Chapter 84: Saving the Down-and-Out Female Supporting Character of the Era Novel (12)

On the day of the high school entrance exam, the sun blazed down. Only a handful of parents came to see their kids off—most were too busy with work to spare the time. Many were already thinking about pulling their children out of school after the exam to help out at home. The odds of getting into a good high school were slim, and even if they did, affording the tuition was another problem altogether.

Zhao Jiajia had been worrying about her high school expenses for a while now. Her foster parents definitely wouldn’t help her anymore, and her biological mother’s family was as poor as could be—whether they could cover three years of tuition was anyone’s guess.

Luckily, her head teacher told her that with her grades, if she became the city champion, she might qualify for a tuition waiver.

Every year, the City No.1 High School and the Provincial Affiliated High School fought over the top scorers, offering all sorts of perks to recruit talent.

This had made Zhao Jiajia incredibly anxious. She was terrified of missing this chance and ruining her whole life.

Song Lingshu told her not to worry about the money. She pulled out a stack of cash, all in one-yuan bills, and said, “That time… when you invested… two hundred and fifty… it’s all here. From now on, whatever I, I earn, I’ll give you… a cut. Just go… take the exam, I’ve, I’ve got you.”

Zhao Jiajia looked at the pile of money. She didn’t count it, and she didn’t ask if they’d really earned that much. She was afraid Lingshu had just emptied out all her savings and called it profit—how would she ever repay that kindness?

She left the money with Lingshu, telling her to use it for business, and said she’d gotten her head straight.

It was just an exam. If she blew it, she could always repeat a year—there were plenty of repeaters at school anyway.

Besides, she could always go into business with Lingshu. It wasn’t like she’d starve.

“Just relax, relax. Don’t be, don’t be ne-ne-nervous.” Song Lingshu walked her to the school gate, handing over her water bottle and stationery pouch. “Quick, quick… check everything. Make sure you didn’t, didn’t forget anything. Did you lose your eraser again?”

“Why do you sound more nervous than me?” Zhao Jiajia laughed, took the items, and carefully checked them. Satisfied, she waved goodbye. “Go do your business. I’ll find you after the exam.”

“Okay. Is there any, anything you… want to eat?”

“Egg fried rice.”

The day the exam ended, Zhao Jiajia walked out of the testing hall and saw Song Lingshu standing at the school gate, holding up a wooden sign. On it, written in chalk, were big characters: “Congratulations to the Champion—One Bowl of Egg Fried Rice!”

People around couldn’t help staring at the sign and chuckling. Zhao Jiajia covered her face with her hand, ran over, and dragged her away to somewhere less crowded. “What if I don’t end up as the champion? That would be so embarrassing!”

“I bel, believe you! You’re defi, definitely the champion!” Song Lingshu held up the sign.

Zhao Jiajia looked at her and couldn’t help laughing. “Look at you, you goof.”

That evening, Zhao Jiajia ate the egg fried rice. There were plenty of eggs, and she enjoyed it thoroughly. The two of them stood in the courtyard with their bowls, eating and chatting.

A few kids walked by, glanced at them, and scurried upstairs without a word.

They no longer dared to bully Song Lingshu. For one thing, Zhao Jiajia was glued to her side almost nonstop. For another, Lingshu’s business had grown so much that it felt like there was a natural gap between her and those little brats. In their minds, anyone who made money running a business was an adult.

Just then, Zhao Jiajia’s mother came home from her odd jobs. She asked how the exam had gone.

“Not bad,” Zhao Jiajia said stiffly.

Her mother nodded, rubbed her back, and went upstairs to open the door. Soon, the sound of cooking came from the kitchen.

Zhao Jiajia looked up at the upstairs window, lost in thought.

“Are you, are you not as… hostile toward her anymore?” Song Lingshu suddenly asked.

“You talk too much.” Zhao Jiajia snorted, went inside, put down her empty bowl, and stared blankly at the hot water boiling on the stove.

