No One Knows [Rebirth] - Chapter 21

Chapter 21: I Should At Least Know…

President Qin pulled a stack of banknotes from his wallet. “What do you need it for?”

Qin Yu didn’t stand on ceremony. After putting the money away, she continued, “I want to buy two houses.”

2015 was exactly the time when real estate was booming; there was at least another five or six years of market growth left. In Lanshi, in particular, housing prices would skyrocket in 2016, showing exponential growth. Qin Yu remembered that at the end of this year, the municipal government would announce a new policy planning an Economic Development Zone right in the Yutai District. The old houses there were worth about 3,000 per square meter, but after the government demolition, prices would soar toward 25,000.

At their peak, they would be hyped up to 48,000 per square meter. Qin Yu didn’t plan to sell at the highest point—that would be too conspicuous—but she had no reason to let such an obvious opportunity to get rich pass her by.

“Why buy houses?” President Qin asked. “If it’s for investment, I’ve already bought you one in the Xiangshan District and one in the capital of the neighboring province. They’re being rented out right now. When you grow up and want to live in them, we’ll just renovate them.”

Qin Yu was aware of those two properties. They hadn’t been put in her name, and after her family went bankrupt, those houses were used to pay off debts.

“I’ve just got my eye on a specific piece of land. I feel it has great investment value,” Qin Yu said. “Let’s just try it. It’s not that expensive.”

Qin Yu even pulled out a map to show President Qin, taking the chance to persuade him: “Haven’t you been saying the rent for your office building keeps going up? You might as well take this opportunity to relocate there. A good location means more opportunities. The Yutai District has beautiful scenery, but the roads are lacking. However, the government can fix the roads with a single word. Soon, high-rise buildings will rise from the ground, and by then, you’ll be among the first to eat the crab.”

Qin Yu laid out a beautiful blueprint for the future. President Qin stroked his chin as he looked at her: “Daughter, have you been to a pyramid scheme training?”

Qin Yu: “…”

President Qin: “You have a real talent for pyramid schemes.”

Qin Yu sighed helplessly: “There’s a difference between marketing and pyramid schemes, Dad.”

However, Qin Yu knew this wouldn’t be accomplished in a day, so she stopped after a few sentences, asking him for one million yuan. Upon hearing the amount, Mrs. Wen said she was being a bit excessive. What kind of second-year high school student asks their family for that much money?

Qin Yu insisted, “Don’t be in a rush to give it to me. I’ll prepare a report for Dad to look at over the next few days. I feel like, no matter how you calculate it, it’s a deal that can’t lose money.”

Not to mention whether she could actually produce the report—just hearing these few words had already coaxed President Qin into a beaming smile.

Once the small talk was finished, Qin Yu felt full of energy again and headed upstairs with Tang Ruibai. Once she pushed Tang Ruibai into her room, Tang Ruibai’s scrutinizing gaze remained fixed on her face. The intensity of her stare was so heavy that even Qin Yu couldn’t ignore it.

She had no choice but to bite the bullet and ask: “What’s wrong?”

Tang Ruibai frowned, appearing to hesitate, but asked anyway: “Who am I a substitute for?”

Qin Yu was startled: “Huh?”

Tang Ruibai recalled the feeling when Qin Yu leaned on her shoulder just now—a natural sense of familiarity, as if she had leaned on her shoulder countless times before. But Tang Ruibai knew they had never even spoken to each other before. She didn’t believe a word of the rumors about Qin Yu having a crush on her, because every time she had caught a glimpse of Qin Yu, she had been peeking at her, but Qin Yu had never once looked back at her.

“Since I’m already a substitute, I should at least know whose substitute I am,” Tang Ruibai said, pretending to be nonchalant.

Qin Yu was even more confused: “What substitute? Whose substitute are you?”

Before she could finish, her phone rang. It was Lu Xin coming to deliver “knowledge.” Qin Yu handed the majority of the money she had just gotten from President Qin to Tang Ruibai, muttering “finders keepers” before running downstairs.

Tang Ruibai maneuvered her wheelchair to the window. Downstairs, the young girl ran to the entrance full of spirit. A quiet, gentle girl was chewing on a lollipop while handing over a stack of notebooks. The scene was beautiful, like an idol drama brought to life. And she was just a spectator outside the play.

The light and shadow made her own dimness and inferiority impossible to hide. It was just like at the dinner table—a happy family of three, and she was merely an intruder. Even though Mrs. Wen and President Qin were kind and charitable, and Qin Yu took great care of her, she knew that she and they were not from the same world. Even if they breathed the same air and sat at the same table eating the same food, they were different.

Qin Yu and Lu Xin were neighbors, and Mrs. Wen and Lu’s mother had been best friends for over twenty years. Lu’s mother was even more introverted than Mrs. Wen, with a love for staying home, so they didn’t seem close. But Qin Yu and Lu Xin had been in the same class since elementary school; even though they were in different classes in middle school, they commuted together. It could be considered a revolutionary friendship built since childhood.

Lu Xin shared her mother’s personality, quiet to the point of being easily overlooked, yet extremely steady. When Qin Yu saw her suddenly on the day of her rebirth, her mind was occupied by Tang Ruibai’s matters, and she hadn’t paid her much attention. But seeing her again now, she felt a pang of sorrow.

