DF Chapter 4

Chapter 4 Her Mother

Cars occasionally passed by on the Binhai Highway, bringing stronger gusts of wind. The streetlight cast long shadows of the small electric scooter. This highway was a circular route, two kilometers in total length. After Sheng Jia took Song Ji’an around twice, Song Ji’an gazed into the distance at the sparkling sea and suddenly said, “Today is my first day after transferring schools. Friends from my previous school wanted to see me off, so they came here specifically.”

“But I received a message from my mom in the middle of it. Auntie Zhao, who took care of me since I was little, passed away today, so I’m a bit sad.”

Sheng Jia didn’t reply. She said she’d be a good listener, so she didn’t say a word, letting Song Ji’an talk.

“When I was little, my mom often had to go out on business. I spent a long time with Auntie Zhao, and she took care of me for many years. I was very attached to her.” Song Ji’an already understood Sheng Jia’s personality in just one day, so she didn’t force her to answer. She just continued, “Later, when I was six or seven, my mom finally had time to be with me. She took me everywhere and made up for my missing childhood. Auntie Zhao happened to have family matters at that time and resigned to return to her hometown.”

“But my mom has always been grateful to her for accompanying me in those years. She has been in contact with her often over the years, and occasionally when she had to go on a business trip for a month or two, she would ask Auntie Zhao to come and stay with me. Auntie Zhao is like my family. But she passed away today. My mom said she doesn’t want me to go to the funeral. She just wants me to study hard here. I don’t really know what to do.”

Song Ji’an had always listened to her mother since she was little. She was well-behaved, sensible, and didn’t cause worry, the most likable type. But she also had times when she didn’t want to listen.

Like now, she didn’t want to go home on time. She just wanted to find something to do to distract herself.

Her mother, Song Ningqiu, was busy every year. Even though she transferred her to this school, she wouldn’t stay here to accompany her for long. After dropping her off at the school gate this morning, she hurriedly took a plane to Hong Kong to discuss business.

Song Ji’an would occasionally say a few words behind Sheng Jia, mostly funny stories from her previous school.

Perhaps afraid that Sheng Jia would find her annoying, she stopped revealing her own situation after talking about it just now.

Sheng Jia learned about the private high school she used to attend, something she had never encountered in ordinary public high schools. She couldn’t imagine what it was like to organize the whole school to travel abroad for study tours in the first year of high school. Her first year of high school was spent in a cramped room, doing one set of test papers after another in advance. The ceiling fan above her head buzzed. It was spent listening attentively to classes in the school classroom, and even working part-time at different convenience stores to save money.

Out of reach.

She quietly stared at the road ahead, the asphalt pavement and the white zebra crossings, and further ahead, rows of palm trees, lush and leafy. A gust of wind came from her ears, mixed with some summer heat.

She carried Song Ji’an around here again and again, finally waiting until eleven o’clock. They were tired and decided to go home.

Song Ningqiu bought Song Ji’an a small villa in Fuyuan District for her convenience. When Sheng Jia and she returned to the villa, Auntie Zhou, who had been newly sent to take care of her, was already waiting at the door. Seeing the two girls on the electric scooter, she hurried over, taking off Song Ji’an’s helmet while nagging, “An’an, why didn’t you answer the phone or let Auntie Liu pick you up? I was so worried, I almost called Song Ningqiu.”

Song Ji’an smiled at her, “I went out to play with my former classmates. I came back a little late, I’m sorry for making you worry. This is my new classmate. I’m not very good at riding an electric scooter, luckily I met her and she sent me back.”

With that, she took Sheng Jia’s wrist and said to Auntie Zhou, “Is Auntie Liu asleep? Can I trouble her to send my classmate home?”

Auntie Zhou quickly responded, “No, I’ll go call her.”

Not long after Auntie Zhou went in, a Volkswagen drove out. Song Ji’an opened the car door and beckoned Sheng Jia to get in, “I’ll take you back.”

Sheng Jia was silent for a moment, but in the end, she got into the car. The driver was a woman in her forties. She nodded gently at her through the rearview mirror, and then asked for her address.

Sheng Jia gave an address.

It was an old and Large Neighbourhood with many apartment buildings, but compared to the quiet Fuyuan District close to the prosperous area, this place was remote and crowded.

Song Ji’an was tired from walking today. When she got in the car, she could still chat with Sheng Jia, but the further they went, the sleepier she became. When her voice gradually faded, Sheng Jia stopped talking. Before long, she leaned against the seat and fell asleep.

Sheng Jia turned her head to look out the window. The car was very quiet. Auntie Liu was not a talkative person. On the contrary, she hardly spoke, just like the driver in most people’s impressions, silent and taciturn.

She was wearing a simple short-sleeved shirt and black suit pants, and her long hair was neatly tied behind her head. There was a thin layer of muscle on her arms. Obviously, in addition to being a driver, Auntie Liu might also be Song Ji’an’s bodyguard.

Soon they reached their destination. Sheng Jia softly thanked Auntie Liu, trying not to wake Song Ji’an, and got out of the car.

It was dark in front of the Neighborhood, and one of the streetlights was broken, but the car behind her didn’t leave. It even turned on its high beams, thoughtfully illuminating the road into the Neighborhood for her. Only when she disappeared into those tall buildings and could no longer be seen did the car turn around and leave.

The light behind her also disappeared, and Sheng Jia was completely plunged into darkness. She seemed to have gone from one world to another.

She returned to her world.

There was no warm and caring Auntie, no small villa filled with her mother’s care, and no wind blowing from the sea.

Those warm and free scenes would never appear here.

Here, there were only residents wailing like ghosts and wolves when returning home at night, and the fishy smell of rotten garbage in the air.

Her home was in the last unit, the darkest and most dilapidated unit, without even an elevator or motion-sensor lights.

The stairwell was filled with the smell of iron rust. Both rooms on the left and right on the first floor had the sounds of card games. This was a rebuilt card room, only vaguely covering the door, and you could see tables of middle-aged and elderly women inside. Sheng Jia glanced inside a few times and was spotted by a sharp-eyed old woman, who waved at her and shouted, “Your mother lost too much playing cards this afternoon, she went back at five o’clock.”

Sheng Jia nodded politely to her, turned around, and went upstairs.

The old woman watched her back and said to the person next to her, “Sheng Jia, this little girl, tsk tsk…”

She didn’t avoid anyone when she said this. Through the noisy sound from the crack in the door, Sheng Jia heard her meaningful words, but she was used to it. She just pretended not to hear and slowly went upstairs.

Her home was on the third floor. Just before reaching her doorstep, the phone in her pocket flashed.

Sheng Jia took out her phone and looked down at the text message. After seeing who it was from, she didn’t rush home. She stood in front of the door and browsed through it.

[R]: Did you meet her at the hotel today?

Sheng Jia’s fingers paused slightly, then she replied: Yes.

[R]: What are you planning to do next? Did she take the bait?

Sheng Jia’s eyes flickered slightly. She didn’t answer this question. She deleted the messages sent by R one by one, then put her phone back in her pocket, and pushed open the old iron door in front of her.