It took six hours to drive from Kunming to Jianchuan.
Su Yufan had not returned to Jianchuan in five years.
She had also brought along several potted plants her mother had loved while she was alive. If she ended up killing them, her mother would probably be unhappy, right?
In the car, Su Yufan received a voice message from her biological father: “Xiao Fan, I’m at Kunming Airport. Send me the address at home.”
Startled, she hurriedly called him back. “Ada, I’m in the car on the way back to Jianchuan. If you want to come to Dali, transfer by plane or take the high-speed rail to Dali. I’ll wait for you there.”
“All right, then I’ll see you in Dali. I miss you very much. Don’t be angry. I’ve been a bit busy with the jade business, and your younger brother and sister also need looking after. There’s no helping it.
“We’ll talk when we meet. I’m going to the counter to check flights.”
When her father mentioned the half-siblings she shared with him, Su Yufan felt somewhat unwilling to listen.
“Got it. I’m hanging up.”
Su Yufan did not care about Xili Bufa’s driving speed, but it made no difference to her. She leaned against the passenger seat and quietly browsed the scenery outside the window.
In Kunming at the end of April, even the wind was cool and refreshing. The seas of flowers along the way dazzled her eyes.
Unexpectedly, on the road to Dali, there were many jacaranda trees planted, and they were exceedingly beautiful.
She had wanted to quietly enjoy the breeze, but her phone rang again. It was a voice call from He Xu.
Today was the day of their performance in Paris. Judging by the time, it should have just ended over there.
Although she had left the troupe in a fit of anger, she had not yet formally gone through the resignation procedures, so this call was necessary to answer.
“What is it?” Her tone was extremely cold.
He Xu had sent a message over the past few days asking about her mother’s condition. She had not replied.
“She ruined the performance. Tonight, she actually fell twice. The response was terrible.
“Some people booed and shouted for refunds. It was rather humiliating.
“There are still two performances left. Can you come over? The next show is the day after tomorrow.”
When Su Yufan heard this news, joy and sorrow mixed within her.
She was not a narrow-minded person. Regarding the failure of the Paris performances, she felt deeply disappointed.
It was like carefully tended flowers that had failed to bloom.
She herself was one of those flowers.
To say she was not pleased would be a lie.
Messing it up meant smashing their own signboard. In the future, it would be very difficult for those two, man and woman, to have a good reputation in the dance circle again.
But compared to her mother’s passing, their failure still could not make her laugh out loud.
“My mother passed away. I have to observe mourning. That dance substitute you trained—I can’t save her. Goodbye.”
He Xu’s whole body went numb.
What a terrible night.
Many Chinese people had come to watch the performance. In the end, not only had it been subpar, but the dancing had infuriated him.
Su Yufan was very restrained. She opened the Xiaojinshu account of Feng Qing, the dance substitute. Five minutes ago, the other woman had still been happily holding flowers and taking photos, celebrating the successful performance.
The comments section quickly welcomed its first wave of comments—embarrassing photos of her falling on the stage with a look of utter panic.
“You made me laugh, sis. This is called a success? Refund!”
“A word of advice to the uu in Paris—don’t go!
“The lead isn’t Su Yufan, who was promoted before! It’s this influencer!
“And they even tried to keep it secret. This is fraud! Disgusting!”
“Oh my god, where did Su Yufan go? Doesn’t this troupe depend on her to survive? They actually switched her out for this amateur influencer?”
“This influencer is the troupe director’s new girlfriend. The previous lead probably found out about their relationship and broke it off.”
“She’s the mistress? Su Yufan is as beautiful as Yunnan itself. How did this ugly bitch steal her man?”
“She’s rich. Her dad is a well-known tycoon.”
“She’s rich and still becomes a mistress? More like he’s her sugar daddy, right?”
Su Yufan exited Xiaojinshu. Without even looking, she knew how the following plot would develop.
That dance substitute’s real name was Feng Qing. She had joined the dance troupe half a year ago. During major rehearsals, she was often absent, and much of the time, it was He Xu who guided and practiced with her alone.
Su Yufan had heard from others in the troupe that everything Feng Qing ate, wore, and used was luxury goods, and that joining the troupe had been a passing interest.
Su Yufan had passively heard quite a bit about Feng Qing, but she had never taken it to heart.
Rumors about He Xu and Feng Qing had already been circulating in the troupe for a while. Because her relationship with He Xu was a secret romance and had never been made public, everyone in the troupe was unaware of it. When they talked about it in front of her, they did not avoid the subject at all.
She had never asked He Xu about it either.
