Chapter 7
Jin Chao didn’t seem to want to stay with Jiang Mu for long. After handing her the fried rice, his fingers unconsciously tapped on the cigarette box beside him, as if urging her to eat faster. Jiang Mu couldn’t eat anymore, so she only took a few bites and then told the waiter, “Pack it.”
She thought it would be best to take it with her in case she had to eat dumplings again at lunch tomorrow.
The few men across from her found it amusing that this girl only chewed slowly a few times before finishing. Just as Jin Chao was getting up with her, the man wearing the jade pendant teased, “Your sister’s pretty easy to take care of.”
Jin Chao pulled out his phone, scanned the QR code to pay, and casually replied, “You want to take care of her?”
Jiang Mu didn’t expect the man actually to respond, “Sure.”
He then glanced at Jiang Mu and continued, “Little Sis, come with me. You’ll eat well and live a good life. I’ll make sure you get all chubby and fair, how about it?”
Jiang Mu instinctively took a step back behind Jin Chao. The three men sitting around laughed, and Jin Chao’s lips curled up slightly. He picked up the takeout box, pushed the chair back, and suddenly seemed to remember something. Turning back, he asked Jiang Mu, “Does your mouth still hurt?”
Jiang Mu had completely forgotten about it after a full night’s rest. Hearing his question, she touched her lips and said, “It doesn’t seem to hurt anymore.”
Jin Chao gave a low “mm” and looked at the man called Jin Fengzi. He then told Jiang Mu, “Let’s go back.”
Jiang Mu was momentarily stunned. She had thought Jin Chao was joking yesterday, but now, facing two big men, she really didn’t know how to handle them.
Jin Fengzi suddenly looked up in confusion, “What the hell?”
Jin Chao lowered his eyelids slightly, with a pair of chopsticks resting on the edge of the table in front of him. He flicked the end of the chopsticks, and they flew directly toward Jin Fengzi, landing with a “pa” on his left arm, making a sound like a whip cracking. Jin Fengzi’s large frame shook in surprise, and he stared at Jin Chao, “What’s that for?”
Jin Chao replied nonchalantly, “Swatting a mosquito.”
He then turned to the group and said, “We’re leaving, you guys keep drinking.”
As soon as he left, the three men exchanged glances and, without speaking, their gazes all landed on the pile of picked-out onions, ginger, and garlic.
The man with the large jade pendant couldn’t help but ask, “What’s up with that Little Sis? Why does Youjiu care so much about her?”
Jin Fengzi rubbed his arm, which had turned red from the flick, and looked at the scene with a playful expression, “Who knows? You guys think I should tell Xiao Qingshe, to show my sincerity?”
“Drink, drink…” The group of men all burst into laughter.
……
On the way back, Jin Chao didn’t take Jiang Mu on the main road but instead chose a shortcut. This area was still an undeveloped part of the city, with many alleyways between short houses. As soon as Jiang Mu followed Jin Chao into one of the alleys, she couldn’t help but smile.
Jin Chao was half a step ahead of her and glanced at her, “What are you smiling at?”
Jiang Mu’s round eyes curved into crescent shapes, and she deliberately suppressed the corners of her mouth, saying, “There are so many mosquitoes.”
A trace of amusement appeared in Jin Chao’s eyes as well. The two of them walked side by side through the dark alley, with only half a person’s distance between them. There were no streetlights, and the moon was hidden behind the clouds. Normally, Jiang Mu would never walk into such an alley so late at night, but with Jin Chao by her side, she didn’t feel any sense of danger, even though she knew nothing about this place.
But thinking about that life-threatening matter, Jiang Mu was still very curious. She purposely made her tone light and asked, “What are you doing tomorrow?”
“Working.”
“What kind of work?”
Jin Chao didn’t respond, so Jiang Mu asked again, “What about the day after tomorrow?”
Jin Chao glanced at her sideways, “Do you need something?”
“Not really… I just wanted to ask what you usually do.”
“Make money.”
After saying that, Jin Chao stopped walking and told her, “Walk ahead.”
Jiang Mu, confused, walked a few steps ahead and then turned back to look at him. Jin Chao was standing in the dim alley, lighting a cigarette. His shadow stretched long at his feet. He then raised his head, exhaled smoke toward her direction, and said calmly, “Keep walking.”
The smoke drifted away from Jin Chao, who was behind her, while Jiang Mu walked ahead. When they reached a turn, Jin Chao would remind her, “Go left” or “Go right.”
Jiang Mu continued asking, “Besides making money, do you do anything else?”
