Chapter 30

Chapter 30

Kite Soaring High (Part One)

If one were to say that the arrival of Director He and Reporter Huo brought Yu Manyi any sort of fresh experience, then clutching thirteen silver dollars in her hand was an experience like never before.

Three of them were given by Reporter Huo. She said it was payment for Yu Manyi’s interview—her full-page report earned more than just three dollars in commission.

Five dollars were awarded to her by Master Yu, who had the accountant give it to her. Although it wasn’t much, considering Master Yu’s stinginess and penny-pinching nature, it was already a sizable sum.

And the remaining ten silver dollars were given to her by Director He, who had his secretary hand them over, saying that her painting was good and that she should use the money to buy whatever paints she liked. Director He was truly generous. As far as Yu Manyi knew, even a rickshaw puller working from dawn till dusk could only make seven or eight dollars in a whole month.

Yu Manyi wasn’t good at arithmetic, but she figured out why three, five, and ten only added up to thirteen—it was because the five dollars from Master Yu were taken away by Third Madam, who had been standing nearby and saw it happen. She didn’t resist, but silently hid the thirteen dollars that Third Madam hadn’t seen properly.

From this, one could deduce that while Master Yu didn’t oppose Yu Manyi learning to paint, Third Madam still didn’t approve. But even disapproving Third Madam hadn’t brought up the matter of the art studio, so it seemed her studying with Su Wen had been silently allowed.

Afraid the money might be searched and taken away like the newspaper incident from before, Yu Manyi stashed the thirteen silver dollars into a pouch she had sewn herself. Worried that the coins would jingle too loudly as she walked, she stuffed the pouch with cotton. She felt immense joy hiding the money—she truly was a Yu, the daughter of a landlord's family. The Yu family's ancestors had built their fortune this very same way, little by little.

Once the money was safely hidden, she boarded the carriage and headed off to school with the other students. This time, she didn’t even need to hide the supplies for the art studio in the afternoon. She boldly carried her pouch containing brushes and paints in plain sight and even dared to flip through a picture book she had borrowed from Su Wen during the class break.

The first to notice her newfound boldness was the little postboy. He had been watching Yu Manyi for quite a while and assumed that she had been punished at home yesterday and had now lost her mind. He carefully pulled out a crumpled newspaper from his chest pocket and said cautiously, “Sister Manyi, you don’t need to give up on yourself like this. I promised I’d help you think of something, look…”

“What?” Yu Manyi looked up from the picture book in surprise. When she realized what the little postboy was talking about, she quickly waved her hand and said, “No need, no need. It’s already been taken care of. I can go to the art studio again this afternoon, and from now on, I won’t have to sneak around behind my family’s back!”

The little postboy asked, “How was it resolved?”

Yu Manyi paused. She recalled the moment Song Qi turned under the Chinese trumpet creeper, and her expression became a little unnatural. She didn’t know exactly what that moment meant—only that her stomach kept fluttering, moving nonstop, especially at the instant when their fingertips touched. It was like something inside her was about to take flight.

“In any case, it’s settled,” she brushed him off.Yu Manyi said the word "resolved" with such confidence that even when she was carrying her art supplies and heading once again to Su Wen’s studio, her mind was still full of plans:

From now on, she could attend class openly and with dignity. Maybe even helping Sister You deliver a message or pass along a letter wouldn't be too difficult. But did people in love really see meeting each other as a necessity? After all, she and her cousin had gotten engaged like that, and even without any letters for a year or so, she hadn’t felt it was hard to bear. But with Song Qi—even just one day without seeing him felt strange… huh?

Yu Manyi stopped on the arched bridge, pondering for a while.

But she didn’t get much time to think. Just as she stopped, someone bumped into her shoulder on the bridge. That person had also been lost in thought. Realizing they had bumped into someone, they quickly apologized. Taking a closer look, Yu Manyi saw it was the only female student in the art studio.

“Miss Yu?” the person asked, using the name they always heard during roll call. That was all they knew—just “Miss Yu.” Yu Manyi looked at him for a moment before remembering that he usually sat in the last row in the studio.

However, she didn’t recall his name and could only put on a smile and greet him in a routine way: “You’re coming for class too?”

“What class? Miss Yu, are you joking?” He thought she was being playful and gave a bitter smile while shaking his head. “You’d better hurry and go to the studio to get your tuition refunded. If you’re any later, Teacher Su will be gone.”

What?

Yu Manyi’s expression froze, and the moment she processed it, she stepped forward on the bridge and broke into a run toward the studio. This bridge used to provide a direct view into the studio through its open windows, but today, the windows were tightly shut, and the interior was dim.

Yu Manyi pushed the door open and entered, only to see Su Wen sitting wearily on a chair, packing away loose coins on the table. Though he looked tired, he was tidier than before—his beard and hair had been trimmed, his clothes freshly washed, and for once, no paint stains on his sleeves.

He clearly hadn’t expected Yu Manyi to show up. His first reaction upon seeing her was to avert his gaze. Then, realizing Yu Manyi shouldn’t even be here, he turned back and asked with concern:

“Miss Yu, didn’t your family forbid you from studying painting? Why are you... I was planning to ask a student to return your tuition for you…”

“Don’t talk about my tuition right now, I’m actually quite rich now,” Yu Manyi widened her eyes. “Teacher Su, where are you going?”Su Wen fell silent. After a long pause, a heavy sigh echoed in the studio.

