Chapter 11 - Come up

Chapter 11-Come up Translator-zyzy Editor-Aru

When Meng Ting got home, Shu Yang was sitting on the sofa, watching football.

“Where is Shu Lan?”

Shu Yang looked back, his cold face looked slightly puzzled. He recently noticed that Meng Ting’s attitude towards Shu Lan had changed. She used to be very good to Shu Lan and followed his father to call her Lan, but now Meng Ting and Shu Lan always kept their distance, like they were just strangers.

Shu Lan lightly answered: “In her room.”

Meng Ting bit her lips, she didn’t look for Shu Lan first but chose to return to her room to open her box.

The moment she opened it, she realised the insides had been fumbled around.

The ballet skirt was also ruffled into a ball, the gold medal was gone. Meng Ting moved the ruffled skirt away, the white long skirt was gone too.

Shu Lan had such good taste.

Out of all the things in her box, that skirt was the most precious item in there.

Her mother took half a year to make that skirt, Zhen Yu Jie was pretty, but she didn’t come from a very well off background, she was raised in a small village. Meng Ting’s grandparents were teachers in the small village, but Zhen Yu Jie fell for the wrong guy when she was too young.

She didn’t accept her arranged marriage but chose to run away with a man from out of town.

Since Zhen Yu Jie left her hometown, her life didn’t go so well, she was a worker in a textile factory. The man dumped her soon after, but she was already pregnant with Meng Ting. She’s a strong woman, even a thought to end her life never crossed her mind, all she had in mind was to raise her daughter well.

When Meng Ting was 10, she handmade that skirt.

Zhen Yu Jie had delicate hands. In that era, many rich wives were proud to wear her artwork. However, she stopped making clothes, just like what she told Meng Ting after she stopped loving the man.

Zhen Yu Jie’s last work was that long white skirt.

Poured with her motherly love, every stitch and string, as the skirt swayed, it flowed with a hint of beauty.

The design of the skirt was more towards a traditional Chinese style.

Even until now, it was still very valuable and pretty.

Zhen Yu Jie pampered Meng Ting, her daughter was a God sent angel, and she made her a skirt that she could wear after she grew up. It was intended for Meng Ting’s coming of age gift, but Zhen Yu Jie unfortunately passed. Meng Ting kept it at the bottom of the box, right until that big fire in her past life.

The fire destroyed not only the skirt but also Meng Ting’s face.

Meng Ting closed the box and got up to knock on Shu Lan’s door.

Shu Lan saw her as she opened the door, her eyes moved away, slightly uncomfortable: “Sis.” Sᴇaʀᴄh the ɴ0velFɪre.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

Meng Ting reached out: “My skirt and medal.”

Shu Lan with her eyes wide open: “Sis, how can you accuse me of something like this, even if you’re my elder sister, if you’re going to be like this, I’ll really be pissed.”

Meng Ting looked at her.

The girl in front of her was only 17 years old, the same age as her. She was only one month younger.

Meng Ting once wanted to treat her well for the rest of her life and tried her best to protect her. If it wasn’t to save Shu Lan, she wouldn’t have disfigured her face in her past life. Shu Lan was very likeable, the year Meng Ting lost her mother, Father Shu wasn’t good at articulating himself, and didn’t know how to comfort her. Not to mention Shu Yang, but Shu Lan sweetly called her as her big sister. 

She said: “We’ll always be your family.”

Meng Ting never saw through her acts and was always kind to her.

But this life, she wouldn’t care about Shu Lan anymore. 

Meng Ting calmly said: “ You like Jiang Ren, so you took my medal to impress him.”

Shu Lan angrily replied: “What ridiculous theory is that!”

“That skirt is my mum’s last gift to me, our last photo together is also at the back of the medal. In the past, the things that I gave up for you, I’ll just let it pass, but these two items, you can’t take.”

Shu Lan couldn’t believe the Meng Ting that was always soft could be so serious.

