Seeing Through the Lies

Pu Yu froze, unable to process what she had heard. "You... what did you say?"

The shopkeeper impatiently tossed the hundred-yuan bill back onto the counter.

The banknote fluttered down among the snacks, looking painfully out of place.

"I said it's counterfeit! It doesn't feel right, and the watermark is blurry!"

The shopkeeper looked her up and down with contempt. "You look so quiet and well-behaved. How could you pull something like this? Get out. Stop holding up my business!"

Other students were waiting to pay nearby.

At the word "counterfeit," almost all of them turned to look.

"Counterfeit?" Pu Yu's mind went blank, her ears ringing.

This was the money she had traded her dignity and her future for.

It was her only chance of surviving in this unfamiliar town.

With trembling hands, Pu Yu frantically picked up the banknote the shopkeeper had thrown aside.

She had rarely handled large-denomination bills, but now, examining it carefully in the light streaming through the window-

The paper was rough, the colors dull. It was nothing but a shoddy print.

It was all fake.

All two thousand yuan of it.

A bone-deep chill spread through her entire body.

Pu Yu remembered how readily her stepmother had handed over the money, her father's silence as he turned his back, and that strange look in his eyes.

So that was it.

They hadn't just wanted to drive her away. They hadn't even intended to let her survive.

Or rather, they were waiting for her to run out of options and come back crying, to kneel before them and admit she was wrong, then obediently marry whoever they chose.

Beside her, Xu Suiran was stunned too.

But she reacted quickly, her voice full of frustration. "Oh, come on! I told you that guy who asked you to change his money on the way here was a scammer!"

She grabbed Pu Yu's arm and explained to the shopkeeper and the students around them:

"On our way here, this man stopped Yu and said he had something urgent to deal with and needed to break a large bill. Yu only did it to help him! Who knew the money was counterfeit? That's awful!"

Then she gave Pu Yu's arm a firm tug. "What are you standing around for? Let's go look for him. Maybe he hasn't gotten far yet!"

"We'll leave the snacks for now! Catching that scammer comes first! Let's go!"

Before Pu Yu could react, Xu Suiran had already pulled her through the crowd and out of the school shop, away from the scene of her unbearable humiliation.

They ran to a relatively quiet corner behind the classroom building.

Only then did Xu Suiran let go. Catching her breath, she looked anxiously at Pu Yu's still-pale face. "Are you okay, Yu?"

Pu Yu looked at the girl she had known for only half a day, yet who had shown her kindness again and again. Her throat tightened as she shook her head gently. "...Thank you, Sui Sui."

Xu Suiran waved it off. "What for? It was obvious someone had cheated you."

She paused, then carefully asked, watching Pu Yu's still-furrowed brow:

"That money... did your family give it to you?"

Pu Yu nodded silently, saying nothing more.

It wasn't that she didn't trust Xu Suiran. She simply didn't know how to begin.

The people who should have been closest to her would rather she died quietly in this unfamiliar place.

Riiing-!

The warning bell for afternoon classes rang out shrilly.

Xu Suiran took her icy hand and led her toward the classroom, trying to reassure her. "It's okay. Maybe your family got scammed too. Tell your parents when you get home. Why are there so many scammers these days?"

Pu Yu forced a small smile. "Mm."

But the truth was...

She no longer had parents.

The first class that afternoon was Chinese, taught by their homeroom teacher, Teacher Cheng.

"Settle down, everyone." Cheng Siyi stood at the front of the classroom with a stack of forms in her hand. "Those who haven't paid this semester's tuition and textbook fees need to do so soon. The total is eight hundred and sixty yuan. Please try to pay in full by tomorrow afternoon so the school can process the payments together."

Eight hundred and sixty yuan.

The number landed like a weight on Pu Yu's heart.

She instinctively clenched her fists, her knuckles turning white.

Yesterday, that amount would have been no problem for her.

Now, she couldn't even scrape together the one yuan she needed for a bus ride.

How was she supposed to pay?

Ask Grandma? Or... risk everything and go back to the city to find them...

Teacher Cheng's gentle gaze swept across the class before settling on Pu Yu.

With a smile, she reminded her, "Pu Yu, since you've just transferred here, you weren't in the system before. Come to my office after school to collect your payment slip. Remember to remind your parents to transfer the money or pay in cash as soon as possible."

"...Yes, Ms. Cheng."

Pu Yu heard her own voice, thin and unsteady, as though it were floating in midair.

She opened her textbook numbly, unable to concentrate at all.

Teacher Cheng was explaining Li Mi's "Memorial Expressing My Feelings," written during the Western Jin dynasty. One line read, "When I was six months old, my loving father departed this life."

To her, the father who had handed her counterfeit money...

Was no different from a dead man.

Worse, even.

Whatever the teachers taught that afternoon, whatever notes her classmates took, she didn't absorb a single word.

At last, the bell marking the end of evening study rang, and the classroom immediately filled with noise.

As Xu Suiran packed her schoolbag, she turned to ask, "Yu, where do you live? If we're going the same way, we can walk home together."

"Go ahead, Sui Sui." Pu Yu tried to make her voice sound lighter. "I need to stop by Teacher Cheng's office first. Let's go together another day, okay?"

Xu Suiran looked a little disappointed, but didn't press her. "Okay. Be careful on your way home. See you tomorrow!"

"See you tomorrow."

Pu Yu quietly packed her schoolbag, moving much more slowly than usual.

She had still been clinging to the hope that there had been some genuine affection behind those two thousand yuan, but reality had proved that wishful thinking was just that.

After sitting motionless for a few seconds, she slowly rose and headed for the teachers' office.

The office door stood ajar, and she could hear teachers talking quietly inside.

Pu Yu knocked softly.

"Come in." It was Teacher Cheng's gentle voice.

"Teacher Cheng," Pu Yu said quietly.

Cheng Siyi looked up, saw her, and immediately smiled as she pulled a slip from a folder beside her. "Here you go, Pu Yu. Remember to give this payment slip to your parents and have them take care of it soon."

It was a thin sheet of paper, printed with clear boxes and numbers.

Eight hundred and sixty yuan exactly.

She took the slip, its edge curling slightly beneath her fingertips.

After hesitating for a few seconds, Pu Yu finally looked up, her voice dry and strained. "Teacher Cheng, these fees... what's the latest I can pay them?"

Cheng Siyi set down her pen, concern in her eyes. "Are you having some difficulties?"

Pu Yu took a deep breath and lowered her head, staring at the edge of the payment slip as she struggled to continue. "My family... might need a little time. I, I'm not sure whether I'll be able to get the money when I go home..."