TBTTSP - Chapter 16
Chapter 16: Shang Yi Has a Story (6)
"Zhang Xu, what was wrong with you this morning?"
Shang Yi was poking at a steamed bun, nibbling it slowly, bite by bite. When she suddenly heard this, she felt a pang of guilt.
She had ordered Zhang Xu to burn someone's kite, and Xu Wanqing had gotten upset.
Hearing that Xu Wanqing was upset, Shang Yi felt like she'd scored a point. She had been thwarted too many times before; Shang Yi had to get back at her and vent some of her frustration.
She wished she could call Ugly Boy right away and have him buy her a few strings of firecrackers to celebrate joyfully for a whole day.
Oh, so a single kite was enough to make Xu Wanqing sad. It seemed burning that kite was the right thing to do.
Look at what was written on it—oh, something about "eternal friendship."
Who was she exchanging favors with?
Weren't ancient women supposed to follow the Three Obediences and Four Virtues? You've only just been divorced, and you're already jumping into a new relationship? And using Zhang Xu's body to do it?
Shang Yi had given Zhang Xu the order to burn the kite with a curl of her lip, harboring a secret, simmering disdain.
Burning someone's kite was just her own bit of mischief, a prank that went a little too far. She wasn't a woman who believed in chastity, and she certainly wouldn't force Xu Wanqing, a woman oppressed by conservative feudalism, to remain chaste.
Wasn't it great to embrace a new life? But Shang Yi was dead set on making Xu Wanqing suffer a little. Being stuck in a child's body was boring, and she had nowhere to vent her excess energy, so she directed it all at Xu Wanqing.
After burning the kite, she grew curious about who could possibly have hit it off with the pretentious, stilted Xu Wanqing.
Let's see what kind of weirdo in this world could possibly fancy Xu Wanqing.
Ah, speaking of Xu Wanqing, Shang Yi had a bellyful of things to say; she was about to burst from holding it all in.
Ever since Xu Wanqing's real body had been secretly stashed at her place, she discovered some new "extraordinary trait" of Xu Wanqing's every day.
Because the Xu Wanqing in Zhang Xu's body wasn't the Xu Wanqing at her home, there was always a bit of a disconnect. For example, when she thought of the kite, she woke up early, and while eating, she asked the Xu Wanqing across from her, "Hey, do you remember making a kite?"
The woman opposite her chuckled softly, a girlish blush rising on her face. "I've made many. Which one does Younger Sister Shang mean?"
Good grief, she'd made many.
Shang Yi felt that burning one kite wouldn't hinder their relationship, so she had righteously ordered Zhang Xu to burn it.
Seeing Xu Wanqing's girlish demeanor, Shang Yi figured their feelings must run deep, so it wouldn't matter if she meddled a bit.
Oh, of course, it wasn't meddling as a third party in a relationship. She just loved to obstruct Xu Wanqing, to make her suffer setbacks in all sorts of ways, as compensation for being called "Younger Sister Shang" every day.
She'd been called that too many times, and the other woman was as stubborn as an old ox, refusing to change no matter how she was corrected. So, Shang Yi gave up trying and just ignored the overly intimate and grating form of address each time.
Xu Wanqing took this as tacit approval and called her it even more cheerfully. The moment she woke up in the morning, her ears were filled with "Younger Sister Shang, Younger Sister Shang," which made her feel so relieved she could cry every time she heard Ugly Boy call her "Sister."
To keep Xu Wanqing from running around and causing trouble, she had given her own room to Xu Wanqing, turning her perfectly fine solitary living space into one for two. The downside was the demonic sound piercing her ears, making her half-dead with anger the moment she opened her eyes. The upside was that after her soul left, she no longer needed those two to watch over her body, and she could do her own job better.
Xu Wanqing wasn't even well-behaved while watching over her body; she even drew on her face.
The day before yesterday, she drew two black circles around her eyes.
How could an ancient person be like this? What kind of ancient person was she?
When Shang Yi returned and saw Xu Wanqing, she did the same thing, drawing two circles on her face and adding a two-stroke mustache.
The class monitor's calls of "What's wrong? Are you okay?" still echoed in Shang Yi's ears. She rubbed her face, preparing to probe for Xu Wanqing's secret.
"It's nothing. Sigh, well, actually it is something… I'll tell you, but you can't tell anyone else…"
The class monitor perked up her ears solemnly, waiting for her to share the secret.
But then Shang Yi suddenly pulled back. "I'm not going to say it. Class is about to start."
The moment the class bell rang, it was like a magic spell that fixed the class monitor to her seat. She didn't dare whisper to anyone, sitting bolt upright and staring straight ahead.
So Shang Yi turned around and whispered to someone else, repeating the same lines. First, she'd say with a blush that she had a secret, then she'd stop talking and wait for the other person to guess, "You have a crush on a boy?" She would then pretend to deny it, leading them to confirm that answer.
Before one class period was over, the news that Zhang Xu was dating someone had already spread.
But the class monitor was a little angry. "Why did you tell your secret to everyone else?"
"They don't know! Only you know!" Shang Yi said, deliberately trying to bait her.
