Chapter 2

7

On the phone, Mom told me to come home for a visit.

Whenever she asked me to come home, it was usually for one reason: she wanted to set me up on a blind date.

As I got older, she grew more and more anxious about my marriage prospects.

I tried to refuse. “No need, Mom. I’m really busy these days.”

The main problem was that men in small towns tended to marry quite young.

By this age, if a man still wasn’t married, it was usually because he was poorly educated or unattractive.

But men could be far too confident in themselves. At least, the ones I’d met on blind dates were.

Some bragged that since I wrote novels, after we married I could stay home, take care of my husband, and raise our children. They hoped I’d devote all my energy to the family.

Others seemed to like me well enough, but complained that my career wasn’t respectable enough to mention.

One even criticized my small breasts and narrow hips, saying I wouldn’t be good at having sons.

Me: “…”

I spat in disgust.

They were long-time bachelors, not Peng Yuyan or Andy Lau.

Who did they think they were, making demands on a blind date—as if they were emperors choosing concubines?

But only a few days later, Dad called and said Mom had suddenly suffered a brain hemorrhage and been hospitalized. He told me to come home right away.

I panicked. Without stopping to think, I booked a high-speed train ticket on my phone and hurried home.

At first, I planned to leave Xiao Hei at home by himself for a few days, but he insisted on coming with me.

Luckily, he could turn into a human, which saved me a hefty fee for transporting a pet.

I rushed all the way home without a break. When I reached the entrance to my parents’ apartment complex, I saw Mom sitting there playing mahjong with a group of older ladies.

A sudden brain hemorrhage?

Hospitalized?

Only when I saw Mom’s smug expression did I realize I’d been tricked.

8

The older ladies were delighted to see me. “Sisi, you’re back!”

“Sisi is so devoted. She comes home to visit her mother all the time. Unlike my child, who moved abroad and only comes back once a year.”

“Do you have a boyfriend yet, Sisi? You’re all grown up. It’s about time you got married.”

“My daughter-in-law is three months pregnant. I’ll be a grandmother before long!”

Three women together could put on a whole play. A crowd of them was noisy enough to turn the world upside down.

Mom and the ladies traded barbs back and forth. After a while, she finally brought me home.

“Mrs. He, would you care to explain? Weren’t you supposed to be in the hospital?”

I tried to hold back my anger as I asked.

Mom glanced at me, still sounding entirely justified. “If I hadn’t said that, would you have come home?”

“Every time I tell you to go on a blind date, you say you’re busy. You write novels. You’re not doing anything else, are you? You just type on a keyboard. You can do that anywhere.”

“I asked you to move back in with us. You’d save on rent, and you still refused.”

“You’re a grown woman and you don’t even have a boyfriend. Your Auntie Three’s daughter is already pregnant. Yesterday she called to brag she’d soon be a grandmother.”

“And you? You’ve never even held a man’s hand.”

I could refute one thing Mom said, and she’d always have a dozen more answers ready.

I couldn’t help arguing back. “Who says I’ve never held a man’s hand? I’ve held Dad’s!”

Not long ago, I’d even held Xiao Hei’s hand.

I added that silently to myself.

Mom saw the hint of a smile on my face and looked at me suspiciously. “You’re acting strange. Is there something going on?”

My heart nearly stopped. “What could be going on? Nothing, nothing at all. Don’t read into it.”

“I wish something were going on. You never give me a moment’s peace,” Mom muttered.

“Oh, right. Why did you get a dog?”

She looked down at Xiao Hei beside me, who had taken his wolf form.

“Why isn’t he on a leash? What if he bites someone?”

“He wouldn’t. Xiao Hei is very well-behaved.”

Mom gave me a look of utter exasperation. “Your naming sense is exactly like your father’s.”

“Other people get a white dog, and you name it Xiao Hei.”

“No wonder your father named you He Sijing.”

