Chapter 2: Frozen

In those days, elementary school curriculum was relatively simple. Many children had already mastered most of it in kindergarten, with only a slight increase in difficulty when they reached fifth grade.

Qi Huaiyu had always struggled with language arts, her grades often falling below passing. While her other subjects were merely mediocre, they paled in comparison to her abysmal language scores. During those years, electronic pets were all the rage. She begged Xu Guizhi for one repeatedly, but was always refused. One afternoon after school, she came home to find Yuan Xi sitting in the living room, clutching a brand-new pink electronic pet—exactly the model she coveted.

Qi Huaiyu's eyes lit up. She ran over, her rosy cheeks smudged from climbing walls with the boys in the family compound after school. Standing before Yuan Xi, she held out a small hand.

"Mom must have bought this for me. You've already played with it for a while—it's my turn now."

Yuan Xi, who was a head shorter than her, was still shy and quiet. She blinked her eyes and obediently removed the electronic pet from her neck, handing it over to Qi Huaiyu. Her face lit up with delight. She grabbed it and began spinning around the room, giggling. Xu Guizhi emerged from the inner room and snatched the toy away without explanation.

"This is a reward for your sister getting perfect scores on two exams!" she scolded sharply. "Look at your grades—language arts is failing again! How can you even think about playing? Go back to your room and study!"

Her treasured toy had been snatched away, and Qi Huaiyu threw a tantrum, crying and wailing until Xu Guizhi dragged her to the corner to stand in the corner as punishment. Wiping her nose and tears with the sleeve of her shirt, she seethed inwardly, It's just 60 points! I'll show you I can get higher!

At dinner, Yuan Xi quietly sidled up to Xu Guizhi, her head bowed, clutching the electronic pet. "Mommy... I don't like playing with this. Why don't we give it to Sister instead?"

Knowing Yuan Xi was a sensible child, Xu Guizhi knelt down, taking her slender hand. "Xi Xi, Mommy knows you're being kind to your sister. But what's most important for you right now?"

Yuan Xi mumbled through her tears, "Studying..."

"In this world, hard work pays off. If Sister doesn't study well, she can't have her own toys. And this toy was something you earned through your own efforts, wasn't it?"

"Mm-hmm..."

Standing in the living room, facing the wall in punishment, Qi Huaiyu overheard these words. For the next month and a half, she was like a fired-up chicken, memorizing her Chinese textbook until it was practically in her bones. She studied as soon as she woke up, even reading under the covers with a flashlight in the middle of the night. Her dreams were filled with the Three Hundred Tang Poems.

For this month's monthly exam, Qi Huaiyu scored 78 in Chinese. The day the results were posted, she raced home, her face drenched in sweat. Upon arriving, she held her test paper high above her head and yelled, "Mom! Mom! I passed!"

Xu Guizhi, busy cooking, glanced at the paper and offered a perfunctory response. Qi Huaiyu's enthusiasm deflated completely. Pouting, she threw a small tantrum, "I worked so hard to just barely pass!"

She lingered in the kitchen, but Xu Guizhi, growing impatient, said, "Mom's cooking. It's fine that you passed. Just aim for 90 next time."

Qi Huaiyu's neck stiffened, her face flushing crimson with anger. She stormed back to her room, tore the test paper into pieces in a few swift motions, and tossed it into the trash. She threw herself onto her bed and began to cry softly.

Later that evening, Qi Zheng returned home. Qi Huaiyu leaped into his arms and told him about her 78 in Chinese. Qi Zheng, tired from a long day, didn't think much of it. He ruffled his daughter's spiky hair. "Sweetie, 78 isn't good enough. The maximum is 100."

Qi Huaiyu fell silent. She pulled away from her father, her face scrunched in displeasure, and retreated to her room. There, she saw her pink-shelled electronic pet on the desk. Next to it lay the test paper she had ripped apart, now taped back together and looking crumpled and messy.

Qi Huaiyu couldn't understand why things that Yuan Xi obtained so easily were like climbing Mount Everest for her.

During that year's final exams, Yuan Xi scored 57 in math. From the math teacher to the dean of students, everyone anxiously approached Xu Guizhi, asking if something was wrong with the child and why her grades had suddenly plummeted.

Xu Guizhi took this matter very seriously. During the school break, she took Yuan Xi out every day to relax. Sometimes she brought home a cake, other times the kids' favorite yo-yos. Each time, Xu Guizhi would say, "Xiaoyu, look how much your sister thinks of you. She brought all this back for you."

At first, Qi Huaiyu gloated when she heard Yuan Xi had scored 57. After all, her own math score had been over 90. But gradually, she couldn't bring herself to smile anymore. No one cared how well she had done; everyone was deeply worried about Yuan Xi's sudden decline in grades.

While Xu Guizhi took Yuan Xi out during the day, Qi Huaiyu slept in. When they returned in the evening, Qi Huaiyu would finally stir. Yuan Xi knocked on her door and handed her a pack of White Rabbit milk candies.

Qi Huaiyu loved milk candy, never tiring of it. But with a cold expression, she waved her hand and knocked the bag of candy to the floor.

