Chapter 26

Chapter 26

Perfect Cooperation (Five)

From the school to the Yu family residence, the carriage ride takes half an hour. A piece of word-of-mouth news usually takes three days to spread.

Based on Yu Manyi’s past experience listening to the women in her family gossip about others, when something happens outside, on the first day, the bystanders at the scene go home and spread it around at the dining table and bedside — this is the first round of fermentation. By the second day, friends and relatives who heard the gossip will spread it further in the marketplace and on the streets. The news often first reaches the ears of servants buying vegetables and shopping in the market, then spreads from the bottom up. Finally, on the third day, it becomes the main topic during the second and third madams’ mealtime conversations. The previous incident of Song Qi escaping and Miss You breaking off the engagement followed this pattern.

Later, Yu Manyi audited some communication theory courses abroad and named this experience from her youth the “three-day diffusion theory.” Given that she was the main subject this time, by the third day she was practically restless and uneasy.

Miss You had been locked up at home for a round and could no longer attend morning classes. She could only be brought to school by the coachman at noon and taken away again after school. So Yu Manyi’s morning seatmate for these three mornings steadily became the little postman.

Yu Manyi sighed all morning, and the little postman had been carefully observing her all morning. When Song Qi’s arithmetic class ended, and they took out lunch together, he couldn’t help but ask, “Sister Manyi, what’s wrong with you? These past few afternoons, why haven’t you gone to the art studio at all?”

Yu Manyi felt troubled being called “Sister Manyi” by the little postman; she wasn’t mentally prepared to be treated as someone’s elder sister and felt it was strange. Besides, since he called her sister, how could he be so clueless and not realize she was upset about failing to learn painting?

She briefly summarized the storm about to break at the Yu family that evening, finally changing the little postman’s expression from confusion to sudden understanding. Realizing it himself wasn’t enough, ignoring the few other students sitting nearby, he loudly said, “Sister Manyi, don’t be so discouraged. If you really want to learn painting, even if your family forbids it, you’ll find a way.”

What a bundle of positive energy. Yu Manyi sat up straight and asked him, “So what way do you have?”

“I haven’t thought of one yet,” the little postman said clearly.

No method yet, only more worries — Yu Manyi really didn’t want to be his sister anymore. She took the food box the kitchen had brought her and switched seats, eating only a few bites before a classmate who had never spoken to her before came looking for her.

That day she really became famous in one battle. Every literacy class student present recognized her face and remembered her name. Although the Yu family seemed as prominent locally as the You family, Elder Yu was relatively low-key, and in the local people’s minds, was just a name. But after Yu Manyi’s commotion, people first learned that there was a girl in the town’s literacy class who was good at drawing and had caused the notorious You family to lose face; then they figured out this young lady was the second Miss Yu, and Elder Yu was her grandfather — the subordinate relationship was completely replaced.

“Second Miss Yu,” the student politely called to her, “someone is looking for you outside the school.”

At noon, someone is looking for her?Yu Manyi was a bit surprised. She only knew a few people in total, all from the literacy class—who would come looking for her at noon? Seeing her confusion, the student added, “It’s a man who looks a lot like a goat.”

Yu Manyi hurriedly put down her food box and ran out.

Although Miss You usually only came in the afternoon class, Yu Manyi feared she might come early today, and that Su Wen or the coachman who brought her might notice something. Fortunately, there were only a few passersby outside the school gate at the moment, and even the students who went out for lunch hadn’t returned yet. Yu Manyi quickly stepped outside and saw Su Wen looking haggard, with a scruffy beard—she knew he had heard about that day’s incident. Moreover, since she and Miss You hadn’t appeared in the studio for three days, Su Wen must have guessed the situation.

His bearded look really made him look more like a goat, and his eyes were weary as if he had aged ten years. Yu Manyi looked around, grabbed his sleeve, and nervously led him to a corner where outsiders couldn’t see them, saying, “Teacher Su...”

