The Lost Lamb's Trap - Chapter 16

Chapter 16: Moon

Seventeen-year-old Lin Ke had known about Duan Jiayang for a long time. Back then, every time she and Lin Wan moved into a new family, she would be told about the members beforehand. She knew she would have a connection with Duan Jiayang, but she didn’t know there were so many types of connections.

Duan Litian said he wanted Duan Jiayang to take care of Lin Ke until her leg healed. Duan Jiayang didn’t really bother with Lin Ke. Every time, she would have the driver park the car far away and wouldn’t walk with her, as if she were avoiding a snake.

At school, besides “copying homework,” there was nothing that linked them. The rest of the time, they kept to themselves. Lin Ke used crutches to go to school and didn’t need Duan Jiayang’s help at all. Others, especially the boys, would swarm to help her.

Lin Ke had a great reputation. She was a combination of beauty and intelligence, an unattainable moon. As for Duan Jiayang, besides her good looks and rich family, it was hard to find any other redeeming qualities. She had a lot of flaws, was a severe drama queen, and loved to show off her wealth.

As they entered their senior year, there were a lot of fees at school. The family was sitting at the table eating when Duan Jiayang slammed her hand on the table. “Dad, give me money! The tuition, tutoring fees, and the air conditioning and electricity fees for evening self-study are separate.”

Duan Litian didn’t ask about the specific fees. He casually took out a 100,000 yuan card. Things weren’t so smooth for Lin Ke. Lin Wan’s mouth would twitch fiercely every time she saw the card.

Duan Jiayang was stupid, but Duan Litian was extremely shrewd.

The relationship between Lin Wan and Duan Litian was definitely not love. She was trying so hard all for money. But she miscalculated. Duan Litian was no longer the foolish boy who she had dumped and who had cried and begged her to get back together with him. When they rekindled their old flame, he spent money lavishly, buying Lin Wan bags and clothes. But after Lin Wan moved into his house and they got intimate, he only gave her a little bit of money. After a while, he would pull a long face if she asked for a bit more. It was even more impossible for him to support Lin Ke, because Lin Wan had abandoned him after she got pregnant with Lin Ke.

At first, to reignite their relationship, Lin Wan had made a great effort to pretend that she was a rich and famous artist who didn’t care about these things, and that their love was true, with each of them taking care of their own children.

As time went on and they still hadn’t gotten married, Lin Wan realized something was wrong. Duan Litian seemed to have beaten Duan Jiayang, but in reality, he gave Duan Jiayang whatever she wanted. He would go to auctions and buy things for Duan Jiayang without blinking an eye. Lin Wan and her daughter got nothing. They were being completely exploited.

Lin Wan had already owed money in America. After she schemed against Duan Jiayang, the little money she had was completely gone.

Lin Wan called Lin Ke to the balcony. Lin Ke was taller than her mom. Her mom looked up at her, holding her hand. “Wait, how much is it?”

“A thousand,” Lin Ke said. “Plus meal fees.”

Lin Wan’s expression changed. She bit her lip and said, “A thousand… A thousand isn’t much. No, how long have you been studying there? Why do you have to pay with them? I’ll give you the money after I pay off my debt in America…”

As she spoke, her eyes darted to the side. Duan Jiayang was looking up at them from behind some flowerpots, her eyes shifty. She was giving off a clear signal: I’m eavesdropping. What kind of scheme are you two cooking up?

Lin Wan was so scared that she stopped breathing and pulled Lin Ke into the bedroom.

At first, she couldn’t even scrape together a thousand yuan. She had to sell things and put everything together. After she finally managed to give her a thousand yuan, new fees came up. As they went from their sophomore to senior year, there were materials, practice exams, and fees for people to create the exams. Even though the school tried to save money by buying one set and photocopying it for the students, during the review phase, two sets of exams a week was considered little. Later, she had to pay another three hundred yuan.

