Fractured Jade - Chapter 2

Chapter 2

She didn’t say anything else.

Tears slid silently down her cheeks as she bit hard into her lower lip, biting until it turned white.

Outside the window, birds chirped, making the bedroom feel even more deathly still.

“Rest for a while. I’ll go make you something to eat.”

“I’m not eating.”

“Eat first. Then we’ll talk.”

When I went downstairs, Mother Shen was still sitting on the sofa.

The moment she saw me come down, she stood up anxiously. “How is she? Did she…”

“She cried.”

“She cried? That’s good. If she cried, that’s good. Before this, she wouldn’t even cry.”

Mother Shen froze for a moment, and then her tears fell again.

“That child… From the time the accident happened until now, she hasn’t shed a single tear. When the doctor said they couldn’t save her legs, she had no expression at all. She didn’t say a word. After she came home, she drove away everyone who tried to take care of her and locked herself in her room, refusing to eat or drink… I thought she…”

“Auntie, it’ll be all right. I’m here now.”

“Li Yi, you… you’re really willing?”

“I am.”

Mother Shen took my hand and gripped it tightly.

“Then Auntie is begging you… please help her.”

“I will.”

I went into the kitchen. Auntie Zhang was inside, wiping away tears.

“Young lady, are you Zhaoning’s classmate?”

“Yes.”

“Is she… is she all right?”

“She will be.”

She was always so proud.

The first time I noticed Shen Zhaoning was on the first day of our freshman year of high school.

When she walked into the classroom, the whole class went quiet.

I was sitting in the corner of the very last row.

From where I sat, her ponytail was directly in my line of sight.

The first time she ordered me around was during the second week of school.

That day, between classes, she turned around and swept her gaze across the classroom before it stopped on me.

“Hey, you. Come here.”

I froze for a second and pointed at myself.

“Yes, you. Go to the school store and buy me a bottle of water.”

From that day on, she often ordered me around.

And every time, I did it immediately.

My deskmate couldn’t stand it anymore.

“Li Yi, is something wrong with you? She’s treating you like a servant, and you’re still happy about it.”

“That’s not what she means.”

“Then what does she mean?”

I couldn’t answer.

That winter was especially cold. I didn’t have a down jacket, so I wore every piece of clothing I owned.

When I walked, I looked like a penguin.

After school, she stopped me.

“Hey, you.”

I turned around. She was standing behind me, frowning as she looked me over.

“Why are you dressed like that? You look like a ball.”

I didn’t say anything.

She looked at me again, then turned her head away.

“So annoying. Walking with you makes me look bad.”

The next day, she tossed a paper bag onto my desk.

“I bought this coat too big. Deal with it for me. Stop dressing like a beggar every day.”

It was a black down jacket. The tag was still on it.

I looked up at her. She stared at the magnolia tree outside the window and refused to look at me.

“What are you looking at? I told you to deal with it, so deal with it.”

The next day, I wore that down jacket to school.

During the break, she turned around and glanced at me without saying a word.

But I saw the corner of her mouth twitch, as if she were smiling, or as if she were trying not to.