Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Over the years, Auntie Zhu looked down on Grandmother because of Ye Tianxin’s grades.
Grandmother had always said that it didn’t matter that Ye Tianxin’s grades were poor as long as Ye Tianxin was healthy, righteous, and kind.
Yet, she still hoped that Ye Tianxin would improve and be a top student in her school.
“Didn’t Youran always get the first place in all her previous exams? Why is she fourth this time?”
Auntie Zhu thought, ‘So what if she’s fourth? Tianxin wouldn’t be able to reach even 10!’
Would Ye Tianxin be able to do that?
“Auntie, do you know how your Tianxin did in the exams?”
“Our Tianxin did well in the exams,” Grandmother answered calmly and proudly. “She came first in school! I was very shocked. That child managed to get such high scores without making any fuss at all.”
First in school?
How was that possible?
Auntie Zhu slapped her thighs and laughed. “Auntie, your Tianxin might be playing a joke on you. I agree, she’s first…from…from the bottom!” Auntie Zhu burst out laughing.
Grandmother waited for Auntie Zhu to finish laughing before saying, “You must be disappointed. Our Tianxin came in first in the exams. Her total score is 738!”
Auntie Zhu completely forgot about the eggs she had placed beside her. She stood up and accidentally kicked the basket containing the eggs.
The eggs broke and made a mess on the floor.
“That’s impossible! Ye Tianxin has always been at the bottom of the class. How could she come in first in the exams?”
Auntie Zhu did not believe that, of course.
“You can go and ask your Youran if you don’t believe me,” Grandmother told Aunt Zhu. “The scores are all posted on the announcement board. I don’t think it will be posted there for all to see if it’s not true.”
Auntie Zhu did not care about anything else. She picked up her basket and left hurriedly.
Ye Tianxin and Jing Zhichen came out from the house then. Ye Tianxin used a rag to clean up the eggs on the floor before sitting down in a corner.
“Grandmother, are you happy that I did well in the exams?”
“I am.”
Grandmother was happy, of course.
“Then shall I top the province in the college entrance examinations?”
“Yes, yes, yes.”
Grandmother smiled happily.
Ye Tianxin was happy that Grandmother was happy. She hoped that sickness would not take her grandmother away.
She hoped that a smile like that would remain on her grandmother’s face forever.
“Oh, right, Grandmother! Do you really have an elder sister?” Jing Zhichen had overheard the conversation between Grandmother and Auntie Zhu.
Grandmother nodded. “That’s right. I have an elder sister. During the famine, my father fled with my elder sister, my younger brother, and me. When we reached someone’s house, my younger brother fell ill. That family took my elder sister in out of the goodness of their hearts. After that, my younger brother died from the illness, and my parents brought me home. My parents passed away not long after we returned home. They handed me over to the Old Master of the Ye family before they died, and I became a child-bride of the Ye family. So many years have passed and I don’t know if my elder sister is still alive…”
This was the first time Ye Tianxin heard Grandmother’s story.
“Grandmother, how about we put up an advertisement in the papers? Maybe we can still find Grandaunt! Do you and Grandaunt have any shared memories? Or perhaps, does Grandaunt have any birthmarks?”
Grandmother thought about it for a while before replying, “My elder sister has six fingers on her right hand. She is five years older than I, and she raised me when I was a child. She used to sing me a folk song back then.”
Grandmother began to hum the folk song.
Jing Zhichen felt that the song was oddly familiar when he heard it. He seemed to have heard someone singing the song a long time ago…