Xu Junyue looked around, searching for a restaurant.
Tong Yang lowered her head, lost in thought, recalling what Dr. Luo had said last.
After their investigation, they found that things were not as simple as Tong Yang had thought.
It was said that some black market industries abroad had already established connections with the parallel world.
“Are you still thinking about what Dr. Luo said?” Chu Shiyu asked.
Tong Yang came back to her senses, unconsciously furrowing her brows, “Yeah.”
Xu Junyue casually wrapped her arms around both of their shoulders and said, “It’s okay, even if it’s true, it has nothing to do with us. This is no longer something a few ordinary people like us can solve.”
Chu Shiyu nodded, “Jun Yue is right.”
“I know,” Tong Yang said with a serious expression, “but the black market includes organ trafficking. If people from both worlds swap organs, the rejection rate is almost zero.”
“The black market is a terrifying thing. If it’s exploited by the parallel world, the consequences are unimaginable.”
“But there’s nothing we can do about it; that’s a fact.”
Tong Yang knew this was true, but she had a huge suspicion in her heart.
“Ye Tianlin” sent Ye Huai to the real world, but what about the original Ye Huai in this world? Was he really killed by Ye Tianlin? Or was there something even Ye Huai himself didn’t know?
If we look at it from a time perspective, Ye Huai could have been sent to the real world, just like He Jingjing, among the fifty people. Why could he travel through space while not being killed like He Jingjing?
Was there something different about him compared to He Jingjing?
Could it be his heart…
“Ah! Tong Yang!” Chu Shiyu suddenly shouted, disrupting Tong Yang’s thoughts.
“What is it?” Tong Yang frowned.
But this was just her speculation after hearing about the black market; the truth was probably known by very few people.
Chu Shiyu said, “Did you forget something? We promised to pick up Xiao Hei with Tong Le and the others!”
Tong Yang froze, quickly pulling out her phone to check the time; it was almost one o’clock!
The screen showed eight missed calls from Tong Le and Yang Lin, along with a dozen voice messages.
“Who is Xiao Hei?” Xu Junyue asked, looking puzzled.
After leaving Yan Qing’s house, Tong Yang had kept her phone on silent.
She looked at Chu Shiyu, who shook her phone at her, saying helplessly, “I had it on silent too.”
However, before Chu Shiyu could finish her sentence, Tong Yang’s screen lit up, and another call came in.
“Tong Le? Your brother is calling; answer it,” Xu Junyue urged.
Tong Yang stared at the name flashing on the screen, feeling a bit guilty. She had completely forgotten about this, especially since they had all agreed to it. She should have informed Tong Le and Yang Lin in advance.
She looked at Chu Shiyu with a confused expression, but the latter pretended not to see her and turned her face away.
“Hey! Tong Jie, what’s going on? Why aren’t you answering your brother’s call?”
Having known each other for so long, she had never seen Tong Yang hesitate like this. Just a moment ago, she had been so imposing in front of the police and the people from Bureau 749.
“Shut up.” Tong Yang pushed her face away and answered the call.
“Hello.” Tong Yang sounded calm, but her tone was noticeably softer than usual.
“Sister! Where are you? Are you with Sister Shiyu? Why aren’t you answering the phone? Where are you?” Tong Le’s voice was very anxious, with a hint of tears.
Tong Yang said, “I’m with Sister Shiyu. We… had something going on just now and didn’t answer the phone. Sorry.”
There was silence on the other end for a few seconds, followed by a sniffle, “As long as you’re okay.”
Tong Yang softly asked, “Where are you now? Are you with Lin Lin?”
Tong Le’s voice was a bit hoarse as he replied, “I’m with Lin Lin. We picked up Xiao Hei and are at the police station now.”
“At the police station?” Tong Yang furrowed her brows, “How did you end up at the police station?”
Hearing this, Chu Shiyu also became anxious and leaned closer to the phone.
Tong Le explained, “It’s not far from home, and since you and Sister Shiyu are together, Yang Mama agreed to let us come out by ourselves. We kept calling you, but you and Sister Shiyu didn’t answer. You promised me you would never break your word, so we were worried you and Sister Shiyu were in danger, so we went to the police station to report it.”
