Jealousy beneath the surface

The bus swayed as it rolled into Whitebank Town.

The sunshine was lovely, but the winter wind still carried a biting chill.

Pu Yu followed Yuan Su off the bus.

They walked one behind the other along the flagstone path back to Wind Chime Alley.

As soon as they entered the courtyard, they saw Li Suhua sitting on a stool beneath the eaves, squinting as she stitched a pillowcase, one stitch at a time.

"Grandma, we're back," Pu Yu said softly as she pushed open the gate.

Li Suhua finally felt her anxiety ease.

She frowned, her tone fierce. "What took you so long? You should've been back yesterday. I thought you two had been kidnapped by human traffickers!"

Yuan Su stepped forward, subtly shielding Pu Yu behind him.

His expression was calm, his tone matter-of-fact. "The shop needed a few imported capacitors. They were hard to find in the city, so we had to try several places before we got them all. That held us up."

Then he took the gleaming brass gear out of his backpack.

"Let's see if this gear works first."

At the mention of practical matters, Li Suhua forgot all about scolding them and hurriedly led him over to the old sewing machine.

"If we can't get this machine fixed, that batch of pillowcases will be a lost cause!"

Yuan Su crouched down, expertly removed the casing, and fitted the new gear inside. While he was at it, he applied a little lubricating oil to the other shafts.

Before long, Grandma pressed down on the pedal again.

"Clack, clack, clack-"

The sewing machine gave a smooth, crisp clatter.

Dense rows of stitches fell across the fabric, neat and beautiful.

"It's fixed."

The worry on Li Suhua's face vanished in an instant, replaced by a delighted smile. "Oh, it's finally working!"

Only then did Yuan Su stand up and dust off his hands.

"Stay for lunch!" Li Suhua invited him with rare enthusiasm. "I'll make hand-rolled noodles and poach a couple of eggs for you!"

"No, thanks." Yuan Su picked up his backpack, declining without hesitation. "The shop's been closed for two days. There's some work I need to take care of."

Pu Yu wanted to ask him to stay, but Yuan Su had already turned toward the courtyard gate.

They had only just been through so much together, yet the moment they returned to this familiar alley, he seemed to become that solitary boy again.

"Yu!" Grandma called from behind her. "What are you spacing out for? Come help me move this machine into the main room. It's windy outside."

"Oh, coming!"

Pu Yu snapped out of her daze and hurried over.

The main room was rather dim, with only the clacking of the sewing machine echoing through it.

The broken machine had delayed that batch of pillowcases by two days.

Li Suhua could hardly spare a thought for eating and began working extra hours to catch up.

Pu Yu sat beside her, helping sort things out. Watching Grandma's slightly stooped back and clouded eyes left her heartsick.

When Grandma had lived alone, her days had been comfortable. She hadn't needed to work this hard.

Since Pu Yu had arrived, there had suddenly been so many more expenses: tuition, living costs, clothes for the changing seasons...

She couldn't just be someone who accepted all that care as a matter of course.

She wanted to find some way to earn money, too.

Even a little would help.

When she arrived at school the next day, morning reading hadn't started yet.

With an air of secrecy, Xu Suiran stuffed two brightly colored romance magazines into the bottom of Pu Yu's schoolbag, moving as quickly as a thief.

"What are those?" Pu Yu asked, startled by all the fuss.

"Shh! Keep your voice down!" Xu Suiran glanced nervously at the doorway. "Hold on to them for me. The class monitor's been such a pain lately. He keeps watching me study and won't let me pass notes or whisper to anyone. He even said that if I read magazines again, he'll confiscate them and give them to Teacher Cheng!"

Pu Yu couldn't help laughing. "He's only looking out for you."

Song Jinnian was a model student, meticulous in everything he did.

He was a little rigid, but he genuinely cared about his deskmate Xu Suiran's studies.

"Looking out for me, my foot!" Xu Suiran slumped over her desk, looking ready to cry. "He's just like my dad, always keeping me on such a tight leash! And Teacher Cheng's no better. We used to change seats every month, and I was really looking forward to the next switch. Then she suddenly changed her mind a while ago and said this 'one-on-one support' arrangement was working really well, so we're staying in these seats all semester!"

"Heavens, how much longer do I have to suffer?"

Amused by her exaggerated expression, Pu Yu comforted her. "The class monitor's actually really nice. He's very patient when he explains problems to you, too."

"That's what you think!" Xu Suiran sighed. "He's so stuffy. I was hoping he'd start dating the top student from the class next door, but now it looks like he'd sooner die than date anyone. He's hopeless!"

Just as the two of them were deep in conversation-

Someone suddenly tapped Xu Suiran on the head. "Who was that? You dare hit your aun-"

Song Jinnian had appeared beside them without either of them noticing. His tone was flat.

"Your what?"

"Coo, coo, coo. I was doing a bird call!"

And just like that, Xu Suiran was caught and taken back to her seat.

