Chapter 4

Across the hall, the Su family’s dinner was a feast, braised beef with potatoes, boiled shrimp, soy-braised carp, a cold salad of some sort, and a seaweed egg soup.
It had to be said, every meal at the Su household was extravagant, and Grandma Su’s cooking was exceptional.
According to her, she’d once worked as a chef in the old commune kitchen.
After dinner, Grandpa Su cleared the table, Grandma Su washed the dishes, and Su Xiaoxiao was told to sit on the couch and watch cartoons.
It had been years since she’d last watched any, and now she found them oddly entertaining.
Before long, the phone rang.
It was right beside the couch, on the little tea table, so Su Xiaoxiao picked it up. “Hello?”
The call was from Wu Xinyu.
“Hello, Xiaoxiao, it’s Mom,” the woman said brightly.
“School started today, how’s your new school?”
Su Xiaoxiao twisted the phone cord between her fingers, feeling awkward. “It’s fine.”
“Have you made any new friends? How are your teachers and classmates?”
“Also fine.”
Wu Xinyu could sense her daughter’s coldness. “Xiaoxiao, why are you so quiet? Do you miss Mommy while you’re at Grandma’s?”
To Su Xiaoxiao, Wu Xinyu was little more than a stranger. She didn’t know what to say, she wasn’t the type to warm up easily to people.
And calling a stranger Mom? She couldn’t do it.
Just then, Grandma Su came over, having heard the phone ring. Relieved, Xiaoxiao handed her the receiver. “You talk. I’m watching TV.”
And with that, she went back to the couch, eyes on the cartoon again.
Grandma Su took the phone. On the other end, Wu Xinyu was crying. “Mom, is Xiaoxiao unhappy at school? Has she made any friends? Do the teachers like her?”
Her voice broke with sobs. “Why has she become so quiet? She won’t even call me Mom anymore. Does she hate us for sending her back to the countryside?”
Grandma Su murmured soothing words, glancing at Xiaoxiao, who sat stone-faced, watching TV without a flicker of emotion.
Was the cartoon not funny? She used to laugh so hard she’d nearly fall off the couch.
Thinking it over, Grandma Su realized Xiaoxiao really had changed.
Not only did she never call her “Grandma” anymore, she barely spoke at all.
She used to be such a cheerful child.
Maybe it was because she had no kids her age to play with now, spending all day with two old folks had made her quiet, serious, almost grown-up.
What kind of child doesn’t like snacks, or toys, or playing outside?
Su Xiaoxiao hadn’t smiled once since coming back all those days ago. Thinking of that, Grandma Su’s heart gave a little jolt, and a worry began to settle in. Maybe she should find Xiaoxiao a little playmate? The image of Jin Qishan flashed across her mind, but she quickly shook her head. No, absolutely not. That wouldn’t do at all.
In truth, it wasn’t that Su Xiaoxiao was unhappy, just that she was unbearably bored. No family, no friends, nothing she cared about, and no purpose to hold on to. She was simply existing, like an empty shell. The only thing keeping her going now was the hope that she might one day return to the real world.
That night, Su Xiaoxiao dreamed that she couldn’t find the cause of how she’d crossed into this world, leaving her trapped inside the book, unable to go back. The panic in the dream was so real she nearly woke up crying.
At the same time, Jin Qishan was dreaming too. In his dream, he was back in the year Dong Xiaohong had first arrived at his home. Back then, he was still living with his grandmother in the countryside.
The matchmaker had brought Dong Xiaohong in, and Grandma told him to call her “Auntie.” He kept his mouth shut. He’d heard the whispers, that this woman would become his new mother. But he didn’t want a new mother. He only wanted his own.
Grandma got angry and raised her hand to hit him, but Dong Xiaohong quickly stepped in with a gentle smile. “He’s just a child, doesn’t know any better. It’s fine.”
After she left, Grandma stroked his head and said softly, “You must listen to Auntie from now on. You’ll go live in the city with her. She’ll take good care of you.”
Not long after that, his father came back from the army, bought an apartment in the city, and married Dong Xiaohong.
Jin Qishan still refused to call her “Mom.” He wouldn’t even speak to her. Grandma could only sigh helplessly.
Later, when he started first grade, Dong Xiaohong brought him to the city, saying the schools there were better.
In the village, everyone praised the Jin family for finding such a good daughter-in-law, beautiful, gentle, a kindergarten teacher with a good job, and most importantly, kind to Jin Qishan.
But only Jin Qishan knew the truth. Dong Xiaohong hit him, scolded him, starved him, and made him work.
At first, when he went back to the village, he told Grandma about it. But Dong Xiaohong would just cry and say, “Mom, I know Qishan doesn’t like me, but I never thought he’d make up stories like this.”
At night, Grandma would secretly check Jin Qishan’s body, but there wasn’t a single mark.
Still, a child she’d raised herself, she knew him. Jin Qishan could be mischievous sometimes, but he wasn’t the kind to lie.
Grandma remained half-convinced, watching Dong Xiaohong more closely after that.
Then Dong Xiaohong got pregnant. But before three months passed, she lost the baby.
Father came back from the army again, and Grandma and Grandpa came from the village.
This time, Dong Xiaohong cried in front of everyone, saying, “Don’t blame Qishan, it’s not his fault. He was just afraid that if I had a baby, you’d all stop caring about him. It’s my fault. I’ll never have children again, Qishan is enough for me.”
