Chapter 24: Targeted Again

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She was not angry. She waved for me to sit down and said, “I’ll give you one last chance. If no one answers, I’ll tell you myself.”

A girl in the first seat of the front row slowly raised her hand. The female teacher asked her to stand, and everyone listened intently.

Her hair hung loosely over her shoulders. Wearing a blue school uniform, she gazed at the colored diagram on the blackboard and said, “We’ll soon be adults. Maybe this is being taught so that we can learn about these things a little earlier?”

The teacher waved for her to sit down, then swept her eyes over every student. “Today’s lesson concerns one of the four major systems of the male and female body. Some of you may not understand why we need to study this sort of thing. It is because we need to understand human health and reduce illness. Knowing the physiological cycles of boys and girls will be very helpful to you.”

A male student raised his hand high. The teacher thought for a moment, then told him to stand.

He glanced awkwardly at all his classmates before stammering, “Whenever I look at the diagram on the blackboard, I think of girls. What am I supposed to do?”

The teacher had taught this kind of class for many years and was very experienced. She often encountered all sorts of embarrassing questions from her students.

“This is what you call a personal problem? The purpose of today’s lesson is not only to satisfy your curiosity, but also to teach you how to respond properly to physiological changes.”

I remembered having attended a similar lesson before. That teacher had not used any colored illustrations; she had merely spoken about it casually and then ended the class. I had never imagined that this school would have such a large diagram. It was truly astonishing.

I wanted to ask about this matter as well, so I raised my hand high.

The teacher, never afraid of trouble, gestured for me to stand.

I honestly told everyone what I was thinking and discovered that many of my classmates were frowning too, hoping for an explanation.

The teacher faced the class and said, “Everyone, what we are discussing today is an academic subject. It is not the same as those other matters. The main purpose is to introduce the body’s four major systems—for example, the circulatory, respiratory, digestive, and urinary systems—as well as human anatomy.”

I still had many questions, but before I knew it, the bell rang.

Then I heard that mature woman’s voice again, and immediately found myself wondering who she really was.

The teacher removed the colored diagram from the blackboard. It was a meter long and sixty centimeters wide. She folded it up, tucked it under her arm, and left.

The students slung their schoolbags over their shoulders and walked out of the classroom together. What they discussed most was still the diagram on the blackboard. Everyone had something different to say.

Jiang Meili clung tightly to my arm and did not let go for even a step as we left the school gates.

Madam was nowhere to be seen. Jiang Meili’s mother, however, was waiting beside the school on an electric scooter.

Jiang Meili climbed on, then waved at me enthusiastically. I waved back.

Her mother was a few years younger than Madam. Her hair was coiled up, and her face was heavily made up. She was dressed very fashionably, wearing a black gauze top, stockings, and a short floral skirt that reached her thighs, leaving certain things faintly visible.

Without greeting me, she rode around the corner and disappeared.

At that moment, I took out my phone and checked the time. It was 12:10 p.m. I was just about to put it back into my trouser pocket. The school uniforms had all been custom-made, and I had no idea what Xin Zhengtai had been thinking when he designed them—both the shirt and trousers had pockets.

Suddenly, the phone rang. I tapped the screen and held it to my ear.

“Hello?”

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“It’s Mom. I have something very important to tell you. I took the green jade bracelet I was wearing to be appraised. They said it was fake—some kind of Guatemalan jade—and not worth anything!”

“What is Guatemalan jade?”

“They said it’s a kind of worthless jade. If we sold it, it would fetch only a little over a hundred yuan.”

“Didn’t I tell you? It’s Mo Liping’s bracelet. Why did you take it to be appraised?”

“You know your father is in the hospital and needs money. Didn’t you say it was worth sixty million? If we had it appraised first and it turned out to be valuable, we could sell it and pay the medical bills.”

“Mom! Never mind what kind of jade it is. We can’t sell this bracelet. We still have to return it to Mo Liping.”

“Whether we return it now or not isn’t important. The problem is that it isn’t worth anything. Even if we sold it, it wouldn’t cover the hospital expenses.”

“Then just keep wearing it for the time being. In my opinion, the appraiser must have been mistaken. It came from an auction house. There’s no way it could be fake!”

“How can you trust everything Mo Liping says? What if she lied?”

“Why would she deceive me? I never told her anything, and from beginning to end she didn’t even know where the bracelet was.”

“Enough. We don’t have the hospital fees now, and the hospital won’t continue treating your father. What are you going to do?”

