On Thursday evening, after returning home, Hua Jie first put her schoolbag away and then took out her copied transcript and ranking list. She stared at them for a while before tucking them into her pocket and heading to the kitchen.
Her mother had prepared a bowl of black sesame paste for her and fried a meat pancake that she and her father would eat for dinner.
The young girl was sitting at the dining table, nibbling on the pancake, when there was a noise at the courtyard gate.
Huanhuan immediately got up from under the table, listened for a moment, and did not bark, obviously recognizing the footsteps of the visitor.
Hua Jie’s father had just been chatting away at a neighbor’s house when he saw Bian Hong return home, which let him know his daughter was back too.
Seeing Bian Hong pulling out a transcript, saying that the results for the first and second year of high school had been released today, Hua Jie’s father could no longer sit still.
Unsure of how well his daughter had performed, he quickly said his goodbyes and hurried back home from the neighbor’s.
Turning right out of the door, he opened the courtyard gate and entered the house in less than a minute.
Upon entering, he saw his daughter sitting at the dining table nibbling on the pancake, her mouth smeared with black sesame paste, a face full of the joy of savoring food, seemingly without any worries or sadness.
Could it mean she did well on the tests?
“Dad~” Hua Jie looked up and greeted him with a smile.
“Hmm.” Her father responded, wanting to go back to the yard to continue his carpentry work, but he was too tired after having worked from the afternoon till evening and wanted to rest a bit.
Moreover, he was concerned about his daughter’s grades, afraid of missing out on her discussing this matter, so he decided to stay indoors.
But sitting at the dining table seemed a bit too conspicuous and awkward.
He hesitated for a moment, then walked over to the living room, turned on the TV drama, and randomly selected a channel with the volume turned down low. It seemed as though he was watching TV, but his ears were tuned to the kitchen.
Hua Jie swallowed the last bite of her bun, looked up, and saw her father watching “A Dream Behind the Curtain.” Fei Yunfan was telling Luping, “You only lost your legs, but Ziling, she lost her love!!!”
“…” Hua Jie.
Her father, a straightforward man, used to be the least tolerant of such cheesy romance dramas.
When had it changed? Her father’s taste had shifted…
And shifted so far, it seemed to reach her grandmother’s house.
After finishing the last of her black sesame paste, she habitually wiped the inside of the bowl with her finger, then cleaned her sesame-covered finger by putting it in her mouth. After handing the ‘licked’ clean bowl to her mother, she took a sip of water, rinsed her mouth, and took a deep breath. With an excited heart, she turned to her father in the living room watching TV and said:
“Dad, my mid-term exam results are out.”
“Really?” Her father responded almost instantly, immediately standing up and walking over to sit at the dining table. He took a sip of water, then fixed a piercing gaze on her.
“Dad, you’re so quick; it’s almost like you were prepared.”
It seemed like he wasn’t even that engrossed in the melodramatic TV show that was playing.
“Mom, come sit down,” she invited seriously, sitting up straight.
“Why so formal?” Her mother was a bit nervous because of her daughter’s demeanor.
When she was a child, it was her who would be nervous about possibly failing and getting a spanking from Dad at home. Now, it seemed like the daughter had taken control of the situation.
Seeing his daughter’s serious expression, her father thought back to how diligently and intensely she had been studying before the exams. He suddenly remembered chatting with his colleagues on the train, how many had mentioned that children these days face a lot of academic pressure, even to the point of suicide.
‘Look at how good life is now,’ he thought. We have enough to eat, there’s meat on the table, and no debts. Why would anyone choose death?
As a child, he craved meat so much that he once stole dried shrimp from home and gorged himself to the point of indigestion. Not only did he receive a severe beating from his own father, but from then on, he couldn’t even stand the smell of seafood without feeling nauseous.
That was his childhood: beatings for stealing food, for poor grades, or for coming home late. He grew up under a regime of ‘shoe-sole and cold water discipline’ and turned out quite tough. Why were children today so fragile?
While internally grumbling, he looked at his daughter and eventually conceded:
“You’re grown up now, and you understand the importance of effort. It’s okay if you didn’t do well, I won’t hit you anymore.”
His words were heartfelt and showed deep understanding.
“…” Hua Jie blinked, having almost forgotten about the times she’d been hit for poor grades in her childhood.
“As long as you’ve tried your best, it’s fine. You don’t need super high scores for art school anyway.” Her father took another sip of water. Seeing his daughter’s slightly odd expression, he frowned, reminding himself not to get too worked up about her academics, not to be impulsive! Not to lose his temper! His daughter was growing up, sensitive during adolescence, and he must not hurt her dignity or feelings!
After reassuring himself a few times, he finally broke and asked somewhat hastily:
“There weren’t any fails, right?”
