Chapter 87

Chapter 87

Jiang Yiwei wasn’t particularly bothered by it. The only thought she had was that if she ever had a daughter, she’d bring her up right and make sure she never turned out like Jiang Yuexin.

Jiang Yuexin was truly exhausting.

Being her parents was the worst fate imaginable.

Just look at Jiang Sanjie and Zhang Cuifen over the years—dealing with her affairs had left them completely worn out, body and soul.

But Jiang Yiwei thought they likely wouldn’t have to worry about Jiang Yuexin’s marriage anymore.

Because according to the plot, Jiang Yuexin was destined to marry Shao Yaoguo.

However, with Jiang Yuexin’s temperament, even after marriage, she wouldn’t calm down. Jiang Sanjie and Zhang Cuifen would still be troubled by her, especially since in the future, Jiang Yuexin would be running back home all the time.

She would cry to Jiang Sanjie and Zhang Cuifen, complaining about how Shao Yaoguo and his family mistreated her.

Just thinking about it made Jiang Yiwei’s head hurt.

She was relieved Jiang Yuexin wasn’t her daughter.

Otherwise, dealing with Jiang Yuexin’s issues would probably make her lose her mind.

One crisp morning, Jiang Yiwei pedaled her bike to school.

This was her fourth year of university, and by next summer, she would graduate.

Over these years, Jiang Yiwei had made a name for herself by designing performance costumes for theater troupes. Many troupes came to her for their costumes, and even some singers hired her to make custom stage outfits.

Because Jiang Yiwei designs outfits that match each singer's personal style, including designing special performance outfits for them, lots of singers hire her to make their clothes.

With the increasing number of clients and the money she earns, Jiang Yiwei bought another sewing machine. Otherwise, the single machine couldn't keep up.

Since Jiang Yiwei takes on many orders, especially for theatrical costumes, she often ropes in Zhou Hongmin or Peng Dilai to help during busy periods. She always pays them for their work—half the wages for their help.

When Jiang Yiwei arrived in class, she saw Zhou Hongmin and a few other female classmates gathered around Peng Dilai’s seat, comforting her. She also noticed Peng Dilai’s red, tearful eyes.

She dropped her bag and hurried over.

She asked Peng Dilai, "Dilai, what's wrong?"

Peng Dilai was still sobbing, so Jiang Yiwei turned to Zhou Hongmin with a questioning look.

Zhou Hongmin spilled the whole story about why Peng Dilai was upset.

It happened after school yesterday, after Jiang Yiwei and the others had already gone home.

Zhou Hongmin and Peng Dilai had just returned to their dorm to rest when someone informed Peng Dilai that someone was waiting for her at the front gate, asking her to go there.

Peng Dilai's from Pingshi and doesn't know anybody in Beijing except her classmates.

She's usually at school, occasionally going out with friends or helping Jiang Yiwei with sewing. So, when someone suddenly told her that a visitor was waiting at the gate, Peng Dilai was confused—who would be looking for her?

But whoever was there said they were her mom and little brother.

Peng Dilai went pale in an instant.

Everyone in Zhou Hongmin’s dorm saw the look on Peng Dilai’s face and grew worried for her.

Moreover, because Peng Dilai hadn’t shown up, her mom and brother were raising hell at the school gates, even trying repeatedly to barge in to find her—only to be stopped each time. The ruckus got the teachers involved.

Soon, a student rushed to fetch Peng Dilai and told her to go to the teachers’ office.

Zhou Hongmin and her dormmates could tell Peng Dilai was terrified of her mother, so they offered to go with her.

As soon as Peng Dilai entered the office, a sharp-faced woman sitting on a stool bolted up from her seat to strike her.

Zhou Hongmin and a male teacher in the office stepped in just in time, preventing Peng Dilai from dodging the blows.

The woman was Peng Dilai’s mother, Wang Juhua.

The other man was Peng Dilai’s younger brother, Peng Afu.

Wang Juhua demanded the teachers let her pull Peng Dilai out of school.

Even though Peng Dilai feared Wang Juhua, she wouldn’t let them control her future—she refused to drop out.

Furious, Wang Juhua lunged at Peng Dilai, yelling and swinging, but the teachers naturally stopped her.

Peng Dilai was a senior, just one year away from graduation. After that, she’d be assigned a job. Yet here Wang Juhua was, trying to yank her out of school at the last minute. The teachers argued, laying out why staying mattered, but Wang Juhua shut them out completely, insisting Peng Dilai leave.

Forcing Peng Dilai to drop out now would ruin her life.

And Peng Dilai didn’t want to leave.