At this point, Tong Le sniffed again, “But the police uncle said we have to wait. They can’t help us until they contact you.”
Tong Yang and Chu Shiyu exchanged glances, both seeing guilt and reproach on each other’s faces.
“Sorry, Lele. Our phones were on silent, and we… forgot about this. We’ll be back soon. Did Auntie know?”
Tong Le replied, “It’s okay, as long as you’re fine. Yang Mama doesn’t know yet; she’s out with friends today, and we didn’t want to disturb her.”
Chu Shiyu said, “You two wait at the police station for a bit; we’ll be back right away.”
“Okay…”
“Goodbye, Sister.”
After hanging up, Tong Yang and Chu Shiyu slumped their shoulders.
Xu Junyue burst out laughing, “It’s fine, it’s just that you didn’t answer the phone for a while.”
Tong Yang shot her a glance and opened a ride-hailing app, ordering her first taxi in her life.
“Wow! We were all waiting for you, and you took over an hour on the subway to get here, and now you’re willing to take a taxi?”
Chu Shiyu muttered, “What do you know?”
Forty minutes later, the taxi they were in stopped outside the Tianyuan District Police Station.
“Wu Ge.” Xu Junyue greeted the police officer on duty nearby.
Wu Ge looked surprised, “What are you doing here?”
Xu Junyue replied, “I’m here to accompany a friend to pick up a child.”
“Oh! Is it those two kids inside who reported that their sister was missing? Go ahead, they’re still in there!”
“Is my dad inside?”
“Yes.”
“Then I’m going in first; don’t tell them I was here!”
“Xu Junyue! Get back in here!”
Xu Junyue hadn’t taken two steps before being called back by a shout.
“Why are you shouting? I know!” Xu Junyue was caught red-handed and decided not to pretend anymore, leading Tong Yang inside with a swagger.
Officer Xu stood at the door, glaring at Xu Junyue, “I’ll deal with you later.”
Xu Junyue stuck out her tongue, looking unconcerned.
Then Officer Xu turned to Tong Yang and Chu Shiyu, asking, “So you two are the ones who lost the child?”
Tong Yang said, “Sorry, that’s us. We caused you trouble.”
Officer Xu glanced at them and said, “It’s fine. Just be more careful next time. What kind of thing is it to make the kids worry about you?”
“Thank you, we understand.”
Officer Xu nodded and said, “I can see you two are good kids. Stay away from Xu Junyue; she’s not a good influence.”
“Hey! Old Xu! I’m still alive! Is that how you talk to my friends?” Xu Junyue complained.
Officer Xu pinched her ear and said to Tong Yang and Chu Shiyu, “They’re inside; go on in.”
“Okay, thank you.”
“Hey! Hey! You’re not going to leave me behind? What about loyalty?”
Tong Yang and Chu Shiyu exchanged looks of sympathy and then walked into the room without looking back.
“Old Xu! Let go! Let go! It hurts!”
Officer Xu gritted her teeth, “I haven’t even settled the score with you for sneaking out!”
“What score? You’re interfering with my personal freedom! You’re breaking the law… Ouch! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! Don’t, don’t pull my ear!”
Walking into the quiet lounge, Tong Le and Yang Lin were sitting side by side on chairs, with a cat carrier on the table. Both of them had red eyes, as if they had been crying not long ago.
“Tong Le, Lin Lin.” Tong Yang called out.
The two little ones looked up simultaneously and called, “Sister, Sister Shiyu.”
“Have you eaten?” Tong Yang walked over.
Tong Le shook his head, “No, but the police uncle bought us something.”
Yang Lin asked, “Sister, are you okay? Are you hurt? Lele said you might be in danger.”
Chu Shiyu reassured them, “We’re fine, don’t worry.”
Tong Yang bent down to look at Tong Le, who rubbed his eyes with his hand, and another tear fell.
Actually, Tong Yang initially didn’t want to tell Tong Le about the parallel world because she knew he would worry.
