An Umbrella on a Rainy Day

Suppose you're a rural girl staying with relatives in the city so you can go to school. On your way home, a depraved man follows and molests you. What would you do?

Suppose you're a pretty girl who finds a companion to walk with on the way to and from school. The companion's mother comes to your door and berates you, accusing you of seducing her son. What would you do?

Suppose you come across two stray dogs eating a corpse on your way to school. The dogs have gnawed the flesh from the dead woman's face, exposing her white skull. What would you do?

Suppose the person who loves you dies for your sake, while the person you love wants you dead. What would you do?

This novel is based on a true story. Zhaoxiang County is a small county on the southwestern frontier, with a struggling economy and rampant banditry.

The protagonist, Cai Zi, is a rural girl from Damao Village in Yuke Township, Zhaoxiang County. In the fall semester of 2008, seventeen-year-old Cai Zi is admitted to Zhaoxiang Middle School, the county's key high school.

She misses the chance to reserve a place in the school dormitory in advance, so she stays with relatives instead. On her way to and from school, she encounters a deranged vagrant and nearly gets sexually assaulted. She finds someone to walk with, only to be inexplicably berated by his mother. Through a twist of fate, she becomes entangled in one case after another and meets police officer Zhang Hua. She finds love and friendship, but her loved ones end up dying because of her.

How will she face the people and events that enter her life? How will she overcome the difficulties and challenges on the road to an education?

When the person she loves drives her to the brink, will she be shattered and bow to fate, or gather herself and fight back from the edge of despair?

This novel touches on crime, investigations, school life, youth, love, and friendship. It is a slow-burn story, and I hope you enjoy it.