When the Dam Broke

She had only just transferred that morning.

Now she was saying she had no money for tuition.

Admitting how desperate she was left her utterly humiliated.

Teacher Cheng fell silent for a few seconds, and with every passing moment, Pu Yu's heart sank further.

Just when she thought she would be turned down, the teacher spoke gently:

"Normally, everyone has to pay in full at the same time, but if your family really is struggling, we can give you a few extra days. No later than next week, all right?"

"...All right. Thank you, Teacher Cheng!" Relief loosened the knot in Pu Yu's chest, only for a deeper ache to follow. She nodded firmly. "I'll pay as soon as I can."

When she left the office.

She carefully folded the payment slip in half and tucked it into the inner pocket of her backpack.

The slip weighed almost nothing, yet it pressed down on her until she could hardly breathe.

The sky had grown completely dark.

Following the route as best she remembered it, Pu Yu set off for home alone.

The town's alleys crisscrossed one another, their white walls and dark-tiled roofs all looking much the same.

Her grandmother had taken her through the town's winding back lanes that morning.

Pu Yu had never had a good sense of direction. After going around in circles a few times, she stared at the nearly identical alleys before her, utterly lost.

As she stood there at a loss, soft footsteps sounded behind her.

She instinctively looked back.

Yuan Su happened to turn out of another alley, a black backpack slung over one shoulder and both hands in his trouser pockets.

His face was expressionless as he walked past her without looking her way.

Pu Yu opened her mouth, but the words "Could you tell me how to get to Wind Chime Alley?" caught in her throat.

He looked as though he wanted nothing to do with anyone.

But...

Wait, no...

Pu Yu suddenly remembered that he lived right next door to her grandmother.

Almost without hesitation, she dragged her feet after him, quietly following three or four meters behind.

Yuan Su did not walk fast, but perhaps because his legs were long, his strides were broad.

He did not look back, seemingly unaware of her.

Or perhaps he simply did not care that someone was trailing after him.

The two of them threaded silently through the town's maze of alleys, one ahead of the other.

After a few turns, the familiar persimmon tree came into view, its branches reaching over the wall.

Pu Yu relaxed.

She watched Yuan Su reach his weathered wooden front door and take out his key.

She hurried a few steps forward and stopped outside her grandmother's house.

Just before he pushed his door open and went inside, Pu Yu turned back and quickly said, "...Thank you!"

Click.

The only answer was the distinct sound of the lock next door.

Pu Yu stood there for several seconds before mustering the courage to push open the door and go in.

Li Suhua was setting dishes on the table.

A plate of stir-fried greens, a bowl of pickled vegetables with shredded pork, and steaming rice.

Seeing Pu Yu return, the old woman wiped her hands and frowned out of habit. "Why are you so late?"

Pu Yu stood in the doorway of the main room instead of immediately washing her hands and helping as she had that morning.

Her head was lowered, and both hands clutched her backpack straps.

The stack of counterfeit bills in her backpack weighed heavily on her heart.

"What are you standing there for? Do I have to beg you to come eat?"

"Grandma..." She forced herself to speak.

"What is it? Did someone bully you at school?" Li Suhua paused, her gaze sharpening.

Pu Yu shook her head, her eyes stinging unbearably.

She took a deep breath, as though making a painful decision. "Grandma, could you lend me some money? I want to go back to the city tomorrow."

"Go back where?"

Li Suhua slammed the chopsticks onto the table with a sharp crack.

"You've only been here one day, and already you want to leave? What is it? This old woman's cooking isn't good enough for you? Or is the school in this shabby little town beneath you, and you want to study in the big city again?"

The old woman had always been quick-tempered, and now she was like a lit firecracker:

"Fine! My humble little home isn't grand enough for the likes of you. Leave if you want, but once you go, don't ever come back!"

Pu Yu finally broke. "No! That's not it..."

The hurt, terror, and despair she had held back all day burst through the dam at that moment.

She unzipped her backpack and grabbed the stack of red bills. Before she could even hold them out to Li Suhua, large tears were already falling.

"It's because of these... They're all fake! All the money they gave me is fake!"

"I want to go back and ask him why. I'm his daughter too! How could he do this to me? Does he want me to die out here that badly?"

She had not cried when the school shop owner accused her.

She had not cried when she checked the two thousand yuan in counterfeit bills one by one in the classroom.

She had not cried when she told the teacher in the office that she could not afford tuition yet.

But faced with her grandmother's barrage of questions, which sounded harsh but were really born of worry, Pu Yu could no longer hold back.

The girl's broken, despairing sobs echoed through the dim old house.

Li Suhua froze.

She took the stack of money, narrowed her clouded eyes, and ran her rough fingers over the texture of the hundred-yuan bills.

She had spent her whole life doing handiwork and had handled money countless times. One touch was enough to tell real bills from fake.

A few seconds later.

The old woman's expression changed abruptly, and her hand clenched around the bills.

"That animal... That utter animal!"

She cursed through gritted teeth, her voice trembling. "Even a vicious tiger doesn't eat its own cubs. That damned bastard Pu Zhiming actually tricked his own daughter with fake money! He's trying to drive you to your death!"

After her outburst, a deathly silence settled over the room.

Only Pu Yu's muffled sobs remained.

Li Suhua looked at her granddaughter, who was shaking as she cried, and the fury in her eyes slowly gave way to a complicated tenderness.

She sighed and hurled the counterfeit bills into the nearby trash can.

"Stop crying! Dry your tears!"

Li Suhua snapped, "That rotten bastard isn't worth your tears!"

Pu Yu wiped clumsily at her face and looked at her grandmother with reddened eyes. "I have to go back to the city. I have to make him explain himself. My tuition still hasn't been paid. I can't..."

"Go back? You'd be walking straight into their trap!"

Li Suhua cut her off, her tone cold and hard. "Do you think that stepmother of yours is some pushover? The moment you walk through their door, they could tie you up and send you to that boss's house. Once the damage is done, your whole life will be ruined!"

"Your school records have already been transferred here. If you dare take one step out of this town, whether you live or die after that will be none of my concern!"

Frightened by her grandmother's harsh words and stern expression, Pu Yu stood rooted to the spot.

But...

If I don't go back, what about tuition? What about living expenses?

"That's enough. Eat!"

Li Suhua offered no further explanation. She simply picked up her chopsticks again and tapped the rim of her bowl. "If the sky falls, someone taller will hold it up. What does a little girl like you need to worry about?"

The meal tasted like cardboard.

After dinner, her grandmother sent Pu Yu to wash the pots and dishes.

But when she finished cleaning the kitchen and came out, she found the main room empty.

Her grandmother was gone.

"Grandma?"

Panic began to rise, and she was about to go out and look when Li Suhua pushed open the door and came in.