Chapter 32

Chapter 32

Kite Soaring High (Part Three)

The note was already in her hand—naturally, Yu Manyi didn’t have the patience to wait until tomorrow night to read it.

She spent a little more time painting in the cellar, and finally returned to her room in the latter half of the night. The oil lamp had gone out before even a stick of incense had burned through. She got up again and lit it, and under its glow, carefully read every character written on the paper in Song Qi’s handwriting.

It wasn’t much—just five characters: Where the kite soars.

“Where the kite soars?”

Just five characters, no beginning, no end, and no further clues. Yu Manyi stared at the paper until her eyes hurt, but still couldn’t glean anything more. All she could see was that Song Qi’s calligraphy, with its silver hooks and iron strokes, was no worse than that of the old masters at the academy—he clearly had some skill.

But since he’d said earlier, “Buy as many copies as you like,” it was clear this note wasn’t just for showing off his penmanship.

Yu Manyi’s confusion turned into curiosity, and then that curiosity gave rise to a certain annoyance. This Song Qi really disliked speaking plainly. He always kept her guessing, only to catch her off guard later. She couldn’t help but wonder if this smooth manner of his had been polished while dealing with other girls—or maybe he’d read far too many of those romance novels full of flirtations and coy exchanges!

Carrying this annoyance with her, Yu Manyi fell asleep in a huff.

She had stayed up far too late that night, so the next morning she woke late as well, even missing the Yu family’s communal breakfast. It was Fang Qian who fetched her two pieces of pastry from the kitchen.

She hurriedly climbed into the carriage, her hair bun messier than usual. But to her surprise, she wasn’t even the latest to arrive—the coachman was already calling out, yet Song Qi still hadn’t boarded!

She quickly said, “Ah, let’s wait—”

“Song Qi had something to take care of,” Fang Qian suddenly cut her off, looking at her with a meaningful expression. “I’m substituting for him again today. He left quite early.”

“Where did he go?” Yu Manyi looked startled—after all, they had just seen each other last night in the cellar, and he hadn’t mentioned needing to go anywhere."He didn’t tell me," Fang Qian said, then asked in return, "so he didn’t tell you either?"

Song Qi kept her in the dark, and didn’t tell Fang Qian everything either. Yu Manyi gradually realized that Song Qi was the kind of person who preferred to act alone. If something succeeded, he’d give the credit to others; if it failed, he’d keep the responsibility to himself and figure out another way—just like how he had someone else escort the concubine out while he escaped from the You family alone.

She lowered her head and thought, when Song Qi comes back this time, she’s going to tell him that he doesn’t have to face everything alone.

When she arrived at the school, Miss You still hadn’t shown up. Besides her, a few other students had also called in sick today. Yu Manyi overheard students talking—lately, the weather had been erratic. Though it was summer, the air was often chilly, and many people had fallen ill. Moreover, this illness seemed to be somewhat contagious.

So during class, Fang Qian deliberately explained some basic knowledge to the students, saying that this kind of seasonal fever and cold was transmitted through breathing. If anyone was really worried, they could cover their mouth and nose with cloth—that was scientific. But the folk belief that drinking limewater could prevent it was superstition and absolutely should not be believed or practiced.

The literacy class had been running for more than two months, and these students from Shanghai had already established their authority locally. Everyone took their words as true "science," and often used them to lecture the ignorant villagers outside, making themselves seem like they stood on a higher plane of knowledge and wisdom.

"Got it, Teacher Fang," after some whispering among themselves, a student called out loudly, "We’ll spread your words at the market too, tell everyone not to believe the nonsense those sects are preaching—selling a bowl of limewater for three silver dollars!"

"Good. Be sure to spread it quickly, and emphasize the contagious nature so people stay cautious," Fang Qian said, his gaze briefly landing on Yu Manyi before quickly shifting away. "So fewer people are deceived."