I was embarrassed and annoyed. “Mom, how many times have I told you? Don’t call me by my full name. Call me Sisi!”

9

Sure enough, the very next day Mom arranged a blind date for me.

She told me over and over to dress properly, not to go meet the man looking like a complete mess.

I lay face-down under the covers in despair. “I’ve had enough. Heaven, please send me a man!”

As soon as I finished speaking, a low, magnetic young man’s voice rang out.

“Would you like me to pretend to be my master’s boyfriend?”

I jolted. “Xiao Hei, didn’t we agree that while we’re at my parents’ place, you’d stay in your wolf form?”

Xiao Hei blinked, looking a little aggrieved. “Why? Then you wouldn’t have to go on a blind date.”

We were arguing when Mom pushed open the door.

“Sisi, are you getting up or not? The sun’s shining on your—Ah!”

“Ahhh!”

Mom and I screamed at the same time.

I frantically grabbed a blanket and covered Xiao Hei, who was naked. “Mom, how many times have I told you to knock before coming into my room?”

Mom’s voice was loud enough to lift the roof. “He Jianjun, get over here! Your daughter He Sijing has a man hidden in her room!”

Dad came running at the noise. The four of us stared at one another.

In the end, Dad had to give Xiao Hei a set of his own clothes.

Xiao Hei and I sat on the living-room sofa, with Mom and Dad seated on either side, taking turns interrogating us.

Their attitudes were complete opposites.

Mom was like a mother-in-law looking at her son-in-law: the more she looked, the more she liked him.

Dad, meanwhile, found more and more things about Xiao Hei to dislike.

Dad frowned. “What’s your name? What do you do? Where’s your family from? How many people are in your household? Do you have a car, a house, savings?”

Mom gave Dad an affectionate scolding. “Look at you, conducting a household-registration investigation. Don’t scare the boy.”

“What’s your name, dear?”

“Hello, Auntie. My name is Es…”

I gave a loud cough. If he said his real name, wouldn’t he give the whole thing away?

Xiao Hei looked at me, confused, then changed his answer. “My name is Xiao…”

“Cough, cough, cough!”

I hurriedly cut in. “His name is He Es!”

“Oh, the same surname as Sisi. What a coincidence!”

Mom’s eyes narrowed with delight.

“You’re a handsome young man. What do you do? Where are you from? How many people are in your household? Do you have a car, a house, savings?”

Me: “…”

Mom, you really think you’re asking tactfully, don’t you?

10

Xiao Hei sat up straight and answered seriously. “I’m self-employed…”

Dad’s expression darkened at once. “So you’re unemployed. Why not just say that?”

Mom glared at him. “You old-fashioned man. Does being self-employed mean someone’s unemployed?”

“Your daughter is self-employed too. Does that mean she’s unemployed?”

“…”

“I own a few shares in some companies and receive a little dividend each year. I’m not especially wealthy, but I can give Sisi a comfortable life.”

Xiao Hei continued, “I’m the only one left in my family, so Sisi won’t have to worry about a difficult mother-in-law relationship. And when the holidays come, we can visit her parents.”

Dad coughed softly. “You two aren’t even together yet. Don’t call us your in-laws so soon.”

“I have a house, a car, and savings. More than one of each, in fact. After we marry, I can put them all in Sisi’s name.”

Mom smiled so widely the wrinkles around her eyes stretched out. “Wonderful, wonderful.”

“I knew something was going on yesterday, but this little brat refused to admit it.”

“Sit right here. Auntie will make you something to eat.”

Mom had already accepted him, but Dad was still a tough hurdle.

“Why were you in Sisi’s room this morning without any clothes on?” Dad asked suspiciously.

I tensed. There was no easy way to explain that.

Xiao Hei lowered his head and gave an embarrassed smile. “Actually, I’m a terrible cook, and I made Sisi angry.”

“She told me to come to her without any clothes on, or she wouldn’t forgive me. So…”

Me: “?!”

