Chapter 9

Unintentionally Left Scars 

Sometimes, Li Ai stared blankly, his eyes dull like a plaster statue, having not been illuminated in a long time.

Maybe it was because he lacked intention, which made the creases at the corner of his smiling eyes emanate a kind of tenderness—scars, the sharpest kind of ring in the tree of life.

Qin Xiao Yi helped Hu Xiu get a taxi, leaving her home address in his phone.

Just thinking about it made Hu Xiu uneasy—did he treat other female players with such attentiveness?

What if he was a pervert who came knocking on her door? How would she repay him for the cab fare? Could she even get his contact details?

Or, did he… truly remember her and like her?

There was no way to verify. The only thing Hu Xiu was certain of was that just thinking about that rainy night was like drinking a dozen depth charges with a bucket of cola, the aftereffects lingering for three days, with every moment keeping her high.

To shield the umbrella and avoid soaking his backpack, Qin Xiao Yi held the umbrella over his own head as Hu Xiu climbed into the car. From the moment she stepped under the umbrella until she got into the car, she didn’t get wet again.

What Zhao Xiaorou had said, that Hu Xiu couldn’t remember Qin Xiao Yi’s face because she was afraid to look at him, was true. Before getting into the car, Hu Xiu had seriously locked eyes with Qin Xiao Yi for three seconds and sincerely thanked him.

It was Qin Xiao Yi, however, who avoided her gaze and shyly waved his hand before the car started.

Hu Xiu’s memory of Qin Xiao Yi’s face was clearly etched in her mind. It was different from the one in a suit—his sharp brow bones, deep eye sockets, thin eyelids, and sharp eye corners made his eyes look mysterious. His large, dark pupils, sparkling like a fawn’s, his slightly protruding lips, perfectly shaped, curved with a hint of arrogance—his face wasn’t measured with a ruler but had a distinctive charm.

His black, short hair and sharp features gave his face even more contrast, the lines clean in the interplay of light and shadow, covered with indifference towards the world but radiating curiosity, tenderness, and kindness. In the play, it dazzled, while in reality, it left only silence for others.

He really didn’t look like an ordinary boy in this urban life. Hu Xiu thought his love life was certainly more luxurious than she imagined. His face had stepped out of a comic strip, and with a little indulgence, he could easily attract envious gazes. He would definitely have an exciting, dramatic love affair, and such a gentleman would never end things abruptly. Sigh, even if the heartbreak ended, it wouldn’t matter.

He would carry his heartache inside, turning it into a face full of stories, with plenty of youth left after that.

She understood—they were from different worlds.

It didn’t matter; after rounding it all up, Hu Xiu was the woman who had been briefly touched by Qin Xiao Yi’s love, like a dragonfly skimming the surface of water.

If Zhao Xiaorou knew about this story, she would surely embellish it, claiming that Hu Xiu had already shared a passionate kiss with Qin Xiao Yi and was about to indulge in passionate romance.

She couldn’t underestimate this married woman’s terrifying imagination. Zhao Xiaorou might even turn it into a reader-submitted story in her regularly published emotional videos. Zhao Xiaorou was very good at imagining such scenarios.

But after experiencing a romantic night, Hu Xiu didn’t rush to buy tickets for a murder mystery game—

Perhaps it was because Qin Xiao Yi’s umbrella gave her a little confidence.

Or maybe, after being drenched in the artistic film-like rain, the comfort seeped into her mind, giving her the courage to seriously revise her resume and start job hunting.

She opened the Xiaobaihe BBS and entered the translation section for job openings. Hu Xiu carefully revised each resume she sent out to match the company’s requirements precisely.

For her interview, Hu Xiu put on makeup, looked refreshed and confident, and honestly explained that the gap year was for gaining social experience, enriching her knowledge, and that experience in broadcasting was an essential quality for an interpreter.

Soon, she received offers from two companies, a pharmaceutical company in Zhangjiang and a hospital in Huangpu District. The work in both wasn’t directly related to translation, but the former offered high salary, while the latter was stable and might lead to a permanent position.

Sitting at her desk, Hu Xiu put her hands together and bowed to the tissue on the wall—

That was the tissue Qin Xiao Yi had placed on her forehead in the rain. She hadn’t been able to throw it away.

If a better job came up, she’d wait a bit longer. That way, when she saw Qin Xiao Yi again, the successful, independent Hu Xiu could stand tall.

Her job search hadn’t been difficult. While many graduates majored in English, only a few could become interpreters. It wasn’t something you could achieve by cramming for the English proficiency exams, but through high-intensity practice.

