The Lighter and Princess Gown

The next day, there was a meeting at the project base.

Gao Jianhong spoke awhile, and then he noticed that Zhu Yun seemed a bit absent-minded. “What is it? Is there a problem?”

“Huh?” Zhu Yun came back to her senses and shook her head. “No.” She turned to the side and asked, “Where did Li Xun go today?”

Gao Jianhong replied, “I don’t know. He called me in the morning and said he’d be busy today, and that I’d be in charge here for the day.”

Busy? Did it have to do with that woman from yesterday?

Zhu Yun didn’t want to be distracted, but she couldn’t help herself from thinking about it.

“Let’s continue.” Gao Jianhong beckoned to Zhu Yun with a hand.

Li Xun skipped all his classes that day. After class, Zhu Yun headed to the project base to discover that Li Xun had already returned. As usual, he was curled up in his chair, writing code. Everything seemed normal.

Zhu Yun sat down and casually asked, “Where were you today?”

Li Xun answered, “I went for a walk downtown.”

Zhu Yun asked, “Downtown? Why did you go there?”

Li Xun glanced at Zhu Yun and mocked, “What, now that the princess’ competition project is all set, she has time to be nosy now?”

“……”

Who cares about studying you, Top Score Debtor.

Zhu Yun inwardly scoffed, and then she turned back to her work. She happened to notice a bag beside Li Xun’s legs; it looked to be from the stadium downtown…

That evening, Gao Jianhong invited Zhu Yun to have dinner. On the way, they thought about the details for their competition project. “Malicious program analysis has been done many times before. Should we try something new?”

Zhu Yun said, “Sure, but there are only a few directions you can take with this security competition. Maybe we can do something with the hardware—” She suddenly paused and Gao Jianhong asked, “What is it?”

Zhu Yun looked toward the school gate and saw a person standing there.

“Zhu Yun?”

“Yeah…” Zhu Yun opened her mouth. Gao Jianhong said, “Let’s go. What do you want to eat? Want to go out?”

Zhu Yun said, “No, let’s just eat at school, and then get back to work.”

Gao Jianhong laughed. “No need to rush. Relax. I’m not Li Xun.”

They headed to the cafeteria, and Zhu Yun kept her head down the entire walk, counting the pebbles on the ground. None of the things Gao Jianhong said stuck in her head. Just as they were about to walk up the steps, Zhu Yun stopped.

“Um…” Zhu Yun called out to Gao Jianhong. “I just remembered something. I have to make a stop at my dorm.”

“What is it?”

Zhu Yun blurted out the first thing that came to ming. “My mom told me to send her some things, and I nearly forgot. Don’t wait for me. Go eat first. I’ll see you later at the base.”

“Okay then.” Gao Jianhong walked into the cafeteria on his own, and Zhu Yun quickly headed over to the school gate.

Was she there?
Was she there?
Was she there?

Zhu Yun looked all around, and finally, she spotted a figure across the street, in front of the dessert shop. Actually, at such a distance, it was hard to see clearly. Zhu Yun only recognized her because of her unsophisticated clothes.

Pretending as if she were just passing by, Zhu Yun walked over to the girl and looked over her. Her complexion was sallow and her skin was in poor condition. She carried a large sack, her shoulder stooping. She looked very tired.

Zhu Yun walked past, and then she turned around and walked past again. She continued this a few times before stopping. Then she looked around, and when she didn’t spot Li Xun, she decided to walk up to the girl directly.

“Aiyo!” Zhu Yun walked up to and into the girl, quickly apologizing, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”

The girl looked startled, but quickly replied, “I-it’s okay.”

Zhu Yun said again, “I’m sorry. My mind was elsewhere, and I wasn’t careful…”

The girl shook her head. “It’s okay.” She had a very strong country accent, but she spoke a bit powerlessly. She was thin and looked very worried.

As if having a friendly chat, Zhu Yun started asking, “You’re carrying such a big suitcase all by yourself. You must not be from around here, right?”

“What? Oh… Yes, that’s right. I’m visiting from elsewhere.”

“Are you here for a vacation?”

“No…”

“Then what are you visiting for?”

The girl’s reactions were very slow. Every time Zhu Yun asked her a question, several seconds would pass before she started to reply.

“…I’m looking for my younger brother.”

Zhu Yun took a second to analyze her response, and then she felt like her chest had exploded.

Younger brother!

Younger brother!!

So she was looking for her younger brother—!!!

