Evening Bell

The evening glow bathed the stairwell in a warm orange hue, but Chen Ningyi's hand, clutching her phone, was icy cold. Tears streamed down her face; she had been crying for half an hour by the time she got home. Her eyes, like swollen peaches, looked as if stung by bees. Her knuckles were white from the force of her grip. She had barely pushed open the door, her schoolbag still untouched, when she collapsed onto the shoe-changing stool in the entryway, her fingertips trembling as she tapped on the number in her contacts labeled "Grandma."

The moment the call connected, her emotions, which she had been suppressing, suddenly burst forth, tears splashing onto the phone screen and blurring the light. "Grandma..." she began, her voice trembling uncontrollably, like a piece of paper fluttering in the wind, "Xiao Fuzhou... he's not doing well at school at all..."

The old man's gentle response came through the receiver, tinged with worry as he asked, "What's wrong?" This only made Chen Ningyi's sobs intensify. Wiping away her tears, she poured out everything Wang Zhitao had taught her, along with her own pent-up grievances: "He doesn't study at school, he's always with a girl named Xu Yanchi, and...and he even French-kissed her in the alley...When I saw him like that, I wanted to try and persuade him, not wanting him to go astray, but he was so cold, he wouldn't listen to me at all, and even said I was meddling..."

She choked up as she said the word "indifference," then paused, remembering Xiao Fuzhou's retreating figure in the corridor. Her tears flowed even faster: "Grandma, you were the ones who told me to keep an eye on Xiao Fuzhou at school, to prevent him from going astray... Now he's like this, and he doesn't even appreciate my advice. I... I really don't know what to do..."

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone, the only sound being Chen Ningyi's suppressed gasps. After a few seconds, the old man spoke, his voice no longer gentle, but stern and unyielding: "I understand, Xiaoyi. Don't be sad, and don't hold a grudge against him." He paused, his tone hardening, a hint of gritted teeth in his voice, "That brat is getting worse and worse. When he gets home tonight, I'm going to give him a good beating to teach him a lesson!"

Chen Ningyi sniffed, her tears receding slightly, but then she heard the old man continue, "And that Xu Yanchi, who can bewitch my grandson like this, must be no pushover either. Keep an eye on him at school from now on, and let me see who it is that can cause so much trouble for our Fuzhou family."

After hanging up the phone, Chen Ningyi buried her face in her knees, her shoulders still trembling slightly. The light from the entryway fell on her, casting a long shadow, like an unresolved knot. She didn't dwell on whether the old man's threat of a beating was just an angry outburst, nor did she doubt the veracity of Wang Zhitao's words—at this moment, she only felt that her "good intentions" had finally been recognized, and that Xiao Fuzhou would finally pay the price for his "indifference" and "bad behavior."

The afterglow outside the window gradually dimmed, and the sound of a neighbor closing their door echoed in the hallway. Chen Ningyi sat on the shoe-changing stool, still clutching her hot phone. The anger that had risen from her grievances was slowly replaced by a sense of relief that "finally someone is backing her up." Little did she know that this tearful phone call, like a pebble thrown into a calm lake, was stirring up a new storm in Xiao Fuzhou's home.

The motion-sensor light in the entryway turned on as Xiao Fuzhou closed the door, clearly illuminating the "Qingfan No.1 Middle School" school sign peeking out of the side pocket of his backpack, its edges still dusted with grass clippings from the playground after evening self-study. "Grandma?" he called out habitually, placing his heavy backpack, filled with test papers and textbooks, on the shoe cabinet, his fingertips tracing the rough edges of the shoulder straps—marks left by years of carrying study materials—but he received no familiar reply. The living room was dark, only a warm yellow light leaking from the crack in his grandmother's bedroom door, like a drawn-out question.

"Grandma?" He called out twice more, raising his voice. He took half a meter toward the bedroom, and just as his fingertips touched the cold doorknob, the door suddenly opened from the inside. A sandalwood scent mixed with cleaning agent for reading glasses wafted out, making Xiao Fuzhou's nose twitch.

The old woman before him still wore her hair in a neat bun, but the lines around her eyes were taut, and there wasn't a single gray hair on her head. But the gentleness she usually showed when watching him do his homework was gone. Her dark-patterned silk cheongsam accentuated her elegant figure, and the jade bracelet on her wrist jingled softly with each movement, its green light shimmering under the lamplight. It reminded Xiao Fuzhou of the countdown sign above the classroom blackboard that read "560 days until the college entrance exam"—had it upset Xiaoyi? Grandma's voice was like an ice cube straight from the freezer, startling Xiao Fuzhou—he had clearly walked past Chen Ningyi in the corridor that afternoon, not even touching her workbook, let alone speaking to her.

"No, Grandma, it's all a misunderstanding." Xiao Fuzhou hurriedly put his schoolbag on the ground, and his school badge slid out of the pocket and hit the shoe rack with a "click"—on the shoe rack were his white sneakers that he had just cleaned last week, with red paint from the school track still on the edges, interrupting his words.

