The moment Jin Xueli fell, a seemingly unrelated thought flashed through her mind: Thank God Mom's old car finally broke down for good two weeks ago.
The car was older than she was. It had passed through countless hands and broken down more times than she could count, only to be forced back on the road by her mom's boyfriends over the years using all sorts of makeshift repairs.
One of its doors was now held on by layers of duct tape. Whenever they drove a little too fast, Jin Xueli would worry the tape would come loose and the door would go CLATTERING onto the road.
For the whole city to hear.
For a long time now, her mom hadn't driven her to school—because the thing Jin Xueli hated most was being seen in that car.
But the traveling carnival was far from her house. If the car hadn't broken down, she might have secretly parked it in the shadows and, after the crowds dispersed, quietly driven it home.
Thankfully, it was completely broken, so she had to ride her bike.
