Nineteen

From then on, Huang Qi became more cautious. Whenever she sent letters to Xiao Ying, she would go to the post office outside the school, and she asked him to address his replies to Sasha, who would then pass them on to her. Another half semester passed this way. Sasha, only in her first year of middle school, for some reason had suddenly become busy, and Huang Qi hadn't seen her for quite a while. Without Sasha acting as their little messenger, contact between Huang Qi and Xiao Ying was naturally interrupted.

That year’s college entrance exam still required students to fill in their university preferences before the exam—a process far riskier than submitting after results were known. The school gave families two weeks to consider their choices carefully. Huang Qi hadn’t discussed this matter in detail with Xiao Ying, and to make things worse, Sasha was nowhere to be found. Considering that exchanging letters would be too slow with only two weeks left, Huang Qi decided she might as well visit Xiao Ying in person over the weekend to discuss their plans.

To help students gather more information and make the best decisions, the city’s Education Bureau had developed a special website for college entrance exam information. Students could log in to check various details, simulate filling out their preferences, and estimate their chances of admission based on previous years’ cutoff scores, their mock exam results, and the competition for each university and major.

Curious, Huang Qi logged into the site at her school’s computer lab and searched for her own name. To her surprise, there were three graduating seniors in the entire city with the same name—one of them even a boy. Who would have thought that the traditional herbal name her grandfather had given her would be so popular? Xiao Ying’s name was far more unusual; surely there couldn’t be anyone else with the same name as him.

She typed in “Sha Zhouyin” to search, but the screen flashed a line of red text: “No matching results found.”

Did she mistype it? Or mix up the nasal sounds again? She carefully entered the name once more, but was met with the same red message.

It had to be a glitch—perhaps the data hadn’t all been uploaded yet. But when she searched for other classmates, even those from different middle schools, their information appeared without issue.

Growing anxious, Huang Qi found the contact number for the Vocational High School’s college entrance exam office online and called from the school’s public phone. “Excuse me, is there a student named Sha Zhouyin in your graduating class this year, Class 3? I can’t find his name in the system. Was he left out?”

A young female teacher, gentle in tone, replied, “We have ninety-five students taking the college entrance exam this year. The list has already been submitted to the Education Bureau and entered in the system—there shouldn’t be any omissions. Let me check for you. What’s the name? Sha Zhouying?”

“Sha as in yellow sand, Zhou as in weekend, Yin as in the founding emperor of the Zhao dynasty,” Huang Qi repeated, trying to keep her impatience in check. She heard the rustling of pages. After a moment, the teacher returned. “I’m sorry, there’s definitely no such student on our exam list.”

“How can he not be on the list?” Huang Qi’s voice rose in agitation. “He’s in your Class 3, has always done well, scored 550 on the mock exam—how could he not be on the list? This is a major life event! Are you sure you haven’t made a mistake? Please check again!”

The teacher’s tone grew less friendly. “There are only about ninety students. That’s two pages. I’ve checked several times—he’s not on the list. Do you want me to read out all the names for you?”

Huang Qi took a deep breath to steady herself and lowered her voice. “Could you please check why he isn’t taking the college entrance exam?”

A more senior woman’s voice cut in: “What could the reason be? Either expelled or withdrew, that’s all. He wouldn’t be the first.”

The young teacher, still patient, went through some files before coming back. “This student was advised to withdraw last month due to a violation of school regulations, so he’s not on the exam list.”

“Violation of school regulations? Advised to withdraw?” Huang Qi was stunned. “How is that possible? What did he do?”

The teacher replied, “I’m not sure. You’ll have to check with the disciplinary office.”

Huang Qi hung up, unable to digest the news. Xiao Ying violated school rules? Xiao Ying was punished and made to withdraw? Xiao Ying couldn’t take the college entrance exam? How could this happen? How could Xiao Ying have done such a thing?

She sat by the roadside, thinking until she gradually calmed herself. Last month—wasn’t that when Sasha suddenly disappeared, and when her own contact with Xiao Ying broke off? Sasha must know the truth. She stood up abruptly and, ignoring the fact that her next class would start in fifteen minutes, ran out toward the Experimental Middle School to find Sasha.

The Experimental Middle School was just next to her own, a ten-minute walk, but Huang Qi ran there in barely three minutes. Sasha was in the middle of a PE class, so Huang Qi headed straight to the sports field and found her among the group of girls.

At the sight of Huang Qi’s expression, Sasha immediately understood—she must have learned the truth and come to demand answers. Sasha took the initiative to lead Huang Qi to the shade of a tree by the field.

Huang Qi’s face was grim. “I called Xiao Ying’s school today. The teacher said he withdrew and can’t sit the college entrance exam. Do you know what happened?”

Sasha burst into tears. “Sister Qi, it’s all my fault! I got Brother Xiao Ying into this mess—you can scold me all you want…”

Huang Qi helped her sit on a bench by the road. “Tell me what happened—slowly.”

Sasha wiped her eyes with her sleeve and sobbed, “It was the sixth of last month, a Saturday. Do you remember? I wanted you to come see Brother Xiao Ying with me, but you said you were busy with monthly exams, so I went alone. That day, Brother Xiao Ying stayed at school instead of going to the construction site. I knew where their dorm was, so I went straight up… I never expected what happened in that building. I’ve never experienced anything like it… When I got to the third floor, some boys stopped me and asked for money. I gave it to them, but they said it wasn’t enough. They tried to strip me and search my clothes, and they touched me… Brother Xiao Ying fought them to protect me. Then more people came, and a big fight broke out. Some were sent to the hospital… The teachers at school didn’t care who was right or wrong and expelled a bunch of students who’d been in the fight…”

Huang Qi wiped her face. “Where is Xiao Ying now?”

