RGL – Chapter 87

“Alright then, you two go ahead. Your dad and I will wait over at the street corner and see where we should eat later,” Sun Qiufang said with a smile.

Hearing that Sun Qiufang had agreed, Su Min and Liao Zhaodi both looked visibly relieved.

Once they arrived at the residential compound, Su Min quickly went with Liao Zhaodi to their rented place to grab Huanxi’s clothes and stuffed them into a backpack.

“Uncle and Auntie came so suddenly, we weren’t prepared at all. Do you think they’d be angry if they found out we’re living like this?”

“We’ll just quietly pack up and go home tomorrow afternoon. As long as they don’t find out, it’s fine.”

“I don’t feel good lying like this,” Liao Zhaodi said, a little worried. “Su Min, I think I’ll go back to the dorm. I won’t go to your house.”

Su Min locked the door while saying, “Why not go? You don’t know anyone here. What’s the point of going back to the dorm? There’s space at home, and my parents already said you should come.”

“But I feel like I’m troubling you and Uncle and Auntie,” Liao Zhaodi said with guilt. “I followed you out here to live, haven’t even helped earn money yet, and now I’m going to your house. I owe you too much.”

Su Min took her arm and gently pulled her along while persuading her, “Don’t overthink it. You’re my good friend. If I didn’t have a place to stay, wouldn’t you take me in too? My parents aren’t the kind to be petty. My mom really likes you — she’s always calling out ‘Zhaodi this’ and ‘Zhaodi that.’ Stop overthinking. Once our shop opens, just put in more effort, help run things well, and we’ll all make good money together.”

Seeing that Zhaodi was still feeling hesitant, she pulled her toward the gate. “Let’s hurry. If my parents find out, it won’t look good.”

When they got to the street corner, Su Changrong and Sun Qiufang were just about to go look for them. Seeing the girls arrive put them at ease.

Sun Qiufang held her daughter’s arm and asked how her studies were going lately, and also how things were in the dorm with Zhaodi.

Su Min and Zhaodi gave vague, evasive answers.

Fortunately, Sun Qiufang had full trust in her daughter and didn’t press further, only told them to focus on studying well from now on.

“Your dad and I have already decided. Once things are settled here, we’ll look for a suitable storefront and start a family business here too.”

Su Min was happy to hear their plan. She also felt the county was too small for growth. If her parents wanted to expand, they should take advantage of the current opportunity and grow the supermarket while the timing was right.

Su Changrong was relatively familiar with this area and chose a restaurant by the river to eat at. Sitting inside, they could see the river view.

It was Sun Qiufang’s first time seeing the river. She sat in the restaurant, watching the boats pass on the water, her face filled with wonder. “This city is really nice. Even at night, it’s livelier than our county. The scenery’s great. It would be a good place to retire in the future too.”

She really didn’t want to return to the county. Not just because her daughter wouldn’t be developing her future there, but just thinking about the people from back home constantly coming to them for things already made her feel annoyed.

This time, she was determined to properly open the supermarket with Changrong.

“Minzi, isn’t that Tang Man?”

Liao Zhaodi suddenly patted Su Min and pointed to a girl sitting on a stone near the riverbank.

There were streetlights outside, but it wasn’t clear enough to see the girl’s face — just a vague silhouette. Su Min couldn’t be sure, but after thinking for a moment, she stood up. “Mom, Dad, I think I saw a classmate. I’m going to say hi.”

Sun Qiufang said, “Don’t go too far, come back quickly to eat.”

Su Min nodded and walked out. Liao Zhaodi followed her.

Tang Man was staring at a cargo ship drifting along the river. She had been there all afternoon, hadn’t eaten lunch, and was still wearing the thin plaid shirt she had on at noon — now she was starting to feel cold.

She had originally planned to jump into the river this afternoon, but after looking at the water, she got scared. She’d been wavering ever since.

She just couldn’t understand — why was everyone treating her like this?

Back in elementary and middle school, things weren’t like this at all. She had always been among the top students, and her personality was cheerful. The teachers liked her, and she actively participated in class activities. Everyone praised how well she did things.

But now in high school, everything was completely different from what she expected.

Her roommates didn’t like her and moved out. Teacher Huang even scolded her over organizing a hiking event. Her classmates laughed at her, and even the two people she thought were her close friends — Yin Jing and Zhang Panpan — were talking behind her back.

How was she so awful?

The more she thought about it, the more tears rolled down her cheeks.

A cold wind blew from the river. She stood up and looked at the rippling water, stirred by the wind. Fear started creeping back into her heart again.

“Tang Man!”

Su Min and Liao Zhaodi walked over and saw Tang Man heading toward the riverbank. They quickly shouted at her.

Liao Zhaodi ran over and grabbed Tang Man’s hand. “What are you going there for?”

