ISBH - Chapter 20
Chapter 20: Growth
After finishing her popsicle, Mo Sheng kept walking forward.
She was already very close to the destination of this trip, and in only a few minutes Mo Sheng reached the place she wanted to go.
It was the tallest office building in the city.
Han Tian watched Mo Sheng hide in a corner, her eyes fixed without blinking on the scene in the lobby on the first floor inside the office building.
People streamed in and out of the office building, which held many companies. When a vast tour group poured into the lobby, Han Tian saw Mo Sheng tidy her clothes, hurry to follow beside an old lady, avoid the security guard's gaze, and squeeze into the elevator.
When they entered the elevator, Han Tian began to notice one benefit of her present state. No one could see her, so she did not have to squeeze with others and could float calmly above everyone...
The tour group all got off on the 18th floor. After that the people in the elevator grew fewer and fewer as it climbed, finally stopping on the 28th floor.
The 28th floor was already the top floor, and only then did Mo Sheng step out of the elevator.
She did not enter any company on the 28th floor. Instead she continued upward toward the top...
The door from the top floor to the rooftop was locked.
Mo Sheng looked extremely familiar with this place. She walked forward a few steps and fished out a key from a corner of the janitor's closet.
Mo Sheng slipped the key into the lock.
Under Han Tian's astonished gaze, the door gave a clang and swung open.
Mo Sheng walked out onto the rooftop.
This was the tallest office building in the city. From the rooftop one could almost look down over the scenery of the whole city.
Five years earlier, after Mo Sheng's father had repented, Mo Sheng's father had started working in this office building. But Mo Sheng's father did not like this regimented way of working. His heart was full of pain, his mind fixed on his research, yet to support himself and his daughter he had to endure this life...
At that time, Mo Sheng's father discovered a good place, the rooftop of the building.
Mo Sheng's father had gotten hold of the key to that door himself, which was an effortless matter for him.
After discovering this place, whenever he was in a bad mood, Mo Sheng's father would come up to this rooftop for air.
That year, when Mo Sheng was on summer vacation, she came to the company with her father to do homework and came here as well.
"Mo Sheng, right now the whole city is at your feet. What do you think of when you look at this sight?" Mo Sheng's father held Mo Sheng as they sat on the railing and asked the Little Mo Sheng who was not yet nine years old softly.
Mo Sheng did not look toward the bustling traffic in the city.
Little Mo Sheng turned her head and stared fixedly at her own father, clutching tightly at her father's collar. "I miss Father."
She was a little afraid. Her father looked too absorbed as he gazed downstairs, and Mo Sheng feared her father would turn back into his former self.
"Why?" Mo Sheng's father turned his head and glanced at Mo Sheng in surprise. "Father is right beside you."
"Because Father looks a little unhappy," Mo Sheng pressed her lips together. "I want Father to be happy..."
In that moment, Mo Sheng's father suddenly did not dare meet the clear gaze his daughter turned toward him.
"Mo Sheng, this is Father's obsession." Mo Sheng's father turned to look downstairs. "Father wants to figure out why all living beings come into this world. Father wants to understand the relationship between time and space. Father also wants to make up for all past regrets. To have discovered his research results earlier, to have escaped poverty sooner and returned to a happy life, and to go back to the past to bring your Mother back, so Little Mo Sheng wouldn't have to suffer..."
"Mo Sheng, will you help Father..." Mo Sheng's father did not dare look directly at Mo Sheng's face. "Father may disappear before long, but don't worry. In five years, Father will definitely come back..."
"If you miss Father from now on, you can come here..."
For some time afterward, Mo Sheng's father often gave Mo Sheng some black powder to take. Mo Sheng felt no reaction from eating these things, though she knew her father might be using her for experiments...
Not long after, Mo Sheng's father was in a car accident.
Mo Sheng knew her father was a great scientist. At certain moments, Mo Sheng even felt that the female ghost who had been following her lately was somewhat like her father...
Because her father had once said those words, Mo Sheng had always held onto hope in her heart. She did not believe her father was really dead and felt her father would surely return.
But this place was really too far from Mo Sheng's home, and Mo Sheng could come at most twice a year.