You little rascal! You’ve ruined my reputation!

“Uncle, don’t worry. I’ll do my best to learn how to cook and make sure Sisi never has to lift a finger around the house!”

Dad’s expression softened a little. He gave an almost imperceptible nod.

I thought it would take Xiao Hei a while to win Dad over. But less than ten minutes later, the two of them were already studying Chinese chess together.

Dad beamed. “Having a son really is nice. Sisi never wanted to play chess with me.”

“She even says the name I gave her sounds bad. What’s wrong with it? Sijing, Sijing—what a lovely name!”

“Dad, how dare you bring up that name again!”

Halfway through the meal, Mom suddenly realized the dog was gone.

“Where’s your dog?”

I silently scoffed.

“He’s become your son-in-law.”

11

With Xiao Hei pretending to be my boyfriend, I was finally spared from blind dates.

But now Mom started urging us to go out together and cultivate our feelings.

In forty-degree heat, Xiao Hei and I were forced to wander around outside.

We found a café where we could escape the heat.

I scrolled on my phone and sighed. Life really wasn’t very exciting.

Normally Mom wouldn’t even cook at home, but during Xiao Hei’s visit she insisted on making meals for her future son-in-law.

She even pulled me aside to say that if I wanted to win a man’s heart, I should start by winning his stomach.

I didn’t know whether that was true, but Dad certainly hadn’t married Mom for her cooking.

Her food was, after all, difficult to describe.

Just then, a hand suddenly landed on my shoulder.

“Well, if it isn’t chubby He Sijing! Long time no see. Did you miss me?”

My whole body shook. I lowered my head and didn’t dare fight back.

Even without looking up, I knew who it was.

The young man draped an arm over my shoulder with the swagger of a thug. He was the nightmare of my entire youth—Qi Yu.

Back in school, he’d been notorious as a delinquent. He’d started pestering me because of a bet with someone else.

This wasn’t some sweet story about a school bully and an ordinary girl, like in a novel. It was real bullying.

He’d bet his friends that he would confess to the first girl he saw walking out of a classroom.

That girl was me.

Of course, I turned him down.

He felt humiliated, so he began bringing his friends to block me outside my classroom.

I wasn’t the sort to just put up with it. I told a teacher right away, but I complained so many times that even the teachers stopped wanting to deal with it.

“He Sijing, have you ever thought about what you’re doing wrong? Why does Qi Yu only bother you and not the other girls?”

The teacher’s careless words cut deeply into me.

After that, I went from being a cheerful, outgoing girl to quiet and withdrawn.

My body had developed early. I had a large bust, and with the loose school uniform I looked plump.

Qi Yu was the first to call me “fatty.” Then it became “you fat pig” and “cow.”

I thought about telling my parents.

But Qi Yu smugly told me that my father worked at a company owned by his uncle. If I dared tell anyone, he’d get my father fired.

Mom had just been laid off at the time, and money was tight. We were struggling to make ends meet, so I endured it.

The truth only came out later, when Mom went to school for a parent-teacher meeting.

She made a scene at the school, used every connection she had to gather evidence, and sued both the school and Qi Yu.

Dad smoked all night, his eyes red, blaming himself. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner? Even if I lost my job, I couldn’t let my precious daughter suffer like that!”

“I’m useless, and I’m sorry!”

In the end, the school and Qi Yu’s family compensated us, and I transferred schools.

Dad still lost his job.

For a while, our family was so poor we could barely pay rent.

I always felt I was the reason we’d struggled so much.

Luckily, we got through it.

But the wounds from my youth never disappeared. After that, I became afraid of getting close to other people.

While others laughed and shared their secrets with friends, I shut myself in my room and refused to talk to anyone.

After graduating and getting a job, I chose to make a living writing novels so I could minimize contact with people.

It was also why I’d wanted a pet. I was so lonely. I wanted something by my side.

