Fake Death, Redemption, Crematorium
*
Wen Ning has many secrets.
She has an older sister nobody knows about, she loves Meng Zhao, and she isn't dead.
But she can't tell anyone any of that.
In her senior year of high school, Meng Zhao was forced to transfer to No. 49 High School in a neighboring city.
At a school ranked near the bottom of the city's standings, she became its only promising candidate for a top university.
Her new deskmate...
She'd already missed half a month of classes right after the semester began. From the new students to the so-called school bullies, everyone described her with the same words: Wen Ning, senior year, the boss's boss, the toughest of the tough.
Meng Zhao had no intention of provoking this delinquent girl, and no energy to spare for it either.
She was already struggling with being bullied at school.
What started as minor pranks had escalated to physical attacks in just a few days.
In an alley beside the school, rainwater and mud soaked through her tattered uniform. A vicious slap came hurtling down from above. Its sharp crack rang out, and she thought the pain had numbed her completely.
She looked up through the curtain of rain and saw a dazzling, pretty girl rescuing her from her misery.
The girl took her skipping class, acting crazy, and chasing the sunset.
On the beach, everything in sight was gilded by the warm, fading light. After their cheeks brushed for just an instant, Meng Zhao's heart pounded wildly.
Countless times, her love had almost burst out into the open.
Then, just one week later, news came that the girl had died.
The girl was gone, and No. 49 High School's queen had fallen.
At twenty-eight, Meng Zhao had become a renowned top agent in the entertainment industry. At a drinking party, she met a pitiable woman who looked almost exactly like Wen Ning.
Except...
Wen Ning had a tiny red mole at the corner of her eye. The woman didn't.
Wen Ning would never let anyone be bullied in front of her. The woman could endure it in silence, even when she was the one being targeted.
Wen Ning was a little sun, always radiating positive energy. The woman was as quiet and melancholy as the moon.
She wasn't Wen Ning.
She couldn't possibly be Wen Ning.
Wen Ning had died ten years ago.
Meng Zhao hated seeing this woman wear Wen Ning's face while acting timid and spineless, and hated how she kept tarnishing Wen Ning's reputation. But she was Wen Ning's biological older sister, and that connection forced Meng Zhao to swallow her disgust and put up with her, cleaning up one mess after another.
Later, just as the woman's helplessness was about to drive her over the edge, Meng Zhao overheard her talking to their parents.
The woman said she was starting to lose track of whether she was Wen Ning or her sister, and that if she could, she'd gladly die in her sister's place.
Outside the door, Meng Zhao lit a cigarette and laughed until she cried.
That dark moonlight really had come back from the dead.
--2024.4.4--
Still drafting. I'll start with this one first.
Theme: There is much hardship in the world. Don't be afraid; face it bravely.
