The group chat "Duan Village Class Five" was buzzing with activity. This group had been created by one of the more outgoing classmates in the village.
Guo Yani's elementary school class originally had 36 students, but 14 of them hadn't joined the group for various reasons—some had drifted apart early on, gradually losing touch with daily life. The remaining 22 were close childhood friends who kept in regular contact, all around 18 to 20 years old—the perfect age for fun and mischief.
With just over a month left until the Lunar New Year, someone in the group couldn’t wait to start discussing holiday plans.
"Hey everyone, New Year's coming up. What’s the plan this time? Let’s hear your ideas."
"Same as usual, right?"
"I’m kinda tired of going to the county town every year. How about we switch it up and go to Bright Pearl City instead? It’s just as far, and way more fun."
"Sounds good to me. Still a two-day, one-night trip?"
"No problem at all."
"......"
The conversation quickly settled on the general time and location for the gathering.
When the topic of location came up, someone remembered Guo Yani and asked in the group:
"Yani, aren’t you working in Bright Pearl City? Help us scout out some fun spots when the time comes."
Since the group chat didn’t have a mention feature yet, by the time Guo Yani saw the message, a while had already passed.
But back then, people had the good habit of scrolling through all their unread messages thoroughly.
After reading the message, Guo Yani immediately replied from her computer:
"No problem, leave it to me. I’ll handle the arrangements."
Guo Yani was naturally outgoing and generous. She had organized several events before, and everyone trusted her judgment.
The moment the group saw her reply, the chatter picked up again.
Aside from discussing the gathering, some asked who was still in the village and suggested meeting up to hang out—someone even bragged about their new phone with super-loud speakers, perfect for blasting music while wandering the streets.
Others proposed heading into the city early to kill time, maybe hit up an internet café.
It was around this time that someone suddenly remembered another classmate in Bright Pearl City.
"Oh yeah, Yani, didn’t Liu Yutong get into Bright Pearl City’s Finance University? You’re working there—have you been in touch with her?"
"Right, she’s our class’s top student. I heard she scored over 600 on the college entrance exam. What I don’t get is why she chose Finance University. It’s decent, but she could’ve gotten into a 211 or even a 985-tier school."
"Exactly! I even brought it up in the group before. Our little Class Five finally produces a top-tier student, and she ends up at Finance University."
"Yani, if you see her in Bright Pearl City, ask her what she was thinking. We’re all curious."
"......"
Out of the 36 students in "Duan Village Class Five," only a handful had made it to university.
Literally, just a single-digit number.
And only one had scored above the first-tier cutoff—far above, in fact. That person was Liu Yutong. The others had either made it to second-tier schools or vocational colleges.
The rest? Without exception, they’d either dropped out after middle school or, at most, scraped by with a high school diploma before heading straight to factory work.
This was pretty typical for their time and place. Many of them had been left-behind children, unsupervised from first grade onward, with no one to walk them to school or oversee their studies. Between parents working odd jobs, farming, or simply lacking education themselves, most of these kids grew up fending for themselves through middle school, high school, and beyond.
Parents only started taking education seriously by senior year.
Unlike later generations, where kids were escorted to school from kindergarten all the way through middle school—sometimes even after—their era had far lower college admission rates.
Like most in the group, Guo Yani had dropped out after middle or high school. She’d helped with farm work at home before moving to the city, bouncing between sales jobs before finally landing at Shunchang Property Management.
When someone suddenly brought up Liu Yutong, her first reaction was envy.
To her, Liu Yutong had truly broken free—scoring into a top university, the kind of elite future most could only dream of.
Then, out of nowhere, Guo Yani’s mind flashed to that girl she’d seen at the elevator earlier—dressed in all black, radiating an unshakable aura.
They looked so alike.
For a split second, she’d almost called out to her.
But she didn’t.
Because it couldn’t be.
Liu Yutong was only a freshman now, from a modest family, and introverted to boot. That poised, entourage-surrounded young woman from earlier? Completely different.
Probably just a resemblance.
Shaking off the thought, Guo Yani refocused on the group chat and typed: "I’ll swing by the university district next time I’m free and look for her."
"Remind her to join the group! She still hasn’t joined yet."
"Yeah, our star student isn’t even here. I was hoping to invite her to hang out during the holidays."
"Wonder if she’s coming back for New Year’s."
"Of course she is. Where else would she go for New Year’s?"
"Exactly. No one skips coming home for the holidays."
"Wait, you guys don’t know? Something happened in her family."
"What? We’ve all been either working or studying out of town. How would we know?"
"I heard Liu Yutong’s dad, Liu Jianyi, lost big at the gambling tables. Wiped out their savings, and now they might have to sell their land. He even got into a fight with her grandpa over it."
"What the hell? That bastard! Even Grandpa Liu? My own grandfather treats him with respect. Liu Jianyi actually dared to raise a hand?"
"That’s just inhuman."
"Ugh, everyone in the village knows Liu Jianyi’s a gambling addict. Liu Yutong drew the short straw with a dad like that."
"After hearing this, I kinda hope she doesn’t come back. Let’s just meet up in the city for New Year’s. If she goes home and her dad loses it again—selling the land is one thing, but what if he sells her off too? That’d be a real nightmare."
"No kidding. That gambling addict? I wouldn’t put it past him."
"......"
Even in 2007, selling off daughters wasn’t unheard of. Arranging marriages without their knowledge? Standard practice in some places.
Reading the conversation, Guo Yani’s heart ached for Liu Yutong.
Their class’s brightest star, the only one to make it into a top provincial high school—and yet her family was a complete mess, to the point she might not even dare to come home for the holidays...
Sigh...
After typing a few brief replies, Guo Yani shut down her computer and got ready to clock out.
Just as she pulled open the door to the property management office, a young man with bleached white hair, a thuggish demeanor, and a hostile expression blocked her path. Behind him stood several other rough-looking troublemakers.
"Little bitch, finally caught you."
"Damn it, no woman has ever dared to disrespect me like this. You even had the nerve to kick my boys? You're not going anywhere today!"
