Since fate had given her a second chance, her priority as a student was to study hard.
And so, things stayed that way until Xu Weiping got home from work. He walked in to see his son, eyes still red, glaring angrily at the young woman reading on the sofa. The TV was blaring, and the delicious scent of dinner drifted from the kitchen.
"Susu?"
Hearing the familiar voice over the blare of the TV—which Xu Yang had deliberately cranked up—Xu Su looked up from her book. She saw a much younger Xu Weiping and smiled, calling out naturally, "Dad."
The moment Xu Yang saw Xu Weiping, he shot up like his savior had arrived and started complaining, "Daddy, make her get out! I don't want her in our house! I don't like her!"
Xu Weiping frowned, turned down the volume on the TV, and coaxed his son, "Don't be ridiculous. She's your sister."
"I don't have a sister! I don't want a sister! She took my room, she took the remote, and she wants to steal my mommy and daddy! I don't like her!"
With that, Xu Yang's face crumpled as he prepared to cry again.
Xu Weiping's heart ached at the sight. Seeing his son's red-rimmed eyes, he could only guess how long the boy had been crying. The couple had waited many years for this son, and they absolutely doted on him.
Xu Weiping swept his six-year-old son into his arms and headed straight for the kitchen to find his wife. He was desperate to know what had happened to make his son cry so hard, not even sparing a second glance for Xu Su, who had just arrived home.
Xu Su looked away, paying no mind to what the family of three was discussing in the kitchen.
'Any heartache that was to be felt had already been experienced by her sixteen-year-old self in her past life. Now, not only was she not sad, she even felt a little like laughing.'
'So these were the parents she had longed for for over a decade. This was her birth family.'
'Thankfully, in both her past life and this one, she would only have to live here for three years. In her last life, she had left this house after graduating from high school and coming of age. This time around, Xu Su planned to move into the dorms as soon as school started.'
'Xu Su had already made up her mind: she would cut ties with the Xu family as soon as possible. She didn't need their occasional, handout-like affection, and she certainly wouldn't let them sell her out a second time.'
Lunch was a generous spread. Chen Shulan had made stir-fried greens, cucumber with ham, a plate of braised pork, and had even placed two fried chicken legs in front of Xu Su.
As soon as they sat down at the table, Chen Shulan placed one of the fried chicken legs in Xu Yang's bowl and gave the other to Xu Su. She also poured her a bowl of Sprite that she had just bought downstairs.
"Go on, eat. Your grandmother did a good job raising you. Now that you're home, we can't have you eating poorly."
Seeing the smug look Xu Yang shot her from across the table, Xu Su had a good idea of what Chen Shulan and her husband had promised him in the kitchen.
'It looked like she would be sleeping in the living room for the next six months.'
Just as she expected, after a few brief questions about Xu Su's studies in middle school and a perfunctory inquiry into her own mother's health back in the countryside, Chen Shulan spoke.
"Susu, your brother is a big boy now, and it's not really appropriate for him to keep sleeping with us. A boy needs his own room. So... why don't you sleep on the sofa at night?"
'If the situation weren't so absurd, Xu Su would have laughed. What impeccable logic. A six-year-old boy needed his own room, but a sixteen-year-old girl didn't.'
As if worried her daughter would feel wronged, Chen Shulan added, "The new subsidized apartments at your dad's and my factory are almost ready. Based on our seniority, we might be able to get one. When that happens, you'll both have your own rooms. You're older and more sensible than your little brother, so just let him have his way for now, alright?"
Xu Yang was sitting directly across from Xu Su at the small, square dining table. She lowered her eyes, refusing to look at her brother's triumphant expression.
'How could a child be so detestable? Even with the mind of a thirty-year-old, Xu Su couldn't control the loathing she felt for this so-called little brother of hers.'
When Xu Su remained silent, Xu Weiping assumed she was unhappy with their decision. His expression soured. "This is the best your mother and I can do. There are only two bedrooms, and your brother needs one. If you insist on having a room, you can have ours. We'll sleep on the sofa. How would you like that?"
'Here we go again. Good cop, bad cop. Xu Weiping and his wife had perfected this routine in her past life, but they seemed a little rusty at it now.'
Xu Su took a bite of her chicken leg. "That's not necessary. I'm fine sleeping in the living room." She paused for a moment before adding, "Dad, Mom, would it be okay if I do my homework on the coffee table out here?"
Chen Shulan and her husband exchanged a glance, their eyes falling on the low coffee table. It would be fine for a little while, but for someone of Xu Su's height, constantly hunching over such a low table to write would be terrible for her eyesight and her still-growing frame.
Perhaps out of guilt, Xu Weiping said, "There's a small desk in our room. You can do your homework in there during the day. At night, you can work at the dining table."
'That sounded nice,' she thought, 'but it would only be useful for the next few days. Once school started, she wouldn't have any homework during the day. High school evening study sessions ran until ten, and it would be dark by the time she got home.'
Whatever she was thinking, Xu Su simply nodded in agreement, looking every bit the docile, obedient daughter.
With the sleeping arrangements settled, Chen Shulan fulfilled her promise after dinner and took the two children out to buy new clothes.
The Xu family lived in an industrial district. The textile factory where Chen Shulan and her husband worked was one of the largest in the area. Their employee dormitory building was just across the street from a pedestrian thoroughfare. Even in the sweltering heat, plenty of vendors had set up stalls under makeshift awnings.
The shopping trip was supposed to be for their newly-arrived daughter, but after all was said and done, it was Xu Yang who ended up with three new outfits. Xu Su only got two short-sleeved shirts on sale for five yuan apiece and a pair of ten-yuan plastic sandals.
They were the most basic styles, already covered in a thin layer of dust where they sat on the stall. It was clearly old stock the vendor hadn't been able to move for some time.
When they got back home, Chen Shulan took her son out to visit some neighbors, leaving Xu Su home alone. Finally, she had some peace and quiet.
Xu Su took her bookbag to her parents' room. The desk Xu Weiping had mentioned was against the wall to the right of the bed, placed so that someone sitting on the mattress could use it to write. A calendar hanging on the wall read: July 28.
Staring at the date, Xu Su suddenly remembered. 'High school has military training!'
She quickly rummaged through her schoolbag and finally found the acceptance letter tucked into an inner pocket.
Her name and the date on the letter were handwritten. The registration date was August 10.
The date instantly triggered an unpleasant memory. 'The ten-day military training for high school had coincided exactly with her period. The sweltering weather, the high-intensity drills, plus the general misery of getting her period... the memory was still painfully vivid.'
Pushing other thoughts aside, Xu Su started to look through her middle school textbooks, homework, and class notes.
She found that English, which used to be her biggest headache, was now the easiest subject for her. Chinese was second-easiest. Math, however, was the hardest.