There was no response from behind. Jiang Mu didn’t give up and turned to look at him. Jin Chao remained slow and steady, walking behind her. His gaze, however, remained quietly focused on her. When she turned back around, he paused for a few seconds before replying, “Yeah, I do. Eat, drink, sleep, and go to the bathroom. What do you want to know?”
Jiang Mu turned back around and continued walking. She knew she wouldn’t be able to get him to open up.
Jiang Mu silently hugged her arms. The skin on her legs under her T-shirt was covered in goosebumps. It was strange to say that at this time in Suzhou, even walking around at night would make her sweat, but in Tonggang, despite the scorching sun during the day, once the sun set, it became cold and chilly, leaving Jiang Mu unsure of what to wear when going out.
Ahead, there was a water ditch. Jiang Mu stopped and turned back to ask Jin Chao, “Which way should we go?”
Jin Chao replied, “Straight.”
“It’s blocked straight ahead.”
Jin Chao stopped a few steps behind her. After taking the last drag of his cigarette, he watched her shiver as she hugged her body, her thin arms and legs exposed, pale and fragile, like they could snap with a light touch. She hadn’t been like this when she was younger. Her chubby little legs and arms, like lotus stalks. A fleeting softness flashed in Jin Chao’s eyes, but it quickly disappeared. He stubbed out his cigarette and said to her, “Wear more when you go out at night. The temperature difference here is big between day and night.”
After saying that, he took a step across to the other side, leaving Jiang Mu stunned. She stood dazed in front of the ditch, staring at him across the way and asked, “How do I get over?”
Jin Chao replied, “Walk over.”
Jiang Mu looked at the distance of the ditch and weakly asked, “Aren’t you going to help me?”
Unexpectedly, Jin Chao, holding the takeout box in one hand and slipping his other hand into his pocket, calmly replied, “I have thorns on me.”
Jiang Mu immediately remembered how she exaggeratedly pulled away from him when they crossed the street earlier. That might have made him feel a bit uncomfortable.
But now, it was impossible for her to lower her head and ask Jin Chao for help. She glanced to the left, then to the right, and was about to walk around the ditch.
Jin Chao, standing on the other side, calmly reminded her, “That way won’t work.”
Before Jiang Mu could look at the other side, Jin Chao slowly added, “Go back the other way.”
Jiang Mu blew at the bangs on the side of her face, then suddenly took a few steps back. Jin Chao raised an eyebrow and quietly watched her. To his surprise, Jiang Mu took a few steps back before suddenly speeding up and charging straight for the ditch.
The long jump was a physical education test in junior high school. Although she had to take a makeup exam at that time, a few years had passed, and her height had increased. With a strange confidence, she ran to the edge of the ditch and jumped with all her might.
She put in a lot of effort, and her expression was just right, but she didn’t jump very far. Just as her feet were about to land in the smelly ditch, Jin Chao reached out and pulled her back.
After Jiang Mu’s feet firmly landed on the ground, her heart was still pounding, and she felt a sense of panic and fear. Jin Chao had already let go of her and turned to walk ahead, leaving her with his back and a remark, “Your limbs are uncoordinated.”
Jiang Mu’s face immediately turned red. This incident reminded her of when she first started elementary school. At that time, Jin Chao was already in sixth grade. His classmates, upon hearing that his sister had entered first grade, asked him who his sister was during morning exercises.
Jin Chao looked at the line of kids from Class 3 and said with a smile, “The one with the same hand and leg movements.”
This led to an entire year where many of the sixth-grade boys would call her “same-hand-same-foot” whenever they saw her and would surround her to teach her how to march in place, while Jin Chao stood on the sidelines, watching and laughing.
At the time, she didn’t think much of it. But as she got older, she realized how embarrassing it was to have a bunch of older boys teaching her to march in place.
She had almost forgotten about it until now, when Jin Chao’s comment, “Your limbs are uncoordinated,” brought back memories of her natural shortcomings. When she was little, she was oddly confident that she would be good at sports when she grew up, just like her brother. After all, they were siblings, with the same genes. It was only now that she realized that would never happen.
Sure enough, this path was shorter. After crossing the ditch, they arrived at the opposite side of the community. Jin Chao’s phone rang, and he took long strides ahead to answer the call. Jiang Mu couldn’t hear who was on the other end, but she did catch his words.
“No problem, come over tomorrow and I’ll take a look.”
“I’ll be here these days. If I’m not around, you can ask Xiao Yang.”
“Next month? What date? I might be away for a few days, you’d better come over early.”
Jiang Mu followed Jin Chao until they entered the building and stopped in front of the door. It was then that Jin Chao hung up the phone, took out his keys, and opened the door. The living room was just as quiet as when Jiang Mu had left, with only the faint ticking of the second hand from the wall clock. She glanced at the time. It was almost two o’clock.
