Page 35 - updated on July

Yu Jihui: “A Stinking Old Ninth – A Tale of the Coal Capital” (updated on July 2020)

I had been expecting for days. I immediately tore it

open and began to read it. The letter said that White

Swan was, indeed, pregnant. Her mother was both

angry and sad but had given her an abortion secretly.

The operation was very successful. After reading it, I

heaved a sigh of relief. Then, for safety, I put the

letter into my safe -- the pocket of my underwear. I

had concentrated all of my attention on the letter and

had neglected a pair of shifty eyes—Hot Pepper had

been fixing her eyes on me and my letter. Hot Pepper

was Plump Doll’s minion.

That afternoon, a queer thing happened. Plump

Doll organized an immediate basketball match with

the champion team of the mathematics department.

Plump Doll had no interest in playing basketball at

all. However, that day, she was especially active in

helping to bring about the match. I was the best

basketball player in our school, so naturally I was the

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