Fang Qian was very busy today. After teaching the first English class, he rested a bit and then filled in for Song Qi to teach arithmetic. Once class was finally over, he grabbed his bag and fled the classroom at once, as if afraid someone would stop him to ask questions, forcing his already hoarse throat to say more.

Miss You was absent due to illness. Song Qi was nowhere to be found. Art class was already on hold. And now even Fang Qian had been worked to the point of fleeing. Yu Manyi buried her head in her arms and suddenly felt that what Third Aunt had said might really have some truth to it—

They were all just passing through this place. Once the literacy campaign ended, everything she had now would disappear too. Miss You would return to the You family to become a well-protected young lady behind closed doors. Song Qi and Fang Qian would return to Shanghai. Su Wen had already left before that day even arrived.

And everything that happened this summer would be nothing more than a fleeting illusion from her youth.

She blinked beneath the crook of her arm, almost brought to tears by her own thoughts. Just as she used her sleeve to dry the moisture at the corner of her eyes, the little postboy suddenly leapt up beside her again.Yu Manyi looked up, and the moment she saw the little postboy, she suddenly thought with a kind of despairing resignation: Ah, maybe it’s not all that bad. At least she still had someone by her side—someone who would absolutely never leave Shaoxing and whose heart was set entirely on being promoted to a full postman: the little postboy.

“Manyi-jie, someone’s here to see you at the gate!” the little postboy shouted excitedly.

Someone had come to see her again.

Yu Manyi quickly ran through her very limited social circle. Eliminating Miss You, who was out sick, Su Wen, who had left, and Fang Qian, who had already fled, she immediately assumed that the absent Song Qi had returned—

He must have come to tell her the next part of “Where the Kite Soars”!

Yu Manyi was so excited that she jumped up from her chair, practically skipping as she ran outside the school, hopping over the step at the classroom entrance, circling around the statue of Confucius, her face full of joy. But the moment she saw the figure waiting outside the gate... she froze.

It wasn’t Song Qi waiting for her outside.

It was Third Aunt, wearing a cold, indifferent expression, her brows furrowed at the sight of Yu Manyi’s smiling face.

...

When she had first arrived at the school, Yu Manyi met many people who were happy just because she was happy. Now that the literacy class was coming to an end, those who shared her joy were about to leave, and the one who felt displeasure at her happiness—Third Aunt—seemed to have finally found her presence again.

Fang Qian wasn’t there, so no one could stop her from taking Yu Manyi away. And so, for the first time that summer, Yu Manyi didn’t spend the afternoon at the school or the studio, but instead at the fabric shop that had once been chosen to make her wedding clothes.

The first time they came, Third Aunt had made it clear to the shopkeeper’s wife what kind of status Yu Manyi held at home. But after that, the things she had done at school began to spread around among the locals—including the sight of that automobile parked in front of the Yu family’s gate.

So even though business people were typically the best at reading faces and adjusting accordingly, the shopkeeper’s wife didn’t seem sure how she should treat Yu Manyi in front of Third Aunt.

“A Chinese-style long robe,” Third Aunt stood behind Yu Manyi and gave cold instructions, “a padded winter coat, one complete set top and bottom, one extra pair of trousers suitable for men's social occasions, and a hat with fleece-lined pants. Also, your cousin wrote in his letter this time that his mattress cover is quite worn out. Choose a plain floral pattern and make a new bedding set according to the size in his letter. Send it all together with the clothes once they’re ready.”Yu Manyi felt that her arithmetic must really be poor, or else how could she not calculate how much fabric was needed for these clothes, and why couldn’t she remember that long list of measurements written on the paper?

“So many clothes,” the shopkeeper’s wife finally found her opening, “Second Miss Yu is truly skillful and clever, able to take care of all her future husband’s clothing. Marrying such a capable daughter-in-law is far more cost-effective than hiring a tailor from outside!”

Yu Manyi lowered her head, her fingers brushing over the fabrics—some rough, some smooth—and suddenly felt a wave of sorrow rise in her heart. She said it was cost-effective, but cost-effective was also just another way of saying cheap.