No matter how Father tried to comfort her, she kept crying, blaming herself.
Jin Qishan stood silently in the corner, murmuring, “I didn’t push her. I didn’t do anything. She fell by herself.”
But no one believed him. No one ever believed him again.
…
The next morning, when Su Xiaoxiao and Grandma Su headed out, they ran into Jin Qishan on his way to school.
“Off to school, Qishan?” Grandma Su called out kindly. “Want Grandma to give you a ride on the bike?”
Jin Qishan gave her a quick glance, then lowered his head and walked past them without a word.
Grandma Su hefted Su Xiaoxiao’s schoolbag and muttered after him, “That boy’s got a nasty temper, really.”
Su Xiaoxiao watched his thin figure disappear down the road and thought to herself. With that kind of attitude, he’s bound to suffer for it later, at school or anywhere else.
Then again, that was just how villains usually were…
When they reached the school, it was still early. The little shop by the gate was packed with students.
Grandma Su looked around, then dug into her pocket, pulled out a small wad of bills, spat lightly on her fingers, and started counting.
She first took out one yuan, thought for a moment, swapped it for five, and stuffed it into Su Xiaoxiao’s hand. “Go buy yourself something nice. If it’s not enough, just tell Grandma later.”
Su Xiaoxiao pushed the money back. “It’s okay. I don’t need it.”
“Take it.” Grandma Su pressed the bill firmly into her palm, then pedaled off on her tricycle.
In the real world, both of Su Xiaoxiao’s grandparents on her father’s side had died when he was little. Her maternal grandparents lived far away, and she hadn’t seen them in years.
This kind of warmth was foreign to her. Watching Grandma Su’s back as she rode away, her first thought was simply that the old lady was stubborn, but the feeling in her chest was unfamiliar.
She slipped the money into the side pocket of her bag and slung it casually over one shoulder.
At the school gate, the teacher on duty was Yao Yulian. Seeing Su Xiaoxiao’s lazy posture, she immediately called out, “Su Xiaoxiao! Put that backpack on properly. No shoulder slinging!”

Seriously? I’m twenty-three, and someone’s still telling me how to wear a backpack.
Su Xiaoxiao sighed and obediently adjusted it on both shoulders.
Jin Qishan, meanwhile, had been stopped at the gate for forgetting his red scarf. Yao Yulian kept him there until the bell rang before letting him in.
By coincidence, the first class of the day was Chinese, and Yao Yulian’s class at that. She made him stand in the back as punishment for being late.
Su Xiaoxiao had no idea he’d already been punished once at the gate. When she saw him come in late, she was surprised. They’d left home together, after all.
Sure, she’d taken a tricycle while he walked, but there was no way the difference should’ve been half an hour.
On the podium, Yao Yulian’s voice rang through the classroom as she used Jin Qishan as a living example to remind everyone about discipline, never be late, never leave early.
Su Xiaoxiao’s eyes followed Jin Qishan. His head hung low, his shoulders slumped, not a spark of energy in him.
He walked slowly to the back of the classroom, dropped his bag on the floor, pulled out a crumpled Chinese textbook, and leaned against the wall, standing still. His messy hair fell over his eyes, shadowing a blank, lifeless expression.
During the break, Su Xiaoxiao leaned against the corridor railing, watching the children below run and play.
The boys were roughhousing, playing games with cards and feet.
The girls were jumping rope and making string figures.
Just then, Wang Xiaoxia tugged on Su Xiaoxiao’s sleeve, eyes bright with excitement. “Let’s play jump rope later! I brought one!”
To twenty-three-year-old Su Xiaoxiao, those games were far too childish.
She smiled politely and said, “Thanks, but I don’t really like that.”
Wang Xiaoxia adored Su Xiaoxiao. She thought she was special, elegant, different from everyone else.
“What do you like, then? I’ll play with you,” she said eagerly.
Su Xiaoxiao couldn’t help but laugh. The little girl was quite adorable.
“I like standing here and feeling the wind,” she said.
Just as she finished, a soft gust blew past, brushing her hair across her face.
It was the first time Wang Xiaoxia realized that a girl could look that beautiful. She wanted to be like Su Xiaoxiao too.
So she copied her, leaning against the railing just the same.
Down below, someone called out, “Xiaoxia! We’re one person short for jump rope! You coming?”
“I’m coming, I’m coming!” Wang Xiaoxia shouted, then dashed off, ponytail bouncing.
Su Xiaoxiao chuckled to herself. Kids really were bundles of energy, once break started, the classroom was instantly empty.
After watching for a few minutes, she turned back and walked into the classroom, only to see Jin Qishan still there, sleeping at his desk.
He’d fallen asleep because he was tired from standing through class, and because no one wanted to play with him.
Of course, no one would. Su Xiaoxiao knew that better than anyone.
After all, she had written it that way.
Villains never had friends.
The next class was math.
Their math teacher, Jia Zhe, was a middle-aged man. Unlike Yao Yulian, who preferred obedient, high-achieving students, Jia Zhe liked clever, quick-witted kids with lively personalities.
Unfortunately, Jin Qishan was neither.
Catching him asleep in class, Jia Zhe made him stand for the entire lesson again.
Watching him stand through two classes in a row, Su Xiaoxiao couldn’t help but think, the young “villain” really was a bit pitiful.