Twilight Upon a Thousand Snow-capped Mountains - Chapter 9.1

Chapter 9 (1)

After coming back to school from T city, I was down with the flu, a few consecutive days of fever, even the first two exams of the finals were a hazy memory amidst my high fever. Although I had gone tot he school’s hospital to be on a drip, but every morning the fever would return in a timely manner, after eating some fever medicine it would be fine but the next morning, it would come back again. It happened again and again like a tug of war…Yue Ying sighed,”I don’t have the appearance of an Empress Dowager, yet you are full or worries and illnesses.”

I raised a big cup and while drinking form it I weakly retorted, “This is just a bad year for me,where are the worries and illnesses.” …Yue Ying scoffed, “Fine, you can still talk about the wonderful weather in autumn.”…That’s right, the wonderful weather in autumn, but it was now winter already. Only a fool like me would sit outside and freeze for almost half a day, unable to recover from the cold that resulted.

I went to the hospital for a consultation, the doctor put me on a drip for three days, and during this time I received a short letter from Lin Zi Xian to say that Xiao Shan had already started attending lessons again, to tell me not to worry, even adding that we should all meet the next time around. It was extremely polite, like the way she usually handled matters. She didn’t mention if she had found Xiao Shan at T city and I didn’t ask further.

I suppose this incident was already in the past, whether to her or me…three days after after the injections, my fever was also gone. I placed all my efforts in my studies, there were many compulsory subjects, it was impossible to complete in less than half a month or ten days, every time during the exam period, the atmosphere in the school grounds seemed unusually tense and quiet, even the library and study areas were filled with students.

During this time, an explosive incident was the topic on everyone’s mind, it was regarding He Yu Yang…initially it was a message on the school’s BBS, saying that He Yu Yang had to play by the “unspoken rules” with a famous producer and even included a picture of He Yu Yang getting on a sports car…the whole school must have been very free, because even during the exam period they had the presence of mind to care about such gossips, someone speculated that the photo was not photoshopped, another claimed that the background in the photo was not our school’s South Gate, the most ridiculous was how someone even bothered to find out what series of car it was.
Not before long this message had even spread to external BBS forums, the heading had also been changed to “X pretty girl is a kept woman, sent to school in a luxurious benz”…in that time the discussions were fast and furious, He Yu Yang had just finished the filming for her show and was back in school for finals. People who recognised her in school pointed fingers and gossiped about her behind her back. Yue Ying and He Yu Yang were old friends, and had a very good relationship, she was so angry that she argued with the girls in class. Even the head of department for her course asked He Yu Yang in for a talk, when she came back her eyes were red. She told us, aggrieved, “Actually the car belongs to my uncle, that day he fetched me home to visit my granny.”

Yue Ying tried to explain on behalf of He Yu Yang on BBS, to think that no one believed her. All of them replying heartlessly,”She said it’s her uncle and so it’s her uncle? Trying to fool a three year old kid? Don’t sully the reputation of our school.”…There were even people who scolded Yue Ying, “Defending her so passionately, are you a kept woman too?”…a few people replied and started accusing Yue Ying of being a mistress…She was so furious that she locked herself up in the bathroom and cried loudly, I helplessly stood outside knocking on the door, freaking out,”Why stoop to their level? Yue Ying! Yue Ying get out of there!”

Finally when Yue Ying was exhausted from all the crying, she opened the door and I dragged her out. I wiped her face with a cold towel, then she started to confide in me…”Because my father was fooling around outside, my mother was so angry that she ended up with cancer, those women are shameless! They knew that my father was already married…it was all for his money! Because of his money…my mother lived in the hospital and that woman even went to harass her there…I hate them so much I could just cannibalise them…skin them alive…” Yue Ying pressed on the towel, telling me in bits and pieces, “Afterwards when my mother died, I told my father, those women, I would never let them off…not a single one. So I will definitely study hard and take over the family business, when I’m back, those sluts, I would let them off!”

Yue Ying had never once shared with me about her mother, I had never heard her scold others so harshly, the deep wave of cold flooded my heart, I suddenly couldn’t stand straight anymore and had to rest on the table to slowly sit down. I thought of Mo Shao Qian and his wife, perhaps she was hating me just as Yue Ying described. On this earth I had done the most unethical thing, no matter the reason, I had no right to comfort Yue Ying.

He Yu Yang’s matter blew up, because she was still a budding new host, the message on the forums became a hot topic, after some investigation, some netizens manage to find out the car plate number in the picture and the company it was registered under. It soon revealed that the boss of the company was He Yu Yang’s uncle, so the truth was finally out in the open. It soon blew over and He Yu Yang counted her blessings, “Luckily it has been proven that I’m not a mistress.”

Yue Ying her treated her to a meal to help her get over this matter, laughing as she placed her arm around her shoulders, “If you really dare to be a mistress, I’ll be the first to skin you alive.”

Out of us three, my smile was the most forced.