Her sewing skills, which Fang Qian and the others had praised as clever and talented, were now, in these people’s eyes, proof of her cheapness.

Without saying a word, she pulled out a few bolts of fabric in various colors. Two pieces placed together formed a matching set. The shopkeeper’s wife, hearing no rebuttal to her earlier words, pressed on eagerly:

“Second Miss Yu truly has an excellent eye. No wonder you’re so well-known for sketching portraits at the school, and you’ve also formally studied at the studio. With these two colors made into a full outfit, who wouldn’t praise your husband as dignified and outstanding—”

“Tch.”

With that sound from Third Aunt, the perceptive shopkeeper’s wife immediately fell silent.

“Picking up a half-baked art like painting,” Third Aunt stared at Yu Manyi’s back and said coldly, “won’t get you a meal in the real world. But picking colors for a man’s clothes? That’s just about right. Yu Manyi, your art studies haven’t gone to waste.”

Yu Manyi closed her eyes for a moment, gripped the fabric tightly in her hand, wiping away some sweat. The shopkeeper’s wife didn’t dare speak again, and the fabric shop fell into silence. After a while, Yu Manyi didn’t even know where the courage came from, but suddenly spoke up to clarify for herself:

“I didn’t learn to paint in order to pick out clothes for my cousin. I learned it to gain a way to stand on my own and make a living.”

The shopkeeper’s wife was so startled she didn’t even dare breathe. She looked at Yu Manyi, then glanced at Shen-shi. At first, Shen-shi’s expression showed a bit of surprise, but perhaps she had recently gotten used to Fang Qian talking back to her, because for once, she didn’t explode in anger.

She merely crossed her arms, stared at Yu Manyi, and after a long while, a laugh slowly rolled from the corner of her mouth.

At first, it was just a short snort, then it grew longer, louder, sharper. Shen-shi laughed so much that even the shopkeeper’s wife began to feel uneasy. At last, she slowly stopped, wiped away a tear from the corner of her eye, and said in a shrill voice:“Stand on your own and make a living? I’ve been in the Yu family all these years and haven’t seen a single woman who doesn’t eat the Yu family’s food and survives on her own. Yu Manyi, even if you have some talent for painting, those works I dug out of yours were honestly too mediocre to make it onto any proper stage. That reporter came to interview you only because you’re a woman. Do you really think that if you go out to find work, anyone would pay for what you paint?”

She paused, then continued: “That teacher of yours, Su Wen—wasn’t he also unable to sell his paintings, and in the end had to rely on teaching just to earn a bite to eat? If even the teacher is that mediocre, how great could the student possibly be?”

“Unless—unless you leave this backwater place Shaoxing and go apprentice under some famous master for a year or two, then maybe you’d get somewhere. But where would such a great opportunity come from for you?”

“Did you hear what I said, Yu Manyi—”

“—Yu Manyi!”

A loud call of her name from the carriage finally snapped Yu Manyi out of the nightmare from the fabric shop that afternoon. She opened her dazed eyes wide and saw Fang Qian sitting opposite her, looking at her with deep worry.

“I looked away for one moment at school, and she took you away,” Fang Qian stood up inside the jostling carriage and moved to sit beside her. “You’ve been dazed all afternoon—nothing happened, right?”

Yu Manyi hesitated for a moment, then shook her head. Shen-shi had already sent someone to bring the clothes back to the Yu house that afternoon. She had gone back and finished her last class and hadn’t planned on telling Fang Qian. She had already argued with Third Aunt too many times on her behalf. She was about to leave soon—there was no need to drag her into it any further.

She was upset, yes, but in her heart she knew very well that what these students had done for her was already more than enough.

Fang Qian looked at her worriedly for a while but didn’t press any further. Yu Manyi thought their conversation would end there, but unexpectedly, Fang Qian suddenly scraped her finger lightly along her nose bridge and asked, “Is your nose itchy? Did you catch that contagious disease going around among the students?”

