Chapter 42 Standing Up for Someone

"Just say you're giving it to a classmate, wouldn't that settle it? Today just happens to be my birthday, so just give it to me as a birthday gift!"

"No way! My mom said this is an heirloom passed down in our family; it can't be given away, only admired!"

Minnie Ni didn't believe it and retorted, "Who wears an heirloom on their wrist? What if you lose it?"

"Isn't today Jiang Meili's birthday? I deliberately wore it out to put on a show."

Jiang Meili thought for a moment and said, "Let me wear it for a bit and I'll return it, alright?"

Before I could answer, she took it off my wrist. Wearing the green jadeite bracelet, Jiang Meili looked as though it was far too large, even bigger than Madam's; yet, she was captivated by it and refused to return it no matter what.

I knew this bead bracelet inside out; it belonged to Mo Liping. When the time came, I'd have to find a way to return it to her. If Jiang Meili took it away, what would I have to give back? I had no choice but to say, "This item is very precious, didn't I just say so? It's my family's heirloom and cannot be given away!"

Jiang Meili pondered for a good while before saying, "Lend it to me to wear for a few days, that's fine, right!"

Minnie Ni chimed in, "She's just wearing it for a few days; I can vouch for it. When the time comes, I'll make sure Meili returns it to you!"

Fearing she would lose it, I shifted my gaze to Minnie Ni's face and said, "You must guarantee it for me; make sure she definitely returns it to me then!"

Without a second thought, she agreed. I had no choice but to tell Jiang Meili, "Return it to me in just two days! If you lose it, there will be serious trouble!"

"Alright, alright, alright!" Wearing it on her left hand, Jiang Meili looked at it admiringly from all angles, saying, "This bead bracelet is really different from those cheap bracelets. Look at how it shimmers with a brilliant green light, and there's a halo drifting over it—it's truly magical!"

As for the halo, I still hadn't figured out how it had beamed out from the glabella on my forehead, transforming the jadeite bead bracelet like this? However, I couldn't let the two of them know.

Minnie Ni was also very curious. She held Jiang Meili's left hand, examined it for a long time, and said, "There's no doubt it's a treasure. You must cherish it doubly while wearing it; if you lose it, we're both going to be in big trouble."

"What are you talking about? How could it possibly get lost on my hand? Rest assured a hundred times! I'll take good care of it."

Whether I wanted to lend it or not, I had no choice given the circumstances, so I just went along with it for her sake. Before we knew it, we arrived at the bus stop.

People nowadays have very strange perceptions. When men hang out with men, something must be fishy—the trope of dropping the soap happens all the time. When women hang out with women, they are definitely perceived as lesbians.

This phenomenon of men with men and women with women had always baffled me; to this day, I remained thoroughly confused.

For instance, why did Zhengtai love Jiang Meili? How had such a relationship formed? I had always harbored doubts in my heart. I remembered when I was lying in the hospital, Jiang Meili had never once come to visit me, whereas Pi Tiantian had stuck around very closely. Back then, I didn't know she was a trap; in fact, she had harbored ambitions toward me for a long time.

However, Jiang Meili's situation was clear; she was a genuine woman. Minnie Ni, on the other hand, was different—whether male or female remained a mystery. Why was she so nervous when Jiang Meili pulled out that... thing? What she was hiding remained a secret.

As I was thinking this, a minibus arrived. After dropping my paper fare into the box, I squeezed inside...

Jiang Meili was standing in an area crowded with men, so I pulled her over to my side by the arm and whispered quietly, "There are gropers on the bus!"

She cast her eyes around nervously, while Minnie Ni hadn't even thought along those lines. Still uneasy, I kept my eyes fixed on the men standing near her all the way until we reached our stop and got off, without discovering any trouble.

Back home, I placed the cake on the wooden coffee table, inserted the candles, lit them, and loudly sang the cliché Happy Birthday song...

Minnie Ni found it unappealing and insisted on improvising a new one...

Both Jiang Meili and I were curious and wanted to hear what she would come up with.

***

Minnie Ni casually sang: "Happy birthday is good! Happy birthday is wonderful! Shall we bless and pray together? I have countless moving words, and no shortage of sweet smiles, sending tens of thousands of wishes for a happy birthday to you..."