The school had a poverty assistance program. Lin Ke was always number one, so she could apply to not pay the tuition and fees, but Lin Wan wouldn’t let her apply for the sake of her reputation.

Lin Ke could only use the money for her meal card to pay the fees.

At first, she could say that Lin Ke was a picky eater and wasn’t used to the school’s food. The school also didn’t force her to pay. Lin Ke would bring food from home every day. But later, it got too hot, and the food would spoil at night. When she took out her lunch box, everyone could smell the sourness. She would also often get diarrhea from eating it.

Soon, Lin Ke went from wearing luxury brands with Duan Jiayang to being a poor person who could only eat steamed buns and drink water for breakfast and lunch.

During that time, the school was worried that they couldn’t handle their senior year, so they had them run three laps around the track every morning.

Lin Ke would often get dizzy while running. The class teacher and school leaders felt sorry for her and didn’t let her run, giving her special treatment. After a while, everyone became resentful and criticized the special treatment. The way they looked at Lin Ke changed.

Lin Ke, unable to run, sat down to rest on the track. When she stood up, she was dizzy and stumbled forward. Just as she was about to fall, Duan Jiayang appeared out of nowhere. She held her waist, gritting her teeth as she stared at her leg.

When someone walked by, Duan Jiayang immediately let go and ran to the bathroom, turning on the faucet and scrubbing her hands fiercely, as if she had touched something dirty.

Lin Ke’s stomach was cramping. The pain made her legs tremble. Duan Jiayang came out again furtively and held her. “To the infirmary!”

Lin Ke shook her head, her hand pressing hard against her stomach.

“Are you sick!”

Lin Ke just hummed in response.

The young Lin Ke listened to her mom. Her mom said they couldn’t let anyone know they were poor, so she hid it. She was like a wild plant or animal. She learned whatever her mom taught her. Even though she knew it was wrong, she still lived according to her mom’s ways. Her mom was a parasitic flower, a devil’s vine, and she was the bud that depended on her mom.

Lin Ke covered her stomach and refused to move. Duan Jiayang was so angry that she stuffed everything in her pocket into Lin Ke’s hands. Lin Ke limped and hunched her back to her classroom. When she opened her drawer, it was filled with medicine for her legs and menstrual cramps.

But there were times when she couldn’t hold back.

One evening, Lin Ke was so hungry that she kept biting her arm. When she couldn’t bear it anymore, she straightened her back and asked her class teacher for a pass to go out and buy medicine. Then she went to a second-hand store with a fountain pen in her hand. Among the new and old items, her fountain pen was placed in the display case.

“Five hundred yuan?”

Lin Ke said, “Yes.”

A pen worth more than 5,000 yuan. She didn’t even try to haggle. The owner looked at her suspiciously. “You didn’t steal it, did you?”

She took the crisp red bills and returned to school.

Duan Jiayang was different. She had plenty of allowance. She could buy out the school’s snack shop with one card. She was the real rich daughter. Lin Ke was just a parasitic beast who put on a front but was rotten to the bone.

The two of them met in the store. Duan Jiayang was buying drinks for the entire class. Lin Ke went in and bought a pack of crackers. The two of them stood in front of the shelves, getting their things. Some boys cheered, “Wow! The two school beauties are here! The school store should put up a banner.”

“Who’s like her? Disgusting,” Duan Jiayang said before swiping her card and leaving.

That evening, Lin Ke went to the small woods to eat crackers. The salty soda crackers filled her hungry stomach. Duan Jiayang squatted behind a tree, drinking a soda. Neither of them spoke to each other, and their eyes didn’t fall on each other.

They were doing things secretly, hiding behind the tall trees.

Duan Jiayang warned her, “Stop spreading rumors at school. If I hear any gossip, I’ll… I’ll break your other leg…”

Lin Ke said, “You wouldn’t dare.”

Duan Jiayang gritted her teeth and drank her soda furiously.