Tong Le was smart and sensitive; just a few days ago, after getting hurt, he had been clinging to Tong Yang, not wanting her to go back to school alone. So when he woke up this morning and found Tong Yang missing, he immediately called her to confirm, fearing she might be in danger.
Seeing him like this now, Tong Yang felt a bit regretful for telling him.
“We’re fine; didn’t I say so? I’m very capable; nothing will happen to me.” Tong Yang ruffled his hair to comfort him.
Tong Le wiped his tears and nodded vigorously, “I know, Sister and Sister Shiyu are both very capable; you won’t have any problems!”
Yang Lin added, “Sister Tong Yang is very capable, better than anyone!”
Chu Shiyu pinched his cheek in dissatisfaction, “Only Sister Tong Yang? What about me? Lele should also praise me!”
Yang Lin shyly smiled, “Sister Shiyu is also very capable.”
Tong Le beamed and turned the cat carrier to face them, “Look, Xiao Hei is about to fall asleep waiting.”
The little black cat lay in the carrier, drowsy. Perhaps hearing the noise, it lifted its eyelids to glance at them before continuing to sleep.
“By the way, Sister, have you eaten?” Tong Le asked.
“Not yet; let’s go eat together.”
“Okay!”
“What do you want to eat?”
“What does Sister want to eat?”
After greeting the police uncle, Tong Yang and Chu Shiyu led the two of them outside.
“Wait for me!” Xu Junyue suddenly appeared from somewhere, rushing to catch up with them.
“Xu Junyue!” Officer Xu shouted from inside.
“What? I’m just going to eat and then go home!” Xu Junyue impatiently yelled back.
“Let’s go, let’s go; Old Xu will get angry again soon.”
Taking the opportunity, Xu Junyue pushed the four of them outside,
“Just in time, Tao Bai and the others are nearby; let’s have a meal together,” Xu Junyue said.
Since He Jingjing passed away, they hadn’t had a meal together, always feeling that gathering again without Jingjing felt like forgetting her.
But time always passes, and everyone else’s lives must go on. He Jingjing didn’t know when she would be able to face everyone calmly, but Xu Junyue was fine; with just a phone call, she gathered everyone back together.
“To this cup, we toast to He Jingjing!” Xu Junyue cheered, prompting everyone to clink glasses.
“I always thought Jingjing was timid, but she was actually very brave. Knowing her fate, she still resolutely sent us back here.”
Tong Yang clinked glasses with them, feeling that only Xu Junyue could mention He Jingjing so openly at a time like this.
“Jingjing was gentle on the outside but strong on the inside. In the past, when she and Jingjing were bullied at school, it was always her who drove those people away. Although it seemed like Jingjing was taking care of Jingjing, most of the time, it was Jingjing taking care of Jingjing,” Hu Shuo couldn’t help but sigh.
Tao Bai said, “I’ve contacted Auntie in the past few days; she said Jingjing’s spirit has improved a lot compared to before.”
Zhou Jingyun took a sip of beer and sighed, “Jingjing will always live in our hearts. To me, she is just the He Jingjing of the real world, unrelated to the parallel world.”
“Jingjing was really brave,” Chu Shiyu said.
Tong Yang remained silent, turning to glance at Tong Le and Yang Lin, who were sitting not far away.
Each of them held a hamburger in their hands, their eyes shining as they looked in Tong Yang’s direction, their gaze too obvious; she could feel it even with her back turned.
“What are those two little ones looking at?” Xu Junyue asked, tilting her chin toward them.
As if they knew they had been discovered, Tong Le and Yang Lin immediately lowered their heads and shifted their gaze.
Chu Shiyu teased, “You guys don’t know, do you? Tong Yang and her brother have a really good relationship; you can’t tell?”
Hu Shuo shook his head repeatedly, “Can’t tell! Not a bit! I thought Tong Jie would be strict with her brother!”
“Why? I think Tong Yang is a great sister; she’s smart and capable,” Xu Junyue said.
Hu Shuo glanced at Tong Yang, who shot him a sideways look.