It sounded alright. I couldn't help but clap enthusiastically, joining Minnie Ni in singing the final line, sending ten thousand...

Jiang Meili was overjoyed, skipping and jumping, making silly gestures. She hugged my head tightly, kissed me on the cheek, and then shifted her gaze to Minnie Ni's face, saying, "Being with the one you love is true happiness!"

Minnie Ni couldn't think of a single thing to say in response. Being the class monitor made her overly competitive; she always wanted to be number one in the class. Never did she expect things to backfire, where a poorly chosen remark brought her immense trouble.

The eccentric birthday celebration finally came to an end. Minnie Ni needed to go home, and Jiang Meili and I insisted on seeing them off. Besides, I was home alone anyway, and Jiang Meili wanted to spend the night. She took out her phone, dialed her home number, and a strange woman's voice answered, "Where are you?"

"At a classmate's house! Mom, I'm not coming back tonight. We're pulling an all-nighter!"

"No way! Young girls aren't allowed to stay out overnight. Come back immediately! Or else I'll come pick you up! Send me her address!"

Jiang Meili shook her body vigorously and whined in a spoiled tone, "Mom, how can you be like this? You won't even let me stay up late for someone's birthday?"

Instantly, the strange woman's fierce voice came through the receiver, audible from afar: "You have school tomorrow, do you hear me? The older you get, the more disobedient you become!"

Minnie Ni and Jiang Meili muttered unhappily before hanging up the phone. Jiang Meili said to me, "I really wanted to keep you company tonight, but I didn't expect this to happen!"

Actually, I hadn't asked for that, but since she liked the idea, I offered some comfort: "There's plenty of time. I'll walk you two to the bus stop."

This was precisely what she wanted. With one arm linked through my left and the other holding my right, the three of us looked just like a trio of lesbians. Tarrying affectionately, we arrived at the bus stop just as a bus pulled up. Ignoring the crowd, I watched them squeeze inside and shouted loudly, "Watch out for gropers! If anything goes wrong, call me!"

Jiang Meili shook her head by the glass window and said, "It's fine! Go on back!"

The bus started up and soon vanished from my sight. I thought to myself that I still had three hundred yuan left, which would be enough for my expenses for a while.

Unconsciously, I arrived back home and entered my small room. Just as I wanted to use the restroom, my phone rang. Glancing at it, I answered and held it to my ear, asking, "Mom, what's wrong?"

Madam's voice was loud and anxious as she said, "Go to sleep quickly, you still have school tomorrow! Your dad needs someone to watch over him, so I can't come back!"

I gave a casual perfunctory response, hung up the phone, and hurried into the restroom.

The woman's cup was in good condition, so I cleaned it out along the way, returned to my small room, took off my underwear, and went to wash it—fidgeting with trivial chores for over an hour. It was very late; the phone displayed 11:55 PM. Considering I had school the next day, I crawled under the covers and quickly drifted off to sleep...

In my dream, Zhengtai's soul crawled out from inside my body, drifted back and forth, and said, "Qu Shilai, I need to go out and hide. Performing that ritual poses a threat to me."

Still half-asleep, my brain retained some memories—Qu Shilai had been shoved alive into a coffin by seven or eight people, carried away amidst weeping and chanting. Suddenly, the coffin exploded, and he was sucked into a white circle in the sky, drifting away to enter Zhengtai's hospitalized body...

So, why wasn't Zhengtai's soul inside her own body? Addressing this question, I wanted to say, "You are the true master of this body; I'm the one who should leave."

Of course, Zhengtai understood this. Harboring unspeakable hardships, she said, "You probably don't know yet, this..."

It turned out that I was the true master of this body; no wonder she wanted to escape. With tears in her eyes, Zhengtai waved goodbye to me. Watching her vanish from my sight, I didn't feel sad at all. My mind was absolute chaos; I couldn't figure out where she would go, or if I could ever see the place where she stayed.

"Sob, sob..." Crying desperately, Zhengtai drifted back from the sky, burrowed straight into my body, and said, "Qu Shilai, it's too dark outside, and I have nowhere to go. I can only stay here and wait to be caught, I really have no other choice!"

