The news of Jiang Wei’s disappearance spread among relatives and neighbors faster than she had anticipated.
Early the next morning, while Jiang Lai was heating milk in the kitchen, someone knocked on the door.
It was Auntie Li from the neighboring unit. Auntie Li was holding a plate of sliced watermelon, her face wearing an expression Jiang Lai had only ever seen in TV dramas—frowning brows, lips forced into an upward curve, the entire face looking particularly conflicted.
“Lailai, where’s your mom?”
“Still sleeping.”
Auntie Li placed the watermelon on the table and sighed, lowering her voice. “Your dad’s situation… I heard about it. You poor child, why is your life so hard?”
As soon as the words fell, a crisp notification sound rang in Jiang Lai’s mind.
[Keyword detected, triggering Compensation. WeChat payment received: 2,000 yuan.]
Jiang Lai steadied the milk cup in her hand.
Two thousand.
She lowered her eyes, didn’t respond, poured the heated milk into a cup, and poured one for Auntie Li as well.
Seeing her so quiet and unresponsive, Auntie Li felt even more heartbroken. “Your mom too, she really married the wrong man. How will you two manage from now on?”
[Keyword detected, triggering Compensation. WeChat payment received: 3,000 yuan.]
Three thousand.
Jiang Lai picked up her milk cup and took a sip, hiding her eyes behind the rim.
“Thank you, Auntie Li,” she said softly. “We’ll save the watermelon for the afternoon.”
After Auntie Li left, Jiang Lai quickly opened WeChat to check. The glaring number in her balance made her stare for several seconds.
Suppressing her joy, she put down her phone and brought the milk into Jiang Shan’s room.
Jiang Shan was leaning against the headboard, her eyes still swollen but no longer crying. “Who was it?”
“Auntie Li. She brought some watermelon.”
Jiang Shan took the milk and looked at Jiang Lai’s face, wanting to say something but holding back. Jiang Lai knew that expression—her mom was worried about her.
“Mom,” Jiang Lai sat on the edge of the bed, “the most important thing for you today is to rest. It’s the weekend, so you don’t have to work. I’ll take care of the housework.”
“But…”
“No buts.” Jiang Lai helped pull the blanket up for her. “Mom, I’ve thought it over. I’ve decided to change my surname to yours.”
Jiang Shan was stunned.
Jiang Lai gave her a reassuring smile. “It’s just changing one character. It’ll still be pronounced Jiang Lai, so it won’t make a difference. I don’t want to live with the surname of an irresponsible father. Since he chose to abandon us, we can choose to cut ties with him too.”
Jiang Shan was silent for a moment, then nodded. “You’ve grown up and can make your own decisions. Mom supports you.”
Jiang Lai left Jiang Shan’s room and leaned against the hallway wall, reopening WeChat.
Five thousand.
Just from one morning.
She took a deep breath, her mind racing: Auntie Li was just the first. Based on her understanding of this old residential complex, once Auntie Li went back, the news would spread like a relay baton throughout the entire compound.
Sure enough, Auntie Zhang came in the afternoon. Auntie Zhang was Jiang Shan’s former colleague. As soon as she entered, she held Jiang Shan’s hand and wouldn’t let go, her words even more relentless than Auntie Li’s—“Lailai has been sensible since she was little,” “What will she do when she goes to college?” “Her dad is really a piece of work.”
Jiang Lai sat on a small stool nearby, peeling an orange for her mom.
Her ears perked up.
[Keyword detected, triggering Compensation. WeChat payment received: 5,000 yuan.]
[Keyword detected, compensation triggered. WeChat transfer received: 800 yuan.]
[Keyword detected, compensation triggered. WeChat transfer received: 1500 yuan.]
As the numbers climbed, Jiang Lai handed the peeled orange to Auntie Zhang, her expression perfectly normal.
In the evening, Third Maternal Aunt called. Jiang Shan answered, putting it on speakerphone. Third Maternal Aunt had a loud voice; even without the speaker, the whole living room could hear her—”Jiang Shan, let me tell you, I always knew Jiang Wei was no good.”
[Keyword detected, compensation triggered. WeChat transfer received: 4000 yuan.]
“Do you think Lai Lai will be affected by this in the future?”
[Keyword detected, compensation triggered. WeChat transfer received: 6000 yuan.]
Jiang Lai was washing vegetables in the kitchen. She dried her hands and glanced at her phone.
Over twenty thousand now.
She turned off the screen and continued washing the vegetables.
Over the next three days, the list of visitors grew longer. Grandma Zhou from upstairs, Sister Liu from her mother’s workplace, the wife of Uncle Chen from the convenience store at the entrance, and Auntie Wang came twice more.
Everyone arrived bearing fruit and sighs. Every time someone left, her balance jumped.
The amounts varied. Sometimes a few hundred, sometimes a few thousand. Third Maternal Aunt’s comment, “Who knows what the situation is with that child’s biological father’s side,” earned her eight thousand from the System.
Jiang Lai moved between the living room and the kitchen. Pouring water, handing tissues, peeling oranges, finding ways to insert herself into the discussions about her family of origin. She heard her mother repeat the same things twenty times over.
No one noticed anything unusual. She looked like nothing more than a quiet, sensible child.
On the fourth night, finally, no one came.
Jiang Lai closed the door, sat back down at her desk, and placed her phone on the table. The figure in her WeChat balance stared back at her, and she looked at it for a long while.
Forty-seven thousand six hundred.
She leaned back in her chair. The crack in the ceiling was still there, the number on her phone screen was still there. She stared at them and, for no reason at all, murmured, “What is destined to be yours will come to you.”
She chuckled to herself after saying it.
Then she opened the family’s old-model laptop, the one her parents had bought her for online classes back in the day.
She created an Excel spreadsheet and began planning how to find reasonable excuses to bring out her secret funds.
Scholarships, school fee refunds, part-time job payments—each entry not exceeding two thousand. For this, she also needed to come up with a plausible reason for earning money herself. She was a minor, and she couldn’t let her mother think it would interfere with her studies.
After typing the last line, she saved the file.
Filename: Summer Vacation Plan.
She stood up, stretched, picked up her phone, and checked her unread messages.
Zhang Yue had sent three messages. Asking when she’d be free during summer vacation. Seeing she hadn’t replied, an hour later he cautiously asked if she was upset because he was transferring schools. Then he sent a placating kitten sticker.
Jiang Lai typed a few words, then deleted them.
She didn’t want to talk about family matters for now. Zhang Yue would definitely rush over to see her. If he came, what would she say? My dad ran off, but I’m pretty calm about it because I have a System giving me money? Definitely not.
In the end, she sent: “Give me a couple of days. I’ll find you after I’m done with some things.”
Zhang Yue replied instantly: “Okay!!!” followed by three exclamation marks.
Jiang Lai laughed softly, put her phone back on the desk, and started planning tomorrow’s agenda.
Tomorrow, she’d first get her mother to accompany her to the police station to change her surname. Then, using her new name, she’d open a bank account. Fortunately, she had just turned 16, so she could open an account at the bank.