Father Yan looked at his daughter, who had been gone for so long, and asked anxiously, “You went to see your brother, why has it taken so long? If you don’t come back soon, I’ll have to go look for you.”
Yan Sisi couldn’t say much in the hospital room, so she quickly made something up: “I ran into a classmate at the door and chatted for a bit.”
Gu Shengrong, lying nearby and resting, overheard their conversation and curiously asked, “Xiao Yan, your daughter is still in school?”
“Yes. She took a few years off, but this year she returned to high school,” Father Yan said cautiously. A few years ago, the guards had caused too much trouble at the school, so he hadn’t dared to let her continue her studies.
Now that the national college entrance exam had been restored, ordinary people could enter universities through testing, unlike before when only recommendation allowed entry into worker-peasant-soldier universities.
Gu Shengrong nodded and kindly said, “A young girl should study hard and try to get into a good university.”
Indeed, times had changed. Unlike their childhood, when there was no proper school and they had to secretly study outside the teacher’s window, now opportunities were abundant.
Yan Sisi stood by her father’s bedside and nodded obediently. “Of course! My goal is a university in Jing City.”
In her dream, she hadn’t even had the chance to take the college entrance exam before she ended her life. She would never repeat that mistake. She wanted to get into a good university, learn more, broaden her horizons, and not confine herself to her own small world.
She used to care too much about what others thought, but now she would live for herself and her family.
Father Yan smiled proudly and praised her. “My daughter has ambition. If we’re going to aim, we aim for the best. I think a university in Jing City is perfect.”
Yan Sisi could only silently lift her chin, thinking: Dad, you really overestimate me… can I even get into a university in Jing City?
Facing her father’s high expectations, she turned, picked up the lunchbox, and said, “Dad, I’ll head back now.”
“Alright. Take your time on the way. Don’t bring dinner tonight, you need to rest since you’re still injured.”
Yan Sisi nodded and then smiled, greeting Gu Shengrong politely, “Goodbye, Grandpa Gu.”
“All right, be safe on the way.”
After saying goodbye, she carried the lunchbox and walked straight ahead. Just as she reached a corner, she suddenly collided with someone with a loud bang.
Clutching her sore nose, tears welling up, she looked up at the man she had bumped into and instinctively said, “I’m sorry.”
“Are you okay?”
Their voices sounded at the same time. Gu Jingping looked down at the young girl with tearful eyes that he had bumped into and quickly said, “I’m sorry.”
Yan Sisi rubbed her sore nose, her voice hoarse as she replied, “It’s nothing. I was walking too fast.”
After that, she apologized again, and seeing that he was clearly unharmed, she carefully went around his tall frame and continued toward the stairwell.
Gu Jingping glanced back at the girl walking toward the stairs, then walked forward to his grandfather’s hospital room and called, “Grandpa.”
Gu Shengrong looked up at his grandson entering the room and asked in surprise, “Aren’t you supposed to be at Guoxiang Restaurant?”
Gu Jingping said calmly, “Just came to see you.”
Gu Shengrong frowned, clearly displeased, “Seeing you just makes me upset. I arranged a dinner for you and you didn’t go. How am I ever going to hold my great-grandchild at this rate?”
It seemed that the matchmaking dinner he arranged had once again been seen through by that little rascal. Sigh, if it weren’t for Xiao Yan’s daughter already having someone, they could’ve gotten to know each other. Truly, all the good girls end up being taken.
ᘻᘿᓍᘺ
Yan Sisi was carrying her lunchbox, not yet at the doorstep, when she saw her cousin Yan Qianqian standing outside, looking around. Before she could greet her, Qianqian’s eyes had already spotted her.
Yan Qianqian had been waiting at the door for a long time. Seeing her cousin finally return, she immediately brightened and said, “Sisi, you’re back!”
“Sis, what are you doing here? Did you come back to the city?” Yan Sisi asked, surprised to see the girl she hadn’t seen in years standing at her own doorstep. Instinctively, her hand reached for the wooden bracelet partially hidden under her sweater.
“Yes, I came to see you yesterday, but auntie said you were out,” Yan Qianqian said with a smile, her eyes on her cousin’s delicate face, red sweater, and sheepskin boots, pressing down the faint displeasure in her heart.
Yan Sisi approached her cousin and immediately noticed her haggard appearance, obviously, life in the countryside had been harsh. In the book, her cousin was described as kind and unafraid of hardship, which sharply contrasted with the domineering personality Yan Sisi remembered. Could the years in the countryside really have changed her so much?
Yan Qianqian looked at her cousin at the doorway and affectionately reached out to grab her arm, staring at the bandage on her head with concern. “How did you hurt your head? And just now I heard some rumors downstairs, what’s going on?”
Yan Sisi felt a little overwhelmed by her cousin’s sudden enthusiasm. Before going to the countryside, their relationship had not been good. In fact, because they were both girls but treated differently, her cousin’s attitude toward her had always been sharp and hostile.
And now, after just a few years in the countryside, her personality had changed so much!
Yan Sisi pulled her arm free from her cousin’s grip, took out her key, and unlocked the door, replying calmly, “I just bumped into someone. What rumors are going around outside?”