It turned out that after visiting Yu Manyi yesterday, he had thought it over again and again, and concluded that Miss You had suffered punishment because of him. He hated his own lowly status—not only could he not save Miss You, he didn’t even have the courage to go to her family and formally propose marriage. After all, the You family’s in-laws were all local gentry, while he was merely a poor painter.

He had spent the entire afternoon lost in these thoughts, not even teaching class. He just instructed the students to copy paintings according to his specifications. By the end of the class, he had finally made his decision and announced: today’s lesson would be the last session of the summer course. Tomorrow, he would leave Shaoxing, and by tomorrow afternoon, he would refund all tuition fees in full.

As for what he would do after leaving Shaoxing?

Su Wen had no concrete plans, but he knew one thing—he could not stay in this countryside town another day. Staying here meant wasting away, with no chance to make a name for himself. His classmates were in Guangzhou, Beiping, and even overseas—why could others venture out while he, Su Wen, could not?

So he decided—he would go. He couldn’t wait even a day longer. Once he left, whether he pursued further studies, continued painting, or taught, any path would be better than aging away in a small studio by the water.

He was sure Yu Manyi would not come again, so he had planned to return her tuition through someone else. He didn’t even have the courage to go to the school again, afraid that the moment he saw Miss You, he would lose the will to leave.

But what he hadn’t expected was that Yu Manyi could now attend class again—and yet, whether she did or not, the future stories of this land would no longer have anything to do with Su Wen.

He took out the two silver dollars of tuition for Yu Manyi, then also brought out the one silver dollar for Miss You. After thinking a moment, he took out a bracelet wrapped in cloth from his money pouch and said to Yu Manyi, “Miss Yu, look…”

“Don’t give her anything,” Yu Manyi said, “If it’s discovered, it’ll just cause more trouble. Besides, you’ll need money when you leave. Refunding everyone’s tuition is already unwise.”

Yu Manyi scolded him without mercy. Su Wen could only sorrowfully put the bracelet away. But he still insisted on refunding Yu Manyi’s tuition. She had no choice but to accept it. When she dropped the coins into her pouch, they landed on the cotton inside, making no sound at all.

Fuming, she used the math Song Qi had taught her and calculated that—excluding the one coin to be returned to Miss You—she now had sixteen silver dollars.

But what was the use of money? She could no longer learn to paint. Yu Manyi had never imagined she’d one day think in such a wealthy, grand manner.

She sat with Su Wen for a little longer until the last few students also received their refunds. The studio had already been tidied up. Su Wen packed all his paintings into his bundle. He didn’t even dare leave a single piece as a keepsake for Miss You—she had already suffered once for him. It seemed that when a man hadn’t made his mark in the world, even falling in love was a sin.His desire to leave Shaoxing was so urgent that his luggage was light. When Su Wen made the decision yesterday, he hadn’t expected that the person seeing him off at the dock would be his student, Yu Manyi. He would first take a boat to Hangzhou, inquire about some information there, and then decide on the direction of his future.

The water rippled gently. This was his hometown, and also the place he was about to leave. Su Wen stepped onto the black-canopied boat and looked back at Yu Manyi standing on the shore. She carried her painting tools on her back, her jet-black hair tied into a bun, her features sharp and distinct like ink paintings. She no longer looked the same as when she first arrived. At that time, her temperament wasn’t much different from Miss You’s—refined and beautiful. But after one summer, her complexion had grown more vibrant.

She didn’t look too happy about Su Wen’s departure, but still stood at the dock and waved to him, saying, “Teacher Su, you must make a name for yourself!”

Su Wen bowed to her, and when he looked up again, the boat had already drifted far along with the current.

…

Walking the same road—coming full of excitement, returning with her head low—Yu Manyi felt as if fate were toying with her. After returning to the school and finding out that Miss You had taken the day off due to illness, she felt even lonelier.

The afternoon class hadn’t started yet. Yu Manyi lay on the desk, her only joy left being to reach into her money pouch and feel the coins, one silver dollar at a time. Sixteen yuan... she had sixteen yuan.

She stretched out her other arm, resting her head sideways at a new angle. Her eyes blinked slowly, lashes brushing her skin. She caught a faint scent of printing ink. Looking down, she saw that she was resting on a newspaper—the very one the little postboy had wanted to show her earlier that morning.

Yu Manyi sat up and saw it was a copy of The Shenbao, the paper where Huo Shiwen worked.

Perhaps to save face for Song Qi, Sister Huo hadn’t told Yu Manyi the truth. This Shenbao from Shanghai was far thicker and richer in content than Song Qi’s copy. From reports to advertisements, editorials to movie posters—it seemed to cover everything under the sun. Especially the few illustrated advertisements for products—so exquisite that Yu Manyi wanted to cut them out and take them home to copy.

The little postboy had gone to eat and hadn’t returned yet. With no appetite after Su Wen’s departure, all of Yu Manyi’s attention had shifted to the newspaper.

She flipped through two more pages, and her gaze was involuntarily drawn to a small advertisement in the lower right corner of the page.

[Yueting Correspondence Art School — Autumn Enrollment Now Open]

It said on the newspaper.Yu Manyi looked closely.

[Clear teaching methods, suitable for all. Anyone with a desire to learn painting may enroll at any time.]

[Special Note: Enrollment is open to both men and women. If female, she must be accompanied by a father, brother, or husband, with their names and occupations reported in detail.]