Close Enough To Pluck the Stars” (GL) - Chapter 10

Chapter 10

“Where are we going? I’m not going if it’s karaoke.” Zhao Pu was born tone-deaf and was particularly wary at this moment.

“Who goes to karaoke on such a beautiful day? If you sang, I’d be worried about everyone’s ears.” Liang Ke opened the navigation on her phone to plan a rough route, then, without broaching any argument, began hauling the remaining “little goldfish” pop snappers and the trash from the fireworks into the car.

Luo Han and Ye Tianze hurriedly helped. Meanwhile, Shu Qingchen’s phone rang; she stepped away from the crowd to take the call, and everyone instinctively lowered their voices.

Her expression remained neutral as she spoke, making it impossible to tell if the news was good or bad. Liang Ke tilted her head, watching her, not daring to interrupt. She waited patiently for a long while until Shu Qingchen called her name: “Liang Ke, come back with me.”

“Coming, coming!” Liang Ke followed obediently, yet she felt the way Shu Qingchen looked at her was strange—it held an unfamiliar chill.

Shu Qingchen coldly told her to get in the car first, then walked back into the crowd to search: “Luo Han?”

“Dr. Shu, I’m here,” Luo Han replied, still appearing timid.

Shu Qingchen walked over to him personally and scanned the surroundings. Ye Tianze and Zhao Pu, sensing something, took a few steps back and huddled by the car, noisily pestering Liang Ke about where this “fun place” she mentioned actually was.

Realizing no one was eavesdropping, Shu Qingchen gave Luo Han her own contact information, Hu Yizhi’s contact info, and the professional email address of a research institute administrator.

“Within a week, any supplementary materials for a complaint can be sent to this email. Someone will be assigned to process it quickly,” Shu Qingchen said to Luo Han. Her expression was serious, tinged with a hint of pity. Finally, she added: “You may record any phone calls from Liang Ke and, at your discretion, provide them to me as evidence.”

Luo Han was utterly confused but nodded anyway. At that moment, Ye Tianze and Liang Ke both received successive calls from Hu Yizhi.

“Cooperate fully with the investigation; don’t get emotional,” the old man Hu said to Liang Ke before quickly hanging up. He then gave earnest instructions to Ye Tianze: “I cannot participate in this action, lest others say I am protecting my own.” He added: “Help me persuade Liang Ke. An innocent person has nothing to fear; tell her not to act on impulse.”

The party had been strangled halfway through. Filled with suspicion and confusion, Liang Ke followed Shu Qingchen back home. It was only when she stepped through the door that she remembered Xiao Xiao had said she was moving out today.

The clutter in the study had been half-cleared. Only a small cardboard box remained standing by the door, adorned with two sticky notes containing a simple farewell. Liang Ke looked them over repeatedly, somehow sensing a hint of a final goodbye in the words.

She opened the box. Inside was a rusted but spotlessly clean music box. Beneath it lay a bedsheet, washed until it was pale but ironed so perfectly that there wasn’t a single wrinkle except for the fold lines.

This made Liang Ke feel that something was completely wrong. The music box was the primary school graduation gift she had given to Xiao Xiao. Because they kept skipping grades, they had actually only been classmates for two years.

The events of that particular year were not worth mentioning to Liang Ke, but for Xiao Xiao, they held immense significance.

Despite being a wealthy young lady envied by countless peers, Xiao Xiao had a very troubled background. Having lost her mother at a young age, and with her father, “The Iron Tower” Xiao, busy with his business, she was inevitably neglected. Out of guilt, her father tried to compensate with excessive indulgence. Sometimes, just for the toys that came with a meal, Xiao Xiao would eat junk food for a month straight; her father couldn’t bring himself to stop her, only asking repeatedly if she had enough money or if there was anything she wanted.

Over time, negative changes occurred in Xiao Xiao’s physique and psychology. She quickly became a target for the mean, ostentatious children in class to mock and even bully.

The homeroom teacher happened to be a young woman fresh out of college—kind and approachable enough, but lacking experience. Her few attempts at intervention yielded little result. Once the atmosphere of bullying and mocking classmates formed, it spread like a wildfire. Xiao Xiao and a boy in class with cerebral palsy bore the brunt of it, being isolated and ridiculed. There were even “bad kids” from other classes who heard she had a large allowance and robbed her on her way home.

At the time, Xiao Xiao felt that every day at school was like trekking through a swamp in a dense rainforest—difficult, suffocating, and devoid of hope.

One day, it was her turn for classroom duty, so she stayed late after school. Two students from the same group were chasing each other, playing with brooms; broken bamboo twigs fell all over the floor, and a small water bucket was kicked over, leaving the area under the podium a mess.

“Xiao Xiao, you clean it up. We’re going home,” Student A commanded loudly.

“Yeah, I have to go back and do homework. My mom is waiting anxiously,” Student B chimed in.

“I won’t. Why should I?” Xiao Xiao gripped her mop nervously, offering a weak protest.

“Because we said so!” “Anyway, you don’t have a mom, so it doesn’t matter what time you get back.”

The two swung their backpacks over their shoulders, threatening Xiao Xiao to clean it thoroughly. They warned that if hygiene points were docked tomorrow morning, they’d hold her accountable, and shouted that she’d better not dare tell the teacher. With a clang, they slammed the classroom door and ran off.

Liang Ke was in the “Gan Luo” (gifted) class of the same grade. She usually stayed late anyway, but today she had stayed even longer to discuss problems with a classmate. Walking down the hallway with her head down, her train of thought was abruptly broken by the loud bang of the door. Just as she was about to get annoyed, she heard the faint sound of crying coming from that classroom.

She and her classmate pushed open the door and found the chubby girl, Xiao Xiao, in the corner.

“What’s wrong with you?”

Liang Ke, standing there straight as a young poplar tree, tilted her head. She became the first ray of sunlight to shine into Xiao Xiao’s dark childhood.

After asking for the reason, Liang Ke slapped the table and said it was no big deal. She grabbed a mop herself and called over Zhao Pu, who was waiting for her on the playground while playing soccer. The three children began working with great fervor.

The only adult in Liang Ke’s home at the time was her distinguished grandmother—an elegant woman of extraordinary talent who taught violin and composition at the conservatory. She had been famous as a prodigy since her youth and now possessed profound artistic achievements with students all over the world. God had opened many doors for her, but had closed a few windows—specifically regarding housework. In Liang Ke’s words, “This house can’t function without me.” Thus, from a young age, Liang Ke possessed the professional spirit of a domestic worker; she was quick, organized, and even found the process of labor pleasant and enjoyable.

The hygiene issue was perfectly resolved. The naughty children returned to peer through the window, their overbearing arrogance completely vanished.

“What’s her relationship with Liang Ke?”

“I haven’t heard anything. What kind of relationship could those two have?”

“Exactly. But that’s Liang Ke, ahhh!”