When she’d first come back to this house, things were awkward between her and her mother. She hadn’t adjusted at all, and the woman kept saying “I’m your mother.” She’d thrown a lot of tantrums, and they’d fought many times. Eventually, they stopped clashing head-on. Whenever she had free time, she’d stay at Lingshu’s place, while her mother worked longer and longer hours—almost like they were both trying to avoid each other.

Maybe because the past half year had been relatively comfortable, and she’d gradually gotten used to life here, she didn’t find that woman so annoying anymore. Sometimes, when she saw her dragging her exhausted body home, she even felt a twinge of sympathy.

The exam results wouldn’t come out for a while, so Zhao Jiajia helped Lingshu with her business. They often went to the town to sell—tiring work, but it paid better. Every time they got home, the best part was huddling on the bed and counting the money together.

Even later, when Zhao Jiajia never had to worry about money again, she would still cherish the memory of the two of them counting a pile of small bills, carefully putting them into an iron box, and dreaming about the future. Happiness and a sense of accomplishment built up little by little.

When the results came out, Zhao Jiajia was undisputedly first in her school—and also the city champion. She scored particularly high in English.

Teachers and many others came to the Zhao house to congratulate her. Unfortunately, her mother was at work, so Song Lingshu helped Zhao Jiajia entertain the guests.

The table was covered with cookies and sunflower seeds. Everyone was full of praise, saying Zhao Jiajia was brilliant, the first city champion from their village, and that she’d definitely get into Tsinghua or Peking University!

Zhao Jiajia smiled and humbly replied, “Not at all, not at all. I still have a lot to improve. I can’t possibly get into Tsinghua or Peking.”

But inside, she thought: I can.

Over the next few days, one high school after another sent representatives to visit, offering all kinds of incentives to recruit her.

She compared the offers. City No.1 High School had the best deal: free tuition and miscellaneous fees, a scholarship, and a monthly living allowance of ten yuan. Basically, she wouldn’t need to spend any money for three years.

The Provincial Affiliated High School only waived tuition. Since it had top students from all over, it didn’t offer other subsidies, and competition for scholarships was fierce.

The other schools had low college entrance rates, so she ruled them out.

Most people advised her to choose City No.1 High School. Getting into that school was already a great achievement, it was free, and it was close to home.

Only Song Lingshu said, “The Pro, Provincial Affiliated one.”

“Why?” Zhao Jiajia asked.

“It’s far, far from home.”

Zhao Jiajia laughed and squeezed her cheeks. “See? You’re the only one who gets me.”

Song Lingshu mumbled, “And it’s close to, to the provincial capital… so you can be more in touch with the outside world.”

“You hit the nail on the head.” Zhao Jiajia said dreamily. “You have no idea how fast things are developing out there. I was using mechanical pencils in elementary school, but those kids in middle school haven’t even seen one. I told them not to neglect English, and they said almost no one around here understands it, so there’s no point. But in the big cities, tons of foreigners are coming to invest. And my dad—I mean my foster dad—the managers in his company, even though they’re older, they’ve all started learning English. So I’m sure it’ll be useful someday.”

“You’re, you’re right.” Song Lingshu nodded approvingly. “You’re very, very sharp.”

In this small place, the importance of English wasn’t obvious. But in a few years, after China joined the WTO, they’d all feel the huge leap and enormous changes.

After deciding on the school, the Provincial Affiliated High School people told her to report for military training in half a month, then she’d get a month off for summer vacation. Actually, it was a way to lock her in early, just in case something went wrong.

The day before she left, Zhao Jiajia was in low spirits, completely listless. Even her mother noticed. She thought Jiajia was worried about money, so she took out a cloth bag, unwrapped layer after layer of handkerchiefs, pulled out fifty yuan, and handed it over. “Take this for now. At school, take care of yourself.”

Zhao Jiajia was startled to see so much money. She didn’t dare accept it and told her to keep it.

But her mother said she was about to go work in another city. Relatives there had called her many times, saying the wages were high and she could earn a lot in a year. She was pretty tempted.

