The director announced that next week, a couple from a very distant place—reportedly with excellent conditions—wanted to adopt a young, well-behaved girl.
This news was like a stone thrown into stagnant water, instantly creating massive ripples in the silent hearts of the children at the orphanage.
Especially for the girls of the right age who still harbored fantasies of a "home," their eyes reignited with a glimmer of hope.
Even the children who usually looked at Li Nanzhu with cold indifference temporarily retracted their stinging words. They began to secretly tidy up their few pitiable pieces of clothing that could barely be called "decent."
Li Nanzhu's heart began to beat violently once more.
This was a new opportunity!
An opportunity to leave this place, to escape all this coldness and loneliness!
This time, she couldn't screw it up again.
She couldn't say strange things or show strange expressions like she had last time.
She recalled the day Xiao Ya was chosen, remembering every move, every frown, and every smile Xiao Ya had made.
How Xiao Ya’s eyes had brightened, how the corners of her mouth had curved, how sweet her voice had been, and how naturally she had expressed her longing for a "home" and "love"...
Yes, she had to learn.
She had to learn to be just like her, even more so.
Over the next few days, Li Nanzhu became almost obsessed. She spent even longer practicing her smile in front of that broken mirror, not stopping even when her cheeks ached.
She repeatedly memorized several phrases she thought were "well-behaved" and "pleasing," such as "Auntie, you're so beautiful," "Uncle, you look so amazing," and "I will definitely be very obedient."
She even imitated Xiao Ya's way of walking when no one was around, trying to make herself look more "lively."
She observed the other children who were also preparing for this opportunity, secretly noting the possible preferences of that distant couple they discussed, then simulated the scenes and conversations of the meeting over and over in her mind.
She was going to disguise herself as a "qualified," love-starved, clever, and well-behaved little girl.
Finally, the day arrived.
The weather had cleared up for once, and sunlight filtered through the tall, dust-covered windows of the orphanage, casting mottled shadows on the floor.
The children were told to change into their cleanest clothes and stand neatly in the front courtyard.
The air was filled with a strange atmosphere—a mix of tension, expectation, and the faint scent of soapy water.
Li Nanzhu also changed into a plaid shirt that, while old, was washed to a faded white and had no holes. It was something Xiao Ya had quietly left for her before leaving.
She used all her strength to comb her hair smooth, tying a crooked little bun at the back of her head, revealing a clean but overly pale forehead.
The couple arrived.
Unlike the refined couple from last time, this couple appeared younger and dressed more fashionably.
The husband wore gold-rimmed glasses and looked very scholarly; the wife had a stylish perm, exquisite makeup, a proper smile, and carried a leather handbag that looked very expensive.
Their gaze swept over the children with a condescending yet gentle scrutiny.
The director introduced them as usual, her tone even more respectful than normal.
Li Nanzhu’s heart leaped into her throat. She saw the couple’s eyes slide over her face several times; though they didn't linger, they didn't immediately move away either.
This gave her a sliver of hope.
It was finally time for the children to give brief self-introductions or answer questions. Having learned from the previous experience, the other children had also become smarter, saying nothing more than formulaic lines like, "My name is XX, I am X years old, I can sing/dance/read, and I really want a home."
The fashionable couple listened patiently, nodding occasionally with proper smiles always on their faces, though there seemed to be no ripples deep within their eyes.
Finally, their gaze fell upon Li Nanzhu once more.
"This little girl looks quite quiet." The fashionable wife bent down slightly and smiled at Li Nanzhu, her voice soft. "What is your name?"
It was time!
Li Nanzhu’s heart pounded wildly, blood instantly rushing to her head.
She took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down as she recalled the "script" she had practiced countless times over these days.
She looked up, struggling to mobilize every muscle she could on her face to pull off what she believed to be the closest approximation of Xiao Ya’s "sweet and well-behaved" smile. She forced her eyes into the shape of crescent moons and used the "sweetest" and "crispest" voice she could muster to answer clearly:
"Hello Auntie, hello Uncle! My name is Li Nanzhu, and I’m five and a half years old!"
