Two quiet days passed.
That evening, close to lights out, Sherry Taylor came to the dormitory looking for Amelia Clarke.
Since it was very late, there were scarcely any people in the corridor.
"Do you need something?" Although Amelia Clarke wasn't particularly fond of Sherry Taylor, neither did she dislike her.
"Amelia, these past two days, William Smith has been especially cold towards my sister. Today, he even had a public falling out with her, saying he wanted to cut all ties with her. Amelia, you know how much my sister likes William Smith. From the day she entered Bordine University, she's liked him. With him acting this way now, my sister is devastated."
"I know it's unreasonable to ask you to do something about it, but I really can't think of any other solution. William Smith likes you, he'll definitely listen to you. Could you talk to him, ask him not to treat my sister like this?"
"I know you must be really angry at my sister for the way she's treated you in the past, but please, for the sake of my father, help her out."
Amelia Clarke quietly watched Sherry Taylor.
After a moment of silence, she asked, "Do you think that it was something I said to William Smith that caused him to treat Ciara Taylor this way?"
Otherwise, why would she come asking her to intercede?
Sherry Taylor's face showed embarrassment, and she replied softly in defense, "I didn't..."
"It's alright even if you did." Amelia Clarke spoke in a light tone, seemingly not bothered, "I did talk to William Smith that night. However, I just spoke the truth, telling him that Ciara Taylor called me, asking me to keep my distance from him, and that he shouldn't come looking for me anymore."
Smiling, Amelia Clarke continued, "Isn't that exactly what Ciara Taylor wanted?"
Sherry Taylor was taken aback, her eyes showing a tinge of disappointment, "Amelia, I believe you wouldn't do that." Saying such things could easily give William Smith the wrong idea that Ciara Taylor was troubling Amelia Clarke.
Considering how much William Smith liked Amelia Clarke, of course, he would be angry with Ciara Taylor.
Amelia Clarke laughed, "Why not?"
"You're not that kind of person…" Sherry Taylor tried to argue further.
"Not what kind of person?" Amelia Clarke's gaze turned cold, "Just because I spoke the truth, I'm now not that kind of person?"
"Amelia, my sister just has a bit of a bad temper, and sometimes she speaks in a harsh tone, but she hasn't done anything to wrong you. You shouldn't have..."
Amelia Clarke looked at her.
Humans often act with bias towards their own kin.
After a short while, she replied with a slow smile, "You said it yourself, it's unreasonable to ask me to intercede with William Smith. Since it's unreasonable, please don't ask for my help. If there's nothing else, I'll be going back now. It's lights-out time, after all."
"Amelia…"
From behind her, Ciara Taylor called out to her, but she didn't look back, calmly walking away.
Over the next two days, during class, Amelia Clarke heard classmates discussing how Ciara Taylor from the Beauty Academy desperately clung to the department heartthrob William Smith, only to be met with harsh rebukes. They talked of Ciara Taylor's shamelessness and other such matters.
Amelia Clarke never joined in these discussions, even when Viola Harris brought it up; she remained silent, just quietly listening.
Weekend.
Amelia Clarke had a promotional part-time job for small appliances.
The sunlight was strong that day, but the wind was fierce. The promotional event was set up in the square in front of a shopping center, wide open on all sides, offering no escape from the biting cold.
The other promoters, their noses and cheeks reddened by the chill wind, hair disheveled, looked quite disheveled, everyone except Amelia Clarke. Her small face became even more pale and translucent, and the disarray of her long hair only added a different kind of delicate beauty to her.
Being attractive always has its advantages — Amelia Clarke's sales performance was considerably better than the others'.
When lunchtime arrived, the young man in charge of the small appliances promotion — twenty-five or twenty-six-year-old Jeremy Murphy — came over and invited Amelia Clarke to the nearby small restaurant for lunch.
Amelia Clarke had sold quite a few small appliances today and was due to receive a substantial commission.
When they reached the small restaurant, she ordered a plate of Fried Leek with Soybean Milk, a bowl of rice, and a cup of hot water.
