Chapter 47 Part 1

Wei Qinglu sat in the coffee shop all afternoon. When dinnertime arrived, she returned to the room.

She dawdled at the door for a long time, her mind filled with tangled thoughts. One moment, she worried that Wei Shuyu might still be sleeping and feared waking her by knocking now. The next, she worried that Wei Shuyu wasn’t sleeping at all but was alone and heartbroken. If she didn’t come back, would her sister feel even more hurt?

Wei Qinglu pressed her ear to the door, hoping to catch any sounds from inside.

Unfortunately, the hotel’s soundproofing was excellent. She listened for a long time without hearing anything. Instead, a cleaner passed by and glanced at her several times.

With no other choice, Wei Qinglu steeled herself and knocked.

The door opened quickly. Wei Shuyu stood there and asked her, “Didn’t you take the room card with you?”

“No…” Wei Qinglu hunched over as she entered, looking left and right like she was afraid of disturbing someone. “I forgot.”

Wei Shuyu looked at her and found it amusing.

“No one’s in the room. What are you doing?”

“Uh… nothing.”

Wei Qinglu straightened up, not daring to admit she had hoped to witness an overbearing CEO private jet drop-in scene.

“Sis, shouldn’t we have dinner?”

“If it weren’t dinnertime, would you have come back?”

Wei Shuyu gave her a half-smiling glance. Wei Qinglu’s little schemes were all too obvious, but she didn’t know what to do about it and simply chose to evade.

If it weren’t for the mealtime, she probably would have kept sitting in the coffee shop.

“Pack your things. Tonight, we’ll go home to eat.”

Wei Qinglu: “Ah?”

Her brain short-circuited for a moment.

Wei Qinglu didn’t react at first. Her mouth opened and closed, her mind blank except for one thought circling: We’re going home?

She had thought she could hide in the hotel for the night too, but Wei Shuyu said to leave and actually meant it.

Wei Qinglu wanted to say something but couldn’t get it out after a long time.

She could only sneak peeks at Wei Shuyu’s expression, feeling utterly uncomfortable. Her palms sweated, she bit her lip, and sat silently on the edge of the bed like a schoolkid suddenly called onstage, full of anxiety.

“Yeah, didn’t I say before? I’ll go home to check on the elders.” Wei Shuyu sat in front of the mirror and began applying lipstick. “Perfect timing. We’ll have dinner tonight, and the matter will be settled.”

Wei Qinglu seized on the key point: “You won’t stay home tonight?”

“No.” Wei Shuyu glanced back at her. “Why would I stay home?”

“That’s great…” Wei Qinglu murmured. “I want to do that too.”

Go wherever she wanted, do whatever she wanted, without needing to watch others’ faces or worry about having no place in the world.

She didn’t want to live at home either, especially after that morning when the adults crowded into the room and said those things to Wei Shuyu.

“If you don’t want to stay home, just get a room next door.” Wei Shuyu said, “But after I leave, you’ll still have to go home.”

Wei Qinglu looked at her blankly, her mind a mess.

Various thoughts tangled like knotted threads in her brain. She felt like she needed to figure it out but couldn’t.

In just a few sentences, Wei Shuyu had finished applying her lipstick.

As she picked up her bag from the sofa to head out, Wei Qinglu noticed that she had done quite heavy makeup today.

Unlike her usual light touch, even her lips were a pure red.

Her eyebrows sharp, eyeliner flicked up, making her whole demeanor strikingly cold.

“Sis, your makeup looks great today.” Wei Qinglu touched her nose, a bit puzzled. “But do you need such heavy makeup just to go home for dinner?”

“Yes.” Wei Shuyu slammed the door with a click. “You can skip makeup normally, but go home for dinner without it, and you’re just asking for trouble.”

Wei Qinglu hurried a few steps to catch up.

The corridor was eerily quiet, only their footsteps pressing soft sounds into the empty carpet.

Perhaps because of her mood, even though the ceiling lights were warm white, the light felt indescribably cold when it fell—like a hospital more than a hotel.

Wei Qinglu followed behind her sister, her heart pounding. That bit of unease in her heart amplified countless times.

In the elevator, Wei Qinglu suddenly noticed that Wei Shuyu was wearing high heels today.

Not the everyday two-to-three centimeter low heels, but a pair of seven-centimeter thin stilettos, black pointed toes paired with her long red dress, suddenly giving off a venomous beauty vibe.

Even until they got into the taxi, Wei Qinglu was still dazed.

Going home for dinner—why dress so imposingly, like she was off to do something important? Shouldn’t going home be… the more comfortable, the better?

It took over an hour from downtown to the Wei family home.

Once in the car, Wei Shuyu closed her eyes to rest. Wei Qinglu glanced at her several times, wondering if she was asleep, but seeing her slightly curled fingers, she thought maybe she was nervous.

The roadside scenery grew desolate. Buildings thinned out, dazzling neon vanished, replaced by drab billboards.

The roadside trees changed too—no longer neatly trimmed greenery, but crooked old locust trees, branches swaying wildly in the wind.

The sky darkened too, dusk swallowed by mist, even the night colorless and lifeless.

Moments later, the taxi finally stopped at the neighborhood entrance.

Wei Shuyu hadn’t been back to this home in a long time.

