The Curse

Ma Yibing had spent more than a month searching before he finally found a freshman girl in the acting department. Her name was Lu Manning. She'd scored highly on the entrance exam this year, and before college, she'd already played bit parts in several productions. She had some talent and was willing to play Maeda Suzuna.

Ma Yibing breathed a sigh of relief, but he didn't completely relax. Afraid someone on the team might drop out at the last minute, he fussed over everyone and kept a close eye on them. As a result, he heard some rumors from the other girls.

"I only found out then that all the girls who'd played Maeda Suzuna in the previous few years had died not long after the performances. None of them lived more than two years. That's why the girls didn't want to take the role." Ma Yibing grimaced. "After Lu Manning got into a car accident, the rumors spread, and I couldn't find anyone else no matter how hard I tried."

"You knew about this and still asked me to bring my cousin in?" Lanlan glared at Ma Yibing.

"You hadn't heard about it at school?" Guo Yujie asked Lanlan in surprise.

Lanlan looked troubled. "No. I'm not in the acting department. I'm in the School of Management. Only a handful of people in the acting department knew those rumors to begin with, and students in other departments didn't know the girls who'd died. Even in the acting department, not everyone knew them. How many people at school would know about those seniors who performed as juniors and died after they graduated?"

"It's just a coincidence," Ma Yibing hurriedly said. "Surely there's no such thing as a curse from Maeda Suzuna?"

"What do you mean by Maeda Suzuna's curse?" I asked.

"They say the play was based on a true story. Maeda Suzuna was a real person, a woman from J Country who married into a family in C Country. Just like in the play, her in-laws never accepted her. But she didn't get a happy ending—she died of depression, and so she left behind a curse. There's also talk of a senior's curse. The first senior to die young after playing this role had Maeda Suzuna as her final role. She died with regrets and cursed the juniors who played the part after her. And then there's the curse of the kimono."

"Tell me about that one." I perked up.

"I don't know much about it, either. I just heard them mention it in passing. Apparently, there's something wrong with the kimono." Ma Yibing scratched his head.

Lanlan cut in. "There is something wrong with that kimono! I asked around. The first costume was made by a senior and was used for years. Then, a few years ago, a student named Fan Wen damaged it while rehearsing for the role. She bought a new one to replace it for the club. It's the one they use now. Fan Wen landed the lead role in a TV drama before she graduated that year, but she died of an illness before filming even started. The senior's curse was about Fan Wen, too. Everything started going wrong with her."

Lanlan knew more than Ma Yibing did, and she continued, "The seniors who graduated before us said Fan Wen bought the kimono online for a few hundred yuan. When it arrived, she couldn't believe it had cost so little. Later, she wanted to keep it for herself and buy the club another kimono, but after the play, she left it at the club without saying a word. Doesn't that seem suspicious? The drama club clearly knew, and so did all of you, but none of you said anything. Now you've hurt my cousin!"

Tears welled in Lanlan's eyes again, and she sobbed uncontrollably.

Guo Yujie hurried to comfort her.

Ma Yibing looked awkward and stammered, "I really didn't know... Maybe it was just a coincidence... You burned the costume, too, and your cousin seems fine..."

"How is Lu Manning doing now?" I asked Ma Yibing.

Ma Yibing exhaled. "She was in a car accident, which was different from what happened to the others. She only broke her leg."

Lanlan wiped her eyes and glared furiously at Ma Yibing. "I asked around! She wasn't in a good state of mind then, either. She was so distracted that she didn't see the traffic light and got hit by a car!"

"How is she now?" I asked again.

"They put a metal plate in her leg. She's in the hospital," Ma Yibing answered. He quickly added, "The drama club went to visit her last week. She's doing fine now."

"Which hospital?" I ignored his last remark. A bad feeling had already begun to rise in my chest.

"South City Hospital," Ma Yibing answered obediently.

"Then take us there in a while." The Skinny Man hooked an arm around Ma Yibing's shoulders again.

Ma Yibing could only smile sheepishly.

Lanlan wanted to come along and see her, too. I didn't object.

We returned to the hospital room to say goodbye to Chen's mother.

The Fatty and the old leader were still there keeping her company. When Chen's mother saw us return, she looked at us questioningly.

We'd warned Lanlan while we were outside not to frighten Chen's mother, so she didn't mention the kimono.

I avoided the old leader and looked toward Chen Xiao Qiu. Suddenly, my hair stood on end. I rushed to the bedside in three strides and grabbed Chen Xiao Qiu by the shoulder.

"What's wrong?" The others were startled by what I'd done and hurriedly asked.

"N-nothing. Just a bug." I clenched my fist and stared at Chen Xiao Qiu's shoulder, barely able to breathe. Turning to the others, who were watching me in confusion, I forced a laugh. "We won't bother Chen Xiao Qiu any longer. We should get going. We'll take Lanlan and this classmate back to school."

"Oh, all right. Sorry to trouble you. And thank you for bringing Xiao Qiu here." Chen's mother thanked us, then turned to Ma Yibing. "You're a thoughtful classmate, too, coming all this way to visit Xiao Qiu. As for your play, Xiao Qiu probably..."

"Auntie, don't say that! He's one of the people responsible, too! My cousin isn't doing the play, and neither am I!" Lanlan glared at Ma Yiding.

Ma Yiding looked uncomfortable. The Skinny Man had him pinned, so he had nowhere to hide.

The old leader took his leave, too. He followed us out of the hospital room and fixed his eyes on me.

"Old leader, I don't know how to explain this to you." I clasped my hands behind my back and avoided his sharp gaze.

"You just need to know what you're doing. When you know how to explain it, come tell me." His expression softened. He patted each of us on the shoulder, then strolled away.

"Qi, what were you doing just now?" The Fatty looked at the fist I still had clenched.

The Skinny Man looked grim, while the others were all curious.

I held out my fist and opened my palm in front of them. A tiny pink petal lay in the center.

Someone walked past us in the corridor, stirring up a slight breeze. The petal lifted from my palm, but it didn't fall to the floor. It vanished in midair.

We all stared in stunned silence.

"Was that a petal?"

"Was that... a cherry blossom petal?"

"How could there be a cherry blossom petal here? There aren't any cherry trees, are there?"

"Qi, where did that cherry blossom petal come from?"

They all turned to look at me.

My palm was damp and sticky, and sweat trickled down my forehead. "I saw it."

"Saw what?" The Fatty still didn't understand what was going on.

The Skinny Man seemed to have figured it out and looked terrified. Ma Yibing and Lanlan had both gone deathly pale, staring at me as if they'd seen a ghost.

"I saw... cherry blossoms on Chen Xiao Qiu's shoulder... just like the ones on the kimono." I struggled to get the words out.