Jiang Tong had been busy lately. Extremely busy.
While his coursework and graduate school applications were tedious, he could just barely manage them. However, his new part-time job was far more grueling than he had imagined. Spending an entire afternoon in a suit and tie, maintaining a pleasant smile while serving trays and pouring water in a café, left him exhausted. By the time his shift ended, Jiang Tong would collapse onto a bench in the locker room, lacking even the strength to open his locker.
He wasn't actually short on money—his tutoring contract with Xiao Fengtai was still ongoing, and his mother’s condition remained stable for the time being. The balance in Jiang Tong’s bank account had been growing steadily, making him quite well-off compared to his peers.
But Xiao Fengtai’s birthday was approaching. Jiang Tong wanted to use money he had earned himself to buy the boy a gift.
There was still a vast chasm between them, and Jiang Tong knew he was a long way from being truly independent. But from this moment on, he would prove his capabilities step by step. One day, he would no longer need Xiao Fengtai’s pity or charity; instead, he would be the one providing a canopy of protection for him.
*Just one more week,* he thought, leaning against the locker room wall. He looked with satisfaction at the daily decreasing figures on his phone’s calculator. There was more room to tighten his living expenses than he’d expected. Between his savings and his part-time wages, he was only a tiny bit away from his target.
Suddenly, the screen switched to an incoming call from an unsaved, unknown number. After a moment’s thought, Jiang Tong pressed the answer key.
He expected a spam call or an automated voicemail, but a fluent, elegant female alto voice came through the receiver in English: "Good afternoon. Am I speaking with Mr. Jiang?"
"Yes," Jiang Tong said, unconsciously straightening his back. "And you are...?"
"My apologies for not introducing myself first," the woman’s voice was as smooth and low as velvet. "My name is Mary Ann. I am calling on behalf of Madam Xiao, Master Kenneth’s grandmother, to invite you for afternoon tea later this week."
"Master Kenneth’s Chinese grades have improved rapidly of late. Madam hopes for the opportunity to thank you in person."
"That is all the result of Kenneth’s own hard work," Jiang Tong replied, a thin layer of cold sweat breaking out on his back. "I only did my best; I cannot take the credit."
"What time would be convenient for you? We will send a car to the university to collect you."
Mary Ann’s tone was exceedingly gentle and polite, yet it carried a pressure that Jiang Tong found impossible to refuse. After two or three rounds of back-and-forth, he finally conceded.
"May I ask..." Before hanging up, he struggled with the decision but ultimately decided to clarify: "Did Kenneth... did Kenneth say something?"
Mary Ann’s voice suddenly dropped several degrees in temperature. "This is a private meeting between you and Madam Xiao. It has nothing to do with Master Kenneth."
An afternoon tea arranged because of Xiao Fengtai’s progress in Chinese, yet having nothing to do with Xiao Fengtai. Jiang Tong’s heart sank, though he couldn't quite put his finger on what was wrong.
*The Xiao family couldn't possibly have discovered his relationship with Xiao Fengtai,* he thought. If their affair had been exposed, the elders of the Xiao family would likely want to pack him up and throw him into the sea; they wouldn't be inviting him for tea so civilly.
After hanging up, he opened his chat log with Xiao Fengtai.
"A lady named Mary Ann just called me, saying your grandmother wants to invite me for tea." *Delete.*
"Have you made up with your grandmother?" *Delete again.*
Forget it. He turned off the screen. *When the soldiers come, the general will block them; when the water rises, the earth will dam it.* There would be a way to deal with it.
Xiao Fengtai didn't need to know about this.
Madam Xiao arranged to meet Jiang Tong at the Mandarin Oriental. Although Singapore was teeming with high-end hotels, Jiang Tong, a poor student, had never had the chance to set foot in such places during his four years of university, except for academic conferences. Though he had made an effort to dress up for this meeting, when he saw his reflection in the elevator’s mirrored walls—sensible framed glasses, a backpack, and a brandless shirt and trousers—he could only be described as plain and modest.
In a university setting, such attire was perfectly fine. However, surrounded by hotel guests draped in haute couture and adorned with luxury watches and jewelry, Jiang Tong suddenly felt as if his stomach were filled with stones, a heavy sensation that made him want to retch.
He smiled bitterly to himself, the scene of his first meeting with Xiao Fengtai—where he had easily made the boy look foolish—flashing through his mind. *I’m really regressing as I get older,* Jiang Tong thought.
Jiang Tong had seen Madam Xiao many times in the photos Xiao Fengtai sent, but the real person possessed a far more extraordinary aura than any photograph could capture. Madam Xiao was sitting by the window sipping tea. As the waiter led Jiang Tong over, she turned her head and offered a slight smile. "Hello, Teacher Jiang."