Zhu Yun looked at the girl’s face again. Considering what the girl had said, Zhu Yun suddenly realized that she was quite tall. Zhu Yun herself was about 168 cm, but she was still half a head shorter than this girl. And when she took another look, she felt that the girl’s face was okay looking as well. Though she appeared outdated and her skin wasn’t so good, her basic structure was fine…

And those double lidded phoenix eyes…

Zhu Yun felt a bit anxious. She didn’t quite understand it. Even when she’d met Li Xun’s fashionable, large-chested girlfriends, she’d never felt this way.

But in front of her now was Li Xun’s older sister. She was his family. If Zhu Yun wasn’t mistaken, she clearly remembered that this was precisely how Zhang Xiaobei had threatened Li Xun before. His address was listed in the countryside, but the school was unable to contact his family…

He didn’t go home for New Year’s.

Considering how Li Xun had treated the girl last night, he surely wasn’t on good terms with his family. If she wasn’t careful and misspoke, and Li Xun found out, it certainly wouldn’t be a laughing matter.

Zhu Yun wondered if she ought to just leave and pretend she’d never met this girl.

The girl had her head lowered. At her side was an old fashioned, worn out, dusty fabric bag. She also carried another large bag in her hands. Though she was tall, she was very thin. Standing on the side of the road all by herself, she looked truly exhausted.

Zhu Yun didn’t have the heart to just leave. This was still his older sister. So, she pointed to the coffee shop near them and asked, “Should we sit awhile?”

The girl quickly shook her hands, “No, that’s okay.”

Zhu Yun said, “I happen to be waiting for someone too. Let’s wait inside.”

“It’s really not necessary.”

Zhu Yun gave it her all and put on her brightest, sincerest smile. Her face had gone stiff when the girl was finally concinved to head into the coffee shop.

The place wasn’t a low-quality one. The waitress was a part-time student and looked a bit snobbish. When she saw the other girl’s appearance, along with all her luggage, her expression turned sour. “We require a cover charge here.”

It was the first time in Zhu Yun’s life that someone had spoken to her with such a tone. She was so taken aback that she nearly grabbed the next table’s coffee and tossed it in her face.

The girl lowered her head and said, “Forget it… I’ll wait outside.”

“No, no, no. Come and sit.” Zhu Yun pulled the girl into a seat and ordered two cups of coffee.

When the coffee came though, the girl didn’t drink any. She just kept her head lowered, afraid to touch anything.

Zhu Yun tried to figure out what to talk about.

“Um… What’s your name?”

“Li Lan.”

Her last name was also Li.

“Is he your biological brother?” (t/n: Because often, you might call any close, younger male a ‘younger brother.’)

Li Lan shook her head.

“Cousins?”

Again, she shook her head.

……

Zhu Yun changed the topic a bit. “How long has it been since you’ve seen him?”

Li Lan spoke extremely quietly. “A very, very long time.”

Zhu Yun asked a few questions and she discovered that Li Lan had grown still and silent. When she looked carefully, she realized that Li Lan’s shoulders were trembling, as if she were crying.

“Are you okay?”

Li Lan replied, “I’m fine.”

But she looked extremely upset.

Zhu Yun hesitated and pulled out her phone. “Is your brother a student at our school? What’s his name? Maybe I know him, and I can help you call him.”

“No,” Li Lan immediately rejected her offer. She looked up, and her eyes were red. “Don’t look for him. He doesn’t want to meet with me…”

There are tons of things he doesn’t want to do. You can’t always let him have his way.

“It’s not a big deal. It’s just one meeting.”

“No, really. He’ll get angry!”

Zhu Yun looked at Li Lan’s passive appearance and felt a bit vexed. She frowned and decided she wouldn’t skirt around anymore. She asked directly—”If you aren’t really siblings, what kind of animosity do you have between the two of you? Why can’t you meet with him? He just hates you, because?”

Li Lan’s complexion paled in an instant.

Yah, yah, yah… Crap, screwed up! Zhu Yun quickly tried to salvage the situation. “That’s not what I meant. Just that it seems like—”

“He probably hates us,” Li Lan murmured. She had a hand over her face. “It’s only right that he doesn’t want to see us…”

What was this situation?

Zhu Yun slowly provoked Li Lan, wearing away her wariness. It didn’t seem like Li Lan ordinarily had many people to talk to. She slowly started to relax as she talked with Zhu Yun, this stranger.

Zhu Yun was alarmed as she listened to Li Lan’s story. Not because the story itself was grand and magnificent, but because Li Xun was the protagonist. Without his permission, she’d uncovered one of his secrets. She wanted to stop, but she couldn’t.
—

Li Lan and Li Xun hailed from a fertile region. Zhu Yun had heard of the place before; it was famous for the lake there. The scenery was beautiful, even if it was in the countryside.

Zhu Yun thought to herself that, it was no wonder that his skin was so nice, having grown up in nature.