Seeing that Wang Juhua wouldn’t listen, the teachers made it clear: unless Peng Dilai herself agreed to withdraw, Wang Juhua couldn’t force her out.

Wang Juhua turned the screws on Peng Dilai, but Peng Dilai dug in her heels and told the teachers firmly she wouldn’t drop out or go back with them.

She knew exactly what awaited her if she returned home.

Wang Juhua flopped to the floor, thrashing and wailing, hoping to pressure the teachers into approving Peng Dilai’s withdrawal.

But the staff wasn’t having it and had her and Peng Afu carried out.

They refused to budge, hurling curses at the school from the gates.

“If that’s the case, shouldn’t Dilai’s mother and brother have been driven away by now? Why is she still crying?”

Jiang Yiwei figured they’d left by now and assumed they’d given up.

But Peng Dilai said tearfully, “They’ll come back.”

Peng Dilai had twenty years of knowing how her mother operated—how could she not understand her?

“I fought my way out of that village. I’m not going back.”

Back then, she’d even sat for the entrance exam in secret, and her tuition had been secretly saved up by her older sisters. They refused to let her end up like them, so they’d hoped she could escape the village—and Wang Juhua’s grip.

“The teachers made it clear, right? Unless you agree to drop out, Wang Juhua can’t pull you out.”

Zhou Hongmin comforted Peng Dilai.

At least the teachers drew a hard line—unless Peng Dilai said yes, no one could yank her out of school.

"I'm scared."

Despite the teachers’ assurances, Peng Dilai was still terrified.

The thought of being forced back to the village haunted her.

Peng Dilai took out a letter from her book. "Yesterday I got a letter from my second sister. She said my mom found me a husband—They paid a 500-yuan bride price, so she’s here in the capital to drag me back."

"What? How could they do this?"

Some students were shocked.

"You’ll land a job next year. Why shove you into marriage now?"

By next year, Peng Dilai would be assigned work. Why force her into this at such a critical time?

Some classmates couldn’t understand Wang Juhua and Peng Afu’s actions.

"Haven’t you heard what Dilai said? Her parents never wanted her to go to college. It was her two older sisters who gave her money to come study here."

Peng Dilai could only attend school because of her two sisters.

Another student cut in, "Even if she gets a job, she can’t come up with 500 yuan right away. And they don’t believe she’ll send them money later. They’d rather cash in now."

Peng Dilai’s name—and Wang Juhua’s behavior—made it clear their family valued sons over daughters. They treated their daughters poorly and never expected Dilai to amount to anything that might help the family.

Marrying her off for quick cash seemed like the better deal.

"Dilai, don’t freak out. This is the capital. They can’t even set foot on campus. As long as you stay here, Wang Juhua and Peng Afu are powerless."

Now that her mother and brother couldn’t get into the school, as long as Dilai stayed put, they couldn’t touch her.

Peng Dilai’s eyes welled up as she turned to Jiang Yiwei. "But if they can’t grab me, they won’t back down."

If her mother fails to drag her back, she won’t leave Beijing.

Jiang Yiwei, however, smiled. "They’d have to get their hands on you first."

Without an opportunity, how could they even get close?

"Besides, don’t forget where we are—this is Beijing. Everything here costs an arm and a leg. How long can they afford to stick around?"

This is the capital.

Even if Wang Juhua and Peng Afu pinched every penny, how far could they really stretch it?

Peng Dilai went quiet before slowly saying, "My mom probably thought she could take me back quickly. She didn’t expect me to disobey and refuse to go. They probably didn’t bring much money."

Hope flickered back in Peng Dilai’s eyes.

"But Yiwei," Zhou Hongmin added, "what if they storm the school? If Wang Juhua can’t take Dilai away, she might kick up a fuss. The school will eventually wash their hands of it and make Dilai handle it herself."

"Just call the cops on them," Jiang Yiwei shrugged. "Let them throw their tantrum—we’ll just have them hauled off."

"Right!"

"Why didn't we think of that?"

"If they cause trouble later, I’ll go to the homeroom teacher and have her call the cops."

Zhou Hongmin decided that if Wang Juhua dared to make a scene at the school gate, she would ask the homeroom teacher to call the police.

Sure enough, not long after, they heard Wang Juhua’s voice yelling horrible curses. Zhou Hongmin darted off to get the homeroom teacher to call the cops.

Soon, two cops appeared at the school gate and took Wang Juhua and Peng Afu away.

"Yiwei, my parents... they’ll be alright, right?"

Jiang Yiwei looked at Peng Dilai and asked in return, "After what she’s done to you, you’re still worried about her?"

If she had a mother who tried to sell her off, Jiang Yiwei wouldn’t care what happened to her at all.