“I’ve heard,” Su Wen replied, his voice hoarse. “Miss You, she... she…”

“She’s fine. She’s been coming to school on time these past few afternoons,” Yu Manyi said, “but she can’t go to the studio anymore. Not to mention going so far, her family’s coachman has been guarding the door these days. She doesn’t even dare to go with me for a walk by the river outside the gate.”

Su Wen’s expression darkened. “It’s my fault for giving her that painting.”

Seeing Su Wen’s haggard appearance, Yu Manyi couldn’t help but feel sad for him too. Free love always brings extremes of joy and sorrow. Su Wen was silent for a moment before asking, “And you…”

“I’m afraid it’ll be hard for me to go there again too,” Yu Manyi sighed. “You must have heard about it in the eastern part of the city. The Yu family will know by tonight. I signed up for your class secretly without telling them—this kind of ‘act first, report later’ thing…”

In the end, it was she and Miss You who implicated Su Wen. His expression held not only weariness but also a lot of guilt. Finally drawing some energy away from the pain of breaking up the couple, he remembered the painting Yu Manyi had made that looked like the real thing. He didn’t ask her to bring it over but said, “Even if you don’t take classes with me anymore, don’t give up on this path. A child like you, if you don’t paint… it would be such a pity.”

“Yeah,” Yu Manyi said with some disappointment, “I was originally planning to learn some techniques to make some money to support myself. There were even classmates in the studio willing to introduce me. But now everyone in the school is watching me…”

“Don’t always think about making money,” Su Wen, worn out and annoyed by her, said.

“Then what should I think about?” Yu Manyi couldn’t keep up with Su Wen’s train of thought.Su Wen was also stumped by her question. His hesitant expression seemed to recall some youthful ambition, and the vows he once made now felt far removed from the man who lived by teaching painting. He had no legitimate background, failed to gain recognition in Shanghai, and had to return home to earn a meager living, wasting year after year. He had achieved nothing, had no fame, and even painting a portrait for the one he liked would bring trouble to both.

Su Wen stood there dazed, when suddenly a thought crossed his mind. He thought, since he was Yu Manyi’s first teacher, and her brushstrokes bore his influence, if one day Yu Manyi truly succeeded, would Su Wen also be able to leave a small mark in art history?

So he ruffled his messy hair, opened his bloodshot eyes wide, and slightly bent down, covering Yu Manyi’s shoulder with his hand, his tone as resolute as when he first started out.

He said, “Manyi… you must make a name for yourself and establish your fame.”

…

Make a name for yourself and establish your fame.

Such unfamiliar four characters.

Yu Manyi had certainly received hopes and blessings from others before, most of which came from the second madam who cared for her. Yet even the second madam’s wishes mostly related to her future marriage, such as “marry a suitable husband,” or “manage the household and bear many children for good fortune.” After getting engaged to her cousin, the wishes changed somewhat; the most common phrase she saw was praising his third uncle for getting a “perfect son-in-law.”

Only then did she realize that the reason these four characters “make a name for yourself and establish your fame” felt so unfamiliar was that all previous blessings were for her husband and offspring. Everyone around her had mistaken those wishes as blessings directed at Yu Manyi herself.

This was the first blessing she had ever received that was unrelated to any future husband or children, but only concerned herself. She held this blessing, dazed, as she returned to the school, handed the letter Teacher Su gave her to Miss You, sat beside her until she finished crying, then borrowed a matchstick and completely destroyed the letter without a trace. When the carriage arrived, she continued with a dazed expression, boarding and heading toward the Yu family home with the students under the sunset glow.

These days her heart was heavy and uneasy, and the students sitting with her were not exactly at ease either. Though Yu Manyi’s standing up that day was commendable, when Steward Cao made harsh remarks, he hinted that—Miss You hadn’t secretly pledged herself to someone, so she was innocent; but Yu Manyi had secretly gone to learn painting, so the Yu family should take responsibility for disciplining their daughter.