Later, Lin Wan finally got a sum of money. As for where the money came from, Lin Wan just gritted her teeth and said that Duan Litian was cheap and that she would definitely get a lot of money from him someday. After she said that, she told Lin Ke that she was starting to try for a baby and would use the child to get money from Duan Litian.

Lin Ke was expressionless. She just knew she wouldn’t have to starve anymore and could walk normally. She went to the small woods as usual. Duan Jiayang never appeared again. Lin Ke sat there alone, eating and reading.

High-and-mighty, smart and beautiful, a fairy descended from heaven. She was so different. The boys at school would label her with any word they could think of.

Finally, the fire started. A girl in the liberal arts class named Shang Yunqiao brought a fountain pen to school. Everyone recognized it as Lin Ke’s. When asked how she got the pen, the story became complicated. After her explanation, there were still doubts. Was the pen really Lin Ke’s? Why did she sell it? Was her family really poor?

The rumors spread wildly. Duan Jiayang also heard about them. Because she disliked Lin Ke, she never missed an opportunity to hear bad things about her. This time, she seemed uninterested, mainly because she was afraid of people finding out about her relationship with Lin Ke.

Duan Jiayang had to pass by Class 10 to get to the office. Lin Ke’s seat was by the window. She was eating pumpkin-flavored soda crackers, her eyes on her exam paper. She was quiet, and her hair was still frizzy. When it stood up, it looked like a cowlick.

She was watching, and so were the people from other classes.

Duan Jiayang noticed one more thing than them. No matter how cheap the soda crackers Lin Ke ate were, the things boys gave her were always left untouched. Whether the janitor swept them away or someone else took them, she never cared. There were often expensive chocolates at her feet, but what she ate were the cheapest crackers from the store.

Duan Jiayang felt great. Seeing her so miserable, she cursed her, saying she deserved it. She and her mom should suffer for the rest of their lives.

“Duan Jiayang.”

Lin Ke suddenly looked at her. She reached her hand out from the window and said, “There’s one more piece.”

Duan Jiayang glared at her and immediately ran away.

During Chinese class, Duan Jiayang took a few packs of soda crackers and sat next to He Xiao to tell her why the class teacher had called her. He Xiao stuffed crackers into her mouth while saying, “To be the chemistry class representative… that’s good. You can do it.”

Duan Jiayang’s chemistry was terrible, but she knew the class teacher was really good to her. It was all because her dad was Duan Litian. During the days when Duan Jiayang was copying notes in the grade office, he often bought her popsicles. When it was too hot, he would turn on the air conditioning for them. He would also argue with the grade office for them.

Duan Jiayang sniffed the crackers, put them in her mouth, and chewed. She ate another one. She and He Xiao opened their palms under the table to draw lots. Duan Jiayang drew “do.” She looked up and nodded hard.

Hardly anyone listened in Chinese class. The teacher just lectured, and the students below chatted or played on their phones.

“But she used to wear luxury brands and show off. Is it because she can’t afford them anymore? This girl is so cheap.”

“Haha, a little bit. A few boys like her, and she just looks at them and smiles, without giving them a definite answer. I also heard something else… It was raining a few days ago. I saw her get out of a car. The car was parked in the western suburbs, and it would take more than ten minutes to walk from there… Was she being sugar-daddyed?”

“Also, she went to the bathroom before, and someone saw a scar on her stomach. It’s long and deep…”

“Tsk, tsk, not a surprise since she’s from America. How do I put it? With such good resources in America and the exams approaching, why would her mom transfer her back?”

“So shameless.”

He Xiao whispered, “I actually think they’re going a bit too far.”

“It’s none of my business,” Duan Jiayang said.

The class was so boring that Duan Jiayang felt sick.

Duan Jiayang went back to her seat and lay on her desk, watching girls from other classes pretend to be enthusiastic and tell Lin Ke that the grade director was looking for her. Lin Ke had to pass by her corridor to get to the grade office. Duan Jiayang watched her walk out. Lin Ke’s eyes lingered on her face for a few seconds.