Every day, he appeared punctually at the dormitory and rehearsal room, never giving anyone anything to hold against him.
She was strict with herself and radiant with brilliance.
It made several girls in the troupe unbearably jealous. Female rivalry was very normal in the troupe, and she was often isolated.
Her résumé from childhood to adulthood was far too dazzling. Since she was young, she had won so many awards her hands had gone soft. Among the post-2000 generation, she was one of the very top dance talents.
After graduating from Beijing Dance Academy, she left the Eastern Dance Troupe and chose to join He Xu’s troupe. In three full years, she had single-handedly brought the troupe back from the dead.
As long as she was performing in a theater, there were no empty seats.
In today’s society, watching performances offline was already a very niche circle.
Su Yufan did not market herself and did not show her face on social platforms. She devoted herself entirely to dancing.
The rare two instances of marketing she had done were paid for by the company.
The purpose was to sell tickets. Personally, she hated becoming famous in such a manner.
Disturbed by this matter, she closed her eyes and dozed off.
Xili Bufa had been observing her condition out of the corner of his eye the entire time, afraid that she would feel unwell in the car.
It was his first time driving long-distance. Usually, he traveled by motorcycle, so he was rather nervous, and his palms were covered in sweat.
Perhaps Su Yufan was too tired; listening to the CDs in her mother’s car, she fell asleep.
This car was somewhat old. It did not have in-car music, only some hopelessly outdated CD songs.
In the past, she had thought them very tacky.
On the road home, with her mother in the basket in the back seat, she suddenly felt that it was a rare kind of enjoyment.
She slept very peacefully, though it was only a light sleep.
When Xili Bufa drove, he tried his best to keep the car’s speed steady. He never slammed on the brakes. Just like his personality, it was steady and restrained.
In any case, they would eventually arrive in Jianchuan. If they were a little later, he could spend a little more time alone with her. That was very nice.
He was suddenly shocked by this thought of his own. How could such a strange notion have appeared in his mind?
When they drove to Dali Airport, it was four-thirty in the afternoon.
Su Yufan’s father, Wang Fugui, came by plane. He arrived in Dali at about the same time as they did.
Only, Su Yufan had not expected him to bring a son and daughter with him.
Her father and mother had divorced when she was ten. Wang Fugui remarried, and later had this pair of fraternal twins. They should be close to graduating from primary school now.
She had only seen them four or five times. They were not close, and she did not like them.
Her mother had remarried her stepfather, then divorced in less than two years.
Her stepfather had remarried, and now had two sons.
Sometimes, she felt very puzzled. What exactly did marriage guarantee? Why did family members turn into relatives?
Su Yufan was troubled over how to arrange her mother in the back seat.
Wang Fugui’s family of three was there. It would not be appropriate to put her mother in the trunk.
She could hold her, too. She was very willing.
Carrying her mother home was also a kind of happiness.
But Wang Fugui saw at a glance what was wrapped in the red cloth inside the basket. After exchanging a few simple words with Su Yufan, he silently picked up the basket.
Su Yufan greeted her younger brother and sister politely and courteously, putting on an enormous fake smile.
Wang Fugui instructed the pair of children not to make a fuss, then handed them a phone to watch cartoons. Each of them had one earbud hanging from an ear, their two heads pressed together. They were a little cute.
At this moment, Su Yufan seemed not to feel quite so awful. For the time being, she forgave Wang Fugui for his past busyness and dereliction of duty.
“Are you hungry? We bought some flower cakes. They’re very sweet and fragrant.”
Xili Bufa sensed that this family did not seem very familiar with one another.
He knew that Su Yufan’s mother had married a man from Northern Xinjiang. That man had once been in an ethnic dance troupe as well. Later, they had Su Yufan. His master had also mentioned this matter before.
In this car, he was the only outsider. Strangely enough, Su Yufan seemed closer to him.
Wang Fugui waved his hands repeatedly. “We brought naan. It’s enough. We’re not hungry.”
By the time the five of them arrived at the house in Jianchuan Ancient Town, it was nearly eight in the evening.
The ones who welcomed Su Yufan were her former stepfather and Wen Kang.
When he saw Su Yufan’s biological father, the smile on his face instantly stiffened.
Su Yufan, however, felt somewhat like laughing. This relationship was messy enough—her mother’s ex-husband meeting her ex-ex-husband.
Let them be awkward by themselves. She, at any rate, was not embarrassed.
At this moment, she took the urn from her father’s hands and solemnly brought her mother through the doorway. Only then could it be counted as coming home!
She lifted her foot to enter, but was abruptly stopped by a woman who rushed out.
“The living may enter. The dead may not!”