The Weight of a New Identity

The sedan drove over from Huacheng Avenue, the brilliant sunlight slipping over the polished body and scattering in streams of light.

In the distance, the sign for “Pearl Neighborhood,” with its slightly chipped paint, came hazily into view.

Huang Xiu sat in the passenger seat, staring at the sign through the window, a little dazed.

The last time she came home was just a month ago. Back then, she was still a he. And now…

Everything had changed.

The neighborhood sign was right ahead. Professor Yuan lightly tapped the brakes and looked left and right through the windshield.

“This neighborhood is pretty old. There’s no underground garage. Just drive in through the main gate,” Huang Xiu said softly.

“Okay.” Professor Yuan nodded, turned the steering wheel left, and the Mercedes curved toward the entrance.

Creak!

The brakes locked. The car stopped before the electric barrier. The window, covered with reflective film, lowered slowly.

From the security booth, an old man in a faded uniform stepped out, wearing a pair of old green army shoes.

“What are you here for?”

“Grandpa Li, open the gate,” Huang Xiu said with a smile.

Not only was this neighborhood old, but the property management had long since abandoned it and run off.

So the residents pooled money together and rehired retired old men from the neighborhood as security.

“Wait, you’re not from here, are you? A good-looking kid like you, I’d definitely remember you.”

Grandpa Li lifted his reading glasses, a glint of shrewdness in his eyes.

“Who are you? What are you here for?”

He’d lived in the neighborhood for over ten years and been a security guard for several. He had an impression of most residents.

Huang Xiu’s pretty face flushed slightly.

But she had anticipated this. She’d already come up with an explanation on the way.

“I’m here to visit a relative,” she said softly. “Huang Qinian from Building 3, Unit 2, Room 1201 is my uncle.”

“Oh.” Grandpa Li nodded in realization, then looked Huang Xiu up and down. “You do look a bit like him.”

He then shifted his gaze past Huang Xiu to Yuan Fei.

Then he glanced at the two people in the back, and his eyes lingered on the Mercedes and the BMW behind it.

“You’re Huang Qinian’s relatives?” he asked suspiciously.

Since when did Huang Qinian have so many wealthy relatives? Usually, not even a few came to pay New Year’s visits.

“Of course!” Yuan Fei replied in a thick Yanghai-accented Mandarin. “I’m his maternal uncle.”

“Alright, wait a moment.” Hearing the familiar dialect, Grandpa Li dropped his concerns.

He went into the booth and brought out a registration book. “Write down your names and license plates. It’s procedure.”

Yuan Fei and Li Qinyue signed their names. Grandpa Li pressed the electric key in his pocket.

The electric barrier rose. The two cars drove in one after another.

Past eight in the morning, most people in the neighborhood were already up.

You could see old men doing health exercises and young people jogging with headphones.

They looked at the approaching cars with curiosity.

A Mercedes wasn’t that rare in the city, but in this neighborhood, it was definitely a luxury.

After all, anyone who could afford a car like that probably wouldn’t live in an old complex without an elevator.

“The security guard here is pretty alert,” Yuan Fei said, his accent switching back.

“Grandpa Li used to be a scout in the army before retiring.” Huang Xiu looked at Professor Yuan and asked curiously, “Professor Yuan, are you from Yanghai?”

“No, I just used to have a friend from Yanghai,” Yuan Fei said, smacking his lips.

He pressed the brake, and the car slowly came to a stop in front of Building 3, Unit 2.

“We’re here. Let’s get out.”

Huang Xiu nodded, pushed open the door, and stepped out. For today, she had deliberately dressed more neutrally, long pants and a short-sleeved shirt.

Thud!

The trunk door closed softly. Yun Ning walked over, carrying two large red gift boxes, one in each hand.

The surface of the boxes were printed with ancient patterns, with the name and emblem of Tian University in gold lettering.

What was inside the boxes was not visible.

But Huang Xiu could tell it wasn’t cheap.

“There’s no need for gifts, is there?” she said awkwardly.

“We’re here on behalf of Tian University. We mustn’t lose face in etiquette,” Professor Yuan said with a smile.

“Besides, you’re a valuable talent. How can we show our sincerity without bringing some presents?”

“And anyway, these were just sitting in the trunk. Might as well take them out.”

Professor Yuan’s words came one after another, and Huang Xiu couldn’t get a word in edgewise.

“Alright.”

She had to nod, turned, and walked into the building.

The unit door of the neighborhood was usually kept closed, but the residents found it troublesome to open it frequently.

And since there had never been any burglaries, it had been left wide open over time.

This was convenient for Huang Xiu, who hadn’t brought her keys.

The group of five walked through the open metal door into the building.

Perhaps because there was no elevator, the corridor wasn’t narrow. Every other floor had a window for ventilation.

The stairwell walls were yellowish, with remnants of various ads scraped off.

The green paint on the handrails was cracked in places. The sound-activated lights were still intact and sensitive.

They climbed all the way to the seventh floor. Huang Xiu stopped in front of a familiar red security door.

The lucky character pasted on the door for Chinese New Year and the spring couplets on the walls on either side were still there.

They had arrived.

Huang Xiu’s Adam’s apple, no longer protruding, moved. Her right hand slowly rose, index and middle fingers together, bent to knock.

But just before they touched the door, her hand froze in midair.

Again… the same thing.

Her hand trembled slightly.

She knew clearly there was no turning back. She knew clearly she was only one step away from solving the confusion in her heart.

But now that she was actually here, she couldn’t bring herself to do it.

Silence, more silence. It was as if the pause button had been pressed. Huang Xiu’s right hand stayed raised, frozen in the air, neither knocking nor lowering.

The five behind her just watched quietly, not coming forward to disturb.

But Huang Xiu could feel their burning gazes, as if urging her on.

Suddenly, crisp footsteps echoed from the stairs, reverberating in the empty stairwell. Another resident was coming back.

The footsteps grew closer, like a countdown. It seemed to say: you can’t drag this out any longer.

Fine. What will come will come.

Huang Xiu took a deep breath, and this time she was completely resolved.

Knock, knock!

Her right hand gently knocked twice on the door. No response. She knocked again.

Knock, knock, knock!

Still no response.

Huang Xiu: “???”

Where was she? Her mom wasn’t home at this hour?

A very unpleasant guess came to her mind: could she have gone out to play mahjong?

“Seems like no one’s home. Maybe…” Huang Xiu turned to Professor Yuan with an apologetic smile, about to continue speaking.

At that moment.

A woman with gentle eyebrows, delicate features but marked by time, came up the stairs from the landing, carrying a large bag of groceries.

The moment she saw this person, Huang Xiu’s pupils contracted sharply, and she couldn’t help but step back.

“M-Mom?” she stammered, her voice as faint as a mosquito’s, but it didn’t escape Li Wen’s ears.