“What are you two doing here?!” Tang Man hadn’t expected to run into her two nemeses, Su Min and Liao Zhaodi, at a time like this. Just thinking about how they used to oppose her back in the dorm made her feel even worse.

“You’re here to laugh at me, aren’t you? You saw Teacher Huang scold me, so now you’re here to watch the show. You wish!” Tang Man shouted, like she had finally found a place to vent. After yelling, she felt a bit relieved and regained some strength.

Su Min stood calmly to the side, watching her scream. When she finished, Su Min said, “What are you freaking out about? Who’s laughing at you? If you’ve got time to do this, why not go home and rest properly?”

Tang Man didn’t believe it. She was convinced everyone was mocking her—her entire class. Wiping her tears, she started crying again. “You are laughing at me. I organized the mountain hike, and you two refused to go. Now because of this, I got scolded by Teacher Huang, and you think I deserved it, don’t you?”

“That’s not true,” Liao Zhaodi said as she held Tang Man’s arm. “Do you know that when you went missing this afternoon, Teacher Huang got so worried? He asked some classmates to look out for you after school and bring you back. He’s still at school waiting, afraid something might’ve happened to you. And Wen Heping—he went out looking for you right after school and hasn’t come back yet.”

She really admired Tang Man’s guts. If it had been her, she would’ve just cried somewhere alone. She would never have made such a scene.

Tang Man really was the kind of person who made others dislike her for good reason—no sense of consideration for anyone else.

Su Min looked at the crying Tang Man, pressing her lips together. Even though she didn’t get along with Tang Man and found her personality grating, she was still just a girl under sixteen. They couldn’t just leave her out here alone.

She said, “We’re eating at a restaurant. Do you want to come with us? Afterwards, we’ll take you back.”

“I don’t need your fake kindness! You two were always against me in the dorm—selfish and petty. I don’t trust you anymore.”

Tang Man glared at Su Min angrily.

Su Min frowned. “Just because we opposed you, does that mean we were wrong? Tang Man, can you not be like this? It wasn’t wrong to organize a class activity. But before making a decision, did you ask anyone in the class how they felt? Did you know if others even wanted to go? You want to take charge, but if you can’t convince people to follow you willingly, how can you just assume they’re in the wrong?”

“Ask yourself—if someone made decisions for you without your permission, told you to do this or that, would you be okay with it?”

“Of course not…” Tang Man choked on her words.

“You’ve heard the saying, right? ‘Don’t do to others what you don’t want done to you.’ If it’s something you wouldn’t want, why force others to do it? Even the class monitor—or Teacher Huang—would discuss things with everyone in a class meeting. Where did you get the idea that you could decide for everyone?”

Hearing Su Min’s criticism, Tang Man started crying even harder. “I knew it. You just want to humiliate me.”

Su Min actually let out a laugh, exasperated. “Maybe I’m being blunt, but I’m telling the truth. I don’t know what you used to be like, but that was the past. We’re in high school now, and we’ll go on to college. Everyone has their own opinions. Who still blindly listens to just one classmate? Like when you bought clothes for Zhang Panpan—did you ever consider how she’d feel? You knew her family’s poor, she can barely afford her living expenses, yet you still bought clothes for her. Don’t you think that put her in a difficult position?”

When Su Min brought that up, Tang Man recalled what Yin Jing and Zhang Panpan had said at lunch today. “I just didn’t want her to feel left out…” Her voice had lost much of its earlier confidence.

Su Min was worried she might push Tang Man too far and cause her to actually jump into the river, so she gave Zhaodi a look, signaling her to speak up instead.

Zhaodi nodded and gently took Tang Man’s arm. “Look, Zhang Panpan actually likes you. Even though she was upset, she still apologized to you. That shows you’re not unlikeable. As for what happened today, no one in class was laughing at you—in fact, everyone was worried. When Su Min and I came out, we saw people still looking for you. We’re all classmates. Who’s got the energy to scheme like that?”

Though she said this, Zhaodi was secretly itching to scold Tang Man harshly. Zhang Panpan had suffered such a big grievance and still endured it, but Tang Man made a huge fuss over something so small. If she and Su Min hadn’t shown up, would Tang Man have really jumped into the river?

Although Tang Man was proud, self-centered, and headstrong, she was still a teenage girl without any real malice. Su Min’s harsh words stung, but they made sense, and Zhaodi’s softer tone soothed her a little. Gradually, she began to calm down.

What she really cared about was that the teacher and her classmates didn’t like her—not even her dormmates.

Seeing her go quiet, Su Min knew she had cooled off. She went over and tugged Tang Man’s hand. “Come on, let’s go eat first. Then we’ll take you back to school. Otherwise, Teacher Huang and Wen Heping won’t be able to sleep tonight.”

Tang Man suddenly panicked.