"You are too kind." Although the elderly woman’s expression was very kind and amiable, Jiang Tong felt like there were thorns against his back under her gaze. His voice reflexively dropped an octave. "Please, just call me Jiang Tong. I hardly deserve the title of 'Teacher'."
Madam Xiao patted the sofa beside her. "Then I shall call you Xiao Tong. Don't blame this old woman for being overly familiar. Xiao Tong, don't sit so far away. Come, sit by my side and let me get a good look at you."
Jiang Tong found it strange, but he couldn't refuse Madam Xiao’s warm invitation, so he took the seat beside her.
Madam Xiao didn't move; with a single look, a waiter immediately stepped forward.
"What would Xiao Tong like to drink?" Madam Xiao asked with a chuckle.
Jiang Tong didn't know the prices, so he cautiously ordered a cup of chamomile tea. Even if it was just a tea bag in a high-end hotel, it surely wouldn't be so expensive that he couldn't afford it.
"Add two muffins, and they must be served with rose jam," Madam Xiao added with a smile. "When Kenneth was little, he loved the rose jam here the most. He’d make his mother bring him here every few days, and every time, they’d buy a whole basket of jam to take home."
She gestured a height with her hand. "He was only this tall then, wearing little suspender shorts. He insisted on carrying the big wicker basket himself, getting so tired he’d be drenched in sweat after just a few steps. He looked like a little boy out of a picture book."
Jiang Tong’s heart skipped a beat. Unsure of the intent behind Madam Xiao’s words, he could only follow along with a smile.
"Actually, I knew perfectly well it wasn't that he wanted to eat it," Madam Xiao sighed. "It was clearly his mother who wanted it. She was a grown woman but too embarrassed to say so, so she’d make a secret pact with him and use her son as a shield."
"That daughter of mine... she was raised in the palm of our hands. The family watched over her like she was the apple of our eye. We spoiled her so much that even after she became a mother, she was still full of childish whims; even her son had to coax her."
Madam Xiao’s eyes gradually grew moist. "For these past dozen or so years, I have often felt regret. If only I had taken her out to see more of the world back then. Even if I’d discovered something was wrong, if only I’d had the heart to lock her up at home for a year or two."
"Even if she had hated me or resented me for a time, she wouldn't have ended up being deceived by someone at school and leaving me so early."
*She knows.*
Jiang Tong sat motionless on the sofa. Cold sweat soaked through his shirt, and a chill spread from his back straight to his heart. It was as if the world had been muted in an instant. Only those two words—*she knows*—echoed in his mind like a thunderclap, over and over again.
Madam Xiao’s mouth was still moving, but he could no longer distinguish what she was saying. It wasn't just her words; the luxury hotel, the exquisite tea and pastries, the passing waiters and guests, the bird's-eye view of the city outside the window... everything was distorting, shaking, and blurring into a kaleidoscopic vortex. He was at the very center of that vortex, submerged by a deluge of conflicting information and thoughts, suffocating.
Madam Xiao knew about him and Xiao Fengtai. No wonder she insisted on seeing him. She wanted to see for herself what kind of swindler had led her grandson down a wicked path.
"...Xiao Tong, why has your face suddenly turned so pale?" As Madam Xiao spoke, she actually reached out and placed her hand over the back of his. She frowned. "A healthy young man, yet your hands are so cold. Even if your studies are stressful, you must pay more attention to rest. Otherwise, you’ll regret it when you reach my age."
The old woman’s hand was warm and dry, but at the point where their skin met, Jiang Tong felt a terrifying shiver, as if a large, multicolored spider were crawling across his hand.
"I'm fine," he said stiffly and dryly. "Thank you for your concern."
Madam Xiao seemed indifferent to his nearly rude, cold response. "Where was I? Ah, yes, speaking of Kenneth’s mother."
"They say a son takes after his mother. Kenneth looks like he was cast from the same mold as Iris—the eyes are the same, the nose is the same, even the cowlick in his hair is the same."
"But while mother and son look alike, Iris’s personality was quite different from Kenneth’s. She loved excitement and had a beautiful voice; she was always tirelessly singing and dancing. As long as she was home, you could hear her laughter everywhere."
"I only had that one daughter. I didn't expect her to earn money for the family in the future, nor did she need to marry into high society for wealth. Whatever she wanted to learn, whatever she wanted to do, we let her have her way. There was only one thing we made clear to her: a young lady, especially from a family like ours, must have self-respect and self-love. She couldn't just play around."
"She was very good; she listened to us. Back when she was at the Singapore Chinese Girls' School, the boys from the male schools would swarm the gates at dismissal time to cause a stir. Love letters would stuff her shoe locker full. She would mark each one with an 'X' and return them."
