Summer vacation wasn't long, but it wasn't short either.
Su Baixue had already contacted the coffee shop and supermarket where she used to work. One of the coffee shops she had worked at happened to be short-staffed, so she planned to work during the vacation to earn some money to help with household expenses. As for high school tuition, since Su Baixue had excellent grades and received a scholarship, there was no need to worry.
The old community house where they lived was a secondhand apartment that Su Cuihua's son had bought through a friend before his death. It was near the suburbs and hadn't cost much—just over fifty square meters. After so many years, it looked dilapidated and unsellable. Otherwise, in "Yangchun Baixue," Su Baixue wouldn't have been so desperate.
Rumors had been circulating for over a decade that the old house would be demolished, but no one ever came to tear it down. Not only were there no office buildings or commercial streets, but there weren't even many large shops nearby. In recent years, several elderly widowers and widows in the community had passed away one after another, and the area's population had gradually dwindled. Those with some money had moved away one by one, leaving behind a collection of the widowed, orphaned, lonely, elderly, sick, and disabled.
Su Baixue was used to working during vacations. Su Cui didn't stop her. The money from the jade pendant had come from dubious sources, so Su Cui bought two phones, claiming she had won them in a lottery at a mall. They weren't even good phones—just two basic senior phones—but Su Baixue was overjoyed.
They had been living together for a while now. When Su Cui had first awakened, Su Baixue was very happy and didn't notice anything wrong. But after the initial surprise passed, Su Baixue often seemed to want to say something but hesitated. Su Cui noticed.
Su Cui considered telling her the truth.
Telling this girl that she wasn't her real grandmother...
But after observing for a while, she really didn't dare to say it!
Every time Su Baixue seemed about to speak, Su Cui would stop and want to say something. But before she could even open her mouth, Su Baixue's eyes would well up with tears. The teardrops would glisten in her eyes, her nose turning red, making her look like a pitiful rabbit. If touched, that rabbit would probably dash itself against a tree stump.
Your grandmother is dead.
I am not your grandmother.
Weighing the words, Su Cui imagined saying that to Su Baixue's innocent, bunny-like face. After thinking it over, she shut her mouth.
From this, Su Cui fully understood the psychology of those perverts.
Su Baixue's face couldn't hide anything. It was easy to know how to hurt her.
Hurting her didn't even require fear of retaliation.
It made sense that a kind person was easily bullied. Knead a piece of dough and it wouldn't fight back. This kind of docile disposition could satisfy many perverts' craving for the thrill of abuse.
Her warm, harmless aura tempted people to act.
Whenever Su Cui pretended to remember something from Su Cuihua's past, Su Baixue would be overjoyed.
Su Cui had strong reason to suspect.
That Su Baixue was happily deceiving herself.
And she had probably already convinced herself of it.
Thinking this, when Su Baixue was about to leave, Su Cui deliberately said, "Baixue, Grandma suddenly can't remember your father's name. What was your father's name?"
Su Baixue's face turned pale. She stopped tying her shoelaces, at a loss, and her eyes immediately reddened.
"Ah! Grandma is so senile! Your father is Su Jianguo!" Su Cui added with a chuckle.
Then she saw Su Baixue's eyes light up.
Heh heh heh, Su Cui thought to herself, what a mischievous old lady she was.
Smiling, she took out a watch from her pocket. She had prepared it with a GPS tracker. She handed it to Su Baixue and said, "Baixue, look! This watch your father bought for Grandma when you were little is still in good condition. It's useless for me to wear it. Why don't you take it!"
Su Baixue shook her head repeatedly. "Grandma, it's Dad's thing. If I wear it out and lose it, that would be terrible."
"Oh." Su Cui let out a sad sigh. "But Grandma really wants to see you wear it..."
Seeing Su Cui's hurt expression, Su Baixue's heart ached. She quickly said, "Then... then I'll wear it." She took it and put it on her fair wrist.
"Mm, good girl." Su Cui nodded in satisfaction.
This child was so soft-hearted.
"Alright, it's getting late. Hurry off to work. Call Grandma if anything comes up. Don't worry about the phone bill!"
"Mm!" Su Baixue agreed readily.
Then she didn't call Su Cui on her phone all day.
She only used the coffee shop's landline at noon to ask if Su Cui had eaten lunch. Su Cui, who had been tailing Su Baixue from the shop across the street all day, was very frustrated.
It was definitely to save money.
That wouldn't do.
When Su Baixue came home for dinner that evening, Su Cui started nagging.
"Grandma is getting old! Look at our community—there are always old ladies home alone with no one watching them. Their kids don't call them for three or four days. By the time they find out, the body is already rotting. People can die suddenly... Ah, you young people call it 'sudden death' in the news. Good thing Grandma won a phone in that lottery. Our Baixue must always want to call Grandma, right?"
Su Baixue's hand gripping her chopsticks tightened. She was scared.
Scared enough to think that she really should call Grandma more often. Grandma was home alone—it was dangerous!
Before, when Grandma was paralyzed at home, there was no phone, so Su Baixue had no dependence on mobile phones at all. If not for her excellent grades and most of her time spent reading and doing practice problems, she could be considered a "caveman" among the younger generation.
Su Cui continued, "But phone bills really are expensive. Our Baixue works so hard to earn money. How about this: from now on, let's use three rings as a signal. If Grandma hangs up after three rings, Baixue, you rush home!"
Su Baixue nodded like a chick pecking rice and said a very loud "Mm."
Su Cui picked up a piece of food for her. "How are you finding the phone? I heard from the kids downstairs that there's something called Weibo and WeChat now. You can contact people, check the news, and watch videos."
Su Baixue had used these before. Even though she was poor and didn't have a phone, she had used her classmates' phones. Sometimes at the coffee shop, the boss would lend her a spare phone for convenience. But she mostly used it to look up study materials and contact work. She rarely browsed.
"Grandma, those need data! I didn't get a plan with data. I got the cheapest plan that lets you and me call each other. If I look at too much of that stuff, I'll get distracted. It's bad for studying!"
Su Cui choked. "..."