“If I were Tong Yang’s brother…”
“I’d strangle you the moment you were born,” Tong Yang said.
Hu Shuo immediately covered his neck, looking terrified, “You say they have a good sibling relationship? I don’t believe it!”
Chu Shiyu raised her chin, “Just wait.”
After saying that, she beckoned the little ones over with her finger.
Tong Le immediately put down his hamburger and ran over with Yang Lin, panting.
“Sister Shiyu, what are you doing?”
Tong Yang propped her head up, looking at the three of them with a calm expression.
“Lele, what would you do if your sister was bullied?”
Tong Le’s expression immediately turned tense, “Who? Who bullied my sister?”
As he spoke, he subtly glanced at Hu Shuo and the others.
Hu Shuo: “?”
Tong Yang poked his forehead with a finger and said, “Don’t listen to her nonsense; let’s go eat. After eating, I’ll take you back.”
“Hehe, that’s good.” Tong Le smiled, raising his little face.
“Are you Tong Le? I’m your sister’s friend, Tao Bai.” Tao Bai, sitting next to Tong Yang, took the initiative to greet Tong Le.
Tong Le’s expression visibly tensed up, but he politely bowed to Tao Bai, “Hello, Brother Tao Bai, I’m Tong Le.”
Xu Junyue leaned closer to Chu Shiyu’s ear and chuckled, “This little guy is quite perceptive; he probably sensed Tao Bai’s intentions.”
Chu Shiyu shrugged, “Those two siblings are always very smart.”
“With such a smart brother, it will be hard for our Tong Jie to find a boyfriend in the future!”
Tong Yang kicked her under the table, signaling her to stop talking nonsense.
“Is Sister looking for a boyfriend?” Tong Le raised his head, frowning with concern.
“Oh? You know what a boyfriend is?” Xu Junyue teased.
Tong Le pursed his lips, “I know; someone in our class was dating before.”
“Ah???”
“Weren’t you just in fourth grade?”
“But we had that in elementary school too.”
“Sister, do you want to date a boyfriend?” Tong Le asked, seemingly unconcerned about what others said, nervously looking at Tong Yang.
Tong Yang pinched his face, “Why do you believe everything others say? Let’s go eat.”
“Oh, I got it.” Tong Le waited for her to let go before pulling Yang Lin back.
Chu Shiyu said, “See? Their sibling relationship is really good.”
Hu Shuo sighed, “I didn’t expect you to be such a good sister.”
Tong Yang lazily replied, “Mainly because Tong Le is easy to deal with. If it were you…”
Hu Shuo pouted, “You’d just strangle me, right?”
Tong Yang nodded, not denying it.
Indeed, Tong Le’s personality complemented Tong Yang’s; if it were Hu Shuo or someone else, even if they were her brother, she probably wouldn’t have this much patience.
The main reason was that Tong Le was well-behaved and lovable.
After finishing their meal and parting ways with Xu Junyue and the others, they went to the mall to buy some snacks for Xiao Hei before heading home.
Xiao Hei was not like an ordinary stray cat; it used the litter box by itself and didn’t need to be taught. It was usually very quiet and wouldn’t disturb others’ rest, so both Yang Dad and Yang Mom liked it very much.
A week passed peacefully, during which Xu Junyue called them together again and even contacted He Jingjing, who was far away in another country. Her mental state had improved a lot, and sometimes she would respond to their jokes.
On the day before she was supposed to tutor Yan Qing, Tong Yang received a text from Yan Qing’s mom, saying that she didn’t need to tutor Yan Qing for the time being, and all the previous tutoring fees had been settled.
The meaning was very clear; it was a polite way of firing Tong Yang.
After that incident, she hadn’t contacted Yan Qing or her family, and she didn’t expect that after so long, they still hadn’t calmed down. However, in two weeks, school would start, and Tong Yang wouldn’t have time to continue tutoring her. It was a bit of a pity since Yan Qing’s tutoring fee was the highest among all her students.
Tong Yang accepted Yan Qing’s mom’s transfer and thanked her, not dwelling on the matter.