“They all passed!” Hua Jie realized she had to speak up before her father’s imagination took a turn towards the utterly tragic.
Her father was just too impatient, so before he could say anything more, she quickly interjected:
“They all passed! And I ranked first in English in the entire grade!”
“Passing is good, improving your grades can come slowly, don’t rush—what?” Her father suddenly widened his eyes, his hand slamming down on the table, nearly knocking it over:
“First in English? First in the class or the grade?”
“The grade!” Hua Jie exclaimed loudly, pushing her report card forward:
“I’m eighth in the class, out of nearly a thousand students in the grade, your daughter ranked 137th!”
“?!?!!” Her father was so shocked he was speechless.
Her mother reached out to take the report card, but her father snatched it first.
As he grabbed it, he accidentally knocked his hand against the table, making Hua Jie wince in sympathy for the pain he must have felt.
Hua Jie’s junior high grades had always hovered around the middle; sometimes in the twenties, sometimes in the thirties. Making it into the top twenty of her class was hard enough, let alone the top ten.
Yet here she was, eighth.
Her father stared at the report card for a while before finally handing it to his wife, who had been eagerly waiting.
His gaze fell on his daughter, reflecting on everything in the past two months or so.
She had worked hard to earn money, bought herself a bicycle, and even bought one for her mother.
She studied books on her own, learned painting and design, contacted classmates who sold furniture, and sold his furniture for a high price.
She diligently studied painting and achieved such great results…
From childhood, she had always carried her school bag herself to school, and her drawing board to learn painting. The couple was busy making a living and really didn’t have time to pick her up or drop her off, and they didn’t even manage to pay much attention to her usually.
His parents died early, and she had no grandparents to remember.
His wife’s family had six siblings, and her parents-in-law looked down on him for his lack of ability and didn’t care much for their youngest daughter or granddaughter.
Other children were doted on by extended families, but their daughter never had that care from older generations, missing much affection and often being shy and introverted.
This child, who grew up in such a tough way, never complained about their lack of providing a lavish lifestyle or excessive pampering and not being very competent parents.
Yet, she grew to be more sensible and even more independent, mature beyond her years and dutiful.
Her father let out a long sigh, not knowing what to say in moments like these, and after rubbing his teacup for a while, he finally spoke:
“My daughter is truly amazing.”
…
Mr. and Hua’s mother looked at their daughter’s report card, overwhelmed with emotions, finding it hard to express in words.
On the contrary, Hua’s mother was more carefree. She quickly recovered her cheerful demeanor and smiled, asking:
“When is the parent-teacher conference?”
Her face full of anticipation.
She had attended many parent-teacher conferences for her daughter over the years, always feeling invisible. Teachers praising students never included Hua Jie, nor did any scolding.
Whenever she asked the teacher if there was anything her daughter needed to improve on at school, the teacher would ponder deeply for several seconds, as if trying to recall who Hua Jie was.
This time, her daughter had made it into the top ten of her class, and it finally seemed like there would be some praise.
Her daughter had been in elementary school up to now, and she finally had a chance to hold her head high!
“This Saturday morning,” Hua Jie said.
“Hmm, you’ve always been the one to attend the parent-teacher conferences, maybe I should go this time,” her father said seriously, as if he really was trying to take some burden off his wife.
“It’s okay, I’m used to attending them for our daughter. Let me continue,” her mother said with a smiling tone.
“…” Hua Jie looked from her mother to her father.
Alright then.
“Why don’t you decide, and I’ll go study?” she stood up.
“Go ahead.”
“Okay.”
Both parents said in unison.
As Hua Jie was about to turn into her room with her schoolbag, her parents were still making their cases to each other:
“You make furniture at home, don’t waste your time on trivial things like parent-teacher conferences.”
“It’s fine, I’m tired from carpentry work anyway, I could use the break at the conference.”
“Ah, I’ve attended countless times, I know the drill.”
“It’s exactly because I’ve never attended before, I should go and see for myself.”
“…” Hua Jie closed her door and silently tugged at the corner of her lip.
She hadn’t realized before how childishly her parents could behave…
…
…
In the best residential area in the city center, at the Shen’s home.
As soon as Shen Mo entered the house, he placed his report card on the table and went upstairs.
When Shen Jiaru went out to get some water, he saw the report card: first in the class, first in the grade.
It’s always like this with every exam; he had grown accustomed to it.
Numb.
As he approached the door to his room, he suddenly remembered something.
He walked over to the phone, pressed the speed dial, and called his son’s study on the third floor.
“Dad?” It took a while for his son to pick up, his voice lazy.
“You did well on the exams,” Shen Jiaru offered politely.
“Hmm.” Shen Mo responded indifferently.
“When is the parent-teacher conference?”
“Saturday. I’ll call Lei tomorrow to ask him to attend for me as usual.”
