No One Knows [Rebirth] - Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Is Her Unattainable…

Compared to Lan City No. 2 Middle School, Mingchao Middle School was like the difference between clouds and mud.

Over at No. 2 Middle School, hardly anyone was seen coming or going during activity hours. Fearing her uniform would be too conspicuous, Qin Yu took off her jacket and stuffed it into her backpack.

Meanwhile, at Mingchao, students in groups of twos and threes strolled idly through the streets. Their uniforms were much more stylish than those at No. 2 Middle School. While No. 2 Middle School had the traditional blue-and-white tracksuits, Mingchao’s uniforms were gendered: boys wore white shirts with Japanese-style blazers, and girls wore pink shirts with plaid skirts, only switching to trousers in late autumn and winter.

This fact was the envy of countless No. 2 Middle School students. Most of the few students from Mingchao who managed to get into undergraduate programs each year were art students.

Qin Yu didn’t care about any of that. Her steps were slightly floaty as she walked toward Mingchao Middle School.

A security guard noticed her unfamiliar face and glanced at her loose, dark blue school trousers. “Which school are you from?”

Qin Yu replied calmly, “No. 2 Middle School. My mom asked me to deliver some notes to my younger sister. She’s in Grade 11, Class 3. Her name is Tang Ruibai.”

The guard looked at her suspiciously, but she was from No. 2 Middle School across the street. Usually, it was their Mingchao students who went out looking for trouble; there was no precedent for a No. 2 Middle School student coming to Mingchao to start a fight.

The guard pointed to a logbook. “Sign in.”

Qin Yu quickly wrote down the information. The guard added, “Deliver it and get out quickly.”

“Okay.” After finishing, Qin Yu gave him a well-behaved smile and asked, “Which way to the Grade 11 building?”

Armed with the directions, Qin Yu hurried toward the building on the right. Mingchao wasn’t as large as No. 2 Middle School, and she arrived quickly. Following the signs above the classroom doors, she found Class 3.

Luckily, she had found Tang Ruibai’s notebook in the villa; otherwise, she wouldn’t have known which class she was in and would have had to ask around aimlessly.

It was break time, and many people were out of the classroom. A quick glance inside revealed two couples flirting and a few others huddled over their phones watching dramas. Only in the front row were two girls working on test papers, wearing headphones and looking quite serious.

Qin Yu tapped on the classroom door. No one responded. She tapped again, louder this time. The girl in the front row looked up, took off her headphones, and frowned slightly, calling out tentatively, “Qin Yu?”

Qin Yu was startled. She walked over and asked, “You know me?”

The girl nodded. “We went to the same junior high. I was in the class next to yours.”

A girl like Qin Yu was highly recognizable: beautiful, easygoing, excellent grades, and from a good family. She was like a darling of the Creator, with all the brilliance focused on her. Yet she seemed unaware of it, offering a smile to everyone.

Qin Yu smiled at her. “I see. Then we’re old classmates. What a coincidence.”

After being tempered by the years, Qin Yu’s smile was more restrained. Though it lacked the raw sincerity of youth, it was more comfortable and carried a touch of warmth. Everything she did was perfectly balanced, appearing extremely gentle. “I’m looking for a friend.”

The girl asked, “In our class? Who?”

Qin Yu felt a sudden surge of nervousness. When the name left her throat, it sounded incredibly precious. “Tang Ruibai.”

For a moment, Qin Yu’s eyes held fear, but mostly tension and anticipation. She was desperate to see Tang Ruibai.

What was seventeen-year-old Tang Ruibai like? She must be living a very hard life. It was okay; Qin Yu had appeared. The twenty-seven-year-old Qin Yu would make sure the seventeen-year-old Tang Ruibai didn’t have to suffer so much, she thought.

But the moment that name was spoken, the classroom seemed to hit the pause button. Even the girl in front of her froze for a moment, unable to believe that Qin Yu would know Tang Ruibai.

The girl adjusted her black frames and was about to speak when a girl in the back row chimed in: “You’re friends with Tang Ruibai? I’m going to die laughing. Tang Ruibai has friends?”

Qin Yu’s expression instantly turned cold. Her sharp gaze pierced the girl who had spoken. “Is that a problem?”

The girl who first spoke to Qin Yu, fearing a fight, grabbed Qin Yu’s sleeve. “Let’s talk outside.”

Qin Yu had come to find Tang Ruibai, not to argue, so she frowned but followed the girl out of the classroom.

People were coming and going in the hallway. Many whistled at Qin Yu’s school trousers, and scattered discussions broke out.

“How rare. A high-and-mighty No. 2 Middle School student coming to our school?”

“If I’m not mistaken, that’s Qin Yu, the top student of her year at No. 2.”

“My god, that’s hilarious. What is a No. 2 student doing here?”