She got angry too, and decided to admit: “I went to someone’s birthday party so I took your dress, is there something wrong with that, if I had a nice skirt, would I have taken your dress? It’s all because of your eyes, that we’ll be in this poor state now. My father’s salary isn’t even that low, but they were all poured to help you pay back your debts!”

Meng Ting tightened her fist, after a while, she breathed out.

“Shu Lan.”

Shu Lan looked at her, her heart felt slightly anxious. Meng Ting was still the naive and gentle Meng Ting, it’s just some things were different now.

“The things I owe Father Shu, I remember them all. But I don’t owe you anything. Everything that I’ve owned before, almost all of them, I’ve already given to you.”

Meng Ting knew how to play the piano, Shu Lan wanted to learn. But she took very long to pick it up, she learned for 2 years and only managed to learn a little bit of it, Meng Ting knew that family wasn’t doing well, so she didn’t continue. Back then, her mother was still alive, but the family could only afford to pay for one child.

Meng Ting knew how to dance, many different forms of dance.

Shu Lan also wanted to learn, Meng Ting wanted her to have the chance to learn, so she had also given up to learn dancing from her teacher, and chose to pick it up herself. 

But Shu Lan still let her down, she wasn’t flexible enough, and couldn’t resist the pain from stretching, after one month of classes, she had already given up.

Meng Ting said: “If you can’t return my things to me, then I’ll get it back from Jiang Ren myself.”

Shu Lan has never seen this side of Meng Ting.

She was also crazily mad: “You’re going to get it back from him? If you’re going then I’m telling father how you’re torturing his biological daughter.” Shu Lan closed the door right after she finished. Since it’s not possible to get the medal back, she didn’t know that there was a photo at the back, the class was all hyped up, as this Tuesday was He Jun Ming’s birthday, even if the bunch was quite playful, all of the rich kids are going to come, and Shu Lan wants to be invited too.

So she threw Meng Ting’s gold medal downstairs.

And He Jun Ming as expected thought of her.

Shu Lan told him that it was her dance medal while blushing, He Jun Ming picked it up, and saw the picture that fell out. 

He froze for a few seconds, whistled, and asked Shu Lan about the person in the photo: “Who is she?”

Shu Lan’s face turned white, she only could reluctantly smile back: “A small celebrity that I was into a few years back, she’s not in the industry anymore.”

He Jun Ming looked slightly disappointed: “Quite pretty, give this to me then. Then you come over tomorrow night to have some fun.”

Shu Lan’s eyes brightened and immediately agreed.

That skirt was really pretty, it wasn’t only pretty, but also very special.

Since Meng Ting wasn’t even going to wear it, then what’s wrong if she did wear it!

Shu Lan got very excited at the thought of seeing the other’s expression when she attended He Jun Ming’s birthday party tomorrow. If Jiang Ren was interested in her……

She didn’t believe that Meng Ting would really go, since young, Meng Ting was always the obedient one, she was never feisty, all she had left was being soft and obedient. If father would be sad, Meng Ting would never let the relationship between the sisters fall apart.

~

As Meng Ting headed to school the next day, Shu Lan still didn’t return her stuff, she knew she could only retrieve it herself.

She won’t let Shu Lan be anymore. 

The picture was also something that her mother left for her, it cannot be some toy that He Jun Ming and his bunch played around with. 

It was already 5:30 p.m. when classes in Seven High ended.

Meng Ting finished packing her bags, and said to Zhao Nuan Cheng: “You head on home first.”

“Ting Ting, how about you?”

“I have something to do.”

Zhao Nuan Cheng didn’t think much of it: “Sure, then I’ll see you tomorrow, Ting Ting.”

“See you tomorrow.”

Meng Ting thought that both of the schools ended class at the same time. So when she went over to get her skirt back, Shu Lan wouldn’t have the time to change into it. Shu Lan wouldn’t give it back to her at home, but in school, to avoid creating a scene, naturally, she won’t hold on to the skirt.