Pu Yu silently lowered her head as well, making a show of opening her Chinese textbook.

Before the bell rang, Pu Yu wanted to tuck the two magazines away properly so the patrolling school administrator wouldn't see them.

She casually opened one, and her gaze happened to pass over the back cover.

A line of small print appeared there:

[Nanhua Literary Magazine welcomes submissions of essays, fiction, and poetry. Accepted submissions receive generous payment. Submission email: xxxxx@...]

Payment.

That word instantly caught Pu Yu's attention.

She paused, her heartbeat quickening.

If... if I could earn money by submitting my writing, wouldn't I be able to help ease Grandma's burden?

Pu Yu glanced around. Everyone was still reading, and no one was paying attention to her.

She quickly took out a slip of notepaper, carefully copied down the email address and phone number, and tucked it into her Chinese textbook.

After school, Pu Yu stopped Xu Suiran just as she was about to dash off to the snack shop.

"Sui Sui, could I use the phone at your house?"

"Of course! You don't even need to ask." Xu Suiran readily agreed. "Who are you calling?"

"I wanted to... ask about submitting something."

Xu Suiran grew even more excited. "You're submitting your writing? I told you, your essays are so good that it'd be a waste if you didn't become a writer! Come on, let's go to my place!"

"Weren't you going to the snack shop?"

"The snack shop's nowhere near as important as you!"

Xu Suiran's home was a small two-story building in town. The ground floor was a grain and cooking oil shop, and her family lived upstairs.

They had installed a landline because they needed it for ordering stock, selling goods, and so on.

Pu Yu dialed the number from the magazine. It rang seven or eight times before someone answered.

"Hello, Youth Literature editorial office."

It was a young woman's voice.

Pu Yu took a deep breath, trying to make her voice sound a little more mature. "Hello, I'd like to ask about submitting a manuscript..."

The woman on the other end patiently answered her questions.

Manuscripts could be mailed, though that was slower. The review process took about two weeks, and they would call if a submission was accepted. Email submissions were also possible-but that would require going to an internet café or somewhere with a computer.

After hanging up, Pu Yu felt both excited and nervous.

"How did it go?" Xu Suiran leaned over to ask.

"They said I could give it a try," Pu Yu said. "But I have to write something first."

"You can definitely do it!" Xu Suiran gave her shoulder a firm pat. "Our Yu writes so well. Her essays are chosen as model essays every time!"

Pu Yu was a little nervous. Whatever happened, she had to finish writing a manuscript first.

Over the days that followed-

Pu Yu spent noticeably less time at the repair shop.

Before, she had always stayed until dark and only left when Yuan Su urged her to go.

Now, she usually finished that day's homework, stayed only a little longer, then hurriedly packed her schoolbag and went home.

"I'm heading out, Yuan Su. Bye!"

It was the same thing every time.

Watching her pack her schoolbag, Yuan Su silently set the hot water he had been about to hand her back on the table.

He asked nothing, remaining as cool and distant as ever.

But after she left, he stared at her empty seat, holding a screwdriver without moving for a long time.

That familiar loneliness of being left behind seemed to be silently taking root in the winter nights once more.

The writing wasn't going smoothly.

Pu Yu wrote, tore up the pages, and wrote again.

She wrote about the rain in the little town, the plane tree at the alley entrance, and the sound of Grandma's sewing machine.

But she always felt something was missing. It was either too childish or too sentimental.

After a week, she had barely managed to finish two short pieces.

Instead of going straight to the post office, she nervously took her manuscript pages to the staff office and found her homeroom teacher, Cheng Siyi.

"Teacher Cheng, could I trouble you to look over these two pieces for me?"

Pu Yu was a little embarrassed. "I want to try submitting them, but I don't know whether they meet the requirements..."

Somewhat surprised, Cheng Siyi took the pages and began reading them carefully.

The office was quiet, with only the rustle of turning pages.

After quite a while, Cheng Siyi looked up, her eyes full of admiration. "These are really good, Yu. Especially this essay about the town. The emotions are very nuanced, and the writing is wonderfully vivid."

"Really?" Pu Yu's eyes brightened.

"Of course. Could our class be about to produce a young writer?" Cheng Siyi teased with a smile.

Pu Yu blushed and said softly, "I called to ask, and it sounds like their review process is very strict. I don't know if they'll accept them."

"That's how reputable magazines work. They choose the best of the best."

Cheng Siyi reassured her. "But don't worry. I'll help you try a few more publications. A friend from university happens to edit the literary supplement at the Nanhua Daily. I'll ask her and see whether I can recommend your work."

"Thank you, Teacher Cheng! I'm so sorry for all the trouble!"

With the matter of submitting her work settled, Pu Yu felt much more at ease.

After school, she went to the repair shop as usual.

Yuan Su was repairing an old radio. When he saw her come in, he merely glanced at her without speaking.

Pu Yu didn't notice his gloomy mood either. She took out her homework and began working.