Jeremy Murphy disagreed, "You've worked hard all morning, you should eat something nice. Boss, a large sauerkraut fish, sweet and sour ribs, dry pot cabbage, fried yam with black fungus, and one more pork rib soup!"
Jeremy Murphy was just a working guy himself, not earning a high salary. To win the favor of a beautiful woman, he was really splurging.
Amelia Clarke did not respond to his actions.
Instead, when the food arrived, she only ate the Fried Leek with Soybean Milk that she ordered.
Jeremy Murphy could see what she meant, couldn't he? He urged her many times to eat the meat dishes, but she remained indifferent, leaving him feeling somewhat frustrated.
It was true; beautiful women were hard to pursue.
After the meal, when it was time to pay, Jeremy Murphy wanted to cover Amelia Clarke's bill, but Amelia put down her own meal money and walked away.
The refusal was clear.
Jeremy Murphy felt even more dejected.
Leaving the small restaurant, Amelia was about to cross the street when she saw an elderly lady who had fallen on the side of the road, with a snack bag lying next to her. There were many passersby, yet no one was willing to step forward to help.
Amelia looked at the old lady for a moment, then walked over.
It wasn't that she was exceptionally kind-hearted. Her father's abandonment and Isaac Taylor's indecent intentions had shown her the maliciousness of people's hearts.
It was just that, seeing the old lady reminded her of her own grandmother. If someone had helped her grandmother back then, maybe her grandmother wouldn't have passed away so suddenly and tragically.
"Are you all right?" Amelia asked as she helped the old lady up.
The elderly lady was dressed meticulously, her white hair combed without a hair out of place, and a string of jade necklace around her neck, suggesting she was a well-off matron.
The old lady seemed unsteady on her feet, possibly having hurt her foot. She leaned on Amelia, mumbling a "Thank you..." But the moment she raised her eyes and saw Amelia, the tail of her gratitude disappeared from her lips.
"Molly?" She sounded surprised, and her eyes instantaneously moistened.
After a moment of surprise, Amelia realized that the old lady must have mistaken her for someone else.
"Madam, you've got the wrong person. I'm not Molly."
Hearing this, the elderly lady seemed lost, as if remembering a painful memory, and choked up, "Yes, you're not Molly, how could you be Molly..."
At that moment,
A woman in her forties or fifties ran over like a whirlwind, her voice laced with anxiety, "Madam! You scared me to death, why did you run out here by yourself? If you wanted to buy something, you just had to ask me, I wouldn't be able to atone for it with a hundred lives if something happened to you!"
The old lady came to her senses, and smilingly scolded, "I just wanted to buy some chestnuts from Piaoxiang Residence, what could possibly happen?"
The woman picked up the bag of chestnuts that had fallen onto the ground, still not giving up the scolding, "You could have told me to buy them. Why did you have to come out here yourself?"
The old lady just smiled and didn't respond, instead turning to Amelia, "Thank you, young girl, I'm fine now. You can go on with what you were doing."
Only then did the woman notice Amelia was still supporting the old lady and hastily took her hand, transferring the support, gratefully saying, "Thank you so much, thank you."
Amelia smiled, "You're welcome, goodbye."
Watching Amelia walk away, the old lady's eyes grew damp again. She asked the woman, "Bella, don't you think that girl looked like Molly?"
Bella Williams consoled her, "Madam, don't be sad, it's been seventeen years. You still can't let go; if the young miss knew from the beyond, she wouldn't be at peace either."
Then, realizing the old lady wasn't putting weight on one foot, she became anxious, "Madam, is your foot okay? Walk a bit, I'll take you to the hospital now."
The elderly lady moved her foot a little and found it didn't hurt as it did before, so she said, "No need, I just twisted it a little, and it's not painful anymore. Let's go quickly so we don't keep the ladies waiting."
"Ah, my chestnuts, give them to me. Molly always liked chestnuts from Piaoxiang Residence. I must peel them for her tonight."
Bella Williams sighed quietly.
The old lady only had one child, her young miss, who along with her family of three, perished at sea seventeen years ago. The young miss's husband's body was recovered in a ghastly state, but their three-year-old daughter was never found. The old lady probably couldn't find peace for the rest of her life.