Volume One, Chapter Six: Generosity at Another's Expense

“Sister, weren’t you the one who volunteered to help?”

“Liar! You were the one who told me those things could be moved! I’m going to tell Mom and Dad when I get back—you did it on purpose to trip me up!”

“Suit yourself. Go ahead and tattle if you want.”

Su Ningxia let out a cold, mocking laugh.

Serves her right. She believes whatever anyone says. Who does she have to blame but herself for not having a mind of her own?

By the time Su Ningxia returned home, it was already five o’clock in the afternoon.

But as soon as she reached the door, she found all her belongings thrown outside. There were still a few items being tossed out.

“What an ingrate—I just told her yesterday we should get along, and today she treats Tingxue like this!”

Her mother’s sharp voice drifted out.

She turned around, and when her mother saw Su Ningxia, she was furious: “You’ve got some nerve coming back! How can you be so malicious at your age? You’ve already learned how to frame others!”

“What do you even stand to gain from making Xiaoxue look bad? Truly wicked!”

Su Ningxia gave a careless, hollow laugh. “How did I make her look bad? She wanted to show off and volunteered herself in front of our supervisor. I kindly went to remind her, and now it’s my fault?”

Third Uncle Su threw the things he was carrying hard at her feet.

“You should have taught her how to do it properly! You just can’t stand to see others do well, so you set her up to embarrass her!”

“Don’t bother saying anything more to her. The Su family has no place for such a heartless daughter!”

Her mother flung out the last of her things. “From today on, get out of this house!”

Staring at this unreasonable family, Su Ningxia gave a cold laugh. “Fine, just as well—I was getting tired of serving you all.”

She was about to leave when a group from the radio station stormed up to the house.

“Where’s Su Tingxue? Bring her out here!”

The family recognized Station Chief Ma and were instantly alarmed.

“Ah, Station Chief Ma, what’s the matter?” her mother asked cautiously.

The station chief was still angry. “What’s the matter? Didn’t Su Tingxue tell you? She volunteered to test the equipment and ended up breaking it! Su Ningxia kindly went to help her, and Tingxue chased her off!”

“That imported equipment cost two thousand yuan, and she broke it. Shouldn’t she pay for it?”

“Two… two thousand?”

Third Uncle Su was stunned.

Two thousand yuan—what did that even mean?

That was two-thirds of the family’s savings!

“Hurry up and pay! I need to buy a new one,” Station Chief Ma said. He glanced at Su Ningxia, who was watching the scene, and his heart ached even more. “Your youngest daughter is nothing compared to Ningxia. Our little station can’t handle someone like Su Tingxue—so arrogant and clueless! She really has no sense of her own limitations.”

The Su family had no choice but to gather all their savings and pay for the damages.

After Station Chief Ma left, her mother looked at Su Ningxia with a trace of guilt. “Ningxia, it was my mistake…”

Su Ningxia, having had her fill of the spectacle, turned and walked away without a hint of nostalgia.

Su Tingxue, meanwhile, stayed hidden in her room, too scared to come out.

Su Ningxia didn’t have much with her. Ever since Tingxue had returned, most of her things had ended up with her anyway. In a way, it made things easier now.

The only problem was she had very little money left; what she’d saved up had been taken by her brothers for Tingxue’s sake. If she wanted textbooks for her assignment in the countryside, she’d have to find another way.

The black market was too risky, so she headed to the junkyard instead.

At the junkyard, several small vendors had set up stalls. Su Ningxia found one selling textbooks and had just finished bargaining when a calm, deep voice spoke behind her—

“Su Ningxia?”

She turned and found herself facing a tall, handsome man.

He had striking features, a straight figure, and an air of quiet nobility that set him apart from everything around him.

He looked so familiar.

Yet for a moment, she couldn’t recall his name.

“And you are…?”

A flicker of disappointment flashed in his eyes, but he walked over to her, his lips curving in a faint smile. “Su, you certainly forget things quickly. We’re classmates, after all—how could you forget so soon?”

Su Ningxia felt guilty.

She stared at him for a long time before the name finally came to her.

Qin Zhaochuan!

Back in school, she had been the campus belle, and Qin Zhaochuan was the campus heartthrob.

He was handsome, came from a good family, excelled academically, and had a steady temperament.

In her previous life, after graduation they’d never seen each other again. She’d heard he’d gone to the countryside as an educated youth; a cadre’s son, he later got into a top university.

She hadn’t had much contact with him, and with the years since high school, it was no wonder she hadn’t recognized him right away.

“Who would have thought I’d run into you here,” Su Ningxia said with a smile.

Qin Zhaochuan glanced at the stall, then pressed his lips together. “What are you buying these for?”

“To tell you the truth, I’ve signed up to go to the countryside.”

She spoke frankly.

She’d already been kicked out by the Su family, and Qin Zhaochuan didn’t know them anyway—there was no need to hide it from a stranger.

His dark eyes trembled, a shadowy light flickering within.

“Where are you going?”

“Wutai.”

Qin Zhaochuan fell silent.

“Here you go, miss, your textbooks.”

The vendor handed her the bundle of textbooks tied with string.

Su Ningxia hadn’t expected them to be so heavy; as she reached out, her hand slipped. Qin Zhaochuan reacted quickly, grabbing them before they could fall.

Their hands met unexpectedly.

Qin Zhaochuan froze.

He was always composed, but in that moment, his heartbeat faltered.

“I… let me carry them for you.”

Without betraying his feelings, he took her suitcase and textbooks and walked ahead, acting calm, unaware that his reddened ears had already given him away.

Su Ningxia looked down at her hand, suppressed the strange flutter in her heart, and followed after him.

They walked side by side.

“So, you’ve left the Su family?” Qin Zhaochuan started the conversation.

“Mm.” Su Ningxia nodded. “I didn’t leave—they threw me out.”

Maybe she had too many pent-up emotions; she found herself picking out a few unpleasant stories from home to share.

Qin Zhaochuan listened attentively. When she finished, he was silent for a while before he spoke, his voice steady: “They may not believe you, but I do.”

Su Ningxia stopped in her tracks.

He said he believed her.

It sounded so simple, so casual, but it sent ripples deep into her heart.

A classmate believed her.

Yet her own family, who had cared for her over a decade, did not.

She felt a surge of emotion—partly moved, partly bitter, and partly amused by the irony.

The two walked together a while longer, then parted ways.

As he watched Su Ningxia’s figure recede, Qin Zhaochuan’s hand clenched unconsciously at his side.

He turned and headed for the neighborhood committee to change his own assignment.

“You’re sure you want to go to Wutai?”

“Yes.”

Qin Zhaochuan answered firmly.

The woman didn’t ask anything more. She added Qin Zhaochuan’s name to the list of those bound for Wutai.