When Spring Burns - Chapter 11

He Jianxue saw her with her delicate opera makeup, weeping pitifully like a drenched pear blossom. If she scolded her further, wouldn’t it seem to others as though she were bullying her?

“Alright, stop crying. Get up.”

Sheng Tingmian, hearing this reprieve, couldn’t quite believe it. She stared blankly at the woman before her. “Sister He, you’re not angry with me?”

The assistant helped her to her feet. Sheng Tingmian glanced down at Sister He’s legs, where the blanket had shifted slightly. She bent down and reached out to smooth it back into place.

“Thank you, Sister He, for not being mad at me.” Sheng Tingmian’s tears turned to a smile. “I’ll go change out of my costume now.”

The young girl happily skipped away.

He Jianxue’s gaze shifted to He Xiu on the stage, watching her carefully descend in her high heels.

“Sis, this is my first time doing something like this. It’s so much fun.” A rare smile appeared on He Xiu’s face.

“Stay for dinner later.”

He Jianxue signaled to her assistant to prepare the evening meal, but He Xiu hesitated. “Sis, I might not be able to. I have to go back.”

He Jianxue watched her silently.

He Xiu added, “Lin Youlin has a dinner engagement later. I need to go with him.”

Lin Youlin was her current husband.

He Jianxue said nothing, only after a long pause did she speak. “Then we’ll arrange it for another time. I’ll have someone take you back.”

When Sheng Tingmian returned, only He Jianxue remained. “Where’s Sister He Xiu?”

“She went back.”

Sheng Tingmian sat beside her and kept her company watching the opera until all the performances ended. It was time for her to leave too, she had to go to the theater for work in the afternoon.

“Sister He, I need to head back now…”

“Going to sing at the theater this afternoon?”

“Mhm.”

“Having lunch at home?”

“Mhm… mhm.” Sheng Tingmian thought she was just curious about her schedule.

After waiting a moment and hearing nothing further, and with Uncle Guan waiting for her, Sheng Tingmian had no choice but to bid Sister He farewell.

The performers on stage gradually dispersed, and the people around her also prepared to leave. He Jianxue had her assistant wheel her back inside.

As she adjusted her blanket, her fingers brushed against something hard. She retrieved it from beneath the blanket.

It was a string of pearl tassels.

He Jianxue instantly recalled the image of someone sitting on her lap, shaking their head, the two pheasant feathers brushing past her cheeks.

It must have fallen off back then.

…

Sheng Tingmian returned to the community. Her aunt had just finished preparing lunch, and she couldn’t help but ask, “Auntie, are we going to attend some cultural events soon?”

Sheng Xiaoyun looked surprised. “How did you know? I haven’t mentioned it to you yet.”

Sheng Tingmian replied, “I heard it from Uncle Guan. So, Sister He really arranged events for us?”

Sheng Xiaoyun was clearly in better spirits today than yesterday. “Exactly. This Miss He has incredible connections, she knows leaders at the provincial and municipal levels. In a couple of days, the largest intangible cultural heritage festival in Yanshi is being held, jointly hosted by several government units. The invitations have already arrived. You’ll come with me in a couple of days.”

This was Sheng Tingmian’s first time participating in such an official cultural event. In the past, when she accompanied her aunt, it was usually to private or small-scale village performances.

As unaffiliated opera performers, they were just scraping by.

“How long will we be gone for?”

“About a week.”

Since the Changyuan Theater received investment, they now had access to a company vehicle. The entire Liqing Opera Troupe piled into the bus and set off together.

It took a full three hours to get there, and upon arrival, they were greeted by the person in charge.

Sheng Tingmian stayed close to her aunt, listening to the adults’ arrangements.

In the evening, her aunt had someone check the costumes and props for any mistakes.

Sheng Tingmian went to inspect the pink embroidered costume and the kingfisher-feather-adorned pearl and jade headpiece.

“Auntie… it seems like one of the pearl tassels is missing.”

Sheng Xiaoyun came over at the sound and saw that indeed, one tassel was gone. “See? You didn’t take good care of it, and now a tassel has fallen off. Tell me, doesn’t that make you feel bad?”