Peng Dilai lowered her head. "She’s still my real mother. I don’t like her, but I don’t want anything bad to happen to her either."

Jiang Yiwei sighed. "They’ll be fine."

"You should worry about yourself more than her."

Instead of worrying about Wang Juhua, she should worry about whether she might be talked into going back.

Wang Juhua and Peng Afu never came back to the school again.

Some time later, Peng Dilai said she received a letter from her second sister saying the wedding was off because she refused to return.

And because Peng Dilai wouldn’t go back, the family lost the 500 bucks they were expecting, so now they hate her.

Her second sister kept telling her not to come back—she should only return after getting married.

Because of this, Peng Dilai cried for a long time.

Zhou Hongmin and Jiang Yiwei stayed with her the whole time.

Peng Dilai sat curled up on the floor, hugging her knees, her eyes red.

"My parents always put sons first."

"My eldest sister is named Zhaodi, my second sister is Haodi, and I’m Dilai."

"They really wanted a son, but for ten long years, they only had us three daughters."

In the tenth year, they finally had a son, but things got even worse for the three of us.

"We did everything, took every kind of beating, suffered every kind of hardship."

"Just to get a bigger dowry, they married my eldest sister to a much older widower and my second sister to a man with a disabled leg. Thankfully, my brothers-in-law were good to them, or else I wouldn’t have had the money to come to the capital for university."

"When they put me on the train, my eldest and second sisters told me never to return, and to live well in the capital."

They knew that if I went back, I’d just be treated like a paycheck for a high dowry.

Not everyone gets lucky—there was no guarantee I’d find a man who would treat me well.

"Dilai, your sisters are right. That place isn’t worth it."

Peng Dilai’s life was a mix of misfortune and luck.

She was unfortunate to have parents who favored sons over daughters, but she was fortunate to have sisters who truly wanted the best for her.

"Stay in Beijing. Once you’re assigned a job and earn money, you can send some to your sisters to ease their hardships. That’ll be your way of repaying them."

Staying in Beijing marked a new beginning for Peng Dilai.

She would earn money and send it back to her sisters, so their lives wouldn’t be so hard.

"That’s always been my plan."

It had always been Peng Dilai’s plan.

She could attend university only because of her sisters. She’d never forget their kindness.

"Exactly! So don’t cry—you’ve turned into a messy little crybaby."

Zhou Hongmin teased Peng Dilai, trying to make her laugh.

Peng Dilai cracked her first smile in days.

She then pulled herself together and focused on her studies again.

"Brrring-brrring."

The school bell rang, signaling the end of the last class for the day. Jiang Yiwei gathered her things, ready to head home.

Just then, their teacher walked into the classroom, smiling.

"Class, sorry to keep you a minute."

One student pushed back, "Can this wait till tomorrow? My mom told me to come home early to cook today."

"Make it quick and you’re free to go," the teacher chuckled.

He held up a sheet of paper and explained why he had stopped them.

The city was hosting a collegiate fashion design contest. Interested students could participate, and the school encouraged everyone to join.

Jiang Yiwei perked up—this was a citywide design contest.

She picked up the registration form and pored over it carefully. Zhou Hongmin leaned in beside her. "You entering the contest?"

Zhou Hongmin could tell Jiang Yiwei was interested.

"This is city-run, not just our school's."

This competition was totally different from the ones before.

A citywide event meant competitors from other schools too.

Looking at the registration conditions, it was open to anyone—students weren’t the only participants.

"I’m in."

Jiang Yiwei wasn’t about to pass up an opportunity like this.

Jiang Yiwei looked at Zhou Hongmin's hesitant expression. "You don’t want to join?"

She had thought Zhou Hongmin wanted to participate, but judging by her expression, she didn’t seem interested.

"I do want to, but I’m scared I can’t compete with others."

Zhou Hongmin did want to participate, but the thought of so many people joining and her own skills not being particularly strong made her afraid she’d lose badly.

"Hong Min, you should totally enter the competition."

Jiang Yiwei hoped Zhou Hongmin would join her.

"Why?"

Zhou Hongmin asked, puzzled.

"Whether you win or lose, you’ll gain a lot from the experience. You’ll learn a ton of useful stuff."

No matter the final result, just by participating, she could see more designs from others and figure out where she needed to improve.

Under Jiang Yiwei’s persuasion, Zhou Hongmin finally decided to enter the competition with her.

Besides Jiang Yiwei, a bunch of other students from their school signed up too. However, since it was a city-wide event, there were tons of participants. After turning in the required design drafts, they waited to see if they’d make the cut.

After half a month of waiting, just when Jiang Yiwei and Zhou Hongmin figured they were out, they got a message from the organizers.