Li Lan hadn’t had much schooling, so there were many things that she couldn’t exactly express clearly. But the important thing in storytelling was emotion. And as Li Lan stumbled through her tale, Zhu Yun could hear many emotions that had been buried over the years.

These step-siblings had the same father and different mothers. Li Xun joined Li Lan’s family when he was six years old. Before then, no one had known of his existence.

Li Lan’s father, Li Chengbo, was originally a farmer. Later, following the trend, he started working in foreign trade. He even opened a factory. It wasn’t small, so there were a lot of employees. Among them was Li Xun’s mother.

The way Li Lan told it, Li Xun’s mother was very beautiful. Unlike the other factory workers, she had an ostentatious beauty. Though she was very poor, she lived fashionably. She made pretty clothes and listened to the most popular bands’ music cassettes.

In the factory, she endured a lot of criticism. Everyone would gossip about her behind her back, but she didn’t seem to care.

Li Chengbo quickly found himself attracted by this woman. He hid the fact that he already had a family and started to court Li Xun’s mother. From Li Xun’x appearance, it was easy to guess that Li Bocheng was also very handsome. Tall, young, fit, with a great resolve. It didn’t take long for her to fall in love with him and become pregnant with Li Xun.

Li Chengbo had the same mentality of the older generation in the countryside. Value males and belittle females. When Zhu Yun’s mother went for a checkup and was told that her child was a girl, Li Chengbo told her to get rid of it. No matter what Li Xun’s mother said, he wouldn’t relent. And so, when she was eight months pregnant, she left the factory.

Later on, Li Chengbo’s business failed and after going bankrupt, he returned to his home village. He’d gotten temperamental as well.

Li Lan was five years old at the time, the youngest in her family. She also had three older brothers. Li Chengbo didn’t like her and would often scold her. Because her mother was frightened by her father, she didn’t treat Li Lan too well either. She lived a hand-me-down life, using whatever was left behind by her older brothers.

Her father eventually fell into gambling and drinking. Their home was filled with a foul atmosphere. Everyone had a big temper, aside from Li Lan, for she had no one to take her temper out on.

When she was ten years old, Li Xun’s mother brought Li Xun to their home.

Li Lan was still young at the time, and she hadn’t known what the arrival of this mother and son pair would bring. She was simply very happy because she would no longer be the youngest in their house. Maybe she’d be able to let her temper out on Li Xun too. But reality had a crueler picture in store. Li Lan soon realized that this new younger brother was even worse than all three of her older brothers combined. Forget bullying him. Just walking near to him would cause him to lash out at you.

But there was one benefit of Li Xun’s arrival. Li Lan’s brothers and mom had another punching bag now, a new target. And for the first time ever, Li Lan had someone on her side against everyone else.

Previously, Li Chengbo would torture everyone from his alcoholism, but there was suddenly a new addition to the food chain. With a strong will that she’d never used before, Li Lan’s mother treated Li Xun’s mother like an unwanted guest. She would ridicule and verbally abuse Li Xun’s mother. In front of everyone, she criticized and denounced Li Xun’s mother as a whore for seducing another woman’s man, and she cursed Li Xun as a bastard.

After Li Xun’s mother’s arrival, Li Lan’s mother’s life became a lot more lively. Even still, Li Xun’s mother persevered and remained in their home. At the time, she had a serious illness and no family to rely on. If she didn’t go there, then 6-year-old Li Xun would have no means for survival.

In order to appease Li Lan’s mother, Li Xun’s mother stopped caring for her appearance. She kept her hair messy and her face untidy, disappearing into the crowd. She was cautious and solemn about everything she said and did.

Li Lan would clean until very late every night. Even after everyone else had gone to sleep, she would still have work to do. Several times she’d seen Li Xun’s mother admonishing him to appease his older brothers and get along with them, though Li Xun never agreed to. Then his mother would grow upset and hit him, and he would cry, but still not agree.

Li Lan was soft-hearted, and she never felt that the mother-son pair were as evil as the rest of her family claimed. She pitied them really. And so, Li Lan started to help them. At the time, Li Xun’s mother could hardly sleep at night because of her illness. While the rest of her family slept, Li Lan would secretly cook porridge for her and tend to her.

She slowly grew to like Li Xun’s mother. His mother used very simple material to make her a dress. It was the first dress she ever had. His mother also gave her music tapes to listen to. Li Lan fell in love with these new-age things, and she would seek the pair out whenever she had time.

Li Xun wasn’t very good at taking care of others, so he was completely helpless with his mother’s illness. As his older sister, Li Lan berated him, “You have to listen to your mom.” She knew her older brothers well. Their favorite thing to do was bully others and give people a hard time. You simply had to go along with them, and they would grow tired of you.