Mo Sheng sat on the railing. She looked at the endless streams of people and cars below and curved her lips slightly. In this instant her heart brimmed with joy. The next time she came here, she should be with her father!
Thinking of this, Mo Sheng glanced at Han Tian beside her as if unintentionally. Her father was so capable. Perhaps he could also see the existence of the female ghost, and perhaps her father could find a way to bring the female ghost back to life.
But this female ghost looked silly. Even if she came back to life, she probably could not support herself.
Then she would be generous and let the female ghost stay with her!
She would study hard to become a wonderful person, then earn a huge amount of money and take good care of her father and this stupid female ghost...
Thinking of this, for the first time in her life, Mo Sheng felt expectation for the future.
Mo Sheng had originally planned to stay here longer, but she had not expected the female ghost to start muttering anxiously beside her before long.
"Mo Sheng, you have to look forward. Life is bitter, but it'll definitely get better slowly..."
"Mo Sheng, you should know there are still so many pretty clothes you've never worn and delicious foods you've never eaten. You must never give up..."
"Woo, Little Mo Sheng, you must not jump off the building..." The female ghost's voice took on a sob.
So... did the female ghost suspect she would jump?
Mo Sheng only belatedly realized this.
Her heart felt a little amused, along with a strange feeling she could not describe. She only felt her whole heart grow warm, as if soaked in warm water...
Really!
If the female ghost took human form in the future, what would she do if she nagged just like now?
Then she would not be able to pretend not to see her as she did now, and she loved to cry so much...
Mo Sheng began to worry about her own future.
She sighed, though the corners of her lips lifted slightly, and she did not stay on the roof for half a day as she used to.
Mo Sheng locked the door and went downstairs.
She first went down to the 18th floor to wait nearby, then used the same trick to blend into the tour group and go downstairs.
When she came down it was lunchtime. Not far outside the office building were restaurants, and the air was filled with the smell of food...
Han Tian could not smell the food, nor did she feel hungry, but seeing these restaurants she could not help recalling the taste of food.
Somehow, when Han Tian thought of food, the first thing she thought of was the braised beef with potatoes that Mo Sang had made for her.
In Han Tian's memory that dish was very delicious, but Han Tian did not really want to eat it.
Probably because her mood at that time was too complicated. A meal made by someone she cherished, yet it was a meal she had received as a stand-in.
As soon as she thought of Mo Sang, Han Tian's mood sank.
Now it was ten years ago. Where was Mo Sang now?
Mo Sang was only thirteen now, probably happily attending middle school like the Mo Sheng before her eyes.
But Mo Sang's life was clearly not as miserable as this Little Mo Sheng's.
More than one reporter had once tried to dig up Mo Sang's family background but had never succeeded. Nothing about Mo Sang's past could be found, as if it had been deliberately erased.
The anti-fans sourly speculated that Mo Sang's family had connections in the entertainment industry, and that the stories of being bullied by teammates were deliberately arranged by Mo Sang.
Han Tian did not believe these speculations, nor had she ever paid attention to information about Mo Sang's family, but she subconsciously felt Mo Sang's family background should not be too poor, because when signing, Mo Sang attended the Music Academy, whose tuition was higher than for ordinary students...
But then again, Han Tian recalled her visit to Mo Sang's home. There seemed to be nothing in Mo Sang's home related to family either.
With a bang, Mo Sheng ahead suddenly tripped and fell on flat ground, startling Han Tian out of her reverie!
Looking at Mo Sheng, expressionless, with scraped skin on her foot, struggling to walk forward, Han Tian felt deep regret. She should not have been distracted, or she could have kicked away the stone in front of Mo Sheng sooner.
She should not have thought of Mo Sang. That only made her state of mind heavier.
After all, Mo Sang was the person she missed most now.
Han Tian tried hard to distract herself. She recalled that her original intention was to miss the taste of food...
Thinking of this, Han Tian took a deep breath and began to review the foods in the shops on both sides one by one.
"Fried chicken? Forget it, I don't miss it at all. I ate so much of it for so many years before..."
"Snail noodles. This is truly a food you think will be a nightmare before eating, but you'll be proven wrong after eating it..."