In the following week, Tong Yang was left with only one tutoring job. In her free time, she continued to take Tong Le and Yang Lin to play around, almost visiting all the places in the capital.
Moreover, Tong Le’s school started a bit earlier than hers, so he had to prepare in advance.
On the evening of August 27th, Tong Yang returned to the school dormitory, still alone.
She was on a video call with her gossip group, discussing Ji Jia’en’s situation.
In May 2026, Ji Jia’en was killed by someone from the parallel world. If they could find a way to help her avoid the potential danger, she would regain her memory in the future.
“Tong Jie, what if we help her avoid it, but she doesn’t acknowledge it?”
“Yeah, anyway, by then, no one except us will remember that she died once.”
Tong Yang had just finished showering, her hair still wet, sitting in her spot reading a physics book, casually replied, “If she doesn’t acknowledge it, what can we do? Call the police to arrest her? Or kill her?”
“What should we do then? We can’t just waste our efforts.”
Tong Yang said, “Her matter isn’t urgent; let’s talk about it in 2026.”
“Your 2026 might not be long for us; the time flow on your side is almost eleven days faster than ours. At this rate, it will catch up to us sooner or later.”
Tong Yang’s hair was hanging on her shoulder, wetting her clothes, and she smiled, “So what? Didn’t you all say you wanted to see me?”
“We do want to see you, but it just feels a bit unreal.”
“I understand! Tong Jie is like my electronic pet now! I can only see her on my phone, and only I can see her!”
Tong Yang rolled her eyes, “Shut up.”
“Hehehe.”
“Tong Jie, isn’t school not starting yet? Are there other people in your dorm?”
Tong Yang replied, “I think there are a few; why?”
“Aren’t you afraid that people from the parallel world will show up in the middle of the night again?”
“I feel like it’s scary to have only a few people living in a whole building!”
“Right, right! And there are so many rooms; what if…”
“Shut up.” Tong Yang shot them a glare, “Can you not be such a jinx? I’ve finally had a few peaceful days.”
After leaving Xili Mall, Tong Yang hadn’t encountered anyone or anything from the parallel world, finally feeling like her life was about to return to normal.
“Tong Jie, why haven’t you asked us if anything strange has happened in the capital these past few days?”
Tong Yang said, “I’ve figured it out; if I don’t ask, it won’t happen.”
“Hahahahaha!”
“Schrödinger’s cat, right?”
“But there really hasn’t been anything strange happening in the capital these past few days.”
“There’s one, right?”
“Huh? Are you talking about the girl who jumped off the building?”
“That doesn’t count; that girl jumped because her parents had conflicts.”
“Tong Jie wouldn’t care about this kind of thing.”
Tong Yang flipped to the next page of her book and casually said, “Parents have conflicts, so they punish themselves by dying? Why should I care about that?”
Even if they offered Tong Yang a reward, she wouldn’t be able to care.
“Wait, Tong Jie, is it the 27th on your side?”
“Yeah, why?”
“I remember that girl jumped on the 27th too, from the fourteenth floor!”
“That girl seemed to have good grades and came from a wealthy family, but her parents were too busy with work and didn’t have the energy to pay attention to her. The environment she grew up in was already terrible, and then she accidentally found out her parents were getting divorced, so in a fit of anger…”
The more Tong Yang listened, the more familiar it felt.
Yan Qing had just graduated from junior high, lived on the fourteenth floor, and her family situation was similar… Could it be such a coincidence?
“What’s that girl’s name? Where does she live?” Tong Yang closed her physics book, asking them while pulling on her coat and putting on her shoes.
Although it shouldn’t be such a coincidence, she had a strange intuition.
“Um?? Tong Jie, do you know her?”
“I’ll take a look; I only know her last name is Yan, and she lives in Half Moon Manor…”
Before she could finish her sentence, Tong Yang had already grabbed her phone and left the dormitory.
“Ah?? Tong Jie, where are you going?”
“What’s wrong? Didn’t you say you couldn’t care?”
Tong Yang’s voice echoed in the empty hallway, “She’s my student; I still owe her a lesson.”