She hadn’t thought that far ahead when she first stormed off. She never expected things to blow up like this. She didn’t even care about dinner anymore. “I’ll go back by myself.”

Su Min thought for a moment and said, “Why don’t Zhaodi and I go back with you?” Just in case she got upset and ran off again halfway.

Tang Man pursed her lips but didn’t argue. She had left in a hurry today and hadn’t brought any money with her.

Su Min went back and told Su Changrong and the others that she was going to escort a classmate back to school.

Seeing that it was getting late, Su Changrong and Sun Qiufang were worried about the kids going back on their own.

“How about this: let your mom go with you, and I’ll pack some food from the restaurant. We can eat at home later.”

“That works too,” Sun Qiufang nodded in agreement.

With this arrangement, Su Mi didn’t object. After all, it was indeed getting late, and if her mom didn’t go with them, her parents would still be worried.

Once they got in the car, Tang Man didn’t say a word. Sun Qiufang couldn’t figure out what was wrong with her. She could tell something was off, but since it wasn’t appropriate to ask in front of others, she kept quiet.

After arriving at school, Liao Zhaodi took Tang Man back to the dormitory. Then Su Min went to the office to explain the situation to Teacher Huang.

Hearing that Tang Man was back, Teacher Huang finally felt relieved.

He had already asked two fellow teachers he was close to for help in searching and had gone around the area himself several times without finding her. He had been worried something had happened. Now that she was safe, that was a relief.

“Sigh, why are young girls these days all like this…”

On the way home, Liao Zhaodi and Su Min talked about the situation in the dorm.

“I just sent Tang Man back. She ignored even Yin Jing and Zhang Panpan and went straight to bed. Seems like there’s been a fallout.”

Su Min leaned against the back of the seat. “She’s probably just in a bad mood.”

Sun Qiufang asked, “What’s wrong with your classmate? She didn’t look happy at all. Wandering outside this late at night…”

“It’s nothing, just got criticized by a teacher and got upset,” Su Min brushed it off lightly.

Hearing that, Sun Qiufang sighed. “When a teacher criticizes you, it’s for your own good. No need to get all sulky about it.”

About ten minutes later, they arrived at a residential area in a bustling part of the city.

Su Min looked around at the relatively nice workers’ neighborhood and said in surprise, “Mom, how did you manage to rent a place in this area? Rent must be expensive.”

“It’s not too bad. Your dad’s acquaintance owns this place. That family recently bought a new home in the city, so this one was vacant. When your dad asked around, they rented it to us,” Sun Qiufang said proudly. She hadn’t expected her usually honest and quiet husband to actually find someone to help out when he came out here.

The apartment had originally been assigned to a factory worker — a staff member, so it was relatively spacious. The living room was small, but there were three bedrooms, just right for both kids to have their own room.

“Uncle, Auntie, I think I’ll stay in the dorm tomorrow,” Liao Zhaodi said as she walked out of her room, her eyes slightly red.

“What’s wrong?” Sun Qiufang was busy setting out the food and getting ready for dinner. Hearing that, she looked surprised.

“It’s just that… I’m not family, after all. It doesn’t feel right staying here.”

Sun Qiufang hadn’t expected a kid like Zhaodi to be thinking so much. She and Su Changrong hadn’t thought much about it — just a child staying with them, maybe eating a meal or two, hardly a big deal. Besides, Zhaodi had always been well-behaved and got along well with Minzi. They could study together and keep each other company.

“Don’t overthink it. It’s not like you’re staying here forever — just a few years during high school. You and Minzi are in the same class and such good friends. It’s good to have someone looking out for each other. I also heard from Minzi that you two are planning to make clothes together. Living together makes that easier too.”

“Auntie, I really don’t know what to say. I just feel like I owe you and Su Min a lot.”

If Su Min hadn’t helped her earn money, she might not even be able to attend school right now. And now she was even staying at Su Min’s house, without being able to contribute anything toward living expenses. She felt really guilty.

Sun Qiufang smiled. “Child, why are you thinking so much? It’s not like you eat a lot or need us to take care of you. It’s really no trouble at all.”

Su Changrong came out of the kitchen carrying the washed dishes. Seeing the two of them talking, he smiled and said, “What are you two chatting about?”

“Zhaodi said she feels bad about staying at our place. I was just trying to reassure her.”

Liao Zhaodi bit her lip in embarrassment.

Su Changrong smiled. “What’s there to feel bad about? You go to school here, and you and Minzi are so close — it’s great for you two to have each other. Just stay without worrying.”

Hearing both of them speak so kindly, Zhaodi didn’t know how to respond. Of course, she wanted to stay with Su Min, but she just felt so apologetic deep down.

“Alright, let’s eat. Go call Minzi over. Let’s have a meal together as a family.”

Sun Qiufang gave her a gentle pat on the shoulder.