Beyond the Rift (Campus 1V1) - 4.

4.

Ling Jia didn’t go home; she took a bus to Li Jin.

Her mother, Sun Huizhen, stays in a VIP ward at a private hospital in Li Jin.

Yi Chuan arranged for a local Li Jin auntie with years of caregiving experience to look after her mother.

Ling Jia usually visits every two weeks. So her sudden arrival startles the auntie, who asks if something urgent has come up.

Sun Huizhen’s lying in the hospital bed. She shows no signs of waking.

The doctor says she might never wake up.

Ling Jia stands by the bed. She then adjusts the blanket for Sun Huizhen, finds a folding bed in the room, and lies down beside her mother’s bed.

She hasn’t spent much time with Sun Huizhen.

Sun Huizhen was busy paying off her husband’s debts and earning money for the family.

She turned herself into a spinning top. She never paused for a moment.

It wasn’t until Ling Jia was fifteen, when her grandmother passed away, that Sun Huizhen brought her from Li Jin to live in Li City.

Living together, Sun Huizhen realized her daughter’s personality differed sharply from her memory.

She often said Ling Jia’s methods were too ruthless. It left no way out for herself. She was always getting through trouble by sheer luck. She warned she’d eventually fall hard.

During her rebellious phase, Ling Jia shared no common ground with Sun Huizhen.

She despised her mother’s friend who married into wealth.

She also hated her mother’s endless tolerance for her deadbeat father.

And she loathed the basement rental that never saw sunlight.

Lying on the bed, she stares at the ceiling.

The caregiving auntie makes faint noises on the folding bed.

A few minutes later, the auntie speaks softly: 

“Jiajia, this morning, the male head of the household where your mother used to work visited, brought some supplements, and asked about your mother’s condition.”

“Male head?” 

Ling Jia asks her, 

“Surname Yan?”

“Yes, that’s the big shot. He heard my daughter is about to enter high school and told me to take good care of your mother. He said if I need it, he can arrange for my daughter to attend your school. Jiajia, isn’t your school’s tuition very expensive?”

Ling Jia laughs lightly: 

“It’s quite expensive.”

The auntie rubs her hands: 

“Then—”

“But I advise you not to accept,” 

Ling Jia interrupts. She gently cautions, 

“Qianchuan isn’t a place for poor people to survive.”

She doesn’t know what game Yan Xue’s father is playing.

If he were truly a good person, why did he let his wife send her mother to prison?

And why, on the day her mother was released, did he ignore her car accident and hospitalization?

Only after Ling Jia was forced to accept Yi Chuan’s help did he show fake concern.

Besides—

She always feels Sun Huizhen’s car accident wasn’t so simple.

How could it be so coincidental that a drunk truck driver hit her right after her release?

But she found no leads from the driver.

She can only wait for Sun Huizhen to wake up to learn what happened at the Yan household.

Ling Jia has learned to be patient now.

She isn’t in a rush to chase the so-called truth.

She stays at the Li Jin hospital until after 10 a.m. the next day. She then takes a taxi to a luxury resale shop to sell the “gift” Yi Chuan gave her.

The shop owner is a woman. She isn’t new to dealing with her.

She’s seen plenty of odd items.

Seeing the pet collar with Ling Jia’s name this time, her expression is intriguing: 

“Is this how high schoolers are now, or just kids from elite schools?”

Ling Jia has no time for banter and asks her, 

“How much is it worth?”

“Custom-made items aren’t cheap. But with your name on it, I’ll need to process it. Are you sure selling this won’t cause you trouble, kid?”

The most pressing issue isn’t Yi Chuan’s trouble.

Tomorrow, she returns to school. And the housing issue remains unresolved.

Where to live is indeed a big problem.

On Monday, returning to school. 

Classmates passing by her show noticeably strange expressions.

She doesn’t check the campus forum or join the school’s chat groups.

A student council member on disciplinary duty at the gate stops her.

Pointing at her chest with a pen, they say, 

“Classmate, where’s your name tag?

Don’t you know you can’t enter without a name tag? Haven’t you memorized the school rules?

And your uniform—it’s last year’s old style, right? We’ve switched to new ones. You’re still wearing a different one, standing out at school?

Hey, why that expression again? Can’t you speak? Are you mute?”

A crowd has already gathered to watch.

Yu Yuan is among them.

He hesitates for a long time before stepping forward. He holds out a name tag: 

“Her name tag is with me.”

A burly boy with arms crossed stares at him for a moment. He then frowns and asks his companion, 

“Who’s this guy?”

Yu Yuan points at his own name tag: 

“I’m Yu Yuan from Senior Class One, her classmate.”

“No—” 

The boy laughs, 

“I’m asking, who are your parents? How many buildings did they donate to the school? Acting like a hero for your classmate?”

“You can’t put it like that,” 

His female companion says. She’s fiddling with a plush pendant on her phone. She asks Yu Yuan, 

“If I recall, your family makes these, right? The Yu family in the toy business? These phone charms are cute. Since your family does this, why don’t you make one for each of us right here, and I’ll let her off. How about it?”