The tutoring fee that Yan Qing’s mom finally settled included the second lesson that she hadn’t been able to attend on the day she suddenly left.
Tong Yang had originally planned to find a time before school started to deliver the study materials she had prepared for Yan Qing, but she didn’t expect that little brat to jump off the building.
If it were someone else, it would be one thing, but for Yan Qing, Tong Yang was eighty percent sure she didn’t really want to die; she probably just wanted to force her parents to compromise using this method.
“What time did she jump?”
“9:41.”
Tong Yang’s heart sank as she glanced at the time; it was 9:32, and it was too late to get there.
“I’ll hang up first.”
Tong Yang slowed her pace and hung up the phone, calling Yan Qing’s parents. She was confident she could persuade Yan Qing; although the child was mischievous and willful, she had always been good to Tong Yang and listened to her.
The most important point was that she actually responded better to tough love than gentle persuasion.
Given Yan Qing’s parents’ personalities, they would most likely try to persuade her with kind words, which would only backfire.
Yan Qing’s parents didn’t answer her call, so she had to call Aunt Liu, but no one picked up either.
But in this situation, who would care to answer the phone?
Tong Yang frowned; after all, Yan Qing was her student, even if she wasn’t anymore. Knowing that the other party wasn’t truly seeking death and that her words might save her, she couldn’t just do nothing.
But now, she couldn’t get through to anyone’s phone, and she couldn’t rush to Half Moon Manor immediately.
Suddenly, she thought of Xu Junyue’s dad.
Given Yan Qing’s personality, it would likely cause a scene, and there would definitely be police and firefighters present.
After getting her dad’s number from Xu Junyue, Tong Yang immediately called.
Xu Junyue had already told him that Tong Yang would be calling, and Officer Xu directly answered her call.
“Hello? Tong Yang?”
Tong Yang said, “Uncle Xu, are you at Half Moon Manor?”
There was some noise on Officer Xu’s end, and she could vaguely hear Yan Qing’s hysterical voice.
“Do you know Yan Qing? She’s very agitated right now and won’t let anyone get close.”
Tong Yang said, “I’m her tutor; I want to talk to her.”
Officer Xu sighed, “I’ll give it a try. If she’s willing, you can try to persuade her.”
Officer Xu walked to the door of Yan Qing’s room, where Yan Qing’s mom and Aunt Liu were crying, pleading with her to come down from the windowsill.
“Yan Qing, your tutor is on the phone; she wants to talk to you.”
“Don’t come over!!!” Yan Qing shouted, “Who is she? I don’t know her!”
“She doesn’t want to be my tutor anymore; you don’t want me either! What am I even living for?”
“You wanted to get divorced a long time ago! You already signed the divorce agreement! What about me? Did anyone ask for my opinion?”
“You’re busy, you don’t come home; how many birthdays have you spent with me? Besides studying, have you ever asked me about anything else? I deliberately learned bad words and fought with others; did you care?”
“Since you don’t want me, then I might as well die!”
“Qingqing! Mommy was wrong! Mommy shouldn’t have done that; come down first… we can talk properly!”
“Qingqing, don’t joke with your life! Teacher Tong cares about you; she called you…”
“She doesn’t care about me! She just left! She even quit! She doesn’t want to take care of me!”
“She’s just like you! No one really cares about me!”
“Uncle Xu, are you on speaker?” Tong Yang’s voice came through the phone.
“You…” Yan Qing’s voice suddenly choked up, and tears streamed down her face.
Officer Xu looked at Yan Qing’s reaction and moved the phone closer, saying, “You can talk; she can hear you now.”
Yan Qing said fiercely, “What do you want to say? You’re just a tutor who gets paid; what do I have to say to you?”
Compared to the nervousness and anxiety on the faces of others, Tong Yang appeared much calmer, her tone steady, “First of all, I didn’t resign voluntarily; your family thought you were arguing with me and didn’t like me as your tutor, so they fired me.”
Yan Qing choked, “You’re lying! You just don’t like me; you don’t want to be my tutor…”
“I owe you a lesson.” Tong Yang suddenly said out of the blue.