I found it very strange. My brow knitted into a knot, unable to comprehend: "This body belongs to you, what are you afraid of? Even if someone gets caught, it should only be me!"

These words offered her no comfort. She just kept crying endlessly inside my body, her voice utterly wretched...

***

Anyway, I wasn't afraid, nor did I believe in rituals. I wondered how Madam and Scarface had discussed the matter, insisting on pushing me into a fire pit...

"Sob, sob, sob!" Zhengtai was still crying, terrified in her heart.

I had no choice but to comfort her: "It's fine, I'm here. I'm a man, I'll take the brunt of everything."

After crying intermittently for a while, she finally calmed down. However, her entire body was still trembling, shrinking back timidly as she collapsed into Qu Shilai's embrace...

At that moment, a question popped into my mind, and I asked, "Why isn't Zhengtai surnamed Niu? Why is she surnamed Xin?"

"It's like this: a child can take their father's surname, but they can also take their mother's surname. In the past, Dad always suspected I wasn't his child. Because of this, he argued with Mom more than once, refusing to let me take his surname. Mom had no choice but to say, 'Since you aren't willing, let the child take my surname then.'"

"So that's how it was. I'd always been confused, and now it finally makes sense. I used to blame this whole issue on the paternity test, not realizing the arguments had started long before that."

"Actually, if there hadn't been a paternity test, it would've been fine! It was originally just a suspicion, not a certainty. But the test confirmed it wasn't, didn't it?"

"It seems the paternity test really did have a certain impact, leading to how things are now."

Zhengtai stopped crying inside my body. Snuggling in Qu Shilai's embrace, she felt comforted—wasn't this for the best?

Because of this disturbance, I didn't get a good night's rest. When the phone alarm went off, it rudely awakened me. After washing up and strapping on my school bag, I headed to the bus stop, yearning to see Pi Tiantian, but searched everywhere in vain...

I boarded the bus, got off at my stop, and smoothly arrived at school. Many classmates in the classroom were chatting and laughing playfully. Jiang Meili was nowhere to be seen, while Minnie Ni sat all alone in her seat, hanging her head in silence...

It seemed the hostility of her classmates hadn't completely dissipated yet. Choosing to actively seek my protection turned out to be the right decision! The more I looked at these classmates, the more displeased I became. I stood in front of the teacher's desk and banged heavily on it—*thud, thud*—making a loud sound.

All eyes were drawn to me, and my purpose was clear. In this classroom, I was the most powerful one; whoever dared to be disrespectful to Minnie Ni would have their dog skull smashed in!

Regarding this matter, I had a few words to say. Ignoring the male and female students walking in and out, I shouted in an extremely fierce, harsh voice: "Classmates! In this class, I am the tallest, and I've practiced martial arts with my master! Without modesty, I have no rivals! Minnie Ni is a good class monitor; whoever gives her a hard time is giving me a hard time! I know some of you are unconvinced and want to challenge me; whether at school or anywhere else, I'll accompany you to the end—beat you to death without taking responsibility..." I rambled on and on for a long time, and not a single person dared to utter a sound.

The morning bell rang. Even though I still had a lot to say, I couldn't continue.

Jiang Meili arrived at some point, clapping vigorously and cheering loudly: "Well said! Some people just need a good beating! The top student used to block the road for money, but after getting a brutal beating, none of them do it anymore!"

The Chinese teacher walked in, saw me standing by the teacher's desk without saying a word, and placed his books on top...

Panicking, I hurried back to my seat, darting my eyes around to watch him.

Teacher Wang stood before the desk, clapped his hands, and said, "Classmates: according to reports, many people sleep in class, and some even talk and mess around during lessons. Given this situation, we must rearrange the seating."

"Ah!" Jiang Meili let out an exclamation.

As soon as these words were spoken, the students broke into a heated discussion, some raising their hands high and waving them about...

Teacher Wang also wanted to gauge the students' thoughts, glanced around casually, and shouted, "Money Boy, get up and share your thoughts!"

That call caught my attention. It took me quite a while to spot him. He had an average face, stood tall at about one meter seven by his desk, wore a student haircut, a blue school uniform, and sports sneakers protruding from beneath his chair.