About twenty minutes later, footsteps sounded at the entrance.

"Pu Yu."

A clear, gentle voice rang out.

Pu Yu looked up in surprise. "Class monitor? What brings you here?"

Song Jinnian stood in the doorway with a thick notebook in his hand. His neat school uniform looked out of place in the little shop that smelled of machine oil.

"This is a collection of material from full-mark essays over the past few years. Xu Suiran said you needed it urgently. I happened to have a copy already organized, so I brought it over."

Song Jinnian walked in and placed the notebook on her desk.

Pu Yu paused, surprised. "Sui Sui told you? You could've just given it to me at school tomorrow. Why make a special trip?"

"I'm taking leave tomorrow to go into the city, and I was worried you might need it right away," Song Jinnian explained gently. "Xu Suiran told me you were here, so I stopped by on my way."

"Thank you! This will really help me!"

Song Jinnian nodded, his gaze passing over Pu Yu to Yuan Su, who was working with his head lowered a short distance away.

Yuan Su had his back to them, as though he hadn't heard anything happening behind him.

Song Jinnian frowned, but in the end he said nothing and turned to leave.

Few people in their class still remembered.

Yuan Su and Song Jinnian had once been friends who could talk about anything.

They had studied physics together, competed for first place in their year, and dreamed about the future.

Then disaster struck Yuan Su's family, and he gave up on himself. Song Jinnian had tried persuading him and argued with him, but neither could convince the other. After that, they never spoke again.

After Song Jinnian left, the atmosphere in the repair shop grew noticeably heavier.

Yuan Su stared at the essay reference notebook on the desk, his eyes dark and unreadable.

"Are you two close?" he suddenly asked, his voice a little hoarse.

Pu Yu blinked before realizing he meant Song Jinnian.

"Huh? Not especially. He's Sui Sui's deskmate, so when I go over to see her, I sometimes listen to him explain a few problems."

"Since you've got the second-best student in our year explaining problems to you, why bother coming here?"

His words practically dripped with jealousy.

He knew he shouldn't say that, shouldn't pick a fight for no reason.

But seeing Song Jinnian standing beside her, both of them so bright and presentable, so well matched, while he stood in a shadowy corner with oil-stained hands, made that stark sense of disparity and his possessiveness grow wildly like weeds.

"Is that why you've hardly been coming here lately? You've been with Song Jinnian?"

He stared at her, his tone aggressive, as though trying to conceal the insecurity inside him.

Pu Yu froze.

She hadn't been coming because she was at home working on her manuscripts.

She had been about to explain that she was writing, but then she reconsidered. She had only just submitted the pieces and didn't even know whether they would be accepted. If they weren't, she wouldn't be the only one disappointed. Yuan Su would be, too...

She pressed her lips together. Without mentioning the draft, she only said, "I wasn't with him... I just went home to write my essay."

She walked over, stood in front of him, and tilted her head up to look at him.

"Besides," Pu Yu said softly but earnestly, "you're the only one I need to explain the problems to me."

Yuan Su's movements paused.

He turned his face aside without looking at her. His Adam's apple bobbed, and he said nothing, but his tense shoulders seemed to relax a little.

When Pu Yu saw that he wouldn't respond, she reached out and gently tugged at the slightly oil-stained hem of his shirt, giving it a little shake. "Yuan Su."

The boy's back stiffened.

He lowered his eyes, his gaze falling on her clean, pale fingertips against his filthy work clothes. As if he'd been burned, he quickly pulled the hem free.

"It's covered in oil. Keep your hands off." He frowned, his tone harsh but his movements careful. "Do your homework."

Despite his sour expression, Pu Yu's sharp eyes caught the faint flush spreading over his ears in the dim yellow light.

"Then you're not mad anymore?" Pu Yu's eyes curved into a smile as she leaned forward, trying to catch his gaze.

"Who's mad?" Yuan Su turned his head away. "You're being silly."

Pu Yu pressed her lips together to hide a smile. She didn't call him out again, but obediently sat down and went back to her exercises.

On the way back to the alley, they walked one behind the other.

Yuan Su stayed silent, walking ahead with his hands in his pockets, but he kept his pace slow, never more than two or three steps ahead of Pu Yu.

Just before they reached the courtyard gate, Yuan Su suddenly stopped.

Pu Yu stopped too and looked up at him.

His outline was indistinct in the darkness. Only his eyes were bright, reflecting a faint light from somewhere in the distance.

"Pu Yu." He said her name, his voice deeper than the night breeze.

"Hmm?"

He seemed to weigh his words. After a few seconds, he finally spoke, his tone stiff but carrying a peculiar earnestness. "If there's a problem you can't solve, you can ask me anytime. Physics or anything else."

He paused and looked away, his gaze settling on a clump of withered grass trembling in the wind at the corner of the wall.

"My explanations... aren't necessarily worse than those of the person ranked second in our grade."