"Soup dumplings? Woo... soup filled dumplings are really delicious. Bite through the thin skin with its generous filling, and the juices flow out full..."
So, had she just been recalling the foods she ate when alive?
Mo Sheng watched the female ghost's intoxicated expression as she recalled the taste of food, and her ears grew slightly red. Earlier she had seen the female ghost distracted and thought she was thinking of that so called star in her heart, and for some reason she had felt angry, deliberately falling to pull the female ghost's attention back...
Had she been mistaken?
Mo Sheng looked at the female ghost reviewing food all the way and frowned slightly.
The aroma of food around them was irresistibly tempting.
The dishes the female ghost recited sounded so delicious that Mo Sheng felt starving just listening...
"Little Mo Sheng, you got your wages today. Why not eat something to celebrate?" Han Tian moved closer to the little girl, watching her cover her stomach and swallow as if casually, unaware she herself was the culprit, and sighed slightly. "You're still small. If you don't eat, you won't grow tall. Don't you want to be able to beat Wang Zhi in the future..."
Mo Sheng quietly swallowed again.
She did not dream of beating Wang Zhi, but at this moment an idea suddenly popped into Mo Sheng's mind. If she did not grow tall in the future and the female ghost became human, would the female ghost grab her and nag, leaving her unable to run away?
Mo Sheng inexplicably did not want to be dominated by the female ghost in the future.
She had already been nagged by her for so long. If she became human, if anyone dominated, it should be her dominating the female ghost!
A sense of crisis unlike any before rose in this instant, and Mo Sheng finally could not resist and walked into a plain looking shop at the end of the street.
Long ago her father had once held her and ordered a boxed meal here. The boxed meal in this shop was not only cheap but generous in portion.
Mo Sheng had come almost past mealtime, and only a few unsold boxed meals remained in the shop.
"Uncle," Mo Sheng licked her lower lip, very politely. "What's the cheapest boxed meal?"
The shopkeeper could tell from the little girl's appearance that she did not have much money. His was a well known kind hearted restaurant nearby, often giving food to beggars around. Seeing this little girl now, he naturally would not ask her for much.
But the little girl looked as if she wanted to buy food, and the shopkeeper did not want to hurt her pride.
"Here." The shopkeeper stuffed a boxed meal into the little girl's arms. "This is the last braised beef with potatoes! If I can't sell it I'll throw it away. I'll give it to you cheap, just give me three yuan..."
"Thank you, Uncle..." Mo Sheng had never bought food herself and did not know if this was the rule in restaurants, but hearing the female ghost beside her murmur, "This shopkeeper is really a good person," Mo Sheng understood.
"Sit here. The sun is strong outside now. Leave after you finish eating." Afraid the little girl would feel shy, the shopkeeper moved the electric fan to blow toward Mo Sheng, then went to the back kitchen.
Mo Sheng held the boxed meal in her hands and for a moment did not dare take a bite.
She had forgotten when she last ate!
"Mo Sheng, eat..." Han Tian sat before Mo Sheng with blinking eyes and coaxed. "Braised beef with potatoes is my favorite dish. It's delicious..."
Her favorite?
Mo Sheng opened the lunchbox and took a small bite.
This shop was generous with ingredients. One bite of potato was rich with savory gravy, and mixed with rice it tasted wonderfully fragrant.
The shopkeeper who had gone to the back kitchen came back again. This time he set a bowl of soup beside Mo Sheng. "The house soup."
The female ghost beside them glanced at the bowl and frowned instinctively. "Tomato egg drop soup?"
"How can there be such awful soup in the world..." The female ghost shook her head and could not help complaining. "Even if every dish in the world were gone and only one mouthful of tomato egg drop soup was left to keep me alive, I'd jump from here. I'd rather die than drink it..."
Was it that awful?
Mo Sheng bit her lower lip and barely held back from laughing aloud.
She remembered drinking it as a child. This soup was not awful?
Facing the female ghost's tightly knitted brows, Mo Sheng took a sip of the tomato egg drop soup.
It still tasted as before, not exactly delicious, but far from awful. She had no idea why the female ghost held such a grudge against this soup.
Mo Sheng finished every bit of food without leaving anything, thanked the shopkeeper again and again, then continued walking back.