Sheng Tingmian thought about how her aunt had specially commissioned this piece before and felt disheartened. “It does… What do we do now?”

Sheng Xiaoyun sighed. Since it was her niece who had accidentally lost it, she couldn’t really hold her accountable. After all, she was her own niece. “What else can we do? We’ll have to use a fake one as a replacement. Back when your aunt had this custom-made, everything was made with genuine materials. The texture is nothing like those industrial plastic beads.”

Sheng Tingmian rummaged through the box again, trying to find it, but there was no trace of it anywhere.

With the cultural performance approaching, they had to shift their focus to the main task at hand.

…

For three or four days in a row, the Tianxing Opera Troupe came to perform, but they never saw that young girl, Sheng Tingmian.

Nor did they hear her delicate opera voice.

Even while passing the time, He Jianxue felt as though something was missing and finally remembered, “Did they go to participate in the cultural performance?”

Her assistant replied, “Miss He, they’ve been over there for several days now.”

He Jianxue asked, “When will they be back?”

The assistant said, “Probably in about four days.”

He Jianxue set down her coffee cup, feeling somewhat listless. “Starting tomorrow, let the Tianxing Opera Troupe take four days off. They don’t need to come for now.”

The assistant replied, “Alright.”

He Jianxue briefly handled some Qingguan Lake industry affairs. Unsurprisingly, her people informed her that the He Group had canceled two more projects on the grounds of “excessive manpower usage and resource allocation.” Both were projects she had once led.

They were truly chipping away at her contributions within the group step by step. In the future, they probably wouldn’t even bother inviting her to shareholder meetings.

The thought of such a slapdash team managing such a large corporation was almost laughable.

Even a random opera troupe was more professional than this bunch.

As amusing as it was, the thought that those were projects she had personally nurtured, and the people couldn’t be poached away, left her watching helplessly as the “projects were aborted.” He Jianxue felt so suffocated she needed to take medicine.

Returning to her room to rest, she caught a glimpse of the pearl tassel on the table out of the corner of her eye and was reminded of the “Pink General” and that delicate opera voice.

These little opera teachers were much better, at least they didn’t anger her.

Their voices were pleasant, and if they made a mistake, they would shed tears like pearls, begging for forgiveness.

Another day passed, and while He Jianxue was resting and calming her mind in the courtyard, He Xiu suddenly called, inviting her out for a meal.

At the Yuxian Harbor private club, He Xiu served He Jianxue some food. “Sister, I couldn’t have dinner with you last time, so I’m making it up to you now.”

Whether it was a trick of the light or not, He Jianxue noticed that her face looked even more haggard than before.

“Not sleeping well?”

He Xiu was taken aback. Raising her eyes, she realized her sister was staring at her and felt somewhat uncomfortable. “Maybe. Sometimes I have nightmares.”

He Jianxue asked, “What kind of nightmares?”

He Xiu lowered her head and served her more food. “…Just dreams about Mother’s death.”

He Jianxue was also reminded of that moment, the blow their mother’s death had dealt to both of them.

“It’s all in the past, He Xiu. You still have me, your sister.”

He Xiu glanced at her and slowly nodded.

“…Sister, what did the doctor say about your legs? Have they improved?”

He Jianxue had always been resistant to discussing her legs, but for some reason, this time she didn’t feel much aversion, she was even somewhat calm. Unconsciously, she recalled the image of a certain person sitting on her lap twice.

In her eyes, there had been surprise once, and fear once, but never pity.

“No improvement. I suppose they’ll stay like this for the rest of my life.”

He Xiu’s heart felt heavy, but she forced a smile and reached out to pat He Jianxue’s hand. “Sister, you’ll get better. Don’t lose hope.”

After the meal, He Xiu rode back in her car. Before getting out, she turned to the woman beside her, hesitating before finally speaking.

“Sister, goodbye. Please try to be happier, don’t always keep such a stern face.”

He Jianxue looked at her. “I know. You too, if anything happens, talk to me.”

He Xiu pressed her lips into a faint smile. “I’m leaving now.”

“Mm.”