"What is it?"
"You know!" Shang Yi seemed genuinely anxious, speaking with such conviction that it was as if the class monitor really did possess a secret she herself didn't know.
She was a devious person, trying to pry information from the mouth of an innocent child. With the earlier hint of "a boy she likes" and Shang Yi's insistent tone, the class monitor racked her brain, recalling every boy connected to Zhang Xu, searching for any possible clue.
Finally, she hesitantly uttered a name.
"Mmm~" she denied it coquettishly.
She uttered another name.
She denied it again.
This back-and-forth continued until the class monitor couldn't come up with any more names. Only then did Shang Yi say, "Actually, it's one of them."
It must be one of them.
Shang Yi noted down all their names.
The class monitor was deep in thought, trying to figure out which of the candidates had gotten involved with Zhang Xu right under her nose, and she felt very worried that puppy love was a bad thing.
The class monitor was very young, while Zhang Xu was already fifteen. She naturally felt this age difference, so after Shang Yi replied, "one of those many people," she fell silent, secretly pondering how to guide Zhang Xu back to the right path.
Shang Yi had a list of names in her head. Some of them were surely close to Zhang Xu rather than having something fishy going on with Xu Wanqing. She usually played with the boys too, but they were mischievous, and she hadn't noticed any clues. She just felt that these kids hadn't even finished puberty yet; there shouldn't be any serious feelings brewing.
What type did Xu Wanqing like?
She couldn't possibly like these kids, could she? That was too sinful.
Tsk, tsk, tsk.
She felt a flicker of contempt for Xu Wanqing, pursing her lips and silently badmouthing her. But after all, it was none of her business. She wasn't Xu Wanqing's mother, nor was she some kind of morality police, so she reluctantly accepted this possibility.
She planted herself on the curb, standing against a fierce wind of yellow dust and plastic bags. Shang Yi crouched there, watching those boys.
The first boy was the son from the sesame oil shop across the street. He was tall and thin, squatting at his doorstep selling sesame oil. He had delicate features and seemed rather calm and steady, with the air of a scholar—more like someone Xu Wanqing would fancy.
She stood there for a moment, and the boy came over with a few other boys, laughing. "Did Zhang Xu get her period today!"
"…"
Nope.
The second was a delinquent from her class who didn't do well in school and loved to fight. Right now, he was smoking with a group of friends at the school gate, phones out, huddled together playing games. The profanities coming out of his mouth were things that even Shang Yi, a thirty-five-year-old woman, was embarrassed to hear.
Nope.
The third was teasing a blind old beggar. The fourth took a piss against the base of a wall and then sniffed his hand. The fifth, wearing glasses as thick as bottle bottoms, arrived late, so nearsighted he couldn't even recognize Shang Yi as his classmate.
Nope.
What kind of kids were these?
Would Xu Wanqing like any of them?
Could her line of thinking be wrong?
The head teacher rode out on his bicycle, wobbling, with a thick stack of newspapers tucked into the basket.
It couldn't be one of the teachers, could it?
She blacklisted all the boys she had observed.
Even if Xu Wanqing approved, she wouldn't. These kids were no good. As annoying as Xu Wanqing was, her taste couldn't be that bad.
She filed away the teacher possibility in her mind to investigate next time.
Shang Yi walked home slowly. She hated using that big, rural earthen stove. Every time the firewood was damp or she added too much, smoke would billow out, leaving her covered in soot. The user experience was terrible!
She stopped by the noodle shop behind the school for a bowl of knife-cut noodles. Just as she picked up the braised egg with her chopsticks, she suddenly heard a child shriek, "I want a sausage! I want a sausage!"
It startled her so much that she squeezed the egg, and it fell to the floor.
A woman entered, leading a little boy of about six or seven who was dragging his mother inside, demanding a sausage.
A figure stood behind the door.
The figure was wearing the same school uniform as her. She was small and thin, with a neat, single ponytail held by a small pink hairpin. She wore one schoolbag on her back and carried another in her hand.
The person hesitated outside the door. She saw Shang Yi.
The class monitor?
Shang Yi paused.
The mother who had come into the shop said, "One small bowl of knife-cut noodles, please."
"I want a sausage! I want a sausage!"
"And add two sausages."
"Isn't your daughter outside?" the owner asked, glancing over. The girl hadn't come in.
"It's fine. Girls don't eat much. Our Tongtong can't finish a small bowl by himself, so ordering more would be a waste."
Shang Yi choked on a mouthful of noodles and started coughing violently.
The woman fumbled for her money and slowly handed it over. "I still have work to do in the fields. I'll be going now."
"Alright."
"Tongtong, go home with your sister later, okay? Do your homework, have your sister teach you, and no watching TV, you hear?"
"Okay."
Only after the woman left did the class monitor hesitantly come inside.
Shang Yi wanted to say hello but felt it would be awkward. The class monitor acted as if she hadn't seen her, sitting down by herself with the boy named Tongtong.
A small bowl of knife-cut noodles topped with two sausages was brought to the table. The class monitor asked for another bowl and poured a bowl of the noodle broth into it to cool.
