Su Yiling stared at her reflection in the washroom mirror. Sixteen years old. The face looking back at her was smooth, unmarked by the years that had somehow vanished.
Her phone buzzed. A WeChat message from Lin Xiaoli about studying together tonight for the college entrance examination. The date on the screen read March 15th, XXXX.
Four months before everything went wrong.
She splashed cold water on her face. The shock of it was real enough. So were the sounds from the corridor outside: students chattering, classroom doors sliding shut, and the usual commotion of afternoon periods ending.
A knock interrupted her thoughts.
"Yiling? Are you in there?"
Xiaoli's voice was bright with worry. Su Yiling opened the door to find her best friend holding her schoolbag, looking concerned.
"Teacher Chen asked me to check on you. You ran out like there was a fire."
Su Yiling took her bag without meeting Xiaoli's eyes. "I'm fine."
"You're not fine. You've been acting strange all day." Xiaoli fell into step beside her as they walked back toward their classroom. "During the morning class, you kept staring at Li Mei like you'd never seen her before."
Li Mei. Su Meilin's friend, who would later betray her just to surpass her. But right now, she was just another third-year student worried about getting into a good university.
"And then falling asleep during math class?" Xiaoli continued. "You never sleep during Teacher Chen's lessons."
They passed the windows overlooking the school courtyard. Students clustered around concrete tables with textbooks, some playing basketball near the sports building. Everything looked exactly as Su Yiling remembered it but felt completely different now.
"Xiaoli," she said suddenly. "Do you think people can change? Really change?"
Her friend gave her a sideways look. "That's random. But yes, I think so. Why?"
"Just wondering."
They reached their classroom door. Through the window, Su Yiling could see their classmates working through practice problems for the mathematics portion of the entrance examination. Teacher Chen moved between the rows, his thermos of jasmine tea in one hand as he pointed out corrections.
This was her chance. Her second chance to walk back into that room and choose differently.
But footsteps echoed down the corridor behind them.
"Jiejie? There you are."
She turned. A tall girl approached them, elegant even in the standard navy uniform. Long black hair in a perfect braid, small pearl earrings that somehow made the school outfit look sophisticated. A warm, respectful smile that Su Yiling now knew was completely fake.
Su Meilin. But this was the earlier version, the sweet, innocent, beloved younger cousin who called her "older sister" with such apparent affection.
"Meimei," Su Yiling said carefully as her cousin reached them.
"I was looking everywhere for you." Su Meilin's tone was properly deferential, as befitted speaking to an older relative. "Mama wanted me to ask if you'd come for dinner this weekend." She smiled brighter. "She has some exciting news about your future."
Su Yiling felt something cold settle in her stomach. This was it. This was how it started. The dinner was where Auntie would plant the first seeds of doubt about her academic path, where the slow poisoning of her confidence would begin.
"What kind of news?" The words came out steadier than she felt.
Su Meilin's eyes sparkled with what looked like genuine excitement. "I can't say too much, but it involves someone very promising who's been asking about you. Someone from a very good family." She leaned closer, lowering her voice conspiratorially. "Mom thinks he might have serious intentions."
Xiaoli frowned beside her. "Su Su doesn't need anyone asking about her. She has her own plans."
Su Meilin's smile never wavered, but something shifted in her eyes. "Of course she does. But surely there's room for both studies and finding a good match? Mom always says a woman is happiest when she has a capable husband to rely on."
"Rely on her, or for her to rely on?" Xiaoli's voice was sharp.
"Well, naturally, a man wants to feel respected." Su Meilin's tone remained sweet, but there was steel underneath now. "Don't you think so, Sister?"
Su Yiling looked at her cousin's face. Really looked at it. The subtle makeup enhanced her natural beauty without breaking school rules. The way she held herself was confident but appropriately modest, accomplished but not threatening. Even at eighteen, Su Meilin had perfected the art of appearing harmless while wielding her words like knives.
"I think," Su Yiling said slowly, "that I'm not interested in dinner this weekend."
The change in Su Meilin's expression was subtle but unmistakable. The respectful smile flickered, just for a moment, before sliding back into place.
"Oh. Well, that's... disappointing. Mom will be upset. She's been planning this for weeks."
"Planning what, exactly?"
"Just a nice family dinner. Nothing formal." Su Meilin's laugh was light and musical. "Though I suppose if this young man happens to visit while you're there..."
"What young man?" Xiaoli demanded.
Su Meilin glanced at her dismissively before focusing back on Su Yiling. "Fu Yao. He's at Beijing University now, studying business administration. Very good family background, very promising future. Mama met his mother at the country club."
The name hit Su Yiling like ice water. Fu Yao. Three years before she would officially meet him, Auntie was already orchestrating their introduction while making sure her sense of belonging was low or non-existent. Only to teach her daughter to go for the same man that was supposed to be her biggest achievement.
"I'm not interested," she said firmly.
Su Meilin's mask slipped again, longer this time. "But you haven't even met him yet. How can you know-"
"I'm not interested in meeting anyone right now. I have the upcoming Entrance Examination to focus on."
"Examination." Su Meilin's tone carried just the slightest hint of condescension. "Of course, your studies are important. But Sister, you're so beautiful, so refined. Surely you don't want to spend all your time buried in textbooks?"
There it was. The subtle undermining disguised as praise. The suggestion that beauty and intelligence were somehow opposing forces.
"Actually," Su Yiling said, her voice growing stronger, "that's exactly what I want to do."
Su Meilin blinked, clearly not expecting such a direct response. "But Mom says-"
"Your mother doesn't get to decide what I do with my life. Moreover, I have my parents."
The words hung in the air between them. Su Meilin's carefully constructed mask of sweet deference finally cracked completely, revealing something harder underneath.
"I see." Her voice was cooler now, the respectful tone slipping. "Well, I suppose I should tell Mama you're too busy with your books to spare time for family."
"Tell her whatever you want."
Su Meilin studied her for a long moment, as if seeing her clearly for the first time. Then she smiled again, but this smile was different. Sharper.
"I will." She turned to go, then paused. "You know, Sister, Mom always says pride comes before destruction. I hope your textbooks keep you company."
She walked away, her school shoes clicking against the polished floor with each step.
Xiaoli whistled low. "What was that about?"
Su Yiling watched her cousin's retreating figure until she disappeared around the corner toward the stairwell. "That," she said quietly, "was the beginning of something I should have seen coming long ago."
"What do you mean?"
Su Yiling turned back toward the classroom door. Through the window, she could see Teacher Chen writing formulas on the whiteboard, her classmates bent over their notebooks, absorbed in the work of preparing for the most important exam of their lives.
Her life. She's going to fight for this time.
"Nothing important," she told Xiaoli. "Just family politics. Are you ready to study tonight? I have a feeling I'm going to need all the practice I can get."
But as they walked into the classroom together, Su Yiling couldn't shake the image of Su Meilin's final smile. It had been the same expression she'd worn in that parking garage – the look of someone who had finally stopped pretending to be anything other than what she truly was.
The battle lines had been drawn. But this time, Su Yiling wouldn't be fighting blind.