Grandma walked towards him with light, quick steps, the pearl buttons on her clothes dazzling him like scattered, uncollected diamonds. She stopped half a step away from Xiao Fuzhou, her eyes, which always smiled as she watched him correct his mistakes, now narrowed to slits, staring at the uneven creases on his school uniform collar—the marks left from napping on his desk during breaks: "Misunderstanding?" She sneered, her voice suddenly rising, "You're already in your second year of high school, a grown man, taller than your father, and still so troublesome. You do homework until midnight every day, and you have the leisure to date girls at school? And do inappropriate things with them? I think you're asking for a beating!"

"Early romance?" Xiao Fuzhou was so startled that he took a half step back, his back bumping against a pile of supplementary teaching materials. It was a newly bought "Five Years of College Entrance Examination, Three Years of Simulation" book, the words "Sprint" on the cover digging painfully into his back, with an unfinished math test tucked between the pages. He opened his mouth, his mind blank, completely unable to figure out where this sudden question had come from, a look of bewilderment appearing in his eyes.

This bewildered look, in Grandma's eyes, became irrefutable evidence of his guilt. She took a step closer, her fingertips almost poking Xiao Fuzhou's chest: "How much did we spend on the school selection fee alone to send you to Qingfan No. 1 High School? Your father works in another city, and I get up early every day to make you breakfast. And what do you do? You're dating behind our backs. Are you planning to worry about it when you're in your senior year of high school, when there are only a few hundred days left until the college entrance exam? What are you going to do when you can't even get into a university?"

"No, Grandma!" Xiao Fuzhou's face flushed red instantly, his fingers gripping the hem of his school uniform turned white—the fingertips still bore the calluses from holding a pen and writing problems. "Grandma, I would never do such a thing. Grandma, think about it carefully, someone must be spreading rumors. I'm not in a relationship at all! You'd rather believe other people's gossip than believe me?"

"Outsider?" Grandma raised an eyebrow, her tone laced with sarcasm like shattered glass. "Are you saying I'm getting senile, or that Xiao Yi, who's in the class next to yours and we've done countless practice tests together, is lying to me?" She paused, her gaze sweeping over the words "Grade 11 (7)" on Xiao Fuzhou's school badge, and sneered a few times: "We've supported you to get into a top high school, and finally watched you shamelessly get into the honors class, but who knows what kind of spell that Xu Yanchi cast on you, making you forget that there are still more than 500 days until the college entrance exam and you need to catch up? What exactly is your relationship?"

“Xu Yanchi is just an ordinary classmate, Grandma. Have you forgotten that I asked Dad to hire Lawyer Zhou for me a few days ago? We even went to court together not long ago to help her take down a few scumbags.” Xiao Fuzhou hurriedly defended himself, and a few faint stars unconsciously flashed in his eyes when he mentioned the name.

Grandma caught the glimmer of light, a cold, hard smile curving her lips. She paused for a few seconds, then nodded; she did recall something like that. Her jade bracelet clinked against the doorframe—the doorframe still bore Xiao Fuzhou's certificate for being first in his grade at the end of last semester. A softer look appeared in her eyes. Beside it, one could vaguely see the words "580 days until the college entrance exam" written in pencil, written when the countdown board was first put up: "Since she's a classmate, let her come over this weekend. I'll also ask about your recent review progress and see how you solidify your foundation." Before Xiao Fuzhou could speak, she added, her tone unyielding, "You're already in your second year of high school, the college entrance exam isn't far off. If there's nothing fishy going on, she wouldn't be too afraid to even come to discuss your studies, would she? I want to see if you two are actually dating!" The coldness in her voice was like a bucket of cold water poured over Xiao Fuzhou's heart, extinguishing any thought of explanation.

Xiao Fuzhou's Adam's apple bobbed, but he finally nodded. He knew his grandmother's temperament all too well, especially when it came to his studies. Ever since the countdown to the college entrance exam, "580 days until the exam," had been posted in the classroom, his grandmother had become even more anxious, never allowing any room for negotiation. If he didn't agree, his grandmother might go directly to the homeroom teacher's office tomorrow. Not only would he be talked to by the teacher, but Xu Yanchi's study rhythm would also be disrupted. He felt a vague sense of unease.

Seeing this, Grandma turned and walked towards the living room. The hem of her cheongsam swept over the pile of high school English weekly newspapers on the sofa—the corner of the newspapers had the words "Core Vocabulary for the College Entrance Examination" circled in red pen by Grandma. Xiao Fuzhou stood there, watching her back, still clutching the crumpled hem of his school uniform in his hand. Xiao Fuzhou stared blankly at the chandelier above the ceiling.

The bedroom door closed again, locking in the sandalwood incense and oppressive air—inside, there was still the chrysanthemum tea his grandmother had brewed for him, with a few goji berries at the bottom of the cup. The motion-sensor light in the entryway dimmed, and Xiao Fuzhou's shadow fell on the pile of high school study materials, like a knot entangled with exercises, countdowns, and misunderstandings, impossible to untie or break free from.