The next day, the rain stopped.
The damp courtyard reflected the faint light after the rain, and droplets fell from the eaves.
Pu Yu had slept in the little room on the west side the night before. The old wooden bed was covered with floral sheets her grandmother had washed and starched, carrying the fresh scent of soap pods.
After a brief moment of disorientation.
She caught sight of the faint daylight outside the window, and her heart gave a sudden lurch.
In her old home, getting up late meant being scolded.
What about here? She did not know.
Pu Yu practically sprang upright, panic churning inside her. She crept over to the faucet in the corner of the courtyard to brush her teeth, then hastily splashed icy water over her face.
Water trickled down her neck, but she did not stop to wipe it away.
In the kitchen, her grandmother, Li Suhua, was busy with her back turned.
"Grandma, let me help." Pu Yu's voice was a little strained, her fingers unconsciously clutching the hem of her clothes.
She was afraid this temporary shelter would be taken away if she did anything even slightly thoughtless.
Li Suhua did not turn around. She simply handed her the spoon she had been stirring the porridge with.
Pu Yu hurried to take it and quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
There was a subtle awkwardness in the kitchen, yet also a strange harmony.
After breakfast, Li Suhua wiped her hands and looked at Pu Yu. "Did you bring all the documents from your old school?"
"Yes." Pu Yu quickly pulled a clear document folder from the old schoolbag she carried with her. Inside were her transcripts from City No. 1 High School, ranking sheets from several major exams, and a second-prize certificate from a prestigious provincial essay competition.
Li Suhua glanced at them without comment, then said, "Wash the dishes. I'll change and take you to school."
Whitebank Town felt especially fresh after the rain.
Moss covered the walls on both sides of the alley, wet and green.
Pu Yu followed behind her grandmother, carefully taking in the unfamiliar little town.
The streets were narrow, lined with shops that had clearly been there for years.
Now and then, a bicycle bell rang out crisply.
When the neighbors saw Li Suhua with an unfamiliar young girl, they gathered around curiously to say hello.
"A relative's child, staying with me."
"Yes, she's here for school."
Li Suhua did not even want to mention Pu Zhiming's name. She brushed them off with a few vague replies, then led Pu Yu away.
Tingnan Middle School was not far from Wind Chime Alley. They reached it after about twenty minutes on foot.
The paint on the school's iron gate had peeled, and the surrounding walls were mottled with age. Compared with the spacious, tidy grounds of City No. 1 High School, this place felt small and cramped.
The academic affairs office.
The middle-aged director, who wore glasses, was on the phone.
When he heard they had come to arrange a transfer, he merely pointed hastily toward a nearby desk.
"Teacher Cheng, please help this student with her transfer."
Teacher Cheng was a young-looking teacher with a gentle manner.
She smiled and invited Pu Yu and Li Suhua to sit down, then carefully looked through Pu Yu's documents. The more she read, the more surprised she looked.
"Pu Yu... you were at City No. 1 High School?" Cheng Siyi looked up, open confusion in her eyes. "Your grades are very good. You're among the best in Chinese and English. Your combined science score is a little weaker, but it's still average. If you keep this up, you have a very good chance of getting into a top university!"
Her tone held genuine admiration, but it soon gave way to concern.
"This stage of your final year is crucial. Our school is quite a way behind City No. 1 High School in teaching resources, learning atmosphere, and just about every other respect."
"If you transfer now, will you be able to adjust?"
The teacher phrased her question tactfully, but her meaning was clear.
Why transfer from a top high school in the city to an unremarkable school in a small town?
Pu Yu pressed her lips together and was about to choose her words.
Beside her, Li Suhua had already lost patience and cut in, her voice blunt and full of irritation:
"Why? Because she has a pregnant stepmother at home, and a bastard of a father who refuses to drop dead. They joined forces to make her quit school and marry her off for the bride price! They left the child with no way out, so she could only come to an old woman like me for a little peace."
The blunt, cutting words left Cheng Siyi momentarily speechless. Her gaze fell on Pu Yu, and she immediately understood, sympathy stirring within her.
She quickly composed herself, took out a transfer application for Pu Yu to fill in, and checked the relevant documents.
"I'll start processing the paperwork for you. In a little while, I'll take you to collect your textbooks and uniform. Can you join the class today?"
Pu Yu nodded. "Yes, ma'am."
"All right, come with me." Teacher Cheng stood and told Li Suhua, "Please don't worry. The transfer won't be a problem. We're very happy to welcome an excellent student like Pu Yu to Town Middle School."
Li Suhua gave a brief hum of acknowledgment, then said to Pu Yu:
"You know the way back after school, right? Come home on your own."
With that, she turned and left, her thin back held straight.
Holding her new textbooks and neatly folded uniform, Pu Yu followed Teacher Cheng down the quiet corridor to the door of Class 2 in the senior year.
Just then, the bell rang to end the lesson.
Teacher Cheng waited for the teacher to come out, then exchanged a few quiet words with them.
Only then did she lead Pu Yu into the classroom.
The restless classroom instantly fell quiet.
More than fifty pairs of eyes turned toward the unfamiliar face all at once.
Scrutiny, curiosity, appraisal... all kinds of looks mingled together.
Pu Yu instinctively lowered her eyes and held the books tighter against her chest.
"Everyone, quiet down." Teacher Cheng stood at the front and swept her gaze over the class. "Let me introduce a new student. She's transferred from City No. 1 High School and will be part of our class from now on. Pu Yu, please introduce yourself."
Pu Yu raised her head and took a deep breath, trying to keep her voice steady. "Hello, everyone. My name is Pu Yu-Pu as in cattail, and Yu as in rain. I'm glad to be studying with you."
Her voice was quiet, with the soft lilt of a Jiangnan accent.
Warm applause rose from the class, accompanied by even more whispering.
Teacher Cheng looked around the classroom, then pointed to an empty seat by the window in the last row. "Pu Yu, sit in the empty seat beside Yuan Su for now. If there's anything you're unsure about, you can ask your classmates or come find me in the office."
The arrangement immediately caused a small stir.
Several students exchanged glances, pursed their lips, and began murmuring.
Pu Yu's gaze instinctively searched for the empty seat the teacher had indicated.
Then her eyes stopped.
There, in the last row of the classroom, in the corner by the window.
A boy in a school uniform jacket lay slumped over his desk, apparently uninterested in anything happening in the room, utterly apart from the noisy students around him.
His face rested sideways on his arm, making the line of his jaw look all the sharper. His cool, pale fingers were loosely curled. Even asleep, he radiated a brooding air that warned strangers away.
As though he had sensed her gaze.
Amid the noise and the faintly appraising atmosphere.
He suddenly lifted his head, slowly.
Beneath his tousled fringe, those eyes-both familiar and unfamiliar-held the languor of lingering sleep and their usual stillness. Across the classroom's shifting light and crowded faces, they met hers without warning.
Her new deskmate.
Yuan Su.
The boy who had stood drenched in the rain, desolation in his eyes; the boy she had rescued with a lie, who had then helped her get her grandmother's door opened.
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