Chapter 056: Bonds of Friendship

Weekend arrived, and Yang Tian, Huang Juan, Chen Ming, along with their homeroom teacher Bao Yuehong, made their way to An Qi’s family’s little food stall. The shop was tiny, and the menu was simple—rice, noodles, vermicelli, and dumplings. Yet even these modest offerings kept An Qi and her mother busy enough: boiling water, cooking noodles, taking payments, wiping tables, washing dishes, mopping the floor—every task fell to the mother and daughter alone.

When Yang Tian and his friends saw An Qi, she was clad in a coarse floral jacket and jeans, a long apron draped around her neck, busy wiping down a table, sweat covering her brow. Being Saturday, there were noticeably more customers, though only three or four.

“An Qi!” Huang Juan called out warmly.

An Qi jerked her head up, stunned to see her classmates. She hesitated, embarrassment coloring her face as she walked out to greet them.

“Qi, bring your guests in to sit!” At that moment, a middle-aged woman, also wearing an apron, hurried out to welcome them, clearly An Qi’s mother. Her face was aged, evidence of years of hard work.

“Hello, ma’am, we’re An Qi’s classmates,” Huang Juan said respectfully. They could tell that An Qi’s mother had mistaken them for customers.

“Mom, this is my homeroom teacher, Ms. Bao, and these are my classmates,” An Qi quickly introduced, her voice subdued.

“Oh, Ms. Bao!” An Qi’s mother looked surprised, apologetically greeting Bao Yuehong, then smiling at the others.

“Hello. We’d like to speak with An Qi privately, if that’s alright?” Bao Yuehong smiled politely.

“Of course, certainly! Qi, go ahead!” An Qi’s mother replied at once. Her apologetic expression betrayed her concern—she clearly didn’t want An Qi to drop out and was anxious and distressed about it.

An Qi paused, slowly removed her apron, glanced at her mother, then followed Yang Tian and the others toward a nearby park. All the way, she kept her head down, conflicted. She didn’t want to leave school, but she couldn’t bear to see her mother suffer alone.

Huang Juan walked beside her, holding her hand, while Yang Tian, Chen Ming, and Bao Yuehong followed. They found a small pavilion and sat down together.

“An Qi, do you really not want to continue your studies?” Bao Yuehong, both their homeroom teacher and like an elder sister, broke the silence, cutting straight to the heart of the matter.

“I…” An Qi couldn’t finish her sentence before tears began to fall. Everyone knew she didn’t want to leave school. She’d worked relentlessly to get into Binhai First High School, studying day and night, fainting more than once from exhaustion in class.

When she finally learned she’d been accepted, she was so happy she didn’t sleep for days, celebrating with Yang Tian and Chen Ming outside the dormitory. The memory was still vivid. One could only imagine how difficult her decision to drop out had been, how much it had hurt her. Now, she let her sorrow and grievances pour out in tears.

Seeing this, Huang Juan also cried. Chen Ming and Bao Yuehong’s eyes reddened. Yang Tian stood quietly aside, his heart aching.

“Can you tell us how much your family owes?” Bao Yuehong gently touched An Qi’s head and asked softly.

“One hundred thousand,” An Qi replied after a moment, looking at her friends before revealing the astonishing amount.

One hundred thousand yuan was a huge sum in 1997, especially for a poor rural family. Clearly, An Qi’s father’s illness was dire.

Bao Yuehong, Huang Juan, and Chen Ming were stunned. On the way there, they’d discussed raising some money to help pay off part of the debt, so An Qi could return to school. Their plan had been to gather half, then help An Qi’s family run the food stall, hoping to raise the rest. But one hundred thousand—half was fifty thousand. Where could they possibly find that?

“Let’s organize a school-wide donation, see how much we can raise, then figure out the rest,” Chen Ming suggested quietly, though he sounded unsure. High school students didn’t have much pocket money; even with everyone pitching in, it wouldn’t be much.

“What? No, I don’t want my family’s troubles to become gossip all over the school!” An Qi protested urgently.

Everyone was caught off guard. Chen Ming hadn’t considered An Qi’s pride. If the whole school got involved, everyone would know her business, and she’d be pointed at wherever she went. How could she study in peace afterward?

“So what do we do?” Huang Juan wiped her tears, anxious.

“I appreciate your kindness, thank you. Please go back—I’ll work hard with my mother to pay off the debt,” An Qi said, forcing a smile through her tears as she turned to leave.

“An Qi!” Yang Tian called after her, raising his voice. “Are we your friends?”

“Yes, of course you are!” An Qi paused, then nodded.

“Good. Then you can’t refuse our help—otherwise, you’re not treating us as true friends. Do you understand? We’ll find a way. We’ll help you raise fifty thousand to ease the situation with the loan sharks. The rest, we’ll figure out together. What do you say?” Yang Tian said firmly.

“But… fifty thousand yuan, where could you possibly find it?” An Qi cried again. Fifty thousand was no small amount.

“Don’t worry, we’ll manage! Ms. Bao, can you raise five thousand?” Yang Tian turned to Bao Yuehong.

“Yes, I can. I’ll use my savings and borrow a bit more from friends—I should be able to get five thousand,” Bao Yuehong answered readily.

“And Ms. Bao, could you help An Qi apply for a five-thousand-yuan scholarship from the school?” Yang Tian asked. Binhai First High was a provincial key school; a scholarship of that size was surely possible.

“I’ll try. I think it can be done. You reminded me—I almost forgot about that!” Bao Yuehong grew excited. With this, they’d have ten thousand already.

“Good, I’ll take care of the remaining forty thousand—give me three days to raise it!” Yang Tian said through gritted teeth. It wouldn’t be easy, but he was determined.

“You alone raise forty thousand? That’s impossible! I’ll ask my parents for some, maybe I can get a few thousand,” Chen Ming said nervously—his family wasn’t well off, so perhaps only one or two thousand.

“And me, I’ll talk to my parents—should be able to get five thousand,” Huang Juan added, standing beside Yang Tian.

Huang Juan’s family had just made some money selling jujubes, and many of their relatives were wealthy. Raising five thousand should be no problem.

“That’s wonderful! Then I’ll raise thirty thousand,” Yang Tian said with relief. Thirty thousand would still be tough, but easier than forty.

“So much money… I don’t even know what to say!” An Qi sobbed harder, this time from gratitude.

“An Qi, you have to understand—it’s not money we’re giving you, but friendship. So you don’t need to feel guilty, nor do you need to worry about how to thank us or repay us, alright?” Yang Tian and Huang Juan helped An Qi back to her seat in the pavilion.