And with a little talent for languages, coupled with the ability not to let impatience or anxiety show in her tone, only such people could earn the honor.

Only two people from her program became interpreters, the other being her roommate, a girl from the Pearl River Delta, influenced by Hong Kong culture. Even if she only watched movies on IMDb every day, she could still win scholarships with a last-minute effort.

Hu Xiu’s skills, however, were earned through solid time and effort, and she never believed she could get something without working hard.

There was another person who didn’t think so either, but before she could even process it, the phone rang.

The disaster god always seems to visit her life every now and then. When she answered the call, she thought to herself, I wonder how long this round of emotional blow will last.

“Dad...”

“Top-top, I’m in Shanghai. Let’s have dinner together next week, catch up. I’ll introduce you to a friend.”

Short and to the point, the instructions were all given, and what Hu Xiu needed to do next was book a restaurant with a good ambiance, one that was suitable for a father-daughter chat, preferably with a live band playing piano and saxophone; she also needed to quickly confirm the offer, because her dad might visit the place where she worked.

And she had to quickly clean up her new place, dispose of broken boxes and old clothes, because her dad wouldn’t tolerate any mess or disorder in his sight.

After tidying the room, she glanced at the tissue stuck to the wall with a pink planner sticker. Hu Xiu felt a moment of sympathy, but still left it there. If she took it down, it might tear, and her dad’s attention wouldn’t stretch to the desk anyway.

A week later, they met at Jing’an Temple. Hu Xiu saw her father from a distance, looking weary from travel.

His temples were graying, but his posture remained straight, with sharp silver-framed glasses, and when he greeted her, it felt like a leader meeting a foreign guest.

Sighing inwardly, Hu Xiu took the briefcase from her father’s hand, instantly recognizing it was a music score—he must have been tutoring music students again. Apart from her, it seemed that the students her father took on were all top performers who got into prestigious music schools. The beautiful girls he taught were his pride. Sitting across from him, a strange thought crossed Hu Xiu’s mind—after all these years without contact, a man in his fifties, with such an aloof temperament, surely had someone who liked him.

Maybe her dad had a young and beautiful girlfriend, and she just didn’t know about it.

“Top-top, it’s been a year. How have you been?”

“Pretty good, doing translation.”

“Where do you work?”

“In Huangpu District, at a hospital.” Hu Xiu hesitated, thinking if she mentioned Pudong or Zhangjiang, her father might think she wasn’t doing well in the big city.

“What do you do specifically?”

“Translation...” Hu Xiu couldn’t look him in the eye, quickly running through the job description in her mind: “Mostly administrative work, I only do translation on weekends or during medical conferences. Translation is mostly freelance.”

“How’s the income?”

“Not bad, about twenty thousand a month.” After saying this, Hu Xiu felt a little uncertain. There was only enough money left in her account for ten more visits to see Qin Xiaoyi.

“Sounds good. You’re my only daughter. Although I don’t interfere with your life, you can’t be like your mom, a morally corrupt prostitute.”

“Don’t say that...” Hu Xiu said, displeased.

“What’s the matter, defending your mom? When she had an affair at eighteen and brought it to the house, it wasn’t until ten years later that I gave her the lesson she deserved. I’ve already given her enough dignity.

I’m really afraid you’ll end up like her, scheming in marriage. Top-top, you need to be an upright and moral girl, understand?”

Hu Xiu didn’t speak, just nodded lightly.

“I recently tutored two students, both from Nanjing Foreign Language School. Now they’re in the piano department and one got into the composition department at the music academy. With good genes and proper tutoring, their lives are much smoother than others’. You probably just lacked a bit of luck.”

Her father wanted to smoke, but was stopped by the waiter. He coughed a few times to salvage his dignity: “So, getting married early would actually be beneficial for a mediocre girl like you.”

“I...”

“Face reality. I’ve invested the most effort into you, and in the end, you’ve only become an ordinary administrative assistant, taking freelance translation gigs on weekends.

At twenty-seven, it’s still a good age to get married, but any later and it’ll be too late. One of my student’s parents has a younger brother who works in Shanghai, lives in Minhang. I’ve already sent you his WeChat. He’s probably six years older than you, but it sounds like he has a house and a car. After dinner, contact him.”

“Huh?”

“Can you speak properly? You’ve been stammering since you were little. Don’t be like your mom. Back then, I was probably fooled by her clumsy act, later realizing it was all a facade. Maybe you’re the same, pretending to be naive, playing the pig to eat the tiger.”