Contagious disease?

Yu Manyi checked in with her body and didn’t feel weak at all. Using the scientific terms Fang Qian and the others liked, she had pretty strong immunity.

“Good, then let me tell you the symptoms of the illness,” Fang Qian said.

She was confused, but Fang Qian had already launched into her explanation regardless—symptoms like constant runny nose, high fever, no strength at all, a hoarse voice when speaking...“It’s okay if your nose doesn’t start running on its own,” Fang Qian didn’t care whether she understood or not. She pulled two white paper packets folded in squares from her pocket. One was labeled “pepper,” the other “hoarseness candy.” Yu Manyi noticed the handwriting looked familiar—it was the same as the writing on the sheet of paper Song Qi had given her last night. “Sniff this before you go inside, and I guarantee your nose will run like a faucet. And this candy—no idea where Song Qi found it—suck on it for a while and your voice will change, get all hoarse…”

Wait, wait—“Wait a second!” Yu Manyi finally shouted.

“What do you mean?” She took the two packets. “What nose running? What hoarseness candy? What…”

Fang Qian paused, surprised that Yu Manyi didn’t understand what she was saying. She lowered her head, thought carefully for a moment, then smacked her forehead and suddenly realized:

“Oh, so Song Qi meant for me to explain the plan to you—I thought he already told you!”

Plan…

The carriage jolted again. Yu Manyi lifted the curtain and realized the Yu residence was almost in sight. She dropped the curtain and sat back down, noticing that the classmate nicknamed “Four-Not-Like” wasn’t on the return ride today. Only Fang Qian and another girl who taught Chinese literature were on the carriage.

Yu Manyi suddenly realized that this girl usually dressed very plainly, but today, her dress was blue—a memorable, striking blue. She hadn’t braided her hair either. Her long, waist-length hair was loose, and when her head was lowered, her face was nearly completely hidden.

If Yu Manyi’s hair wasn’t tied up in a bun, hers would also fall down to her waist.

A faint suspicion crept into her heart. At that moment, Fang Qian’s voice entered her ears again.

“…Before entering, sniff the pepper to get your nose running. Then suck the hoarseness candy to roughen your voice,” she said. “The news of the contagious illness has already spread through the students who didn’t attend classes this afternoon. This disease isn’t just some trivial rumor—it spreads extremely fast. The Yu family should’ve heard of it by now.”

Yu Manyi watched Fang Qian’s lips open and close before her. Her heart thudded, the beats somehow heavier than usual.

“We’ll escort you back to your room, and then you and Xiao Li—” Fang Qian pointed at the normally very quiet female classmate, “will switch clothes. Put on her blue dress, and do your hair like hers. She’ll stay in the room pretending to be you. This illness is highly contagious—I’ll make it clear to the Yu family that meals must be left at the door and no one should interact with you face-to-face.”No one would willingly approach someone with a contagious disease.

“You’ll be wearing her clothes, with your hair done like hers,” Fang Qian said, “go to her room, and keep your head down along the way. Once the Yu family is asleep tonight, Song Qi will be waiting at the place he mentioned to you. He’ll help you make a round trip to Shanghai to enroll in that correspondence course that was advertised.”

That last sentence stirred Yu Manyi’s heart with excitement—but then her mind stalled. She suddenly realized, “Song Qi never told me where to meet him.”

“He didn’t?” Fang Qian was equally shocked, even a little flustered. After all, Song Qi hadn’t told her that part either.

There was a moment of silence inside the carriage. Suddenly, Yu Manyi lifted her head. Trembling, she reached inside her clothes and pulled out the paper slip that she had looked at and crumpled countless times.

She unfolded the paper, and one character at a time, Song Qi’s handwriting emerged clearly before her eyes.

She now knew where he would be waiting for her.

“At the place where the kite soars highest”...

Tonight, Song Qi would be waiting at the place where the kite soars highest, to take her to Shanghai.