As she spoke, a faint, sorrowful smile tinged with nostalgia appeared on her face.
"She went to Oxford to study. At first, she wasn't used to it and called me every day. After I scolded her a couple of times, she called less. Later on, she was like a bird released from its cage; not a word would come back for weeks at a time."
"Though I missed her, I wasn't terribly worried. Her two cousins were doing their PhDs at Oxford, and there were elders from the family teaching at the university who could look after her more or less. No great trouble could arise."
"Until suddenly one day, Iris called me crying, saying she was pregnant."
Madam Xiao lowered her head to stir her black tea. Her expression was calm and her tone was level, as if she were stating that one plus one equals two.
"I was driven mad with rage and flew to England that very day. In truth, with our family’s wealth, as long as Iris got rid of the child and moved to a different school, it wouldn't have been hard to start over."
"But my child, the little princess I had raised in the palm of my hand, knelt on the ground in the December English weather and begged me to let them be. She said she wanted to give birth to this child."
She talked on to herself. Jiang Tong sat silently to the side, having neither the opportunity to interject nor the impulse to respond. Previously, he had been in the dark while she was in the light; now that both sides were exposed, he had no retreat left. He might as well patiently see what cards Madam Xiao was playing.
Furthermore... deep down, he truly did want to hear Madam Xiao continue. Xiao Fengtai had only ever revealed vague fragments about his origins. From those few clues, Jiang Tong had deduced that the Xiao family was likely not a model family from a television drama. He had never proactively searched for these old scandals, simply because if their positions were reversed, he wouldn't want Xiao Fengtai to know about his own embarrassing and bitter past.
But not investigating didn't mean he wasn't curious. Curiosity is an instinct. Who wouldn't want to know what kind of life their lover led before they met?
Yet Madam Xiao stopped at this crucial moment.
"Xiao Tong, it must be very hard work teaching Kenneth Chinese, isn't it?"
The change of topic was too sudden. Jiang Tong couldn't react in time and only muttered that it wasn't hard, modestly adding that his own experience was lacking and that Kenneth’s results were mainly due to his own intelligence and diligence.
Madam Xiao, however, did not intend to let him off. Her eyes, curved like crescent moons, hid hooks that extended and retracted, seeking to pull out Jiang Tong’s hidden secrets.
"Teacher Xiao Tong is too modest. Kenneth’s Chinese used to be a great source of worry for me. Because of his parents, he refused to study it no matter what, driving away teachers by the dozen. Unfortunately, the Chinese market is a key development direction for our group, so we had to force him to learn. He sulked with us countless times over this."
"I didn't expect that after meeting Teacher Xiao Tong, Kenneth would undergo such a total change in temperament. Even though the school stopped offering Chinese in his final year, he still eagerly rushed to lessons once a week. Even when he clearly didn't have enough time to prepare his university applications, he’d secretly keep his desk lamp on late into the night to study, thinking the family didn't know."
Madam Xiao’s brows were slightly knit, her distress appearing very sincere. "Actually, applying to schools shouldn't have taken much time. The family had already made proper arrangements for him in England; Kenneth only had to fly over for the interviews. He had agreed to it all, but recently he suddenly said he wants to go to America. He’d rather not have the family’s help and refuses to attend a British school no matter what."
"Isn't that just being ridiculous?"
The old woman’s tone was a mix of helplessness and affection, as if Xiao Fengtai wasn't joking with his future but had merely accidentally broken a precious antique vase. A child’s naughtiness is a whim one laughs at later—a stray branch on a small tree, harmless and easily pruned.
The back of Jiang Tong’s tongue felt bitter. His throat felt as if it were stuffed with chaff—dry, coarse, and painful to breathe. He couldn't say a single word.
Madam Xiao leaned slightly toward Jiang Tong and took his hand again. "Teacher Xiao Tong, Kenneth is grown now; there are some things he doesn't like to tell us. You are close to him. Tell me, has he found a girl he likes at school, and so he wants to go to the same university as her?"
"I haven't heard him mention it," Jiang Tong said quickly.
Madam Xiao sighed. "Since Xiao Tong says there isn't one, it seems I’m just an old woman worrying over nothing."
"It’s a good thing Xiao Tong is a man. Otherwise, I’d almost suspect Kenneth had fallen in love with you."
"Madam Xiao," Jiang Tong’s voice had changed pitch when he spoke. "I cannot afford such a joke."
"Really?" Madam Xiao smiled very kindly. "To be able to tame my arrogant grandson, Teacher Jiang’s courage is truly not small. Not only is it not small, I must praise you for being audaciously brave and full of both wit and valor."
