Chapter 24: Redemption Part 1

Emerging from the police station, the temperature had climbed. Song Mingyao waved at the two; Gu Yining and Ji Huaqing got in the car.

“Back to Jing City.”

“Flying?”

“You drive. First, go home and pick up some things.”

“Okay, Sister Gu.”

Listening to their brisk, decisive exchange, Ji Huaqing could picture Gu Yining’s manner at work: resolute and steady.

Back at the apartment, the locksmith had already arrived. After the household registration booklet was shown, he opened the lock directly. Song Mingyao paid.

Gu Yining entered and asked Ji Huaqing, “Is there anything you want to bring? Zhou Hui’s school is short on teachers. Summer classes are starting, and recruitment for senior-year repeat students has already begun.”

Private schools were different from public ones. After the exams, students dissatisfied with their scores could find a school to repeat a year. Whether to stay at the original school or find a new one—everyone was already moving.

Listening to her, Ji Huaqing fell into a daze. Was she really going back to Jing City with her?

“Where is your company?”

“Headquarters or branch?” Gu Yining stood at the fuse box, about to cut the power, her long swan neck prominent. She turned to look at Ji Huaqing, surprised. “You don’t want to go to Jing City?”

“Should I?” Ji Huaqing asked for her opinion.

Gu Yining gave up on cutting the power, leaned against the wall, and looked at her meaningfully: “Zhou Hui’s school can take you back as a teacher. What can you do here?”

Her movements were casual, natural, but her tone carried a hint of pressure. It was her habit—outside of daily life, she was quite domineering.

Ji Huaqing was silent.

“Teacher Ji, I don’t feel comfortable leaving you here. Your ID card will be delivered to Jing City in a couple of days. Then you’ll need to reapply for your teaching certificate. There’s a lot to do.”

Her words, her tone, made Ji Huaqing feel like Gu Yining’s subordinate, awaiting orders.

“Fine. I’ll listen to you.”

Without hesitation, Gu Yining turned and cut off the power, adding, “Don’t pack clothes—there are plenty at home.”

Did the “home” she meant mean the Gu family villa?

Ji Huaqing didn’t ask. She felt that Gu Yining had already paved every step of her path.

Or perhaps Gu Yining had long imagined a day like this, and she would pave her way.

If one day she came back, she would follow her path, without any worries.

She wasn’t a canary. She had work. Gu Yining didn’t treat her as a canary.

“I’ll go to Jing City,” Ji Huaqing said. “But first, you go see the psychiatrist.” She made her offer. “I’ll follow your work arrangements; you follow my life advice.”

The moment she finished, Gu Yining turned to look at Song Mingyao, who was standing at the entrance.

Song Mingyao leaned against the wardrobe, dressed extremely formally—a white shirt with Chinese embroidery, tailored trousers that made her legs look long and her waist slim. With the glasses, she looked thoroughly refined.

The moment she opened her mouth, the refined image was ruined. “It wasn’t me. I didn’t bring it up on my own. You two can pretend I don’t exist.”

Damn it. The white moonlight was back, and Sister Gu was a little unhinged. Her job was getting hard.

The old Sister Gu had been a workaholic, but never unhinged.

Gu Yining turned away with a cold laugh. “I’m not going.”

“Then I’ll stay here a few more days.” Ji Huaqing smiled, blinked at Gu Yining, and walked toward her room with satisfaction.

Song Mingyao faced the wall in self-reflection, not daring to speak.

Gu Yining naturally wouldn’t allow Ji Huaqing to stay here alone. Ji Huaqing’s understanding of this society wasn’t even as much as an old person’s. Leaving an old lady alone was utterly unsuitable.

Gu Yining followed her in, her gaze landing on the figure reclining on the bed. “We can negotiate. I’m in a hurry to get back to the company, and I don’t have time to go now. We could drive back tonight.”

“Little Song would be exhausted from driving.”

Ji Huaqing met her gaze, neither flinching nor avoiding, and said gently, “You can let her go sleep now. I’ll take you to the doctor.”

Her gaze fixed on Gu Yining, like a judge delivering a verdict—then softening into compassion.

Her gentleness made Gu Yining restless. She restrained herself, and finally nodded. “Fine. Agreed.”

Ji Huaqing smiled—clean and bright, carrying the vitality Gu Yining had long yearned to see.

Gu Yining looked at her, the corners of her mouth lifting, then turned and walked out. She stopped in front of Song Mingyao. “Go sleep. We’ll drive back to Jing City tonight.”

“Okay.” Song Mingyao nodded, no worries, and left.

Gu Yining stood at the entrance. A breeze blew in through the door, carrying a faint, barely perceptible chill. She laughed, her nose aching.

She returned to the sofa and, from habit, went looking for cigarettes. She searched the drawers, went through the cabinets. Nothing.

Just then, her phone rang. It was her mother, Lu Xi.

“Mom? What is it?” Gu Yining suppressed her irritation.

“Little Ning, your third uncle’s daughter wants to get into Teacher Zhou’s school. Can you arrange it?” Lu Xi’s voice was low, carrying a plea.

Gu Yining frowned, a nameless irritation rising. “Did Third Uncle come to you, or did Grandmother force you?”