“…”

Those words drifted into Qin Yu’s ears with the wind, but she ignored them all. Her heart was entirely focused on Tang Ruibai.

The girl standing before her said composedly, “Tang Ruibai hasn’t been to school for three days. The teachers haven’t said anything about her situation, so…” She shrugged, indicating she was powerless.

Qin Yu wanted to ask if Tang Ruibai had any close friends, but remembering what that other girl said, she guessed Tang Ruibai was a lone wolf at school. She decided not to ask.

“Do you know where she lives?” Qin Yu asked.

The girl shook her head. “I only heard it’s over in Dongfu Alley, but I don’t know the specifics. Probably no one in the class knows.”

Qin Yu thanked her. The girl hesitated for a moment before adding, “She usually hangs around with Shen Ke from Class 8. Maybe you can ask him.”

Qin Yu went to Class 8 to find Shen Ke, but the news was that Shen Ke also hadn’t been to school for three days. However, she managed to get Shen Ke’s mobile number, WeChat, and Q.Q. from his classmates.

Qin Yu added them all and tried calling twice, but both times the phone was turned off.

She had come excitedly to find Tang Ruibai, but it had ended in a dead end. It felt like a bucket of cold water had been poured over her, making her feel miserable.

As evening approached, Mingchao students began trickling back to school for evening self-study. Qin Yu walked out with a heavy heart, unsure where to look for Tang Ruibai. But if she didn’t see Tang Ruibai today, she knew she wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight.

After some thought, Qin Yu decided to try her luck at Dongfu Alley.

Dongfu Alley was a notorious slum in Lan City, essentially an urban village. Normal housing prices in Lan City were around 20,000 yuan per square meter, with rent over 3,000 yuan a month. In Dongfu Alley, however, prices were less than 10,000, and rent ranged from 200 to 1,500 yuan.

Qin Yu had never been to Dongfu Alley, but she had heard Qi Miaoyan mention it. They had a classmate from Dongfu Alley who received financial aid every year.

At the time, Qin Yu couldn’t help but be curious. “Can Dongfu Alley really be poorer than the countryside?”

“Pretty much,” Qi Miaoyan had said vaguely. “Anyway, it’s quite chaotic over there. I heard my dad say things happen there often.” Qi Miaoyan’s father worked at the Public Security Bureau, so when she said “things happen,” it definitely wasn’t anything minor.

Qin Yu took a taxi to Dongfu Alley. The moment she stepped out, she smelled a stench that was completely out of place in Lan City. The fishy smell of the sewers mixed with the greasy odors of various roadside stalls. On both sides of the road were dilapidated old tenement buildings.

The road was pitted and bumpy, and since it had rained a few days ago, there were puddles. The water was mixed with gutter oil and mud, looking pitch black.

Qin Yu couldn’t imagine how someone as fastidious as Tang Ruibai could live in such a place. She even suspected the information the girl gave her was wrong. After all, Tang Ruibai’s cleanliness obsession had once driven Qin Yu crazy.

But after hesitating outside Dongfu Alley for a moment, Qin Yu walked in. She carefully avoided the puddles, yet she was still inevitably splashed with muddy water by a passing electric scooter.

Qin Yu’s uniform was instantly filthy, and even her face was speckled with mud. Before she could even argue with the person, the dark-skinned rider cursed in Mandarin mixed with a local dialect: “Can’t you look where you’re walking? Are those big eyes of yours just for breathing?”

Qin Yu: “…?”

Before she could speak, the scooter had already sped away, splashing more puddles. The people around seemed used to it; those splashed with mud simply patted their clothes, muttered a few curses, and continued walking. Everyone’s state could be described as numb.

In the narrow, muddy streets, the buildings on both sides looked exceptionally cramped. The narrow hallways were almost entirely filled with colorful laundry hung out to dry.

Qin Yu wandered around Dongfu Alley like a headless fly for half an hour. Night fell and streetlights flickered on as many people began returning home. All sorts of people passed by, but she didn’t see Tang Ruibai. There were too many people; finding Tang Ruibai was a low-probability event. It was just like before, when she and Tang Ruibai were both in Lan City and never met once.

But Qin Yu didn’t know where else to look, so she just stood outside Dongfu Alley. “Waiting for the rabbit to hit the tree” was a stupid method, but it was all she could do.

Drunks stumbled into the alley, and several suspicious-looking men and women entered a small hotel whose sign was about to fall off. The seventeen-year-old Qin Yu wouldn’t have known what was happening there, but the twenty-seven-year-old Qin Yu knew. One phone call would likely give the vice police plenty of work to do.

Qin Yu waited until 8:00 PM when messages arrived in the family group.

