Bai Xiyuan gave Song Tingwan a smug little smile, as if to say, See? Song Hanzhou cares more about me.
Song Tingwan smiled, then silently mouthed, “Don’t rush. We’ll take our time.”
Bai Xiyuan’s expression stiffened. She stared at Song Tingwan in disbelief as Song Tingwan openly declared war on her.
In their second encounter, Song Tingwan had more or less figured out Bai Xiyuan’s level.
It wasn’t especially high, but it was more than enough to deal with Song Hanzhou.
She was good at playing her foolish younger brother’s feelings, knowing exactly when to advance and when to retreat. Her acting was so skilled that Song Hanzhou couldn’t bring himself to walk away.
Song Tingwan silently shook her head, thinking that Heaven must have brought her back to life because it couldn’t stand watching her three foolish younger brothers being played for fools.
Since Bai Xiyuan wasn’t actually hurt, and the photographer was pressing her to hurry back, she’d also gotten to see Song Hanzhou and show off in front of Song Tingwan again. At last satisfied, she returned to work.
Song Hanzhou watched her nanny van drive away before finally letting out a quiet breath of relief. Then he turned around and looked at Song Tingwan with even greater guilt.
“Older Sister, Xixi’s just like that. Don’t read too much into it.”
Song Tingwan thought for a moment, then said in a low voice, “Xiaozhou, do you know what a white lotus is?”
Song Hanzhou blinked at her in bewilderment, his eyes so clear they were almost frightening.
Song Tingwan gave up. It was her fault for dying too soon—she hadn’t had time to teach her younger brothers even the most basic things.
She waved a hand. “All right, go to the office. I’ll look around on my own.”
Song Hanzhou asked, “Don’t you want me to keep you company?”
Song Tingwan rolled her eyes at him and put on a motherly tone. “You’re the boss of the company. Put more of your attention into work. I, your Older Sister, am counting on you to support me, so don’t let me end up unable to afford food.”
“Song Hanzhou said seriously, ‘I can definitely support you, Older Sister! I’ll support you for the rest of your life!’”
“That’s the right attitude. Give me some money first.” As she spoke, Song Tingwan held out her hand.
The three brothers from Song Residence had always been more than willing to spend money on their older sister.
When they were little, they would get red envelopes[1]Hongbao are red packets containing gift money, traditionally given on holidays such as Lunar New Year to convey good wishes and luck. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3735987_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3735987_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], }); for the holidays and hand them over to Song Tingwan without being asked, saying they wanted to buy their Older Sister pretty dresses.
So Song Hanzhou didn’t hesitate for even a second. He handed her his black card, along with all the cash he had on him.
“Buy whatever you want, Older Sister!”
Song Tingwan smiled with satisfaction and put the card away. Then she urged Song Hanzhou to hurry to the office, hailed a taxi, and gave the driver a destination.
The car threaded through the bustling city, past streams of traffic and crowds of people.
The city was very different from the one she remembered. Many old buildings had been replaced by towering skyscrapers, and even the streets had been widened considerably.
After a little over forty minutes, Song Tingwan arrived near the middle school she had once attended.
The school gates had been renovated and were now far grander than before. It was dismissal time, and a steady stream of students was coming out.
They wore blazer-style uniforms, not the old blue-and-white ones she remembered.
Youthful energy seemed to radiate from them, just as it had from her when she’d first graduated.
Standing beneath the flourishing plane trees, Song Tingwan looked at the familiar scene from her past and could almost see her former self there.
For her, it had been only a few short days. In reality, more than three thousand days and nights had passed.
Even though she was still eighteen, she hadn’t only missed ten years of her younger brothers’ lives. She had missed ten years of her own, too.
With a quiet sigh, Song Tingwan put her thoughts aside and headed in the direction she remembered.
After coming back to life, the world felt both strange and familiar to her.
Besides her younger brothers, there was someone else Song Tingwan wanted to find.
Lin You, her closest friend in high school.
The phone number saved in her old phone was no longer in service, so she had no choice but to go to Lin You’s home.
On the way to Lin You’s home, Song Tingwan felt uneasy.
She kept turning over in her mind how she would explain her sudden appearance when she saw Lin You.
But then—
“You’re saying this family moved away? When?”
In an old apartment building, Song Tingwan stood outside one of the units and asked, disappointed.
“They sold the place five or six years ago. We only moved in recently.”
Song Tingwan bit her lip and asked with one last flicker of hope, “Do you know where they moved?”
“I’m afraid I don’t.”
Suppressing her sadness, Song Tingwan forced a faint smile. “Sorry to bother you. Thank you.”
After leaving the building, Song Tingwan went to the little park where she and Lin You used to spend time together.
Back then, the first thing on her mind every morning was pursuing Fu Shiyan. She would often come to Lin You to discuss strategies, and the two of them liked to meet here.
Sitting on a stone bench, Song Tingwan’s thoughts drifted further and further away.
“Hey, aren’t you the girl who used to hang around with Lin You all the time?”
The voice interrupted Song Tingwan’s thoughts. She looked up and saw an elderly man with white hair walking toward her, holding a dog’s leash.
Song Tingwan recognized him. He was the old man who used to walk his dog around here.
Only the little dog at his side was no longer lively. Even its steps were unsteady.
“Grandpa Sun, it’s been a long time.” Song Tingwan stood up and greeted him with a smile.
Grandpa Sun beamed at her. “You’re here to see Lin You? Her family moved away a long time ago.”
Song Tingwan made up an excuse. “Yes. I went abroad a few years ago and lost touch with her.”
“Ah, I see. I wondered how you didn’t even know she’d moved, when you two were so close.” Grandpa Sun’s expression turned wistful. “Her mother got sick and passed away five or six years ago. Her father remarried soon afterward and wanted to transfer the house to his stepchild.”
“I don’t know what happened after that. All I heard was that the girl sold the house and moved away.”
Song Tingwan’s heart ached. She hurriedly asked, “Grandpa Sun, have you heard where she moved?”
“How would I know that?” Grandpa Sun shook his head. Then he remembered something and said, “Oh, right. Lin You became a celebrity. Try looking her up online. You should be able to get in touch with her.”
“Really? All right, all right. I’ll look as soon as I get back.” Impatient to get started, Song Tingwan thanked him, then added, “I hope you stay healthy, Grandpa Sun.”
As she walked out of the apartment complex, she went online on her phone and typed in Lin You’s name.
Soon, the page filled with news articles and search results about Lin You.
But the more Song Tingwan read, the grimmer her expression became.
Every article was attacking Lin You.
She skimmed the comments and winced at the vile insults.
Song Tingwan stood frozen in place, her fingers flying over the screen as she scrolled through nearly every article that mentioned Lin You.
She discovered that Lin You had entered the entertainment industry four years ago. She and Bai Xiyuan had debuted in the same talent show and worked for the same entertainment company.
At first, Lin You had enjoyed a good reputation and a lot of popularity—more than Bai Xiyuan, in fact.
Then, two years ago, Lin You and Bai Xiyuan had a conflict on a variety show. After that, a huge wave of anti-fans began attacking Lin You online, and her career fell off a cliff.
Song Tingwan immediately searched for clips of the show where Lin You and Bai Xiyuan had clashed. But every trace of it had been scrubbed from the internet.
And yet the attacks on Lin You never stopped.
Song Tingwan trembled with anger as she kept searching for every scrap of information she could find about Lin You.
At last, beneath a post, she found a group called Take Down Lin You.
Realizing it was a group created by haters to attack Lin You, Song Tingwan steadied herself and applied to join.
References[+]