They had just gotten out when an auntie from the small shop across the street waved enthusiastically from a distance: “Lulu’s back? I heard from your parents you fought with them again these past couple days?”

“That’s no good. You’re not a kid anymore; you should be more understanding of your parents… Oh wow, who’s this?”

The auntie’s eyes swept over and landed on Wei Shuyu, her expression instantly complicating.

“Shuyu’s back too? Rare sight. I heard from your parents you’re abroad now?”

Wei Shuyu took a deep breath, her fingers clenching then releasing.

Her tone light, she forced an ambiguous smile toward Auntie Zhao, laced with sarcasm: “Yeah, studying abroad. How have you been, Auntie Zhao? You look healthy, still so talkative.”

Auntie Zhao dry-laughed twice: “Nah, same as always. Retired, just killing time in the sun.”

Wei Shuyu nodded, not intending to chat more.

The compound was like that—everyone knew everyone’s roots, worked together for a lifetime. Whether they truly connected was another matter, but they always had a word or two about others’ business.

Otherwise, how to show off one’s own peaceful happiness?

Wei Shuyu entered the neighborhood, weaving left and right. It was rush hour off work; countless gazes fell on her, eyes full of scrutiny.

Wei Qinglu had never experienced this. She clutched her sister’s arm tighter.

“Sis, why are they staring at us?”

She didn’t understand. Normally, when she came home, the uncles and aunties were warm.

Sometimes they’d ask about school, sometimes neighborhood gossip, sometimes ask for homework help for their kids… all sorts of things, but never like this.

“Gawking at the spectacle.” Wei Shuyu’s smile was brilliant, flawless. “Such a good-looking spectacle as me comes back—wouldn’t it be a pity not to look?”

Wei Qinglu gripped her arm even tighter: “How can they…”

The concrete ground was hard and cold, harder to bear than the night.

A few elders in loose short sleeves sat on benches, saying nothing, just silently watching them pass, eyes carrying an indescribable meaning.

Wei Qinglu lowered her head, her steps halting. Her heart chilled; the place she’d grown up in felt a bit foreign today.

Were the neighbors’ enthusiastic smiles in the past just her illusion?

Wei Shuyu patted her arm and said no more.

She knew exactly why Wei Qinglu thought that way.

Unlike now, the old Wei Shuyu had been the compound parents’ favorite kid.

Delicate and pretty but not flashy, quiet and well-behaved, sensible and obedient—whatever parents said, she did.

No worries about studies; grades always good. No puppy love or delinquency.

Back then, their constant refrain was, “Why don’t you learn from Wei Shuyu?”

But now… stubbornly chose a major parents couldn’t understand, got a job no one knew what it was, reached marriage age but no wedding, no boyfriend, vanished without a trace.

Whoever in the compound mentioned her shook their heads.

“No reason. People only see what they want to see. Once you’re no use to them, they change faces.”

Wei Shuyu pulled Wei Qinglu along, quickening her pace. Her smile grew more flamboyant as she nodded at them—not sure if greeting or provoking.

“Only us bookworms with fried brains believe the world is full of truth, goodness, and beauty.”

Wei Qinglu heard the self-mockery in her tone and felt her breathing tighten, palms cold.

The elevator light was dim yellow, walls fuzzy mirrors. Their reflections seemed trapped inside, bound by something unclear.

Wei Qinglu stood in the corner, back to the wall, fingers clutching her hem tightly.

The elevator’s ascent hummed dully, rhythmic, but prolonged it felt oppressive.

The space like a sealed box trapped them, air heavy. She didn’t dare speak or look at Wei Shuyu, just stared at her toes, feeling each floor crawl by.

The elevator dinged to a stop. Wei Shuyu reached the door, then stepped back.

She called to Wei Qinglu: “Open it.”

Wei Qinglu scanned her fingerprint and asked, “You didn’t register yours?”

Wei Shuyu smiled: “When would I have had the chance?”

Wei Qinglu fell silent.

Grandpa and Grandma’s place had new locks last year. Sis hadn’t come back, and no one told her.

When she stepped back just now, what was she thinking?

Did it make her sad?

Looking at Wei Shuyu again, she had already opened the door and stood there: “You coming in or not?”

Wei Qinglu followed silently, watching her change into slippers, call out to Grandpa and Grandma as she entered the living room, then say with a grin: “Family dinner today? Everyone’s here.”

The living room buzzed. Grandpa and Grandma sat on the sofa, Wei Qingye peeled apples nearby, Wei Qingguo and his wife bustled in the kitchen.

Wei Qingguo and Zhao Rou had argued half their lives, but nearing retirement, their relationship improved. They tugged and swatted each other in the kitchen while cooking and chatting—like they’d hit some jackpot.

Wei Qingye finished an apple, handed it to Grandpa first, then cracked jokes that made the old man laugh heartily.

Wei Shuyu watched their harmonious family scene, her heart like it was soaked in saltwater, a sour ache she couldn’t suppress welling up.

Ridiculous loneliness bubbled from her heart. Standing at the living room door, she felt so distant from them—like a whole universe gap she could never fill between her and her family.

It had always been like this.

They were the real family, bound by interests. The younger generation, if unwilling to sacrifice themselves for a ticket in, were ultimately just fuel for this home.

Burning their lives and youth to pay for their endless desires.