Beautiful Ms. Wen: “Ordered so many dishes, where are you? @Qin Xiao-Yu”

President Qin: “I canceled two meetings to pick you up from school, only for your teacher to say you left early because you weren’t feeling well. Give me an explanation. @Qin Xiao-Yu”

Looking at the messages, Qin Yu felt a warmth in her heart. Even regarding her skipping school, President Qin and Ms. Wen were willing to discuss it calmly. They were truly good to her.

In the past, Qin Yu thought she was simply lucky; after all, in a standard family of three, everyone was basically the same. It wasn’t until later, when the topic of “original families” became popular on the internet and she saw so many bloody examples of people being driven into PTSD by their parents, that she realized she lived in a very rare, happy family.

Only, her happiness had once come to a sudden halt. Like a grand epic story that suddenly had a terrible ending.

Qin Yu typed quickly: “The school felt a bit stuffy, so I came out to clear my head. I’ll be back soon. @President Qin @Beautiful Ms. Wen”

Qin Xiao-Yu: “@President Qin, are you still outside the school?”

President Qin: “Yes.”

Qin Xiao-Yu: “Then you go ahead. I’ll take a taxi back in a bit.”

President Qin: “…”

President Qin: “You walked quite far for a stroll.”

Qin Yu pretended not to notice President Qin’s sarcasm and replied good-naturedly: “Hehe, it’s alright.”

President Qin: “I’ve spoiled you too much.”

The streetlights stretched her shadow long. After replying to the messages, Qin Yu walked gloomily back toward the school. She thought that maybe she would run into Tang Ruibai. She had even posted an anonymous thread on the school forum asking if anyone had seen Tang Ruibai, but the post sank quickly with no replies.

Qin Yu thought she would find Tang Ruibai quickly, but now it felt like looking for a needle in a haystack. Suddenly, a spark of inspiration hit her—”Yu’s Bun Shop.”

The proprietress of the bun shop had said Tang Ruibai often stayed at her place in high school and had even worked there. Maybe Tang Ruibai was there.

With a direction in mind, Qin Yu’s pace quickened. There was a shortcut from Dongfu Alley to “Yu’s Bun Shop,” but the streetlights were very dim. Even so, Qin Yu decisively chose the shortcut. She turned on her flashlight and walked fast, though her footing was unsteady.

She walked for a long time until she was slightly out of breath. Ahead was a long stretch of darkness. Scattered starlight, whistling cold wind.

Qin Yu had been afraid of the dark since she was a child; she even had to sleep with the lights on. It was only after being with Tang Ruibai, when she liked burying her head in the crook of Tang Ruibai’s neck and smelling that faint, cool scent of mint, feeling comfortable and safe, that she finally kicked the habit.

But having come this far, she could only grit her teeth and push forward.

After a few steps, Qin Yu tripped over something and nearly fell. The sensation under her foot was a bit soft. Qin Yu thought it was someone’s cat or dog that had run out and liked sleeping in the road.

But when she shone the flashlight down, it was a long shape… a person.

A person covered in blood, long hair scattered around her, clothes soaked in blood. Qin Yu’s kick seemed to have hit her head, as the figure struggled and moved slightly.

Even as a twenty-seven-year-old, Qin Yu was terrified by the sight. Help… have I stumbled onto a murder scene? In two lifetimes, she had only seen such a scene when filming suspense dramas.

The person on the ground let out a groan of pain, and her fingers moved slowly as if regaining consciousness. Qin Yu crouched down, intending to check her breathing while simultaneously calling the police.

But as she brushed back the person’s hair, she met a pair of familiar eyes. The gaze was somewhat strange.

Qin Yu’s heart was instantly gripped tight. She whispered tremblingly, “Tang Ruibai?!”

Tang Ruibai felt as if her internal organs were all twisted together. This time, Tang Mu really wanted to kill her. She didn’t expect to run into that group of thugs who had dropped out of vocational school after escaping from home. Even more unexpected was that when she opened her eyes, she saw… Qin Yu.

It was the top-ranked Qin Yu, the center of attention Qin Yu, the Qin Yu with a dimple when she smiled.

It was her unattainable, untouchable Qin Yu.

Of all the people who could have seen her in such a wretched state, it had to be Qin Yu.

Tang Ruibai closed her eyes, forced herself to sit up, and wiped her face with her filthy jacket. Even the blood was dirty.

Qin Yu’s eyes turned red upon seeing Tang Ruibai. She wanted to reach out and help wipe the blood, wanted to hold her tightly, but her hand hung in the air, not daring to do anything. She was afraid of hurting Tang Ruibai.

Qin Yu had imagined Tang Ruibai’s life would be hard, but she never imagined… it would be this hard.

Qin Yu’s voice was dry. “Are you… okay?”

Tang Ruibai looked up at her coldly, her gaze gloomy and indifferent. Her voice was dark: “Get lost.”