“From my school to your house, it takes about twenty-five minutes by bike. I will arrive at your door on time in twenty-five minutes, and when I get there, I want to see you have completed the homework I assigned you. If you haven’t finished…”
“Then you’re dead.”
Yan Qing stared at her in disbelief, “You’re making me do homework at a time like this?”
But before Yan Qing could react, Tong Yang decisively hung up the phone.
Yan Qing showed an expression of disbelief, then burst into tears, “Tong Yang, you’re not human! I can’t finish all this… Wuwu…”
Tong Yang flagged down a shared bike and called the gossip group.
“Is there any news?”
“It’s changed!”
“What the heck! Tong Yang, you’re amazing!”
“What happened? It hasn’t even been five minutes!”
“That girl came down from the windowsill herself, and the first thing she did was do her homework.”
“Hahaha… I heard she was crying while writing, looking particularly pitiful.”
“I even suspect she jumped because of too much academic pressure.”
Tong Yang breathed a sigh of relief, “Thanks, I’m hanging up now.”
Twenty-five minutes later, Tong Yang indeed arrived at Yan Qing’s house on time.
The firefighters had already left, and only a few police officers were cleaning up.
When Tong Yang entered, she saw Yan Qing’s mom and Aunt Liu leaning against each other, silently crying, while Yan Qing’s dad stood by the window smoking.
“Teacher Tong, you’re here?” Aunt Liu immediately wiped her tears and stood up to greet her.
Yan Qing’s mom immediately covered her mouth and cried, “Teacher Tong… thank you… thank you…”
“I’m sorry… I shouldn’t have taken the liberty to say those things to you… I knew Qingqing liked having classes with you…”
Tong Yang silently looked at her, then turned to Yan Qing’s dad, who was silent by the window, and raised her voice, asking, “Do you think this is the reason Yan Qing jumped?”
After saying that, she didn’t give Yan Qing’s mom time to respond and walked toward Yan Qing’s room.
“Wuwu… you can’t blame me… I was almost done! I was really just a little bit away from finishing!” Yan Qing sat at her desk, a female police officer beside her. When she saw Tong Yang walk in, her eyes were red from crying, and she was scribbling in her workbook while wiping her tears.
Tong Yang walked over to her side; she was trembling all over, tears falling like beads, and she lowered her head, not daring to look at Tong Yang.
“Sister, could you please step outside for a moment?” Tong Yang said to the police officer beside her.
The police officer hesitated but finally said, “You two have a good chat.”
After saying that, she left the room and closed the door behind her.
Yan Qing wiped her nose, tears streaming down her face, “You can’t blame me; who told you to just leave and quit? Can’t I be angry? If I’m angry, I just don’t want to do my homework… Wuwu… you can’t blame me…”
Tong Yang looked at her, feeling very complicated.
Although Yan Qing didn’t leave a good first impression on her, among the few tutoring kids, she was the most innocent.
Her personality seemed willful and unreasonable, but she was easy to handle; just a few gentle words would do. Sometimes, she didn’t even need to be coaxed; she would calm herself down after a while and come back as if nothing had happened.
Tong Yang walked past her, standing by the window, leaning against the wall, and said nothing, just watching her cry and write.
“Why aren’t you talking? I warn you, you really can’t blame me… this time it’s not my fault; it’s all them…”
“Wuwu… I clearly didn’t do anything wrong… why do they want to get divorced…”
“It’s not my fault… it was never my fault…”
“Why aren’t you talking? Why don’t you say anything? Do you think I’m wrong? Why? What did I do wrong…”
“I know it’s not your fault.” Tong Yang suddenly said.
Yan Qing froze for a moment, stiffly turning her head to look at her, “What… what did you say?”
Tong Yang said, “I’m not blaming you.”
Yan Qing pouted, staring at her for a few seconds before suddenly bursting into tears.
“It was never my fault…”
“I don’t want to do my homework today… Wuwu…”
Tong Yang was speechless, “Idiot, then just don’t do it.”