The sunlight was too bright at the time, so Duan Jiayang couldn’t make out her expression. After Lin Ke went downstairs, the group of people went into the classroom next door.

They rummaged through Lin Ke’s pen holder. As expected, they didn’t see the fountain pen that represented her noble status. The group of people laughed and giggled. When Lin Ke returned, they politely apologized and said they had misheard.

This time, Lin Ke had her back to Duan Jiayang. After she went into the classroom, she didn’t come out again. After that, more and more rumors spread about Lin Ke. She was a lotus flower rotting in the mud, having lost her elegance of being unstained by the dirt. Her heart and soul were full of mud.

Being isolated at school was terrifying. Did Lin Ke know? She wasn’t emotionless. She could clearly feel it, but she just ignored it. After ignoring it once and twice, the high-and-mighty girl became a loner. In everyone’s eyes, she became an outcast.

Every time the school had a gymnastics competition, every class had to participate. Everyone would go to the main track for practice in the evening.

Lin Ke held a small book of key points and went to stand in the group of girls. Everyone immediately scattered and moved away from her.

The sunset was still there, a fiery red reflecting in her eyes. No matter how calm she usually was, at that age, she was at a loss. She looked around blankly.

Then, she awkwardly lowered her head to look at her own shadow. Her shadow was long, but many people walked right over it.

The people moving around the track were gossiping wildly. A girl in Class 8 lost money, 128 yuan, during the afternoon self-study session. Only Lin Ke was in the classroom every afternoon.

It was unclear when it started, but Lin Ke became a person with a bad character. Everyone actually believed that Lin Ke was that kind of person: a thief, dirty, and maybe even pregnant before.

On Friday afternoon, they had a day off early. Duan Litian and Lin Wan went abroad. The chef didn’t know they were coming back and had asked for a day off. It was just the two of them at home. Lin Ke was squatting at the bathroom door, scrubbing her shoes. Her canvas shoes were covered in footprints, as if someone had deliberately stepped on them.

A set of blue short skirts was placed on the sofa. It looked a bit like a Japanese sailor uniform. Duan Jiayang looked at her phone. The class monitor was tagging everyone in the group chat, saying that Class 8 was renting skirts and each person had to pay 12 yuan. She asked if they wanted to rent them.

Everyone was discussing it. Not many people were talking. Some didn’t want to rent them, and Duan Jiayang was one of them. For one, she was disgusted that others had worn them. For two, the clothes were ugly.

The reason why Class 8 was so harmonious was completely because…

Lin Ke’s pants were wet. She lightly pulled them up. The scars on her legs hadn’t gotten any smaller. They were like wrinkles that couldn’t be flattened after being soaked in water, very ugly.

Lin Ke kept scrubbing her shoes. The hard bristles rubbed the back of her hands raw, almost to the point of bleeding. Duan Jiayang thought, had those people evolved to the point of wanting to see Lin Ke’s scars? If she had this scar on her body and someone saw it, she would rather die.

Lin Ke noticed someone was looking at her. She turned her head and looked at her. Her hair was wet and clinging to her cheeks, messy, like a ghost that had crawled out of a ruin.

“Serves you right,” Duan Jiayang muttered and ran upstairs.

Lin Ke’s room door was open, just like the first day she moved in. Her school bag was neatly placed on her desk, and the sheets were laid out without a single wrinkle.

She looked downstairs. Lin Ke had made something for herself. She was holding a huge bowl and was stuffing things into her mouth as if she were starving and wanted to eat all the food she had missed in the past few days.

Duan Jiayang casually ate a cup of fruit granola and took her dad’s card to go out and play.

When they went back to school, all the girls in Class 8 were wearing the skirts. They walked back and forth in the hallway, making them easily identifiable. Only Lin Ke was still in her baggy school uniform. The class monitor and the arts and crafts representative talked to her. “We already gave you the clothes. Why aren’t you wearing them? You’ve been in this class for so long. You’re a part of it. This isn’t good.”