“He’s been working at Uncle Biao’s construction site. He said he won’t go home and will just keep working with Uncle Biao…” Sasha started crying again. “I ruined Brother Xiao Ying. Now he can’t go to college—he really will end up as a laborer!”

Huang Qi had no energy to comfort her. Her mind was full of Xiao Ying—after all the hardship and misfortune, he had never been crushed by life, never given up hope, yet fate seemed intent on breaking him. The chance to go to college was his one great hope for a better life, yet now even that had been taken from him.

In a daze, Huang Qi said goodbye to Sasha and left the Experimental Middle School. There was an alleyway between the two schools, a shortcut, where construction workers were mixing cement and sand by the roadside. In April, they were already working with shirts off, their tanned backs streaked with sweat and dust.

Now Xiao Ying would have to do such work too; his young shoulders would have to bear such a life.

Huang Qi’s vision blurred with tears. Only yesterday she had been daydreaming about university life, imagining which schools Xiao Ying might get into, which ones would be closest to hers so they could see each other easily… All those hopes now seemed so distant and illusory, like flowers in a mirror or the moon’s reflection on water—forever out of reach.

She had to see Xiao Ying—had to, immediately.

She ran to the bus stop at the school gate and boarded the next bus heading toward the university district.

It had been more than half a year since Huang Qi last visited Xiao Ying. Uncle Biao’s construction project was finished; the workers had all moved on to another site somewhere. Distraught, Huang Qi asked around, but no one could tell her where Uncle Biao had gone. After wandering aimlessly for half an hour, she decided to go to Xiao Ying’s school and get to the bottom of things.

This time, she went straight to the disciplinary office. As she was walking the halls, searching for the right door, a short, solidly built man hurried past her, nearly knocking her aside as he rushed into the office.

He barged in, voice booming, “Who’s in charge of expelling students here? Get the person responsible out here!”

A middle-aged male teacher approached him. “I’m the head of discipline. What’s the matter?”

“My nephew is a senior here, always had excellent grades—why wasn’t he allowed to take the college entrance exam? This is going too far! There are over two hundred in the grade, but only half are taking the exam—the rest were made to graduate early or withdraw because of bad grades. What’s the point of boosting your statistics like this? The school’s reputation is ruined!”

His voice was so loud that even the teachers in the office seemed uneasy, aware that this was not something they wanted made public. One quietly asked, “What’s your nephew’s name? Maybe there’s a misunderstanding?”

The man replied, “Sha Zhouyin. Always one of the top students. Why wouldn’t he be allowed to take the exam?”

Huang Qi perked up at the mention of Xiao Ying’s name. Judging by the man’s age and appearance, could this be Uncle Biao?

The head of discipline said, “Sha Zhouyin’s case is a bit unusual. He was advised to withdraw because of fighting and violating school regulations. It had nothing to do with his grades.”

“Nonsense!” Uncle Biao exploded. “My nephew is the mildest boy you’ll find. Even if the school bullies him, he never fights back. He wouldn’t break a school rule if his life depended on it! I’ve never seen a more obedient child!”

The head of discipline replied, “Many people witnessed the incident. He started the conflict—against some younger students. As things escalated, the school dealt with everyone involved. Given his usual good behavior and excellent grades, we only advised him to withdraw and gave him his diploma. The school has already been more than fair.”

Uncle Biao was at a loss for words, shaking his head. “I don’t believe it. I just don’t believe it… Zhouyin would never do something so foolish.”

Hearing this, Huang Qi, angry on Xiao Ying’s behalf, stepped into the room. “Did you investigate why Sha Zhouyin fought with underclassmen? If your own fourteen-year-old cousin was being assaulted and stripped by older boys, what would you do?”

Uncle Biao leapt to his feet. “So that’s what happened! I knew he wouldn’t have started a fight for no reason! Those brats went too far—he should have taught them a lesson! And you expelled him for that?”

The head of discipline grew annoyed. “Who are you? How did you get into a teacher’s office without permission?”

Huang Qi stood her ground. “Who I am isn’t important. Please answer my question.”

The head of discipline’s patience snapped. “He wasn’t wrong to protect his cousin, but he shouldn’t have resorted to violence—especially against younger students. The fight escalated; many were injured. The school expelled the eight most culpable students. Given Sha Zhouyin’s record, we only advised him to withdraw and let him graduate. Was that not lenient?”

Uncle Biao’s eyes went wide. “Lenient? You call that lenient? His parents are dead, he worked so hard through school and did so well—his only hope was to get into a good university, and now you’ve ruined his future. Do you know what this means for him?”

The head of discipline replied impatiently, “Rules are rules. We can’t break them just because we feel sorry for someone. If you think the school handled things unfairly, you can file a complaint with the Education Bureau. There’s no use making a scene here.”

Uncle Biao slammed his hand on the desk. “We’ll complain, then! You think just because a child has no parents and no one to stand up for him, you can bully him? Always picking on the weak! And that ringleader—why wasn’t he expelled, just put on probation? His uncle’s a police chief and you think we don’t know? This school is rotten to the core!” He turned to leave, then spun back around. “A bunch of hypocrites! My nephew will make something of himself as a bricklayer if he has to—who cares about your university entrance exam? If getting into college means becoming an official who abuses power and bullies the weak, he’d be better off as a bricklayer!” With that, he stormed out.

Huang Qi hurried after him, hearing him muttering curses as he walked. She caught up and asked, “Uncle Biao—is that who you are?”

He turned to her. “Oh, it’s you. Thank you for speaking up for my nephew just now. Are you his classmate?”

Huang Qi nodded. “Is Sha Zhouyin staying with you? I’d… like to see him.”

“He’s been living with me,” Uncle Biao sighed, shaking his head. “Come with me.”