In fact, she didn’t even need to ask, she could already guess. Everyone was probably talking about her falling into the water a few days ago.
“Don’t you know yet? They’re all saying you fell into the water the other day, and the family who rescued you came to propose marriage,” Yan Qianqian said as she followed her cousin inside, recounting everything she had overheard, carefully watching Sisi’s reaction.
Seeing Sisi’s calm response, Qianqian felt a surge of impulse to disrupt that composed facade, but she reminded herself of her purpose and held back.
Sisi turned and looked at her cousin steadily. “Oh? Cousin, did you come here for something?”
Qianqian, unable to resist, raised her voice. “How can you be so calm? You have to know how important reputation is for a girl. Are you just going to let them say whatever they want?”
Qianqian had expected her cousin to hear the rumors, become upset, maybe even cry, and then she could move in to comfort her, show concern, and subtly pry for whatever information she wanted.
Sisi, however, simply shrugged at her cousin’s sudden intensity, sending a chill of goosebumps through Qianqian. Sisi replied nonchalantly, “Say what you want. Cousin, is that really why you came to see me?”
No one visits without a reason, she had just returned to the city, yet her cousin came straight to her house. Sisi didn’t believe it was nothing.
Seeing Sisi’s indifferent reaction, Qianqian realized that concern alone wouldn’t bring them closer. Thinking of her real purpose, her gaze shifted down to Sisi’s wrist. Not seeing the bracelet she expected, she grabbed Sisi’s hand, lifted the sweater, and revealed a completely different bracelet. Nervously, she asked, “Sisi, what happened to the bracelet you used to wear?”
At this point, her cousin should have been wearing that bracelet, how could it be gone?
Sisi, startled at first, finally relaxed when she saw the wooden bracelet had changed. She pulled back her wrist, which had been twisted painfully, and frowned. “You hurt me, sis. What bracelet are you talking about?”
“The gray wooden bracelet!” Qianqian asked urgently. That bracelet was her space bracelet, how could it not be on her cousin’s wrist?
“Wooden bracelet?” Sisi felt a chill in her stomach, but outwardly pretended to recall, then calmly said, “Oh, that? I stopped wearing it a long time ago.”
Inside, her nerves were on high alert. Why was her cousin suddenly interested in the wooden bracelet? Didn’t she used to mock her for wearing it when they were kids? Was she dreaming now?
Qianqian stared at the white jade bracelet on Sisi’s wrist, her eyes red, murmuring, “How could you not wear it? How is that possible?”
Sisi looked at her cousin’s reaction, trying to piece it together. She understood her cousin’s shock, but she had no idea what dream Qianqian was having this time.
Yan Sisi pretended not to know anything and asked, “Cousin, what’s wrong?”
Yan Qianqian only managed to calm down after being addressed, pressing down the urgency in her chest, and awkwardly inquired, “Sisi, do you still remember where you put that wooden bracelet? I have a friend who likes bracelets like that, and I remember you had one, so I promised to ask around for her.”
Sisi feigned ignorance. “I don’t know. I haven’t worn it for years, I don’t even remember where I put it.”
“That person really likes wooden bracelets,” Qianqian said, staring at her unresponsive cousin. She gritted her teeth and continued, “My friend said as long as he likes the bracelet, the price isn’t a problem.”
“Sis, are you sure you’re not dealing with a scammer?”
“No, it’s fine. You help me find it, and I’ll make sure you get a good price for it.”
“That’ll have to wait until my mom’s back. She handles all the things at home.”
“Can’t you at least start looking? My friend is in a hurry.”
“Being in a hurry doesn’t help. I’ll look when I can,” Sisi said, tired of arguing with her cousin. She pressed her head and complained, “Sis, I feel a bit dizzy and want to rest.”
Seeing this, Qianqian couldn’t search on her own and instead forced a bright smile. “Okay, then you rest. But when you find it, make sure to tell me, I’ll help you sell it for a good price.”
Sisi escorted her out, nodding perfunctorily. “Of course, I’ll let you know right away when I find it. At least I can make some money.”
“I’ll go for now. I’ll come see you next time.”
Sisi watched her cousin leave before closing the door. From her cousin’s reaction, she could tell that Qianqian had her eyes on the bracelet.
Things had just become complicated. The moment her cousin started asking about the bracelet, it was obvious she knew what it was, and no one could resist such a temptation.
Sisi stared at the wooden bracelet on her wrist, now transformed. She had been so busy the past few days that the bracelet had been hidden under her sweater, and if her cousin hadn’t suddenly lifted it today, she wouldn’t have even realized it had changed.
The bracelet, once dull gray, had now turned a milky white like jade, with hints of green drifting through it. Looking closely, the green resembled tiny fresh shoots, it looked beautiful.
It was possible that it had changed appearance after recognizing its owner; she just hadn’t noticed in time.
Sisi covered the bracelet with her sweater sleeve again and went to check the seeds she had planted in the space. Only a few hours had passed, but the seeds planted that morning had already sprouted green shoots. Some of the faster-growing seeds had even produced two leaves.
After leaving the space and resting briefly, Sisi hurried to the home of Aunt Chen, whom she had met in the morning. After finding her successfully, they headed together to the family housing block of the furniture and particleboard factory that her mother had mentioned.