Jiang Yiwei, Zhou Hongmin, and some classmates had advanced to the second round.

Jiang Yiwei was thrilled when she heard the news. She had assumed she was eliminated, but surprisingly, she made it to the second round.

Still, the second round took way more work, because even though many from their school had entered, only a handful made it this far.

The bar was set higher for the second round, and Jiang Yiwei pulled three all-nighters working on her entry.

Even Zhou Hongmin worked until her eyes were bloodshot.

After turning in their designs, Zhou Hongmin leaned against Jiang Yiwei. "The second round’s standards seem way tougher than the first."

"They are way tougher."

Zhou Hongmin was right—the level had definitely gone up.

"But the higher the bar, the more people will get knocked out this round."

No telling how many would be cut this time.

"Ugh! There’s no way I’m making it past round two." Zhou Hongmin was sure she wouldn’t make it to the third round.

"Yi Wei, how are you so chill about this?"

Jiang Yiwei looked totally unfazed, not even sweating the results.

"Wait—you think you’ll advance?"

Was Jiang Yiwei actually confident she’d move on?

"I know I’ll make it to the next round."

Jiang Yiwei was sure she’d crush the second round.

"Honestly, I don't think you need to worry. I'm sure you'll make finals."

There are a total of five rounds in the competition, and this is only the second round. Finals are the fifth round.

Jiang Yiwei laughed and teased Zhou Hongmin, "You believe in me but not yourself?"

"I'd love to be confident, but the second round was already tough. Just planning my second-round design took days."

Zhou Hongmin also wanted to have confidence in herself, but the second-round outfit was really challenging for her.

Nothing was ever good enough—she kept revising it.

"Hongmin, I have faith in you. Don't get discouraged."

"You should also have confidence in the clothes you designed."

Since this competition is city-wide, there are lots of veteran designers competing, making it really competitive.

But she didn’t want Zhou Hongmin to give up or feel inadequate just because of that.

"I'll work hard."

Zhou Hongmin would put in the effort.

Results posted quicker than last round.

Jiang Yiwei and Zhou Hongmin advanced to the third round, but more of their classmates got cut.

Rumor had it that only twenty students from their entire school made it to the third round.

As Jiang Yiwei had expected, the judging got tougher each round.

Zhou Hongmin was eliminated in the fourth round, while Jiang Yiwei cruised through to the fifth.

To Jiang Yiwei’s surprise, Fang Wenyu also made it to the finals alongside her.

Fang Wenyu stepped in front of Jiang Yiwei, crossing her arms as she looked at her. "Didn't think you had the skills to reach finals."

Upon learning Jiang Yiwei had made it to the finals, Fang Wenyu was surprised yet somehow not.

"Congrats on making finals."

Jiang Yiwei, on the other hand, was quite shocked that Fang Wenyu had advanced.

Regardless, Fang Wenyu had fought her way into the finals through her own abilities.

"Don’t think just because you congratulated me, our beef is squashed."

Fang Wenyu would never forget the animosity between her and Jiang Yiwei.

"Fang Wenyu, I actually want to ask—if someone doesn’t like you, why blame me? It’s not like I stopped them from liking you."

Jiang Yiwei truly couldn’t understand why Fang Wenyu would take it out on their crush just because they didn’t like her.

Fang Wenyu’s face fell. "That's not the point. I won't stand for the person I like being into someone else."

Fang Wenyu was crazy possessive.

She even believed that if that person hadn’t gotten hung up on Jiang Yiwei, they would've been into her instead.

Jiang Yiwei raised an eyebrow—why did she feel like Fang Wenyu and Jiang Yuexin were kinda similar?

They both loved dumping their anger on her.

Jiang Yiwei felt there was no reasoning with Fang Wenyu—she was just as pigheaded as Jiang Yuexin.

"I've got stuff to do. I'm out."

Jiang Yiwei had meant to leave, but as soon as Fang Wenyu heard that, she blocked her way.

"Did I say you could go?"

"I can't leave now? You gonna hit me or something?"

From the look on Fang Wenyu’s face, she seemed ready to punch her.

"As if I’d bother hitting you." Fang Wenyu would never lower herself to that.

"Then what’s your problem?" If not that, why stop her?

Fang Wenyu hesitated. "This time in the finals, I’m gonna beat you for sure."

This time, she wouldn’t lose to Jiang Yiwei again.

Jiang Yiwei blinked in surprise. "I won’t lose to you either."

If Fang Wenyu wanted to win, she wasn’t about to let that happen.

"Yeah, we’ll see."

Fang Wenyu was waiting to see who would win and who would lose.