Love 020 : Love and family

Chapter 5 - Tales of the past

The moment Nai left, the day's events started to catch up to Weiwei. It was as if she had lost her security blanket. She made her way up the stairs to the dorm and immediately Xiaoling noticed the expression on her face, " What happened Weiwei?"

Weiwei recounted Cao Guang's proposal , how he tried to grab her and that a guy had saved her. For some reason, Weiwei felt that Nai's identity was private. The sisters hugged her tight to give her some comfort and only after they felt Weiwei's color had returned to normal , Er Xi asked, " You are so strong Weiwei. Do you know who your knight in shining armor was?"

Weiwei, " I am not sure, I didn't get a good look. It was very dark and he asked me to run as soon as he restrained Cao Guang , so I did". She hated lying to her sisters but she felt that she had to decode the mystery that was Naihe, before she informed her sisters of her suspicions. " I need to take a shower", she said and abruptly left. The sisters left her alone , understanding she needed some space.

Under the scalding hot water, when she was alone , Weiwei let go of her composure and sobbed. ' Why does this happen to me? I hate this face. It is nothing but a curse', she thought as the hot water washed the tears that cascaded down her cheeks. Her mind wandered to her past, Beijing had always been her safe place and the day's incidents had shaken her faith in herself and the city.

She had lost her parents at the age of 14 to a factory fire in Wuhan. Her elderly grandfather loved Weiwei, but he was too frail to care for her. He had bought for Weiwei her first computer, encouraged her to develop her skills and told anyone that cared to listen, that she would be the next Bill Gates. That statement had only been a slight exaggeration , because by the time she was 12, Weiwei had won countless contests and many a bug bounty. She was a budding white hat hacker and had started to attract attention of some big companies as her alter ego, DragonReed.

Grandpa wanted Weiwei to focus on herself instead of caring for him, so he had sent her to a distant uncle's place in Wuhan soon after her parent's death. That was where Weiwei's troubles started. Weiwei's uncle and aunt provided the basics but they neglected to give her the comfort or love she needed. They did the bare minimum, mostly out of obligation to her grandpa. Weiwei had even made peace with that. Puberty had hit Weiwei and she was blossoming into a beautiful woman on the outside, just as she was on the inside. This attracted all sorts of unwanted attention from classmates, strangers and worse of all the uncle's 16 year old son, Bei Cheung. Cheung constantly made advances on her and tried to grab her hand or put his hand on her back. Weiwei felt disgusted every time he tried to touch her, but even bore that thinking he would stop if she showed no attention.

One night, after a few months of Weiwei living with them, Cheung had came home drunk. Her uncle and aunt had already gone to bed and it was pouring heavily. He had burst into Weiwei's room and had tried to force himself on her. Reacting on pure adrenaline, Weiwei had kicked him between his legs and ran as fast as she could outside the house. She sat outside all night on the street, afraid that he would come back or worse someone else. At dawn, when she felt safe enough, she went back to the house and inside her room. She was relieved to see that Cheung was not in her room. She quickly grabbed her official documents, stuffed what few clothes she had into a duffel bag and ran from the house without telling anyone. She knew that talking to her aunt and uncle about their darling son would be of no use. In their eyes, he could do no wrong.

She came to her grandfather's house, only to find him on his death bed. Distraught, Weiwei crouched by his bedside,"Yéyé, why didn't you tell me you were this sick?", she asked.

Grandpa Bei coughed violently and even in his state, he could tell that something was very wrong, " My child, you are a brave girl.  You will be strong, independent and bow to no one." he wheezed. Weiwei tried to get him to relax and stop, but he would not be deterred,"I wish I could have done better for you. Sending you to your uncle's place was a bad idea. This house is in your name, sell it and move far away from this place. Promise me you will live a happy full life"

Weiwei sobbed, " Why are you saying this Yéyé, you'll get better. I won't leave you"

Her grandpa once again said, " Promise me child, you will live your life as I have asked. You will be happy again. You will find love. You will find family. It is my last wish"

Weiwei nodded through her tears and said , " I promise". Hearing those words, her grand father drew his last breath and closed his eyes with a peaceful expression on his face. Grief hit Weiwei like a tsunami, she was truly orphaned this time. She had no parents or family. She didn't know what she would do. In that moment, she decided she would be strong, but she didn't know how to be. With the help of neighbors, she organized the funeral and said goodbye to her grandfather with an aching heart. She was worried that Cheung would show up, but to her relief, only her aunt and uncle showed up. They were upset that she had left without telling them and were scheming to take her in, only get her inheritance.  Cognizant of all this but still a minor, Weiwei felt helpless. She could not go back to that house.

Then, like a golden phoenix came Auntie Lin Yao, her mother's classmate. Auntie Lin and Weiwei's mother had grown up together and auntie Lin had just returned from a year long excavation project to find out that her best friend had passed away. At once she arrived in Wuhan, only to realize that her precious daughter, Weiwei had been all alone. She marveled at the child's fortitude despite the circumstances and being the sharp cookie she was, had read the situation immediately. She called Weiwei to her side, on the pretext of offering condolences and said, " Weiwei, I don't know if you remember me, I'm your auntie Lin. I promised your mother I would take care of you if something happened to her. I want to be your guardian child. I know all about your greedy relatives and I don't want them near you. Will you come with me?"

Relief coursed through Weiwei and she nodded yes. Discreetly, they made their way to the government office and signed paperwork of guardianship effectively blocking her relatives' advances. Over the next few days, Auntie Lin helped Weiwei sell the house and placed the money in Weiwei's bank account for her future and they got on a train  to Beijing. Weiwei had hardly spoken to her during the days following her grandpa's death consumed by grief. But Auntie Lin had developed a soft spot for the brave and beautiful girl. She had always wanted a daughter and Weiwei filled that hole in her heart. She knew that her husband would love the tenacious brilliant girl as well and couldn't wait to spoil her silly.

As the train chugged ahead, she spoke , " Auntie Lin. I am very grateful for all your help. I don't know if I will be able to repay your debt to me in this life. Mama told me you have a son and a family in Beijing. I do not wish to be a burden to you or them. I will find a place to stay and get out of your hair."

Auntie Lin, " What burden! No no child, I will love you like my own daughter. My husband will adore having a girl to spoil. You don't need to worry about anything. We are very well off and my son is only a couple years older. He would love to have a new friend".

The past year had shaken her faith in family and the male species, Weiwei responded, " I really thank you for your kindness and generosity. I have told you everything that happened to me. I don't want to impose on anyone. I will be independent and make my own way in life. Please do not mistake this for arrogance, I made a promise to my grandpa and I will live my life keeping that promise."

Tears in her eyes, but marveling the child's gumption, Auntie Lin agreed to let her stay on her own with the promise that Weiwei would meet her and her husband at least once a week. Since then, Auntie Lin had been a constant in Weiwei's life and dare she say, only family.

The shower had run cold by the time Weiwei came back to the present and her dorm mates had fallen asleep. She got into bed and spent a very restless night, Naihe momentarily forgotten.