“Is that okay?” Yan Qing looked at her with tearful eyes.
“Of course.”
“Oh… then I won’t do it.”
Tong Yang stared at her for a while and asked, “You want to jump off the building just because your parents are getting divorced?”
Yan Qing cried, “They don’t care about me at all; if they want to leave, then let them; I won’t go with anyone.”
“If they want to get divorced, you can be angry, you can make trouble; if they get divorced, you can take two alimony payments and study well.”
Yan Qing raised her eyes, cautiously looking at her, and said, “Sister Tong Yang, if they get divorced, then you can adopt me!”
Tong Yang looked at her as if she were crazy, “Are you out of your mind? Do you think that would be legal?”
“So what? At least you understand me better than they do!”
“Shut up.” Tong Yang pulled the curtains, “Are you satisfied? If not, then smash these things; anyway, your parents will have to buy new ones later.”
“I won’t smash my things.”
“Then what do you want?”
“I just don’t want to deal with them right now.”
“Then don’t deal with them.”
That night, Tong Yang didn’t leave Half Moon Manor. Yan Qing’s mom was worried about her daughter’s emotions and asked her to stay, counting the time and tutoring fees the same.
Tong Yang thought for a moment and didn’t refuse; if she could make money, she would take it. She felt it was what she deserved.
Tong Yang stayed in the guest room for the night, and the next day, after giving Yan Qing two lessons, she left.
By then, Yan Qing’s emotions had returned to normal, just indifferent toward her parents.
As soon as Tong Yang stepped out of Half Moon Manor, she received a call from Tong Le.
“Hello.”
She answered the call.
“Sister, where are you?”
“I just finished tutoring and am getting ready to go back to school.”
“What’s up?”
Tong Le said, “Sister Shiyu said she would take us to the Science Museum in the afternoon; can you come with us?”
“You guys go ahead; I need to…”
“Sister, I’m going to register tomorrow, and I won’t be able to play with you often in the future.” Tong Le said gloomily.
“We can still hang out on weekends.”
“Today is the last day before registration; can’t you come with me?”
Tong Yang hesitated a bit; she had planned to go back and finish the physics book she had started reading yesterday.
“Sister, please come with us.”
He spoke in a soft, whiny voice, and Tong Yang could almost hear the wave-like tone in his voice.
“I haven’t finished my book yet,” Tong Yang said.
Tong Le’s mood immediately dropped, knowing his sister didn’t like being disturbed while studying, “Oh… then you must take care of yourself and not get too tired.”
“I’ll hang up now…”
Hearing his dejected tone, Tong Yang couldn’t help but chuckle.
During her time in the capital, she and Tong Le had never played so freely; it was a rare time for them.
“Alright, have Sister Shiyu send me the address, and I’ll change my clothes at school and come find you.”
“Yay!” Tong Le’s voice immediately brightened, “Sister, be careful on the way; we’ll wait for you at the door!”
“Got it.”
After hanging up, Tong Yang flagged down a shared bike.
As she passed a cake shop, she suddenly saw a boy wearing a white baseball cap standing at the street corner, looking at her.
Tong Yang instinctively turned her head to take a look, and the boy seemed to sense it, quickly lowering his head to hide most of his face under the brim.
Looking at the side of his face that was exposed, Tong Yang’s breath caught in her throat, and she stopped her bike by the roadside, staring at him in a daze.
The boy lowered his hat and quickly turned to leave.
Tong Yang didn’t chase after him; she just kept her eyes fixed on the direction he was leaving.
For a moment, she felt like she had seen his face clearly.
It was a face that was both familiar and unfamiliar to her.
Moments later, as Tong Yang rode away from the street, the boy who had disappeared around the corner suddenly returned. He raised his head, revealing his fair cheek under the brim of his hat, gazing deeply at Tong Yang’s receding figure.
He watched for a long time; the street was a straight path ahead, and Tong Yang’s figure lingered without disappearing.
He seemed a bit lost in thought, slightly opening his mouth to call out something.
Unfortunately, his voice was too soft for even him to hear clearly.