She pleaded with him sincerely, but unfortunately, Li Xun didn’t listen to her. Li Lan angrily shouted at him, “This is what your mom wants!”

Li Xun glared at her and replied, “It’s not!”

Unable to communicate with him, Li Lan decided to ignore him as well.

Later, Li Xun’s mother passed away. Her passing was very tragic. Her body lost its shape and she curled up. It was such a frightening sight that Li Lan’s mother didn’t go to bother them during those days.

She passed away in the middle of the night. Li Lan was present then. And when Li Xun learned that his mother wouldn’t make it through the night, his cries sounded like he wanted to die himself.

On her deathbed, his mother held his hand. As in all times past, she told him to get along with the rest of the family. Seeing his mother in this state, Li Xun cried without making a sound, and he finally nodded his head, quietly agreeing to his mother’s request.

It had been her life long wish, but for some reason, when he finally agreed, his mother looked like she’d been hit with the world’s greatest pain. She lifted her hand up, a grim expression on her face, as if an evil spirit had possessed her. With endless resentment and pain, she grabbed Li Xun’s hand—

“No!” His mother’s eyes shook. Using the last bit of her strength, she told her son, “Li Xun, you can never become like them!”

His cries then were earth-shattering. As if he were shouting out all of his grievances, he shouted, “I know!” After hearing this, his mother peacefully left.

Li Lan stood at the side, her whole body trembling. She didn’t know how to describe what she felt at the time. It was the first time in her life that she felt such an attachment to someone outside of her family. It was like a hot flame burning cleanly, scorching you, and leaving you with no place to hide.

A thought came to her mind, that she had to find a way to help this younger brother who never called her “sister.”

Later, Li Xun started would start school. Because the school there was small, the elementary and junior high students attended together. Li Lan’s oldest brother had already graduated, and her second and third brothers were in junior high. Li Lan only studied for three years before staying at home to help with family matters.

From the moment Li Xun started school, Li Lan realized that her brothers would bully him even more severely. She didn’t understand where their anger came from, but they were like enemies who couldn’t possibly live under the same sky. Li Xun never tried to get revenge though. He was just a child; he couldn’t beat them, so he just had to bear their treatment. It wasn’t long before his entire body was covered in bruises.

Her brothers would secretly rip apart his books, toss away his backpack, and use any method to keep him from going to school. But, no matter how many bruises he got, or how ripped up his books were, Li Xun never missed a day of class. And he also learned not to study around her brothers. And so, in the night, under the lamps, aside from Li Lan washing clothes, there was also a studying Li Xun.

His attitude towards her remained poor as usual, or perhaps it’s more fitting to say that he continued to carry a heavy hostility towards their entire family. Li Lan didn’t mind. After all, there were many people who disliked her, and she didn’t feel that Li Xun’s fierceness was entirely genuine.

She quietly took care of him, washing his clothes and feeding him, helping divert her brothers’ attention from him. And like that, the days passed, until one evening, when to her surprise, Li Lan didn’t see Li Xun studying. She headed to the back courtyard and found him in the junk pile. He was clutching at his ribs, and when Li Lan asked him what was wrong, he didn’t answer.

Later on, she found out that Li Xun had gotten into the one “top class” that was actually considered decent at their rotten school. The class was located in the north building, which was a considerable distance from where Li Lan’s brothers took their lessons. But more importantly, the special class required a school fee, and Li Lan’s mother wouldn’t give Li Xun the money, so he was unable to join the class. He ended up returning to his original class.

Her brothers had been very happy about it, as if he were the same as them again. They happily beat him up, breaking his ribs.

Li Xun didn’t go to the hospital. Li Lan wrapped him up simply and secretly saved money to buy him pork stew. When Li Xun was able to stand again, he made a request to Li Lan for the first time—he wanted to borrow some money.

Li Lan didn’t have any money herself, but Li Xun didn’t care. He shouted at her, and she even cried. In the end, she lied to her mother and asked for some money. Li Xun took the money and went to town on his own. When he returned, everyone, including Li Lan, were startled to see that he’d bleached his hair blond.

During that time, dying your hair wasn’t common, and especially, such outrageous colors were rarely seen. Because of his individualism, Li Xun suffered even more. His father was especially furious. Li Chengbo was so angry that the rest of the family stayed in the corner, no one daring to step forward.

There had been more than one occassion when Li Lan thought her father would beat Li Xun to death… But even to the end, Li Xun wouldn’t admit any wrongdoing and he wouldn’t dye his hair back.

Eventually, everyone grew tired of hitting, of yelling, and they all became accustomed to the way things were. And so, that year, a young boy used this simple though childish method to prove how different he was to the rest of them.