Hu Xiu almost laughed at the last remark, holding back her amusement. He must have a new girlfriend—young, probably into trendy slang, which is why he was in the mood to visit her.

Her attention shifted to the latter part of what he said—”pretending to be naive.” She did feel like the female lead of an idol drama when she was drenched in the rain that night.

If Qin Xiaoyi remembered her, it did feel like she was intentionally playing the victim, since such a gentleman like him couldn’t possibly ignore a lonely girl in the middle of the night.

Her father, who had actively asked to see her place, seemed satisfied with the transparent apartment, especially the desk cluttered with materials and the tidy wardrobe.

And then Murphy’s Law struck unexpectedly—her father swiftly tore the tissue off the wall. “What’s this crumpled tissue doing stuck on the wall? It’s unsightly...”

She barely ate any of the local dishes during dinner. Not daring to take leftovers in front of her image-conscious father, Hu Xiu left hungry and went to REGARD to eat leftover cake with Li Ai. She felt a bit sorry for the squirrel-shaped fish that hadn’t been eaten.

Li Ai always ordered extra pieces of cake, like leaving food for stray cats in the back kitchen, waiting for Hu Xiu.

With Zhao Xiaorou absent, Hu Xiu could relax in the café, sipping coffee and passing time. Single, Li Ai didn’t chase her away; instead, he willingly chatted with her.

In Li Ai’s words, Hu Xiu was a gift from heaven to this dull and barren city.

Though she seemed like a girl moving mountains with perseverance, she always managed to make people’s eyes light up when they saw her.

Hu Xiu never dared to remember this sentence too much—it was a bit too cheesy, and she felt she didn’t deserve it.

For instance, today her father’s words about mediocrity and ordinariness fell heavily, echoing in her ears.

“Don’t tell Zhao Xiaorou that my dad came today. I don’t want to hear anyone criticize me for now.”

“I won’t say anything. Girls always have some little secrets between them.”

“Thank you...”

“But I don’t really understand why your dad is so obsessed with whether you’re excellent or not.”

“If you were my daughter, I’d really be proud of you, and your life hasn’t been easy.”

“He probably thinks he has seen through society,” Hu Xiu tucked the stray hair from her forehead behind her ear, a coffee stain still on the corner of her mouth, “After all, for ordinary people, being able to get married and have a stable family equals happiness. As for the life outside of the ordinary, most people haven’t experienced it, so they can’t imagine it.”

“Though that’s the logic, it doesn’t mean you have to accept it,” Li Ai, grinding coffee beans, spoke calmly.

“I only found out in high school that girls’ lives could be so luxurious. They could ask their dads for pocket money, go to amusement parks, quit playing the piano or dancing if they wanted, still buy beautiful dresses, and every little bit of pain or suffering would have a pink lace trim.

The biggest gift my dad gave me was training me to be a top-tier person. Since I didn’t make it, he’s continuing to pave the way for me. I... understand that.”

“Oh my...” Li Ai, seemingly subconsciously, adopted Zhao Xiaorou’s tone, “You’ve been through so much hardship.”

“Since Zhao Xiaorou isn’t here, let me tell you a joke. There’s an old name on my household registration, guess what it was?”

Li Ai put his hand to his ear.

“Hu Ding...” Hu Xiu leaned back in her chair with effort, “It was originally Hu Ding, but my dad thought it wasn’t imposing enough, so he changed it again. ‘One word worth nine ding,’ and it sounds like ‘ding,’ hoping I could be someone outstanding. When I was three, at kindergarten registration, my mom thought the name sounded terrible, so she secretly changed it. My dad was furious, saying that name was bound to lead to failure. But my mom threatened him, saying if it was changed back to Hu Ding, she would divorce him. At that time... they were still really in love.”

Li Ai didn’t offer any comfort. When the other customers left, he quietly said, “Since Zhao Xiaorou isn’t here, I’ll tell you a secret too. On the day my wife died in the car accident, the ultrasound showed she was carrying a daughter.

She wanted to surprise me, sent half a text and then hid it, planning to tell me in person. But—well, I never got to hear it.”

The steam from the humidifier continued to drift out like thin threads. Hu Xiu said nothing, just watched Li Ai quietly wipe his cup with a tissue. The words they had spoken hung in the air, solidifying, black and white, as if wiped by dust and then dispersed by the light.

Occasionally, when Li Ai spaced out, his eyes seemed dull like a plaster statue, eyes that hadn’t been lit in a long time.

Perhaps it was because he lacked desire, which made the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes soften when he smiled—scars, the sharpest kind in the rings of years.