Yuan Xi was startled. She crouched down to pick up the candies, brushing the dust off the wrapper. Qi Huaiyu demanded, "Did you fail on purpose?!"

Yuan Xi froze, her hands still. Qi Huaiyu, as if she'd already guessed the truth, said fiercely, "What kind of scheme are you up to?! I've seen your practice workbook—you can do all the same types of problems. How could you not know them during the exam?"

Qi Huaiyu glared at the bag of candy. "Stop pretending to care about me. If it weren't for you, Mom wouldn't have treated me like that."

Yuan Xi's eyes reddened, her hands nervously clutching the bag of candy, which crinkled and rustled. "I'm sorry..." she whispered, her voice trembling.

Qi Huaiyu hated that look. She'd been ready to vent her anger, but suddenly all her words failed her. Impatiently, she jumped off her chair and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her with a resounding bang.

It was late at night.

Yuan Xi sat alone by the window, the warm night breeze swirling through the room, her forehead slick with sweat. Her long, distinct eyelashes drooped, and tiny, glistening stars seemed to dance in the depths of her eyes.

The sharp blade of a utility knife cast a glinting patch of light across her face. Yuan Xi rolled up her sleeves, revealing several gruesome scars crisscrossing her slender arms. Some were dark and faded, clearly old, while others looked recently healed. She clenched her fist, her wrist bones protruding sharply. With her left hand, she held the utility knife, the cold steel blade pressed against her upper arm.

The darkness seemed to stain her face, making it appear even paler.

With a slight press, the blade would sink into her flesh, and a crimson stream would quickly gather and spurt forth. The pain forced tears to well up in Yuan Xi's eyes, her lips losing their color and trembling slightly. She repeatedly tightened her right hand, and fresh blood seeped from the wound under pressure.

Yuan Xi took a deep breath, as if something had been relieved. She leaned wearily against the window, and the blood near the wound slowly began to coagulate.

The night deepened, and moonlight failed to penetrate this dark corner.

Qi Huaiyu couldn't sleep.

She had a shoot early the next morning, but even with her eye mask on, she tossed and turned in bed. Yuan Xi's silent face kept flashing through her mind, like a recurring movie scene that played over and over, each time leaving Qi Huaiyu's chest feeling tight and suffocating.

She finally ripped off the eye mask, picked up her phone, and clicked on Yuan Xi's Moments feed. As expected, it was empty—Yuan Xi had set her posts to be visible only for the past three days.

Qi Huaiyu's thumb scrolled aimlessly twice before she tapped on Yuan Xi's profile picture.

The image was an oil painting of a dark blue sky devoid of stars or moon, but a small white boat floated in the lower right corner, accompanied by the tiny initials "yx."

Did Yuan Xi paint this? Qi Huaiyu suddenly realized how little she actually knew about her younger sister. What she liked, what she disliked, who her friends were—it was all a complete blank to her.

Finding nothing, Qi Huaiyu put down her phone with a sigh of frustration.

She and Yuan Xi were always on opposite paths. In the past two years, the new media industry had boomed, and heaven had smiled upon Qi Huaiyu, who was naturally beautiful. Yet transforming her account from one with a few thousand followers to one with a million was no easy feat. To maintain her figure, she barely ate any staple foods. After Yuan Xi left that morning, she drank a bowl of vegetable porridge, but the feeling of fullness made her anxious, even guilty. She knew this intense physical strain wouldn't last for many years, but if she didn't do social media, what else could she do?

Looking ahead, Qi Huaiyu saw only a dense white fog. Yuan Xi, however, had her entire life mapped out: a graduate student in Chemistry at Nancheng University, followed by a doctorate, a teaching position at the university, and a path laid out by Qi Zheng and Xu Guizhi.

In their youth, Yuan Xi had been the star of her peers, and Xu Guizhi had poured all her energy into her. Beside the radiant Yuan Xi, Qi Huaiyu felt like a speck of dust, unnoticed. Even now, as adults, despite Qi Huaiyu's considerable income—which her parents proudly boasted about to anyone who would listen—their pride always centered on Yuan Xi.

What was most infuriating was that Yuan Xi wasn't just academically brilliant. Under Xu Guizhi's devoted cultivation, she had become fluent in both English and French, skilled in oil painting and piano, and athletic. Xu Guizhi constantly boasted about her daughter's awards; even Qi Huaiyu knew Yuan Xi had won first place in the provincial high jump competition during college. But now, Yuan Xi was solely focused on her studies, gradually abandoning everything else.

As she thought further, Qi Huaiyu lost all sleep. She slipped out of bed, walked barefoot to the window, and lit a cigarette. In the darkness, the lighter's flame flickered back and forth, illuminating her sharp jawline.

As the smoke rose, Qi Huaiyu's eyes stung with moisture. The phone by the bed suddenly vibrated twice. She immediately turned to check it—it was Xiao Qiu, an editor from the studio. It was already two in the morning, yet she was still editing videos and had sent Qi Huaiyu an initial version.

Qi Huaiyu watched it for a while, then suddenly remembered something. She stubbed out her cigarette and typed back: "Xiao Qiu, do you still have that Polaroid SD card from last time?"