Jiang Mu went into the bathroom to brush her teeth again. When she came out, she noticed that Jin Chao had not left. The lights in the living room were still off, and he was sitting on the sofa, scrolling through his phone.
Jiang Mu walked over to him and lowered her voice to ask, “Where are you sleeping tonight?”
The light from his phone illuminated his face, with shadows and light alternating, making his features even more defined. His hand never stopped moving as he replied, “You sleep in your bed, I’ll sit for a while and leave.”
Jiang Mu asked again, “Do you have a place to stay outside?”
At this, Jin Chao flipped his phone back, and the light suddenly vanished. The two were plunged into darkness. Jiang Mu only saw him smile slightly and heard his low, magnetic voice, “What? You want to stay at mine?”
The two of them silently stared at each other for a few seconds. Jiang Mu was the first to look away. She understood what Jin Chao meant. He was probably testing whether she could get used to staying here. But her thoughts started to wander uncontrollably.
Fortunately, the living room was very dark, and her expression was well hidden. She quickly glanced away and muttered, “Goodbye.”
She then headed straight for her room. When she lay back on the bed, she was already feeling a bit tired but still subconsciously listened for any sounds outside. About ten minutes later, she heard the sound of the door, and only after Jin Chao had left did Jiang Mu finally drift to sleep in a daze.
The next morning, when she woke up, she noticed that the black camouflage gift box that had been on the living room table was gone. The irritability that had been building up in her for the past two days finally eased a little.
But the relief didn’t last long because a series of maddening things began to happen. For instance, in the summer when she was at home, she would usually take two showers a day, one in the morning and one before bed. At the very least, she would shower once a day. However, after coming here, she found that Zhao Meijuan and the others only showered once every three days. Although the climate here was different from Jiangnan’s, not showering for two days in the hot summer was almost like torture for her.
What made it worse was that every time she took a shower, Zhao Meijuan would give her a look as if to say, “Are you covered in mud?” It made Jiang Mu feel like taking a shower was akin to going into battle, preparing herself mentally to stay strong and unyielding.
Then, there was the fact that Jin Qiang wasn’t home, and she had to spend long hours with Zhao Meijuan and the little monster. The problem was that the little monster mostly ignored her, and she didn’t understand most of what Zhao Meijuan said.
For example, there was one time when Zhao Meijuan pointed at her and shouted, “Need dun di.”
Jiang Mu struggled to understand for a while, thinking that she meant “squat toilet,” so she waved her hand and said, “I don’t want to squat toilet.”
(dun di = squat toilet or to mop the floor in some dialect)
Zhao Meijuan became anxious and shouted, “Dun di!”
Seeing how urgent Zhao Meijuan was, Jiang Mu didn’t seize the opportunity to argue. She just squatted down on the spot. After squatting for a long time, she finally realized that what Zhao Meijuan had meant was “mopping the floor.” Zhao Meijuan asked her to move aside and calmly walked back to her room. Later that evening, Zhao Meijuan told Jin Qiang, “Your daughter is really weird.”
Jin Qiang tried to comfort her, saying, “You should be understanding. The child didn’t do well in the college entrance exam, so she might be quite upset.”
Jiang Mu was completely unaware of this and just tried to lock herself in her room to minimize her time spent outside. Sometimes, aside from eating and going to the bathroom, she wouldn’t see anyone for the entire day.
When Zhao Meijuan asked Jin Chao to get medicine, she talked to him a bit more on the way downstairs, “That little girl probably has depression or something. She stays locked up in her room all day.”
Jin Chao glanced up at the tightly closed window on the fifth floor, listening to Zhao Meijuan’s endless chatter, especially when she exaggeratedly said, “She doesn’t leave the room, and still takes a shower every day. Isn’t she washing her skin off?”
Jin Chao calmly withdrew his gaze and replied, “Is water or life more precious?”
Zhao Meijuan immediately retorted, “Aren’t you talking nonsense?”
“Then you can give her a shower. Didn’t you say she has depression? Aren’t you afraid that if she can’t take a shower, she’ll lock herself in the room and try to commit suicide?”
Zhao Meijuan was so scared when she heard this that her face turned pale, and she quickly ran back home. That night, when Jiang Mu still hadn’t come out to take a shower by 9 p.m., Zhao Meijuan even knocked on her door twice to remind her, “The water’s ready, hurry up and take a shower.”
Translator’s Note:
Youjiu – Jin Chao’s nickname among his friends. The name directly translates to “have alcohol” in English.