She had not eaten so full for a long time. Suddenly eating so much left her stomach a little bloated, and with the hot weather, halfway back her stomach began to ache. She did not dare keep walking and found a bench in the shade of a tree to lie on, curling up to rest a while before going on...
Cicadas chirred in the trees. Mo Sheng lay on the bench and did not remember when she fell asleep.
In a haze she felt a coolness on her stomach. Mo Sheng saw a white skirt hem. The female ghost lowered her eyes with a worried expression and slowly rubbed her stomach for her.
Mo Sheng felt at ease and fell back asleep.
When she woke again the sky had turned dark.
The female ghost sat beside her, looking left and right, seemingly keeping watch over the crowd around her all along.
Mo Sheng herself could not believe she could fall asleep so trustingly in a strange place.
The night temperature had dropped. Mo Sheng looked at the female ghost who said lazily, "Little Mo Sheng, I'm a little sleepy. I'm counting on you to take me back! We're good friends. You won't refuse me, right..." and shifted slightly. Her stomach no longer hurt.
Good friends?
Mo Sheng had never had anyone make friends with her since birth.
Her ears grew a little red, but her heart was incomparably happy, as if she had eaten another delicious popsicle, sweetness spreading to the bottom of her heart.
"Oh no, how did it get so late..." Mo Sheng spoke awkwardly as if talking to herself in annoyance, but she lowered her head with lifted lips and started running fast...
A familiar scene. Dim streetlamps on both sides, a huge bright moon in the sky, and a female ghost in flowing white drifting behind her...
Mo Sheng ran through the night city, and her heart was not as anxious and fearful as last time...
Although the female ghost was a little silly, easy to fool, fond of nagging, and fond of crying...
But... she looked so pitiful with no friends that she would reluctantly be her friend...
The days waiting for exam results passed quickly.
These days Mo Sheng reported to Wang Zhi's home every day.
Kept at home by Wang Zhi's mother, Wang Zhi had stayed home these days.
Because Mo Sheng saw such a scene, Wang Zhi felt a little embarrassed, and now and then Wang Zhi could not help losing her temper at Mo Sheng. But with Han Tian comforting her on the side, even when Mo Sheng felt angry, the anger soon subsided.
Wang Zhi felt such a Mo Sheng was like a block of wood. After getting no response, she stopped bullying Mo Sheng and began to attend class listlessly, only constantly distracted during lessons...
Mo Sheng ignored her and just taught her own lessons, assigning exercises after each class.
At first Wang Zhi deliberately got everything wrong to anger Mo Sheng, but she found Mo Sheng was not angered. The next day Mo Sheng would often prepare different exercises for her...
Wang Zhi belatedly realized the exercises Mo Sheng prepared grew easier and easier. When she saw a problem like "What's 6+7" appear on the sheet, Wang Zhi finally could not help demanding, "Mo Sheng, what do you mean by this?"
"First grade exercises," Mo Sheng said without changing expression. "Three days ago you got fourth grade questions wrong. The day before yesterday you got third grade questions wrong. Yesterday..."
"Enough!" Wang Zhi clutched her head in collapse. She really did not want to regress to kindergarten and could only grit her teeth and start learning from fourth grade...
Mo Sheng received her report card and grade report.
Because she had missed an exam this time, she had dropped to fifteenth in the class.
Mo Sheng borrowed the paper for the subject she had missed and looked it over, estimating her score for that subject, and felt sadder. With the female ghost tutoring her during this time, Mo Sheng's grades had improved more and more. Without the accident, she could have taken first place this time.
Though dejected, Mo Sheng secretly resolved to finish her homework well over the summer, review well, and take first place again next term.
October marked the fifth year since her father's car accident, and her father should be coming back around then.
When her father came back, Mo Sheng would definitely take first place next term to make her father and the female ghost happy.
When collecting report cards, the teachers also began handing out summer homework.
Not only summer homework, the teachers also handed out practice papers for each subject.
The students went up one by one to collect papers and summer homework, but when Mo Sheng went up, the homeroom teacher held the hand Mo Sheng extended. "It's like this, Mo Sheng. These papers have to be paid for, thirty yuan per person..."
