find a man who loved her and have a sweet little daughter. Her mother smiled more than before, and little by little, Lu Yaozhi came to accept it.
“I’m talking to you. Are you listening?” Lu Yaozhi had the feeling Song Cheng had something on her mind and thought she might be worried about her results. “Don’t get ahead of yourself. Let’s see the results first, then we can think about what comes next.”
“Okay, I’m fine. Don’t worry,” Song Cheng said with a gentle smile.
The middle school Song Cheng attended in Chengdong District was one of the better-known schools in the area. It had originally been built with funding from a nearby aerospace machinery factory. After the reforms, the government designated it a key middle school. Each year, about 30 percent of its students were admitted to key high schools. That was considered a high rate among the city’s four districts—east, west, south, and north. Jinnan District had the best results; some schools there had admission rates as high as 50 percent.
They went straight to the classroom. Quite a few students were already there, and they were all surprised to see Lu Yaozhi and Song Cheng. Lu Yaozhi was one thing; people had always thought of her as having a boyish personality. But most people thought of Song Cheng as quiet and reserved, and she seemed to have changed quite a bit. The results had already been posted in the classroom. As expected, Song Cheng had scored 623, while Lu Yaozhi had scored 635.
Just then, their homeroom teacher, Teacher Wang, walked into the classroom, and the room fell silent. “You’ve all seen the results, right? The cutoff for No. 1 High School is 625. More than ten students in our class scored above that. Wang Mingyuan got 680, so he should be able to get into the advanced class. And if some of you didn’t do well, that’s all right. No. 1 isn’t the only key high school in the city. No. 2 High School and Experimental High School are both excellent too. So don’t lose heart. You’ll have to keep working hard in high school. Don’t think that getting into high school means you’re done. Your goal is university—and a good one. So, everyone, keep it up!”
Applause broke out in the classroom. Looking at her tall, slender homeroom teacher, Song Cheng remembered how he used to patiently encourage her, and warmth suddenly spread through her. She walked up to him. “Teacher Wang.”
Teacher Wang looked at her. “Song Cheng. If I remember right, your score was pretty close, wasn’t it?” He glanced through the results sheet in his hand and found her score of 623. “Ah, just a little short. See? I told you over and over to focus on your studies. If you hadn’t gotten distracted in your third year of middle school, you could have gone to No. 1 with Lu Yaozhi. But that’s in the past now. You’ll have to work even harder in high school.” He looked at Song Cheng as he spoke.
In her previous life, Teacher Wang had comforted her the same way. Back then, his words had filled her with encouragement, and she’d resolved to work hard in high school. But her self-discipline was too poor, and she often skipped class in her first and second years to hang out at internet cafés. By the time she wanted to study hard in her third year, she couldn’t catch up.
“Thank you, Teacher Wang. I’ll work hard. And I wish you good health and all the best!” Song Cheng said, looking at him earnestly. Teacher Wang looked at the student standing before him, solemnly offering him her good wishes. He could hear how sincere she was, and it warmed his heart.
After filling out their school preference forms, Song Cheng and Lu Yaozhi got ready to leave. Just outside the classroom, they saw Wang Mingyuan walking ahead. Lu Yaozhi hesitated, then hurried forward and slapped him on the shoulder. “Great score! As expected, you’re the top student in our class. Impressive.” She gave him a thumbs-up. If Song Cheng hadn’t noticed Lu Yaozhi’s other hand clenched tight and her body a little tense, she might have thought she’d been lying when she said she’d liked Wang Mingyuan since middle school. She’d never imagined that someone who seemed so carefree, as if nothing mattered to her, could hide her feelings so well. She’d never noticed it before.
Wang Mingyuan turned to look at them and scratched his head, smiling shyly at Song Cheng and Lu Yaozhi. “I just got lucky. You got in too, didn’t you? We’ll be classmates from now on.”