“Wait a moment. I’ll call her again.”

I ended the call and immediately dialed Mo Liping’s number. After a series of beeps, a woman’s recorded voice came through: “The number you have dialed…”

I could only hang up. Then I called Madam’s number and held the phone to my ear. After a moment, I heard her voice.

“What is it?”

“I can’t get through. She isn’t answering.”

“Stop dealing with her. What kind of person is she? The moment she hears you want to borrow money, she won’t even answer your calls.”

“Mom, you should have someone else examine it. It’s worth sixty million. We can’t let someone cheat us!”

“All right. I’ll handle it.”

The call ended.

Madam had not even asked where I was going to eat. I felt utterly miserable. Now I truly did not know whom to believe. What if Mo Liping had really lied?

I thought about it carefully. It was not impossible. But if the bracelet were fake, would she have gone all the way to the inpatient ward to look for me?

I put my phone into my trouser pocket. I did not know any other route, so I could only pass by the place where the top student had blocked my way before. To be honest, I was not afraid of them at all. If Jiang Meili did not cling to my legs, I could knock each of them down with one punch. I was certain I could flatten them.

Thinking about this, I walked past the area. I did not see the top student, but I unexpectedly ran into Pi Tiantian.

I had intended to take another route, but it was already too late.

Her face was thicker than a city wall. Like a dog, she followed after me, grinning more brightly than the sunlight from a long way off. She waved and called, “Hi, Zhengtai! Big Sister has been waiting here for ages. I finally managed to catch you!”

I said nothing. With a gloomy expression, I took out my phone from beneath my school uniform and dialed Madam’s number. Less than a minute later, I heard her voice.

“What happened?”

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“Mom, I want to go to the hospital. How is Dad?”

I kept my eyes fixed on Pi Tiantian, hoping she would understand and leave.

Seeing this, she forced an ingratiating smile, but she remained rooted to the spot.

Madam’s voice came through the phone again. “Don’t come. They won’t operate without money. Your father is still in the same condition. They’re only giving him anti-inflammatory injections. His lips are torn in several places, all his front teeth have been knocked out, and his nasal bridge is shattered. Without surgery, he can’t even leave the hospital!”

I covered the receiver and muttered under my breath, “Serves him right! There, now you’re in trouble. With a face that ugly, will any woman still want you?”

Madam waited for a long time without hearing a reply, then hung up.

Pi Tiantian stayed beside me, shamelessly refusing to leave. I gripped my phone tightly, shifted my gaze to her face, and said, “You heard that. The hospital needs money. Bring me twenty thousand yuan.”

She gave a foolish grin, thought for a moment, and answered, “I may not have twenty thousand, but I have a heart that loves you. Don’t you know that love is more important than money?”

I was speechless. Still, I could not feel at ease without scolding her a little.

“Can love be eaten? Can love cure Zhengtai’s father? You’re a high school graduate. Don’t tell me you’re still that naive and ignorant.”

Pi Tiantian simply said it outright. “Zhengtai, I love you! Once I graduate from university and find a good job, I’ll marry you properly.”

I wanted to give her a proper scolding.

“Your plans are far too distant. Zhengtai’s father is in the hospital and needs money right now! If your father has any, hurry home and get it. Once I have the money, we can talk about love.”

Pi Tiantian neither called anyone nor went home. Wherever I went, she followed. She followed me all the way to the bus stop. Several buses came and went, but I was still hesitating and could not bring myself to board.

At last, I leaned close to her ear and threatened her in a low voice. “If you keep following me, I’ll break your legs.”

She was not frightened in the slightest. She neither left nor took my words seriously.

I finally could not stand it anymore and climbed onto a bus. She followed closely behind, even paying the fare.

Before long, we arrived in front of the metal door on the fourth floor. I unlocked it, but she shoved the door open and slipped inside first.

I had no choice but to lock her in the apartment, while I remained outside, afraid to enter. I racked my brain, but could not think of a single solution. After pacing beside the door for a long time, I finally called Madam.

She answered, “What is it?”

“Mom, Pi Tiantian is here again. She’s seriously disrupting my studies, and I can’t get rid of her no matter what I do!”

When Madam heard this, she realized it was no small matter and told me to hand her the phone.

But I did not want to go inside, so I said, “She’s in our apartment, and I’m outside the door. Don’t you have her number?”

There was a brief hesitation before she replied, “I don’t have her number. Go inside and hand her the phone.”

What a nuisance. I could not hide from her, and I had no other choice. I could only open the door and crawl inside.