Lin Ke didn’t say anything. She was silent. She took the skirt that hadn’t even been opened and still had the plastic wrap on it from her school bag, placed it on her desk, and pushed it away.

“Lin Ke!” the class monitor yelled at her. “What do you want? Say something. We don’t owe you anything.”

“Yeah, someone in the class lost money. You’re the only one who stays in the classroom for afternoon self-study every day. Did you see who it was?”

They were being sarcastic and mocking.

Everyone in the class looked at her. Even the boys who were chasing Lin Ke jumped off their chairs and joined in.

Lin Ke was used to it and ignored them. She sat down, placed her school bag on her lap, and took out her exam papers. Then she took out her film, a signature pen, a pencil… Her fingers paused. She tilted her head and looked inside her school bag. She took out a fountain pen. The nib had a perfect pentagram on it, and the blue, precious resin pen body had the two letters “LK” carved into it.

She laid out the exam paper, skillfully changed the ink cartridge, and continued to do the problems.

The classroom was quiet. Everyone was staring at her.

The girl’s slender hand held the rounded fountain pen. She quietly did her own thing. The pen’s ink flowed smoothly, and the handwriting was neat. Her thick eyelashes fluttered slightly. She wrote stroke by stroke: Lin Ke.

During evening self-study, the driver came to the school gate to pick them up. Duan Jiayang didn’t get in. She rode her bike with He Xiao. Lin Ke kept holding the fountain pen. The driver asked her, “Is that a new fountain pen? It looks nice. Did Mr. and Mrs. come back from abroad?”

“My mom didn’t buy it.”

“Hmm?”

“It has ‘LK’ on it. It’s a gift.”

The driver thought she was silly. Was there some special relationship between “LK” and “gift”? Shouldn’t the gift be “LW”?

The previous fountain pen was one that Lin Wan didn’t want anymore and had given to her. She pressed her fingertips against the marks on it, gently stroking them. She could feel the texture. No matter where she touched, it was Lin Ke, Lin Ke, Lin Ke.

On the day of the gymnastics competition, Lin Ke didn’t participate. She sat on the railing and watched. The Class 8 formation was missing one person, so they pulled in a plump girl. The girl had been kicked out of the formation before, and now, without the uniform, her movements were out of sync. After the performance, everyone was dejected.

There were new rumors on the track. Lin Ke had a new fountain pen with the initials “LK” on it. The pen body and ink cartridge were also full of “LK.”

The fountain pen that girl from the liberal arts class had was not “LK.” It was the other two letters, “LW.” So, it wasn’t Lin Ke’s pen. So-and-so, who had a grudge against Lin Ke, bought a fake pen to frame her. How disgusting.

Lin Ke was at the top of the monkey bars, holding a bottle of mineral water. The students below waved their hands in a disorganized manner, like a bunch of housewives cheering on a stage show at a supermarket. The directors on the stage had frowns on their faces, but they still managed to hold a stiff smile and clap.

Then came Class 10.

Class 10’s performance was the worst. The director couldn’t stand it, especially the director who also taught in Class 8. He kept nagging and pointing. “Why are you guys so bad?”

The Class 10 teacher also nagged back. “None of your business.”

Lin Ke took a sip of water. It wasn’t until she saw Duan Jiayang that she sat up straight. She thought the Class 10 teacher was right.

Duan Jiayang was tall, 1.72 meters. She stood in the second row of the girls. When it was time to change rhythm, she moved to the first row. Her arm movements were like a glitching robot.

The sunlight shone on her, and her messy movements were exposed. The most awkward part was that everyone else turned to the left, but she, being clumsy, turned to the right. Duan Jiayang slowly turned back, but everyone else turned backward, facing the person in front of them. Duan Jiayang wished she could disappear into the ground. Her face was flushed and burning.

She had embarrassed herself in front of Lin Ke. Lin Ke was laughing at her. She’d rather die.