But when she got to Shu Lan’s classroom, a girl, holding a small mirror in her hand, who sat in the row in front of Shu Lan, curiously looked at her: “Shu Lan ya, she already left way long ago. It’s He Jun Ming’s from class 12’s birthday today, so she didn’t attend Mr Zhang’s class, and just went straight.”

Meng Ting furrowed her brows, she didn’t expect this bunch of people to skip classes entirely: “Thank you, do you know where He Jun Ming’s  birthday party is held?”

The girl thought that Meng Ting’s voice was soft and nice, so she told her: “ It’s at AnHai Courtyard.” 

Meng Ting was put in a tough spot.

But thinking of Shu Lan’s personality, there’s a high possibility the skirt will be ruined, in the end, she still chose to sit the public bus to AnHai Courtyard.

She knows about AnHai Courtyard.

It’s the classiest region in the city, facing the sea, with hotels, cyber cafes, and also KTV. 

It’s under the Jiang family’s Jun Yang Corporation.

It was coincidentally also rush hour for workers who rushed home. 

Meng Ting got down from the bus, the sky was dark.

The night came by pretty early in the winter, the sky was already pitch black.

Meng Ting walked into the main entrance of AnHai Courtyard, at the reception area was a man and a woman, with a friendly attitude: “Miss, and you are?”

Meng Ting was still wearing Seven High’s school uniform, normal sneakers, her hair up in a ponytail, and a pair of black shades on her nose bridge, she did look like a mess.

Meng Ting slightly anxious: “I’m looking for my little sister, is that okay?”

The lady receptionist smiled: “Student if you don’t have an invitation, you’re not allowed up there.”

Meng Ting stunned, someone’s singing could be heard from upstairs, it sounded like the howls of wolves and the cries of ghosts. She knows that the party is heated, under this situation, if Shu Lan didn’t cause any trouble, then she isn’t Shu Lan. 

Meng Ting wasn’t there to clean up after here, but to make sure her skirt wasn’t ruined.

“I’m also……” she rarely lied, her face turned all red, “He… He Jun Ming’s friend. I’m just late.”

The lady receptionist smiled: “Little girl, lying is wrong.”

Her eyes swept past her glasses, the male receptionist gave her a disregarded look.

It was obvious that Meng Ting was lying 

Meng Ting knew why.

Jiang Ren and his friends were surrounded by rich and elegant people. He Jun Ming only likes good looking people, he wouldn’t have someone as shabby as her as his friend.

Meng Ting contemplated for quite long and took off her glasses.

The two receptionists across her turned quiet for a second.

This young girl with both of her cheeks slightly red: “I really am…… their friend.” The light in the main hall was too bright, she uncomfortably blinked a few times, her eyes starting to water.

But she was also unbelievably beautiful. A pure kind of beauty, she was even prettier than everyone that was up there. 

The male receptionist’s face all blushed, he coughed softly and said: “I’ll help you ask the student.”

Meng Ting wore her glasses again, slightly nervous.

The call went through, the male receptionist asked her: “They’re asking for your name.”

Meng Ting didn’t have any other choice: “Meng Ting.”

~

He Jun Ming was dizzy from all the alcohol, after singing he picked up the phone. His alcohol tolerance was bad, once he heard the other side say Meng Ting, his first reaction was to doubt if he had misheard him.

“My god? Meng Ting!”

Jiang Ren, who was playing poker at the edge of the sofa, looked up.

“Boss Ren, it’s straights, do you want them?”

Jiang Ren pushed his chips and his deck to He Jun Ming: “I’ll buy your phone.” 

$56000 worth of chips, it wasn’t a small sum during that year. 

He stood up, He Jun Ming’s phone was already in his hands.

The receptionists said: “Yes, this student said she’s Meng Ting.”

At the other end of the call, the teen happily laughed. 

The receptionist didn’t know that the person on the other end had changed: “ Should I let her up?”

“Let her come up through the stairs, tell her the lift’s broken.”

He was waiting at the corner of the 3rd floor, he couldn’t resist his smile.