Soon Jiajia would be boarding at high school, far away, and it wouldn’t be easy for her to come back even once a year. That meant her mother could go work without worry.

After hearing her plans, Zhao Jiajia didn’t interfere. She took the money.

“What time is your bus tomorrow? I’ll see you off.”

“No need. Zhaodi will take me.”

After bathing, Zhao Jiajia climbed into Song Lingshu’s bed and hugged her tight. “Will you miss me?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll probably only come back for Chinese New Year at the earliest.”

“Mm.”

“Will you make new friends?”

“What about you?” Song Lingshu teased. “You’re about to meet so, so many new… friends. Will you, will you forget about me?”

“No, you’ll always be my best friend,” Zhao Jiajia said firmly.

“Pinky, pinky promise.” Song Lingshu held out her finger.

“Pinky promise, cross my heart, hope to die. Changed is a rotten egg.” Zhao Jiajia linked their pinkies.

The next day, before dawn, they both got up. Song Lingshu carried a snake-skin bag, and Zhao Jiajia dragged a small leather suitcase. Together they caught the shuttle bus, leaning their heads together to catch some sleep, then transferred to another bus to reach the city and the train station.

The station was packed, mostly with people looking for work. Everyone carried huge bags, bedrolls on their backs, two snake-skin bags in their hands, and a small bag around their necks—they brought practically everything they owned.

Zhao Jiajia had bought a seat ticket, but there were so many people crammed in that she couldn’t get through the door. Lots of people were climbing in through the green train windows.

Seeing that the train was about to depart, Zhao Jiajia was sweating and panicking at the entrance.

Song Lingshu pushed her way ahead and cleared a path. “Coming through, ahem ahem, sorry, I’ve got a cont, contagious disease!”

People immediately recoiled from her, staring in horror.

Zhao Jiajia: “…”

Song Lingshu sailed through effortlessly, led her to the seat, shoved the luggage onto the rack, and told her to sit down.

More and more people boarded. The train was about to leave. Song Lingshu climbed back out the window and waved.

Zhao Jiajia leaned out the window and shouted, “Take care of yourself! If anyone bullies you, call me! You still remember the phone number in my dorm, right?”

“Mm. You, you too. Take good, good care of yourself.” Song Lingshu pulled a Tetris game console from her pocket and handed it up. “When you get, get bored on the road… play this.”

Zhao Jiajia took it, then grabbed her hand and leaned her whole upper body out the window. “Wait for me to come back. We’ll spend New Year’s together again this year.”

“Okay.”

“Don’t be stingy with money. Buy clothes you need.”

“Okay.”

“You can make friends, but not better friends than me.”

“Okay.”

“Don’t you have anything to say?”

“So, so fast. The train’s about to, to lea-lea-leave!”

The whistle blew. The train began to creep forward. Song Lingshu walked a few steps after it, then stopped and waved. Zhao Jiajia waved wildly, shouting her name. Without thinking, Song Lingshu started running after the train. “I’ll, in a bit… come find you!”

But the roar of the train seemed to swallow her voice. She couldn’t tell if Zhao Jiajia heard.

Station staff stopped her. She stared at the train until it disappeared, then stood there dumbly for a long time before turning back.

She really couldn’t get used to it.

She’d cook a meal, only to realize she’d made too much and it was just her eating.

At night, no one hugged her for warmth, no one kicked her in her sleep.

Zhao Jiajia had been gone for almost a month when her mother also packed her bags and boarded the train to go work.

Song Lingshu was busy wrapping things up. Her cookie business was about to end.

One night, someone called out, “Yu Zhaodi, phone for you!”

“Who, who is it?” she called back. If it was the Yu family, she wouldn’t bother—wasting phone money.

“Zhao Jiajia.”

The moment she heard that, she rushed out. When she picked up the phone, she realized she was wearing only one shoe. The other foot was bare, and her hair was a mess. She must have looked a sight.

She chuckled to herself and put the receiver to her ear. “Hello?”

Silence on the other end.

“Boss?”

Then, a choked sob came through the line. “I miss you so much.”