Ever since her father died, the Gu family had treated Lu Xi as if she owed the old Gu house. Over the years, whenever anything came up, they went to her: short of money for a house, family trouble—always to her. Asking for a favor should come with the proper attitude, but the Gu family had never treated Lu Xi well. They called her a murderer to her face.

She’d changed her mother’s number and cut off all contact with the Gu family. But the Gu family wouldn’t stop, even coming to the house. She’d told the security guards: the Gu family was not allowed into the compound. Only then had it stopped.

Gu Yining’s mother paused for a long time. Gu Yining’s breathing grew heavier. “They forced you, didn’t they?”

Then she hung up and found her grandmother’s number in the blacklist, restored it, and dialed.

It connected after two or three rings.

“Little Ning! It’s your third uncle. Your sister’s matter—arrange it for her. She didn’t perform well. I heard that school is pretty good. She’s your sister, your father’s real niece. Your father is dead; you can’t just ignore her.”

Gu Yining hadn’t even spoken, and the other side started with moral blackmail.

Gu Yining frowned: “If my father were alive, would that solve it? Even if he were alive, he wouldn’t fix it for you. I told you—don’t bother my mother. Grandmother is old; are you getting senile too? How many points is she short? With grades like that, just pay your way in.”

“Little Ning, you and Teacher Zhou are friends. Do you still need to pay?”

Gu Yining laughed, mocking: “Why shouldn’t I pay? Leave me owing a favor—are you going to repay it? You don’t want to pay, and you still want into a good school? Would my father have spoiled you like that? Either line up and pay, or go back to the old school and repeat. You can also come to me: get the money ready, and I’ll pull strings for you through the back door. And I’m telling you—my mother has no money. Don’t ask her for any.”

“Her? She doesn’t need to pay? She owes the old Gu family. My big brother was killed by her. The law let her off, but morality won’t. Little Ning, I’m telling you, this isn’t over!”

The man on the other end was very agitated; the moment he heard he had to pay, he started shouting.

Gu Yining suppressed her rage. “And I’m telling you—if you go to her again, I’ll make you cough up every cent you’ve swindled from my mother all these years. Find a lawyer, and I’ll see you in court.”

She hung up directly and bent over to rummage through the cabinet—but couldn’t find anything.

She gave up and sank onto the sofa, letting the rage swallow her.

Unbeknownst to her, Ji Huaqing had come out. She looked at her, and Gu Yining quickly reined in her emotions; the heave of her chest eased.

Her cigarettes were in Ji Huaqing’s hands.

Ji Huaqing walked over, took her hand, looked at her, and held it quietly. “If something’s burning inside you, don’t hold it in.”

“It’s nothing.” Gu Yining said lightly.

Ji Huaqing was uneasy. Just now, from her tone, this was serious—not “nothing.”

She reached out, wrapped her arms around Gu Yining, and gently patted her back.

The touch genuinely calmed Gu Yining. Her clenched fists loosened, and she breathed in deeply, the cold air hurting her throat.

She breathed in Ji Huaqing’s scent, letting her whole body relax. Perfume on different bodies blends with each person’s natural scent; up close, they’re different.

The fragrance on Ji Huaqing enchanted Gu Yining. She even chose to close her eyes and sink into the solace of that embrace.

Ji Huaqing… Gu Yining called out in her heart. She didn’t move, didn’t raise a hand, just let the other hold her.

Neither spoke, as if they’d returned to the old days, when Gu Yining, teetering on the edge of collapse, would always have Ji Huaqing watching over her.

Having steadied herself, Gu Yining pulled back from the embrace and called her mother again.

“Don’t talk to them anymore.”

“They told me, and I thought education came first, so I asked. Can’t you help?” Gu Yining’s mother said cautiously, “We’re all family.”

Gu Yining closed her eyes. The sense of powerlessness surged again. Her mother was mired in guilt—guilt over accidentally pushing her father down the stairs.

But she wouldn’t say it: that year, her father had been having an affair. He’d come home to demand a divorce, wanting to throw the two of them out.

Gu Yining took a deep breath. “I can find someone, but if she’s short on points, she pays to make up the difference herself.”

“Little Ning, isn’t it better to just fix it all for them?” Gu Yining’s mother said weakly.

Gu Yining drew a labored breath. “No. I don’t owe them. Don’t forget why Dad came back that day. Lu Xi, you’ve already paid for your mistake. You don’t owe the Gu family. Understand?”

She reasoned patiently with her mother, fighting to control her emotions, as if dealing with a mischievous child who wouldn’t listen.

Ji Huaqing watched her quietly, saw the veins stand out on the side of her neck, felt her effort.

“I’ll handle this. Don’t get involved anymore.”

Gu Yining was spent. She instinctively went to the cabinet for a cigarette—almost a reflex, done without thinking.

She pulled back quickly. Ji Huaqing said, “They’re in the cabinet on the balcony.”

“Forget it.” Gu Yining’s expression was very cold; the signature thin smile was absent from her face. She stood up and walked to the balcony.

A breeze lifted her long hair. Her back to Ji Huaqing, she cast her gaze over the emptiness.

Sunlight angled in from the front, shadows and light interlacing. Her silhouette carried an aloof coldness that held everyone at bay.

Ji Huaqing didn’t know how to comfort her. Her family affairs had always been a mess.

The first time they met, Gu Yining had been holding a knife against her grandmother and uncles, fierce, reckless, ready to die. The woman of now had matured, but she’d also learned to bottle things up.