"All right, Teacher," Mo Sheng took thirty yuan from her pocket to hand to the homeroom teacher. "Teacher, may I collect my books now?"
"Well," the homeroom teacher held Mo Sheng's hand without loosening. She looked a little embarrassed but continued. "It's like this, Mo Sheng. I thought you couldn't afford it, so I didn't order for you..."
"Your grades are very good. It doesn't matter if you don't do the papers..."
Not to mention Han Tian who was nearly furious beside them, even Wang Zhi standing behind Mo Sheng could not stand watching.
"Teacher, I just don't want to do homework. Then give my homework to the ugly... Mo Sheng..." Wang Zhi said impatiently.
"No need." Mo Sheng lowered her head. "Thank you, Teacher. I'll review on my own."
"Fine, forget it!" Wang Zhi felt humiliated at having her kindness refused for the first time. She grabbed her papers and returned to her seat.
Mo Sheng also slowly sat back in her seat.
Han Tian gritted her teeth and promised solemnly, "Little Mo Sheng, don't worry. These papers have no technical content. Wait a few days and I'll compile a workbook for you..."
"As long as you follow my method, you're so smart. Next term you'll definitely take first place..."
What Han Tian did not dare guarantee in other areas, in study she had full confidence!
Thinking of this, Han Tian formed another guess about Mo Sheng's future. With such good grades, would Mo Sheng have changed her life through study ten years later and lived a relatively happy life?
Han Tian felt a little happy. If things developed along the current track, her guess was very likely to come true.
But Mo Sheng was now exactly at the age when her worldview was forming, and any accident could destroy Mo Sheng's future development...
Han Tian resolved to keep a close eye on Mo Sheng these next few years!
Mo Sheng did not doubt Han Tian was boasting. After all, Han Tian could always spot errors in her homework at a glance, sometimes explained key points more simply than the teacher's method, and Han Tian's ability to repair circuits and machines was so strong...
The first few days after summer vacation began, Han Tian focused on compiling a workbook for Mo Sheng and did not follow Mo Sheng to Wang Zhi's home for tutoring.
Without Han Tian soothing her on the side, Mo Sheng finally could not hide a trace of anger when she saw Wang Zhi's provocations.
For Wang Zhi this was like opening the door to a new world. Wang Zhi kept pestering endlessly to make Mo Sheng angry.
Fortunately Han Tian came back a few days later, and Mo Sheng no longer bickered with Wang Zhi. Seeing she could not provoke Mo Sheng's anger no matter what, Wang Zhi stopped inviting snubs and began listening listlessly again...
The workbook Han Tian compiled was disguised as scrap Mo Sheng had picked up and stuffed into the scrap pile.
When she saw the surprised smile on Mo Sheng's face upon discovering the workbook, Han Tian felt the fatigue of these days melt away in this instant.
Throughout the summer, Mo Sheng picked up all kinds of things to bring home.
Because tutoring fees provided income, Mo Sheng's funds were finally a little less tight, and she no longer had to pick scrap every day to earn money. What Mo Sheng picked up was more things the household could use.
Mo Sheng did not want her father to return to a bare house.
With the all purpose repair machine Han Tian around, almost everything Mo Sheng picked up was fixed...
By the end of summer, Mo Sheng could hardly recognize this as her original house.
The windows had curtains, the roof tiles were covered, the leaking spots had coverings, the home had a thermos, an immersion heater for heating water, even a small radio that could receive stations, and the empty kitchen had pots Mo Sheng had picked up...
Since the home gained a pot, Han Tian was happiest, shown concretely in that she had nearly emptied all the edible bird eggs from the trees along Mo Sheng's route...
Mo Sheng began eating one bird egg a day to supplement nutrition, and to keep her father who was about to return from feeling heartache, Mo Sheng herself began to subconsciously protect herself. Though not very obvious, after a summer Mo Sheng's skin was visibly fairer and her cheeks fuller...
Summer passed, September came, school started, and Mo Sheng returned to school.
Han Tian clearly noticed Mo Sheng's restlessness. When in class Mo Sheng often drifted off, sometimes laughing happily to herself, and in dreams she would suddenly cry out, "Father"...
Amid such an atmosphere, October soon arrived.
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