The smile was perfect! The voice was perfect! The opening was perfect!
She saw a flash of... surprise pass through the fashionable wife's eyes? But it quickly returned to a smile. The husband also pushed up his glasses and gave her an extra look.
"Nanzhu? That's a very nice name." Maintaining her smile, the fashionable wife asked again, "Then Nanzhu, tell Auntie, why do you want to go home with Auntie and Uncle?"
The critical question had come!
Li Nanzhu could almost hear the sound of her own blood flowing.
She gripped the corner of her shirt tightly, her fingernails digging into her palms, using the pain to maintain her clarity and "acting." She must not say the wrong thing again!
She raised that "brilliant" smile once more, the one she had practiced thousands of times with a deliberately exaggerated arc. She looked at the fashionable wife without blinking and used the naive tone she had rehearsed countless times to speak fluently:
"Because Auntie, you're so beautiful, just like a fairy! And Uncle is so handsome and amazing! Nanzhu wants a mother as beautiful as Auntie and a father as amazing as Uncle! Nanzhu will be super, super good. I’ll listen to Mommy and Daddy, help Mommy with housework, and massage Daddy’s back! Nanzhu wants a warm home and lots and lots of love!"
She said it all in one breath, her breathing a bit hurried, but every word was crystal clear. She kept the smile on her face the whole time, though due to tension and effort, the corners of her mouth were somewhat stiff and her eyes were opened a bit too wide.
Silence fell over the courtyard.
All the children, including the director, looked at Li Nanzhu.
The children's gazes were complex—some surprised, some disdainful, some stunned by "how well she could talk." The director’s brow furrowed almost imperceptibly.
As for the fashionable couple...
The proper smile on the wife's face clearly froze for a fleeting moment after Li Nanzhu finished that long speech.
In those exquisitely painted eyes, a flicker of an extremely fast, hard-to-capture emotion passed—it wasn't being moved, and it wasn't praise. It was a deeper scrutiny, even a nearly undetectable hint of alienation and amusement.
The gentle arc at the corner of the husband's mouth also faded. He pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses and let his gaze fall on Li Nanzhu's face again. This time, it stayed longer, and his eyes were sharper, as if he were evaluating a commodity that was overpriced and whose marketing was far too exaggerated.
The atmosphere turned cold once again.
It was even colder and stiffer than the last time when she had said she "wanted to live well."
Under the gaze of those two pairs of eyes that had suddenly become calm and sharp, the smile on Li Nanzhu's face crumbled bit by bit, uncontrollably.
The corners of her mouth remained stiffly upturned, but the "sweetness" and "brightness" in her eyes rapidly faded, leaving only a massive void, helplessness, and a hint of panic at having been completely seen through.
Why... was it wrong again?
Why... did it seem like... she had overdone it?
The fashionable wife gently straightened her posture. The smile on her face returned to its previous propriety, but that warmth now seemed to be separated by a layer of invisible glass.
She didn't look at Li Nanzhu again. Instead, she turned to the director, her voice still soft but carrying an unquestionable sense of distance. "Director, the children are all very cute. Let's keep looking."
She took her husband's arm and walked toward the next child.
From beginning to end, she never gave Li Nanzhu another glance.
Li Nanzhu froze in place like a wax statue that had suddenly lost its soul.
The distorted, lingering "sweet" smile on her face formed a heart-wrenching contrast with the emptiness, coldness, and massive self-doubt rapidly flooding her eyes.
The sunlight shone on her, yet it couldn't dispel that bone-chilling cold.
The imitation had failed.
And it had failed so completely, so embarrassingly.
It seemed like... no matter what she did, she was wrong.
Speaking the truth was wrong.
Learning from others was also wrong.
So... what exactly was she supposed to do?
Rate on N.U.