“Is it the father or the mother attending for Hua Jie this time?”
“…” Shen Mo tugged at his lip; it was still about Hua Jie, huh? “I don’t know.”
“Hmm, I think I’ll go to the parent-teacher conference this time. I’ll reschedule my Saturday morning classes to the afternoon. Tell Hua Jie tomorrow. She can go to the school studio to paint in the morning, and after the conference, she can join me at Jinsong Vocational School for a life drawing session,” Shen Jiaru said.
“…Okay.”
After hanging up, Shen Mo stared at the phone for a while, then curled his lip.
What was so great about that girl that his dad cared so much, treating her like his most favored apprentice?
While thinking, he nudged a large box hidden under his desk with his foot.
He had specifically asked Yao Nan to discreetly find out Hua Jie’s shoe size and bought her a pair of boots.
The other girls her age had two or three pairs of shoes to wear in rotation, yet his desk-mate had always worn old leather shoes, and now she wore new ones without any to switch.
Yao Nan said that the girls who could wear boots this year were the most fashionable, and the other two senior girls who led the exercises in the second and third years had worn boots, but Hua Jie hadn’t.
That wouldn’t do.
He thought, because she did well this time and didn’t embarrass him, he should give them to her as a reward and encouragement.
But, was giving shoes appropriate?
Could she misunderstand something?
Yao Nan had mentioned, someone from their basketball group, who had bought shoes for his girlfriend, said it symbolized ‘walk with me’ or ‘walk together for life.’
Nonsense, a pair of shoes only lasts two or three years, let alone a lifetime. If walking together meant buying new shoes every season, every year for a girlfriend, wouldn’t that be troublesome?
Shen Mo furrowed his brows and put down his copy of “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone,” somewhat troubled.
….
The next morning, on his way to school, Shen Mo had a tightly wrapped cardboard box, secured with newspaper, placed on the back seat of his bike.
Upon entering the classroom, he first set it on his desk but felt it was too conspicuous and moved it to the floor.
Worried it might get dirty, he then placed it beside the desk.
Finally, after some thought, he simply hid it between his chair and the wall. Now, it was out of sight from everyone.
Yao Nan came looking for his buddy Mo to suggest they play basketball before the morning study period. He saw Shen Mo fussing over the placement of the large box, handling it as if it were too hot to touch, never quite satisfied with its position.
“What’s that?” Yao Nan leaned over Shen Mo’s desk, trying to peek.
He got a headbutt for his curiosity, almost knocking him senseless.
Yao Nan, clutching his head, jumped up and stared resentfully.
“…” Shen Mo almost blurted out “Who are you?” but swallowed the words back as it was obviously Yao Nan, unmistakably so.
“Stop causing trouble,” he said, frustrated.
A pink backpack with distracting bunny ears was placed on the desk next to his, shimmering conspicuously.
She was here, she was here, and she approached with her pink bunny backpack.
Hua Jie, sitting behind, also leaned forward to peek between Shen Mo and the wall, curiously asking:
“What’s that?”
Shen Mo placed his hand on her smooth forehead and pushed her back, using his body to shield the large box, and said awkwardly:
“Is that something you should be asking about?”
“So many rules,” Hua Jie muttered quietly.
Just as Shen Mo was searching for something else to say to completely divert Hua Jie’s attention, he sensed two very intense gazes.
Turning his head, he met Yao Nan’s eyes, filled with accusation and sorrow as if he had just been betrayed, cheated on, or cuckolded.
A strong melodrama seemed to emanate from Yao Nan’s eyes, that single expression, that look, could inspire a whole novel of tragic romantic tales.
Startled, Shen Mo frowned and asked him:
“What are you doing?”
“Why do I get hit just for asking?” Yao Nan was really annoyed.
“…” Shen Mo.
“…” Hua Jie.
It wasn’t until they finally managed to coax Yao Nan away with soothing words that Shen Mo’s scalp stopped tingling.
“So… what is it really?” Hua Jie spread out her study materials for the morning session and looked at Shen Mo again before speaking.
“…” Shen Mo felt a headache coming on. He still hadn’t figured out how to give her the shoes, and he needed to think it through some more.
If he couldn’t figure it out, he might just not give them to her at all.
With that thought, he snapped at her:
“Focus on your studies. Have you slacked off since the exams? Aim for the top three in our class for the final exams!”
“??!!” Hua Jie straightened up, startled.
If he didn’t want to be asked, fine, but why was he being so harsh?
For the rest of the day, Shen Mo sat on his seat like he was incubating an egg, guarding his large box.
Inside it was something with a mysterious power, something that tethered him, trapped him.
At the end of the school day, he thought, tomorrow morning is the parent-teacher conference, and his dad will be sitting in his place; he would definitely notice this conspicuous box.
Maybe… it would be better to brave the storm and take it back home again…