12

I’d thought that nightmare was over. I never expected to run into Qi Yu again.

Qi Yu’s scream jolted me out of my memories.

Xiao Hei had grabbed his wrist and forced him to take his hand off me. His grip was so strong Qi Yu couldn’t resist.

Qi Yu’s wrist hurt as though it were about to snap. His face had turned green, and he shrieked in pain.

Xiao Hei no longer looked like the naïve, harmless boy he was with me. His wolfish nature was on full display.

His face darkened, and a cold green gleam flashed in his eyes. “If you don’t want this hand anymore, I can help you cut it off.”

Qi Yu shouted impatiently, “Who are you? What right do you have to interfere between me and He Sijing?”

Xiao Hei looked down at him with contempt, as though he were filth. “I’m her boyfriend. What do you think?”

Qi Yu looked at me, then at Xiao Hei. After a long pause, he sneered.

“Well, look at you. You’ve grown some backbone since I last saw you.”

“No wonder you were such a cow back then. You’re good at seducing men!”

“Back then you refused to go out with me. Now you’re sneaking around with some other guy?”

I hadn’t even had time to answer when Xiao Hei suddenly lifted his foot and kicked Qi Yu to the ground.

The kick sent him flying from our table all the way to the café entrance.

He coughed violently, spat out a mouthful of blood, and finally realized Xiao Hei wasn’t someone to mess with.

But leaving just like that would cost him too much face.

Qi Yu clutched his stomach and snarled, “That bitch He Sijing has already slept with me! I’ve got nude pictures of her. She’s trash. If you like her so much, I’ll give her to you!”

My eyes reddened. I lifted my head, trembling with rage.

He’d bullied me at school years ago, and now he was publicly slandering me!

Everyone around us turned to look.

I was back in those years again, when people pointed at me and threw filthy words in my face.

They wouldn’t listen to my side. Their lives were so boring that they needed somewhere to dump their own frustrations.

It only took a few words, and they wouldn’t feel guilty at all.

They would never know how badly their words could hurt an innocent person.

If I argued back, that meant I was guilty. If I stayed silent, that meant I was admitting it.

Just then, a woman at the table to our right sprang to her feet. “Shut up, you disgusting man! I heard everything. You harassed her, and when she wouldn’t entertain you, you got angry. Aren’t you ashamed of yourself?”

Another woman stood too. “Exactly! Taking pictures is wrong to begin with. What’s there to brag about? You’re wearing your own depravity like a medal. You’re scum!”

“Right! What gives you the right to insult her?”

“This victim-blaming nonsense doesn’t fly anymore!”

The murmurs around us grew louder.

Even a man stood up to condemn him. “You’re a disgrace to men. Get out!”

My trembling stopped. I looked up in disbelief.

Not one person insulted me.

They didn’t say I’d been harassed because I was promiscuous or because I’d dressed provocatively.

At last, Qi Yu was driven out of the café, humiliated.

I stared after him in a daze. Only now had that horrible nightmare truly ended.

The first woman who’d spoken up even bought me a cup of coffee to comfort me.

She told me not to let it get to me, and not to punish myself for someone else’s wrongdoing.

I smiled and thanked her.

“Could you tell me your name?”

Before she left, I couldn’t help asking.

She turned and gave me a bright smile. “Of course. I’m Du Yuzhu.”

13

It wasn’t until we left the café that I remembered to thank Xiao Hei.

He looked crestfallen. “Was what that man said true?”

At first I didn’t understand what he meant. After a long while, I managed to say, “He doesn’t have pictures of me. But back then, he and his friends did try to strip my clothes off. A security guard caught them, so they never got to see anything.”

“Does that bother you?” I asked carefully.

Xiao Hei took a step toward me and suddenly pulled me into his arms.

His low voice came from above my head.

“No. I just wish I’d found you sooner.”

If I’d found you sooner, I could have protected you.

For a moment, neither of us said another word.

Our hearts kept pounding.