No one would report to the Yu family proactively, but that day’s news spread rapidly, and by today, it must have reached the Yu estate. The return journey tonight was nerve-wracking, but the main person involved, Yu Manyi, appeared absent-minded, as if something else had captured her attention.

Fang Qian grew increasingly worried and, as usual, spoke first. She straightened up on the shaking carriage, sat beside Yu Manyi, and asked proactively, “Manyi, you haven’t been to the studio these days. Are you not going anymore?”

Yu Manyi was brought back to her senses by her words, then recalled the tough battle ahead that evening: “I don’t know either. Maybe I’ll know the result once we get back to the Yu family.”Her words confirmed Fang Qian’s suspicions about how fast news spread around here, so Fang Qian pressed further: “So, do you have any way of dealing with it? You’ve seemed absent-minded the whole way. Are you thinking about Third Aunt and Third Uncle? It’s okay, we’re all here—they wouldn’t dare do anything to you.”

Her question made Yu Manyi feel a bit ashamed. Others were worrying and scheming for her, yet she was dazed just because of something Su Wen said. But a person’s attention isn’t always guided by reason. Those four words kept circling in her mind, even more thunderous than when Song Qi had said “romantic love” in the cellar.

Yu Manyi guessed that no matter how shocking the idea of romantic love was, it still belonged to her “old brain”—a variation on arranged marriage. But “make a name for oneself” was, to her, utterly world-shattering. She already thought she was bold for daring to earn some money to secure her livelihood. “Make a name for oneself” was the kind of responsibility suited for people like her cousin. How could Su Wen think it applied to her?

She simply couldn’t make sense of it. All she could do was grab Fang Qian’s wrist beside her and interrupt her train of thought about the Yu family, asking, “Fang Qian, I want to ask you something. Do you know anyone who… made a name for themselves?”

As soon as she asked this, Yu Manyi realized the term wasn’t just foreign to her, it was also unfamiliar to Fang Qian. Fang Qian chewed on Yu Manyi’s question for a long moment, then turned her head to consult a classmate: “You’ve really stumped me. Do we know anyone like that? How far must someone go to be considered as having made a name for themselves?”

“What a ‘heavy’ phrase,” their classmate nicknamed ‘Unicorn’ sighed. “If you said someone’s rich, we know people like that. If you said someone’s famous, we know them too. But to say someone’s truly made a name for themselves… Second Miss Yu, where did you hear this phrase? Is it related to how the Yu family’s going to punish you tonight?”

“No, no,” Yu Manyi quickly shook her head. “I just heard it in idle conversation. I’ve never heard anyone praised with such words before, so I was curious.”

“This phrase really is rare in small places. The person who casually mentioned it in conversation with you probably has seen the world, or maybe made a promise to someone,” said Fang Qian. “I used to hear it a lot in Shanghai. I grew up in Guangzhou, too—people who struck out for Canton often spoke of that as their goal.”

“That’s true,” said Unicorn. “To make a name for yourself, you have to venture out to those treaty ports, leave home and forge your path. Only then do those four words carry weight. But—sigh—my parents don’t think that way. They just want me to finish school and become a village teacher. They won’t let me go farther than Hangzhou…”

It seemed this uncertainty about one’s future was the Damocles’ sword hanging over the heads of every generation of youth. It had nothing to do with the times—only with one's circumstances. Their conversation quickly shifted in that direction, and as Yu Manyi listened, she suddenly realized something: she was someone who didn’t even need to consider the question. Her future path had already been set in stone—and it had nothing at all to do with “making a name for herself.”

Yu Manyi sighed inwardly, thinking: Su Wen’s great hopes for her… were truly misplaced—

She couldn’t even leave the Yu family compound, let alone Shaoxing County, much less that Shanghai Bund paved with ironwood from Tie Li.