Studying at Western University starts with a knife-forging competition

Chapter 102

Twenty minutes later, Lin Yuan's phone vibrated.

Emily sent a message: "I saw her. She agreed to come to the event this afternoon."

Matt leaned over for a glance, his brow furrowing slightly. Lin Yuan didn't reply, putting his phone back in his pocket.

"She can do it," Matt said, with an uncertain certainty in his voice.

At 2 p.m., Emily stood at the entrance of the side aisle of the church, holding a sign-in sheet in her hand.

Leah arrived at 2:05. She was wearing a thin black jacket over a gray T-shirt, carrying a canvas backpack, with her dark brown hair tied in a low ponytail and dark red-rimmed glasses.

"Leah?" Emily greeted her with a smile. "You're here. That's great."

Leah nodded, standing somewhat awkwardly in the doorway, her hands gripping the straps of her backpack. "I—I didn't have anything planned for this afternoon. You said there was an event, so I came to check it out."

"Come in," Emily said, stepping aside to let her in. "Today's main task is to sort and pack the donated clothing and daily necessities. Would you like to help?"

Leah put down her schoolbag, rolled up her sleeves, and began taking clothes out of the bag. She did it very carefully, examining each item before sorting them and folding them neatly.

Emily did the same work beside her, occasionally exchanging a few words. She didn't mention Catherine, or anything that might make people nervous. She only talked about clothes—the fabric of this coat was nice, and the little bear embroidered on the pocket of this children's dress was so cute.

At first, Leah would just nod or simply respond with "um" or "yes," but after half an hour she started talking on her own.

She said she wasn't very good at categorizing things, and asked Emily whether the hooded sweatshirt was winter or spring/autumn wear. Emily said that winters in the South aren't long, so something this thick would be fine as spring/autumn wear.

Another half hour passed, and Emily poured herself a glass of water, and also poured one for Leah. The two of them sat down on a chair against the wall and rested for a while.

"Do you come to these kinds of events often?" Leah asked.

“I come every week,” Emily said. “And you? What do you do besides teaching?”

Leah was silent for a few seconds. "—It's nothing. Just doing some feminist work with Catherine."

Are you a member of a feminist organization?

"I guess so." Leah placed the water glass on her lap, holding it with both hands. "Catherine pulled me in. She said I'm a good writer and could help them write articles and organize materials."

"You must have written quite a bit, right?"

"I wrote some," Leah said with an inexplicable hesitation, "but most of them weren't under my name. Catherine said that articles with her name on them would have a better reach."

Emily offered no comment, only nodding.

"Isn't your feminist organization always promoting women's mutual support?" Emily put down her water glass, turned to look at Leah, and spoke as casually as if she were talking about the weather. "This event is to help women who have experienced domestic violence reintegrate into the community. You can write an article about it and publish it in the campus media. Put your name on it."

Leah paused, taken aback. "I wrote it?"

“Yes,” Emily smiled. “Your writing is excellent. And this whole thing is about women’s mutual aid—we’re here sorting supplies and delivering them to shelters. Doesn’t that fit the tone of your feminist organization?”

Leah lowered her head, looking at the water glass in her hand, and remained silent for a few seconds. "I—I can think about it."

"Of course." Emily stood up. "No rush. Take a look at how the event is organized first, and then decide when you get back."

The event ended at four o'clock in the afternoon. Several volunteers packed the sorted clothes into cardboard boxes and stacked them in a corner of the side hall.

Leah picked up her canvas backpack. "Thank you for today."

"You're welcome." Emily put the sign-in sheet into her bag. "You've been a great help."

Leah smiled slightly, a faint but unmistakable smile. "Are there any events next week?"

"Yes. Every Sunday afternoon." Emily took a folded flyer out of her bag and handed it to her.

Leah took the flyer, folded it neatly, and stuffed it into the side pocket of her backpack. She nodded to Emily, then turned and walked towards the church entrance.

He took a few steps, then stopped, looked back, and his lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he just waved and then pushed open the door and went out.

Emily stood at the entrance to the side hall, watching Leah's figure walk away down the sidewalk.

She took out her phone and sent Lin Yuan a message: "She's gone. She'll come again next week, no, she'll come again tomorrow. She said next week, but I'll try to get her to come tomorrow. We don't have a week."

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Lin Yuan replied quickly: "Your dad will arrive on Wednesday. The results should be available by Tuesday at the latest."

"I know."

The next day, Monday.

At 3 p.m., Emily sent Leah a message: "There's a small sharing session at church this afternoon about women's support. Do you want to come? You don't have to do anything, just listen."

Leah's reply arrived ten minutes later: "Where?"

"Church side chapel. Starting at four o'clock."

At 5:55, Leah appeared at the entrance to the side hall. There were no other volunteers today, only Emily sitting alone in a chair with two cups of coffee in front of her.

"A sharing session—just the two of us?" Leah stood at the door, somewhat hesitant.

Emily stood up and smiled. "We were supposed to have a speaker, but they couldn't make it at the last minute. But I've already bought coffee and don't want to waste it. Would you like to sit with me for a bit?"

Leah hesitated for two seconds, then walked in and sat down opposite Emily.

The two chatted for over half an hour. Emily didn't ask any pointed questions, only talked about courses and campus life.

They chatted about their weekend plans. Leah gradually relaxed, and her voice became a little louder than yesterday.

When the topic turned to Catherine, Leah's tone changed.

"She's very good to me," Leah said, but it sounded like she was trying to convince herself. "She helped me find internships and recommended my articles. But sometimes—she's too controlling."

Emily didn't ask any further questions, but simply listened quietly.

"She asked me to record some things for her." Leah lowered her head, her finger unconsciously tracing circles on her coffee cup. "Video, audio. But she wouldn't tell me what it was for. She said you don't need to know, you just have to do it." I recorded. Several times.

Emily's fingers tightened slightly under the table, but her expression remained unchanged.

"Are you feeling unwell?" she asked softly.

Leah nodded. "I've asked her several times, and she always says, 'You don't need to worry about it.' But shouldn't I have asked?"

Emily reached out and gently placed her hand on Leah's. "If you feel uncomfortable, you can always come to me. True friends won't make you do things you don't want to do."

Leah looked up, her eyes slightly red. She didn't speak, but her lips trembled slightly.

"Are those recordings still there?" Emily's voice was soft, as if afraid of disturbing something.

Leah remained silent for a long time. So long that Emily thought she wouldn't answer.

"It's on my phone," Leah finally said, her voice almost inaudible. "I didn't delete it. Catherine asked me to send it to her after I recorded it, but I kept a backup for myself. I don't know why I kept it. Maybe it's because—I just feel like something's not right."

Emily squeezed her hand. "Would you like to let me see it?"

Leah looked up and met Emily's eyes. The two girls stared at each other for a few seconds.

Then Leah took her phone out of her pocket.

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