Only after the car had disappeared from sight did He Xiu raise her hand to wipe away her tears, then turned and walked toward the Lin family’s gate…

Goodbye, Sister.

…

The news of He Xiu’s death arrived late at night. He Jianxue tumbled clumsily from her bed, her eyes red and her long hair disheveled.

Her assistant crouched down to help her up but only heard a restrained, barely suppressed command: “To the hospital.”

The assistant immediately arranged for a car and lifted Miss He into her wheelchair.

When they arrived at the hospital, the lights were blazing brightly. Her aunt, her father, and the entire Lin family stood gathered around a hospital bed, over which a white sheet was draped.

Another bed held the body of Lin Youlin.

Aunt Duan Peiwen was demanding answers from the Lin couple: Why had He Xiu drunk poison?

The Lin couple, tears in their eyes, shot back: If He Xiu wanted to die, why did she have to take their son with her?

Aunt Duan and the Lins began to argue, but the next moment, they all fell silent, their gazes turning toward the end of the corridor.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, the assistant wheeled He Jianxue toward them.

Duan Peiwen looked at the woman in the wheelchair and sighed. “A-Xiu, she…”

Duan Yunzhi also wore a pained expression.

He Jianxue didn’t look at the two siblings. If it hadn’t been for them persuading He Xiu into a marriage of convenience for their own gain, He Xiu would never have been driven step by step to this point.

Understanding her intention, the assistant wheeled her to the hospital bed.

A slender hand slowly reached for the white sheet. A closer look would reveal a faint tremor on the back of that hand.

As the sheet was drawn back, a deathly pale face came into view. He Jianxue stared at He Xiu’s face, and the air grew deathly still.

“How did she die?”

After a long pause, someone finally spoke: “The doctor said it was sexual abuse…”

In that instant, He Jianxue’s ears rang.

Duan Peiwen began her performative outrage again, turning on the Lin couple: “I told you it was your son’s fault! Give He Xiu back to us! This is entirely your son’s doing!”

Already steeped in grief, the Lin couple couldn’t bear Duan Peiwen’s sharp, provoking words and argued back, “Wasn’t He Xiu at fault?! You give our son back to us!”

Seeing that his sister was outmatched, Duan Yunzhi joined the fray.

For a moment, the scene descended into chaos.

He Jianxue watched the farce with cold eyes and suddenly roared, “Have you had enough?!”

Only then did the commotion gradually subside.

The Lin couple had their son’s body moved to another room for mourning and weeping. Duan Peiwen and her brother left to handle the matter of demanding compensation. In the morgue, only He Jianxue and her sister’s body remained.

Before long, the assistant brought her the surveillance footage from the main gate.

He Jianxue watched the recording, He Xiu stepping out of her car, gazing blankly at the receding taillights, and finally making her way toward the Lin residence…

That meal was the last one He Xiu would ever share with her.

“Was she coming to me for help when she asked to have dinner with me?”

Suddenly, a voice devoid of emotion drifted up from below. The assistant paused, unsure of how to respond. “Miss Xiu must have suffered immense grievances.”

It was more than just immense grievances.

Sexual abuse…

He Xiu, with her gentle and reserved nature, had never been exposed to such matters growing up. Once married off in an arranged union, she encountered this horror. She couldn’t even bring herself to confide in those closest to her, choosing instead to endure silently until she could bear it no longer, preferring to end her life by poison rather than continue.

The boldest act of her life was likely taking her abuser, Lin Youlin, with her in death.

The more she dwelled on it, the more He Jianxue despised her own powerlessness.

If Lin Youlin hadn’t died, her aunt and father would have settled He Xiu’s death with mere compensation and benefits.

And if He Jianxue insisted on seeking justice for He Xiu and bringing down the Lin family, she would likely have to sacrifice the Qingguan Lake estate to make it happen.

Even in death, He Xiu was thinking of her elder sister, urging her not to pay an unnecessary price for her passing.

He Jianxue stared at He Xiu’s lifeless body, closed her eyes tightly, shoulders trembling, her palm covering her face as she fought to suppress the overwhelming emotions.

Her little sister… was gone.