During the vacation after the college entrance exam, Lu Xin had been diagnosed with anemic-type heart disease. By the time it was discovered, it was terminal, leading to multiple organ failure. From the moment she fainted and was sent to the hospital to the moment she died, less than a month had passed. She didn’t know if Lu Xin had hidden it to finish the entrance exams, but her body had long been weak to the point of collapse, yet she had stubbornly dragged herself until the end of the exams. It was clear the Lu family didn’t need her to prove anything with those scores.

When Qin Yu found out, Lu Xin had already been lying in the hospital for half a month. Qin Yu had taken a summer job, and when she rushed to the hospital after work, she saw Lu Xin, who looked withered and gaunt.

Lu Xin had insisted on finishing the exams and lay in her hospital bed saying to her: “I still want to hang on a bit longer to see my scores. If I can score higher than you, my mom won’t always envy Auntie Wen.”

Qin Yu knew Lu’s mother liked her because she had been cheerful since she was a child, plus she had two dimples, eyes that curved when she smiled, and a sweet way of coaxing people—she possessed every trait elders loved. But she never knew this had become a stone weighing on Lu Xin’s heart. Parents always praise other people’s children, even when they are already proud of their own.

Qin Yu had heard Lu’s mother praise Lu Xin at her house more than once, saying that even though Lu Xin was dull, she was obedient, sensible, and well-behaved—a huge blessing to have such a daughter. Mrs. Wen would join in the praise. Lu Xin was that type of child who was never outstanding in any one thing but never did poorly in anything. It was only then that Qin Yu realized Lu Xin had been competing with her in secret. But that competition had been positive; she just wanted to prove to her mother that she could do it too.

Lying in the hospital bed, Lu Xin spoke with difficulty but looked at her with her usual gentle smile: “Actually, this is for the best. After I pass away, Mom and Dad won’t have a daughter anymore. Since you’ve lost your parents, you can just be a family.”

Qin Yu scolded her: “What kind of nonsense is that? Can I be the same as you in their hearts?”

“The same, the same,” Lu Xin said with a light smile: “Who knows, maybe my mom will be even happier. You’re such a wonderful person.” Not only that, but Lu Xin had also comforted her. Qin Yu had never known Lu Xin could be so talkative. After all, they had taken the same car to school every day in elementary school, and they wouldn’t say twenty sentences to each other in a month.

In the end, Lu Xin didn’t make it to the day the scores were released. That summer was truly cold. Qin Yu had lost Lu Xin forever, along with Auntie Lu, who had always praised her with a smile. Lu Xin was the daughter Auntie Lu had nearly died giving birth to. No one knew how deep the bond between them was. When the daughter was gone, her heart went with her. Not long after Lu Xin passed, someone found Auntie Lu’s body at Lu Xin’s grave.

Years later, seeing the obedient and quiet Lu Xin again, Qin Yu felt a wave of melancholy. “You’re here.”

“Mhm.” Lu Xin nodded at her. “These are the notes you wanted. I also included my English notes, and the notes from class over the last two days—Qi Miaoyan, Ling Feng, and I split the subjects and helped you record them.”

Qin Yu smiled at her: “Thanks.”

“It’s nothing.” Lu Xin wanted to leave after giving her the things, but Qin Yu called out to her, “Come to the hospital with me this week.”

Lu Xin was startled: “Go to the hospital for what?”

“Just a check-up.” Qin Yu wanted to take her for a full physical: “Doesn’t your aunt work at the hospital? Getting a check-up won’t hurt.” Early detection and early treatment—if a condition like hers had been prevented during the early stages of anemia, it never would have led to such dire consequences.

“Not going.” Lu Xin frowned: “I’m not sick.”

“I didn’t say you were sick.” Qin Yu saw a fallen leaf in her hair and reached out to brush it off: “I’m asking you to keep me company. Do you have something to hide, Lu Xiao Xin?”

Lu Xin crunched the lollipop in her mouth, the overwhelming sweetness turning slightly bitter as it dissipated. “Which day? I’ll ask my aunt.”

Qin Yu could only schedule it for Sunday. Lu Xin nodded: “I probably can only get an emergency appointment, I’ll let you know after I ask.”

As she spoke, Lu Xin suddenly looked up and saw a girl in a wheelchair in front of the window on the second floor. Through the glass, she could only see a desolate silhouette. Lu Xin asked one more thing: “Do you have guests at home?”

“Mhm.” Qin Yu also turned her head to look in the direction of her gaze and waved at the upstairs. The dim light illuminated her slender, solitary figure.

“Someone very important to me.” Qin Yu patted her shoulder: “Lu Xin, stop being a picky eater. Buy a few bags of dates to eat. You don’t have much color in your face.”

Lu Xin gave her a fake smile: “Why have you suddenly become so nagging?” After saying this, she tilted her chin toward the upstairs and asked: “Is that the girl from Mingchao Middle School?”

“You know?” Qin Yu said: “I’ll introduce her to you guys in a few days. Don’t worry.”

Lu Xin wasn’t a gossip to begin with, so she left after delivering the things. But before she left, she turned her head one last time to look upstairs. The silhouette was still sitting by the window. Lu Xin thought for a moment—it seemed she should say hello—so she raised her hand and waved.

Tang Ruibai saw the wave, and she also saw her stiff, cold expression, and couldn’t help but curl her lips—Is this a provocation? A provocation from the “authentic” to her, the substitute? Truly, a waste of effort.