Yu Yuan stands with his head down.

A six-foot-one guy obediently takes the scolding.

This reminds Ling Jia of when Sun Huizhen took her to the Yu household to meet Yu Yuan’s mother.

Yu Yuan’s mother stood at the door. She was holding a Pomeranian. She dramatically asked the maid to bring slippers for them to change into at the entrance.

“Sorry, my husband just bought a new carpet—it’s hard to clean. Please change into slippers before coming in.”

They couldn’t touch anything or sit freely on the sofa. They could only stand in the living room, listening as Yu’s mother spoke to Sun Huizhen in a patronizing tone: 

“Huizhen, I know you’re struggling. I know a lady who needs a maid. The pay is higher than what your whole family earns combined. I can recommend you. We’ve known each other, and I want you to do well.”

The superiority Yu’s mother flaunted in front of them.

At Qianchuan, it’s reduced to “the toy makers.”

A mocking glint flashes in Ling Jia’s eyes—she finds it quite ironic.

If only Yu Yuan’s mother were here, she could at least thoughtfully offer slippers when her son is being bullied.

“You’re not planning to go help her, are you?” 

Yan Xue says. She adjusts her freshly trimmed bangs in front of a mirror. She addresses Yi Chuan, who pauses beside her. 

“She’s not as simple as you think. Getting kicked out of the dorm and still snatching the dorm auntie’s duty room—she’s not the delicate flower you thought.”

Yi Chuan snatches the mirror from her hand.

Yan Xue frowns, displeased: 

“What are you—”

“You can think that in your head. But saying it out loud just makes me realize how low your IQ can go. No need for that, Xue.” 

Hands in his coat pockets, he bends down to her height. He stares at her face for a moment. He shakes his head with pity: 

“You’re already not much to look at. And being this stupid—what can you do? If the Zong family returns you, even I’ll get laughed at. Don’t let that happen, okay?”

“Yi Chuan! What do you gain from putting me down?” 

Yan Xue grits her teeth in anger but can’t do anything to him. To avoid being overheard, she lowers her voice. She’s fuming as she questions him.

“Gain?”

Yi Chuan straightens up. He’s looking at the girl being harassed yet remaining calm. He chuckles lightly: 

“If there’s something to gain, I’ll only say it once. The person in the hospital has been lying there long enough. The doctor says she might wake up. If you don’t want people to know what your family did, clean it up quickly. Always cleaning up your family’s messes gets annoying, got it?”

He rubs his stiff neck, doesn’t glance at Ling Jia again, and heads toward the teaching building.

The boy carrying his backpack follows a few steps behind. He barely dares to breathe.

Yan Xue’s long nails nearly snap.

She calms herself before walking toward Ling Jia.

“Why are you stuck here so long without going in?”

“She didn’t wear her name tag, Xue. Her uniform’s old too. Who at Qianchuan wears old uniforms? Even the cleaners know to get new work clothes every year.”

Yan Xue frowns slightly: 

“You can’t say it like that. Jiajia’s family is struggling.”

She looks at Ling Jia. She asks gently, 

“Why aren’t you wearing your name tag, Jiajia? Did you drop it somewhere? Like—” 

She raises a finger, pauses thoughtfully at her lips, then brightens. She points at Yu Yuan: 

“His place? Aren’t you two close, Jiajia? I heard about your dorm situation. I wanted to help, but I heard you found a place to stay. Did your friend here solve it for you?”

She smiles at Yu Yuan: 

“You two are so close.”

Yu Yuan waves his hands in panic: 

“No, it’s not—”

“Being too shy isn’t good,” 

Yan Xue’s smile fades. Her eyes turn to a warning. Though her voice stays gentle: 

“The name tag’s with you. If she’s not staying at your place, what, on the street?”

Laughter erupts around them. The crowd’s skilled at reading Yan Xue’s cues. It repeats “on the street” as if she told a brilliant joke.

Class time approaches, second by second.

Ling Jia touches the hard name tag in her pocket.

Zong Du’s name tag—using it now would shut them down instantly.

But using it at this moment feels like a waste of a trump card.

She stays quiet while thinking. Her face shows no extra expression.

Her obvious distraction annoys the burly boy, who feels ignored.

“Hey, I’m talking—are you even listening?”

He reaches to push Ling Jia. But something suddenly bites his ankle.

“Fvck! What the—snake?”

Raven gracefully slithers to Ling Jia’s side. It’s hissing with its tongue out. It’s waiting for her to extend her hand before comfortably wrapping around her wrist.

If Raven’s first closeness to Ling Jia was an accident,

This second time can only be explained by Zong Du’s instruction.

Ling Jia looks at Raven on her wrist. She then suddenly looks up.

She sees Zong Du standing nearby, smiling at her.

Zong Du holds a shiny name tag in his hand.

It has Ling Jia’s name on it.

He looks at the boy clutching his ankle.

In a gentle tone, he asks, 

“Looking for this?”

The boy nods: 

“Yes, yes, she didn’t wear her name tag, so we—”

Zong Du has no patience for his rambling.

“Then come take it.”