Looking at this boy who was so shy around girls, Song Cheng thought she could almost see the future version of him, hiding behind his parents like a mama’s boy. She stepped forward and cut in. “With a score that high, you’ll definitely get into the honors class. Yaozhi surely won’t be in the same class as you, so I doubt you’ll have many chances to see each other from now on.”
As soon as she finished speaking, she felt Lu Yaozhi discreetly pinch her arm. They exchanged a glance, then said goodbye and hurried away.
Wang Mingyuan watched them leave in confusion. Had he offended Song Cheng somehow? He scratched his head, then hurried off too.
“What was that about just now? Did Wang Mingyuan offend you?” Lu Yaozhi asked, puzzled.
Song Cheng was at a loss to explain her own behavior. Wang Mingyuan wasn’t yet the weak, selfish man who made no effort for love that he would become. She really shouldn’t have said that.
“No. I just suddenly remembered I missed the cutoff by two points and got upset. My tone came out a little sharp, but it wasn’t directed at him.” Song Cheng made an excuse.
“Oh. I thought he’d offended you. But you were only two points short. Your uncle teaches at No. 1 High School, doesn’t he? Ask if there’s any way to work something out. If Aunt Qin says anything unpleasant, just put up with it and let it pass.”
Song Cheng’s uncle, Qin Changhua, had long taught the honors classes at No. 1 High School and had even been named a special-grade teacher. Song Cheng’s aunt by marriage was a head nurse at a hospital. Aunt Qin had always been a source of pride for their extended family: she had gotten into university in the 1980s, been assigned a job, and become a city resident; then she had married a good husband and given birth to a son with excellent grades. So Aunt Qin had always felt superior to her sister-in-law. She thought the woman had married poorly and had a daughter, and she resented that Uncle Qin was always so attentive to Song Cheng, his niece. Whenever Song Cheng visited her uncle’s home, she often heard Aunt Qin make snide remarks. As she grew older, Song Cheng gradually stopped wanting to visit.
“It’s fine. Uncle Qin has always treated me well. Aunt Qin just makes idle comments; they don’t affect me.” She was telling the truth. Sometimes Mom Song would say to her, “With relatives, if you get along, spend time together often. If you don’t, just observe the proper courtesies and leave it at that. Think about your uncle and your cousin—they treat you well, don’t they? And your aunt has always been wonderful to your grandma, too.”
“Good. I was hoping we’d go to the same high school. If you end up at No. 2 High School and I’m not there with you, you’ll be so lonely.”
“Right, right. Without the company of Miss Lu, I’m sure my high school life will be unbearably dull.” Song Cheng pinched Yaozhi’s cheek.
“Hey, you little shorty, and you’re pinching me? Oh, your pretty face makes me want to take a bite out of it.” Lu Yaozhi pinched her back with both hands. Lu Yaozhi was 168 centimeters tall and would grow even more. In her previous life, Song Cheng had always envied her long legs.
“Fine, just wait. I’ll grow tall soon. I’ve been drinking milk all the time lately. I’ll definitely be as tall as you.” That was true too. In her previous life, Song Cheng had grown to 165 centimeters in high school. With gene optimization this time around, there was no way she’d end up shorter than before.
“Sure. I’ll wait for you to become a long-legged beauty. It’s getting late, so we should head back. The sun’s blazing, and I can’t stay for lunch. I only got back yesterday, and Aunt Zhao said Dad would be home for dinner today, so I should get back early.” After returning from the south, Yaozhi’s father had opened a building-materials company. The real-estate market had been booming in the early 2000s, and he had built a successful business by riding that wave. He was fairly well known in Chengdong District.
“Okay, I won’t keep you from being a good, obedient daughter. Let’s go see a movie sometime.” Song Cheng had a heavy study load, but still wanted to relax now and then. Besides, with her current intelligence, she wasn’t worried at all about being unable to complete her tasks.
“Sure. We’ll call each other then.”