"Joking aside," she pulled a check from her small handbag and pushed it toward Jiang Tong. "Teacher Jiang, please do me a favor."
Jiang Tong glanced at it. The number on the check had one more zero than he had imagined. He couldn't help but let out a laugh.
The image of Xiao Fengtai brandishing a check during their first meeting flashed before his eyes. So this was a quirk passed down through the generations of the Xiao family—throwing money in people’s faces whenever there was a disagreement. What an easy, labor-saving method.
Madam Xiao saw his mocking expression but did not get angry. She simply said calmly, "University is a lifelong matter; we cannot allow Kenneth to be headstrong. If Teacher Jiang wants what’s best for Kenneth, then do me this favor."
Jiang Tong sat there like a clay statue, neither speaking nor moving.
Madam Xiao took no offense. "I am a businesswoman. After many years of doing trade, I’ve realized one truth: to make a good deal, both sides must benefit. Mutual benefit is the only way to make it last."
"This is not a small sum." She tapped the check with a finger. "With this money, your mother’s medical bills, your sister’s tuition, and your own expenses for studying abroad can all be resolved at once."
Jiang Tong looked up in shock.
"A young talent like Teacher Jiang is destined to make great contributions to humanity in the future," Madam Xiao said softly. "I am old acquaintances with several professors at your university. When I asked about the standout students of recent years, they all mentioned you first."
"Your family needs money everywhere. No matter how many part-time jobs you work, the cost of living abroad is high; without a scholarship, I’m afraid you’ll find it difficult to move an inch. To ruin your future over such base matter as money... it’s simply not worth it."
"Aside from persuading Kenneth to go to England, Teacher Jiang should be very clear about what else I want. You are a smart man; I shouldn't need to weigh the pros and cons for you."
Jiang Tong couldn't describe his current feelings. No wonder Madam Xiao was so amiable, so composed—even when he spoke back to her, she didn't show the slightest dissatisfaction.
He was the prey, and she was the predator. He had been strolling through the trap she’d set, and before he knew it, he was mired deep, having lost the chance to escape.
She had even done the cost-benefit analysis for him. The "pros" were already obvious, and the "cons" implied in her subtext were equally clear.
Did he even have the right to say no?
A dark fire rose in Jiang Tong’s heart—scorching, intense, smoldering spark by spark beneath the ashes. The moment it touched an accelerant, it roared into a blaze.
Xiao Fengtai was a star in the sky who had accidentally fallen into his arms; sooner or later, he would have to return to where he belonged. Jiang Tong had been mentally prepared for this from the start, but he hadn't expected to be reminded of it in such a cruel and blunt manner.
Because of his poverty, in the eyes of these high-and-mighty figures, his love was fake, his future was an illusion, and his character could be kneaded at will without any consequences. Beneath Madam Xiao’s mask of smiles, she looked at him as if he were a worm or a rat, carrying deadly bacteria that would poison her precious grandson unto eternal damnation.
And yet, it was exactly such a worm, such a rat, who held her precious grandson’s heart. The little flower she had meticulously raised in a greenhouse had been stolen by someone as insignificant as him.
He felt a surge of grim satisfaction.
In a society ruled by law, did she really think she could cover the sky with one hand?
He reached out and pressed his hand onto the check. The high-quality paper felt smooth to the touch. Madam Xiao watched his movements, a sliver of a smile appearing at the corners of her lips—a genuine smile.
Why hadn't he noticed it before? Her features and Xiao Fengtai’s really did share the same silhouette.
"Where Kenneth wants to study is his own business. I have no standing to dictate his life choices," he said, word by word. "I believe in his judgment."
"Is that so?" Madam Xiao was still smiling, but her face gradually stiffened. That elderly countenance, which should have been very kind, now showed a hint of ferocity.
Jiang Tong pushed the check back toward her. "As for me, as an adult, I am capable of taking responsibility for my own actions."
He stood up. "It’s getting late and I have a class. Please excuse me."
Madam Xiao was likely rarely defied. He was prepared for the old woman to fly into a rage. Instead, she maintained her dignified posture, merely giving Jiang Tong a deep, long look.
"We will meet again very soon," she said softly.
***
**Glossary**
Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation
---|---|---
玛丽安 | Mary Ann | Madam Xiao's assistant/representative.
文华东方 | Mandarin Oriental | A luxury hotel brand; the setting for the meeting.
阿堵物 | Base matter / Filthy lucre | A literary/archaic term for money, often used dismissively.
Iris | Iris | Xiao Fengtai's late mother.
小桐 | Xiao Tong | A diminutive/affectionate way of addressing Jiang Tong, used by Madam Xiao to appear disarming.