When the boy finished the noodles in one go, she pushed the bowl of broth toward him.
The boy took a sip and burned his tongue. "You didn't even let it cool! I'm not drinking it! I'm going out to play!"
The boy bolted out the door, leaving the class monitor staring blankly at the bowl of leftover broth.
Shang Yi suddenly raised her hand. "Huh? Li Zhaodi! You're here?"
The class monitor looked up at her nervously, then immediately regained her pride, puffing out her chest. "You're here too. I've already had dinner. My mom insisted I bring my little brother for noodles."
School had just ended. How could she have already eaten dinner?
Shang Yi said, "Oh, so you've eaten. There's a fried skewer stand next door. I want to get some. Come with me."
"I've already eaten."
"I know, but I want to eat."
The two of them walked to the small fried skewer stall next door. Shang Yi ordered two of everything and had it all put on a metal tray.
"You can't eat all that."
"Yes, I can! Yes, I can!"
When the skewers arrived, Shang Yi handed one to her. "We're good friends, right? Let's eat together. I can't finish it all by myself."
"I'm full."
"I can't finish it, please help… otherwise it'll go to waste."
Shang Yi stood on the curb with the primary school student, eating fried skewers against the wind. A group of little boys crowded around the stall, and the boy named Tongtong came over. "I want that one! Give it to me!"
"This is mine." Shang Yi pressed on the kid's head and turned him around, making him step back. "Who are you?"
The little boy fell silent, then took a step back. "Give it to me! Or I'll tell my mom!"
The class monitor was too frightened and flustered to eat. Shang Yi turned her head. "You take your time and eat. I'll buy him some."
"You're spending money again."
"It's fine. I'm very rich," Shang Yi said.
Shang Yi was indeed very rich, but she wasn't about to encourage this kind of behavior.
She walked over. "Come on, your sister told me to buy you some spicy strips before we come back for this. There are too many people now, we'll have to wait in line."
After luring the child around the corner, her expression immediately changed. "Who are you? Huh? What right do you have to demand things from your sister when she's eating? Why didn't you give her a single bite of your noodles? Huh?"
"I'm going to tell my mom!"
"Go ahead. I'm telling you, my family is in the mob. Anyone who bullies their sister will get a rotten ass-hole."
Like a childish ghost, Shang Yi racked her brain for things kids were afraid of and added, "If I see you again, I'll beat you up!"
"I'm going to tell my mom!"
"Hmph. If I find out you snitched, I'll cut off your little willy."
The boy burst into tears with a "Waaah."
Zhang Xu's face was plain and unremarkable, holding no intimidating power, but Shang Yi's soul radiated a murderous aura. When she got vicious, even adults would shiver, let alone a sheltered child.
After she had upped the ante enough to nearly give the child a traumatic childhood memory, the boy promised he would never bully his sister again. Only then did Shang Yi switch to a smiling face. "Big sister will buy you spicy strips. If you're nice to your sister, I'll buy you spicy strips. Don't tell your mom, you hear?"
When she and the child came back out with the spicy strips, the class monitor had barely taken two bites of the skewer in her hand.
"Go on, eat. I'm hungry."
Shang Yi ate with gusto. The class monitor relaxed a little and slowly sorted the skewers into fifty-cent and one-yuan piles, pushing the more expensive ones toward Shang Yi and only daring to take small bites of the cheaper ones herself.
In Shang Yi's eyes, everything was dirt cheap, so she didn't notice the child's faint timidity.
"I'm very rich. When school's out, I'll take you to the amusement park in the city," Shang Yi promised. She had a particular gentleness for these children. Perhaps after spending so much time with them, she had become more like a child herself, with some naive emotions.
"How could you have money? Your parents… I'm sorry, but you can't just waste money!" The class monitor was still worried for her.
"It's okay. I have a very rich distant relative, a big boss from Hong Kong." Shang Yi used herself to brag.
"Is it the one from the scholarship…"
"Yeah," Shang Yi blurted out.
The little girl was silent for a moment. Shang Yi realized her mistake and added, "This place is too small. When you go to a bigger city, there will be fair scholarships. You're such a good student, you'll definitely be able to get a national scholarship."
"How big of a place?"
"At least as big as Pingdu, right?"
"Then I'll get into Pingdu University in the future."
…
What a simple wish. Didn't kids this age all want to go to Tsinghua or Peking University?
"You can think bigger. You could go to Beijing or Shanghai, or even study abroad. Pingdu is very small too."
"Where will you go in the future?"
Shang Yi paused.
Where would she go in the future? She had been all over the country and had traveled to many places around the world. Was there anywhere she particularly wanted to go? Ever since the Big Boss was paralyzed, she had fought tooth and nail to climb the ladder, and it seemed she had lost her goal. Other than constantly making money, she had no other pursuits.
Besides Zhang Xu and Xu Wanqing, she hadn't met any new, more intimate people. She didn't seem to have changed much from who she was at thirty.
The hot-blooded Shang Yi who, at twenty, had sworn to make a name for herself in the business world had already gotten everything she wanted.
What did she want at the very beginning? She just wanted to be rich.
And now?
"I don't know."
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